In September 2011, the U.S. Department of Education sponsored a new project called Digital Promise.
The bipartisan, public-private initiative will fund research in
educational technology and will bring leading technologies into the
classroom to help students with problem areas such as STEM subjects.
Review the main directions of this project using the provided link and
post your thoughts on which initiatives could be particularly helpful
for the development of next-generation learning environments in Alabama
schools and colleges. (Focus on your own subject area and grade level.)
The exponential expansion of the information on the web resulted
in more powerful and more sophisticated search engines. Modern search engines
use intricate algorithms to select information based on the user’s previous
online behavior to tailor search results to what the user is most likely to
like or agree with. As a result, the user is exposed to a personalized set of
information, links, sites, and pages while being under the impression that he
or she is seeing an untampered view of the World Wide Web. Though most consumers benefit from quick finds of desirable products, some
intellectuals, like Eli Pariser and Tim Berners-Lee, sounded an alarm claiming
that it would lead to information bubbles which will lock people within
comfortable but isolated, their own cultural, educational, and ideological
mini-worlds. Eli Pariser coined the term “Filter Bubble” and spoke eloquently
against limiting people’s exposure to conflicting viewpoints and information.
Watch his 9 minute presentation at
http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html and post
your thoughts on the issue. How can “filter bubbles” affect education and what
is the role and responsibility of educators in ensuring free access to
information?
