via candorville.com
CANDORVILLE » Confirmation Bias – always a concern as a researcher, but important for all citizens as well
via candorville.com
Eli Pariser on “The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You”
The internet is increasingly becoming an echo chamber in which websites tailor information according to the preferences they detect in each viewer. When some users search the word “Egypt,” they may get the latest news about the revolution, others might only see search results about Egyptian vacations.
via democracynow.org
This is a great issue that we should be discussing. While these technologies are getting to know us better and better with each visit, this knowledge ends up catering to our immediate tastes, which often results in a sort of tunnel vision approach to content delivery. At one time, people fretted over this aspect of communities (social networks), but I’m much more concerned about corporations catering to their perceptions of my desires and, even scarier, the lack of information gathering on these topics that are seen as less desirable.
“Moodle” Official Music Video – Great student project…I kinda hate Moodle too, though.
Moodle 2+ has been a nightmare and I don’t see it improving…ever. I’m going to ditch it as soon as it’s convenient to do so. However, it could be worse. I could be forced to use Blackboard 🙂
This is a fun student project pimping the virtues of Moodle.
Give children feedback to improve standards in school, says new guide | Education | The Guardian
Give children feedback to improve standards in school, says new guide
Reducing class sizes or setting homework contribute little to raise standards, research finds
Jeevan Vasagar, education editor
New guidance also advocates teaching approaches that encourage pupils to plan, monitor and evaluate their own learning. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty ImagesForget school uniforms and streaming by ability: schools will raise standards if they focus on giving children effective feedback.
via guardian.co.uk
So, methods win out. Who woulda guessed? 🙂
I had a professor at Indiana who swore up and down that class size was the only thing that has made a difference. I repeated that time after time, until I was cornered and asked, “Where is the evidence?” Then I found that there isn’t much. In fact, there is a lot that says there is no difference.
Now I know what should have been clear before. If anything makes a difference, methods do. It’s not how many students are in the class, but rather what you do with them in the class.
Now, these are differences based on test scores and we all know that test scores don’t mean much, right? You do know that, right? The fact is that the test scores they use are reliable, not necessarily valid.
Are Flashcards an Effective Learning Tool? [INFOGRAPHIC]
via voxy.com
Take it with TWO grains of salt, coming from a company that does flashcards, but it is certainly a reasonable look at the benefits.
My Desktop
via TweetDeck
Flat World Knowledge – looking for some good freemium content? Great potential here.
We are the world’s largest publisher of
free and open college textbooks. With our
ever-expanding catalog of top quality books
by expert authors, now is your chance to be
a hero and help your students save thousands
of dollars. Get started today and join the
textbook affordability movement.
The choices are limited at this time, but the idea here is grand. This is not necessarily free publication, it’s freemium. A somewhat restricted online version is free, while all other versions cost. I think this model has wings.
Even with ubiquitous internet, people want a copy that can be edited, annotated, and so forth.
Moodle 2.0 for teachers:- An Illustrated Guide
This is a good idea. An easier user manual is needed for this version. Those using 1-.9 or below will find 2.0 VERY confusing.