Category: assessment
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Podcast152: Thrive in 2065: Reinventing Schools for the 21st Century
The world is changing fast, and schools need to change appropriately to prepare learners for successful integration into our 21st century economy and society. This podcast is a recording of a presentation I shared on May 9, 2007 for the Rotary Club in Duncan, Oklahoma. I focused on key themes in recent books by Tom…
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Let’s ask teachers to rethink assessments
Life is generally lived as an “open note” experience. Schools need to focus on preparing students for life, not just for academic tests conducted under artificial conditions that bear little resemblance to the real world outside academia. In line with this idea, rather than banning iPods, cell phones, laptops, and other types of technologies schools…
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Good teaching with technology DOES make a difference
Today’s AP article “Study eyes effect of tech on classroom” is yet another example of media oversimplification of “wicked challenges” that are faced by teachers every day, particularly when it comes to the use of educational technology. According to the article: Going high-tech doesn’t lead to higher math and reading scores, according to a federal…
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Rigor and testing in higher education praised in Texas
There isn’t much to be enthused about in Sunday’s report from Austin on Texas governor Rick Perry’s proposals to further regulate higher education. According to the article, “Perry’s higher education plan praised: A senior federal official calls governor’s plan for more aid, incentives and accountability ‘a bold step,” academic “rigor” is again being held up…
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Podcast122: The Case for 1:1 and School 2.0 (DRAFT)
This podcast is a draft recording for your review of a presentation I’ll share live with others at the Oklahoma Technology Association’s annual conference in Oklahoma City, and at the Texas Computer Education Association’s conference in Austin, Texas next week. My goal for the presentation is to share a vision for one to one learning…
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NCLB, local control, end of course exams, and educating shepherds instead of sheep
How in the world can President Bush claim that NCLB has supported the ideal of local control in U.S. schools? Quite the opposite: NCLB has created a direct lever of control from Washington D.C. into public classrooms all over the nation which were previously controlled primarily by local school board policy and state education policy.…
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Singing “Not on the Test”
This is a sad but accurate commentary on our current state of affairs in K-12 education in the United States: NPR’s January 1st show: A Song for Students: ‘Not on the Test.’ If you’re looking for a short (like 2 minute) attention-getter for teachers to start a professional development session or conference presentation, this song…
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Engagement, school fun, and passionless teachers
Scott McCloud has posted some provoking ideas relating to gaming, student engagement, the degree to which teachers strive to make their lessons engaging, and the degree to which we should strive to make school “fun.” He writes: Too often we educators (both K-12 and higher ed) say that ‘We’ve put together a good lesson, now…
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Answers for too much content, too little time?
Here are some thoughts I posted over at the Tech Chick Tips blog on Anna’s post “Too much content,” following up on her ideas as well as some from David Jakes and Helen, who started this thread originally. The questions discussed here involve whether or not teachers are too focused on COVERING content rather than…
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Innovation and Gaming: Keys to the future
I heartily agree with David Williamson Shaffer, an education science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who was quoted in the Washington Post’s article “Give a child a video game — and maybe a job” last week saying: …young people in the United States today are being prepared for standardized jobs in a world that…