According to this article from the BBC, virtual learning has gotten off to to slow. The main reason seems to be a lack of proliferation in primary schools (secondary and colleges are doing slightly better). Outside of a few ambitious teachers, virtual learning executions have not been widely implemented through out schools. Online and digital elements were introduced on a high level back in 2000, so whats the hold up?
The article points out that based on an investigation of more than 40 different types of institutions, they found “no example of virtual learning providing a “comprehensive” range of materials for every subject”. This may also be why the benefits of virtual learning are “not yet obvious”. The natural reaction is to suggest that not enough time and effort has been made into transitioning from traditional learning materials. After all, it’s a significant shift in how teachers teach and how students learn. I would reason, that it is going to take a new wave of young teachers who have grown up with this technology to fully deliver the benefits of virtual learning. Not that veteran teachers aren’t able to learn and apply, but they have their own style that works for them and gets results.
I wouldn’t expect the push towards virtual learning to stop or even slow down. Reform is a slow train and technology is what we humans are designed to create and improve upon. Despite the slow start, expect education technology to push on. It just may take a bit longer for all of us to catch on.
We’re all becoming Twits. As a loyal user of Twitter, it’s been interesting watching this simple web application create and enhance professional networks. Other social media platforms are full of different applications and features, but the beauty in Twitter is that it only ask you one question. “What are you doing?” Through this one question friendships are enhanced, communities are created and e-stalking continues unabated. The answer to this question gives you an idea about what your friend’s day is like. It tells you what they are excited about, what they are doing this weekend, what they are reading or watching on TV. This is also a great way to send people links to web pages you think they should see and web pages no one should see, but more often to former.
Educators are figuring out the benefits of Twitter at a fast rate (especially the technology geeks). Conferences are fertile ground for harvesting new Twitter colleagues and meeting current Twitter friends face-to-face (like normal people). I found this blog post from Jerry Swiatek about FETC and Twitter, which provides a ton of insight on the effects Twitter has on developing friendships in one’s line of work:
I’ve had plenty of time to think about and absorb everything that went on at FETC last week. For those that don’t know, FETC is the Florida Educational Technology Conference held in Orlando, FL each year. In years past, there have been upwards of 14,000 attendees. This year, the announced attendance was around 7,000, which meant fewer sessions and a smaller exhibit hall but that didn’t stop the learning. In fact, I learned more at this year’s conference than I had in my previous 3 conferences combined. The difference? One word, Twitter.
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The backbone of WEB 2.0 is the ability to create, share and help. This is also a great foundation for communities off line and on. This year at FETC, AIM Education released an upgraded fully blown out edition of Learn360. This application seeks to put WEB 2.0’s backbone into our classrooms, by establishing a social network service for schools via providing images, streaming video and audio from publishers such as National Geographic, PBS and a variety of third party developers. Through Learn 360 teachers and students can create their own content to share with others using the network. This creates a great opportunity for schools to keep up with technology and broaden their resources in a digital age.
Some of the new features are:
- More formats to accommodate user uploading and sharing.
- More capabilities for assignment and quiz creation.
- A classroom blog creation tool.
- Expanded catalog of pre-generated activities and teacher guides
- Support for uploading podcasts.
All this comes with a Flash-based tutorial to help teachers and students learn all the nuances of the program. Learn360 is available now. To learn more about the program or how to order click here.
Another big announcement coming out of FETC this is year is the release of Pearson Tapestry. Combining multiple education solutions, including student portal, information systems and course management, into one apparatus.
Here are some of the features of this platform:
-Teachers, students and parents can now easily collaborate to track student progress, access course materials and focus on student achievement.
-Administrators are now able to quickly identify and measure student performance across classrooms, across the district, and even across the state, and take action to improve outcomes and report progress.
-The single platform means that educators now have only one point of contact, instead of having to deal with multiple providers for their needs.
-Teachers are able to immediately access student assessment results against standards and make adjustments to personalize their curriculum to student needs.
-Students are able to track their own progress and have one-click access to their course materials.
Parents are able to follow their children’s progress throughout the school year, not just at the end of a grading period.
A big theme this year has been devices that help track student responses and help teachers gather information about their students progress in real time. In a time where standardized testing is paramount, these tools should prove to be helpful adjusting lessons to better engage our students. Another question remains however: Can school districts commit to these advancements and when will the be implemented? Okay that was two, but you get my point.
eInstruction has brought us numerous products in education technology over the years, but they made a terrific appearance at this year’s FETC. On display were 3 new products. The Dualboard, Mobi System and Workspace 8.0
-Dualboard: This is their next phase of their Interwrite Whiteboard product. Deemed “Dualboard” for the ability to support two pens on the same interface. Very similar to the new Promethean Activboard. The Dualboard can be easily updated to existing Interwrite software.
-Mobi System: The age of student response devices is upon us and the Mobi System is an LCD screen device that allows teachers to view these responses.
-Workspace 8.0: A full-version update to the collaborative learning suite that supports the Interwrite hardware providing digital media resources for teaching and assessment. These include instructional animations for interactive learning, an educational clipart library on a variety of topics for multiple grade levels, a searchable online library of interactive lessons aligned with state standards, and various media tools for Flash, audio, and video.
According to eInstruction, “Since Workspace 8.0 is designed on an open architecture, virtually any third-party program or content source can be used as instructional material.”
For more information click right about here:
Finding the bridge between video games and educational software has long been a goal of educators and software developers. This year at FETC a creative partnership between Tabula Digita and education publisher Pearson. Tabula Digita is the creator of the award winning DimensionalM educational video games will be helping Pearson to create math based games for elementary and middle school students.
Here is some more information from the good folks at Emediawire.com:
nnounced this week at the 2009 Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC) in Orlando, the new DimensionM Powered by Pearson games will be available for the 2009-2010 school year. Educators will have the opportunity to sample the DimensionM games and test their math skills in a video game tournament being held this week at the conference.
DimensionM meets today’s digital students in the world they live in with a highly interactive 3D gaming format just like other popular video games they play every day. The games take students on action-packed missions in a virtual reality environment that is exciting and motivating - and while they are having fun, kids are learning math and developing critical thinking and problem solving skills.
“Research shows that when kids learn in an engaging, motivating environment with research-based, standards-aligned curriculum, their test scores soar,” said Mike Evans, Pearson’s senior vice president for mathematics. “What better way to engage young learners than with the video games that they love customized to teach the critical math concepts that they will need to be successful in our 21st century economy?”
Indeed, a study conducted by researchers from the University of Central Florida demonstrated that students who played Tabula Digita video games over an 18-week period scored significantly higher on district math benchmark tests than their peers who did not play the video games.
Tabula Digita CEO and co-founder Ntiedo Etuk said, “We are witnessing a tremendous paradigm shift in the industry. With the Pearson partnership, we now have the world’s leading education publisher recognizing the power and potential of these innovations. Educational gaming tools have turned the corner, moving from a niche product to a mainstream tool districts must have to fully engage the 21st century child.”
Evans said, “We joined with Tabula Digita, the market leader in development of educational video games, because we shared a vision to align gaming with award-winning math curriculum.” He added, “DimensionM perfectly complements Pearson’s elementary and middle school mathematics programs including our top-selling enVisionMATH, designed with engaging components that meet our digital kids on their own turf.”
Four years in the making, enVisionMATH is a research-based program that blends visual animations and compelling graphic text centered on conceptual understanding and helping students develop their reasoning ability for problem-solving - the critical foundation for higher level math they will need to succeed in college and in their careers. Published in both English and Spanish, enVisionMATH’s strong, visual learning design includes a Visual Learning Bridge in each lesson, with step-by-step visuals that bridge the gap between the interactive learning activity and guided practice.
FETC gets tomorrow, January 21st in Orlando, Florida. It will be a great time to network and see what is on the horizon in education technology and it starts with one unique keynote speaker.
Philippe Cousteau, grandson of Jacques Cousteau and president of EarthEcho International, will be addressing the audience about his family’s legacy in regards to environmentalism and education. He is also creating a documentary series for Animal Planet focusing on the earth’s water systems and how humans interact with these ecosystems.
This should be a very interesting address. You would expect one of the many leaders in education technology, or perhaps a teacher or educator from Florida. This is a welcomed surprise as Mr. Cousteau has valuable insight on the education world from a different angle. This is a time for new ideas and you have to broaden your spectrum to attract the best.
ANGEL Learning, the developers of eLearning software such as ANGEL Learning Management Suite and ePortfolio, will be putting their new Lesson Plan Builder on show at this year’s FETC at site 346. The Lesson Plan Builder is a free addition to the existing Learning Management Suite that easily creates template-based, standards-aligned lesson plans.
Here is a little bit more info courtesy of www.TransWorldNews.com:
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Lesson Plan Templates
Institutions have the option to create custom lesson plan templates or use 8-Step or Understanding by Design (UBD) templates included in the ANGEL LMS. The 8-Step lesson plan template embodies the direct teaching methods of prominent educational theorist Madeline Hunter. The UBD approach, widely promoted by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), is based on the book of the same name authored by nationally recognized educators Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe.
Curriculum and Standards Alignment
The ANGEL LMS Lesson Plan Builder leverages standards alignment and content sharing functionality included in the ANGEL LMS. Lesson plans can be aligned to state standards using ANGEL’s standards alignment tools. Search tools allow teachers or instructional designers to quickly find all content related to the standards associated with a lesson plan in ANGEL Learning Object Repositories, protecting an institution’s investment in curriculum by enabling easy content sharing and reuse.
Simple Lesson Plan Management
The completed lesson plan and all associated content can be shared across grades and schools as a single content item, making managing the plan quite simple.
The ANGEL LMS Lesson Plan Builder extends the ability of the ANGEL LMS to enrich teaching and learning and meet accountability demands. A single solution educators implement to meet a variety of 21st century challenges, the ANGEL LMS also provides K12 educators’ tools to manage the classroom, develop students’ 21st century skills, extend the classroom with online learning, and facilitate professional development. Educators attending FETC 2009 are invited to visit the ANGEL Learning exhibit, 346, for an ANGEL demonstration.
Received this email from Jennifer Greene recently about the upcoming FETC show in Orlando, Florida:
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Top Five Reasons to Cover FETC 2009:
1. Many great stories about classroom challenges and ed-tech under one roof
2. Discover innovative ways to improve teaching during a tight economy
3. Secure informative quotes from inspiring speakers
4. Report on the latest ed-tech tools, tactics and trends
5. Gather unique anecdotes from local educators and the nation’s top ed-tech professionals
One of the largest conferences in the nation devoted entirely to educational technology is fast approaching. FETC 2009, The Educational Technology Conference in Florida, will take place Jan. 21-24, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. Register for press credentials now and allow your audience to live (and learn) the experience through you!
Media representatives and bloggers are encouraged to attend and see the latest in educational technology. There is no cost for media registration; those interested can register online at www.fetc.org (click on Press and then go to Credentials). Please note that media representatives and bloggers are required to register and will not be admitted into any FETC venues without a press badge.
We hope you will consider attending and/or covering this important conference.
If you have any questions, please contact Rick Oppenheim at (850) 386-9100 or FETCpress@1105media.com.
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This makes it even tougher on a man not able to attend the conference this year. I will do my best as an outsider to support this great event however. There will be a magnitude of great information and organizations on hand, so stay tuned for further coverage.
Chris Dede, Wirth Professor of Learning Technologies, will be speaking about emerging interactive technology and it’s role in the educational field at this year’s FETC.
The following is and excerpt from The Journal’s interview with Mr. Dede. To read the full interview click here.
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THE Journal: How do you define emerging interactive media?
Chris Dede: These are largely Web 2.0 types of media that are oriented towards knowledge creation, sharing, and evolution. Technologies as disparate as YouTube, broadcasting, and social justice sites, for example, are all built on the same underlying structure of community learning, despite the fact that each one’s superficial characteristics look pretty different than the next. In this FETC session I’m going to sketch a few other examples like this to show that each has a common, underlying structure. If you learn to use one of them well, then you have a head start when it comes to using the others.
THE Journal: Do educators struggle with this concept?
Dede: Educators are often worried about somehow losing control, which can take different forms. For example, administrators worry that students might go to places they shouldn’t be on the Web. Teachers are concerned that students will move to topics outside of the prepared curriculum, thus putting the instructor in the position of not being able to answer questions. Students can also shift the curriculum to topics that they’re interested in–and that don’t match the planned course topics–which can also cause concerns for the teacher.
THE Journal: How can educators use emerging interactive media to their advantage?
Dede: Part of it is acknowledging that you’re in a community that creates and shares knowledge, as opposed to being in a hierarchy where an expert pours knowledge into the minds of novices. Teachers and administrators who are willing to risk moving away from that hierarchical control to having authority that’s based on experience and expertise usually wind up with engaged students who learn both in and out of school. As a result, much can be accomplished in the classroom, without the teacher having to worry about how to teach his or her students how to use technology.
THE Journal: What are immersive interfaces?
Dede: Immersion is the subjective experience that finds someone engaged in a real, comprehensive experience. For example, if you were playing an interactive game online, and if someone asks you where you are, you wouldn’t say, “I’m sitting in my chair.” You would tell him or her where you “are” in the game itself, thus immersing yourself in the online experience. In such situations, your sense of presence and identity shift from the everyday environment to the immersive environment.