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I don’t feel that I should or that I am only able to write or that I am somehow for the sake of publication, more inclined to write about “Latino issues.” Latino issues are what? The alienation and disenfranchisement of immigrants; stories that describe the food we eat and the fiestas we celebrate? I think that if I want to be a good Latino writer I have to be a good writer first. My interest is the human soul and the human condition. My main characters will be Latino but they haven’t always been poor people struggling to survive across the border. Some of them have been successful individuals who like many other successful individuals have come to realize that success is not all it is cracked up to be. Whatever good I can achieve for the social problems that affect Latinos will come as a result of being a good writer - someone who portrays Latino characters as believable human beings. To recognize ourselves in the soul of another - isnt’t that a good to be valued? And so yes, I am a Latino writer although I don’t see myself as one.

We can’t answer the question “Is tech useful in schools?” until we’ve grappled with a deeper question: “What kinds of learning should be taking place in those schools?” If we favor an approach by which students actively construct meaning, an interactive process that involves a deep understanding of ideas and emerges from the interests and questions of the learners themselves, well, then we’d be open to the kinds of technology that truly support this kind of inquiry. Show me something that helps kids create, design, produce, construct—and I’m on board. Show me something that helps them make things collaboratively (rather than just on their own), and I’m even more interested—although it’s important to keep in mind that meaningful learning never requires technology, so even here we should object whenever we’re told that software (or a device with a screen) is essential.

If you haven’t given much thought to the kind of intellectual life we might want schools to foster, then it might sound exciting to “personalize” or “customize” learning. But as I argued not long ago, we shouldn’t confuse personalized learning with personal learning. The first involves adjusting the difficulty level of prefabricated skills-based exercises based on students’ test scores, and it requires the purchase of software. The second involves working with each student to create projects of intellectual discovery that reflect his or her unique needs and interests, and it requires the presence of a caring teacher who knows each child well.

Digital dating is now the second most common way that couples get together, after meeting through friends.

Once potential partners meet, in other words, other characteristics take precedence over the ones they thought were important.

the best prognosticators of how people will get along come from the encounters between them. In other words, it’s hard to tell whether Jim and Sue will be happy together simply by comparing a list of their preferences, perspectives and personality traits before they meet. Stronger predictors of possible romance include the tenor of their conversations, the subject of their discussions, or what they choose to do together.

Quality does not lend itself to government regulation because there is no simple metric.

In other words, our traditional institutions typically aren't serving this population of older students any better than fully online institutions.

We will make great strides in quality when we define and measure learning outcomes independent of time.