Archive: 2012
EdTech

SMARTtech Roundup: STEM, Core and More

Getting Smart Staff

Blended Schools & Tools Learn Now, Lecture Later. A new survey called “Learn Now, Lecture Later” from CDW-G found that high schoolers want more hands-on projects, independent study and virtual learning. The report is based on a spring 2012 survey of 1,015 public high school and higher education students,…

Personalized Learning

It’s Time to Disrupt the System

Alison Anderson

For as long as I have been involved in education, the focus for finding the key to fixing education has always been about providing professional development for the teachers and administrators. The philosophy is top-down with the intent that knowledge will eventually trickle down to benefit the students.

Personalized Learning

5 Essential Questions About ePortfolios

Susan Davis

You have - no doubt - tuned in to the buzz about ePortfolios. Digital portfolios certainly were the talk of ISTE 2012 in June. Although it was written in 2005, “An Overview of E-Portfolios,” by George Lorenzo and John Ittelson for Educause, paints a pretty good portrait, even now, of where we stand with ePortfolios for students, especially if you skip the part about CDs. As I decipher the ongoing conversation (for an example, the Twitter #Edchat summary by Shelly Terrell from 2009), I get the impression that many educators view ePortfolios as the ultimate solution to our complex assessment dilemmas.

EdTech

A Brief Guide to Tech Training for Faculty

Guest Author

Educators deal with a reality that most tech users do not: responsibility to their students. And, students can be a tricky sort, at least according to reports claiming that some want more tech use in the classroom, while others say that they prefer traditional books and lectures.
Personalized Learning

An Inside View of Blended Integration at Rocketship Education

Guest Author

At Rocketship Education our mission is to close the achievement gap within our lifetimes. The three pillars of our model are: parent and community engagement, rich professional development for our teachers and school leaders, and individualized learning for our students. Toward the end of individualized learning, we utilize a blended learning model in our K-5 elementary schools. Students use technology and small group tutoring in our Learning Lab for individualized basic skills practice, allowing our teachers to focus on higher-order thinking skills in the classroom.

EdTech

Q&A: Reading Throughout the Summer Is Important & FUN

Getting Smart Staff

Patch, AOL’s local news platform, and James Patterson’s ReadKiddoRead recently partnered to reach parents with the message that they should urge their students to read more over the summer with a new summer list, "Patch and James Patterson's/ReadKiddoRead’s Summer Reading List.” Lauren Wohl, the Program Director at ReadKiddoRead joins us today to tell us more about the importance of summer reading.

Personalized Learning

Christensen’s Curve & The Digital Learning Revolution

Guest Author

In the prophetic Disrupting Class: How Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns (2008, 2011), Clayton Christensen argued that innovations in technology will proliferate in the 21st century, generate “student-centric” forms of digital learning, create customized learning for the individual, and provide innovative alternatives to traditional teaching and learning tools.
Personalized Learning

Lease vs. Buy

Tom Vander Ark

Schools considering 1:1 use of $500 laptops can make the full shift using leasing or phase in a purchase plan over three years. Here’s the key—if your school or district has the discipline to phase in a tech plan and manage an annual refresh program that is clearly going to be cheaper than leasing. On the other hand, if you want to shift the whole school (or district) simultaneously and want some certainty on your refresh schedule, then leasing is the way to go.