EdTechWeekly #195

May 15, 2011

Regular hosts: Dave, Jen, John

Guest host: Eric Curts

This week's links:

• Khan Academy:
  • Website: http://www.khanacademy.org/
  • Charlie Rose Interview with founder Sal Khan: http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11658
  • On YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/khanacademy
  • Sal Khan TED 2011: http://www.youtube.com/khanacademy#p/u/23/gM95HHI4gLk
  • Jen's take: Age old instructional "model" of (1) Presentation, (2) Practice with both online exercises and hope to flip classroom model with time in class for practice not lecture, (3) guidance / feedback with focus on mastery with integrated analytic and "badges" based on gaming concepts. No current focus on credentials. Hope for global classroom. A lot of tried instructional concepts on self-paced learning, but sparkle here is each of the three elements (presentation, practice, guidance / feedback) are done by a really smart dude. Can it scale? Is there "enough" content beyond bites of important concepts? Heavy focus on learner-content interaction (and to some extent learner-teacher interaction in terms of designed instruction), but what else is required (learner-teacher interaction or learner-learner interaction) for practice / guidance beyond online experience?
• (sigh) http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110509/ap_on_re_us/us_military_virtual_schools
• Microsoft Buys Skype: http://about.skype.com/press/2011/05/microsoft_to_acquire_skype.html
• Chromebook:
  • Overview of offering: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/Chrome-OS-Notebooks-Comi...
  • Business and Schools: http://mashable.com/2011/05/11/chromebook-business-education/
  • ... and why some say it will fail ... http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9216718/Elgan_Why_Chromebooks_wil...
  • Chromebooks in Schools - Part 1: The Good - http://www.appsusergroup.org/articles/chromebooks-for-schools-the-good (article written by Eric Curts)
  • Chromebooks in Schools - Part 2: The Bad - http://www.appsusergroup.org/articles/chromebooks-for-schools-the-bad (article written by Eric Curts)
  • Microsoft's alternative online applications for schools: http://www.microsoft.com/education/solutions/liveedu.aspx
  • Microsoft's Live@EDU pricing: http://www.microsoft.com/liveatedu/learn-about-office-365.aspx#4 - http://www.cmswire.com/cms/document-management/microsoft-outlines-plans-for-office365-for-education-release-009797.php
    
• ... and in other rumors ... Amazon Android Tablet: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/Amazon-Android-Tablet-Ch...