A short video with a compelling argument from TED:
Someone always asks the math teacher, “Am I going to use calculus in real life?” And for most of us, says Arthur Benjamin, the answer is no. He offers a bold proposal on how to make math education relevant in the digital age.

From the Chronicle of Higher Education:
Will Wright, the video-game designer responsible for some of the best-selling titles of all time, says that video games are better at inspiring students to learn than actually teaching them.

Note: Education Futures is on a reduced publication schedule for the summer, and will return with its regular schedule in mid-August.
Slides from Saturday’s talk at World Future Society’s World Future 2009 conference in Chicago:
Destination Imagination is the world’s largest creative problem solving program for kindergarten through college-aged learners. DI participants develop life skills while solving [...]

The organizers of TEDIndia asked that I share this reminder that the application deadline for TEDIndia fellowships is June 15, 2009. What makes TEDIndia extra-special is, that the TED Fellows program will include a group of 100 innovators from India and South Asia who have shown unusual accomplishment and exceptional courage. These young [...]

Again, Education Futures joins millions of educators and policy leaders around the world in taking a little time off this summer. We are not going to completely disappear, but we will have a reduced publishing schedule. When we fire up again in August, expect a few more enhancements, including an interview series with [...]

The Education 3.0 series is on a short hold as issues with an overheating computer (with all the post drafts are being held!) are being resolved.
In the meantime, another gem just came through on Twitter regarding mobile adoption in Africa. This one’s from Peter Fleck:

@pfhyper Great vid on mobile phone scene in Africa. http://bit.ly/17NQqn [...]

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Let your mind wonder for just a moment. As yourself this question: If I could redesign an entire teacher education program, what would it look like?
Here is my vision of a teacher education program. I imagine a teacher preparation program that:

Challenges the individual. No one in this program would say “But [...]

Note: This article is a part of the Designing Education 3.0 series at Education Futures.
The debate continues: What is the role of a teacher? The sage on the stage or a guide on the side? In a recent Tegenlicht episode, Frank Furedi argued for a return to “classical,” power-based, download-style (banking) pedagogies. I countered [...]

I co-host a podcast on Blog Talk Radio called Four Guys Talking. In episode 5, we discussed the role of higher education institutions to create
technology savvy leaders. To cut to the chase, we concluded that we are not
doing nearly enough to ensure school leaders are able to handle the changes,
or even capture the opportunities, brought on [...]