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Student Choice Education Week Edweek Research

Peter DeWitt questions why we do not make better use of blogs to support learning. He provides a number of possibilities, including curation, media literacy, student voice, assessing learning, collaboration and artistic freedom.

"The battle for supremacy in the K-12 whiteboard market is heating up. Companies are scrambling for new sources of revenue, making strategic moves to reinvent their products in the age of tablet computing, and sizing up their competitors to see what they can do to differentiate themselves from the pack. Who ultimately ends up on top has huge implications for educational technology leaders, who must determine which company is the best fit for their needs, and at a cost their districts can afford in still-difficult budget times. Complicating those decisions are changes in the technological landscape that are raising questions about the long-term educational relevance of interactive whiteboards. Do classrooms really need them in the age of iPads?"

"According to Andreas Schleicher, there is no evidence from the PISA data yet of a consistent relationship between the use of education technology and superior student performance.  That, however, certainly does not mean that no such relationship will exist in the future, just that it hasn't happened yet, at least not at the scale required to show up in the PISA surveys. "

"As our students get older, they become more responsible...we hope. A laptop or tablet has replaced the notebook and pen over the past few years since our present technological explosion. Many students can't wait until the age that their teachers allow them to bring in their own devices. Unfortunately, no matter the level, not all students are encouraged to bring technology into the classroom. And those that are encouraged to do so, may not be doing it for the right reasons."

"As a teacher I was highly influenced by Howard Gardner, and spent a great deal of time matching up students to how I thought they learned best. It gave me hope that all students can learn as long as we find ways to introduce information to them in a way that works for them. I blindly moved forward thinking that I was finding each student's learning style. I was wrong."

"Recently, as a part of the Ed Tech Crew Christmas Hangout, Darren Murphy posed the question, what would your ideal school be? It got me wondering, what does the talk of ideals really achieve?"

"Standardized-testing regimens cost states some $1.7 billion a year overall, or a quarter of 1 percent of total K-12 spending in the United States, according to a new report on assessment finances."

What is remarkable in listening to Dr. Skinner is how familiar these promises seem. Here we have the promise that students can work at their own pace, through curriculum presented in a coherent order. The student interacts constantly with the author of the program, and the result is that learning proceeds twice as fast. The word "personalized" is the only thing missing - but the idea is there for sure.

"Educators Craft Own Math E-Books for Common Core"