We have a created a monster. This was my conclusion after wandering another vendor floor at a recent education conference. A corporate monster that offers us solutions to issues that we didn’t even know that we had. It offers solutions for engagement, organization, literacy, numeracy,
We were recently asked to participate in a panel discussion at a conference on educational technology. During a segment in which the moderator invited audience questions, one conference attendee asked what single tool teachers might use that would give them the most “bang for their
Today’s children are bombarded with opportunities to communicate, learn, and play by using technology. Our parent educators are challenged with how to best respond to parents’ questions regarding technology use for various age groups of children. Summarized below are considerations that teachers and school administrators
Sometimes, we get excited and jump into using a new tech tool or technique in our classroom
It had been a long day. As an administrator, it was one of those days where you feel that hypothetical fires were purposefully being set to test your patience and commitment as a leader. Despite the challenges, a support staff and I had to conduct a
The concept of “wait time” isn’t anything new to educators. Every year, new teachers have to get used to suppressing that urge they feel to fill silence in their classrooms so that their students have quiet processing time. We know students need wait time to
Why technology? It’s often not what we’re doing, but why we’re doing it that matters. Technology is an ever-present reality in our lives and, most importantly, in the lives of our students. We know that computer science and technology are the fastest growing job markets, and
John Hattie’s research over the past few decades has provided educators with some tremendous insight on what truly impacts students’ learning. Basically, anything that is at or above an effect size of .40 has been found to greatly enhance the learning environment for students. Going
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) mentions the phrase “Universal Design for Learning” (UDL) four times, citing it as a way of ensuring students’ civil rights, and stating that schools should “use technology, consistent with the principles of universal design for learning, to support the
Outside of school, most people apply learning across disciplines, scenarios, and experiences. For a majority of our lives as students, we are taught in a system that creates blocks of time for learning specific content, much like the factory model of production. However, learning should