EdCasting... Wow!

From eCampus News... fascinating!

"Twitter + mini MOOCs = new social sharing called EdCasting"

"...EdCast launches a “Twitter for education” with its new mini-MOOC social sharing platform.
During the Future Learning 2020 Summit, EdCast–a personal learning network platform– announced what it says is a new social media platform that allows people to post mini-MOOCs, or video snippets of educational content; the new functionality is called “EdCasting.”

According to a news from the Stanford and EdCast-hosted Summit, EdCasting is a less formal version of online courses, and is akin to tweeting, “with the difference being that each post is based on a video or link that can be described without being limited to 140 characters.”

“Just as podcasting and Tweeting made it easier to share general content, EdCasting empowers everyone to share their knowledge and help create the new culture of lifelong learning in this knowledge economy,” said Karl Mehta, CEO and Founder of EdCast. “With EdCasting, you are just a button push away from being connected to subject experts.”

The launch of EdCasting includes 10 channels ranging from entrepreneurship, architecture, robotics, technology, and health, filled with insights from over 100 “globally renowned experts and influencers,” described the company in a press release.

And just like with Twitter, the mini-MOOC platform is meant to be an informal learning ecosystem, where those who sign up for the EdCast platform can follow channels, groups, or individuals, and educators can curate content for their followers. It’s also AI driven based on user profile characteristics and activity-based interests.

“Imagine following teachers or mentors and continuing to see content they endorse on an ongoing basis,” noted a report from Class Central, a MOOC aggregation platform. “Unlike Twitter, this is not mixed with personal comments or the latest news—it is a pure-play channel for educational content. Also, there is no “re-tweeting”, so that the information flow is not diluted with recycled information–everything in your feed is a hand-selected link or video. (There is also a Chrome extension that allows people to do EdCasting from wherever they are on the web.)”

(Next page: Examples of notable educators already EdCasting)EdCast’s EdCasting functionality launched with a diverse offering from many notable educators, national leaders, and tech industry gurus. Those leaders already EdCasting include (listed in alphabetical order):

• TJ Bliss, of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, on the power of sharing online content.
• John Seely Brown, former Chief Scientist and Director of Xerox PARC, on motivating learners.
• Joi Ito, Director of MIT Media Labs, on the importance of being “antidisciplinary” in education.
• Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus and startup investor, on the value proposition of college.
• Dr. William J. Perry, former U.S. Secretary of Defense and head of the Dr. William J. Perry Project, on the middle east arms race.
• Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, on a wide range of global politics topics.
• Mark Surman, executive director of the Mozilla Foundation, on digital credentialing and open badges.
• Vivek Wadwha, of Duke and Singularity University, on technology disruptions with lasting value.

(For the full list, see the press release)

“EdCasting moves learning from the industrial age to the knowledge age with innovative, bite-size curated insights,” said Dr. William J. Perry, former Secretary of Defense of the United States & professor (emeritus) at Stanford University, in a statement. “EdCasting brings a new platform to influencers and educators and levels the playing field for a global audience eager to learn and share knowledge.”...


Read the full article at its source: http://www.ecampusnews.com/technologies/edcasting-edcast-mooc-989/2/