BHM Technology Integration

Meaningful change ain't gonna happen for our kids if we're not willing to invest in it for ourselves first. At the heart, it's not about schools…it's about us.

With millions of public high school students taking at least one course online, a new report says that virtual schools are too often subject to minimal oversight and that there is no-high quality research showing that cyber education is an acceptable full-time replacement for traditional classrooms.

An innovative resource designed to cultivate 21st century fluencies, while fostering engagement and adventure in the learning experience.

Here are the new rules: Create your own education. Find problems and solve them.  Be unique.  Make beautiful, useful stuff.  Build a network of really smart people who you will never meet.  Be indispensable.  Do real work that changes the world.  Have a brand.  Share widely and safely.  Collaborate. Add value.  Be a voracious learner.  Tread softly but boldly.  Edit the world. (Add yours below.)

I think the best paedagogic use of digital tools in school is the same way they're being used in society: As an interactive information and communication medium. For the first time in paedagogic history we have such simple ways of organizing the most important aspects of learning, namely internalization, externalization, individualization and collaboration. Good practice for me is to use blogging for the collaborative collection of material, to discuss problems and to show results. They pretty works in all subjects, I've even seen a successful implementation in sports.

Over 50 BHM teachers took that step at the Teach 2.0 Day on October 19. Thank you to all of the teacher leaders that took the time to teach a class or to lead a discussion. Pressure and anxiety come along with presenting to colleagues, and so does a feeling of relief and pride when the ideas you have shared impact the learning happening for students. The courage shown by these teacher leaders left an impression on our staff.

How does this relate to what I ranted about in class today? It's your future, and business as usual (or, in your case, school as usual) isn't going to cut it. You're going to have to be creative, to be risk-takers, to look for the underlying connections and strive for true understanding, not just "complete assignments" and "get the points."

"Many workers, in short, are losing the race against the machine," the authors write.

Making the connection: Common Core and National Educational Technology standards

Has our hysterically competitive, education-obsessed society finally outdone itself in its tireless efforts to produce winners whose abilities are literally off the charts? And if so, what convergence of historical, social and economic forces has been responsible for the emergence of this new type? Why does Super Person appear among us now?

The kids wrote in rapid fire on sheets of butcher paper. "Why is everyone acting normal when people are dropping dead?" "Are the doctors aware of this great danger?" "Is there any benefit from the plague? Will it help anyone change or grow?" By the end of the exercise, the class had generated more than 100 questions and exactly zero answers.

Educational Apps 

I visit a lot of classrooms. And I'm always fascinated by the variety of ways teachers launch the new school year and also with how they "run their rooms" on a daily basis. From these visits and my own experiences as an instructor, I'd like to offer my top 20 suggestions for keeping your classroom a safe, open, and inviting place to learn.

As you prepare to present your Teach 2.0 Sessions, this resource may help you provide your adult learners with ideal learning situations.

Students enlisted to tutor others, these researchers have found, work harder to understand the material, recall it more accurately and apply it more effectively. In what scientists have dubbed "the protégé effect," student teachers score higher on tests than pupils who are learning only for their own sake.

The science of learning is demonstrating that the ability to make accurate estimates is closely tied to the ability to understand and solve problems.

By almost every educational measure, the Agora Cyber Charter School is failing.

Free Social Teaching and Learning Network focused solely on education

Designing 21st Century Schools and Learning starts with "what knowledge and skills do students need for the 21st century?" But real design needs to go much further and address these questions: What learning curricula, activities, and experiences, foster 21st Century learning?What assessments for learning, school-based and national, foster student learning, engagement, and self-direction?What physical learning environments (classroom, school, and real world) foster 21st century student learning?How can technology support a 21st Century collaborative learning environment and support a learning community?