Jena Six : ‘Smart mob’ tech spurs student activism

Aquí traemos un artículo en eSchool News sobre las smart mobs, tema que ya hemos tratado en otras ocasiones…ciberturbas, absurd mobs, democratización, acciones sociales y acciones políticas. El artículo es un acercamiento al tema de las smart mob en los contextos estudiantiles americanos. El artículo es muy americano, el bien, el mal, causar estragos, peligros de desmadre…pero es curioso como trabaja el acercamiento al tema…

Me interesa la cuestión del Jena Six , al que corresponde el video de arriba y que se definen:
«The Jena Six are a group of black students who are being charged with attempted murder for beating up a white student who was taunting them with racial slurs, and continued to support other white students who hung three nooses from the high schools «white tree» which sits in the front yard. «
Un grupo de estudiantes negros, algunos links interesantes:

• Comunidad Defensor TV en youtube
• International Hearld Tribune International Hearld Tribune
• The Town Talk The Town Talk
• CommonDreams.org CommonDreams.org
• Democracy Now! Democracy Now!
• Www.friendsofjustice.wordpress.com

El artículo comienza así:

School leaders have a new tech phenomenon to contend with
By Nora Carr, APR

Many of the tens of thousands of college and university student activists that swarmed Jena, La., on Sept. 20 to protest the town’s racial inequality were mobilized through information and communication technologies, representing what’s known as a «smart mob.» The phenomenon, which many believe symbolizes the democratization of the media, is being more widely used in schools across the country, by school leaders and students alike.

October 19, 2007—When tens of thousands of protesters converged on tiny Jena, La., on Sept. 20, they also ushered in a major milestone in technology-spawned activism.

Spurred online to real-life action by a popular hip-hop artist and black music bloggers, the Jena Six protesters gathered without a set time, leader, or program.

They also became the first highly visible «smart mob» formed by black youth, primarily college and university students

(leer más…)

Fuente: [eShool news]

Unleashing Creativity With Student Podcasts

By Kristen Chick

The Washington Times
03/09/07 4:00 AM PT

Professors aren’t the only ones making podcasts for the purpose of education. Their students are being required to create them as part of the curriculum. «The creativity that gets unleashed by the podcasts is just phenomenal,» said Nanette Levinson, associate professor at American University. «It really enhances [students’] creativity and their ability to communicate effectively.»

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Producing podcasts is not a typical assignment in college writing class, but it’s what Heather Schell requires from her students at George Washington University.

Schell, assistant professor in the school’s University Writing Program, asked her freshman writing class last year to produce a weekly «radio show,» a series of podcasts they wrote, recorded, edited and posted on the Web.

«I really enjoyed it,» said one of the students, Kirsten Gilbert, who began the class as a «technophobe» and ended as a podcast pro. «I learned a lot about podcasting. It taught you how to write pieces to be heard, not to be read.»

Schell is among an increasing number of college professors to use podcasts — audio files that can downloaded to iPods and computers — as they discover the advantages of technologically savvy teaching, said Suzan Harkness, assistant professor of political science at the University of the District of Columbia(leer más…)

Fuente: [tech news world]

tags: e-learning, aprendizaje, web2.0, social software, web 2.0, podcast, podcasting, creatividad, creativity

The ABCs of Student Learning and e-Portfolios

ASU to host outcome assessment conference Feb. 8-9

MESA, Ariz. — Many post-secondary institutions are moving toward setting up their own assessment systems, and ASU is not far behind. At the Polytechnic campus the university is looking at implementing electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) to assess outcomes for student learning.

“Across the country and around the world, at learning institutions of all kinds, students are creating e-portfolios — portfolios for personal planning, learning communities, general education, the academic major, advising, graduation and even job seeking,” says Douglas Eder, director of University Evaluation.

In 2006 the ASU Polytechnic Faculty Assembly adopted a set of eight core values that every Polytechnic student should have upon graduation.

“A key component in operationally implementing the core values will be a campus-wide e-portfolio system, which is currently under development,” says Duane Roen, ASU professor of English and the head of the Humanities and Arts unit at the Polytechnic campus. “Many faculty members are already using some kind of portfolio system, whether paper or electronic based, in their teaching.” (leer más…)

Fuente: [ the arizona state University]

tags: e-learning, aprendizaje, web2.0, e-portfolio, web 2.0