In the first segment in this series, we covered the pedagogy behind student videogame development. We addressed how learning as doing, collaborative & peer learning, tutoring, ownership, and publication are critical components to game development. We also addressed benefits of videogame making, including content area knowledge acquisition, students as producers of information, and the potential of game-making for encouraging STEM-related careers for women and minorities.
As part of an ongoing effort to assess the role of technology in education, the United States Department of Education (ED) has started seeking comments from those who work closely with it. Last week ED sent out a request for opinions from the public, looking to "hear your ideas on the integration of technology in education." We at THE Journal see this as a fantastic opportunity for educators and administrators to bolster federal support for ed tech and encourage all of our readers to participate.
How can teachers really create assignments that demonstrate what students know both in content and in technology skill development? And how can these assignments be rigorous, accessible, and holistic--yet also specific--and all the while remain student-centered and integrate technology freely?
After 25 years of hearing the same calls for action in education technology, I'm throwing down the gauntlet.
- By Therese Mageau
- 01/11/11
Formative assessment began long before blended learning. But formative assessment is particularly in the spotlight now because it features so prominently in emerging blended learning programs. In fact, it's hard to imagine effective blended learning without strong formative assessment at its foundation.
- By Michael Horn, Heather Staker
- 11/14/12
Early childhood education expert and FETC speaker Gail Lovely shares her favorite free web tools for students, which require nothing more than a computer with internet access.
Let's have another go at the FCC and this time let’s lay out EXACTLY what the FCC needs to do in order to fix the connectivity problem facing K-12 schools in the U.S.
- By Cathie Norris, Elliot Soloway
- 03/25/13
Biometrics are among the latest implementations for school security. There are many issues to consider, which have been voiced by parents, students, and civil liberties groups. It's an international issue. Just look at LeaveThemKidsAlone.com, and you will see the extent of the uproar raised in the United Kingdom regarding fingerprinting of children in schools. For the most part, questions are the same ones being posed in our own country. Blogs are in use to discuss the issue in the United States and abroad, such as Pippa King's Biometrics in Schools.
- By Patricia Deubel
- 04/10/07
Today, as the planet moves headlong into the Age of Mobilism, K-12 schools ignore mobile technologies at the school’s peril. But what to do? Our mission in this blog is to provide ideas, visions, strategies, tips, and resources to help schools be mobile savvy and take advantage of the opportunities mobile technologies afford!
- By Cathie Norris, Elliot Soloway
- 12/10/12
In the initial launch of Collaboration 2.0, Dave Nagel (2008) reported that during 2008 educators can look for "a continued trend toward more and more hosted, mashed-up, collaborative tools in education, from assessment platforms to collaborative learning tools (such as blogs and wikis) to online delivery of audio and video to full-blown productivity tools, such as Google Apps for Education and others" (p. 2). Everything on the Web sounds good.
- By Patricia Deubel
- 03/19/08