The anniversary of the first one-to-one laptop program. 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
What You Should Know This Week Read More »
Net Neutrality (Again). 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: Net Neutrality Read More »
As I was blissfully wandering through yet another educational technology exhibition recently, albeit BETT in London, the largest in the world, I was wondering if we are really aware of who or what has the most influence on our edtech buying decisions. In the midst of the millions of dollars spent displaying technology ‘kit’ at
Putting the EdTech Cart Before the Horse Read More »
Once again, students’ technology usage is prompting panic. This time, the scare involves anonymous messaging apps. This past week alone, the following headlines crossed my desk: “Do your kids Yik Yak? Time for a chat.” “The Folly of Banning Yik Yak on School Campuses.” “A New Faculty Challenge: Fending Off Abuse on Yik Yak.” “Investigating
Anonymous Messaging Apps on Campus Read More »
“The classroom, with all its limitations, remains a location of possibility.” ~ bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress Digital pedagogy is not equivalent to teachers using digital tools. Rather, digital pedagogy demands that we think critically about our tools, and demands that we reflect actively upon our own practice. So, digital pedagogy means not just drinking
Learning is Not a Mechanism Read More »
Funding for Online Training Companies. 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
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Another week, another story of parents under investigation for letting their kids play outside without supervision. Ten year-old Rafi and six-year-old Dvora Meitiv had been allowed by their parents to walk around their Silver Springs, Maryland neighborhood. But recently, as they walked the two blocks to a nearby park, someone called the police and Child
Raising (and Educating) “Free Range Kids” Read More »
The pioneers of the American west moved into a wilderness they didn’t understand, building their homes with new materials and wrangling a landscape full of promise and peril. From their efforts sprang the infrastructure to create communities and towns and cities. They laid the groundwork for the great migration west so that others needn’t be
The Benefits of Coding for the Whole Learner Read More »
Duolingo for Schools. 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 »
Although I spend a lot of time looking at the past and the present of education technology, I’m just not that good at predicting the future. Back in January 2012, for example, I wrote a New Year’s blog post predicting that Google would cancel its Chromebooks program. I mean, the company does have a horrible
Making Ed-Tech Predictions: The 2015 Edition Read More »
A few reflections on the end of the year… When Will Richardson and Bruce Dixon first told me about their plans to launch a new publication that would focus on a different narrative about the future of schools, I was excited. There is such a huge need to tell a different story. I think (particularly
Telling a Different Story about Education Read More »
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 »
Elonis v United States. Each week, Educating Modern Learners will pick one interesting current event – whether it’s news about education, technology, politics, business, science, or culture – and help 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
What You Should Know This Week Read More »
“Personalization” is certainly one of the most popular and powerful buzzwords in education technology. A lot of hope and hype has been pinned on it. But it took a bit of a hit last week when the National Education Policy Center released a report on “personalized instruction.” Written by UCLA professor Noel Enyedy, the full
Moving Beyond “Personalized Instruction” Read More »
As a teacher and a parent I can fully understand why there is a hesitancy to use technology in a classroom. There are fears about child safety: who can they be talking to? Fears about the student data: how will it be used? And fears about the credibility: why would kids need something that I
“Meaningful Learning” in a Digital Age Read More »
