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.
Students do react differently to paper assignments, at least in my district. There is a sense of responsibility that isn’t there when the assignment is purely digital. But, I believe the cause is more of a “this is how we’ve always done it”. For the most part, students are conditioned to receive assignments and supplemental materials as physical copies. It’s the only thing they’ve every known.
Then, just to add to the confusion, management decided that we should have two student intakes: one in August/September (the traditional starting time for new students), and one in February. This meant that, if we were fast enough, we could trial the new curriculum on a small group of students that started in February, rather…
When a student tweets at their school’s Twitter handle, chances are they don’t expect a response–it’s like tweeting at Starbucks, or the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency—you feel like you’re talking to an entity that’s far too busy and important to ever respond to you. That’s why students in Georgia’s Cherokee County School…
Articles about new technologies in the general media usually fall into one of two categories: breathless, this-is-the-coolest-thing-ever puff pieces or those it’s-gonna-kill-you-if-you’re-not-careful apocalyptic warnings. Occasionally writers manage to do both at the same time, but that’s rare. A recent piece in the Washington Post leans toward that second theme by letting us know right in…
When the scores were revealed, the classroom of middle school literacy teachers was everything but hopeful. “Did they even try?” one teacher wondered about her students. The team was disappointed and defeated. After a year of following the curriculum to fidelity, according to the mock-state test data, our efforts meant nothing. Source: Intrinsic Motivation vs….
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…
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…
