I just read Teachers to Curriculum Creators: Give Us the Real World. Data from a nationwide survey of 800 math, science and technology teachers indicates that when asked “What characteristics are most important in a curriculum resource?” more than two-thirds of the teachers selected “Shows real world connections.” The least ...

Chris Lehman shares some of his ideas about school reform. I challenge you to consider his ideas with an open-mind. Just a Note I think the structure for presentations at this event is clever. Speakers could use 20 slides with 15 seconds allowed for each slide. I think I’m going to begin using this strategy in several [...]

Scott Merrick shared an interesting resource with me in response to yesterday’s post. Where We Stand: America’s Schools in the 21st Century aired on PBS and presents an evaluation of the American educational system. I encourage you to watch the program and look through the site and reflect on your opinions/beliefs related to this ...

I found this article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to be intriguing and provocative. Two columnists with differing perspectives jointly authored this piece. I’d enjoy discussing the topic with anyone interested. photo credit: trazomfreak a Teaching to the Test Similar Posts:Why Would Learners Use Diigo? Pros and Cons ...

“America has a decision to make. We can continue to pursue education strategies that focus on schools alone and on narrow, test-based accountability—and be content with the modest improvements long associated with this approach. Or we can ratchet up our ambitions and adopt a new and expanded strategy with the capacity to improve student ...

I’m excited to be working with Kannapolis City Schools again (Previous Posts: 1, 2). I’m helping provide professional development for part of their grant funded technology integration initiative called IMPACT. I’ve been asked to facilitate the following workshops: Instructional Design in the Digital Age Interactive PowerPoint ...

I’m still trying to catch up from my recent trips to Kannapolis, EduBloggerCon and NECC. I have notes, pod/vidcasts and photos that I intend to share but more pressing matters (Family, research and writing, preparations for professional development workshops and 2nd summer semester courses) have kept my attention. Here are a few things that ...

We learned about this possible opportunity during the Teacher Educators (SIGTE) meeting during NECC. I’ve been intending to write a post about it, but I think my good friend, Drew, covers all the high points. The following message was originally posted on The Playground. The U.S. House of Representatives has approved legislation to fund an ...

Here are the presentations/discussions that I attended/ participated in during the first half of this afternoon. A Plan for Wiki Adoption by Ken Pruitt Ken’s presentation was an adaptation of Stewart Mader’s Wikipatterns. Ken shared suggested strategies for implementing the use of wikis at all levels. Educational Technology and the ...

I’ve spent most of today participating in the following sessions and meeting online friends in the Bloggers’ Cafe. I’m looking forward to the presentation of the ISTE Classroom Observation Instrument (ICOT) later today. I’m curious to see how it stacks up against similar instruments like LoTi. Perhaps I’ll get a ...