EdTech 10: MOOCs, Maps, Movies & the Movement to Update E-Rate

We interrupt your regularly scheduled ET10 programming to bring you the following opportunities to offer important comments on the E-rate program. Here are a few organizations that are making it easy for you to weigh in: file your comments with the EdTechActionNetwork here, join iNACOL in expressing comments and concerns to the FCC here or add your name to the 99 in 5 campaign with the Alliance for Excellent Education. Confused, read the Essential Guide to E-Rate from Digital Learning Now!

Blended Schools & Tools

1.This week we updated our list of blended learning articles and we found 125! Check to make sure you’ve read them all!

2. Everyone’s talking about new schools in DC and Chicago. The national grant program Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) announced its first local partnerships for new or existing public school that wants to blend technology to personalize learning. We happen to love this idea and think Every City & State Should Run A Next-Gen Learning Challenge.

Think you have what it takes? Read about Summit Denali and the 12 Components of an NGLC Winning Design.

3. Remember back in June, when President Obama launched the ConnectED initiative? Well, it was a hot topic at the  Educational Technology Summit in Washington this week, where Gene Sperling explained why the goal is to get the nation’s schools access to high-speed broadband and wireless Internet within five years.

4. Don’t miss this MOOC! Blended Learning gurus, Brian Greenberg, Michael Horne and Rob Schwartz will guide a 6 week Coursera MOOC on implementing blended learning models using some great school models like KIPP Los Angeles, Summit Public Schools and Navigator Schools as prototypes.

Digital Developments

5. Coding as a second language-  Beaver Country Day School in Massachusetts is taking an innovative approach: rather than teach coding as it’s own course, they are integrating it into all subjects, from math and science classes to English and art! For more, check out the best resources for K-12 Coding & CS Resources.

6. MOOCs, MOOCs, and more MOOCs! Udacity is partnering up with some strong allies in Silicon Valley to launch the Open Education Alliance to provide an open curriculum for anyone wanting the skills to pursue careers in technology. Must be something in the air down in the Valley because EdX announced they will work with Google to create the MOOC platform known as Open EdX, “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.”

7. There are some skilled “cartographers” over at EdSurge started by the NewSchools Venture Fund, EdSurge updated this great resource and finished with the new and improved Edtech Index, a market map with over 650 products categorized for educators to check out.

8. Can’t get enough online learning? Us either. Be sure to keep Mindsy “in mind” because this newly launched platform will allow users to subscribe to their full library of online learning content, Netflix style. More good news for online learning junkies because Desire2Learn acquired Knowillage — joining forces to make online adaptive learning even better.

9. Verizon Foundation is sponsoring the 2nd Innovative App Challenge for students in grades six through twelve. Don’t wait, submissions are being accepted from now until December 3! Check out the winners from last year for a little inspiration and motivation.

10. We can’t wait for the USA Science & Engineering Festival happening in DC this spring… luckily, the many STEM events leading up to the Fest will help keep our anticipation in check. For the third year, the Kavli Science Video contest, an international middle and high school student competition announced “Science in Fiction” as this year’s contest theme! “Using scenes from popular science fiction movies, TV shows and video games, students will create :30-:90 videos that investigate how science fictional scenes could be realized using current and developing technologies.” Click here to learn how students can enter their STEM movies!

Don’t miss:

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