With new mobile apps and technology tools popping up constantly, schools have a variety of options when it comes to picking something that might work in a class. But, is there an easy way to make sure the tool will be good for students? Last year, the Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology requested…
As an English teacher, I’ve had numerous conversations with college professors who lament the writing skills of their first year students. But not all writing. Most students are capable of solid expository writing. It’s their skill with persuasive writing that’s the problem. Specifically, they’re weak at writing a thesis statement that can be argued. I…
I like to think that I’m really really good with using Google Apps. I know that when you create a new document it is by default private. You have to click on the blue Share button and change the sharing permissions to “Anyone with the link can view.” This takes several steps. If you want…
One of the most exciting trends in education today is the integration of technology to enhance instruction and learning. Schools have only scratched the surface when it comes to learning technology, and this knowledge-action-resource gap further exacerbates the overwhelming “kid in a candy store” mentality. Source: End Your Fixation on Tech Tools | EdTech Magazine…
Privacy is what sets us apart from the animals. It’s also what sets many countries and citizens apart from dictatorships and despots. People often don’t think about their rights until they need them — whether it’s when they’re arrested at a protest or pulled over for a routine traffic stop. Source: Online security 101: Tips…
How many kids would benefit from grade skipping? According to the study team at Johns Hopkins, two out of seven children test at a grade level higher than their current one—“staggeringly large numbers of students,” in their words, who might benefit from jumping ahead by grade or class. Advocates of accelerated learning point out that…
Four years ago, Chris Nagele did what many other technology executives have done before — he moved his team into an open concept office. His staff had been exclusively working from home, but he wanted everyone to be together, to bond and collaborate more easily. It quickly became clear, though, that Nagele had made a…
I’ve been hearing about the “paperless” office (and, by extension, paperless school) for nearly 40 years. Doug even talks about it in his recent The Next Big Thing(s) post. To which I say, HA! Here’s the reality: we’re using more paper. Vast quantities of more. Source: Not paperless – paperMORE Via: The Blue Skunk Blog Students…
I had the enviable opportunity recently to meet with a group of admissions officers from 10 different colleges and universities to talk about the college admissions process in the digital age. I went into the meeting with a list of questions: Source: The Top 7 Things College Admissions Professionals Revealed When Asked About Social Media…
Get ready for Chrome OS to get a lot more pervasive and a lot more interesting this year, if only because it’s going to show up in new kinds of hardware. Google has been talking up the latest round of Chromebooks — the Samsung Chromebook Pro from CES and today’s new education-focused Chromebooks — but…