Singapore-based educator Jabiz Raisdana looks at DS106, a digital storytelling class first offered by the University of Mary Washington that’s become quite the Internet phenomenon, with participation from learners all over the world. Raisdana writes about the ways in which DS106, an open online course that encourages creativity and sharing on the open Web, challenges […]
Digital Storytelling and Online Learning Networks Read More »
Net neutrality is a key feature in the operation of the Internet as we know it. But the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is looking to revise the policies governing the Internet. As it stands, net neutrality means that Internet service providers and governments should treat all data on the Internet the same, not discriminating
What Is Net Neutrality and Why Should Educators Care That It’s In Danger? Read More »
White House Report on Big Data: 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
What You Should Know This Week Read More »
What does it look like when a Silicon Valley engineer decides to reinvent primary school education? Former Google exec Max Ventilla has just raised $33 million to build AltSchool, which he says will be an updated version of Montessori, but a version that relies more heavily on technology R&D. The funding — and the philosophy — prompted
As the “Maker Movement” grows in popularity and reach, we’re seeing more and more schools integrating “making” and “building” — a powerful return of project-based learning. But as Chad Sansing argues here, it isn’t simply a matter of adding “programming” or “engineering” to the curriculum. Makerspaces demand a different mindset, one where self-direction, spontaneity, creativity,
Makerspace as Mindset Read More »
The media hype about the transformative potential of new digital technologies gets louder and louder. But how might this narrative around education technology — particularly social media tools — run counter to the ways in which these tools are used in the classroom? Is “social” welcome in the classroom? How do students (and in the
Cognitive Dissonance: How Teaching with Twitter Opens Up the Classroom Read More »
Thanks to our increasing use of technology, we are creating mind-bogglingly vast amounts of data in increasing volume, speed, and complexity — IBM estimates about 2.5 quintillion bytes of data created every day. The great challenge for education technology (and, as such, for schools) will be striking a balance between the collection and analysis of
Student Data vs Student Privacy Read More »
Heartbleed: 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 run).
What You Should Know This Week Read More »
The End of Life for Windows XP. 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
What You Should Know This Week Read More »
Social media and youth researcher danah boyd has just published her first book: It’s Complicated that examines how teens use Internet technologies in their social lives. It’s an accessible, thoughtful book, important for school leaders to read in no small part because it’s grounded in interviews with teens. In this book, we hear their voices,
Teens in Public / Online: It’s Complicated Read More »
The debate over devices for students is heating up, and as more and more companies enter the market, the choices will become even more difficult to make. More often than not, what gets lost in the discussion are the most fundamental questions about what students need to learn. Audrey Watters looks at some of the
Tablets vs Laptops: Why This Is (Often) The Wrong Debate Read More »
How might new digital technologies prompt us to reconfigure our notions of literacy? And if literacy is changing, how must schools change as well? The Mozilla Foundation’s Doug Belshaw examines the ways in which the World Wide Web changes the ways we think about reading and writing.
Rethinking Literacy for the Web Read More »
Learning on our own has never been easier and potentially more powerful than it is today given our access to the people, information, and tools on the Internet. It begs the question, should the only learning that “counts” be that which occurs in a classroom? Will Richardson takes a look at new attempts to give
What Counts? How Informal Learning is Challenging Formal Education Read More »
There are technology trends, and then there are learning with technology trends. Too often, the two fail to overlap. Audrey Watters fills us in on what’s trending now in terms of technologies to help our students develop into the agile, self-directed learners they need to be in the new, globally connected world.
Tech Trends to Watch (for Self-Directed Learners) Read More »
Facebook Buys a Virtual Reality Company. 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
What You Should Know This Week Read More »
