By Nadia Mireles A few years ago, a professor taught a climate change course, reaching about one hundred students per semester. One day, he thought: “If I could upload this course online, then not only would my 100 students have access to it, but others as well.” So he did. And this is what happened... … [Lee más...] about Sharing educational content: Why is it important?
XXI century skills
Let’s all learn from Einstein
Written by Nadia Mireles* The knowledge of one of the greatest geniuses of this planet and the winner of the Nobel Prize is now within reach for everyone. Recently, the Hebrew University opened access to 2000 of Einstein’s manuscripts (although access will continue to grow over the coming months). The news spread rapidly throughout the world, published in newspapers (El … [Lee más...] about Let’s all learn from Einstein
Gauguin, Art and Open Educational Resources
Written by: Nadia Mireles* Recently, Yale University announced open access to its cultural collection of more than 250,000 images. Works by Picasso, Renoir and Gauguin, among many others, can be now found electronically. However, what does art—and the great artists of past centuries—have to do with Open Educational Resources (OER), technology and education? The “open access” … [Lee más...] about Gauguin, Art and Open Educational Resources
Children who learn on their own
In 2006, a university professor in India named Professor Sugata Mitra decided to try an experiment. On a wall of his office, which overlooked a slum, he installed a computer that was connected to the Internet. He left it there so that children could use it as they wished. In subsequent years he repeated this experiment in some 20 communities in the country, and after refining … [Lee más...] about Children who learn on their own
Homework in class, the lesson at home
Teachers typically spend 80-90 percent of their time in class to teach the lesson. The lesson must be the same for all the students. Both the good and the bad students are taught the same content and are expected to learn the same. Students do their homework at home, where they must carry out the assignment without the guidance of a teacher. Wouldn’t it be better to do the … [Lee más...] about Homework in class, the lesson at home