Blog Juice for Educational Technology

I just watched Voices from the New American Schoolhouse trailer at YouTube after hearing about it at Boing Boing. The clip concerns a radial experiment in education taking place in Fairhaven. It’s a school where kids (of all ages) make the rules and decide what they want to learn and when.

Of course, I’ve heard about projects like this before, and we can find parallels in the history of universities (such as those of Bologna). Somehow, though, I’m skeptical. If I were 12 and allowed to “make my own lesson plan,” it would consist entirely of videogames and the occasional SF flick.

Michael Schrage of the MIT Media Lab wrote a piece for The Financial Times saying that there should be no computers in schools. He argues that billions could be saved by keeping useless technologies out of schools. As an educational technologist, I felt that I needed to address his critique.

 
I think his main argument is with educational software companies, but he fails to differentiate between them and between teachers using technology in the classroom. His article cites nothing other than his own opinions, but it is an interesting read nonetheless.

Another plug, but I couldn’t resist after reading Matt Barton’s review of the Steven Johnson book a couple posts down. I’d like to alert Kairos readers to a thread recently begun at if:book — the blog of the institute for the future of the book — where we have mounted a multi-post, ongoing critique of EBIGFY, in which Johnson himself is participating. We were moved to do this after witnessing the near-universal acclaim the book has received since publication. We’ve already come across numerous instances of it being assigned as essential reading for new media and design classes, in some cases by teachers who haven’t even read it. It seemed time for a more rigorous discussion…

Don’t blog around here no more–or face suspension! At least, that’s what students at Pope John XIII Regional High School were told by the school’s administration. Officially, the ban is intended to protect kids from “terrists and them thar predtors,” but we all know it’s just to protect the ego and, er, good reputation of the faculty and administrators. Supposedly some free speech folks are getting riled up about it, but I don’t see how the school will be able to put the clamp down on all these students using commercial blogging services. How would they know who was who?

A small plug for the new Games, Learning & Society program offered through the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Details here:

http://website.education.wisc.edu/gls/index.htm

Areas of study include digital literacies, digital game-based learning environments, gender and gameplay, and MMOGs.

The SWCA Awards Committee is pleased to announce the 2006 Achievement Award. The SWCA Achievement Award is presented annually on a competitive basis to a writing center director (or other leadership or supervisory position) at an educational institution in the Southeastern region for his or her outstanding service to the SWCA. Research and service contributions to the nominee’s writing center and the writing center community will also be considered. The winner will be recognized with a plaque and a check for $250 at the SWCA conference in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, February 16-18, 2006.

Dear Kairos Readers,

The Institute for the Future of the Book is pleased to announce the launch of next\text, a new project designed to encourage the creation of born-digital learning materials that will enhance, expand, and ultimately replace the printed textbook.

There are two stages to the next\text project. The first is a curated website showcasing significant projects currently in the field. The aim is to draw attention to a broad range of experiments that identify ways in which digital media and networks are expanding the potential of textbooks, redefining the role of teacher and student, and converging to create new ecologies for educational institutions. These areas include, but are in no way limited to: “expanded” multimedia textbooks; “open-source” textbooks continually improved by teachers and students; dynamic, networked textbooks with live or regularly updating components; collaborative work spaces; and multi-user games.