Teachers’ capacity to use technology in classrooms is also improved by the easy availability of technology-based activities and lessons that are aligned with their curriculum needs. Dexter, Morgan, Jones, and Meyer (2016) observed that accessible resources (those that could be incorporated into classrooms with minimal adaptation) were associated with greater use of technologies. This led Read More
Category: Schools
UNITY Project– An Art Installation
A high school art teacher worked with his students and the entire student body to create this piece: In the center is the school’s flagpole… it is in the center of the walkway to the main entrance. Surrounding the pole are smaller ones which are labeled. Students tie a string to the pole, then go Read More
Misbehavior, Unethical Behavior, and Grades
I observed an interesting conversation recently. A teacher had observed a student cheating during an assessment. She brought it to the attention of a school administrator as she had contacted the student’s parents (which she is expected to do in this situation). The conversation quickly turned to the consequences. The teacher intended to not allow Read More
The New Digital Divide
For some decades, I advocated for “technology-rich” schools. My work was supporting IT infrastructure and teaching teachers to use technology. At the time, we were all concerned with the “digital divide,” the fact that schools in affluent communities had plenty of devices and connections compared to the scant digital resources in schools located in poor Read More
Should Educators Judge Initiatives?
111: Should Educators Judge Initiatives? At several times during my career I have found myself in a rather uncomfortable situation: I was philosophically opposed to initiatives being undertaken by the school leaders. Specific situations I remember include: The decision to replace good middle school practice with a junior high school model; The decision to replace Read More
Why Standardized Testing Flopped
109: Why Standardized Testing Flopped In the fall of 2018, an article appeared in my news feed multiple times. Peter Greene, a contributor to Forbes magazine posed the question “Is The Big Standardized Test A Big Standardized Flop?” in the title of his article. No educator (or parent, or higher education professional, or employer) is Read More
A Disturbing Observation
110: A Disturbing Observation I recently visited a classroom in which there were two activities planned for the day. First, students were gathering data that is to be used to answer the question “Is anyone average?” Second, the students were completing some standardized tests which are part of the school’s assessment plan. While the measuring Read More
Experts and “Expertiness” in Education
94: Experts and “Expertiness” in Education In the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, an American comedian coined the term “truthiness” to capture an idea that individual or groups held as true although there was little evidence of the truth. That comedian applied this term to political situations and the satire was Read More
Education and the Study of Education
In recent decades, scholars have recognized that education is influenced by diverse factors and those factors exert complex and previously unknown influences. Shasha Barab, a scholar from Indiana University, Bloomington, and Kurt Squire, a scholar from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, reasoned that “learning, cognition, knowing, and context are irreducib[ly] co-constructed and cannot be treated Read More
Is #edtech Speeding Back to the 1960’s?
86: Is #edtech Speeding Back to the 1960’s? By the early 1960s the price of mainframe computers had decreased to the point where sales to educational markets were possible. At about the same time the potential of using computers in schools was recognized, but some cynics have suggested that the educational applications of computing were Read More