Mobile technologies are creating new ways for students to connect with their course materials, their classes and their colleagues, while also providing new ways to save money, while increasing access, productivity and flexibility.
Technology has transformed a variety of industries over the past decade, from ecommerce to entertainment. One could argue that 2012 was the year that technology accelerated its march to transforming education as well.
We worry that many educators are unintentionally and subconsciously averse to weaving technology into the fabric of teaching and learning, simply because they do not see what doing so would look and feel like, and technology does not map onto to their mental models of classrooms.
In 2004, Khan began making his YouTube videos of basic math instruction as an alternative to sending his cousins the videos directly. His discovery? His cousins preferred videos to the genuine article: they were quite happy to use the videos rather than have him teach them in person.
Any sensitive theatergoer will tell you that live theater is a completely different experience
than watching the same thing on TV or your computer screen. Can the energy that an inspiring
teacher calls forth be funneled into a computer screen?
Technology offers us many opportunities to improve our output by customizing learning to individual needs, increasing productivity, expanding access, and most importantly, improving quality and affordability.
The International Baccalaureate (the IB) continues to play an important role in changing the lives of students worldwide. Apart from PISA, it is the only test that measures the performance of students against their global peers.