2 and a half hours but worth every minute – English subtitles available throughout
Month: October 2012
So how do you use technology in a classroom?
E-WOT blog asks
Wouldn’t it be great if we could see how others teach using technology and they could see what we do? How could we showcase this ? How could we share? Seeing someone else use technology in a classroom gives food for thought and ideas for implementation. What they do can really make you think or encourage you to further develop your own ideas
They describes examples with a couple of student teachers and dsescribed the the different styles they used for helping their students learn vocabulary whether it was using the computer first or practising the vocabulary and trying to find it on the screen
Moroccan education and the Challenges of Tomorrow: Are our Teachers Prepared?
Abdallah Zbir reflects on the different trends that are forming part of the discussion of educational reform worldwide including development and implementation of technologies across education. He discusses the role of different academic agendas, the role of vested interests in technology and how that will impact teachers and schools
The Thinking of today is a thinking of clicks and buttons. Of course, technology and web-based inventions have been occupying our privacy and have been directing us towards new ends. In the world of today, time and space have new dimensions in the course of our lives. Human activities are influenced now by new trends, and our experiences are centered on new concerns. Cellular phones, Geographical Positioning Systems, LCDs, and so on are offering new sources of information and new sorts and definitions of knowledge
Taghreedat partners with Meedan to provide international open education resources in Arabic
Mohamed Tazi reports on the announcement of a new initiative to develop high quality Arabic content.
This new agreement will allow Meedan, which has been working on building an online translation community since 2008, to focus its resources on program and software design and delivery. Taghreedat will work towards translating all online educational content and dialogue initiatives into Arabic through its active social media community of over 2500 volunteers.
Engaging the gender gap
Eric Sentell describes gender gaps that he has observed whilst he has been teaching across different institutions. He has observed that the female students are more interested and engaged whilst male student interact with their phones or stare out of the window. He is concerned about the development and ambition of his male students and wonders about possibilities for becoming unplugged from media culture
So for me, the gender gap raises not only economic concerns but also anxiety regarding my male students’ abilities to stick with problems. Complex problem-solving requires contemplation, and contemplation requires some engagement and persistence—like proofreading a one-line email before clicking send. This is especially true of most real-world adult problems; unlike video games or sports, they are rarely fun or entertaining to solve, and thus they require especially demanding forms of engagement and persistence.
Uzbekistan improves system of retraining teachers
UzDaily has a short article describing reform of teacher training and higher educational establishments. Plans include a mix of centres by sector and regional sectors
Regional centers will conduct trainings for pedagogic cadres, create modern methodical and information base in such areas as humanitarian science, mathematics, natural science, sociology, psychology, etc. They will also hold targeted courses on actual directions with use of modern technologies, including ICT and Internet.
Burundis push for universal education
Jocelyne Sambira of Africa Renewal Online reports about the opportunity for free education through cooperation with the Burundi government and partners such as Unicef offering facilities and educational materials. They point out that whilst the rates are higher in rural areas, the drop out rate is high. In some areas the drop out rates vary by gender and wonder about economic issues that may be affecting these decisions as well as maturity.
The problems compound across the entire education system, Mr. Wedenig explains. “If you have a low intake in early childhood development for instance, it is sure that you would have lower achievements and retention in primary school. If you have high dropouts in primary, low transition to secondary and high dropouts in secondary, obviously you will have a problem in terms of the quality not only for university and tertiary education, but also for teacher colleges and for the future of teaching.”
Adopting new technologies in class
IDentifEYE blog writes about a series of pilots and discuss use of QR codes and augmented reality in the classroom.
The project’s basic assumption is that online information matters – both the information we share on ourselves and the information that others share on us. From all this online information emerges our online identity. IDentifEYE’s aim is to start a dialogue with youngsters on online information and on online identities. IDentifEYE’s basic instruments are an Augmented Reality game and a lesson program.
One teacher had left a small clue about where to find information, some students watched other students and then began experimenting. They have noted that children seem more keen to experiment with new technologies whereas adults are a little more cautious and highlight the importance of being emotionally at ease with the technology.
Raising Jedi knights – re-thinking the goals and methods and child education
Agyei Tyehimba wonders about parenting and what it would be like if children were prepared to face the world learning like Jedi knights.
Notwithstanding white supremacy, the reason why so many (not ALL of them) of our young people find themselves lost, confused, and dysfunctional in the world is because we as their parents are not properly preparing them; frankly speaking, they are ill-equipped, and this reality sadly shows through the consistently poor decisions they make, their immaturity, their lack of initiative and motivation, and their inability to generally deal with life successfully. And this reality will continue until we become proactive in our parenting and creative in our approach to education. Essentially, such thinking would completely transform education as we know it, and result in the training of balanced and well-rounded young people, leaders and problem-solvers.
He wonders about initiation and the challenges that are dealt with and proposes a list of key areas that could be covered including self defense, public speaking and creating a plan to achieve goals.
DeGraff awarded $1 million NSF grant to continue linguistics research in Haiti
Peter Dizikes reports on the award of this grant to Michel DeGraff whose research has specialised in use and origins of Creole language.
Along with this research, DeGraff has helped initiate a project, Open Education Resources (OER), intended to develop Creole-language classroom tools. The NSF grant will enable OER to create and disseminate those tools in the so-called STEM fields: science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
One Change a Day 