Web startups are made out of two things: people and code. The people make the code, and the code makes the people rich. Code is like a poem; it has to follow certain structural requirements, and yet out of that structure can come art. But code is art that does something. It is the assembly of something brand new from nothing but an idea. More »

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Teacher Shelley Wright is on leave from her classroom, working with teachers in a half-dozen high schools to promote inquiry and connected learning. I think the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy is wrong. Hear me out. I know this statement sounds heretical in the realms of education, but I think this is something we should rethink, especially since it is so widely taught to pre-service teachers.  I agree that the taxonomy accurately classifies various types of cognitive thinking skills. It certainly ide...  show all text

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This article was originally posted on the Getting Smart blog. From the first week of school, the six year olds in my classroom begin to create an online presence in the form of a digital portfolio.  We use a blogging platform to do this, and include artifacts that show their progress in writing, reading, math, social studies and science. I am frequently asked why I do this.  Even more frequently, I can see in a colleague’s eyes that they are thinking “why”, even if they don’t verbalize their q...  show all text

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I think collaboration and reflection are 2 of the biggest skills that kids need but aren't really getting enough of. Having the opportunity to work together in meaningful ways and to reflect on their work and the work of their peers is key to being a learner. There are lots of tools that you can use to help kids collaborate and reflect. Blogs are a great example. Podcasts are another. However, each can be daunting to set up and actually do. That's why I love Voicethread. What is Voicethread y...  show all text

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Earlier this month, the education startup incubator ImagineK12 held its second Demo Day, where its latest cohort of startups made their pitches to investors. I pointed to the write-up of Inigral’s Michael Staton in my weekly roundup of ed-tech news, but I realized this past week that I’ve done a particularly lousy job reviewing these latest startups here. I’ve covered Hapara and Instagrok (here and here), but that’s just two out of nine. So I’m resolved to try to cover a few more of these star...  show all text

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Some of the Internet’s best resources dedicated exclusively to educational uses of the iPad. The popularity of the iPad in our schools continues to grow, and with it, the proliferation of... [Please click on the post title to continue reading the full post. Thanks (and thanks for subscribing)!]

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Poll shows thousands are thinking of quitting as former Ofsted chief warns of widespread disillusionment Morale among state school teachers is at "rock bottom", according to a former chief inspector of schools, who speaks out as unions warn that a "perfect storm" of government meddling threatens an exodus of talent from the profession. Christine Gilbert, who resigned as head of Ofsted last year, said there was evidence of widespread disillusionment in schools despite the level of teacher profes...  show all text

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By cutting the number of lunch duties and other obligations outside the classroom, teachers at one school are spending more time pursuing ideas they can apply to their teaching and learning.

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Lectures are often the least educational aspect of college; I know, I've taught college seniors and witnessed how little students learn during their four years in higher education. So, while it's noble that MIT and Harvard are opening their otherwise exclusive lecture content to the public with EdX, hanging a webcam inside of a classroom is a not a "revolution in education".A revolution in education would be replacing lectures with the Khan Academy and dedicating class time to hands-on learning...

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Over the past few weeks I have been working on a project for Edutopia and Facebook Education to develop a set of steps to follow when developing social media guidelines in your school or district. This all came about from my presentation at ASCD this year where I outlined how we created a document that promoted the use of social media by our teachers and our students but also gave tips on responsible use. (You can read what we created here.) The goal of the document is to provide a means for a...  show all text

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Blogger and elementary principal Joe Mazza suggests (at least) 12 reasons why it's essential for school districts to open a Twitter account and start tweeting

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Mr. Sendak, known in particular for “Where the Wild Things Are,” was widely considered the most important children’s book artist of the 20th century.

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One of our main goals at Powerful Learning Practice is to turn educators into 21st Century educators. That is, teach them how to use social media and other powerful Web 2.0 tools to transform their classrooms into learning environments that are ready for today’s iGeneration students. One of the most common questions we get is, “But where do we find the time to use all this new technology?” To answer that question, we developed this infographic – A Day in the Life of a Connected Educator to show...  show all text

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Last year we introduced Hangouts On Air to a limited number of broadcasters, enabling them to go live with friends and fans, for all the world to see. Since then, this small community has grown the feature in lots of creative ways. And they’ve made one thing crystal clear: when groups of passionate individuals can broadcast live, together, the results are truly remarkable: Today we're excited to launch Hangouts On Air to Google+ users worldwide. So if you have something to say—as an aspiring...  show all text

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cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by mrsdkrebs Right now you probably hear as many people talk about how annoyed they are with the term “21st Century Learning” as you will hear people talking about the importance of it.  I will have to admit, I am in the “annoyed” camp. We often talk about these ideals of what “21st Century Learning” will look like but I think we can start with something much simpler.  We should start asking, “How do we ourselves best engage in our own learning?” I was rem...  show all text

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Windows users now have a way to wirelessly mirror iPad and iPhone to their computers with AirSever. Similar to Reflection for Mac, AirServer is software installed on a desktop or laptop that turns that the computer into an AirPlay receiver with no Apple TV required. There's absolutely no software to install on iPad or iPhone because AirPlay mirroring is built into iOS (but currently only on iPad 2, iPad 3rd generation, and iPhone 4S).  AirServer offer a 7 day trial period, though you will have ...  show all text

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When used effectively, technology plays an important role in enhancing the learning process. Teachers can use digital devices to present supplemental material for lessons or to encourage students to take a more hands-on role in their education.

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Google has launched a new site called Search Education aimed at educators who want to teach online search strategies. The site includes lesson plans geared at different levels of expertise — beginner, intermediate and advanced– as well as training videos that walk through different strategies for subjects like using Creative Commons and Google maps. The … Continue reading →

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We’re often asked for detailed information on how educators are using blogs. So we’ve decided the best way to pull together a comprehensive resource is to survey educators. We’re looking for replies no matter what blogging platform you may be using. And here’s how you can help: Can you complete our survey? Can you share a link to our survey with your network?  The more responses we receive, the better the data we can deliver! Share links to any recent articles you’ve written on this topic by le...  show all text

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Be aware of the insidious and unspoken lessons you learned as a child. To thrive in the world outside the classroom, you’re going to have to unlearn them. Dangerous things you were taught in school:             1. The people in charge have all the answers. That’s why they are so wealthy and happy and [...]

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The transition to the more extensive use of technology in classrooms across the West has resulted in the integration of bring your own device (BYOD) schemes, equipping students with netbooks and tablet computers, and lessons that use social media & online services. Gesture-based technology is on the rise; according to the latest NMC Horizon Report, gesture-based technological models will become more readily integrated as a method of learning within the next few years. The iPhone, iPad, Nintendo...  show all text

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PLPeeps blasted the Twittersphere with a who’s who of top edcuation blogs and online thought leaders in education on April 29. PLP’s second twitter chat discussed, “With everything that’s out there, who are your “go-tos” – the thinkers you want to learn from, the people who live in your world who make you laugh while showing you new ideas, the ones who always give you something you can use the next day.” Tweets went flying and while this list isn’t comprehensive, we’re sharing some of the links...  show all text

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Suzie Boss (@suzieboss on Twitter) is a journalist and author of Reinventing Project-Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age. She's also a regular blogger on Ed

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The universities announced a new nonprofit partnership, known as edX, that will offer vast new learning opportunities for students around the world.

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Part of the benefit of jumping forward with a 1:1 iPad deployment like we have tried is that we get the opportunity to impart knowledge to other districts looking to do a similar initiative. While that might not seem like a benefit, it actually also means we can make some mistakes because there is not a long history of this type of deployment in the world. Many districts have had 1:1 Laptop projects, which we have benefited from and could easily be applied to this list I’m about to share. Howev...  show all text

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As you read this, students all over the country are sitting for state standardized exams. Schools spend up to 40% of the year on test prep, so that, shall we say, no child is left behind. Schools’ futures and funding depend on the number of students who fall into performance bands like “Advanced," “Proficient,” and “Approaching Basic” based on bubble sheets and number two pencils. This piece is part of a Collaborative Fund-curated series on creativity and values written by thought leaders in t...  show all text

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Making sure you receive proper attribution when your photos on Flickr are shared elsewhere on the web is very important to us. Given the sheer volume of fantastic photography that you upload to Flickr on a daily basis, it’s no surprise that photos on Flickr are amongst the most popular content pinned to Pinterest. Today, we are very happy to announce that we’ve worked closely with Pinterest to make it even easier for you to share to Pinterest in a way that will ensure that your Flickr photos are  show all text

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