There are gender wars, and then there are casualties. It wasn’t until 2011 that the behemoth toymaker LEGO acknowledged girls’ desire to build with bricks, even though the company had long before made a seemingly effortless pivot to co-branding, video games, and major motion pictures. So it’s little wonder that girls face all-too-real obstacles when […]
Read moreCategory: Learning & access
Constructivism
June 1st, 2006 by IDEA
Actively assimilating knowledge while constructing and interpreting new ideas. The core of Constructivism is learning by doing. The next time this cat wants to go fishing, he’ll try a different approach. Problem How do people go beyond their personal experience in order to learn and implement new concepts and ideas? Theory Constructivism has its
Cooperative learning
June 1st, 2006 by IDEA
Actively engaging students who work in collaboration. According to Cooperative Learning theory, you can read or hear about driving, but you can’t truly learn how to drive until you actually get behind the wheel. Problem How do interactivity and reality-based learning make people learn more effectively? Theory Cooperative Learning theory, an offshoot of Constructivism, incorporates
Bridging the digital divide requires flexibility. In a village meeting, adults get the weekly news and discuss the pressing issues of the day – a far cry from the technology parks and campuses that are driving the Indian technology boom. Problem Should we take the practices of our technological culture into emerging technological cultures? Solution
Bridging the information gap one step at a time. Problem Increasing access to information for hard-to-reach populations is critical to enabling them to overcome obstacles to education and development. Solution Although the distribution and implementation of information technology is a complex effort happening on many fronts, there are many success stories from which individuals and
Properly implementing learning technologies benefits teacher and student alike. Problem: It’s difficult to avoid the pitfalls inherent in implementing technology-assisted learning. Solution: Clarify the goals and objectives of an online education program prior to its implementation, and ensure that quality is not compromised. Discussion: The temptation to think of technology-assisted learning as an inherently good
User needs are unmet
May 2nd, 2006 by IDEA
Personalizing web content helps ensure that users’ needs are met. Not everyone wants the same cabbage. Not every user needs the same content. Problem A website can’t effectively meet the needs of users because it isn’t adaptable to their individual needs. Solution Develop multiple versions of web pages in a variety of formats and allow
Flexible designs make finding information rewarding. Problem You need to engage visitors by making a large amount of data interesting. Solution Augment your database by utilizing any of a number of techniques: Provide views. Produce a series of pages with pre-selected fields, a clear layout, and illustrations. For example, a database of hundreds of insects
Utilizing straightforward URLs helps both humans and search engines find your pages. Problem You need to make pages memorable to both visitors and search engines. Solution Design straightforward URLs and do not use frames. Discussion Your URLs should be short enough so that people can write them down. Do not use frames. If pages are
Local search engine
January 1st, 2006 by IDEA
Adding a local search engine helps visitors quickly locate the information they need. Problem Visitors need to find content among the sea of pages on your web site. Solution Add a search engine to your site. Add “Find:” to the bottom of every page, along with a search box. Also add a search link to