Saturday, June 21, 2014

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) 2014 starting June 28

 
The conference for educators kicks off on June 28 and wraps up on July 1. The theme is Connected Learning-Connected World. Quite appropriate and fits the bill. Tier one sponsors are Microsoft, Pearson, Samsung, and Smart. Besides the people who want to learn these are the major stake holders. This is an opportunity to create new clients for your smart phone, tablets, utility software, network, media and what not.

This is what the conference is about in their own words:

"Part idea incubator and part collaborative workspace, ISTE’s conference and expo brings educators of all types and grade levels together to share discoveries and develop solutions for their greatest challenges—all while connecting to a global network of education resources. When you register for ISTE 2014, you’ll get:
•Four full days brimming with robust, inspirational professional learning opportunities that will help you build the skills to support digital age learning
•Unlimited networking opportunities with nearly 18,000 educators, education leaders and corporate representatives from around the globe
•Three powerful keynote addresses from ed tech leaders and experts
•The opportunity to choose from hundreds of sessions in a variety of formats, including lectures, BYODs and hands-on learning environments
•Access to a massive expo hall featuring the latest ed tech products and services from more than 500 companies and 4,500 industry reps
•One-year standard membership to ISTE
"

We all learn and everyone must. However, learning comes with cost and digital learning should make it a lot cheaper. However, creating content to feed learners also has a cost and who should bear this cost? Digital learning or 'distance learning' is a blessing for those who lack means. Internet has made it a lot easier to reach out to the disadvantaged but still it has its limitations.

Read this commentary in Physics Today, June 2014 about the large scale experiments with Massive Open Online Courses(MOOCs):
"Massive open online courses and the future of education" to get an idea of where digital learning is heading and the challenges it faces.

 

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