It’s Computer Science Education Week, and thanks to a major industry-funded initiative, many schools will be participating in an “Hour of Code.” It’s nice to see a growing interest in computer science, of course, as many K-12 schools have been resistant to view computers as more than word-processing or test-taking devices. But I want to […]
Will an “Hour of Code” Change School? Read More »
The talk about “disruption” in education has been building for quite some time now, but as with much of the rhetoric that surrounds school change and “reform,” the bar for what constitutes real disruption continues to be set relatively low. We’re told that “Massively Open Online Courses” (MOOCs) will disrupt the entire higher education system.
Everything You Think is “Disruptive” Isn’t Read More »
In this era of evidence-based decision-making, how often are we now being confounded, rather than comforted by evidence? While on the surface it seems natural that leaders would seek research and evidence to support the decisions they make, digging a little deeper reveals all might not be quite what it seems. Evidence-based decision-making certainly came
Truthiness and the Education Conversation Read More »
A “Genius Hour.” “20% Time.” “An Hour of Code.” These ideas suggest that students should be allotted time during the school week to follow their own interests. But it this really a substantive or sustainable change?
It’s Gonna Take More Than a “Genius Hour” Read More »
We talk a lot about data and privacy. But how do we take concrete steps to actually address these important issues? Funnymonkey’s Bill Fitzgerald offers a guide for education technology — school leaders, teachers, parents, and students — about the questions we need to ask about the software schools demand students use.
Taking Inventory of the Ed-Tech Schools Use Read More »
October was “Connected Educator Month.” In the US, it was also National Bullying Prevention Month. And in the midst of all of this was “Gamergate.” How do we reconcile the possibilities and the dangers of online connections? How do we, as Bud Hunt asks here, shine a light into some of the dark corners of
What We Don’t Talk about When We Talk about Connectedness Read More »
To administrate or lead, that is the question. As we start to identify the essential components of a modern learning environment, our use of language becomes even more important in describing our meanings and intentions. Too often in the past, critical ideas have been marginalised, and their meaning appropriated beyond recognition, leaving only a shadow
To Administrate or To Lead Read More »
With increasing adoption of computer technologies, schools must do a better job addressing two important issues: privacy and security. Here, education security advocate Jessy Irwin offers some first steps in learning about security. And this isn’t just a lesson for students — it’s for teachers and school leaders and parents as well.
How to Teach Computer Security Skills Read More »
It appears as though Los Angeles Unified School District’s disastrous iPad initiative is moving into its next phase. Can new leadership in the district get it right this time?
Leadership Changes at LAUSD: What’s Next for Its iPad Initiative? Read More »
“Leadership is a choice. It’s the choice not to do nothing.” ~Seth Godin, Tribes There are many others I’m sure, but two particular articles published in the last couple of weeks ought to have educational leaders thinking deeply about their work. The first is an essay in Wired magazine by Harvard Professor David Edwards who
Few topics will get a group of educators engaged more than asking them for their thoughts on the role of curriculum in our schools today. At one end are those who carry a firm belief about the innateness or permanence of certain knowledge, which they believe should be taught to all children. These are people
The Folly of Curriculum as Political Football Read More »
The theme this week on EML is “openness,” and this post by editor Audrey Watters looks at why licenses — Creative Commons and open source, for example — are important in helping move our thinking of education forward.
Openness and Ownership: Who Owns School Work? Read More »
There are hundreds and hundreds of books on leadership, most often framed in terms of “management.” What is the connection between language and leadership? And what role does language play in modern learning and modern leadership? These questions seem particularly important if we want to focus less on the “management” of learning and on the
The Language of Leadership Read More »
Having spent significant time over the past eighteen months working with educational and policy leaders from a broad cross-section of countries I felt a long plane flight home was a good time to reflect on the directions that appear to be emerging as educational priorities for governments around the world. The first and most obvious
The Pain of Powerful Policy Read More »
It’s not unusual for someone to raise a hand in the middle of a workshop we’re doing and say “I get these changes and shifts, but what do I do about it in my school?” Or something along those lines. Like most in education, we want answers. Lingering questions about change or uncertainty, it seems,
Questions Over Answers Read More »
