Blog IT

Do Teachers Need Education Degrees?

In a Room for Debate forum in June on the value of liberal arts master’s degrees, one group of readers — teachers and education administrators — generally agreed a higher degree was well worth the investment. They pointed out that pay and promotion in public schools were tied to the accumulation of such credentials and credits, specifically from colleges of education. Read more.

Digital Textbooks: 3 Reasons Students Aren’t Ready

For higher education students who spend an average of $702 per year on course materials, mostly textbooks, the prospect of going digital is an appealing one. Among the theoretical benefits of digital textbooks is the possibility of significant cost savings due to lower overhead costs — bits are cheaper than printed pages, after all. Unfortunately, students shouldn’t chuck their backpacks any time soon; there still exist some major hurdles that digital textbooks must overcome before they widely replace traditional, printed textbooks on college (and high school) campuses. Read article.

Learning to Change-Changing to Learn

YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tahTKdEUAPk

Learning with 'e's

Many would agree that anytime, anyplace learning has been somewhat elusive. Sure, we have had organised distance education for almost two centuries, and mega-universities (i.e. large open universities with >100,000 students) are now globally established and universally respected. But although open learning courses can provide learners with an equivalent experience to campus based learning at home and at work, it's difficult to accept them as 'anytime anyplace'. Read more.

Libraries Going Digital

Studies have shown that digital resources -- video clips, audio, simulations and images -- improve student learning in science and math, and the emergence of online digital libraries has made more free resources available than ever before. Yet few make it to student classrooms or computers. A new research study at The Florida State University looks to change this. Read more.