schools and tech: episode #34: Cal Leage of Schools PLC and Tech Conference
Update: 2011-02-07
Description
News of the week:
1) In Florida, virtual classrooms with no teachers - NYTimes
MIAMI — On the first day of her senior year at North Miami Beach Senior High School, Naomi Baptiste expected to be greeted by a teacher when she walked into her precalculus class.
“All there were were computers in the class,” said Naomi, who walked into a room of confused students. “We found out that over the summer they signed us up for these courses.”
Naomi is one of over 7,000 students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools enrolled in a program in which core subjects are taken using computers in a classroom with no teacher. A “facilitator” is in the room to make sure students progress. That person also deals with any technical problems. 2) (On a related note) Bill Gates Says Tech Is The Key to Driving Down College Costs
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- “trying to provide a $200,000 education to every kid who wants it- and only technology can bring that down not just to $20,000 but to $2,000”
- pro-KIPP & charter schools’ immersing students in learning - “Thank god for charters. There’s no room for innovation in the standard system.... There should be about 20 times as much [experimentation] as there is.”
- note he doesn’t predict radical changes in K-12 by virtue of parents’ need for someone to “babysit” - ouch
Dissent Magazine on Bill Gates in education via Arts & Letters
http://dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=37813) New MIT OpenCourseWare Initiative Aims to Improve Independent Online Learning
These aren't distance learning classes - there is no instructor, no contact with MIT, no credit. But the courses are meant to be stand-alone offerings, not requiring any additional materials for learning.4) Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Amy Chua I haven’t read the book, but I’ve been enjoying the national dialog over it. Anyone else? - KBhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/margaret-heffernan-/if-youll-do-anything-for-_b_810350.html
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/18/opinion/18bro
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