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Some troubling news has appeared in media over the past 24 hours. Many news sites and blogs have been citing an Associated Press article that claims that teachers and administrators are dismayed by students’ use of mobile devices to cheat in the classroom. The question is, why not “cheat?” If students will use similar or better information retrieval tools and knowledge generation tools in the workforce, why should they be prevented from using them in the classroom? In the world of desktop and handheld supercomputing, why are we limiting students to primitive pencil and paper technologies? Furthermore, why are we subjecting students to rote memorization when they could produce new knowledge and solve personally meaningful problems?

The Chinese have already figured this out, and are building mobile learning (m-learning) devices for use inside and outside of the classroom. On Monday, I will demonstrate two Chinese m-learning devices, the Noah NP890+ and the Ozing V99, at the Horizon Forum. Reviews of each device will follow on this blog later in the week.

If the Americans can’t figure it out, we will leave all our children behind?

Sometimes pictures are worth more than a thousand words. Here’s a photo recap from the past week in China…

Shanghai at night

Conference poster at Anqing Teachers College

I present my stuff with translation help from Wu Jian (”Johnson”)

At the Huang Mei Opera

Meeting with Anqing Teachers College leaders

Dr. Jayson Richardson, guest blogging elsewhere, reflects on a conversation we had recently regarding ICT adoption in developing nations and asks:

The question is how will advances in technology such the Nokia N800, a Wi-Fi Internet tablet which includes VoIP support and WiMax which enables long range wireless broadband access change society in less developed nations? Will these tools along with initiatives like the One Laptop per Child change education in less developed nations?

From his experiences in Cambodia, he believes that the rapid adoption of m-learning technologies should be much easier than implementing larger, infrastructure improvement projects, designed to “update” communications infrastructures to standards set long ago. But, what about indigenous technologies?

Using TVU Player, I’ve been watching a bit of Chinese television –and, accompanying advertisements. One advertisement spot featured a mobile learning device that was shown being used in the classroom to facilitate English instruction. The device itself, costing about $100, is specialized for English learning, but also includes functionalities that children would enjoy (i.e., it incorporates an mp3 player).

Now, here’s the kicker: The advertisement showed students using the device to pass tests.

Here’s the second kicker: The pitchman for the product is a white, American-looking guy (I’ve been told he’s actually Canadian). The message the Chinese are sending themselves is that Americans (and Canadians!) are using these technologies in the classrooms, and that they should be using them as well.

On Friday, I’ll depart for Shanghai and Anqing to investigate the use of these technologies in schools. More soon…

This was just noted over at e-rgonomic:

At last year’s TED conference, Sir Ken Robinson made his case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it:

Robinson is author of Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative, and a thought leader on injecting innovation and creativity into human capital development.

My final defense defense starts in 2 seconds…!

Here are my PowerPoint slides, via SlideShare:

Yesterday’s New York Times Sunday Magazine had an article on educational reform in China. Whereas the United States is moving toward an educational model that displays characteristics of traditional Chinese education (especially an emphasis on testing), the Chinese are moving toward an educational model that is, in their view, more Western. This means integrating liberal education into curricula otherwise dominated by the “left-brained” fields of the sciences and mathematics.

As China moves to a whole mind approach to education, where will this leave the U.S. and other nations that aggressively pursue partial-mind education only?