Reinventing Curriculum | Blog

Here you'll find analysis and views on technology, policy and curriculum in elementary and secondary education by two outspoken technology advocates, Elliot Soloway and Cathie Norris. Reinventing Curriculum is published twice per month. Below you will also find the archive for Elliot and Cathie's previous blog, Being Mobile.


'The Times They Are A-Changin' – Dylan Got It Right!

David Thornburg, our guest blogger, looks back and looks forward – and sees Chromebook’s DNA in the history of computing and forecasts all sorts of provocative software that this "new" platform will engender.

Educational Technology is at a Fork: Instruction vs Construction

There are some that use technology to support construction-oriented pedagogies — maker movement, project-based learning — and some that use technology to support instruction-oriented pedagogies — personalized learning. Instruction may well be less costly to deliver — but the loss of the opportunity to develop our children’s creativity is inestimable.

Sound the Trumpets! Finally, Statistical Evidence that 1-to-1 Results in Increased Student Achievement

The evidence drought is over! A recent methodologically rigorous meta-analysis shows that in 1-to-1 classrooms, there is an increase in student achievement. Yay! Here’s the justification for all those 1-to-1 Chromebook roll-outs!

Teachers Creating and Curating OER-Based Curricula: An Example from Tullahoma City Schools

Expanding the conversation around "Reinventing Curriculum": In this week’s blog post, Superintendent Dan Lawson explains how his district is creating OER curricula. Dan's post is a thought-provoking response to our earlier blog post about the challenges teachers face in creating OER materials.

What Is the Teacher’s Role in the 1-to-1 Classroom?

On the one hand, the role of the teacher in a 1-to-1 classroom is relatively unchanged from what a teacher has always done. Now for “the but”: but on the other hand, 1-to-1 introduces a huge change in what teachers have always done! This week’s blog post discusses this critically important and timely dilemma.

Blended Learning: A Common Sense, Teacher-Friendly Definition

The term “blended learning” accurately describes the pedagogical practices that are taking place in 1-to-1 classrooms. This week’s screed (aka blog post) describes the following unfortunate fact: the term “blended learning” is being used by some to mean “adaptive, personalized learning.” Grrr! Join us in keeping “blended learning” to mean the teacher-friendly, common-sense definition.

So, When During the School Day Should Teachers Create Curriculum?

OER – Open Education Resources – are being touted by the Department of Education as the key to future of K-12 curriculum. While there is no question that OER are a component of the new digital curriculum, in this blog, we answer the question raised in the blog post’s title.

Learning is in the Conversation: From Monologue to Dialog in the K-12 Classroom

First the educational need, then the technology! Dialogue, not monologue, needs to be a primary learning activity. Supporting dialogue in the classroom, then, is a real educational need. The Collabrify Suite of Apps – free, device-agnostic, and designed expressly for grades 1-8 – meet that real educational need. Read this week’s blog post, increase dialogue by collabrifying your classroom.

Learnings from a Traumatic Professional Development Experience

This week’s blog post is about how CN un-traumatized ES after his professional development "experience." Without CN, he presided over a 50-minute session on how to use our Collabrify Apps in the K-12 classroom, at a one-day professional development event at a regional high school. ES thought that telling teachers how to use technology in their classrooms was a '90s strategy — not a today's strategy.

Only Truly 1-to-1 is Truly Transformative

The dominant pedagogy in classrooms today is still direct instruction, the pedagogy underlying so-called computer-based, “personalized learning” environments. But, we argue in this week’s blog that truly 1-to-1 implementations, which are only now becoming feasible, are the opportunity needed to transform classrooms and support educators in moving to an inquiry pedagogy, a pedagogy that develops students’ critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration.

Being Mobile | Podcast

The Being Mobile podcast series features Elliot Soloway and Cathie Norris at their outspoken best, having lively conversations about a different mobile technology topic each month.

  • Bringing Down Barriers to Mobilism

    Fresh from UNESCO Mobile Week in Paris, Elliot and Cathie report on how students in developing countries are using feature phones for education. April 2013; File Type: WMA; Size: 2,919 KB Length: 04:00 Listen Now

  • One Tablet Per Child?

    Falling prices for computers and data plans could have a major impact on K-12, but is your infrastructure ready? March 2013; File Type: WMA; Size: 2,039 KB; Length: 02:48 Listen Now

  • What Does "Successful" Mean?

    When it comes to using mobile devices in class, Elliot and Cathie caution against mistaking engagement for achievement. February 2013; File Type: WMA; Size: 2,757 KB; Length: 03:47 Listen Now

  • Welcome to the Podcast

    Mobilists Elliot and Cathie introduce their podcast and explain why mobile technologies are becoming an inescapable part of the classroom. January 2013; File Type: M4A; Size: 7,246 KB; Length: 03:39 Listen Now