With the Common Core’s emphasis on data-driven instruction there is a misguided focus on using technology to deliver content and collect data rather than cultivate learning and stimulate cognitive development.Using education technology isn’t so much about students mastering a device or procedure so much as it is about mastering themselves first.
I’ve seen assessment tools used by teachers in the belief that the tools are an instructional tool. Just because you can get pretty graphs out of a piece of software does not mean it can be used as an instructional replacement. Assessment tools have taken over a lot of edtech, because they are easy to use to generate pretty graphs under the guise that student use of the tool is teaching students. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Internet Travels Of bits and bytes is my weekly round up of interesting links and ideas I discovered on the internet. It is published on Mondays for the previous week Well, this week has be a whirlwind of trying to keep up at work and flying to Los Angelos over the weekend for the Ryan…
To learn new things, we must sometimes fail. But what’s the right amount of failure? New research led by the University of Arizona proposes a mathematical answer to that question. Educators and educational scholars have long recognized that there is something of a “sweet spot” when it comes to learning. That is, we learn best…
Somewhere between education and entertainment lies a sweet spot. MinecraftEdu — rereleased as Minecraft: Education Edition — hit square on the mark by bringing game-based learning to subjects like anatomy and art history. Now, Nintendo’s Pokémon GO mobile game appears poised to find its target too. The augmented reality app, released just one week ago,…
… there is one 45-second bit that popped out to anyone who is interested in writing or telling stories. When talking about the frantic rewriting process of their script, Trey reveals his simple rule for rewriting and improving the story. “I call it the rule of replacing ands with either buts or therefores.” Trey says that a common trap a lot…
Tool discovery is often a challenge for teachers interested in finding ways to use technology that will change the way they and their students work. With so much going on in the classroom, many teachers don’t have the time to test out various apps and find the perfect tool to meet their needs. Luckily, several…
