Creating a 21st Century Educational System

A new position paper highlights three educational technology advocacy groups' shared vision of a U.S. that prepares its students for success in the 21st century "digital world" through broad and intensive use of technology.
November 5, 2007—Three leading educational technology advocacy groups have banded together to release a position paper that makes an urgent case for why--and how--school leaders should integrate technology into instruction.
"How will we create the schools America needs to remain competitive? For more than a generation, the nation has engaged in a monumental effort to improve student achievement. We've made progress, but we're not even close to where we need to be," according to the paper, titled "Maximizing the Impact: Why Technology Must Play a Pivotal Role in 21st Century Education."
"It's time to focus on what students need to learn--and on how to create a 21st-century education system that delivers results. In a digital world, no organization can achieve results without incorporating technology into every aspect of its everyday practices. It's time for schools to maximize the impact of technology as well." Released Nov. 5, the paper is a joint project of the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21).

The power of contribution.

Okay, so I don't mean this to turn into a political debate, but...

Check out http://www.ronpaul2008.com/

Notice the "real time" donation information provided on the main page.

Even if you don't know much about the candidate, isn't there something about this interface that makes you want to participate?

Though Paul's recent fundraising successes have been attributed to his ideas (particularly on immediate withdrawal from Iraq), the New York Times cited the interactive donation interface on his main page as a major factor in peoples' decision to give. Here's the quote:

Stirring the interest in contributing to the Paul campaign is an innovation on his Web site, a real-time display of the dollars and the names of donors as they roll in. By contrast, most campaigns conceal their fund-raising and time the release of financial information for political effect.

"What is new is how Paul's openness about his daily fund-raising data helped foster this surge," said Andrew Rasiej, a co-founder of TechPresident, a nonpartisan Web site that tracks the candidates' use of technology. "It fed a powerful user-driven feedback loop."

I also think his iphone interface is quite innovative:

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/iphone/


The reason I post this is to ask a question...

How does the novelty of the learning interface effect our interaction with it and our motivation to persist in using it?

Quinn writes about education and engagement. You have to admit that both of these tools, the interactive fundraising site and the iphone interface and that extra bit of engagement that makes you want to interact with the information.

-Brian

TED.com Ideas Worth Sharing

Hi All. Dr. Elisa Sabotini from USD turned me on to this great resource http://www.ted.com/ Check out Hans Rosling's New Insights on Poverty and Life Around the World (fits in with our talks on globalization) http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/140

Future Tends Affecting Education

Here's an interesting and informative little report on Future Tends Affecting Education, written by Dixie Griffin Good, a Denver-based education consultant with a background in future studies, for the Education Commission of the States. From the Executive Summary, "Education is not an island; it is affected not only by what is happening in the field but also by what is happening in the rest of society — population changes, technological advances, economic ups and downs, political shifts and social transformations. This paper examines ongoing and emerging trends and explores how these trends may affect education in the United States over the next 20-30 years." http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/13/27/1327.htm

Teachnology

Here's a site that lists many web-based resources for teachers, The Online Teacher Resource. You'll have to put up with some annoying advertising, but there are many freebees to make it worth your time. http://www.teach-nology.com/ I was looking for science resources, check it out if you have some time http://www.teach-nology.com/subjects/science/

Technology Will Keep Us Going!

I posted this on the del.icio.us link.

This is just a not-so-gentle nudge about the importance of us continuing to develop our skills and vision -- and go out and impact the world in a positive way :) (Yes, I'm still in the real world, but I need some enthusiasm and motivation to finish this process right now!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VnHdqpE4RM&NR=1

Cheers!
Craigor

Can you read this?

Only great minds can read this



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