* This video posted on Vimeo due to YouTube 10 minute time limit and YouTube not being available in China. I am working on shortening the video for YouTube playability and will add to post when ready.
When you boil education down to its most essential form it is simply the transfer of knowledge from teacher to student. Because we have not figured out how to implant knowledge telepathically, the information has to be transported via some sort of transfer mechanism. If we go back far enough in time, the transfer mechanism was the story around a camp fire and images on cave walls. It was simple, elegant, and most importantly it worked. But our society has evolved and so have our communication tools Lately there has been an explosion in communication technology, and as a technology professional who specializes in education, the question I hear most is: How can I use this technology to better reach my students?
Most education institutions set off to improve the transfer mechanism. We started with the chalkboard and then moved onto the overhead projector. When the bulbs in the overhead projector finally burned out, we moved onto powerpoint slides, and to broaden our reach we have begun to teach online and podcast. Some have even integrated clickers into the classroom.
Just when we exhausted every new technology to improve the transfer mechanism, our students are still telling us that we have missed something.
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