As educators recognize they need to prepare students for a far different future than they ever imagined, they are beginning to recognize that the traditional models of “offering a course” or “teaching a lesson” to fill the gaps in students’ preparation is untenable. We cannot possibly provide all of the knowledge, skills, habits, and experiences Read More
Category: Schools
Education as the “Recitation Script’
Ronald Gallimore and Roland Tharp (1992) educational psychologists who studied conditions in classrooms that influence learning, referred to this type of teaching as a recitation script and observed, “the predominant experience of American school children. Sitting silently, students read assigned texts, complete ‘ditto’ sheets, and take tests. On those rare occasions when they are encouraged Read More
Why Theory Matters in Education
81: Why Theory Matters in Education In many educational communities, existing practice exerts strong influence on the practices deemed acceptable, so attempts to define new goals are met with strong resistance. In this situation, many educators adopt a stance that Paulo Friere, the Brazilian educational philosopher, suggested resembled Aristotle’s concept of doxa, which is practice Read More
The Application of Technology Acceptance to Educational Design
83: Technology Acceptance and Educational Design In 2016, I delivered this paper at the Annual Conference of the New England Education Research Organization. Abstract Despite a long history of computers in schools, many educators continue to struggle with the problem of creating effective technology-rich learning environments. In this exploratory research, documents collected as several K-12 Read More
Turning Flipped Classrooms Upside-Down
This article appeared in a magazine a few years ago… Author’s copy of Turning Flipped Classroom Upside-Down
Aspects of Classrooms Affected by Technology
One of the fundamental changes influencing the emergence of technology ecosystems has been the transition from ICT being used to access information to it being used for interaction. Discourse and interaction are fundamental components of learning environments, as well. When investigating the different venues in the classroom that are available for communication, and thus that Read More
Technology for Turning Points
This article appeared in the Journal of the New England League of Middle Schools in 2006. As that is no longer available, I am making it available here. Ackerman, G. (2006). Technology for Turning Points. Journal of the New England League of Middle Schools, 18(1), 22-6. Introduction Middle school practice is guided by Turning Points 2000 Read More
Review of Disrupting Class
Between 2008 and 2011, I wrote several brief reviews of books which appeared on the Education Review web site. Since then, the editors ceased publication of that type of review and removed the previously published brief reviews from the site. I am making the original drafts of my reviews available here. Brief Review of Christensen, C. M., Read More
Review of Digital Habitats
Between 2008 and 2011, I wrote several brief reviews of books which appeared on the Education Review web site. Since then, the editors ceased publication of that type of review and removed the previously published brief reviews from the site. I am making the original drafts of my reviews available here. Smith, J. D., Wenger, E., & Read More
Towards a More Sophisticated Model of Learners
My recent reading has taken me into the social nature of learning and the role of culture in human learning. In many ways, what I read challenges the assumption that is deeply embedded in educational practice that knowledge is an individual phenomenon and that it is created with the brain of individual humans. Clearly, there Read More