"How Social Media Can Make History"...and change learning

"The moment we, our generation, is living through is the largest increase in expressive capabilities in human history." This is an interesting TED talk by Clay Shirky, a social media theorist. The increasingly collaborative and interactive nature of media presents opportunities for the education world. Some of the most innovative education technology start-ups that out there right now (Grockit, Livemocha, Edmodo to name a few) are the ones that understand the new role of social media and are harnessing it for student learning. I am excited to see more EdTech companies take advantage of the trends in social media and online networking.

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"I think we are in a street fight and most people in this room think we're in a college debate." Howard Fuller, NewSchool Venture Fund 2012 Summit

This discussion between Howard Fuller and Jonathan Schorr is from the opening session of this year's NewSchool Venture Fund Summit. It's inspiring and funny. If you don't have time to watch the whole video, check-out the below highlights: 6:50: Howard Fuller: "I think we are in a street fight and I think most people in this room think we're in a college debate. Our opponents are reading Saul Alinsky and we reading Steven Brill." 12:25: Howard Fuller: "There's a small group of people in the circle who are going to storm the bastille. There's another group of people around the circle of the people who are stroring the bastille who are going to hold the coats. They not storming the bastille but they are holding the coats. There's another group around them that are going to cheer for the coat holders; they're not holding the coats, they're not storming the bastille, but they are going to cheer. You feelin me? We got t

Humanizing the Classroom through Technology: Salman Khan's Ted Talk

There is an implicit fear when it comes to education technology that the goal is for computers to replace the teacher, the human. With this fear comes the argument that there is something special--something that can never be replicated by a machine--within the teacher-student interaction. And I think this argument is right. A monitor and a keyboard will never be able to have the impact that your second grade teacher had on your life. But why not use technology then, to maximize those moments that allowed that teacher to have the impact that she/he did. She wasn’t your favorite teacher because she graded your additions facts or because of her lecture on borrowing with double-digit subtraction. It was because of things that were more intangible, more human. Why not let technology---technology like Khan’s videos--humanize the classroom, freeing teachers to spend time on those meaningful intangibles.

The innovative classroom

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