{Comic} Setting Expectations

It is common from time to time for connected colleagues to send me questions that they would like my input on. Usually it is motivated by one or more of these factors: curiosity, wanting to inform their practice, or maybe information for a paper or book they are writing. One such request came yesterday and…
On the one hand, it might seem like laptops have improved the classroom experience. Everything is in one spot, you can back up your notes, typing doesn’t hurt your hands as much, and you could argue that you use less paper[1]. But do you learn more? Both students and teachers can benefit from a bunch of new psychology…
For a moment, let’s pretend. That everything you know about America’s public education system — the bitter politics and arcane funding policies, the rules and countless reasons our schools work (or don’t) the way they do — is suddenly negotiable. Pretend the obstacles to change have melted like butter on hot blacktop. Now ask yourself:…