EdTech

Balancing Young Learners’ Media Consumption: Is There an App for That?

Guest Author

America's preschoolers spend about four hours a day consuming media, ranging from television (still No. 1) to Internet, digital video, and young gamer favorites such as Club Penguin, SesameStreet.org and Little Big Planet. Start with the recent explosion of touchscreen tablets and apps, add a healthy dose of new 'i-tot' products now marketed to parents with young kids, and presto -- we have a whole new media ball game that has parents and educators in a tizzy.
Leadership

Getting Smart Opposes PIPA and SOPA

Getting Smart Staff

The Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House have the potential to censor the Web, pose harmful regulations on businesses, and hurt economic growth and innovation. Getting Smart stands with the millions of Internet users, entrepreneurs, businesses, human rights organizations, and professors who oppose PIPA and SOPA.
Personalized Learning

Is Online Education for K-12 Really Wrong-headed?

Guest Author

The real answer is that we don’t know – yet. Recent investigative journalism by papers as diverse as The New York Times and Arizona Republic have left the impression that online education is underperforming, costly, and misguided. A careful look at the way respective journalists made their cases leaves parents and the public asking for more incisive and scientifically-based investigations. Here is how some of the criticism was constructed and what we need to answer the question about the value of online education.
Personalized Learning

Review: No Excuses Works But There Are Some Lousy Charters

Tom Vander Ark

The National Study of Charter Management Organization (CMO) Effectiveness released their final study, Diverse Strategies and Diverse Student Impacts. The factors that differentiate high performers from the dirt bags are behavior policies and teacher coaching--the high expectations, no excuses culture.
Personalized Learning

iCivics Creates a Powerful Blend of Civics Knowledge and Engagement

Getting Smart Staff

An unintended consequence of the intense focus on English and math standards and assessments in the NCLB decade is that civics took a back seat. “We believe it is a great mistake to push civics to the sideline in schools,” says former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. “Unfortunately, a staggering number of Americans today know dismayingly little about the basic history and traditions of our democracy. Nationwide, more than a third of all high school seniors today lack even basic civics knowledge and skills.”

EdTech

Top 10 iPad Apps for Science Learning

Guest Author

The iPad is a great educational tool, and it has a variety of useful apps for learning all types of subjects. There are many great apps for helping students of all ages learn and explore scientific concepts.

Personalized Learning

Shift Your Classroom: Small Strategic Steps

Guest Author

For most of my teaching career, I’ve been a pretty traditional teacher (even now I slip back into that mode sometimes). However, as I went through the motions of trying to “teach” my students, something didn’t feel right. My students seemed to learn things only for the exam, were focused on the mark, not the learning that was supposed to be taking place. When the unit or semester was over, they dumped all their notes and assignments. Frustrating.