Staff Picks: Hewlett Winners, Blended Universe

Tom Picks “Maker High: Why Every School Should be a Maker Faire“

Tom says, “Maker Faire have lots of cool exhibits this weekend in San Mateo, but it’s more than that for edu–the maker movement is connected to open content, viral adoption, any where anytime, and blended learning. Time to stop asking kids to ‘turn in work’ and time to help them make/publish/produce/create.”

Karen Picks “Hewlett Contest Winners Announced“

Karen says, “Last week was an exciting week for us as we watched the essay scoring contest conclude. The top teams were from around the world and developed new predictive technologies that scored essays as well as expert graders.”

Caroline Picks “Tom’s Blended Universe Speech“

Caroline says, “I always enjoy getting to see events online that I was not able to attend in person. Social media and video has allowed conferences to expand their reach. This event, Vancouver Symposium on Christian Education, had a great focus on blended learning and the shift to personal digital learning.”

Carri Picks “Six Ways Continuous Assessment Can Help Students Learn“

Carri says, “Christina’s piece shows that new assessments won’t be an add-on, but rather an organic and on-going part of future schooling. She builds a powerful case for this shift by laying out a number of enticing potential benefits to student learning.”

Sarah Picks “Report: Study Warns That Bricks May Hinder Learning“

Sarah says, “Sometimes we need to take a step back and ask: Does that make sense? Is it logical? Is that in the students’ best interest? A little humor can oftentimes shed light on this best.”