EdTech
EdTech 10: Spirit of Youth
Shakespeare, who would’ve celebrated his 449th birthday this week, famously noted that April puts “a spirit of youth in every thing.” The Bard was right. (One of our Smart Teachers even celebrated Shakespeare’s birthday with her class.) We’re seeing lots of new ideas springing forth in k-12 and…
EdTech
Teacher Spotlight: Teachers & Students on Facebook
We begin our Teacher Spotlight series with Cathy Nelson's blogpost on assisting a student via Facebook - including her actual IM conversation with a former student via Facebook.
EdTech
EdTech 10: Valentines or Singles Awareness Day Edu
It’s that time again. Whether you consider it Singles Awareness Day or Valentines Day, Team Getting Smart is here for you every week as we share the latest EdTech news we know that you’ll love to know.
Personalized Learning
Differentiated Instruction
Lisa Nielsen offers an alternative to differentiated instruction: great idea, hard to practice–at least the way most schools and classrooms are organized.
Leadership
Your Fans Want You To Be Better, Not Different
From studying the new book Superfandom, EdLeaders can learn three ways to best work with school and district 'fans' in order to shape a successful future.
EdTech
Review: Encouraging Social Innovation Through Capital
In Encouraging Social Innovation Through Capital: Using Technology to Address Barriers Kim Smith, Bryan Hassel, and Julie Petersen explore how technology can help "steer capital toward the organizations and approaches that have the greatest impact." The paper is the fourth in a series on Innovation for the Public Good, sponsored by Rockefeller.
Personalized Learning
10 Strategies to Take Advantage of Productive Edtech Turbulence
Governor Bob Wise, Alliance for Excellent Education, opened the Moorsevilleedtech conference (#Connection12 on Twitter) this week by suggesting that, like a bumpy tailwind, we're experiencing productive turbulence including adoption of real college/career ready standards, waivers from federal requirements that come with new demands, and online assessment starting in 2014-2015. Add what's likely to be a decade of constrained budgets in most states and you have a leadership challenge.
Personalized Learning
Charter school news & views
1. Enrollment hit the Wisconsin virtual charter cap with 1,000 kids on the waiting list. It’s crazy to limit options for kids. This is clearly a case of protecting the status quo rather than doing the right thing for kids. The cap has got to go!…
Personalized Learning
Seeing What is Possible Makes Possibilities Exciting
An interview of former Napa Valley Unified School District Administrator, Dr. Laura Ryan, on why her school district chose Scholastic's READ 180/System 44 to help their struggling readers achieve.
Leadership
Unleashing Greatness: Barber & Klein Release Playbook for Innovation
A new paper from education leaders outlines nine strategies for system level innovations to help spark change in education systems trapped by tradition and paralyzed by layers of policy.