Technology in Schools
Teaching Without Technology?
Lenny Gonzales By Aran Levasseur New technology is a lightning rod and polarizing force because it not only begins to influence what we see and how we see it, but, over time, who we are, writes Nicholas Carr in his book, “The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains.” It makes sense then, [...]
Deconstructing “What Works” in Education Technology
TB Over the weekend, The New York Times published the second story in its series on “Grading the Digital School.” The first story in the series questioned the massive expenditures schools make on education technology, pointing to stagnant test scores as an indication that these investments might not be worth it. Last weekend’s story extends [...]
Applying the 7 Golden Rules: One Teacher’s Take of Technology
TB In response to the article The 7 Golden Rules of Using Technology in Schools, teacher Patti Grayson wrote a point-by-point summary of exactly how it plays out in her class. Here’s her take. By Patti Grayson Along with some colleagues in our lower school division, I lobbied to use money normally spent on workbooks [...]
In Classroom of Future, Outdated Testing Can’t Keep Up
Flickr:AlbertoGP Sunday’s New York Times article, “In Classroom of Future, Stagnant Scores” by Matt Richtel had the wrong headline. When describing a classroom in Arizona’s Kyrene School District, which invested $33 million from a ballot initiative dedicated to technology upgrades, Richtel laments the district’s “stagnant scores” in reading and math. He writes: “Critics counter that, [...]
Students Demand Change in Their Own Education
http://youtu.be/eGvl5dg3l2M In January, a group of gifted middle school students in North Texas hatched a plan. They decided to send a message as far and wide as it could go on the Internet about an issue that affects them personally: their education. “We need a new school system, one that mixes collaboration with achievement, excellence [...]
Technology: Not a Silver Bullet, But Makes Learning Relevant
“I don’t believe that cyberlearning is the silver bullet to take over schools and make us better,” says Kenneth Eastwood, Superintendent of Middletown City School District in Ohio. “It is to make us more efficient and relevant to the process related to the learners of today, and once, I think, that everybody agrees upon that [...]
Where Does Informal Learning Fit In?
With so much rich information for learners available and accessible on the Internet — everything from how to play the guitar to applications of the Pythagorean Theorem — how can the formal education system leverage all this within schools? There are tremendous obstacles in the way. A shortage of high-quality K-12 STEM teachers, dwindling interest [...]
Tech and Learning: At Odds in School, in Sync Everywhere Else
The culture of current public school model can’t be more different than the culture of technology, says Allan Collins, co-author of Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology. In most public schools, every student learns the same things at the same time. The teacher is the content expert and controls what students learn. Testing is [...]
The Control Shift: A Grassroots Education Revolution Takes Shape
Kids are taking charge of their own learning as educators grapple with their new roles. Tina Barseghian For as long as anyone can remember, adults have played the role of information owners, meting out what they believe kids should know. Whether it’s the classroom teacher imparting expertise in American history, or a parent explaining the [...]
Algebra, Meet the iPad: Part II
The iPad’s impact on the role of the teacher, paid content versus free online and open-source content, and the learning process. Will eighth-graders who use the iPad to learn algebra do better than their textbook-using counterparts? That’s what publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Fuse pilot program will determine at the end of the school year. In [...]
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