Technological knowledge refers to one’s ability to use digital tools. Over time, the tools that provide educational relevant capacity have expanded. Today, we include: Exactly which tools one uses depends on personal preferences, those used in one’s profession, and those provided by the school where one teaches. We can differentiate two types of technological Read More
Category: Teachers
Thinking About Trusting Students
Early on my teaching career, my middle school team and I attended wildly popular institutes for middle level educators in Vermont. My team and I joined team from dozens of other schools for a week of intense (and fun) learning and program development. We had amazing presentations, reflected on what we had learned, and integrated Read More
Teaching by Technology
When using test-preparation software, skills-building websites, typing tutors, and similar tools, students are experiencing teaching by technology. For previous generations of technology-using teachers, “edutainment” software was a popular method for teaching by technology. This software found students (for example) playing games in which they earned points by quickly answering math problems. One of the more popular uses Read More
A Privacy Story
One of those emails arrived in my inbox recently that cause me to start a response, then another. One the third restart, I sent him an invite to a virtual meeting, started it, and waited for him to join. He summarized the situation he was facing: The story is not troubling to this point. Redesigning Read More
Why Testing is Meaningless in Schools
It is widely known inside education (but much less so outside of education), that we really don’t know what to teach or how to measure learning. Educational researchers will dispute this, as they spend their entire careers defining learning and measuring it. In science that is allowed, and we accept the conclusions of studies, but Read More
Thinking About ChatGPT
If the news about ChatGPT had broken at anytime other than less than a month before the end of the fall academic term, the handwringing about it would have been more obvious. There have been a few articles and blog posts describing how this will upend everything and make education and certain jobs obsolete. My Read More
On Zeros in Grading
Grades. Formative assessments. Summative assessments. Whatever we call these things, teachers have the responsibility to report the degree to which students have learned what they were supposed to learn. While this seems a straight-forward aspect of the work, it is highly contentious, and different educators have very different perspectives on it. I have addressed this Read More
“I Taught It, They Didn’t Learn It.”
Teachers complain. They complain a lot. No, really. You can’t imagine the things teachers say about students, students’ previous teachers, colleagues, administrators, parents and society, and everyone else. After more than three decades of hearing it, I may nod, but it is like white noise to me; with one exception. When I hear, “I taught Read More
Yet Another Digital Divide
Digital divides in educational technology have been recognized for decades. While the details have changed, the reality that not all populations have the same technology tools has been a consistent characteristic of information technology. We were first aware that some schools did not have access to enough desktop computers. We have become aware that not Read More
On Instructional Planning
All teachers plan. Those who are following the Standard Model of Education are likely to focus on content when they plan; they want to be sure they tell students everything they must tell them to cover all of the topics in the curriculum. They will also plan for how to best tell students what they Read More