The pros and cons of mediated forms of engagement:
- How and to what effect do children's embodied / material interactions interplay with their virtual / mediated ones?
- What are some of the cognitive, emotional, social, and physical impacts of mediated engagement on the developing child?
Kaveri Subrahmanyam
Cal State Uni / Childrens Digital Media Center LA
- Looks at informal uses of media, in school, at home etc.
- Her question she is thinking about - do learning effects in informal spaces transfer to formal settings? For example, informal writing often takes place online, yet school assessments are usually pen and paper. How does that effect learning?
- Looking at multitasking on the computer. Showing trends that when kids are multitasking with social media they are actually doing a better job in reading comprehension than single tasks conditions.
- Multi tasking and executive skills in adolescents - sexuality, media, identity. How kids are utilizing online interactions in social spaces to further core developmental tasks. For example, social networking tasks study.
LynnSchofield Clark
Uni of Denver
- Media use and family - family apprehension around media.
- Currently interested in the participation gap. Finished writing a book manuscript called ' Parenting in the Digital Age'. Had send first chapter to the book to an acquaintance, a college professor - it was how middle income and low income families negotiate media use in households.
He told about a lower income kid who got on very well with his mother - played first person shooter with his mother and often shot his mother! Healthy way to express relationship, and frustrations. He took this story to middle class parents at a group, and they freaked out, they immediately related it to violence, when we should be looking at it differently.
- The 'risk society' and the rise of an increasing marketplace that fragments our networks.
- Risk in relation to 'courage' - how do parents see themselves as courageous - being uncertain about technology is not necessarily a negative thing, but instead a moment of opportunity to connect and learn with their children? How to change the discourse in this direction.
Sara Grimes
Uni of Toronto
- Background in political economy version of cultural studies. Childrens cultural text, artifacts, implementation and management.
- had done work on virtual worlds for kids and the rules around them. how terms of service conflict with game designers
- risk aversion strategies surrounding privacy.
- opportunities afforded in restricted spaces - articulating children's rights, freedom of expression etc. Possibility of these sites to contribute to democratization of mass culture to allow kids to share culture at a grand scale.
- Impotus currently to bring kids into a public domain to allow for creation, but terms of service, COPPA etc doesn't help with this. How do we come up with better practices to find the best practices that respect kids cultural rights but still be safe
Danah Boyd
Microsoft Research
- Ethnographic work, question assumptions about frames that cultural work does with regards to kids and technology.
- Look at what is happening in the space of bullying. Interesting takeaway - kids understand bullying. Things and labels like 'drama, punking, gaming' assumes and puts people in roles of victim vs purpetrator when often the labels are not that distinct - don't just lump it into the frame of bullying.
- digital is not actually the space where most of the bullying happens, it just makes it more VISIBLE to adults than ever before.
Other thing she is working on is human trafficking and sex crimes against children. She wants to challenge the notion that parents are not always good actors. Often it's the kid running away from a parent due to abuse, or a parent pimping a kid out.
COPPA - quantative survey work - result of most general purpose sites excluding kids under 13. A huge chunk of these sites including skype, gmail, FB, etc parents want the kids to have access so they can talk to family members - parents end up helping kids circumvent age restrictions. FTC has made it clear the innovation for the under 13 market has become non-existent because of COPPA.
Sandra Calvert
Georgetown Uni
- currently focusing on how very young children learn to read a screen.
- obesity crisis.
Both of these lines of work makes her interested in the role of characters in childrens media. Relationships that children form with these characters including STEM with Elmo. Started doing social networking studies after seeing college students were not listening to the class but having fun on FB. So did a FB study.
1. they mainly learn. Not always creating, instead mostly lurking and watching. The 'like' button is a great idea because at least lurkers can give themselves a little 'trace' identity to show they are browsing.
2. They talk - still one to one communication with friends.
3. Not doing so well in class. Get online first thing, check out FB. Number of friends is phenomenal - many have 1000 'friends'.
Technology is changing but issues are not. Was interested in identity and gender. Boys play more, girls talk more. Ways they interacted was very strained in study when they were interacting on a virtual world.
Christine Greenhow
Uni of Maryland
- focuses on older kids - interested in child to teen connections. Should not look at divisions between younger kids and older kids, but convergent mediated behavior and how older kids influence younger kids.
- Wants to bridge the gap between educators and education. Wanting to change the old 'push' of information in education. How are kids using social network sites? Are there things that are of value that educators should identify as learning value?
- Is there social capital in these networks? How to approach social capital at a younger age? How to induct kids into a community of practice?
- how does our definition of literacy need to change?
- Worked on prototype social networking app 'hotdish' - will kids interested in environmental science go to this online space and become civically engaged? This is about taking learning outside of schools into the communities. Studies found this prototype education did help in informal learning.
DISCUSSION
'being alone together' - more privileged families believe in following the roles. Lower status incomes don't trust the rules and tend to be more flexible.
Going Solo by Eric Kleinenburg - more parents are living alone than ever before. More kids have their own bedroom than ever before. They have so much more solo time in the home that social media is seen as a way that they are able to connect - it clearly displays the desire for connection and how technology allows for adaption.
Family involvement - discussion that Facebook changed the way kids and parents involve in social networks.
Lower economic schools example in NYC - found there weren't many computers in schools, but it's actually that the kids do have the latest devices, it's just figuring out the way to use it. Teacher has no control over these devices, communication, and often students. If the device is taken away, often the parent complains. An early popular device was the sidekick, which was very community driven. now you see high end devices such as androids, which are not as collaborative but more consumptive devices.
Showing posts with label Learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Learning. Show all posts
Friday, November 11, 2011
JGC - Interaction and Simulation
Discussion about the transfer problem in simulation. Think of it in terms of 'when do you introduce simulation' - for example do we introduce simulations early on, eg in science, OR do we give them real world experience (eg the stress of mixing two dangerous chemicals together) then introduce simulation? That way it might be more impactful.
For younger kids, the virtual world is the REAL world. In that case, you can't really say, 'virtual' and 'real'.
aka - based on age, simulation has a different role.
Sometimes the most simple simulation might be better than something that is more graphically real.
What is Play for young kids and the meaning of social interaction?
For younger kids the role of an imaginary friend can be very self serving. Also can depend on environment - eg at a preschool there might be different environments that encourage different play - (whatever you want, or more restricted, taking turns).
- study of the idea of 'friendships' - it's the quality of friendship that needs to be seen as important rather than the 'number'
- younger kids, they see one or two people such as parents that can fulfill all their needs. As you get older, they identify friends for different purposes.
For younger kids, the virtual world is the REAL world. In that case, you can't really say, 'virtual' and 'real'.
aka - based on age, simulation has a different role.
Sometimes the most simple simulation might be better than something that is more graphically real.
What is Play for young kids and the meaning of social interaction?
For younger kids the role of an imaginary friend can be very self serving. Also can depend on environment - eg at a preschool there might be different environments that encourage different play - (whatever you want, or more restricted, taking turns).
- study of the idea of 'friendships' - it's the quality of friendship that needs to be seen as important rather than the 'number'
- younger kids, they see one or two people such as parents that can fulfill all their needs. As you get older, they identify friends for different purposes.
JGC - Meaningful Engagement: What's going on in today's social networks
What's going on in today's social networks and online communities for young children:
- what social structures and dynamics prevail in today's online communities and social networks?
- In what ways do these structures and dynamics affect peer and/or parent interactions?
- What are the affordances of online communities and social networks for discovery, learning, and development?
- young kids - can they make a disctinction between a real and virtual environment? Sandra Okita from Columbia Uni - doing a study with robots vs humans -- around 3 years old where they consider the worlds the same. this changes around 5 years.
- Andres Monroy Hernandez - build Scratch at MIT, now at Microsoft research. One thing consistent on Scratch community is idea of kids building other kids works, kids collaboration. The basic building block is the idea of building from scratch, and also building (remixes) of existing work. Around 30% are remixes. While kid's don't care about intellectual property, they're very proud of their work and get very upset if they feel content is simply taken or stolen. How to solve this is a question they have. For example, give automatic contribution to original people's work. But original users actually wanted personal attribution - eg personal 'thank you to ____ for creating _____ originally" - so remixing is not just about building about existing work, but collaborating, acknowledging, etc.
Some kids have built 'companies' on Scratch - decide to create a project collaboratively through remixing. eg. a girl from russia who is good at drawing posted drawings to the site, uploaded to for people, ended up creating a 'company' with a girl from UK - then everyone wanted to be in the 'company' so they decided to open for applications. That's how companies started on scratch!
Kate Crawford from UNSW - new study where they replicated the EU kids study - the AU kids online study. Had a smaller sample of 400. Aged 9-16 conducted 6 months after the most recent 25 nation study in Europe. Interesting points:
- Aussie kids are amongst the youngest users amongst 25 countries compared.
- very high for mobile access, handheld devices.
- average use about an hour a day, and they're feeling guilty about it! 55% said they were spending more time online, and had tried unsuccessfully to spend less time online.
- top activities - still school work then videos, then games, then emailing, then social networking (around 63%) but 29% of 9 and 10 year olds are using social network sites. When it is 11-12 year olds, 59% have a profile. What does this mean in terms of regulation in terms of under 13 and privacy - also it's the start of secondary school that seems to act as a 'trigger'.
- more kids are using private settings.
- relationship between parents and kids - strong connective tissue - 2/3 of parents said they were talking regularly with kids about their internet use, with particular focus on younger girls and older boys.
- majority of kid enjoyed these discussions, but 48% said this was kind of limiting to their ability to create online.
Read more at
Kati London - Zynga
- used to work at area code - a cross media company that was platform agnostic - involved real world systems coming to life through game play (eg data on sharks that can be utilized on a site or game)
- worked on a 9-15 year old MMO game called 'Code of Everand' - kids 9-11 about road safety - were the highest percentage of kids getting injured or killed when crossing the street. Notion of 'road safety' considered a bit babyish for this age group.
- children in this world were called 'path finders' - they had to work together to navigate landscape to keep other people safe. Mechanics of play required route planning, etc, but the core game behaviour itself was using behaviour of crossing the street - using looking left and right mechanisms, using traps and spells to mitigate dangers, and get rewarded by 'crossing' over the path to the next level. s
Read more at http://www.technologyreview.com/tr35/profile.aspx?TRID=964
- what social structures and dynamics prevail in today's online communities and social networks?
- In what ways do these structures and dynamics affect peer and/or parent interactions?
- What are the affordances of online communities and social networks for discovery, learning, and development?
- young kids - can they make a disctinction between a real and virtual environment? Sandra Okita from Columbia Uni - doing a study with robots vs humans -- around 3 years old where they consider the worlds the same. this changes around 5 years.
- Andres Monroy Hernandez - build Scratch at MIT, now at Microsoft research. One thing consistent on Scratch community is idea of kids building other kids works, kids collaboration. The basic building block is the idea of building from scratch, and also building (remixes) of existing work. Around 30% are remixes. While kid's don't care about intellectual property, they're very proud of their work and get very upset if they feel content is simply taken or stolen. How to solve this is a question they have. For example, give automatic contribution to original people's work. But original users actually wanted personal attribution - eg personal 'thank you to ____ for creating _____ originally" - so remixing is not just about building about existing work, but collaborating, acknowledging, etc.
Some kids have built 'companies' on Scratch - decide to create a project collaboratively through remixing. eg. a girl from russia who is good at drawing posted drawings to the site, uploaded to for people, ended up creating a 'company' with a girl from UK - then everyone wanted to be in the 'company' so they decided to open for applications. That's how companies started on scratch!
Kate Crawford from UNSW - new study where they replicated the EU kids study - the AU kids online study. Had a smaller sample of 400. Aged 9-16 conducted 6 months after the most recent 25 nation study in Europe. Interesting points:
- Aussie kids are amongst the youngest users amongst 25 countries compared.
- very high for mobile access, handheld devices.
- average use about an hour a day, and they're feeling guilty about it! 55% said they were spending more time online, and had tried unsuccessfully to spend less time online.
- top activities - still school work then videos, then games, then emailing, then social networking (around 63%) but 29% of 9 and 10 year olds are using social network sites. When it is 11-12 year olds, 59% have a profile. What does this mean in terms of regulation in terms of under 13 and privacy - also it's the start of secondary school that seems to act as a 'trigger'.
- more kids are using private settings.
- relationship between parents and kids - strong connective tissue - 2/3 of parents said they were talking regularly with kids about their internet use, with particular focus on younger girls and older boys.
- majority of kid enjoyed these discussions, but 48% said this was kind of limiting to their ability to create online.
Read more at
Kati London - Zynga
- used to work at area code - a cross media company that was platform agnostic - involved real world systems coming to life through game play (eg data on sharks that can be utilized on a site or game)
- worked on a 9-15 year old MMO game called 'Code of Everand' - kids 9-11 about road safety - were the highest percentage of kids getting injured or killed when crossing the street. Notion of 'road safety' considered a bit babyish for this age group.
- children in this world were called 'path finders' - they had to work together to navigate landscape to keep other people safe. Mechanics of play required route planning, etc, but the core game behaviour itself was using behaviour of crossing the street - using looking left and right mechanisms, using traps and spells to mitigate dangers, and get rewarded by 'crossing' over the path to the next level. s
Read more at http://www.technologyreview.com/tr35/profile.aspx?TRID=964
JGC - definition of social networking
Discussion about the definition of what is a Social Networking Site (SNS) and how we need to merge the differences in platforms.
Steer away from trying to define tools and technology and focus on patterns and practices. For example, what are the patterns of pre-schoolers in how they use games, sites etc. What distinct patterns begin to emerge when looking at these behaviors across different technologies?
JGC paper writers want to still include tools and technologies - but need to be careful if we define a technology in a paper it might be obsolete in a few years.
Regardless of technology and social network - what are the developmental needs of children at these ages. Eg identity construction at different age groups. What's really important to preK? an 8 year old in terms of identity? How are 'friendship' patterns and kinds of interactions you see with boys and girls different, for example? What sort of needs are children going to bring in terms of the self?
A new paper released on digital use for young kids:
http://www.parentinginthedigitalage.com/2011/10/new-research-from-common-sense-media-media-use-0-8-years-of-age/
Steer away from trying to define tools and technology and focus on patterns and practices. For example, what are the patterns of pre-schoolers in how they use games, sites etc. What distinct patterns begin to emerge when looking at these behaviors across different technologies?
JGC paper writers want to still include tools and technologies - but need to be careful if we define a technology in a paper it might be obsolete in a few years.
Regardless of technology and social network - what are the developmental needs of children at these ages. Eg identity construction at different age groups. What's really important to preK? an 8 year old in terms of identity? How are 'friendship' patterns and kinds of interactions you see with boys and girls different, for example? What sort of needs are children going to bring in terms of the self?
A new paper released on digital use for young kids:
http://www.parentinginthedigitalage.com/2011/10/new-research-from-common-sense-media-media-use-0-8-years-of-age/
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Sandbox Summit: Technology Panel - Do Kids Need More or Less?
Technology Panel: Do Kids Need More or Less?
Sarah deWitt, PBS Kids
Every technology is a new opportunity for learning.
The word ‘transmedia’ is being used a lot currently. PBS Kids recognizes transmedia is not just multiplatform – it’s about making connections through story to let kids engage in those worlds.
Eg. Super Why TV and Super Why App is very connected.
Currently has a grant from the US Dept. of Education – focusing on content research.
Working on ‘transmedia suites’ – take a video clip, mobile game, smartboard game etc. and try to connect them all. Aim: A kid who interacts with two of these will have a better educational experience than a child who interacts with one.
Exploring touch screens – tech is more intuitive and gives the kids more control and ownership. Showed an example of an app ‘Martha Speaks’ – were startled how quickly kids adapted. In pre and post tests saw vocab improvement of 30% over two weeks. Shows how powerful this platform is.
Launching Prankster Planet (TEC) on Monday – doing some experiments with transmedia, using animated interstitials from show that pushes kids to interactive that connects to the broadcast each day.
Understanding power of research by doing a load of research. Also thinking a lot about how this tech can encourage other kinds of behavior.
What can some of these games inspire kids to do outside of media? How do we inspire real world behavior? Used a webcam game as an example. (Wild Kratts).
Rachel Schiff
Senior Program Manager
Transmedia Foundation Applications - XBox / Kinect
Kinect – goal is to have completely natural interface. Goals in building this – power of connecting your body. Make sure it can be played with others.
There’s been some cool hacking of Kinect – doctors figuring out how to use their computers when they’re meant to be ‘sterile’. At MIT use iRobot to hack up a roomba to build a 3D model of a room.
Interaction gives more of a human experience, but at a base level, it takes kids off the couch – it’s a full body, physical activity. Loads of neat real-world tie in. Sports you are exposed to in Kinect may encourage kids to try the real world experience. You become aware of real world opportunities you would not have known about before.
Kinect games encourage co-play. All the people in the room can play the game. You can walk into the room, be recognized and immediately play the game.
They see a lot of potential to connect these experiences with other things going on (transmedia) – tie it to larger things going on. Eg. The teacher can notify the parent that you are learning about Mexico, then when you play Kinect, a sports game might even simply be set in Mexico to provide some educational relational experiences.
Wedny Bronfin
Nook Color: Kids
Nook Color is a full color touch screen e-reader device. It now has apps, so you can shop for apps on the device. It’s based on android so you can do web browsing and web video also. They don’t create content, but offer the plaform.
There’s a nook kids app on iPad so kids can access books on multiplatform.
They currently have 350 picture books and 12000 chapter books in their ecosystem.
Parents don’t want ‘empty calorie screen time’ – nook kids helps define that. Kids can read digitally. All picture books are in landscape display to protect original art work. Some books have narration activated. New software update means interactivity is built into some of these books.
4. Alan Gershenfeld,
Founder and President, E-Line Media
National STEM video game challenge (done with JGC and other partners) Had a national challenge where games created a game that also helped educate - eg. some kids created a game about sustainability, one did one about the ocean etc.
Sarah deWitt, PBS Kids
Every technology is a new opportunity for learning.
The word ‘transmedia’ is being used a lot currently. PBS Kids recognizes transmedia is not just multiplatform – it’s about making connections through story to let kids engage in those worlds.
Eg. Super Why TV and Super Why App is very connected.
Currently has a grant from the US Dept. of Education – focusing on content research.
Working on ‘transmedia suites’ – take a video clip, mobile game, smartboard game etc. and try to connect them all. Aim: A kid who interacts with two of these will have a better educational experience than a child who interacts with one.
Exploring touch screens – tech is more intuitive and gives the kids more control and ownership. Showed an example of an app ‘Martha Speaks’ – were startled how quickly kids adapted. In pre and post tests saw vocab improvement of 30% over two weeks. Shows how powerful this platform is.
Launching Prankster Planet (TEC) on Monday – doing some experiments with transmedia, using animated interstitials from show that pushes kids to interactive that connects to the broadcast each day.
Understanding power of research by doing a load of research. Also thinking a lot about how this tech can encourage other kinds of behavior.
What can some of these games inspire kids to do outside of media? How do we inspire real world behavior? Used a webcam game as an example. (Wild Kratts).
Rachel Schiff
Senior Program Manager
Transmedia Foundation Applications - XBox / Kinect
Kinect – goal is to have completely natural interface. Goals in building this – power of connecting your body. Make sure it can be played with others.
There’s been some cool hacking of Kinect – doctors figuring out how to use their computers when they’re meant to be ‘sterile’. At MIT use iRobot to hack up a roomba to build a 3D model of a room.
Interaction gives more of a human experience, but at a base level, it takes kids off the couch – it’s a full body, physical activity. Loads of neat real-world tie in. Sports you are exposed to in Kinect may encourage kids to try the real world experience. You become aware of real world opportunities you would not have known about before.
Kinect games encourage co-play. All the people in the room can play the game. You can walk into the room, be recognized and immediately play the game.
They see a lot of potential to connect these experiences with other things going on (transmedia) – tie it to larger things going on. Eg. The teacher can notify the parent that you are learning about Mexico, then when you play Kinect, a sports game might even simply be set in Mexico to provide some educational relational experiences.
Wedny Bronfin
Nook Color: Kids
Nook Color is a full color touch screen e-reader device. It now has apps, so you can shop for apps on the device. It’s based on android so you can do web browsing and web video also. They don’t create content, but offer the plaform.
There’s a nook kids app on iPad so kids can access books on multiplatform.
They currently have 350 picture books and 12000 chapter books in their ecosystem.
Parents don’t want ‘empty calorie screen time’ – nook kids helps define that. Kids can read digitally. All picture books are in landscape display to protect original art work. Some books have narration activated. New software update means interactivity is built into some of these books.
4. Alan Gershenfeld,
Founder and President, E-Line Media
National STEM video game challenge (done with JGC and other partners) Had a national challenge where games created a game that also helped educate - eg. some kids created a game about sustainability, one did one about the ocean etc.
Sandbox Summit: Learning 3.0
Learning 3.0: Why Technology Belongs in Every Classroom
Karen Kator – Director of the Office of Educational Technology, US Dept. Of Education
US Dept. Education: Technology plan published in November is called “Learning: Powered by Technology”
This book is available online at: http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010
How are we thinking of technology in the context of the US education system? How do we create education systems so we regain a bunch of time for play and interesting contextualized environments inside schools?
Dangers of being ‘strapped’ to technology and making it define who we are. Are we just talking about big tech or are we talking about a playground where we can discover what’s best about ourselves?
Obama in state of the union focused on innovation, education and infrastructure. These things used to power up the nation. Now we have a situation that we have an incredible amount of inequity. Schools missing 50% of our kids or more - a quarter or kids drop out of high school. 30 – 40% of kids who do go on to post-secondary need remedial help.
++ Digital Media & Opportunity ++
Social Media tools really powered up the opportunity for people to co-ordinate their efforts in Egypt this February. Provided ways to tell stories that we might not otherwise of heard. Tsunami in Japan had people publishing posts, photos, videos everywhere immediately. This offered also the opportunity the hope in the midst of destruction.
Superbowl this year was touted as transition between old and new media. This year, ads were not just ads but needed to figure out how they stretched the time? Used commercial for movie ‘Rio’ as example as how they tied in an Angry Birds promotion. Thinking about the ‘before, during, and after’ of advertising.
Decora Eagles is another example of digital media opportunities – it’s a live webcam that shows an eagle’s nest – it’s on 24 hours.
These kinds of opportunities can really the change the ways we think about powerful learning.
++ Learners of the 21st Century ++
Quest to Learn (school in NYC)
Designed to support digital lives of young people and their capacity for learning.
++ Mobility ++
- 24 hour access
- only have had tablets for one year and look at impact
- social interactions everywhere for learning – not just twitter, but things like epicurious, the strobist (lighting)
- proliferation of powerful, highly produced digital content is changing everything.
++ Big Data ++
Big data we think about today is location data. In education we have not begun to touch the opportunities for thinking about how we use data and help us help students learn better. We are at this transition between a print based classroom and a digital learning environment. Called it a ‘digital inflection point’.
This digital media is beyond interation it is a ‘guiding interface’. It doesn’t mean we ditch learning from people or books, but that we have a new opportunity to design and develop powerful learning environments. Focus of control can shift from teacher to the student.
++ Learning ++
How can we personalize the learning environment? With the internet we can bring in a long tail of interest. In some schools, they outgrow their library very quickly. Need ability for fluid research and analysis as they go.
How do we create an environment that is a universal design for learning? A book is inherently disabled - it can't read for you etc. Digital environments can scaffold lessons, provide greater access to content and demonstrate and help understand content in a variety of ways. Eg games have a perfect place in this world order.
The opportunity to create an environment that merges formal and informal learning. How do we give this credence inside of school?
++ Assessment++
Measuring what matters. Measuring the full range of standards. Embedded into opportunity of what students are having to learn. Sees games as one giant assessment engine.
Opportunity to create persistent learning records that STUDENTS OWN. Family have the copy and rights to that persistent learning record.
++ Teaching Environment ++
Technology used to augment human performance. Helps crunch data, connects them to what they need, when they need it, scaffolds students. Help them better connect to each other. Right now in schools, teachers are limited and not powered with the best technologies. We want tech to 'power up' the role of teachers.
++ Infrastructure ++
24/7, community wide, more access points. Devices come and go, but where can students get access to the tools and resources they need?
Print to Digital - how do we make sure that what we do is productive as possible for students.
What's killing education is the seat time to competency - everything is measured in the time you spend, rather than focusing on competence-based learning.
+ The Future of Learning ++
multiple pathways - multiple instructors
multiple devices - multiple environments - multiple sources
Learner centered.
++ Learning Position System ++
Can we create something instead of a GPS with a map - take those things off and have learning progressions from numeration, calculus etc. Could you create a map that maps out all of mathematics? Where are you in the whole scheme of mathematics? How do we create this notion of a Learning Positioning System?
Dept of Education is improving access, creating more transparency, focusing on the people on hte ground, investing in rapid improvement.
Karen Kator – Director of the Office of Educational Technology, US Dept. Of Education
US Dept. Education: Technology plan published in November is called “Learning: Powered by Technology”
This book is available online at: http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010
How are we thinking of technology in the context of the US education system? How do we create education systems so we regain a bunch of time for play and interesting contextualized environments inside schools?
Dangers of being ‘strapped’ to technology and making it define who we are. Are we just talking about big tech or are we talking about a playground where we can discover what’s best about ourselves?
Obama in state of the union focused on innovation, education and infrastructure. These things used to power up the nation. Now we have a situation that we have an incredible amount of inequity. Schools missing 50% of our kids or more - a quarter or kids drop out of high school. 30 – 40% of kids who do go on to post-secondary need remedial help.
++ Digital Media & Opportunity ++
Social Media tools really powered up the opportunity for people to co-ordinate their efforts in Egypt this February. Provided ways to tell stories that we might not otherwise of heard. Tsunami in Japan had people publishing posts, photos, videos everywhere immediately. This offered also the opportunity the hope in the midst of destruction.
Superbowl this year was touted as transition between old and new media. This year, ads were not just ads but needed to figure out how they stretched the time? Used commercial for movie ‘Rio’ as example as how they tied in an Angry Birds promotion. Thinking about the ‘before, during, and after’ of advertising.
Decora Eagles is another example of digital media opportunities – it’s a live webcam that shows an eagle’s nest – it’s on 24 hours.
These kinds of opportunities can really the change the ways we think about powerful learning.
++ Learners of the 21st Century ++
Quest to Learn (school in NYC)
Designed to support digital lives of young people and their capacity for learning.
++ Mobility ++
- 24 hour access
- only have had tablets for one year and look at impact
- social interactions everywhere for learning – not just twitter, but things like epicurious, the strobist (lighting)
- proliferation of powerful, highly produced digital content is changing everything.
++ Big Data ++
Big data we think about today is location data. In education we have not begun to touch the opportunities for thinking about how we use data and help us help students learn better. We are at this transition between a print based classroom and a digital learning environment. Called it a ‘digital inflection point’.
This digital media is beyond interation it is a ‘guiding interface’. It doesn’t mean we ditch learning from people or books, but that we have a new opportunity to design and develop powerful learning environments. Focus of control can shift from teacher to the student.
++ Learning ++
How can we personalize the learning environment? With the internet we can bring in a long tail of interest. In some schools, they outgrow their library very quickly. Need ability for fluid research and analysis as they go.
How do we create an environment that is a universal design for learning? A book is inherently disabled - it can't read for you etc. Digital environments can scaffold lessons, provide greater access to content and demonstrate and help understand content in a variety of ways. Eg games have a perfect place in this world order.
The opportunity to create an environment that merges formal and informal learning. How do we give this credence inside of school?
++ Assessment++
Measuring what matters. Measuring the full range of standards. Embedded into opportunity of what students are having to learn. Sees games as one giant assessment engine.
Opportunity to create persistent learning records that STUDENTS OWN. Family have the copy and rights to that persistent learning record.
++ Teaching Environment ++
Technology used to augment human performance. Helps crunch data, connects them to what they need, when they need it, scaffolds students. Help them better connect to each other. Right now in schools, teachers are limited and not powered with the best technologies. We want tech to 'power up' the role of teachers.
++ Infrastructure ++
24/7, community wide, more access points. Devices come and go, but where can students get access to the tools and resources they need?
Print to Digital - how do we make sure that what we do is productive as possible for students.
What's killing education is the seat time to competency - everything is measured in the time you spend, rather than focusing on competence-based learning.
+ The Future of Learning ++
lifelong - preschool - k12 - postsecondary - career - life
Formal - informal - in school - out of school
multiple pathways - multiple instructors
multiple devices - multiple environments - multiple sources
Learner centered.
++ Learning Position System ++
Can we create something instead of a GPS with a map - take those things off and have learning progressions from numeration, calculus etc. Could you create a map that maps out all of mathematics? Where are you in the whole scheme of mathematics? How do we create this notion of a Learning Positioning System?
Dept of Education is improving access, creating more transparency, focusing on the people on hte ground, investing in rapid improvement.
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