Staff Picks: EdTech, Blended Learning, Summer Learning
Karen Picks “Book Review: Born to Rise“ Karen says, “Deborah’s heart warming story of turning a painful life event into a chance to make a difference is powerful. She was relentless in her pursuit to open schools in tough neighborhoods for students that needed them most. She built schools…
Curriculum Associates: Leveraging For-profit Power With a Nonprofit Purpose
For-profit giants are often viewed with skepticism in education. Nonprofits generally focus on impact but move at a slower pace and struggle to raise donations to fund growth. Is there there a better model?
SMARTtech Roundup: STEM, Core and More
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,…
Ed-Tech Innovators: Get Results Now by Leveraging Great Teachers
We're excited about the prospects, but we all know it will take time for digital learning to transform education. Meanwhile, the effectiveness of teachers will continue to be the single most important school factor in student learning.
ST Math Lands In CTEq’s National STEMworks Database For Investors
The nonprofit, CEO-led initiative Change the Equation (CTEq) admitted MIND Research Institute's ST Math®, an instructional software program, as one of its CTEq’s new ‘STEMworks’ database.
It’s Time to Disrupt the System
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.
5 Essential Questions About ePortfolios
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.
A Brief Guide to Tech Training for Faculty
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.
An Inside View of Blended Integration at Rocketship Education
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.
Q&A: Reading Throughout the Summer Is Important & FUN
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.