What do 24,000 ideas look like? Ecologist Eric Berlow and physicist Sean Gourley apply algorithms to the entire archive of TEDx Talks, taking us on a stimulating visual tour to show how ideas connect globally.
via Eric Berlow and Sean Gourley: Mapping ideas worth spreading | Video on TED.com.
“Toronto, September 17, 2013 – Kobo, a global leader in eReading, and Free The Children, today announced a year-long partnership focused on supporting literacy among Aboriginal youth in Canada. Both organizations share a commitment to making Reading more accessible and are working together to support literacy programs in Aboriginal communities across the country. Kobo has donated 3,500 of its award-winning Kobo Touch™ eReaders as well as $100,000 to develop a program designed to cultivate a love and passion for reading. The program includes a speaking tour to educate youth about literacy in Aboriginal communities and encourage them to explore their own culture through digital reading.”
The Full Story: Kobo and Free the Children Partner to Advance Literacy of Aboriginal Youth Across Canada | Kobo Cafe.
In less than a week Ladies Learning Code is hosting the first annual National “Learn to Code” Day!
On September 21, 2013 over 450 learners across Canada will attend simultaneous HTML & CSS workshops in nine cities across the country, plus more will join us for our first-ever online workshop!
On National “Learn to Code” Day, we’ll teach our ever-popular Intro to HTML & CSS workshop – by the end of the day, you will have created your very own beautiful one-page website like this one! Even better, you’ll learn highly valuable skills that you’ll be able to continue developing at home, at work or at school.
via Join us on National Learn to Code Day September 21st! | Ladies Learning to Code!
George Takei, best known for the role of Sulu on the original “Star Trek,” has winning at the Internet down to an art form. His 4.5 million Facebook followers are a testament to that.
Now, he has teamed with AARP for an oddball video series looking at technology topics. AARP says new episodes will appear the first and third week of the month.
via George Takei launches video series to explain technology | Crave – CNET.
Months after he was born, in 1948, Ron McCallum became blind. In this charming, moving talk, he shows how he is able to read — and celebrates the progression of clever tools and adaptive computer technologies that make it possible. With their help, and that of generous volunteers, he’s become a lawyer, an academic, and, most of all, a voracious reader. Welcome to the blind reading revolution.
via Ron McCallum: How technology allowed me to read | Video on TED.com.
EdX, the not-for-profit online learning initiative founded by Harvard and MIT, today announced a partnership with Google to jointly develop their open-source learning platform, known as Open EdX. The core edX offerings currently consist of a few dozen free “Massive Open Online Courses,” or MOOCs, from top-flight university partners like MIT, Harvard, and Berkeley–but the Open EdX vision goes far beyond that.
Google and edX will build out and operate MOOC.org, which will come online early next year. The site aims to be to online courses more or less what WordPress is to publishing: A free, open-source way for universities, institutions, businesses, and individuals to build and host courses in the cloud on any topic and in any format for a global audience.
Related:
Google, AT&T and a host of online education organizations are forming an alliance to develop standards for career readiness. Spearheaded by Massively Open Online Course (MOOC) provider, Udacity, the Open Education Alliance will explore standards for how to prepare and evaluate graduates. The still-forming group of technology companies will help online education providers develop courses, tests, and certifications meant to supplement the use of a college degree in the hiring process.
See the full story: Tech Titans And Online Education Orgs Team Up With The Open Education Alliance | TechCrunch.
In order to help educators integrate technology effectively, we have compiled a list of technology tools focused on learning goals consistent with the CRCD [collect-relate-create-donate] framework. Unlike other lists that promote “cool tools,” yet leave teachers wondering about purposeful educational integration, our list is driven by specific learning goals that promote critical-thinking, creativity, collaboration, and community-mindedness. We hope you will find our list useful.
What are your Learning Goals?
A comprehensive resource recommending a variety of tech according to each learning goal, as listed above. This is also a great resource for anyone looking for unique tech tools related to the activities listed.
infophile 