Audrey Watters

Every week, Steve Hargadon and I sit down (virtually) to talk about the latest ed-tech news.  I always find our conversation to be one of the most thought-provoking exchanges I have all week.

(Sometimes I get requests to review products, and I find I just don’t have a lot to say. There’s not a particularly compelling story; there’s not a particularly compelling usage for teaching or learning. This is probably one of those cases. But hey, I made a video. And I wrote this blog entry to substantiate my posting it here.)

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What will employers think about Open Badges and other forms of credentialing for informal learning?
Some thoughts over on MindShift.

Lego is launching a new product line January 1: Lego Friends. Lego Friends is Lego for girls. The sets feature curvy dolls with big eyes and cute smiles, dolls who love animals, hairdressing, shopping, and science. Um yeah.
“The Beauty of Building,” says Lego. OMFG.

Since Stephen Downes’ OLDaily alerted me to Justin Reich’s post earlier this month, I’ve been stewing a lot about Reich’s argument: that open educational resources may be expanding rather than erasing educational inequalities.

You guys have to stop me from writing headlines where the answer is likely “duh” or “hellz yeah.”
Over at Inside Higher Ed, I take a look at Microsoft’s new social network for students, So.cl, and I ask the obvious question…

I think it’s clear by now — whether you’ve read my series on the top ed-tech trends of 2011 or not — that it’s been a big year for education technology startups. Launches. Updates. Funding. Acquisitions. Adoption. Headlines. Buzz. Woohoo. And stuff.