MindShift

Bao Tri Photography By Anne Collier Failure is a positive act of creativity,” Katie Salen said. Scientists, artists, engineers, and even entrepreneurs know this as adults. But in schools, the notion of failure is complicated. Salen, executive director of the Institute of Play and founder of Quest to Learn, the first public school based on … Continue reading →

This week, we feature the most popular posts of the year on MindShift. In today’s dynamic classrooms, the teaching and learning process is becoming more nuanced, more seamless, and it flows back and forth from students to teachers. Here’s a look at current trends in teaching and learning, their implications, and changes to watch for. … Continue reading →

By Ken Murphy Watching how the passage of time changing the landscape around us offers a fascinating glimpse into all kinds of natural phenomenon: the change in weather, time, and nature. Time-lapse is a photographic technique that allows us to tune into events that normally unfold at a pace too slowly to observe directly: the … Continue reading →

Two big announcements from the Department of Education 1) A new open-source site for “existing educational portals and online systems to publish, consume and share important information about learning resources with each other and the public” — meaning parents and teachers. 2) The DOE is handing over control of its TEACH campaign—including website teach.gov—to Microsoft. … Continue reading →

Flickr:FontFont Open education sites exemplify how technology is democratizing education. These sites allow both learners and teachers to create their own curriculum, whether it’s used in or out of the classroom. Here’s a comprehensive list of open education sites MindShift has covered. As always, we love to hear about sites that aren’t included in the … Continue reading →

Flickr:CrunchyFootsteps Public education is, by its very nature, tangled with policy, dependent on rules and regulations set by federal, state, and district mandates. What most students do in school at any given moment has been prescribed by legislation passed years before they — or their parents — entered kindergarten. But things are changing — and … Continue reading →