Emerging+IT+for+education

=Emerging Information Technologies For Education= Tuesday, December 6, 2011 <>


 * Note: there is no class meeting on Tuesday, December 6th.** Professor Monroe is out of the country attending the International Conference on Information Systems so we will not hold a class session.

**Topic overview:**
The growth of ubiquitous internet connectivity, mobile computing devices, digital media, social media, and open source 'knowledge' in its many forms present tremendous opportunities to improve the way that the world learns, teaches, and grows. Your assignment today is to explore some of the ways that people and organizations are harnessing these technologies to rethink the ways in which the world approaches education and to share what you have found with your classmates and your instructor.

**Assignment:**
Rather than meet as a class on Tuesday, December 6th, we will use this opportunity to do independent research on innovative ways in which people are using information technologies to change and radically improve education around the world. We will share our findings in the IT in Education section of the wiki library.

Your assignment follows:

Part 1: look at two innovative uses of the internet to significantly improve education and reach those who have previously not had access to excellent teachers and teaching materials by watching two TED talks:
 * Review the TED talk by Salman Khan about 'Khan Academy'. http://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education.html
 * Review the TED talk by Richard Baraniuk on open source learning and the Connexions project. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/richard_baraniuk_on_open_source_learning.html

Part 2:
 * Do your own research on an innovative use of information technology for education of your choice. You can interpret the idea of 'education' broadly -- K-12, college, vocational, continuing adult education, professional training, etc. -- just be sure that there is a clear way to tie your example back to education in one way or another.
 * Use the template in the IT for Education section of the wiki library to post a summary and analysis of the example you have identified.

Assignment details:
 * You may (and are encouraged to!) discuss what you find with other students but you need to write your entry in the library by yourself.
 * You have until 5pm on Thursday, December 8 to post your item to the library.
 * Everybody needs to post a different example to the library -- no duplicate entries.
 * Your post will be graded as a combination of today's quiz + pre-class exercise for the day
 * The post you do for today will also count for one of your graded posts to the wiki library.


 * Author(s) ** : Abdal-Haqq, Ismat

[].
 * Link or reference information ** :


 * Core ideas ** (1, 2, or 3 bullet points that summarize the core idea presented in the article):


 * Posting history ** :
 * The author of this article explained the importance of IT for teachers and how is it helpful in their career.
 * The author is discussing the difficulties that teachers face in term of using technology in their teaching.
 * The author discussed why neither teachers or students are benefiting from using IT in education recently.
 * The author is giving suggestions in the end in how to make technology more useful in education for both teachers and students.

I really liked the article because it does not just discussed the issues that both of teachers and students are facing in terms of connecting IT with education, but in addition he suggested solutions to these problems. The author at the beginning of the article discussed about how IT is useful for teachers in their careers. After that he talked about the problems that the teachers are facing in terms of using technology in their careers as well as the students, as they both are not benefiting enough from IT. At the end he suggested ways to make the use of IT more useful in education.
 * Commentary ** :

[Haya Al-Mannai, initial post on Dec. 6, 2011] [<>, < >]

I really liked this article as it provides 8 ways in which technology helps to improve the education. Technology over the past years has made education, learning and teaching much easier and more interesting. Technology opens up the doors for teachers to be creative in their teaching styles and to come up with innovative ideas of teaching. Also, Technology helps the student to depend on their selves and to adopt "self learning" by accessing the educational website and even youtube videos. Technology helps the student to visual concepts instead of just memorizing them which makes it easy for them to remember, this is through the learning videos, visuals and graphs. Lastly, technology provides efficient assessment in the learning process between the teacher and the student. The teacher is able to get feedback from the student, sometimes it's easier to write the feedback instead of face-face meetings. It's much more time efficient.
 * Title**: 8 Ways Technology Is Improving Education
 * Author(s)**: Sarah Kessler
 * Link or reference information**: http://mashable.com/2010/11/22/technology-in-education/
 * Core ideas** (1, 2, or 3 bullet points that summarize the core idea presented in the article):
 * Technological simulations and models helped improving the education
 * Technology provides efficient assessment in the learning process between the teachers and the students
 * Multimedia helps education to be more interesting
 * E-books is a great example of the "Technological Education"
 * Commentary**:
 * Posting history**:
 * [Dua'a Althabatah, initial post on Dec. 5, 2011]
 * [<>, < >]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KALN0HPB_AA for MORE information. - Report by Qatar Foundation. As a student today, the use of technology has become part of my daily life. My ability to use these technologies that are available out there are without doubt extremely important. As a student in middle school, the use of this sort of technology explained above was not really used. Had this innovative use of technology been available, Im sure my experience with some of my math would have been a better experience. It was extremely interesting to see how instructors today are starting to move away from the "traditional" way of teaching. Although this is a scary thought for some, it is definitely something that is happening today. Schools around the world have recognized this, and innovative techniques to use these technologies in many ways will definitely enhance a student's ability to comprehend some of the material better.
 * Title**: Lincoln Middle School Students use Technology to help each other Succeed
 * Author(s)**: No Author mentioned. Organization: TechSmith
 * Link or reference information**: http://www.techsmith.com/education-customer-story-mathtrain.html &
 * Core ideas** (1, 2, or 3 bullet points that summarize the core idea presented in the article):
 * Several students are having a hard time grasping the core ideas of some math principles. In the article by TechSmith, a math teacher at the Lincoln Middle School in the US, has recognized this. He slowly began to realize that his use of technology not only engaged the students in learning the material, but actually made it more interesting to learn.
 * Some of the ways technology was used in this classroom included: "using a tablet and Camtasia Studio’s screen recording software, produced a video of a problem for students to watch online." Before using this website/software to help his students, the instructor would usually reply to his students' questions via email, which made it hard to really explain what he meant. The use of this software/website allowed the instructor to not only answer student's questions via video, but also post several tutorials about the topics they have studied.
 * To expand even further, the instructor allowed his students to post videos of themselves explaining the material to their peers, as it he deemed it important for students to connect. It is usually easier to understand something when a peer explains it to you. Some students respond well this way. And they sure did. The website used in this classroom became viral, and it became available for everyone to see and use.
 * Schools all around the US and other countries have admitted that through this use of technology, their students have all been able to enjoy the material and actually learn.
 * Many organizations around the world have recognized how technology was used to help as tools that made learning a better experience for students, mostly through the use of videos. One of the organizations that has recognized this important tool, was Qatar Foundation, which honored the instructor of Lincoln Middle School by recognizing his efforts. The use of videos has many positive effects, mainly an instructors ability to pause the video, explain, and the fact that "many students are already use to seeing videos," as the instructors at Lincoln Middle School add.
 * In the video, all thee notions are re-iterated, as Qatar Foundation explores these new innovative methods used in this school.
 * Commentary**:
 * Posting history**:
 * [Abdullrahman Al-Muftah, initial post on Dec. 5, 2011]
 * [<>, < >]


 * Title**: Technology in Education
 * Author(s)**: No Author mentioned. Organization: Education Week
 * Link or reference information**: http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/technology-in-education/
 * Core ideas** (1, 2, or 3 bullet points that summarize the core idea presented in the article):

The rapid changes that technologies are going through posed both opportunities and challenges for educational institutes such as schools in the US. Although there are numerous benefits that come along with technologies in education such as online course-taking, cloud computing, and using social media tools for learning and professional development, the pace of change that technologies undergo create a challenge for many schools. Although some schools maybe on track with changes and technology advances, the majority of schools fall behind. The rapid change of technology also makes it hard to find out what is best in for the schools.


 * **Technology infrastructure:** bandwidth for higher internet access to stream videos and other educational applications are insufficient in many schools, although improving. There remains to be big differences in technology infrastructures among schools in the US. Over the past couple of years there has been some improvement but many doubt that the capacity will catch up with the demand for higher, better and more advanced technology infrastructures.
 * **Research:** A lot of research has and is being done with the technology and its effects on learning and teaching but little show solid evidence. Also, research that usually shows meaningful data requires several years to complete and with the pace of change of these technologies, it is hard to keep up with any of the research. However, some solid reaserch has been done that shows the uses of technologies in schools and their positive effects but the research also point out that schools are not maximizing the use of technologies to make use of their potential. Some research showed the uses of online learning and electronic textbooks. But educational advocates are still emphasizing the need for "wider range of well-researched, longitudinal, and ethically sound data on education technology."
 * **E-learning:** This form of technology, the online learning is trending the many schools around the US. Students in many states can access a list of available choices of e-learning. "The menu of options often includes full-time, for-profit virtual schools; state-sponsored virtual schools; supplemental online learning courses offered by brick-and-mortar schools; and charter schools presenting a hybrid option of digital material coupled with face-to-face instruction." Its estimated that more than 1.5 million K-12 students were engaged in some form of online learning in 2009-10 school year. Credit recovery, one of the fastest growing subjects of e-learing for many schools and students, courses provided online for students to redo classes they haven’t successfully passed. But some teachers and educational experts are questioning the quality and benefits of these courses. Many schools have started to purchase online courses, while some many develop their own or tap into state virtual schools or other online learning tools state provides.
 * **Mobile computing:** Over the past couple of years, mobile devices have become more popular due to increasing access and growing acceptance and lower costs of production. All these factors have made the mobile an increasing and famous trend in the field of technology in education. Educators hope that some games and stimulations that could be accessed through mobiles would help students to picture a future career path, mostly in the subjects of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). While others believe some games and simulations help connect students to what they learn in class to real life situations. Moreover, it has been proven that simulations and games can help students to visualize processes and thus help the learning process. The disadvantages that lie behind mobile computing and educational technology is in the creating and design process of the games and simulations, which require huge amounts of funding, lots of time, and a complex framework (high resolutions, etc.)
 * **Social networking**: Most schools have shifted from debating on whether or not social networks play a role in education, but have managed to use mainstream social networking to promote, plan, and organize school events, class assignments, and projects. Challenges that have come up with social networking and education are that educators wary about security and information sharing. Some have moved to more secure social networking specifically designed for education. Moreover, many students have shown more interest and take learning more seriously through these sites. Wikis and blogs are a great example. Skype is also popular with education, allowing students to connect with their fellow peers across the country and even internationally.

This article shows both the advantages and challenges that revolve around education and technology. The rapid everyday changes make it hard for schools and educators to catch up and upgrade to. In my opinion, over the past decade technologies have proven to be a key player in access to education. Many educational institutes have developed online programs for students throughout all levels of education (k-12, undergrad, graduate). Moreover, the ease of access to educational resources through technology have made education accessible. We use the blackboard on a daily basis to communicate with other students, our professors, upload homework assignments, check our grades, and many more features that allow us to be up-to-date. Through social networks we get news and updates about our school or university, find out about activities and events, and many more features that helps us stay connected. Although this resource does not specifically mention on use of technology for education, I chose it because it shows many uses of technology and the opportunities and challenges that schools could face.
 * Commentary**:


 * Posting history**:
 * [Nasser Al Khori, initial post on Dec. 5, 2011]
 * [<>, < >]

**Link or reference information**: http://vimeo.com/22684400 - Presentation on OpenCurriculum. More info: http://theopencurriculum.org
 * Title **: Open Curriculum Project
 * Author(s) **: No author mentioned


 * Core ideas ** (1, 2, or 3 bullet points that summarize the core idea presented in the article):
 * Old style of learning and curriculum would be that school administration would set curriculum, teachers would teach said curriculum and students would pay monthly fees for that education.
 * This system is ineffective nowadays, and does not take advantage of free resources such as Khan’s academy or BBC free resources.
 * Open Curriculum attempts to unite different disparities in education, by creating an open soruce platform where educators can edit and decide on the most optimal curriculum.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Instills ‘global citizenship’ in students, now more important than ever through global collaboration.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Allows application of learning sciences, and user-centric and information design principles into education.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Bits and pieces of great knowledge are out there, but there is no way to unite these knowledge. Open Curriculum attempts to unite said bits and pieces into a curriculum
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Offers all resources for the curriculum for free.


 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Commentary **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">:

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Open source is a very successful phenomenon adopted by some of the best softwares in the world, Linux and VLC to name a few. Expanding this to education, and allowing a community with very high standards to systematically edit and decide on said K-12 curriculum should allow great successes in this field. Currently the project just launched its alpha and moving into beta. Varun Arora, founder of OpenCurriculum and student from Carnegie Mellon Qatar gave a presentation a few weeks back via live conference, commemorating the launch of Open Curriculum. Nowadays, education is becoming more and more free with Khan Academy and the OLI at MIT, Stanford and CMU leading the charge. This project aims to create a very high quality, free to use, curriculum that educators can use around the world for K-12 education.


 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Posting history **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">:
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">[M. Hammad Abbasi, initial post on Dec. 6, 2011]
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">[<<next person who added commentary>>, < >]

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">**Link or reference information**: []
 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Title **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: On-line Tutoring for Math Achievement Testing: A Controlled Evaluation
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Author(s) **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: Carole Beal, Rena Walles


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Core ideas **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> (1, 2, or 3 bullet points that summarize the core idea presented in the article):
 * This is the report on a study conducted on a group of High school students and their engagement with an on-line tutoring system for a math acievement test.
 * Two groups were experiemented on, both taking a pre-test and then a post test and the group that engaged with the online-tutoring system showed improvement on the later test.
 * The greatest improvement was witnessed amongst the weakest students.


 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Commentary **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">:

Online tutoring in math is one of the most useful tools I have used while in middle and high school. This report proves the point that students who are exposed to interactive personal tutoring online showed the greatest improvement in performance. Many reasons influence this. The first is the the use of the online tutorials is a very engaging activity that allows students to focus carefully on the lesson objectives. Through the use of the help options, students can recieve quick feedback andn help if stuck on a certain point or option. The abundance of questions to practice with is also very useful. For many students being focused during class can be an issue and not every student is at the same level of understanding while the teacher lectures. Therefore the use of online interactive tutorials on the different mathematical concepts greatly can improve student performance for they are at their own speed and comprehension can learn the concpets. //Examples of online math tutoring include// //[|www.**yourteacher**.com/]// where you can see videos of detailed examples done by a teacher. Its like you have your own personal tutor at home!


 * <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Posting history **<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">:
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">[Hind Al Khulaifi, initial post on Dec. 6, 2011]
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">[<<next person who added commentary>>, < >]

[] This is very interesting article with a video. As we can see from the video Instructor anxiety plays a big role in educational process. As the technology evolves a lot of people find it hard to keep updated with it. However, the technology has a lot of positive impacts on educational process as it makes it more interesting and fun. Nevertheless, some instructors dont feel comfortable using technology. As explained in the video there are two types of instructors the first ones who are willing to use technology and try new ways. For example if website link doesn't work or they cant find the article or there is problem with computer they are willing to overcome the obstacles by trying other ways around, the other type is professors who if something goes wrong they try to call for help immediately or stop using technology at all. the last type usually have a lot of anxiety with using technology so as highlighted in the video the word of mouth and training seesions can deal with the situation. If previous instructors had positive feedback with technology there are going to advice to their colleagues as a result decreasing their anxiety level.
 * Title**: How does technology-related anxiety affect educational technology adoption?
 * Author(s)**: J Scott Christianson
 * Link or reference information**:
 * Core ideas** (1, 2, or 3 bullet points that summarize the core idea presented in the article):
 * Technology is playing big part in educational curriculum now-day and while some instructors relay a lot on technology others do not because of their high anxiety level.
 * A Lot of instructors feel anxiety based on their personality and their previous experiences with the technology.
 * One of the most critical points is the previous feedback's of the other teachers experiences with technology plays a big role as if the experiences was positive it will reduce the anxiety of instructors.
 * Commentary**:
 * Posting history**:
 * [Orkhan Rustamzade, initial post on Dec. 6, 2011]
 * [<<next person who added commentary>>, < >]


 * Title ** : ** Technology and Education: New Wine in New Bottles **


 * Choosing Pasts and Imagining Educational Futures **
 * Author(s) ** : Luyen Chou, Robbie McClintock, Frank Moretti, Don H. Nix


 * Link or reference information ** : http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/publications/papers/newwine1.html


 * Core ideas ** (1, 2, or 3 bullet points that summarize the core idea presented in the article)
 * the author starts the article with the history of education and how people used to learn in the past.
 * The author is presenting the differences between the classic way of teaching and the new modern ones.
 * The differences that the author are the way of teaching, ethics, motivating the students, and the time and space.
 * The author is adding to the differences the technology and how was it the reason in this shift and transformation.


 * Commentary ** :

The article interested me because it focuses on the past and the present of an important aspect of our lives, which is the education. The author in the beginning of the article talks about the history and the past of the education and when the education started to be introduced in the education the tremendous change that occurred in the education and how did it improve in a unique way. I strongly agree with the author that the technology plays an important role in motivating the students.


 * Posting history ** :


 * [Mohammed Hadi Takiddin, initial post on Dec. 6, 2011]
 * [<<next person who added commentary>>, < >]


 * Title ** : ** Technology impacts on education. **
 * Author(s) ** :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8508040.stm
 * Link or reference information ** :


 * Core ideas ** (1, 2, or 3 bullet points that summarize the core idea presented in the article):


 * The article in the beginning is talking about the need of education these days.
 * The article focuses on different countries and the impacts of technology on their education.
 * The article mentions that Bangladesh was able to make use of the technology by using mobile phones to learn different languages.
 * In Brazil every student in the classroom uses a laptop in order enhance his learning.


 * Commentary ** :

The article supports the argument that technology has been part of every single form of our lives. The article I am talking about focuses on the education and how different technologies impact the learning of students all over the world. It is obvious that in each of the countries the technology that they used in education is the one that actually people use the most. For example in Bangladesh, the mobile phones are used heavily and that’s why they used it in Education.


 * Posting history ** :
 * [Dalia Saleh Hassan, initial post on Dec. 6, 2011]
 * [<<next person who added commentary>>, < >]


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Title **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">:From Curriculum to Communication, a School Immerses Itself in Tech

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">**Author(s)**: Diane Curtis**Link or reference information**: []


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Core ideas **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;"> (1, 2, or 3 bullet points that summarize the core idea presented in the article):


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">The students become adept at using technology at a young age. The students start using computer, internet and other technologies; becoming technological savvy which aids their learning process.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Internet helps to the teachers to connect with students and parents on daily basis. The students receive homework via email. The students are able to get immediate feedback when they submit their homework through email. In case of parents, the teachers connect to them daily. They send the classwork to the parents so they know what their children did in class, helping parents to start after school conversations with their children. Furthermore, teachers keep the parents well informed about the use of technology and what kind of work the students will do in the school, saving the parents from being paranoid about their child’s education.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Teachers are treated as professionals which enhances their teaching capabilities. The teachers are given moral support as well as other perks to show them they are professionals. The teachers have their own computers and telephones, indicating that they are professionals, raising their morale and providing them with resources so that they perform optimally.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Commentary **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">:

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">The system that Marry Scroggs Elementary School uses is mostly implemented in colleges or university. In case to children this is using technology in an innovative way to support learning. Mostly in elementary schools, children are only taught how to use a computer and basics of internet technology. In this case, the students are practically using the technology as a part of their education. The school promotes such activities to such an extent that parents who are unable to afford computers are lent hardware and software so that they can also be a part of this system. This learning process in unique for children because the children do not have skills and the amount of work to learn and use such resources. Use of technology at such an age is interesting because if a person knows such thing, when he grows old adapting to new technology would not be an issue. This approach instills the idea about technology in the children at an early age helping them in the future. Parents are also a part of this process which is very crucial in the learning process. If the parents are aware of such technologies they will motivate their children to learning and implementing these technologies in their lives. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">**Posting history**:


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">[Anas Ali Chaudry, initial post on Dec. 7, 2011]


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">[<<next person who added commentary>>, < >]


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Title **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">: Massive-scale online collaboration

<span style="display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;">**Author(s): Luis von Ahn**

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">**Link or reference information**: http://www.ted.com/talks/luis_von_ahn_massive_scale_online_collaboration.html


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Core ideas **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> (1, 2, or 3 bullet points that summarize the core idea presented in the article):
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">The web is nowadays mostly in English. To surf the web, people need to know English language. It also has parts in other languages, and to get to these parts, a person also needs to know the language. Therefore, we need translations to many pages of the web, which could be pretty costly.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">There is a way to translate the web into different languages for free. At the same time, many people want to learn foreign languages for free. Duolingo.com is a website that is yet to be launched. This website teaches new languages by translating practice. These small sentences used for learning are actual sentences from the web that need to be translated. This way, the web is being translated for free, and as well, people are learning foreign languages for free.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">This website is a way for teaching people general knowledge: the sentences for translation have context that is very educational and informational for the language learner. Meaning, not only the person is learning a new language. But he/she is learning a new language via valid information coming from credible resources.

This innovative system is inspirational. I believe it has great technological, educational, informational, and business values. Duolingo contributes a lot to the world education. Many new people are learning new languages now, and this website will be a good way for them to practice this new language. Even if people are starting from scratch, it is also a good way. This website kills two birds with one stone; translating the web and teaching foreign languages, and both are for free, which is what all people prefer. I believe more innovations should be created in this manner, which will improve education worldwide.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Commentary **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">:

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">**Posting history**:


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">[Hamsa M Al-Massri, initial post on Dec. 7, 2011]


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">[<<next person who added commentary>>, < >]

**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Title **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**:** The history of technology in education
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Author(s) **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**:** SMAARTEDuEMEA
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Link or reference information: **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFwWWsz_X9s__]


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Core ideas **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This is a quick look at how advancement in technology have impacted teaching and learning over time.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This small video fragment starts with year of 30,000 B.C.E to recent years and shows how people were using various resources for education
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The most significant part in this video the transformation of paper to the digital technology
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Preceding step which is Internet when people share this information with one another in the global network


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Commentary: **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I really liked this small video fragment in which we see the transformation of education. Education was always valuable thing for human being for centuries now. However, we see changes in tools and resources how people learn and share education. We see that recent years, due to technology this resources and tools dramatically affected the education. Now education is not limited only to one classroom or even one university or country but education is part of global network. At the end of the video, authors asks us the question what is next step of this trend. I think it is very interesting question to ask and think about new innovations that were made in recent years like cloud computing. For example, how cloud computing will affect our education and how it will be different?


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Posting history: **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[Nijat Ibrahimov, initial post on Dec. 8, 2011]
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[<<next person who added commentary>>, < >]


 * Title**: How Games Make Kids Smarter


 * Author(s)**: Gabe Zichermann


 * Link or reference information**: []
 * Core ideas** (1, 2, or 3 bullet points that summarize the core idea presented in the article):


 * Games allow kids to think better and faster; they help kids through multitasking. This is because while the child is playing a game he is chatting, managing his game character, managing interruptions and managing his gaming objectives. As research shows, multitasking activates and increases activity in certain parts of the brain,
 * Incorporating games into the classroom helps in education and learning curves. This is due to the fact that they can be selected or created to suit learning styles and current level.
 * Gamification is the process of using game thinking and game mechanics to engage audiences and solve problems. This is becoming increasing used in all the industries of today's world. Including business processes and cars.
 * There are possible negative effects of the use of this technology such as inducing violence. This however, can be monitored and controlled in the classroom.


 * Commentary**:

Gabe Zichermann provides us with an intelligent insight into the misperceptions of video games. He grew up playing video games and has now developed himself a career in the gaming industry. In this video he argues that contrary to the widespread belief about video games, they do make kids smarter. He bases his argument on valid points like what the games are based on and the exponentially increasing learning curve that games are based on. Finally he shows us through the example of Ananth Pai how this information technology can enter the classrooms and revolutionize them. He provided his 3rd grade students with video games that suited each individuals learning style. Within the span of 18 weeks his students’ academic level went up from ‘below 3rd grade’ to a ‘mid 4th grade’ level. As people rely on and use more technology, it becomes more essential that the educational systems meet those learning habits. More information on Ananth Pai's experience can be found in the following video:

[]


 * Posting history**:


 * [Meshail Al Misnad, initial post on Dec. 8, 2011]
 * [<<next person who added commentary>>, < >]


 * Title**: The Child-driven education


 * Author(s)**: Sugata Mitra

[]
 * Link or reference information**:
 * Core ideas** (1, 2, or 3 bullet points that summarize the core idea presented in the article):

> - Children can learn computer by their own in irrespective to who or where they are. > - Student can navigate internet to achieve educational objectives on their own. > - Education is a self organizing system in which it starts to do things which it was never designed for.
 * - Children will learn to do what they want to learn to do.


 * Commentary**:

It is very interesting video. The speaker basically explains his experience in researching about education and technology. His experiments were done in different countries showing the need of both teachers and technology in education. Through a bunch of experiments, he found that : children will learn to do what they want to learn to do. Children can learn computer by their own in irrespective to who or where they are. By using technologies like computers, the child was able to learn even though he/she did not have a teacher. He also insists on the fact that, it is not only about technology, it is about interest, “if children have interest, education happens”. By the end of his experiment, he concluded that: Education is a self -organizing system in which it starts to do things which it was never designed for. So what I think was proved also is that education about emergence and technology is only a tool for this emergence.


 * Posting history**:


 * [Aisha Al Zaman, initial post on Dec. 8, 2011]
 * [<<next person who added commentary>>, < >]


 * Title**: Driving down education costs with online learning
 * Author(s)**: Harman Singh


 * Link or reference information**: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech245.shtml
 * Core ideas** (1, 2, or 3 bullet points that summarize the core idea presented in the article):


 * According to the article, a research revealed that achievement in online courses was equal or better than achievement in regular high school courses
 * Technology eliminates wasted time because it allows the students to have access to learning materials such as lectures, PowerPoint slides, and pre-recorded sessions. This way, instructors can avoid wasting classrooms’ and office hours’ times to re-teach what some students missed from missing previous classes.
 * Teachers can reduce the consumption of campus resources and costs by having online meeting (teacher in-service meeting.) This way, students can meet teachers or even teachers can meet other teachers in a more flexible and convenient way from the comfort of their homes. Therefore, teachers’ traveling costs for meeting abroad can be reduced.
 * Having academic or learning platforms available online causes both students and teachers to save gasoline prices due to their ability to access information and communicate via online platforms without the need to have face-to-face meetings.
 * Using technology contributes in saving the environment by consuming less gasoline, conserving more energy and fuel used for attending face-to-face meetings and by consuming less campus resources.

The article shows that technology can be considered as a way of improving the quality and the effectiveness of learning if used in an effective way. Technology makes student-teacher communication much easier and more effective. With technology, students and teachers can communicate with each other any time and in a way that exceeds the capabilities of e-mail communication. Students no longer need to waste too much time trying to understand things they have missed or misunderstood in the classrooms as long as they have everything they need to know available for them in the form of online platforms. I think that the author is right about his argument regarding the effectiveness of technology in saving our environment, our money, our time, and our resources. On the other hand, I think that the author underestimated the importance of direct (face-to-face) communication between teachers and students because I don’t think that technology is always accurate enough for satisfying the students’ needs from their teachers.
 * Commentary**:


 * Posting history**:


 * [Najla Al-Madhadi, initial post on Dec. 8, 2011]
 * [<<next person who added commentary>>, < >]

The paper shows focuses on school level education and shows that Information Technology can improve the education system in India. The authors talk about how much of a significance IT has on performance of students during class. The paper showed that researchers used IT to discover the main weaknesses in Indian students. They found out that most of the students who drop out of school are performing very poorly in english and math. Also, after using computers by teachers in many indian schools, the paper shows how strong the material taught to children became. They compared schools that did not use computers and schools that did, and the material in the schools that had computers was much stronger than others.
 * Title**: Improving India's Education System Through Information Technology
 * Author(s)**: IBM
 * Link or reference information**: http://rakesh.agrawal-family.com/papers/IndiaEducation.pdf
 * Core ideas** (1, 2, or 3 bullet points that summarize the core idea presented in the article):
 * Information Technology can help create an education system that is based on the principles of helping teachers be effective in what they do; improving the quality and relevance of classroom instruction; and making quantifiable and measurable progress towards improving efficiency.
 * The main findings that Information Technology improves are: performance, teacher-training and quality of instruction material.
 * School level education is where the foundations for learning are laid and it is where the most daunting challenges lie.
 * Commentary**:
 * Posting history**:
 * [Mohammed Kamal, initial post on Dec. 8, 2011]
 * [<<next person who added commentary>>, < >]


 * Title ** : Technology Integration for Elementary Schools.
 * Author(s) ** : Grace Rubenstein
 * Link or reference information ** : []
 * Core ideas ** :
 * How the high-tech teaching is taking an important in a lot of elementary institution or schools.
 * Forest Lake Elementary School, in Columbia, South Carolina is a live example of how they used high-tech teaching in their education process.
 * Tips from Paulette Williams, a technology specialist and a teacher on how to use the technology tools in elementary schools.
 * The use of technology should be used to enhance and improve the teaching and not only because of the technology itself.
 * Allow the student to have different technologies such as remote clickers, interactive whiteboard, and video cameras in their hand so they can get used it.
 * The work or the teaching should be the same, but the integration of technology in the education should only make the process easier or more efficiency for the two parties, the students and the teacher.
 * How the technologies will not only help them in their studies but also in their personalities (e.g. Stage fright).

It was an interesting article to read, because it tackles the idea of how technologies that we used everyday help the students in elementary school in their studies. Moreover, the students enjoy their time in the classroom as it has been improved to be an interactive once they integrated the technologies within everyday classrooms. I think the tips that Williams gave in the article are valuable tips that every teacher should think of, because it would be very helpful if teachers in the elementary schools would consider implementing these technologies in the classrooms. I found this article to be very interesting and also in the same time easy to navigate as it include examples from one specific school and also at it provide different videos within each point.
 * Commentary ** :


 * Posting history ** :
 * [Fatima Abdulla, initial post on Dec. 8, 2011]
 * [<<Next person who added commentary>>, < >]


 * Title ** : ** Technology and Education: New Wine in New Bottles **


 * Choosing Pasts and Imagining Educational Futures **
 * Author(s) ** : Luyen Chou, Robbie McClintock, Frank Moretti, Don H. Nix


 * Link or reference information ** : http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/publications/papers/newwine1.html


 * Core ideas ** (1, 2, or 3 bullet points that summarize the core idea presented in the article):


 * the author starts the article with the history of education and how people used to learn in the past.
 * The author is presenting the differences between the classic way of teaching and the new modern ones.
 * The differences that the author are the way of teaching, ethics, motivating the students, and the time and space.
 * The author is adding to the differences the technology and how was it the reason in this shift and transformation.


 * Commentary ** :

The article interested me because it focuses on the past and the present of an important aspect of our lives, which is the education. The author in the beginning of the article talks about the history and the past of the education and when the education started to be introduced in the education the tremendous change that occurred in the education and how did it improve in a unique way. I strongly agree with the author that the technology plays an important role in motivating the students.


 * Posting history ** :


 * [Mohammed Hadi Takiddin, initial post on Dec. 6, 2011]
 * [<<next person who added commentary>>, < >]

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">**Author(s)**: Ben Johnson <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">**Link or reference information**: [] <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">**Core ideas** (1, 2, or 3 bullet points that summarize the core idea presented in the article):
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Title **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">: Teaching and learning: Using iPads in the classroom


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">IPads are transforming the teaching process. This is allowing the students and teachers to take advantage and explore new options which are benefiting the learning process.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Features in IPads are helping children to learn different subjects which is actually enhancing the learning process. The students are engaged in the learning process in creative ways. IPads help to demonstrate scientific experiments and use math tools to teach children which the teachers were unable to do in the past.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">The technology is challenging the students more, which is allowing them to explore their skills. If a student asks a question, internet is provided to him so that he can try to answer his own questions by researching.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Teachers are using IPads in the classroom as a tool to assist their teaching process.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Commentary **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">:

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">In the recent years, the introduction of IPads has revolutionized how people use technology. IPads are a great tool which can be used to aid the learning process. It is portable and consists of many features which the students can use in classrooms. If the technology is used for children this could allow them to become more technology savvy and use the technology more commonly to assist in their studies. Furthermore, this technology is not limited to children. Undergraduate students at Texas A&M and Medical students at Weil Cornell Medical College are using IPads as an aid in their studies. The portability of IPads makes it easier to take notes and search for information quickly, especially for med students at Cornell. Furthermore, different apps allows more interactive methods of learning.**Posting history**:


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">[Anas Ali Chaudry, initial post on Dec. 12, 2011]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">[<<next person who added commentary>>, < >]