A very cool geography game that uses Google Maps Street view. Turns players into sleuths who have to use all of their knowledge and skills to figure out where they are.
"Google makes broad-based knowledge more important, not less. A good education is the true key to effective search. But until our kids have that, let's make sure they don't always take PageRank at its word."
Teachers are engaged in practices like these because they are pressured and afraid, not because they think the assessments are educationally sound. Their principals are pressured and nervous about their own scores and the school’s scores. Guaranteed, every child in the class feels that pressure and trepidation as well.
I am troubled that a company that has a multi-million dollar contract to create tests for the state should also be able to profit from producing test prep materials. I am even more deeply troubled that this wonderful little girl, whom I have known since she was born, is being subject to this distortion of what her primary education should be.
Real learning occurs in the mind of the learner when she makes connections with prior learning, makes meaning, and retains that knowledge in order to create additional meaning from new information. In short, with tests we see traces of learning, not learning itself.
Parents can expect that the other three will be neglected as teachers frantically try to prepare students for the difficult and high-stakes tests.
They see data, not children.
The promise of the Common Core is dying and teaching and learning are being distorted. The well that should sustain the Core has been poisoned.
Whether or not learning the word ‘commission’ is appropriate for second graders could be debated—I personally think it is a bit over the top. What is of deeper concern, however, is that during a time when 7 year olds should be listening to and making music, they are instead taking a vocabulary quiz.
Data should be used as a strategy for improvement, not for accountability
A fool with a tool is still a fool. A fool with a powerful tool is a dangerous fool.
"We already have a guitar. I can learn on my own and with my friends." Me: "It seems like you should get lessons for the basics." Her: "Mom, that's what the Internet is for." It turns out she's already been practicing with the help of YouTube tutorials.
because of the abundance of knowledge and social connections
balancing the competitive pressures of college-readiness, the need for unstructured learning and socializing, and the role of the Internet in all of that
Trends indicate that families with the means to do so are investing more and more in enrichment activities to give their kids a leg up
padding resumes for college
an arms race in achievement
the Internet has been a lifeline for self-directed learning and connection to peers.
parents more often than not have a negative view of the role of the Internet in learning, but young people almost always have a positive one
Young people are desperate for learning that is relevant and part of the fabric of their social lives, where they are making choices about how, when, and what to learn, without it all being mapped for them in advance
Learning on the Internet is about posting a burning question on a forum like Quora or Stack Exchange, searching for a how to video on YouTube or Vimeo, or browsing a site like Instructables, Skillshare, and Mentormob for a new project to pick up.
but I'm also delighted that she finds the time to cultivate interests in a self-directed way that is about contributing to her community of peers
This is a great piece that captures much of the essence of how many (teens are the focus, but not exclusive to the points made) are seeing learning today... really important to understand.
Education 3.0 is based on the belief that content is freely and readily available. It is self-directed, interest-based learning where problem-solving, innovation and creativity drive education.
This culture of open access, DIY (Do It Yourself) is beginning to disrupt education and open new opportunities... for those who have access and knowledge