Xerox Parc created amazing technologies. How did this happen?

Xerox Parc created amazing technologies. How did this happen?

There was a vision: “The destiny of computers is to become interactive intellectual amplifiers for everyone in the world pervasively networked worldwide”. A few principles: Source: Alan Kay’s answer to What made Xerox PARC special? Who else today is like them? – Quora In the 70s, Xerox Parc was THE research facility in the United States. Technology…

More than 950 accredited schools no longer require the ACT or SAT for admission

More than 950 accredited schools no longer require the ACT or SAT for admission

This can’t be great news for the owners of the ACT and the SAT college admissions exams, but the list of colleges and universities that no longer require scores from those tests to be submitted with a student application keeps growing. The list of test-optional schools maintained by the nonprofit National Center for Fair and…

Amazon has created a parent portal that works with Freetime on the Amazon Fire tablet

Amazon has created a parent portal that works with Freetime on the Amazon Fire tablet

Today, the company is giving parents better insight into what their kids are doing on their tablets with the free Parent Dashboard. The dashboard lives at parents.amazon.com and can be accessed from any web browser. Source: Amazon is launching a new dashboard that lets you monitor the content your kid consumes – The Verge Amazon…

Most Americans do not believe that hard work alone is ultimately worth it

Most Americans do not believe that hard work alone is ultimately worth it

In the past, economists have acknowledged that citing hard work as the path to prosperity is overly simplistic and optimistic. Ultimately, whether hard work alone can lift people into better economic conditions is a more complex question. The formula only works if an individual’s efforts are met with opportunities for a better life. According to…

New options for Microsoft’s online multiemedia tool Sway—recording, autoplay and more

New options for Microsoft’s online multiemedia tool Sway—recording, autoplay and more

Over the last few months, we’ve been on the ground asking users what features they would like to see in the Sway app. We heard all the ways you use Sway in your personal, school and work lives, and listened to tons of great recommendations on how we could make these experiences even better. As…

Facebook has created an educational guide to help users identify fake news

Facebook has created an educational guide to help users identify fake news

Looks like Facebook is turning that top space in your News Feed into something a little more useful than “It’s spring time!” or “Have a nice day!” In a blog post, the company said it will be adding alert to an “educational tool” when users log onto the service, which will provide tips for spotting…

Resignation letters, formative assessments, research access – top 3 for the week

Resignation letters, formative assessments, research access – top 3 for the week

The view of US education as seen through teacher resignation letters Depressing look at the teaching profession. Formative is a free service for performing formative assessments in your classroom Another option for performing formative assessments in your classroom. Use the Unpaywall Chrome or Firefox extension to access research papers for free Access freely available research…

Big takeaways from doing away with traditional grading

Big takeaways from doing away with traditional grading

After years of teaching using the principles of standards-based learning and grading, I encountered two findings that radically changed my perspective on assessment, grading, and reporting. Source: Teachers Going Gradeless – Arthur Chiaravalli – Medium Joe Bower’s blog, for the love of learning, has a ton of additional resources on getting rid of grades. Sadly, Joe…