Online Education in America

(Cross posted to the PLP Network blog)
One of my favorite things that Sheryl says when she talks about the challenges that schools face right now is that this generation of kids in our schools is the first not to have a choice about technology. Most of us grew up in a time when technology was [...]

It’s no secret that Lawrence Lessig is one of my heroes in the way that he takes on meaningful efforts to change the world for (what I think, at least) good and his ability to articulate those efforts in compelling ways. It’s also no secret that over the past year I’ve become more disillusioned with [...]

From Silicon.com:

In this video interview, Noel Sharkey, professor of robotics and AI at the University of Sheffield, discusses developments in robotics – from the proliferation of robots in Japan’s automotive industry to the stair-climbing dexterity of Honda’s Asimo robot and beyond.

He also discusses ethical issues, and in which countries we can find the most robots [...]

So this might totally fall flat on its face, but I’m wondering how all you  out there who are deeply invested in social learning spaces might respond to this unlikely but hopefully compelling scenario:
Imagine for a moment that high schools as educational places vanish from the earth. How would you go about educating the 14-18 [...]

An invitation to the next Horizon Forum meeting at the University of Minnesota:

Education and the Technological Singularity

January 27, 2010
11:30am – 1:30pm
250 Wulling Hall (U of M East Bank)
At the next Horizon Forum, you are invited to join the discussion, moderated by Arthur Harkins and John Moravec, with special guests, as we probe into the deep [...]

This short set of slides provides a great background on what is “invisible learning” and how we can all contribute to the discussion at www.invisiblelearning.com.

Again, the conversation continues at www.invisiblelearning.com!
Source: John Moravec

A few days ago, Gary Stager tweeted me this link in the LA Times about the demise of journalism and freelance writing primarily due to everything being, well, “free” on the Internet. The subhead read, in part, “the well-written story is in danger of becoming scarce.” Gary’s Tweet read “This is disastrous for our culture [...]

In this video from The UpTake forwarded to Education Futures from Bring Me the News, President Obama speaks on the relationship between education and national competitiveness (you can skip the introductions and jump to his talk which begins around 6:20 into the video):

President Obama: “So make no mistake: Our future is on the line. The [...]

My favorite conference of the year, Educon 2.2, is only a few weeks away, and I wanted to post my “conversation” here to see if there might be some…um…conversation about how to best make the, ah, conversation valuable at the conference. (NOTE: I had originally intended to lead a conversation on “Greening Education” but I’m [...]

The Bank of Common Knowledge (Banco Común de Conocimientos) is a pilot experience dedicated to the research of social mechanisms for the collective production of contents, mutual education, and citizen participation. It is a laboratory platform where we explore new ways of enhancing the distribution channels for practical and informal knowledge, as well as how [...]

[Photo by darkmatter]
Keeping with Education Futures’ annual tradition, I released five predictions for global education in 2009 early last year.
How did I do?
Much better than my predictions for 2008! Let’s look:

No Child Left Behind won’t get left behind. Contrary to all the data that shows that NCLB is a miserable failure, it still [...]