hacking education

College classroom iPhone apps are hitting the app store in growing numbers.

Article on the trend on cNet.

“A new study of Massachusetts middle schools contends schools that don’t track students of the same grade into multiple course levels based on their achievement have fewer students scoring at the advanced level on state standardized tests in mathematics.”

Via education week.

I have been following the University of the People since its inception. I was reminded of it again recently when I read an article on its progress.

From the article: “University of the People's inaugural class included 179 students who took web-based college courses free of charge, only paying between $10 and $100 to process exams taken at the end of the semester… nine out of 10 students who took classes in its first term said they would recommend the university to family and friends.”

Read more at eCampusNews.

I believe that college admissions should be random. I was first impressed with this belief in reading Gladwell’s Outliers but have mulled on the concept considerably since.

Inc.com just published an article Should Job Promotions Be Random? in which they interview business leaders on their thoughts of the findings of some Italian researching that found promoting at random gets better results—based on either the Peter Principle or based on the belief that people will just as good at their next job as they were at their last job.

A quote that sums up my beliefs: “On the other hand, if you try to reward people too much for being creative you might actually make them less creative. They won't take risks if they feel that everything they do is being watched and evaluated.”

In education a lot could be gained by randomly admitting those that are “smart enough”. There must be breathing room for innovation and creativity to have room to grow and the push to be the top scoring student can often squeeze out that breathing room.

This Time article is worth repeating:

“Employers and career experts see a growing problem in American society — an abundance of college graduates, many burdened with tuition-loan debt, heading into the work world with a degree that doesn't mean much anymore.

“The problem isn't just a soft job market — it's an oversupply of graduates. In 1973, a bachelor's degree was more of a rarity, since just 47% of high school graduates went on to college. By October 2008, that number had risen to nearly 70%. For many Americans today, a trip through college is considered as much of a birthright as a driver's license.

“Marty Nemko, a career and education expert who has taught at U.C. Berkeley's Graduate School of Education, contends that the overflow in degree holders is the result of many weaker students attending colleges when other options may have served them better. "There is tremendous pressure to push kids through," he says, adding that as a result, too many students who aren't skilled become degree holders, promoting a perception among employers that higher education doesn't work. "That piece of paper no longer means very much, and employers know that," says Nemko. "Everybody's got it, so it's watered down."

“What's not watered down is the tab. The cost of average tuition rose 6.5% this fall, and a report released on Dec. 1 by the Project on Student Debt showed that the IOU is getting bigger. Two-thirds of all students now leave college with outstanding loans; the average amount of debt rose to $23,200 in 2008. In the last academic year, the total amount loaned to students increased about 18% from the previous year, to $81 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

“Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for recent grads rose as well. It is now 10.6%, a record high.

“The devaluation of a college degree is no secret on campus. An annual survey by the Higher Education Research Institute has long asked freshmen what they think their highest academic degree will be. In 1972, 38% of respondents said a bachelor's degree, but in 2008 only 22% answered the same. The number of freshmen planning to get a master's degree rose from 31% in 1972 to 42% in 2008. Says John Pryor, the institute's director: "Years ago, the bachelor's degree was the key to getting better jobs. Now you really need more than that."”

Read the rest here.  

eduFire featured on CNNMoney. “eduFire offers low-cost live lessons via videoconferences and text chats. There are up to 200 classes per day, covering everything from conversational Spanish to the history of Iran.”

Bits article on the current status of iTunes U. 250,000 classes are now available. Among the most popular, Open University, receives 375,000 downloads a week.

On why others don’t participate: “Other universities say that limited resources, copyright concerns or the reluctance of old-fashioned professors are keeping them from recording and uploading lectures.”

The 9 month old EDU YouTube has received very little buzz, or from what I can tell, use. There are only some 30 odd videos with more than 300,000 views – of which I am guessing the lion’s share came from regular YouTube views; not views from within the portal itself.  

At large, I believe both iTunes U and YouTube EDU go to prove that it is not about delivering content. Anymore, content is free, cheap, readily available.  Organization, mentorship, application, and feedback are the missing puzzle pieces.

Five of the nation's largest publishers of newspapers and magazines plan to challenge Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle electronic-book reader with their own digital format that would display in color and work on a variety of devices.

Time Inc., News Corp., Conde Nast, Hearst Corp., and Meredith Corp., whose magazines include Time, Cosmopolitan, and Better Homes and Gardens, announced a joint venture on Dec. 8 to develop the format that rivals Kindle's gray "electronic ink." It promises to emphasize visuals, retaining the distinctive look of each publication, as compared to the text-oriented Kindle.

The format would incorporate videos, games, and social networking, along with a classic magazine layout that can be flipped through with the touch of a finger.

Via eCampusNews

Three school districts and a coalition of charter schools have agreed to be test kitchens for some radical ideas for improving teacher quality — from paying new teachers to spend another year practicing before getting their own class to letting student test scores affect teacher pay.

In exchange, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is handing them the biggest pile of cash it has spent on education reform in about a decade.

The foundation announced $290 million in grants to the four groups on Thursday, plus another $45 million for education research aimed at uncovering what exactly is an effective teacher.

Via the Associated Press.

Take away from the Harvard panel on technology in the classroom: when students keep laptops open in the classroom, they learn less.

My thoughts—the traditional role of teachers and the current role of technology don’t mesh—I concur.  Looking into the future I believe that the role both play will drastically change to yield great efficiencies. I think the teacher will come to be more mentor and guide and less of a knowledge base. You just cannot compete with technology as a knowledge base. And I believe that technology will come to displace—not compete with—teaching more and more. Right now it is a distraction because the teacher is teaching, technology is a peripheral distraction. In the future, the technology will teach, and the teacher will be a peripheral guide.

You can read the highlights of the panel here.