Spotlight on Digital Media And Learning

PLAYBACK: The Past, Present and Future of Badges for Learning

Badges and badge systems designed to show mastery of knowledge and skills have received a good deal of attention these past few months. In this week’s PLAYBACK, we look at the news coverage and the questions raised about the practicality of badges for learning.

PLAYBACK: Profits Ahead of Quality in Online Charters?

Virtual schools face criticism on funding, quality and oversight; HASTAC’S Cathy Davidson offers advice to parents and students on how to make better decisions about what constitutes effective online learning; and much more, all in this week’s PLAYBACK…

Digital Media & Learning Competition Aims to Recognize and Reward Learning Outside the Classroom

This year’s Digital Media and Learning Competition aims to demonstrate how badges can revolutionize learning assessment—and demonstrate a learner’s skills, achievements and qualities to potential employers, educational organizations and communities.

Alternatives to Peer Review: How the Web is Changing Age-Old Scholarly Practices

Publish or perish is the dictate of academia. Getting published in an academic journal is what makes or breaks a career, yet researchers regularly must wait eight, even 10 months to hear a reply from the editors—often a rejection. The hang-up is the tried and true method of review: volunteer peer reviewers. Some have been wondering, can the web offer better way? Can journals apply a form of crowd-sourcing to peer review?

Back to School, Looking Forward: New Digital Ideas for the Classroom

August is a teacher’s time for Big Thinking. There’s still breathing space to imagine innovative approaches before September arrives - and with it the pressure of day-to-day classroom realities. This month, Spotlight will look at how educators are thinking about tapping into the power of digital literacy. First up: pairing expression styles with digital media tools, and an argument for setting the ePortfolio default to “social.”