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Brian Silverman says, "It should be required reading for anyone concerned with democracy and long-term viability of public education. I've often said that national standards, even those thinly disguised under mischievous pseudonyms like "common core standards" are not only a destructive force, but a solution in search of a problem. Alfie Kohn makes the case quite effectively. Mr. Kohn once again demonstrates his courage, tenacity and chutzpah by publishing his new article in Education Week's special "Quality Counts" issue. "Quality Counts" is the annual issue sponsored by standardized testing companies who rank each state's educational quality as a function of their reliance on high-stakes testing, teacher-bashing, punitive and anti-democratic education policies. The more draconian the state, the higher their "quality," according to Education Week."

Elevate the education conversation with your voice! We encourage students to submit videos that... * Offer new ideas for what education could be, and/or * Inspire others to transform education, and/or * Propose specific actions you or others can take to improve education in your community

Food for thought on Educational Reform, however, not a great amount of practical first steps. Similarly, I am skeptical of some of the suggestions that private industry can do education better than public-provided. 

I am currently in private education, although I have taught in both. I believe that the school I am at is highly effective in their schooling, but could benefit from these reforms. That being said, I am not sold on the idea that private is better than public, especially as a universal idea ( ie All private education is better than public education). On th other hand I do see it being easier for private education to take on some of these challenges for reform.

Teachers in tertiary education need new strategies to communicate with students of the net generation and to shape enticing educational experiences for them. The use of new approaches such as video-recorded lectures to communicate directly and individually with all students has been the preserve of technology-savvy educators. However, a recent technological advance - the Apple iPad - has the potential to change this situation, offering access to effective and efficient pedagogy in an easy and intuitive way. This paper is a report on the use of the iPad in teaching activities over the past 15 months, showing how it can be used to enhance engagement with learning for tertiary students, both those studying live on campus and those studying at a distance.

The U.S. secretary of education always has a big bully pulpit. President Barack Obama's brand new secretary of education, Chicago's Arne Duncan, has a big bully pulpit plus a huge pile of stimulus money - one hundred billion dollars - to shake up American education.

Learning and teaching in higher education is experiencing rapid change, in part, as a result of the influences of emerging technologies. These proceedings are the refereed papers of the 2nd Annual Conference on Emerging Technologies conducted by the University of Wollongong's Centre for Educational Development and Interactive Resources (CEDIR) and the Faculty of Education's Research Centre for Interactive Learning Environments (RILE) between 18 - 20 June 2008. The conference provided a showcase for research into these technologies and an insight into the way they can be used to promote meaningful learning in the higher education sector. Papers have undergone a double blind peer refereeing process to Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) standards. The papers have been assessed as providing information that increases the stock of knowledge and the use of this knowledge to devise new applications; they are original and have the potential to produce results; they represent substantial scholarly activity; and they have validity through a peer validation process. Further details of refereeing are included in the Conference Program available below.

"I am on a flight returning home after a successful Presentation at the New York State Association of Computers and Technologies in Education Annual Conference, NYSCATE. I was pleased with the outcome, but I did make a few observations about how presenting at these conferences is beginning to change and may never be the same. Presentations for any educational conference are the backbone of the conference. They are usually the main reason why educators attend conferences, wild parties notwithstanding. It is a great accomplishment for an educator to have a proposal for a conference presentation accepted and placed on the Program. Being judged and accepted by one's colleagues is both an accomplishment and a thrill and for some, the process could also be terrifying. Presenting is considered by many to be one of those thresholds in an educator's career. I have done several presentations at various conferences over the years and I have been moved by the positive experience with each event. Because it requires putting one's self out there for all to see, most presenters do a great job of preparing and presenting to the best of their ability."

Twitter chats are such a great way to stay connected and informed in your professional circle, and education is no exception. Through education chats, you can find out about new methods for teaching, tech resources, even jobs for teachers. Most chats are held weekly, and offer an opportunity to have a regularly scheduled conversation with like-minded educators. Check out our collection to find a wealth of Twitter chats that are great for all kinds of educators.

Technology has been trying to 'revolutionize' education for a long time now. The mistake we've been making all along is placing all of the focus on the least important component of the revolution - the tech itself. It's where all the money goes and then what? Nothing left to actually ensure it's going to make the difference we want, with the the people we want to impact - the teacher and the student. It's happened all throughout education tech history in recent times. The film projector, the photocopier, the typewriter, the desktop and laptop computer, data projectors, interactive whiteboards, digital cameras were all heavily invested in ( and many still are today ) to bring engagement and improved teaching and learning to the educational world….But talk of the revolution is still going on. And now we have the tablet. The iPad has begun a new "education revolution" and now the obligatory opposition tech companies have joined the battle. The question has to be asked - are we again starting from the wrong end of the battle lines? Is the iPad (inserted alternative tablet if so desired) the real catalyst or is there so much more to this than money spending school systems can see beyond the new and shiny? It's why I ask the question: Is it the iPad, the App or the User?

Technology and teaching - two words that seem to fit together perfectly today for most teachers and learners. So much so that a slew of new blogs have come on board to talk about education technology - or, edTech. This list of the 50 best education technology blogs are not inclusive, as there are so many new blogs available; however, if you look at links provided by many of these blogs to other edTech blogs, you may learn about even more blog that you aren't reading yet.

EduTech in Sydney has been a remarkable experience. A grand celebration of education and an energising gathering of educators ready to share stories and make connections. Despite the rainy weather some 8000 educators came together in the inspiring new International Convention Centre at Darling Harbour and left two days later with hers full of new ideas and wonderings of what might be the future of education. With many ideas still bubbling away here is a brief list of the key take-aways.

Hi Maggie and everybody, I asked for a students account for my students but we are using a normal account. Why? Because my students are 16 or older and most of them use several services like Messenger, tuenti (a very popular social net of sharing pictures and comments), photolog... and I'd like to teach them to use REAL internet, the net they use at home and in real life. Now I have some frontbattles at the same time in different ways. My groups are: http://groups.diigo.com/groups/fotos_unicas http://groups.diigo.com/groups/blogs-para-leer-ccmc http://groups.diigo.com/groups/reacciones-qumica Unfortunately all of them are written in Spanish, but feel free to take a look and give me your opinion. thanks to the Diigo Community and specially to Maggie for her quick replies to my mails. see 'virtualy' you, Jose

A Call to Reform Undergraduate Education Major study by American Academy of Arts and Sciences seeks change in curriculum and assessment, commitment to funding public higher education, new ideas about the faculty role, and more.

Social networking for teachers & students. Send homework, links, videos, participate in discussions, share ideas.

Homepage for Google for Educators. Here are links to many of the tools and applications availbable for educational use.

Good news for teachers looking to collaborate with their colleagues in other parts of the world. Skype has a new free service just for educators called Skype in the classroom, "a free global community created in response to, and in consultation with, the growing number of teachers" using the tool to help students learn.

Is change hard? Is change easy? The answer to both of those questions is "yes." If you reflect upon all that is done to "change" schools, you would probably think that policymakers think change is hard - very hard. Think of all the initiatives that are launched every day to change schools: new tests, new curriculum, new evaluation systems, new laws, policies and regulations. When all of these, however, fail to change schools, the people who develop these change initiatives end up thinking that the change initiatives just have to be bigger, stronger and more tightly managed.

Is change hard? Is change easy? The answer to both of those questions is "yes." If you reflect upon all that is done to "change" schools, you would probably think that policymakers think change is hard - very hard. Think of all the initiatives that are launched every day to change schools: new tests, new curriculum, new evaluation systems, new laws, policies and regulations. When all of these, however, fail to change schools, the people who develop these change initiatives end up thinking that the change initiatives just have to be bigger, stronger and more tightly managed.

This free, Massive Online Open Course for Educators (MOOC-Ed) developed by the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at NC State University, is designed to help educators like you successfully lead the digital learning transition of K-12 education.