Posts tagged distance learning
Technology is Changing the Way We Learn
Cross-State Cooperation
October 14, 2011
WASHINGTON — Most distance education experts agree that the eventual solution to the new requirement that colleges be authorized by every state where they operate is reciprocity — states will agree to accept each others’ authorization, as they do for driver’s licenses and other credentials.
But although some efforts are already under way, finding a reciprocity agreement that appeals to a large majority of states will be a challenge, state officials and representatives of interstate associations said in two panel discussions Thursday at the annual meeting of the Presidents’ Forum.
(Continue Reading: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/10/14/presidents_forum_discusses_barriers_to_state_authorization_reciprocity)
High School Students Learning by Skype
Students from Brad Peach’s ninth grade World Geography class in McKinney, Texas, gathered in their high school classroom on a Sunday night. On a screen in front of them, teenagers in Siberia dished to their Texan peers about life in eastern Russia.
Seeing the faces of students across the globe and learning about a culture firsthand brought his students to life, Peach says.
[Read more about technology in the classroom.]
“They wanted to sit right in front [and] be right in the camera; they wanted to really interact,” Peach notes. “This thing is drawing kids out who might be a little wallflowerish.”
The students chatted about sports, school, and food using Skype, a Web-based phone and video service. Skype started in 2003 as a voice service and quickly expanded to include video calls and mobile apps. The service now averages 145 million users worldwide each month.
(Continue Reading: http://education.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/education/high-schools/articles/2011/10/11/high-school-students-learning-by-skype)
I think [online learning] is going to become more and more the way that everyone learns,” says Hanford, “I think it’s an incredibly important option to offer in particular to ‘unconventional college students,’ but truthfully unconventional college students are now the majority.
(via world-shaker)
Survey shows public supports teachers, not online education
Jeanne Allen, president of the Center for Education Reform, said the PDK/Gallup poll results are somewhat misleading, because of the lack of context that pollsters provide.
“The public allegedly supports more technology use in schools but opposes online learning,” said Allen. “In reality, the poll does little to define it, inferring that such a notion is about learning at home, rather than learning in a fully integrated online environment supported by professionals.”
In other words, many people still don’t have a proper definition for what elearning really is.
And this is what makes my job difficult, especially when about 30% of faculty (on average) say they would never want to teach an online course.
(Source: world-shaker)
TEDxMedellín - Larry Cooperman: The Internet and the Future of Higher Education (by TEDxTalks). Cooperman is director of OpenCourseWare, UC Irvine.
“We have to begin to imagine a world in which anyone could learn anything, anywhere, anytime for free, and this is the promise of open education.”
“‘What is the future of the university?’ The way I see it there is going to be a formal sector and an informal sector, and they’re going to play off against each other, in a healthy way.”
(via visualturn)
