Archive: 2013
Digital Learning Now! Releases Blended Learning Implementation Guide for Schools and Districts
In honor of Digital Learning Day, Digital Learning Now! (DLN) today released its fifth white paper in the DLN Smart Series, “Blended Learning Implementation Guide,” which explores blended learning as a phase change with a goal of accelerating learning toward college and career readiness. Like the Alliance for Excellent Education, the authors think schools and districts should develop a plan -- and this implementation guide will help leaders to do so.
Second Annual National Digital Learning Day Attracts Record Number of Participants
Signifying the growing importance and demand for digital learning strategies in the classroom, nearly 25,000 teachers, millions of students, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park, and U.S. Representative George Miller (D-CA), are joining the Alliance for Excellent Education tomorrow, February 6, for the second annual Digital Learning Day. Digital Learning Day is a national campaign that promotes digital learning and spotlights successful instructional technology practice in K–12 public school classrooms across the country.
Shared Learning Collaborative Launches inBloom Inc. for Personalized Learning
The Shared Learning Collaborative (SLC) today launched inBloom Inc., a nonprofit provider of technology services aimed at connecting data, applications and people that work together to create better opportunities for students and educators.
Let’s Give Girls a Chance to Succeed in STEM
There is a digital divide threatening the future of girls in this country. Three of the top ten “Best Jobs of 2013” are in the computing field, according to U.S. News and World Report, yet women make up just 25% of the labor force in science, technology, engineering and math-based (STEM) jobs. With all projections pointing to STEM-sector jobs continuing to grow at a higher-than-average rate, today’s young women cannot occupy just the fringes of the field.
Student CEOs Groom Change-Agents for the Classroom
Last fall, I implemented Student Learning Teams in an effort to empower my fifth- and sixth-grade students as learners in my classroom. Fired up by Alan November’s notion of Digital Learning Farms and John Hunter’s World Peace Game, I offered my students the opportunity to do the real work of making class reading selections, collecting data about homework to make it more meaningful, and finding resources to enhance their understanding of Language Arts. Could Student Learning Teams, I posited, be the change-agents we needed to transform learning in my classroom?
Yes-People
It’s true that "yes" people have the most unsuccessful attempts at things in life. There’s no denying that. They also have the most success, the most inventions, the most successful startups, the most daring rescues, the most discoveries.
What an Educator Learned From Home Schooling Parents
When I started my blog about the new research on parenting and education, one of the first topics that I wrote about was home schooling. I came across new findings about the explosion in parents opting out of both private and public education, the ways that parents are using new technology and virtual learning to teach their own children, and about other trends in home schooling, such as un-schooling.
20 Apps (Games) for Play-based Learning
Even though older adults might still carry a negative association with video game consoles and devices, today’s technology is vastly different than it was 20 years ago.
Ministers Learn About Improvement at Scale
An Education Leaders Briefing concluded the World Education Forum in London this week. Greg Butler from Microsoft (who helped my district go 1:1 in 1996) moderated the session that I participated in with Sir Michael Barber, Chief Education Advisor at Pearson, and Microsoft education lead Anthony Salcito.
EdTech 10: BETT Special
The Getting Smart team enjoyed hopping across the pond to London this week to tour schools, attend Microsoft events and join in the activities at BETT 2013. Walking into ExCel London, we were in awe of the space and the draw toward an education discussion. The event was rumored to receive more than 20,000 foot traffic over the course of the four days. The exhibits appeared gigantic, unlike anything at some of the biggest education conferences in the U.S. With our overseas insight, we thought we'd give you a roundup of view abroad.