Disruption has several definitions in the English language, and not many of them positive in nature. A television commercial can disrupt a viewer; students can disrupt a class by talking out of turn; and the introduction of new technologies can disrupt traditional means of getting the job done. In each of these scenarios, the disruptive "factor" halts progress and creates complications that someone must deal with in order to get things moving in the right direction.
- By Bridget McCrea
- 01/21/10
It's up to America's teachers to get the country's youth involved in critical environment issues. But that's not going to happen if teachers aren't delivering the message in a way that engages students, according to Ed Begley Jr., who delivered the opening general address at this year's FETC conference in Florida. "We have to speak in a language young people understand. And that language," he said, "is technology."
Which issues in education technology should drive policymaking in 2010? Start with establishing technology as the "backbone of school improvement," and we'll be on the right track, according to the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), which published a list of its top-10 priorities for decision makers for the coming year.
At the FETC 2010 conference in Florida, the Software & Information Industry Association this week opened its 2010 Vision K-20 Survey, part of the SIIA's "Vision K-20" effort toward developing a technology-based educational framework for K-12 schools, colleges, and universities.
- By Geoffrey H. Fletcher
- 01/08/10
President Obama Wednesday announced the expansion of the "Educate to Innovate" campaign, an initiative aimed at enhancing and encouraging STEM education throughout the country in order to allow the Unitee States to remain as competitive in scientific and technological research and innovation in the 21st century as it was in the 20th.
- By Scott Aronowitz
- 01/07/10
A report released in December by the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning (CFTL) indicated that in California, where schools are pursuing ambitious education reform, while many teachers are well qualified to take on the demands of such an effort, many more simply are not up to the task.
- By Scott Aronowitz
- 01/04/10
In offering its vision for 21st-century education, the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), a leading professional association for school district technology leaders in the United States, has set forth a guideline for the nation's education community: In order to bring a school district successfully into the 21st century, a district leader must have a vision for what will constitute an appropriate environment for his or her district, must possess or acquire the skills necessary to build that environment, and then must lead the district in its creation and implementation.
- By Scott Aronowitz
- 12/01/09
No Child Left Behind's accountability measures had no impact on children's reading achievement but did lead to some gains in math achievement by some measures, according to new research out of the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and Swarthmore College.
America's 3 million gifted and talented students are getting the shaft in the vast majority of K-12 schools, according to a new report from the National Association for Gifted Children and the Council of State Directors of Programs for the Gifted.