Pinterest in the Classroom

1. I learned that there are lots of different ideas that can be found online and that there is a large community willing to share what does and doesn't work in the classroom 2. I feel like I can use Pinterest to be able to spread ideas with peer groups that I would otherwise have no access to. I will most likely use it to find activities for my class or even to find interesting articles to share with my students. 3. As I said earlier, Pinterest gives one access to a much larger peer group and there are even places to comment and discuss the pins. 4. My only challenge with Pinterest was that there is so much content that it is east to get distracted on there. 5. I personally love Pinterest and never ad thought of using it as a teaching device, I however will continue to use it as I develop as a teacher.

Blogs

I could see myself using Khan academy. I have used it in the past in one of economic courses and in math courses and I have found it very useful. I can see myself encouraging students in the future to use this program as well. I also do not believe that the credentials that one receives from an online course will ever equal the credentials of the traditional school. However I do think that this is a very effective way of learning especially in the higher education setting. It will enable more and more individuals who many not have the means or opportunities to actually attend school.

Koller Interview

1. How much has the cost of education in the US increased since 1985?? 559% 2.Roughly what percentage of students graduating with a degree actually are working in jobs that require the degree they earned? Ony a little over half, 55% 3.What is the goal of Coursera? To be able to provide the best education to the people around the world, for free. 4.How many courses does Coursera offer? 43 5.Why are Coursera courses different from other online courses? 6.What does Coursera provide students who complete their classes? A certificate of completion 7.Why are Coursera courses different from a typical one-hour, one sized fits all lecture? They are able to watch more lessons at their own pace, and able to pursue topic that they may have more of an interest, or that the may need more in depth help with. 8.What is “retrieval practice”? Where students repeat what they have already learned, they use this by enabling videos ask questions to the students in the middle. 9.How do Coursera instructors grade so many assignments? Can use tech to and programs to grade assignments, and they use peer grading. 10.What is still lacking from Coursera courses? How well does peer-grading compare to teacher-grading?? 11.How do students collaborate in some of these Coursera courses? Fourm setting, and study groups. 12.How are Coursera study groups organized? Sometimes by region, language or by groups of people that just want a little extra help. Some actually met in real life to study. 13.How is the data-driven mode of education revolutionary? How can it change education? It is able to collect all the educational data of every type of student worldwide. It gives insight to effective teaching methods, and concepts that are extremely different. 14.According to Koller, what is the best method of instruction- lecture-based, mastery-based, or one-on-one tutoring? One-on-one is the best however it is not the most practical so she suggest mastery-based. 15.Why should we veer away from lecture-based education? How can we do that? Because it doesn’t truly stick. Professors need to stop talking at students through the form of lecture notes and pure content and need to talk with students and ensure comprehension. 16.According to Koller, what are the three things Open Online Courses are capable of doing? Establish education as a fundamental human right, enable life-long learning, and would enable a wave of innovation.

Kahn Interview

1. How did Khan Academy begin? It began as Kahn making videos that he thought would be able to be used to help his cousins, and people who would want to do extra research and learn on their own. 2.What is Khan Academy? Kahn Academy is an online database that contains help videos that show how alternative approaches to classical educational material. It offers extra help for students who either want to learn on their own, at their own pace, or who may need more explanation of a topic. 3. According to Salman Khan, what is wrong with the current high rates of per-pupil spending in public schools? According to Kahn the issue is that the schools are collecting plenty of funds per student, however the funds are not equally distributed. The funds are not being used to directly pay teachers the amounts that they deserve, nor are students seeing the amount of money that they should in order to promote further education. Instead of going to these crucial places, funds are being distributed amount the higher-ups within the school system, such as administration and principle faculty. 4. What are some qualities of the education system that have not changed in the US since the 1800s? The ordering of what students have learned for the main part has stayed the same, Kahn mentions for example that physics has for years been what one learns in their final years of school. Another example is that many schools require the learning of another language, these are both standards that were created in the 1800s. 5. What is “Flipping the Classroom?” How does it change the routine of the school day? Flipping the classroom is when students watch the lectures at home and then work on what is classically considered homework during the school day. This enables students to be able to have the help that they need when it comes to actually grasping the content material. 6. What does Khan mean about the “de-coupling” between credentialing and the learning experience?? Kahn talks about the “de-coupling” between credentials and the learning experience that one receives in the sense that in times past a person was more willing to pay the money to receive an education from a prestigious school just to be able to say that they attended that school rather than to achieve the education they provided. Khan feels as though more students are going to start attending college for the education rather than for the prestige of an Ivy League school reputation. He also feels that whether a person receives an education on the job verses a college degree doesn’t matter, it’s all a matter of whether a person actually is able to perform the tasks required of them within a certain skill set or job. 7. What is keeping change in the education system from occurring faster? What does Khan say about the pace of change in the system? The rate of change for is alarmingly fast as it is, there is a chance that the entire system can change in 5-10 years.