Gamification. It’s become a popular buzzword in recent years: a way to add game-like elements to non-gaming applications or activities in order to make them more fun and engaging. That’s very different than actually using games for teaching and learning. Here, EML editor Audrey Watters offers an “explainer” on the difference between “game-based learning” and […]
What Should School Leaders Know About Gamification? Read More »
A MOOC Experiment? 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 the long
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Despite all the promises that new technologies will unlock a new era of teaching and learning, these tools are often used to replicate older practices in education. Here EML regular contributer Lee Skallerup Bessette asks if apps are becoming the new worksheet, with the same sorts of frustrating and repetitive exercises now on a computer
Are Apps Becoming the New Worksheet? Read More »
A high school math teacher and instructional technology specialist at Zeeland Public Schools, Anthony DiLaura has brought together teachers in his district to build their own digital textbooks, using open educational resources and other openly licensed media. Here DiLaura writes about the move from static print to interactive content, and what it means for schools
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Facebook’s Psychological Experiments. 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 the long
What You Should Know This Week Read More »
What do we mean by “self-directed learning”? Who gets to undertake it? All kids? How do we make sure that when we promote “self-directed learning” that we’re opening up possibilities for all students and not foreclosing possibilities for some. In this article, Sylvia Martinez looks at the ways in which gender plays a role in
What do we mean by “personalization” in education and in ed-tech? The term has become a popular buzzword to talk about the potential for technologies to reshape how we teach and learn and to challenge a traditional model of “one size fits all” education. But what exactly does that challenge entail? EML editor Audrey Watters
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On lists of the most important trends in education technology, you’ll often find “adaptive learning” and its promise that technologies will be able to “adapt” instruction and assessment to individual students. In this article, EML editor Audrey Watters offers an “explainer,” an introduction to adaptive learning, the research behind, the companies building it, and the
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Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference: 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
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The “quantified self movement” seeks to use technology to track and analyze personal data in order to glean insights about oneself. In this article, EML editor Audrey Watters writes about what, if anything, the “quantified self” might offer for learning. Can this movement help us frame discussions about learning analytics in such a way as
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Amazon versus Hachette: 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 the
What You Should Know This Week Read More »
Much of the discussion about massive open online courses or MOOCs has focused on higher education and lifelong learning. But what lessons can K-12 learn from them? Calgary-based online educator Verena Roberts explores some of her experiences as a learner in MOOCs and talks about the ways in which she used these to design MOOCs
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In this article, EML editor Audrey Watters offers a brief introduction to MOOCs, massive open online courses, one of the most hyped ed-tech developments in recent years. What are MOOCs? Where did they come from? How do they work pedagogically? And how do they work technically? Although they’ve been positioned as tool to address the
MOOCs: An Introduction Read More »
Late last year, the education giant Pearson announced that it would begin to focus on “efficacy,” measuring and enhancing the learning outcomes associated with its products and services. EML editor Audrey Watters looks at Pearson’s new framework and asks if “efficacy” is a good way for us to rethink teaching and learning in a digital
Rethinking Assessment: Pearson and “Efficacy” Read More »
Despite all the promises of the World Wide Web as a platform for online learning, there are still many questions about whether or not we are building learning tools and learning communities that welcome and support a diversity of ideas and people. How do stereotypes affect the ways in which technologies are developed and implemented?
Rethinking Assessment, Supporting Diversity Read More »
