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How Schools Boost Student Performance through Architectural Design
The shift from concrete and brick to wood and glass, from overhead lights to natural lighting, from carpeted floors to hardwood, and from enclosed, square rooms to open spaces with curves isn’t just a matter of aesthetics. It’s about creating a better educational environment.
Personalized Learning
New and Inspiring STEM Initiatives
In the past couple weeks, I've read about a lot of STEM initiatives in the news, but two in particular seemed worth sharing:
Ed Policy
Smart List: 40 Advocacy Orgs Making a Difference
Today we are recognizing 40 great policy and advocacy organizations. These groups put students first, set the path, and lead the conversation.
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Innovation Intermission
This month, I’ve been exploring alternate models of access to informal STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math) learning. This week, I’m taking a detour – an innovation intermission at a workshop with Nina Simon at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History.
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Why Aren’t There More Virtual Science Museums?
Why aren’t there more virtual science museums? (And when I say “science,” I mean “STEM-related.”) If a major barrier to access for science museums is their physical location or cost of admission (or both), why aren’t virtual museums flourishing on the internet? According to 2011 Census Bureau data, 71.7% of households in the US have access to the internet and there are about 2.4 billion internet users in the world. Although problems with access persist, and visiting a virtual museum isn’t quite the same as getting up close and personal with real objects, virtual museums could have great potential for increasing the reach of informal STEM education.
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Considering Competency-Based Education
The shift from time to learning, from cohorts to competency, will be tough. It’s not easy or superficial--it’s a new and different way of organizing schools.
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STEM: Coming to a street near you?
I love science museums. There are some things you just can’t experience anywhere else – a giant dinosaur skeleton towering over you, or looking through cabinets after cabinet of life from around the planet.
EdTech
#ISTE13: Inspiration, Synergy, Trailblazers, Expertise
Yep. On June 23rd, I will again walk through the doors of ISTE and come face-to-face with Inspiration, Synergy, Trailblazers, and Expertise.
EdTech
Can Sexy Accents Save Us?
Becoming bilingual not only has positive effects across unrelated disciplines like science and mathematics, but also appears to have some unanticipated, and delightful, side effects.
EdTech
Educator Resuscitation 101: A Prerequisite for Summer Learning
I need to admit something. I am dead. Dead-tired. Exhausted. Fatigued. Drained. Emotionally and physically spent. And no, I don't need a trusted colleague to play an armchair psychologist. My cheese is not off its cracker. Things aren't that bad.