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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"Maker Faire" running this weekend in San Mateo. It’s a “festival of invention, creativity and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker movement.” There will be lots of inspiration for schools that combine digital learning and community connected, team-based, production-focused, authentic, engaging, and relevant student work.

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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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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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I've seen plenty of presentations that try to incorporate social media, polling, and other interactive tools. It's all an effort to engage the audience and keep the conversation going. But usually these presentations don't do it right.

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The rise of online education has been meteoric in recent years, spurred on by advances in Internet services, software, and public perceptions toward collaborative learning.

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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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Google+ on Monday announced it would gradually roll out its “Hangouts on Air” feature to the masses over the coming weeks. The feature lets you broadcast live sessions for anyone to watch — just like Barack Obama did in January. Hangouts on Air can be posted on your Google+ stream, YouTube channel or website by checking “Enable Hangouts on Air.” It also allows you to monitor the number of views, record the live session and share it. The feature previously was available only to a small group of ...  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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College students today are more tech savvy than ever before. Just how important is technology to their academic lives? More than 90% use email to communicate with professors and 73% say they cannot study without technology. Seven in 10 take notes on keyboards instead of paper, virtually all students who own an ereader and most use digital tools when preparing a presentation. All that tech has caused something of a dependency too — 38% of students can’t go more than 10 minutes without checking t...  show all text

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Here are five great slides that I found recently in the Great Quotes About Learning and Change Flickr pool. Which one’s your favorite? The Illusion of Lecture Master Learners Halcyon Days Good vs Good Enough The REAL Pedagogical Problem Related posts: Technology will free learning from the dead hand of the past Video – Learning to change Two great quotes from Richard Elmore

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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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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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A roundup of educational articles, apps and tutorials for educators looking to integrate iPads into the classroom.

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I recently decided to compile some of the blog posts that I have written regarding social media and administrators.  I have created a “page” for these articles that I will continue to update as I write posts that may be helpful, but I just wanted to share this as a blog post to those people who may subscribe to this through an RSS feed or email subscription.  There are so many good articles out there but I wanted to compile the ones I have written to help to continuously develop my own portfolio  show all text

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Whenever I give a presentation or run a workshop about student video projects, I encourage the use of Creative Commons licensed media when it is not possible to create your own images and sounds. I often have to explain what Creative Commons licensing is and its benefits for consumers and producers of media. Recently, I remembered that Common Craft has a good explanation of Creative Commons licenses and what they mean for consumers and producers of media. I've embedded the video below. Applic...  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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Awhile ago, I wrote a post entitled, “What Should A Networked Educational Leader Tweet About?“, which was meant to be a guide to administrators new to Twitter on tweeting and sharing information using this social media tool.  It is something that I am hoping all educators can use, but I obviously think that administrators should really understand the important use of social media in schools. As our own school division and schools all over the world are starting to use organizational Twitter acc...  show all text

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