elearnspace

I personally don’t see this project – MIT students build mobile applications in 13 weeks – as being extraordinary (as the post suggests). Learning with mentorship and oversight from industry is hardly new. The speaker/researcher is right in suggesting that integrated learning of this type will become more common. Too often, we still teach as if we don’t have tools for distributed collaboration. Old habits die hard. But, if an educator takes time to reflect on how she/he could teach differently by using freely available technology, numerous opportunities are quickly realized. How about bringing external presenters, industry researchers, and peer learners from around the world? How about using the numerous high quality learning resources available through Ted Talks, iTunes U, conference proceedings, etc? The challenge many educators face today in trying to improve learning is not one of technology or information access. The most significant need is to begin envisioning a future reflective of the affordances of technology now broadly available.