Clif's Notes on EdTech

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Articles, whitepapers, videos and more about student empowerment through technology

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Are you a professional developer, a high school teacher, or university faculty? Are you finding that some of your adult students born between 1976 and 1995 maybe even up to 2001 have specific needs that are difficult to meet in a traditional classroom situation? This generation is what we call the "Generation Y" high school and college students. You may be a Gen Yer or "Millennial". Think about what type of learning environment works best for you. If many of your students are the Generation Y, here are some ideas that might help you when you design your learning activities:

First, a technology must be evident to the user as potentially useful in making his or her life easier (or more enjoyable). Second, a technology must be easy to use to avoid rousing feelings of inadequacy. Third, the technology must become essential to the user in going about his or her business. This "Three-E Strategy," if applied properly, has been at the core of every successful technology adoption throughout history.

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) released its sixth annual report on the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program, a component of the No Child Left Behind, Title II, Part D (NCLB IID) Act.

"I'm currently teaching first year university students and require them to blog. There are many benefits for having them blog but I've found it to be one of the greatest ways I've been able to get into the thinking and process of my their learning. Asking them to describe their learning and thought process provides me with insight not only to appreciate their efforts but to inform my instruction and decide on what further supports I can provide to take them to the next level. This technology remains a powerful way for learners to reflect and share their thinking on a variety of endeavors. As much as teachers and schools say that process is as important as product, this often is more lip service than practice. Process takes time and talking about learning can be tiresome. The transparency of blogs make this a shared experience that no doubt can provide all students a greater opportunity to learn from each other. The advent of blogs in schools often is deployed as a way to bring technology into schools. That's the wrong reason. I recently read this quote on Doug Johnson's blog: At a conference last week, Mark Weston from Dell computing stated that asking the question, "Does technology improve student learning?" is the wrong question. The question should be, "Does technology support the practices that improve student learning?"

In a recent post about Tuition-Free Education Courses for Teachers, I pointed out a number of online education courses that are free to self-learners around the world. Most of these courses are provided through well-known colleges and universities. While these courses are an excellent way to broaden your knowledge of specific topics, they aren't the only sources of free teacher education on the web. There are many other organizations that provide tuition-free education courses to teachers. A few more worth checking out include:

This 2020 Forecast is a tool for thinking about, preparing for, and shaping the future. It outlines key forces of change that will shape the landscape of learning over the next decade. The forecast does not predict what will happen, but rather serves as a guide to the as-yet-unwritten future. It is designed to help you see connections among things that once seemed unrelated and to help you consider the changes and challenges that you are facing today within the context of wider patterns of change. Ultimately, the 2020 Forecast aims to provoke your own thinking about what role you want to play in creating the future of learning.

Google spreadsheet on how teachers use Twitter for PD.

Our very own Mrs. Smoke and her tips/tricks to effective Google searches.

Challenge Based Learning and the research found by Apple.