NewEngland

On Lectures

Picture a classroom in which class is underway in your mind and you probably imagine a lecture is underway. Students sit quietly, all facing the teacher who stands in the front or center and talks to the students. The central assumption of lecturing is that the teacher has information that must be transmitted to the Read More

NewEngland

Schools and Social Systems

Schools are places where actions are taken; individuals speak, and they perform certain tasks. It may seem that what is said and done is a natural phenomenon, but closer reflection shows these are decisions made for a range of largely political, but also professional, reasons. Consider the model of school presented in figure 1.   A Read More

NewEngland

The Many Types of Motivation

The question, “Why do I need to know this?” By posing this question, students are informing the teacher, “I do not find this valuable or interesting,” thus we would fully expect interest to wane. Informing students “you will need this next year” introduces external motivations that are unlikely to increase interest. Unfamiliar, incongruous, or personally Read More

NewEngland

Four Approaches to Teaching

Four elevator pitches in one post: Behaviorist approaches to teaching is appropriate when an instructor knows with certainty what student must transfer. We help students know what steps to follow through worked examples and other “show-and-tell” methods, give them opportunities for practice, and we can evaluate them against clear criteria.  Cognitive approaches to teaching help Read More

NewEngland

What Matters in #edtech Professional Development

Three dimensions appear to be relevant in determining how to organize and deliver professional development. First, the primacy of the technology. If participants in the professional development are expected to (and they themselves expect to) leave with the ability to operate hardware or software, then technology of the prime purpose, and organizers approach the activity Read More

NewEngland

A Short Rant on the Politicization of Education

Schools been political institutions, but recent decades have found them increasingly political. This appears to be grounded in the electoral benefits that can be gained by politicians who promise to “fix education.” Other societal factors including demographic changes, calls for accountability, financial influences of publishers and philanthropists, and rapidly-emerging industries have influenced school leaders’ decisions Read More