Pedagogy trumps Technology: Why All the Fuss about MOOCs?

Nice piece in our C21U newsletter, suggesting that pedagogy is more important than the MOOC technology.  How we teach is much more important for dramatic impacts on learning, than aiming for scale via advanced technology.

We may find that MOOCs work well for self-motivated students who have a lot of technology at their fingertips, have been raised in stimulating intellectual environments all their lives, who have lots of support mechanisms within their grasp to help them learn the material, and who have the wherewithal to spend the time and energy required to learn deeply what is being taught in these MOOCs.

But what about those students who don’t have the resources required to support their learning, who have not been raised in intellectually stimulating environments, who don’t even know how to study well? It is hard to see how MOOCs will work for these students, yet these are the students that it is most important that we reach in order to meet the challenges of 21st-century education.

I would much rather see the resources of Georgia Tech and our nation’s other educational institutions, being used to support the creation of research-based learning environments that can most effectively support the learning of all students, regardless of their background. Learning environments that do not rely on the lecture. Learning environments that make good use of those precious and valuable times when students are in direct contact with their instructors.

via Why All the Fuss about MOOCs? | Center for 21st Century Universities.

LiveCode Adopted by More than 25% of High Schools in Scotland

25% of all high schools in Scotland is pretty amazing adoption.  This would be fascinating to study.  How does programming in HyperTalk differ from graphical languages (like Alice or Scratch) versus textual programming languages designed for professionals (like Java or Python)?  What transfers from learning HyperTalk to learning more traditional textual languages later?  How do students’ notional machines of computing differ when learning these different languages?

We’re delighted to be able to announce that with the adoption today by all 24 schools in the North Lanarkshire Council region here in Scotland, we now have over a quarter of all high schools in Scotland using LiveCode! What a great model for other countries to follow once the platform goes open source.

via Next Generation LiveCode (Open Source) by RunRev Ltd » LiveCode Adopted by More than 25% of High Schools in Scotland; Raspberry Pi — Kickstarter.