Archive: 2012
EdTech
Common Sense Media: Making Sense of the Learning App Explosion
Common Sense Media aims to provide "trustworthy information to parents and teens about technology and media." Founder and CEO Jim Styer has been working on this mission for 20 years. He's the author of a new book, Talking Back to Facebook: A Common Sense Guide to Raising Kids in the Digital Age , a look at how digital media affects the development of young children.
EdTech
3 Ways to Maximize Instructional Time With Screencasts
As educators in the 21st century, one of our goals should be to design student driven experiences that offer flexible learning paths, using a variety of tools to meet the diverse needs of all students. Of course, with limited instructional time, loads of content to uncover and varying comfort levels with the technology itself, implementing…
Personalized Learning
High School Wind Energy Project Inspires College Careers in STEM
Wind is the fastest growing source of renewable energy in the world today and the students at Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport, Maine, have learned that first hand. Six months after the commissioning of the school’s NPS 100 wind turbine, the students, teachers and community have grown accustomed to the 121-foot-tall, sleek white tower that stands next to the athletic fields.
EdTech
Q&A: It’s About Time For Proficiency-Based Learning
Diane Smith for the Business Education Compact (BEC) released "It's About Time: A Framework For Proficiency-Based Teaching & Learning" this year in response to a need expressed by the Oregon Department of Education (ODE), which identifies the ways that eliminating seat time and moving toward proficiency-based teaching and learning can improve student achievement.
EdTech
Q&A: Patrick Supanc Wants Students to Score with Alleyoop
Too many young people are entering their post-high school college and career worlds woefully underprepared, particularly in the areas of math and science. Despite all of the investment of time, effort and money they make to get into college, they are at high risk of dropping out or graduating late.
Personalized Learning
8 Examples of Classroom Musical Magic
I believe it was J.K. Rowling's Albus Dumbledore who said, "Ah, music. A magic behind all we do here!" This quotation comes to mind so many times when I witness the effect of catchy tunes and powerful lyrics on our creative students in Studio 113. Whether the classroom malady is a group of lethargic, uninterested students, a bulky reading assignment of seemingly ancient pages, or the misunderstanding of key literary characters, a solution often lies at the intersection of a crafty jam and a thematically connected excerpt of literature. The result? Classroom musical magic.
Personalized Learning
How Digital Learning Contributes to Deeper Learning
A Getting Smart white paper that reveals how different components of Deeper Learning and Digital Learning come together to create the most favorable conditions for the best teaching and learning to take place.
EdTech
Staff Picks: Gaming, OER, Big Data
Tom Picks “All the World’s a Game“ Tom says, “Adam Renfro’s insightful look at the benefits of game-based strategies predicts expanded time on task with visual progress monitoring (intrinsic) and reward systems (extrinsic) expands.” Karen Picks “14 Open Resources For High School“ Karen says, “Slowly but surely it’s happening. I’ve…
Personalized Learning
iPrep: The Miami Flex
There are lots of Reasons Districts Should Open Flex Schools. Flex schools, asclassified by Innosight Institute are small individualized schools with an online curriculum. Students move at their own pace and augment online work with projects, tutoring, and work-based learning. Flex schools create personalized options for students and an example of competency-based learning for educators to visit.
EdTech
10 Cool EdTech Incubators Aiming to Change Education Forever
While there are more than 7,000 business incubators around the world, very few focus specifically on education technology. In fact, only in the past few years has there been major growth in the number of these highly-focused incubators. Part of this increased attention is an outgrowth of a mission to genuinely help education.