Each week, Boundless collects the best edtech news to keep you informed of the latest trends.
Teaching Innovation Is about More Than iPads in the Classroom
via Media Shift
Getting students to be adept at technology requires more than just buying an iPad and “adding water,” hoping they’ll sprout into techie geniuses. For students to truly grasp the potential and usefulness of technology, they need to be set on the right path, according to Media Shift writer Aran Levasseur. He writes,
Innovation can’t be installed. It has to be grown—and generally from the margins.
He says that innovation and tech-readiness could be be part of a small percentage of class time each week dedicated to experimentation. This would foster students’ understanding of technology and eagerness to innovate.
10 Tips for Getting Started Teaching with Twitter
via Jason Rhode
Twitter takes the learning conversation beyond the normal barriers of a classroom and opens the discussion up to countless voices and opinions online. For educators unfamiliar with this platform, Jason Rhode recommends they get to know Twitter on a personal level first. Simple steps like downloading the app on their phone and joining the general education conversation will set the foundation for Twitter familiarity.
Universities Reshaping Education on the Web
via New York Times
Coursera announced this week that a dozen major universities are joining its venture to provide more than 100 massive open online courses, or MOOCs, to interested learners. The edtech company’s university partners now include Duke, Caltech, University of Virginia and more.
In the article, Richard A. DeMillo, the director of the Center for 21st Century Universities at Georgia Tech, says this news is a big deal. He notes,
It’s all so new that everyone’s feeling their way around, but the potential upside for this experiment is so big that it’s hard for me to imagine any large research university that wouldn’t want to be involved.
Lessons Learned from MITx’s Prototype Course
via MIT News Office
In March, MITx debuted its prototype course—Circuits and Electronics—to recreate the classroom experience online. Now that MIT and Harvard have paired up for edX, set to launch this fall, the team is taking stock of Circuits and Electronics. In all, about 155,000 people registered for the course. About 23,000 of those tried the first problem set and only 7,157 ended up passing the course. Anant Agarwal, the president of edX, says of the data,
[I]f you you look at the numbers in absolute terms, it’s as many students as might take the course in 40 years at MIT.
15 Ways to Engage Reluctant Learners
via Education Rethink
When teachers have to abide by rigorous curriculum standards, engaging students takes creativity. Here, John Spencer compiles a list of ways teachers can change the norm and make learning invaluable for their class. First and foremost, he says be intentional. Leave the attitude of “we’re learning this because you have to learn it” behind and instead focus on where the content can go and how students can be champions of their own success.
What edtech news were you watching this week? Tell us in the comments below.
Photo by Shawn Campbell
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