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The recent Joan Ganz Cooney Center quick study, “Print books vs. eBooks” has caused quite a stir in reading and techno-panic circles—inspiring paper book purists to condemn eBooks all together and the eBook curious to become more vociferous about the merits and potential of tablet-based literary experiences. These articles beg the questions: What were the results of the study? Why should parents and children’s book lovers care?

“Print books vs. eBooks” study in a nutshell:

Purpose of study:  To compare parent-child reading interactions, child reading engagement and child reading comprehension across basic, eBook and enhanced (multi-media) book formats.

Methodology: The Joan Ganz Cooney Center “recruited 32 pairs of parents and their 3-6-year-old children at the New York Hall of Science’s Preschool Place. Each pair read a print book and either an enhanced or basic e-book while researchers videotaped their interactions and took observational notes. Following the co-reading task, researchers tested the children on their comprehension of the story and interviewed parents about their reading practices at home and elsewhere.”

Results:

“Across all book formats, children performed nearly equally when asked to explain a critical element in the story.”

“Children who read enhanced eBooks recalled significantly fewer narrative details than children who read the print version of the same story.”

“When measuring overall engagement—a composite of parent-child interaction, child-book interaction, parent-book interaction, and signs of enjoyment—63% of the pairs were as engaged reading the print book as they were when reading the e-book (both types).”

“When measuring child-book engagement (e.g., direct attention, touch), more children showed higher levels of engagement for the e-books than the print books… Children also physically interacted with the enhanced e-book more than when reading either the print or basic e-book.” See full study details here.

What does this study have to do with my child? Why should I care? (more…)

With BB and Sam jet setting the world, I thought it would be an appropriate time to check in with the creative minds behinds the series. Take a look at this quick interview with Co-Founders, Anna and Chris Batchelder as they share their outlook on the importance of global awareness and eBooks for kids reading.

What inspired you to create The Adventures of BB and Sam series?

The answer is simple. We are passionate about reading and promoting global awareness amongst children (and adults) around the world! We also have a travel bug. But we have a different philosophy on travel. A lot of people visit a country and try to see as much of it as possible. We prefer to park ourselves in one or two cities for a period of 2-3 weeks and absorb the vibe of the place: the food, culture, people. The best way to get to know a place is to live there. It’s tough when there are so many countries in the world.

What is your process for creating e-books for kids and families?

First we select the country we want to focus on in each story. We spend a significant amount of time in that country learning about the culture, taking photos, capturing original video footage and imagining possible storylines.

Then a tremendous amount of time is spent working with the Bon Education team to write the story, edit it and make sure it is exciting and age-appropriate. We have children, parents and teachers in different countries read the story drafts along the way, to make sure we are on the right track.

We work with our amazing illustrator Richard Peter David to create character and scene sketches, full color illustrations and interactive diagrams. (more…)

Bon Education CEO Anna Batchelder will be leading a free online seminar-style course on P2PU.org June 4-July1, 2012.

This 1-month virtual seminar is for educators, learners and parents who are keen to discuss and compare education systems from around the world.

The course is divided into 4 modules each containing 2-3 online short videos, an optional reading, asynchronous discussions and an optional synchronous discussion (via Skype) around the following topics:

• Global definitions of learning and education (June 4-10, 2012)
• Cross-country education borrowing and lending (June 11-17, 2012)
• Educating the whole person (June 18-24, 2012)
• Creating sustainable education systems (June 25-July 1, 2012)

About a month ago, I talked TED – with the advent of TED-Ed, I was super pumped to hear the voices of brilliant educators around the world.

I decided to check back in on the site a few days ago, and to my delight, the site was up, running and transforming education as I have come to know it.

I clicked on the first lecture that caught my eye: The Power of Simple Words.

The 2-minute micro lesson starts off with Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz chanting, “No coordinates exist like one’s domicile,” (get it?) to drive home the point that, bigger words does not necessarily mean, better.

We are currently in a day and age where we are competing with a whole world of distractions, “constantly fighting for space in an attention span that’s continuing to shrink across generations,” as the animated film points out. It got me thinking … are educators getting the message, that short is sweet?

Upon completing the lecture, viewers are guided through an online mini-curriculum.  A “Quick Quiz” tests you on the material in the video, “Think” issues a critical thinking question, while “Dig Deeper” provides a community project and additional resources that expand on the subject matter.

It is important for educators to know their audience. In a world where students are increasingly teched-out, teachers should speak to students in the language that they know. It was only last week that our Literacy Research Resident, Nelly Elzayat introduced us to a teacher’s assignment that had students summarizing Shakespearian passages into a text message. Check out the full post, Trading a Tweet for your GPA.

For more on our thoughts on TED, check out Bon Education’s Co-Founder and CEO – Anna Batchelder’s piece on educators and mass marketing in Coke is it! Why all Educators should be Mass Marketers.

So I guess I am here to say two things, keep it simple and

Keep Calm and Learn On,

Nora

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Each month, the Virtual Roundtable Series sponsored by CISCO brings together distinguished education leaders to discuss observations, comments and ideas that are meant to transform education. During the week of February 20^th, the series hosted a roundtable on Social Media in Education – What’s Working and What’s Not.

Anna Batchelder, CEO and Co-Founder of Bon Education was invited to weigh in. Anna directed the conversation towards the use of social media as it relates to cross-cultural understanding, digital literacy and open education.

Alongside Anna, Dr. Ron Burnett, President and Vice-Chancellor at Emily Carr University of Art & Design addressed issues on social media and the philosophy of learning.  Judy O’Connell, lecturer at the School of Information Studies at Charles Stuart University exposed participants to e-learning, game-based learning, ICT in education and media literacy. (more…)

Just-in-time management and tech training of the sort you can receive at General Assembly will increasingly replace traditional just-in-case business degrees. Why get an MBA when you can start a company and get just-in-time support? Why take a crummy programming course from your local community college when you can get one free from Stanford or MIT? – Tom Vander Ark (former Executive Director of Education, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)

Agreed! So, agreed! I was recently asked by someone, “Do you think community organizations and the private sector should be involved in teacher training initiatives given that so many universities in the Middle East are expanding their offerings for pre and in-service teachers?” My response was, “Absolutely!” Why? Because…

• Not all learning should end in a degree! - There are so many educators out there that want professional development that will help them in their classes now, but that frankly don’t want to spend the time and money getting a 1st or 2nd master’s degree.
• People outside of academia can bring a lot of value to education - As I wrote in Unconscious Education, “How can it be justified that the teachers that are meant to prepare students for the world of work, so often have little work experience outside of schools?” Or, as Tom Vander Ark puts it, “New eyes with no loyalties other than to kids and community gives an observer a chance to ask tough questions about the strange collection of historical practices that make up the typical school day. While not valued in education, a breadth of leadership experiences and exposure to solution sets from other sectors is helpful.” (more…)

Destination: Philippines

Location: the Slums

Situation: You are a parent of two children trying to make ends meet. You are good at sewing and cooking, but your electricity-less tin hut makes working inside almost impossible. Without light inside you spend most days outside socializing with neighbors and doing odd jobs. You want a better life for your children. You want your children to go to school. Unfortunately, the local school is dilapidated without access to electricity, light or running water… Not to mention you need them to work to bring in much needed family cash.

Enter: Isang Litrong Liwanag (A Liter of Light) (more…)

The Gulf Comparative Education Symposium, sponsored by the Dubai School of Government and with support from the Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research,  was an educational conference that explored the intersection of the public and private in education in the GCC. In the GCES 2011 Proceedings, each paper investigates a different element of education, including educational technology tools. Keep reading for a snippet of some of our favorite ideas!

Who: Ken Volk

Says: Technology Education is More Than Just Computers

As the Outreach Manager at the Masdar Institute of Science & Technology, Abu Dhabi, UAE, Volk takes a critical look at what Middle Eastern governments envision “technology” to mean. He argues that in this day and age, to be technology literate means much more than just knowing how to use computers. He encourages the UAE to have a wider concept of technology and for schools to embrace more materials and processes that will enable them to creatively problem solve.

What do you have to say: How would you define technology in the 21^st century?

Who: Anna Batchelder

Explores: Education 2.0: Using Social Networking Tools to Promote Teacher Professional Development in Ras Al Khaimah

Our own Anna Batchelder, CEO and co-founder of Bon Education, presents the case of the Ras al Khaimah Teachers Network and 21^st Century Teaching and Research Program to illustrate what ICT tools and social networking can do for the realm of teacher collaboration. Through a series of policy recommendations, Anna provides orientation for education stakeholders attempting to promote ICT-based education development.

Think with us: What other ways can social networking be used to enhance teaching and learning processes?

Who: John C. Weldman

Talks About: Linking Higher Education Reform to Labour Market Demand in the Gulf States: A Slippery Slope?

As mentioned in some of our previous posts, the Middle East and North Africa region has rapidly increasing youth populations. The growing numbers continue to put pressure on the education systems. Ultimately, job markets find it difficult absorbing the vast numbers of graduates that emerge each year out of university. Weldman looks at ways in which the Gulf can improve employment by catering market demands to educational supply.

Food for thought: How can technology be used to improve youth employment?

Above is just a sampling of the many ideas that  were shared at the symposium that took place March 16-17, 2011 in Ras al Khaimah, UAE.

Stay tuned for updates.

Keep Calm and Learn On,

Nora

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Image Available Under CC Licensure by stefan.erschwendner 

Reality:

Many educators in the world…

• Don’t receive sufficient teacher training.
• Have little or no ongoing professional development.
• Work in schools that suffer from chronic lack of funding.

Vision:

What if edu-passionate volunteers from around the world banned together to…

• Build an open licensed, free, multilingual virtual school of education driven by the principles of peer learning.
• Facilitate the free exchange of knowledge and ideas between educators in a context that positively transforms teacher and student practice, learning and engagement.
• Codify existing educational best practices into a series of experiences that provide foundational knowledge of how to be an effective teacher.

It’s Happening:

Using Web 2.0 and Social Media to Encourage Deeper Learning from Bon Education on Vimeo.

Now get involved:

• Check out the Peer to Peer University School of Education Pilot. For example, view “Using Social Media to Promote Deeper Learning,” “Differentiated Instruction,” or “Student Engagement”.
• What if we expanded this pilot into a Global Teaching Certificate Program? What practical educational experiences (or courses) would need to be created to help multinational cohorts of pre and in-service educators become phenomenal teachers?

Help think through the tricky details:

• Design—How do we design a program whose requirements are realistic and practical for all involved?
• Accreditation—Do it? Dump it? Redefine it? Teaching certificates vs. badges? FYI – Many school principals, parents and students don’t want “certified teachers” per se, they want “great teachers”. Great teachers come with and without certification.
• Sustainability—How do we sustain a program run by 99% volunteers?
• Marketing—How do we get volunteer curricula writers, course facilitators, coordinators and teachers from mountains of Oman, to the valleys of China to the beaches of the Seychelles to get involved?

From one P2PU School of Ed fan to another,

Anna

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Images Available Under CC Licensure by Thelonious Gonzo and Casey David

Using Web 2.0 and Social Media to Encourage Deeper Learning from Bon Education on Vimeo.

This fall Bon Education co-founders, Anna and Chris Batchelder, will be creating and facilitating a course for Peer 2 Peer University’s newest initiative – The School of Education (pilot). Funded by the Hewlett and Shuttleworth foundations, P2PU is an open education project that knocks down the walls of the university by providing students and their peers with an open platform where they can teach courses and learn from one another for free. As the P2PU mission statement points out:

The Peer 2 Peer University is a grassroots open education project that organizes learning outside of institutional walls and gives learners recognition for their achievements. P2PU creates a model for lifelong learning alongside traditional formal higher education. Leveraging the Internet and educational materials openly available online, P2PU enables high-quality low-cost education opportunities. P2PU – learning for everyone, by everyone about almost everything.

To learn more about the founding of P2PU read Fast Company’s, “How Web-Savvy Edupunks Are Transforming American Higher Education.”

The P2PU School of Education will bring the model of open, community-based peer learning to professional development for K-12 teachers and administrators. Seven courses will be offered between September and November 2011, with a focus on innovative teaching methods. Anna and Chris were invited to create and facilitate “Using Web 2.0 and Social Media to Promote Deeper Learning.” The course is for K-12 teachers and administrators that wish to utilize web 2.0 and social media tools to promote student core content knowledge, critical thinking, collaboration skills, communication, self-directed learning and global outlook (components of what the Hewlett Foundation calls deeper learning). Teachers and administrators interested in participating can register here.

“Learning for everyone, by everyone about almost anything!” That is a motto we like!

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