Last spring I had the privilege and fun of spending a whole class period with middle school students talking about their favorite uses of technology. Of course there were about as many preferences as there were students, so I'll just zoom in on one student whose interest I felt best illustrated how very individual and diverse digital tech use is. He loves shoes. I can't remember the brands, but … [Read more...] about Unboxing learning
education technology
Some mobile learning myth-busting
As I read "5 myths about mobile learning," I realized how literal we are in our assumptions – and how much we base them on a technology's physical properties. When you really think about it – or compare the assumptions to the reality – it can make you smile (if you don't let yourself get discouraged by the resistance these assumptions symbolize). The first few myths educator Nicky Blockly shares … [Read more...] about Some mobile learning myth-busting
Why we mustn’t have a participation gap: 2 students’ experiences
The other day, two school librarians posted an insightful article about two students – Jessica, just starting her junior of high school, and Michael, who just graduated – who stand on opposite sides of the "participation gap," Prof. Henry Jenkins's term for the digital divide of participatory media and today's networked world. They describe what conditions in schools close the gap and what … [Read more...] about Why we mustn’t have a participation gap: 2 students’ experiences
Learning from, working with at-risk youth
A lot of great work on social media and at-risk youth has been done in the UK by Internet-safety consultant Stephen Carrick-Davies, and here's an important takeaway from his latest work: Educators and other professionals who work with marginalized young people need to understand and use social media – the social and communications tools of their everyday lives. In the UK, some of that work … [Read more...] about Learning from, working with at-risk youth
Prensky’s thoughts for 21st-century teachers
Marc Prensky, who coined the term "digital natives" and a few years ago moved on to write about digital wisdom, called on educators to show the courage to do what "they know is right" and wisely embrace the technology that will increasingly help all of us, including students, solve the world's complex problems. This was in his 10-min. portion of a collective keynote at this summer's International … [Read more...] about Prensky’s thoughts for 21st-century teachers