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 »
The concept of “improvement” is an interesting one. It’s one of those words that gets thrown around when we talk about “school improvement,” “improving test scores” and the like, but it’s also a word that can carry many hidden meanings. Improving test scores inevitably means higher scores, but it can also be used in reference
I took a few days off to go camping in the Adirondacks with my son Tucker last week. It was a much needed respite, and despite that fact that we officially need a bigger tent (he’s 6′ 2″ now), we had a great time hiking, fishing, and tree adventuring (highly recommended.) I’m surprised, in fact,
The WTF Economy? (As in “What’s the Future?”) Read More »
Last week was ISTE, the largest gathering of technology educators annually in the United States. This was my eighth ISTE “experience,” and it’s hard for me to ignore the love/hate feeling I have for it. The best parts are, as always, the people. It’s a time to reconnect with friends from the early days of
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 »
Recently I was speaking with the superintendent of a small rural district in the US about her frustration with moving real changes forward in her district. “My biggest problem,” she said midway through the conversation, “is that I have a staff that doesn’t read. They’re not really paying attention to what’s happening in the world.”
“Reading” the World Read More »
Several weeks ago I wrote a column about the change, specifically about the accelerating rate of change we are seeing in the world around us. It continues to both puzzle and bother me. What puzzles me is how so many people seem oblivious to it, and what bothers me is the insignificant role the education
Changing How We Talk About Change Read More »
Of all of the changes that are taking place in the world right now, the one that I find most fascinating and daunting at the same time is the powerful shift that new technologies are bringing to the way we think about jobs and work, not just in the future but in the present as well. To
“The Rise of the Robots” Read More »
As the insignificance of much of the ‘21st Century-mania’ becomes more and more evident, many educational leaders are now looking beyond the superficial appeal of the cliché’s and asking what their real focus should be. While there has been obvious value in the broader conversations that have been generated around collaboration, critical thinking and however
Testing Assumptions About Self-Directedness Read More »
Given all the rhetoric that has surrounded Finland’s education system in recent times, it comes as no wonder that many thousands of school leaders and educators have made the journey to the Nordics and observed their practices at close quarters. What is surprising however is how little seems to have been learnt from such excursions;
What Really Makes a Difference? Finland Knows Read More »
One of my favorite thinker-writer-authors observing and reporting on the larger shifts around learning in the world right now is John Seely Brown. Without question, A New Culture of Learning is a must read for anyone interested in building a modern context for thinking about and discussing change in schools at the systems level. Where
The Changing Nature of Knowledge Read More »
How many times have you heard the chant, “pedagogy first, technology second?” I could not count the times it has been spoken about in vigorous terms in workshops that I have run in countries across the globe, yet I truly lament the reality we too often find in our schools. Recently I visited a school
Toward More Ambitious Practice in Schools Read More »
To me, some of the most fascinating questions within the larger context of modern learning center on what the future holds in terms of work. (It’s one of the reasons I’m so pleased that Harold Jarche will be a regular contributor to EML moving forward.) While that future is certainly unpredictable, it’s hard to argue
“Informating” Our Students for the Future Read More »
As we head towards EML’s first anniversary at the end of this week, I was interested in reflecting back on the topics we have covered in that time. One hundred newsletters and over 200 posts isn’t a bad start for our first year, and I must say in rereading a few, I found the diversity of
If You Think We’ve Seen a Lot of Change, Think Again Read More »
Let’s start with this: You really want your students (or your own kids) to have the same education that you did when you went to school? The same subjects? Same type of assessments? Same bell schedule? Same homework assignments? Same teacher organized lesson plans? Same rules and regulations? Same lunches? Same… You get the idea. Now
Why Nostalgia May be Our Biggest Barrier Read More »
