EdTech Researcher
Justin Reich is the executive director of the MIT Teaching Systems Lab, a fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society, and the co-founder of EdTechTeacher. Beth Holland is a doctoral candidate at Johns Hopkins University and an instructor at EdTechTeacher. Douglas Kiang has over 25 years of teaching experience at all grade levels and currently teaches computer science at Punahou School. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: research.
Education
Opinion
High School Researchers Document Life of Dachau's First C.O.
One of the best parts of working with teachers is that every so often, a former workshop participant will get back in touch with me and share some of the amazing work that their students are doing. This week, I was incredibly pleased to hear from Kevin Delaney from Wayland High School and learn more about his students' most recent project.
Education
Opinion
Preparing for a Deluge of iPads
From where I'm sitting, with one foot in research and one foot in practice, evidence continues to mount that schools and districts are making major iPad purchases at an astounding rate. In this post, I first want to share some evidence about the incredibly rapid adoption of iPads, and then share some things that I'm involved with to help educators make the most of this new technology.
Education
Opinion
How Many Decades until we Understand Digital Media and Children's Well-being?
Ian Quillen has blogged recently about very, very preliminary research on the psychological impact of digital media. His post reminds me of one of my favorite set of facts:
The first television station in the U.S. began broadcasting in the 1920s.
The first regular commercial broadcasting in the U.S. began in the 1940s.
The first recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics for television viewing were published in 1984.
School & District Management
Opinion
What Would You Do With Years of Online Discussion Data?
Back in April, after my AERA talks on Are Great Wikis Born or Made? (born) and Do People Actually Collaborate on Wikis? (not much), Emily Schneider invited me out to coffee. She's a first year doctoral student at Stanford&mdashthe hope of the profession!&mdashand she has some cool research plans ahead about the role of technology and learning in for profit colleges.
Education
Opinion
How Free and Open Technologies Benefit the Affluent
My friends at the Berkman Center finished editing the recording of a talk I gave in March at the Hewlett Grantee Meeting. The talk, "When Open Encounters Different Classrooms," is built around a simple premise: in places with profoundly inequitable school systems, our conceptual models of technology-enhanced education systems always need to account for these inequalities.
Education
Opinion
Blaming the Poor as Framing a New Digital Divide
It's remarkable that in 2012 you can wake up in the morning and see a front page article in the New York Times depicting various young black men as "freaks" who "throw tantrums" and "do the first negative thing he can find" with computers. #notapostracialsocietyyet
Education
Opinion
Finding Rigor in Diverse Online Research Methods
I had a great time last week on RadioBoston chatting with Matthew Chingos about his study comparing an online statistics course with face to face course. Matt and his colleagues wanted to know whether the online version of a course had the same effect on student achievement (as measured by passing rates, grades, and standardized test scores) as a fairly traditional intro stats class. To make this comparison, they used a research method called a randomized control trial, where participants (students in this case) volunteer to be randomly assigned to either the regular (control) class or the online (intervention class). Most people are familiar with the idea of randomized control trials from medical research, where patients are given an experimental drug and a placebo.
Education
Opinion
Sharing the Big Ideas from EdCamp Dubai
Kevin Simpson and colleagues took me up on my offer to host reports from EdCamps around the world on this space. Here are some of the big insights from the very first EdCamp Dubai and the first EdCamp in the Middle East! Looking forward to hearing about many more in the future.
Education
Opinion
Can Students Learn Faster Online?
Yesterday, I was on WBUR's RadioBoston with Matthew Chingos, discussing his new study about online learning in higher education. Matt's study involved recruiting several hundred Introductory Statistics students at several college campuses who were willing to be randomly assigned to either a regular class or a hybrid online class. In the hybrid online class, students took an online version of Intro Statistics mediated entirely by a computer, with online readings, quizzes, activities and so forth. They also met once a week for a discussion section to answer questions.
School & District Management
Opinion
Advice for Potential Doctoral Students from a New Grad
Today, I received my doctoral robe from my advisor, Richard Murnane, and tomorrow I'll receive my diploma. I am now fully qualified to give advice about doctoral studies in education.
Education
Opinion
The Factory Model versus the Creative Agency Classroom
I have a commentary published in this week's Education Week paper titled Use Technology to Upend Traditional Classrooms. In it, I propose three ways of thinking about how emerging technologies can transform the traditional factory model of education. In the factory model, we envision the process of education as the delivery of standardized learning objects into containers (brains) brought by students. One thing we could do with technology is to try to make the factory run more cheaply. For instance, we could have students take self-paced online courses and replace teachers with security guards. Another thing we could do with technology would be to make the factory run faster. If we give each kid their own assembly line, through the personalization of curriculum, then we can deliver standardized learning objects at a paced optimized for each student.
Education
Opinion
Transforming Professional Learning with Teacher-Led EdCamps
Today, over 300 educators will be gathering at the University of Pennsylvania for a day of sharing and learning, camaraderie and laughter, and deep reflection about the art of teaching and the future of education. There will be no keynotes, no vendors, and no authoritative or authoritarian leaders telling teachers what they should learn or how they should change. Instead, these educators will come together on a Saturday, develop a schedule for addressing topics that are pressing or passion-inspiring, and they will work together through the day to develop their craft, their community, and their profession. Today, is the third annual EdCampPhilly.
Education
Opinion
Persistence and Gaming in Education
For gamers of a certain age, the blocky pixels of the 8-bit Nintendo era bring back fond memories.