Category: schoolreform
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The conversation is open
Are the leaders in the edublogosphere “zealots,” as Tim Holt suggests? Are people being intentionally “not invited to the buffet” of conversations out here? Tim poses some good, challenging questions in these posts. Here are a few thoughts. I’ll be curious to read what you think. Ideas. Ideas are what really matter in the edublogosphere.…
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Podcast159: Welcome to the Global Education Conversation (Revised, focusing on 5 tools and 5 action steps)
This podcast is a recording of my keynote address today at the Oklahoma Public Schools’ district “Technology Enhancement Day.” I took the presentation I had shared (with the same title) in Holland, Michigan in April 2007, but rather than focus on professional development generally as well as more “big picture” change in school districts, I…
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Professional development and professional learning networks are key
I’ve been reading through some of the recent posts on the EduStat blog, and ran across Sheryl Nussbuam-Beach’s post “Teacher 2.0 – What Matters” reflecting on Joel Klein’s presentation at the “Teacher 2.0: Developing the 21st Century Workforce” conference. (Klein is the Chancellor of the New York Department of Education.) This is the paragraph that…
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Tests scores are up, what does that mean?
Tuesday’s AP article, “Report: Math and reading scores up since NCLB” observes many U.S. states are reporting better student performance on mandated K-12 student tests: Moderate to large gains were found in 37 of the 41 states with trend data on the percentage of kids hitting the proficient mark on elementary-school math tests. None of…
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The future is unwritten
I flew down to Houston today, and had an opportunity to listen in the airport, in the air, and a bit on the cab ride to my hotel to Steve Jobs and Bill Gates’ recent interview at the D5 conference. The interview and subsequent Q&A lasts 1.5 hours, and is available as a free download…
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Insight into the new ISTE NETS
As you may know, this summer many are eagerly anticipating the refresh of the ISTE NETS (National Educational Technology Standards) first published in 1998. Gary Stager recently interviewed Don Knezek, CEO of ISTE, and published their discussion as a new article titled “Refreshing the ISTE Technology Standards” on the District Administration website. This update to…
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Reflections on risk, complexity, choice and engagement
I read an excellent article this evening titled “Raising the Bar” by Wayne Curtis in the summer issue of Wondertime magazine, which unfortunately is NOT available electronically for free. The article is about the historical and contemporary evolution of playground equipment for kids, but I found several of Curtis’ comments to be insightful about learning…
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Two great podcast presentations from TCEA 2007
I was delighted to learn this evening that both the presentation of Lynn Burmark (of The Thornburg Center) titled “They laughed when I told them how I beat stress!” and Jamey Osborne’s presentation “Creative Commons: Escape the Hassles of Copyright Infringement” from TCEA 2007 are available online via the Apple Learning Interchange. (Thanks Tim Wilson!)…
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Roads of Learning in the 21st Century (v 1.0)
Last night I finished editing a fifteen minute video I’ve been planning for several weeks. It is titled “Roads of Learning in the 21st Century,” and extends the metaphor of “learning on the rails” and “taking sidetrips for learning” shared by David Warlick in his preconference keynote address (in video form) for the 2006 K-12…
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Teaching in May: The best of days, the worst of days
It is relatively easy to do some things poorly, including TEACHING and LEADING. For master teachers in the classroom who remain (despite the pressures of high-stakes testing and the accountability movement) creative artists of learning and student engagement, the month of May (in North America where I live) can be the best month of the…