thinking about education
These days, the world runs on data. In our class, we looked at how data drives geography, moving from creating a very simple graph of earthquakes in Excel to incorporating data into Google Maps and Google Earth. We saw how text data can be separated from its format in order to be read [...]
If you know me or have read this blog at all, you probably know that I find the term “21st century skills” a little annoying especially since they include things like creativity and problem solving. As though we have some corner on the market of those things because we live in a time in [...]
Each year I am invited to spend a Saturday with the principalship class at William and Mary. We talk about the big picture issues related to technology in schools and spend time figuring our the role of the administrator in encouraging teachers to use technology as part of their instruction. The agenda is [...]
As I read Will Richardson’s response to Jay Mathews’ Washington Post articles related to 21st century skills, I had a lightbulb moment (compact flourescent, of course). Here’s the quote that flipped the switch for me in terms of some of the cognitive dissonance I’ve been experiencing lately:
But this new potential to learn easily and deeply [...]
There’s been an interesting back and forth in Twitter about 21st century literacy. Tomorrow, it will spill over into an Elluminate session that I am sorry I will have to miss. I’ve written about 21st century skills in the past, equating them with leadership skills and suggesting that Ben Franklin possessed most of the skills [...]
A gloomy day here. The rain brought down the leaves and it is starting to look like winter. The dogs are sprawled around me, snoozing, and I can’t muster the energy for a thoughtful blog post. But, I do have a few sites to share on several different topics so here’s the random Friday round [...]
This article from The Miami Herald was featured in today’s ASCD Smart Brief. Richard Sterling, former director of the National Writing Project discusses the potential for online tools for teaching writing:
Sterling believes blogs, MySpace, Facebook, e-mail, IM and texting all have potential for improving a student’s ability to write. While some critics worry about [...]
It seems I’ve been reading a lot about reading lately. A recent article in the Chronicle has prompted several bloggers to consider what reading means in the 21st century. Will Richardson reflected on his own reading practices and what educators should be doing to foster online literacy. Sean Sharp thought about what online [...]
This week, I introduced my undergraduate pre-service teachers to WebQuests. We browsed the database and spent some time critiquing them, looking for those that supported collaborative work and critical thinking. The students found several that they felt were useful, but we were often frustrated by broken links or outdated information.
The curriculum for my class is [...]
The K-12 Online Conference is just around the corner. Preconference activities will take place during the week of October 13. Then, the following two weeks will be filled with presentations. The theme this year is Amplifying Possibilities and the flyer is now available. Teasers for upcoming sessions will be available soon. You might consider planning [...]