Supplementary Course Readings

These reading selections are not required, but provide additional background and more in-depth insight into many topics about which we study in this course.

1. _Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies (A report from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development. The main finding? Analysts noted that blended conditions (online plus face-to-face instruction) often led to the best outcomes due to increased opportunities for learning outside of class time.
   
   
2. _In Classroom of the Future, Stagnant Scores (Schools are embracing digital learning, but evidence is scarce that the expensive technology is improving educational outcomes.)
   
   
3. _The Zuckerberg Revolution: Social media have increased the volume of our communications yet diminished the substance of them--by media writer Neal Gabler.
   
   
4. _At School, Technology Starts to Turn a Corner (A New York Times essay reporting on some promising new developments that may herald a new day in the use of technology in K-12 schools.)
   
   
5. _For Some Teachers, Excitement About Classroom Tech (The New York Times and its Learning Network asked teachers to make videos demonstrating how the use of technology has changed their classrooms.)
   
   
6. _Mind Over Mass Media  (According to Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, technologies such as Twitter, e-mail and PowerPoint are far from making us stupid -- they are keeping us smart.)
   
   
7. _The Power of the Internet for Learning: Moving from Promise to Practice (A report issued by the Web-Based Education Commission, a committee established by Congress to develop specific policy recommendations geared toward maximizing the educational promise of the Internet for pre-K, elementary, middle, secondary, and postsecondary education learners.)
   
   
8. _I, Robot: One Man's Quest to Become a Computer (Newsweek feature article: Ray Kurzweil can't wait to be a Cyborg—a human mind inside an everlasting machine. But is this the next great leap in human evolution, or just one man's midlife crisis writ large?)
   
   
9. _How the 'Net Works, from Access Magazine
   
   
10. _When Are Children Ready to Use Computers?
    
    
11.  New Puzzles That Tell Humans From Machines (A New York TImes article on new ways of keeping robots from misappropriating Internet resources.)
    
    
12.   Four Ways to Strengthen a Password (Just what the title suggests!)
    
    
13.  How St. Paul Was Almost Silicon Valley (After World War II, St. Paul was one of two incubator sites for the computer industry — but missed out on later explosive growth.)