future of learning
EdTech
Tom’s 30 Best Blogs of 2013
Blended learning went mainstream in 2013-- truckloads of tablets showed up at schools; there was an explosion of apps; platforms got a little better; we still have a lot to learn. All the developments kept us busy. Here’s the creme de le creme, the top ten percent, of Tom’s contributions on Getting Smart this year.
Leadership
K-12 Breakthrough School Models from NGLC
This updated set of K-12 Breakthrough School Models profiles is an excellent resource and serves as motivation for all in the world of education.
EdTech
Everything is Coming Up Robots
Now I find myself learning and teaching with robots. Where once I was reading through Chaim Potok’s The Chosen asking myself which learning objectives I could met through this text, now I am searching through Youtube videos of robot challenges to find a match for my objectives for the students.
Leadership
Scaling Non-Profits: Lessons from the Experts
Is your nonprofit making a difference in your community? Starting to think about national expansion? Here is some advice from five experts (bios below).
EdTech
Google Glass: Really Promising or Not So Much?
We reviewed all the proposed applications we could find and rated them Really Promising (RP) or Not So Much (NM). Here’s our list of applications and ratings:
EdTech
Investing in Innovation Pays Off for Math Students
Such a long-term funding relationship is rare; most giving spans at best three to five years. But MIND is rare, too. We have been supporting the organization this long because they have developed one of the best and most effective approaches to helping students learn math that we’ve ever seen, with strong rigorous and significant student outcome data to prove it.
EdTech
How Google Glass Can Help Students Make Better Music
Improving the day-to-day class experience is an important use of the product, but Johnston Turner has bigger ideas about ways Google Glass can aid in conducting and composing. “I’m also interested in how the Internet and digital technology are changing our brains and changing how we think,” she told me.
EdTech
First Ever White House Student Film Festival Launches Today
K-12 students from around the country are invited to create a 1-3 minute short video. Finalists could have their videos screened at the actual White House and posted on the official website.
Personalized Learning
A Maker Makeover for Public Education
MakerSpace team members are "die hard advocates of public education" and are completely immersed in a revolution from within. The MakerSpace ideas started flowing about four years ago when six 10th grade teachers were awarded an ARRA grant to create an integrated project-based block for 100 students.
Personalized Learning
Design Thinking in Schools: An Emerging Movement Building Creative Confidence in our Youth
As we help today’s students build their foundation of core academic knowledge and skills, we also need to look at the ways we are helping our youth build their confidence in their abilities to create. From name badges to state economies, we need our youth to know that they can empathically and intelligently shape the world. We need to help them develop the tools to create change.