World-Shaker

McGraw-Hill to Provide English Instruction and Test Prep Through Cellphones in India →

Question: Why don’t we get that kind of innovation in the States? McGraw-Hill is just 90 minutes south of me in Ohio. I’d love to see a modified version of this for some of the region’s community colleges. Come on, MG-H, show some love for the Buckeye State!

McGraw-Hill is building a mobile-phone platform to teach English and college test preparation to people in India, which the publisher hopes will help it tap into rapidly expanding cellphone use in emerging markets.

The platform, mConnect, comes as textbook publishers are jockeying to supply learning materials on digital devices. If the software is successful in India, McGraw-Hill plans to offer it in other developing countries in Asia and Africa.

The service will initially teach subscribers through text messaging and automated voice response, said Bruce D. Marcus, McGraw-Hill’s executive vice president. For instance, automated software will give Indians feedback on their English-speaking abilities, and a text-message service will offer test-preparation questions and grade the responses.

Video to be a key part of student teacher evaluation →

Teaching colleges are preparing aspiring teachers for new, more demanding requirements to receive their teacher license: Under a new teacher evaluation system being tested in 19 states, evaluators will watch video clips of student teachers delivering lessons in their classroom, and candidates must show that they can prepare a lesson, tailor it to students of different abilities, and present it effectively.

I’m all for this. As a presenter, one of the most effective tools for professional improvement has been watching recordings of myself during a session.

Here’s my question though:

Is there an accompanying pay raise with this? Extra support from administration? More coverage against ridiculous parents? Cheaper tuition for the folks who make so little? Or is this just something else to heap on the pile of responsibilities?

"However, as we transition from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 (and, more specifically, the modifications and new technology features and functions made possible by HTML5), it seems that we will be experiencing yet another change in our instructional role. The challenge is now to retain certain aspects of facilitation but move actively into the learning process itself and become partners in the process. As the “field” levels even further, we must understand and embrace the meaning and the implications of being constructive partners in the learning process."

— The Changing Role of Instructors Moving from Facilitation to Constructive Partnerships — THE Journal