Technology is a marvelous tool for enhancing the curriculum, engaging the students, and bringing life to an antiquated classroom. Most educators will agree this premise is true. But how do you get teachers to take the leap and dive into technology integration in their classrooms?
Today’s students have come to expect learning on demand. They are not afraid of technology, and speed is the name of the game. They multitask, think less linearly than those of us over 30, enjoy fantasy as an element of their lives, are less tolerant of passive activities, and use their tools to stay connected with each other. Nevertheless, this situation has implications for educators.
Today’s technology planners face a huge dilemma: Technology planning activities throughout the United States have morphed from a locally driven assembly and alignment of visions that functioned quite successfully just a few years ago, into a veritable puppet show in which the strings are being pulled by superior agencies that hold the threat of money—or the lack of it—over our heads.
Educator and ed tech enthusiast Jenna Linskens went from onetime FETC attendee to featured speaker. She shares how the conference has helped shape her career.
- By Jenna Linskens
- 01/28/13
Being "ready-to-hand," a mouse (the computer kind) is a means to end: While using a mouse you don’t think about it, per se, but rather you think about menus dropping down when mouse-clicked, the cursor being positioned, etc. The "kids these days" use smartphones, as they are "ready-to-hand," as a means to an end--with the end being 24/7, all the time, everywhere learning.
- By Cathie Norris, Elliot Soloway
- 01/28/13
Mobile learning is really taking off! In developing nations, at least! We present a few highlights from UNESCO's 2nd Annual Mobile Learning Week, held at UNESCO’s Paris HQ, that we participated in recently.
- By Cathie Norris, Elliot Soloway
- 02/25/13
The issue of mobile devices two pronged: that of administrators charged with overall school safety of our children and that of the educators who desire some degree of academic freedom to wisely select whatever it takes to prepare every student in their charge with 21st century skills within a safe environment. Which side do we take? Can we make both sides happy? What are potential challenges and opportunities for learning via mobile devices? It's time to explore.
- By Patricia Deubel
- 03/19/09
A bumper sticker I often saw in the 1960s proclaimed, “It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber.” I always thought the sentiment was naive and unrealistic. Yet recently...
- By Geoffrey H. Fletcher
- 03/01/10
Since the 1950s, standardized test scores have been used to compare and rank schools, districts, states, and now nations, according to Rick Stiggins (2007), founder of the Educational Testing Service's Assessment Training Institute. In a commentary on assessment myths, he posed a question that has probably been discussed since standardized testing was chosen as the large-scale measure of effectiveness of schools: "Are we helping students and teachers with our assessment practices, or contributing to their problems?" (p. 28).
- By Patricia Deubel
- 04/10/08
It's interesting that face-to-face instruction is still the measure by which all other forms of instruction are evaluated. As the standard model of instruction for decades, it's often assumed to be the proven method, while other methods have yet to prove themselves. This assumption is not only misleading, but it might also be helping to diminish potential opportunities of better learning for our students.