So, Steve Wheeler has a post http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.co.il/2013/03/whos-afraid-of-big-bad-mooc.html#!/2013/03/whos-afraid-of-big-bad-mooc.html on the subject of MOOC's, Massive Open Online Courses. These are courses given on a university level, generally not accredited, and free. The post touches upon the questions of how brick and mortar colleges are going to change in order to deal with this "threat". Now, you might question whether this is really a threat, because if the "whole point" of going to college is to get a degree, and these courses are unaccredited, then what is the threat; nobody would "go to" one of these "universities" instead of a "real" college? Wheeler argues (based on Thomas Friedman) that having the diploma will become less important in the future, and the focus will be more on "what you know" and not "where did you learn it". Either way, the main point he raises at the end is that schools will have to give courses in a way that there is real value added over the on line version. This got me thinking about our course: In what ways would it be better (or worse) if it were done "live"? Just for one thought, I think a classroom atmosphere would be great to generate discussion on the practical uses of the technology. We are getting a good amount of that through the activity forums (which, by the way, are written on much more often than forums at other online courses I have taken), but a live give in take would be an improvement. Please comment on other ways you feel going "live" would impact this course!

In another post http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.co.il/#!/2013/03/gold-mines.html, he mentions something called the 100 Word Challenge. This is a place for students to post short (guess how many words) on a given theme each month. "Winners" are selected and showcased. The idea is to give the students  a creative outlet, with public recognition, and to get them to be producers of language, not just consumers.While our students will not be able to write on the level required for that site (it is for students whose English is L1, and probably L-only) perhaps teachers from several schools here could start something similar for our EFL students. Even if all of us get together and set up a site for our current and future students, that would be enough to get it going.

The new posts on Lisa Nielsen's blog are not so techy, so I read through an old one (a guest post) http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.co.il/2012/07/5-reasons-to-allow-students-to-use-cell.html on why we should allow smart phones into class. There is good food for thought here, especially regarding the point that in other areas of life they will be able to problem solve with cell phones, so why not in school? Remarkably, however, the author does not address the primary drawback in allowing the phones in class, which is that the students will be distracted and not be doing what they need to be doing. Just from my experience here at Herzog, it is very clear that students that have smart phones open are engaged on a lower level (no preaching here, I include myself in this assessment). So, is there a middle ground? By the way, if you want an in depth read on the "Internet as an extension of our minds"see http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/superman/2013/03/cognitive_enhancement_how_the_internet_is_expanding_our_minds.html

Through Bob Spankle's bit by bit blog (an old post) I came across this site http://www.thinkb4u.com/. This is a great site with interactive tutorials on issues connected to being online. There are sections for teachers, advising how to teach students about proper and improper online behavior, sections for students, and sections for parents. Definitely worth a browse!