I can't presume to know education's main job in today's very different media environment, but I think Prof. Michael Wesch at Kansas State University is on to something. It goes beyond teaching media literacy in information-saturated lives, which itself is well past the 19th-century model of filling students' heads with information and having them "learn" it. It even goes beyond teaching the … [Read more...] about Education’s job in a networked world
School & Tech
A student’s view of informal learning’s value
"My passion lies where I can be creative and have fun and be around people that can support me," says Dallas high school student Blake Copeland in a video interview at eSchoolNews.com. And Blake has definitely found people's support – or the supporters found him. In his spare time, he learned the programming language for iPhones, Objective-C, and developed an iPhone app called DateFinder that … [Read more...] about A student’s view of informal learning’s value
Practical steps on the way to a school culture of respect
We hear a lot about the need to change school culture in order to defeat bullying and cyberbullying. But how? PBIS does not cut it for middle school teacher Daniel Witz. In a commentary in the Washington Post, Witz critiques the well-known Oregon-based anti-bullying program PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports) as practiced at his school, then offers an alternative: "10 steps to … [Read more...] about Practical steps on the way to a school culture of respect
What school suspension ‘accomplishes’: Study
I hope school administrators will think about this when they're dealing with cyberbullying: suspending students is only effective as "a school-to-prison pipeline." That's a conclusion from "a study of nearly a million Texas children described as an unprecedented look at discipline," according to the Washington Post. The study analyzed 6.6 million records of every Texas 7th grader 2000-'02, … [Read more...] about What school suspension ‘accomplishes’: Study
My ISTE 2011: Notes from a giant conference
To me, ISTE – with some 18,000 attendees from 68 countries having converged on Philadelphia this week – is like looking out the window from a fast train through a dense urban area: mostly a blur, but your eye freeze-frames what's meaningful to you. So I always come away feeling enriched by the updates and insights I glean and the fresh dose of inspiration I get from connecting with people who love … [Read more...] about My ISTE 2011: Notes from a giant conference