Blogging Improves Young People’s Confidence in Their Writing and Reading– Ewan McIntosh

The State of E-Learning 2009– Tony Bates, E-Learning and Distance Education

Engaging Students with Engaging Tools– Ed Webb, EQ

Using Technology to Improve Collaboration– James Manyika, Kara Sprague, & Lareina Yee, What Matters

25 Sites for Free Educational Videos– refseek

Failing to Learn from Failure– Michael Horn, Disrupting Class

Homework in the Responsive Classroom– Elizabeth Rich, Teacher Magazine

Ten Common Phrases that Could Be History– Steve Rubel, Lifestream

Learned about Learning in 2009– Tony Karrer, Elearning Technology

Looking for My Personal Library– David Warlick, 2 Cents Worth

The Top Ten Ways to Think about Lists– Ewan McIntosh, Edublogs

e-Learning Templates– Tony Karrer, eLearning Technology

K-12 Online Conference

2009 Horizon Report– Tipline

The study, entitled Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies, involved a rigorous evaluation of more than a thousand recent studies of online learning. Of the collection of empirical studies examined, the research team identified forty-six studies that could be subjected to meta-analysis. The meta-analysis involved examining the conclusions of the various studies in order to construct a general conclusion (composite estimate) regarding online learning.

The research analysis is based around four important questions:

1. “How does the effectiveness of online learning compare with that of face-to-face instruction?”
2. “Does supplementing face-to-face instruction with online instruction enhance learning?”
3. “What practices are associated with more effective online learning?”
4. “What conditions influence the effectiveness of online learning?”

Not only are all four questions very interesting but they are the sorts of questions commonly asked by educators when considering the efficacy of online learning.

In terms of the effectiveness of online learning compared to face-to-face instruction, the study found that “students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction.”

The study also found that blended learning measurably enhanced student learning as compared with instruction solely based on face-to-face interaction. Moreover, it found that the effectiveness of online learning programs seems “quite broad across different content and learning types.”

The study identified three important best practices related to online instruction:

1. “Online learning can be enhanced by giving learners control of their interactions with media and prompting learner reflection.” The study seems to indicate that online learning environments improve student learning when students are able to manipulate instruction based on their particular learning needs or when the online curriculum provides learning mechanisms that trigger student reflection or self monitoring of learning.
2. Online learning is more effective when the curriculum includes blended learning elements (e.g., face-to-face interaction, online collaboration, independent practice, etc.).
3. Effective online learning environments include a variety of learning activities. The simple inclusion of online learning activities such as video or online quizzes do not necessarily improve student learning. Although these sorts of instructional activities are often recommended by educators, the study was not able to find a significant connection between the activities and improved student achievement.

Although the authors of the study determined that blended learning measurably increased student learning, they were not willing to simply attribute the higher achievement to the instructional approach itself.

It’s also interesting to note that the study concluded that time on task is more beneficial to learning in an online environment than in a face-to-face environment.  This seems to confirm what many educators already know: Online learning activities enable teachers to effectively differentiate instruction and tailor learning to meet individual student needs. It seems to make sense, then, that online learning can be highly effective because it enables educators to design instruction that addresses the specific learning needs of students, provide more efficient and individualized student remediation, and individualize instruction based on student aptitude, different learning styles, and interests.

The study did acknowledge that the implications of the its findings are limited and more research regarding online learning is needed. Moreover, the implications for K-12 are very limited due to the small sample of k-12 based research analyzed in the study.

Nevertheless, the study’s analysis is very important. As many schools today face difficult economic challenges, blended learning programs may provide a more efficient and cost effective way to deliver instruction. At the classroom level, blended learning seems to offer important advantages over traditional face-to-face instruction. Perhaps the most important advantage is improved use of instructional time. By utilizing effective blended learning practices, teachers can better maximize limited instructional time while providing interesting and meaningful student-centered learning activities.

Edmomdo 2.0

Twitter has brought the concept of micro-blogging to the attention of much of the world. The recent Iranian election drama that played out on a world stage, certainly would not have been possible without Twitter. Facebook and Friendfeed have also jumped into the instant update arena to keep up and provide interesting options themselves. In a previous article, I outlined the idea behind micro-blogging and some of the complaints associated with it.

In today’s article, I want to take a look at a great way to develop a light-weight, easy to use, Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

While Twitter is lean and sticks to it’s singular purpose (the 140 character post), there are some challenges to using it in an academic setting. Enter Edmodo.

Edmodo is built in a lightweight fashion without all the bells and whistles of a traditional learning management system (lms) and that is really its charm. It is designed like a teacher would design a simple learning environment. Like Twitter, it contains a micro-blogging interface to allow a feed of messages to be sent and viewed. Unlike Twitter, because Edmodo was designed for use on the Web, it doesn’t use the annoying #, @, etc. While this may be appreciated by many, it brings attention to a rather large drawback of Edmodo. Currently you can receive notifications (the 140 character posts) via email, Twitter, or SMS, however, you can’t publish to your feed via SMS. This negates the huge benefit of using a cell phone. Hopefully this will be included in the near future.

As privacy is one of the major concerns in education, unlike Twitter, Edmodo is based around groups. A teacher creates groups along with an access key for their students. This is an obvious benefit for the classroom and ensures easy collaboration with the necessary privacy for those involved. This group feature is pivotal for the remaining features to function appropriately.

Assignments can be created with due dates. In addition, files can be attached to the assignments. This can be very beneficial if a specific format or template is to be used. As is expected, students can reply to complete the assignment, attach a file, or add a hyperlink in their reply. The last option is great if a blog or Wiki contains the product of their assignment. A calendar provides event notification for the group and due dates for assignments. Grades can be attached to the submitted assignments and in version 3.0 a gradebook is scheduled to be introduced.

Links to interesting or important websites and files can easily be distributed to group members. Furthermore, Edmodo provides a nice storage area for these that can be easily filtered as the list becomes longer. An additional feature of Edmodo, is the ability to create public pages. These are pages that can viewed by the general public and not just group members. In addition, public pages provide the ability for a user to subscribe to their RSS feed. The value of public pages will become more apparent as I discuss possible uses for Edmodo.

Here are several obvious and some not so obvious benefits and uses for Edmodo:

• Allows students to receive and submit assignments online (a core concept of the VLE)
• Privately allows teacher to student and student to student communication. Thereby creating a more collaborative learning environment.
• Provides an easy way to share necessary files and important or interesting links.
• Provides a clear class calendar. No more guesswork as to when assignments are due and what has been assigned.
• Groups can be used for clubs and teams, not just classes.
• Public pages are perfect for letting parents see class assignments, due dates, etc. No more questions about not having homework. Furthermore, if the parent subscribes to the RSS feed, they don’t even have to visit the Web page again, the information is delivered to their email inbox.
• Collaborative tool for teachers as well as professional development. Edmodo minimizes the isolation that teaching all day in the classroom can create.
• Major school news, events, sports, emergency announcements, etc. can be easily sent to all parents and students (Twitter may have an advantage here).

Here are some potential pitfalls or areas that should be addressed:

• Students still forget their passwords. While these can be reset, it distracts from teaching. What about integrating Facebook Connect or OpenID?
• Greater amount of work and time spent in front of the computer for the teacher. In the beginning, the time required to set up a group and create the required content can be rather large.
• No two way SMS posting! See early comments in the article.
• Quizzes or tests are not supported in version 2.0 but are scheduled to arrive in version 3.0.
• New semester or school year requires any information with a date to be either re-created or best-case scenario edited to be appropriate.
• Illegal file sharing, ethics issues involving cheating, etc.

With it’s great privacy features, collaborative tools, micro-blogging, and ability to connect, Edmodo is rapidly becoming one of my favorite tools for creating a VLE. Teachers should strongly consider adding it to their technology toolbox. As always, I appreciate your feedback. Let me know how you are using Edmodo or what tools you use to accomplish these activities.

A netbook according to Wikipedia is “… a category of small-sized, low-cost, light weight, lean function subnotebooks optimized for Internet access and core computing functions (e.g., word processing) — either directly from applications installed on the netbook itself or indirectly via cloud computing.

Most netbooks share these characteristics:

• light weight — 2-4 pounds
• small screen — 7-9 inches
• static memory instead of a hard drive
• mechanical keyboard, usually smaller than full-sized
• wireless Internet connectivity
• web-cam, microphone, and speaker
• USB ports and memory card slot
• price less than $400

–See Doug Johnson’s Tech Proof column, Netbooks and Computing in the Clouds.

Most netbooks come with a version of the Linux operating system and this can mean a bit of a learning curve for the user. However, several netbooks have recently been released with Windows XP. In addition, the small screen and often 800 x 600 resolution has been less than satisfactory.

One of the standouts in the netbook category is the Lenovo IdeaPad S10e. This netbook improves upon the general competition by offering Windows XP, a 10.1″ screen, and 1024 x 600 resolution, all for $299. This truly means that providing either students with their own netbook or a check-out cart for teachers to temporarily bring to their classroom is within the reach of most budgets.

For example, a set of twenty of these netbooks, along with wi-fi and a server to provide storage, can be set in place for less than $11,000. Furthermore, once the server and wi-fi are in place, the major cost is the purchase of more netbooks.

While the limited amount of, or no hard drive storage may seem to be a problem, the continuing growth of cloud computing (see Wikipedia’s definition) seems to provide the answer. Information is stored on servers and accessed via the Internet. Applications rather than being desktop based are generally browser based. This allows access of data at any location where an Internet connection is available (WI-FI or ethernet).

One of the best known and most often sited examples of cloud computing is Google Apps. Google Apps Education Edition is:

• 7.289117 GB / account of email, shared calendar, and collaboration tools right from the browser
• Free with no advertising for students, faculty and staff
• Ready to integrate with many APIs and use of Open Standards
• Add-on security and compliance tools available at a 66% educational discount
• Google Video for education.

Another example is Zoho an online office tools suite. Some of the common applications Zoho provides are:

• email and chat
• word processing, spreadsheets, and presentation
• online document storage and sharing tools
• wikis

Using either of the suites mentioned above would provide for a fairly robust learning process, both inside and outside of the traditional classroom walls.

Imagine, students could perform lab experiments and chart the results in a spreadsheet application, with the file stored online, all team members could contribute data and observations, at any location. During this phase, a wiki could be utilized to share further information, questions, and to work as a group to learn. The data could be summarized in an official scientific essay (English and Science skills), posted to the wiki for others to view and comment upon (Technology and communication skills), and finally presented in a short, powerful form (Presentation and Interpersonal skills), all while focusing on scientific method, reasoning, and experimentation. A powerful recipe for full purpose learning.

I look forward to your comments, suggestions, and ideas…