As a journalism major and a long-time English teacher, I have a deep interest in words and the way that they are used. If you’ve been following along here for a while, you know that I struggle mightily with many of the words and phrases that we bandy about in education because I find many […]
Word of the Day: Heutagogy Read More »
Right now, there are eight Tibetan Monks staying at my house. They’re sleeping on floors, couches, and my kids’ beds. (My kids are now on my bedroom floor.) They’re with us for 10-days as they do healings and meditations and school visits. (They made it down to Science Leadership Academy on Friday, in fact.) Only
The Zen of School Change Read More »
Every now and then when I have some free time between basketball tournaments and conference presentations I actually do some reading using these things called “books.” Some of them I actually have to hold in my hand and manually turn paper pages. Shocking, I know. Some have been on my shelf for a long time,
Schools That Learn Read More »
Is it me, or does it seem like much of what we’re doing in education these days is trying to fix what we ourselves break when it comes to kids and learning? I mean, what does it say that our kids come to us as creative, innovative thinkers when they’re five or six years old,
Fixing What We Broke Read More »
I want to circle back to a post I wrote in this space a couple of months ago regarding the “Pedagogic Creed” of John Dewey and the model that he presents for clearly articulating your beliefs about learning. I’ve begun asking the leaders at the schools I’m visiting if they’ve ever written down what they believe
This New School Year, What Do You Believe About Learning? Read More »
I’ve been thinking a lot about learning over the last couple of years, more so than at any other point in my life. While I spent 22 years teaching and administrating in a public school, I can’t say that I spent a lot of time thinking about learning during my career, specifically how kids learn.
Discovering Learning or Delivering an Education Read More »
If you had asked me just a few years ago who Seymour Papert was, I would have stared blankly and had no answer. Not surprisingly, today when I ask others in my workshops if they know of Papert, most do not. Because of my own lack of exposure to Papert’s ideas, I’m not surprised. Yet,
The “One Really Competitive Skill” Read More »
If you want to keep abreast of what is happening with technology in education across developing countries, Mike Trucano from the World Bank writes an interesting blog which focuses on the policy aspects across many regions. The Bank’s reach means he is across a lot more than most, and while his focus is around national
1 to 1 Is Not The Answer Read More »
We may talk about the importance of learning, but for the most part we do not practice it. Let’s start with schools. Schools tend to focus on weaknesses instead of strengths. They also focus too much on content dissemination. Our institutions have failed to foster the love of learning, and do not motivate students to
Barriers to Social Learning Read More »
Testing in Texas. Each week, Educating Modern Learners picks one interesting current event – whether it’s news about education, technology, politics, business, science, or culture – and helps put it in context for school leaders, explaining why the news matters and how it might affect teaching and learning (in the short or in the long
What You Should Know This Week Read More »
Ed-Tech and Accessibility. Each week, Educating Modern Learners picks one interesting current event – whether it’s news about education, technology, politics, business, science, or culture – and helps put it in context for school leaders, explaining why the news matters and how it might affect teaching and learning (in the short or in the long
What You Should Know This Week Read More »
The debate about standardized testing has hit the mainstream. Or at least, it hit HBO last weekend, when John Oliver offered a segment on the topic on his comedy news show Last Week Tonight. Oliver talked about the policies that mandate increasingly pervasive standardized testing in the US, along with the companies that profit from
Testing: Moving Beyond the Public Relations Battle Read More »
Given the large sums of money being thrown at the latest iteration of “progressive education” mediated by technology, it’s as good a time as any to take a quick look at just what a “progressive education” really is. As Audrey wrote last year here in her first overview of AltSchool, Progressive education plus progressive technology
“Loving Learning” in Progressive Schools Read More »
AltSchool’s $100 million. Each week, Educating Modern Learners picks one interesting current event – whether it’s news about education, technology, politics, business, science, or culture – and helps put it in context for school leaders, explaining why the news matters and how it might affect teaching and learning (in the short or in the long
What You Should Know This Week Read More »
Some interesting news on the credentialing front of late. As more and more employers (and others) move beyond the traditional degree as the sole marker of expertise or ability, and as the potential for informal, self-organized, powerful learning continues to explode, the ways in which people are beginning to accrue and communicate various skills and
Four For the Future: Credentialing Read More »
