Digital Tools
Library for All: Free Digital Content for Developing Countries
A startup charity is hoping to create a mobile learning library in the cloud that can help turn access to tablets, smartphones, and legacy phones into useful content at resource-starved schools in developing countries.
Teaching Strategies
How to Hold Onto a Kid’s Natural Genius
In many schools, students are asked to shut down what makes them special in order to conform. But standing out is critical in this world. Here are some ways to help kids understand and embody intangible but important things like imagination, curiosity, self-awareness, perseverance, courage, adaptability, and passion.
Other Recent Posts
Can Digital Games Boost Students’ Test Scores?
A new report released today reveals the results attempting to answer the question: do digital games and simulation help students studying science, technology, math, and engineering achieve better learning outcomes?
Good Read: Do Schools Know How to Spend Their Ed Tech Money Wisely?
Intriguing report: “Far too often, school leaders fail to consider how technology might dramatically improve teaching and learning, and schools frequently acquire digital devices without discrete learning goals and ultimately use these devices in ways that fail to adequately serve students, schools, or taxpayers.” Source: Americanprogress SOURCE: AP/Elise Amendola Endnotes and citations, as well as [...]
Ready, Set, Read! Summer Fiction Ideas for Kids of All Ages
Reading high-quality fiction may serve a larger purpose than preparing students for college and tests. Several recent studies show that reading great literature makes individuals more empathetic. Here’s a great list of fiction books for kids of all ages, recommended by those who know best — librarians.
Fear and Money: How to Face the Big Ed Tech Obstacles
Deciding how a school or district should invest its limited resources is a tough job, made even more difficult by the multitude of educational technology products that have exploded onto the market. It’s a question of resources, how to spend them and the fears decision makers have about making mistakes with public dollars and everyone watching. Here are some factors to consider.
Good Read: Who’s Minding the Schools?
For those uninitiated to the Common Core State Standards, this New York Times article raises some important questions: “By definition, America has never had a national education policy; this has indeed contributed to our country’s ambivalence on the subject… The anxiety that drives this criticism comes from the fact that a radical curriculum — one [...]
To Get the Most Out of Tablets, Use Smart Curation
How might efforts to curate benefit from the portability and ubiquity of mobile devices? Tools like Evernote and GoodReads allow for easy and valuable curation. But the harder questions are pedagogical and curricular.
Eight Ways of Looking at Intelligence
The science of learning can offer some surprising and useful perspectives on how we guide and educate young people. Things like our perception of “smart,” relationships between students and educators, sleep, and use of technology can have profound effects on intelligence.
Does Math Exist Outside the Human Brain?
In this episode of the Idea Channel‘s always-brilliant explanation of how and why the world works, the focus is on math, and the mind-bending question: Who created math, anyway? “Unlike physics, chemistry, and biology we can’t see it, smell it, or even directly observe it in the universe. And so that has made a lot [...]
Reward, Educate, Occupy: Using Technology as Parenting Tool
This generation of parents grew up with TVs, video game consoles, and computers, so digital media is one of many tools they use in their parenting repertoire.
How Leadership Can Make or Break Classroom Innovation
School and district leadership plays a big role in setting the culture and work environment for teachers. And when it comes to trying new things, the attitude of principals and superintendents can make or break a teacher’s willingness and ability to weave new ideas and methods into her teaching practice. In schools that are trying to integrate technology into the classroom, strong effective leaders can make all the difference.
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