K-12

If children in the United States could switching learning places/environments…

On 03/07/2012, in engagement / engaging students, K-12 related, learning spaces, motivation, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
A friend of mine is in Nigeria and I wanted to post an excerpt of one of his updates:

We visited the Reformed Combined Secondary School project and met with the leadership to review progress at the school. Over 150 students are at the school during its second year and many more are expected next year. The school has unbelievable challenges but the students are eager to learn and the Alumni supporters and churches have been working so hard to build the school. This is a boarding school and the conditions are very overcrowded. There is no place for a cafeteria and yet the kids were so exuberant and enthusiastic about their school. There are additional classrooms being built today and new dorms will be starting soon. The staff and school board don’t know exactly how they will make it but they could only tell us how they saw God providing. The kids had been going about 1/4 mile to get water for every need, there had just been a successful borehole drilled with plenty of water. Within a few weeks a new water tank will be installed and the distribution system will be built. They were so excited that after a year and a half they won’t have to spend the time walking for water and will be able to spend more time on studies. To that end there was also a generator being hooked up so the children could study at night. Again, they have been working for 18 months without any way to study after 7 pm other than a few candles. Any one of these circumstances would seem impossible to work around, yet the kids think little of it. The most encouraging part is that the leadership of the school consists of two tribes that have a history of fighting each other. They have come together for the sake of this small Christian school and have committed themselves to making a go of it against the odds. The project has been largely funded by local donations. We are working as advisors and resource people for the school.

I wonder how this would affect children in the United States if they switched places/environments for a while with those children in Nigeria…?

Tagged with: engagement • K-12 • learning spaces • motivation

If Jobs or Woz would have had these toys as a kid — wow!

On 03/01/2012, in computer science, creativity, design, engineering, K-12 related, by Daniel Christian

littlebits

LEGO-like toys help kids build electronics –– from Mashable.com by Adam Ostrow

Also see:

If schools kill creativity, can toys bring it back to life? — from good.is
You can now buy this tiny computer for $35 –– from by Jamie Condliffe

Tagged with: computer science • creativity • design • engineering • K-12

Reflections/questions re: the Common Core State Standards

On 02/23/2012, in curriculum, leadership, legislatures / government / legal, student teaching/teacher education, teachers, by Daniel Christian

Willing but not yet ready: A glimpse of California teachers’ preparedness for the Common Core State Standards

Excerpt:

California is on the precipice of implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), which were developed through an initiative of the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers to reflect the knowledge and skills needed for success in college and careers. In California, one of 45 adopting states, the standards represent a significant shift in expectations for both teaching and learning, not just in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics, but also in literacy related to science and history/social science. The newly adopted standards call for a deep conceptual understanding of the content in ELA and mathematics and, also, for the ability to apply this content to other disciplines. New assessments aligned to the standards are due to be implemented in 2014-15. It all sounds good. But are teachers ready to teach to the new standards?

From DSC:
Due to my lack of knowledge, the jury is still out for me re: what I think about the Common Core State Standards. The crux of my struggle has to do with:

Who determines which courses/topics are included in the standards — both now and in the future?
How often will they be updated to insure the foundations are truly foundational to our students’ futures?
Are such large swaths of standards helpful and effective or are they an extension of a one-size-fits all approach? (For example, I look back on some of the items that I took in K-12 — many of which I’ve forgotten and I never use — but I’ll bet are still in the standards. )

I would like to see some solid foundations being built as well — as I assume that’s what the standards seek to implement. I just hope we can provide places for students’ wide variety of passions to be identified, explored, and strongly nurtured as my economics training taught me that we all win when each of us does what we do best.

Can someone educate me on these standards? What are the upsides and downsides — the pros and cons — of these standards? Thanks!

Addendum on 3/2/12:

Common Core State Standards: Not Your Father’s Standards

Tagged with: Common Core State Standards • curriculum • K-12 • leadership • legislation • student teaching/teacher education • teachers

Blackboard launches solution to improve developmental education
Fully online courses now include built-in assessment, analytics tools

Excerpt:

WASHINGTON – February 22, 2012 – Blackboard Inc. today announced the official launch of Blackboard Developmental Education™ (Blackboard DevEd), an innovative approach aimed at improving student outcomes and increasing completion rates in an area where many institutions have struggled. The solution, which was first piloted by several institutions in the fall, now includes built-in assessment and analytics tools that enable course instructors to further personalize their instruction.

Early reflections from DSC:

First of all, my congratulations go out to Blackboard for innovating! Nice work.
This is another example of the innovation occurring in the online/digital learning world — yet more tools and diagnostic powers are being made available to online-based teaching and learning environments
This should be another shot across the bow of how institutions of higher education are training our future teachers — student teachers NEED to know how to teach online!!!
Too early to tell how such endeavors will affect career paths (for teachers, administrators, counselors, nurses, and such)

Also see:

Innosight’s Michael Horn on how ‘blended learning’ and technology can bridge the education gap — from knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu

Tagged with: 1:1 • 21st century • 24x7x365 • analytics • Blackboard • career development • customized learning • disruption • e-learning • education • educational technology • emerging technologies • K-12 • leadership • online learning • organizational change • personalized learning • strategy • student teaching/teacher education • student-related • vendors • web-based collaboration

Tagged with: digital audio • digital video • K-12 • tools

“Kids are fires to be lit.” TEDxTC – Peter Benson – Sparks: How Youth Thrive.

On 02/17/2012, in art, drama/theater, K-12 related, motivation, music, by Daniel Christian

TEDxTC – Peter Benson – Sparks: How Youth Thrive. — my thanks to Mr. Joseph Byerwalter for this item
Peter L. Benson, president and CEO of Minneapolis-based Search Institute, is one of the world’s leading authorities on positive human development. Dr. Benson is the author or editor of more than a dozen books on child and adolescent development and social change, including, most recently, Sparks: How Parents Can Help Ignite the Hidden Strengths of Teenagers

Some thoughts/notes from this video:

Only 1/4 of our youth are on the path to thriving.
The human spark/the animating engine involves joy, energy, passion, connection, meaning, hope, direction, purpose, hope.
“Spark” is akin to the idea of spirit.
Three kinds of sparks:

A skill or talent
A commitment (ex: social justice, stewardship of Earth)
A quality (ex: person of empathy)

Helping, serving, volunteering, learning a subject matter, service to the globe, athletics, and the creative life are key here. The winner is the creative life — art, music, drama, dance!

Tagged with: art • drama/theater • K-12 • motivation • music

Tagged with: gifted • K-12 • math

A dangerous game [Wheeler]

On 02/09/2012, in assessment, curriculum, dangers of the status quo, education reform, K-12 related, memory, more voice more choice more control, pace of change, student-related, teaching & learning, UK, by Daniel Christian

A dangerous game — from learning with ‘e’s by Steve Wheeler

Excerpt:

This got me thinking that many of the world’s education systems are a little like the eating game of Meze. We pile the students plates high with content. Content of every kind is presented to be consumed, and the poor students don’t stand a chance. Many are overwhelmed by the amount of content they need to learn, and the pace at which they have to learn it. Even while they are struggling their way through an overburdened ‘just in case’ curriculum, still more content continues to arrive at an alarming pace. Some learners cry out for mercy, but they are still compelled to consume the content, because later, they are required to regurgitate it in an examination to obtain their grades. The examinations bear no resemblance to that which will be required of them in the real world. No wonder so many wish to leave the table early. What can teachers do to obviate this problem? Some are making a difference, reinterpreting the curriculum they are given by enabling activities and creating resources that facilitate student centred learning. Learning at one’s own pace, and in a manner that suits the individual will overcome some of the problems of overload, but more needs to be done. Things are changing, but they are changing slowly, too slowly for many people’s tastes. It’s a dangerous game we are playing in education. Isn’t it about time we stopped?

Tagged with: assessment • content • curriculum • dangers of the status quo • education reform • information overload • K-12 • memory • more choice more control • pace of change • student-related • teaching & learning • UK

Could be a good read –> “Tyranny of the textbook: An insider exposes how educational materials undermine reforms”

On 02/06/2012, in curriculum, dangers of the status quo, digital textbooks, education reform, K-12 related, leadership, legislatures / government / legal, publishing, strategy, textbooks, by Daniel Christian

Book Description
Publication Date: December 16, 2011 | ISBN-10: 1442211415 | ISBN-13: 978-1442211414

Excerpt:

Educational reforms and standards have been a topic of public debate for decades, with the latest go-round being the State Common Core Curriculum Standards. But time and again those reforms have failed, and each set of standards, no matter how new and different, has had little impact on improving student achievement. Why? The textbooks. Textbooks sell based on design and superficial features, not because they are based on the latest research on how children learn and how well they promote student achievement. In Tyranny of the Textbook, Beverlee Jobrack, retired from educational publishing, sheds light on why this happens. She gives an engaging and fascinating look behind-the-scenes of how K-12 textbooks are developed, written, adopted, and sold. And, perhaps most importantly, she clearly spells out how the system can change so that reforms and standards have a shot at finally being effective.

Did you Know?

Reform efforts have focused on writing and rewriting standards and tests, but these rarely have any effect on the core curriculum that is published.
School districts and states don’t use effectiveness as a criterion for evaluating and purchasing textbooks.
Publishers don’t offer textbooks with better content or the latest teaching methods because teachers don’t want textbooks that require them to change their practices.
Teachers report that they don’t rely on a textbook in their class, but research shows that they do.
Three companies publish 75 percent of the K-12 educational materials.
Those three companies are producing similar programs with the same instructional strategies, none of which require teachers to change their practices significantly.
Publishers write textbooks for California and Texas. All the other markets have to make do with books only superficially adjusted for their states.

From DSC:
I originally saw this at:

When Will Curriculum Supplant Textbooks?
– from educationnext.org by A. Graham Down

Tagged with: curriculum • dangers of the status quo • digital textbooks • education reform • K-12 • leadership • legislation • strategy • textbooks

Reimagining the classroom teaching and learning environment — from NewClassrooms.org

On 02/02/2012, in analytics, blended learning, education reform, face-to-face, hybrid learning, K-12 related, online learning, pedagogy, personalized/customized learning, reinvent, strategy, teaching & learning, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

Tagged with: 1:1 • analytics • blended learning • customized learning • education reform • educational technology • face-to-face • hybrid learning • K-12 • online learning • pedagogy • personalized learning • reinvent • strategy • teaching & learning • vision

Storybird — for encouraging storytelling, art, literacy, creativity and more

On 01/31/2012, in art, creativity, digital storytelling, K-12 related, reading, writing, by Daniel Christian

Tagged with: art • creativity • digital storytelling • K-12 • literacy • reading • writing

Tagged with: flipping -- inverted learning • K-12 • Michigan

Tagged with: computer science • K-12 • programming

Some items re: Apple’s education-related announcements last week

On 01/24/2012, in Apple, digital learning, digital textbooks, game-changing environment, higher education, K-12 related, new business models, online learning, online media, publishing, by Daniel Christian

How iBooks Author Stacks Up to the Competition [CHART] — from Mashable.com by Chelsea Stark

Author, Author! Apple, Apple! — from The Journal by Therese Mageau
Apple’s new interactive textbook authoring system might just revolutionize the way districts develop their own curriculum.

iTunes U vs. Blackboard – A Look at Apple’s New Online System — from padgadget.com

Thanks to iPads and Kindles, E-Book Lending at Libraries Explodes — from ReadWriteWeb.com by John Paul Titlow

Why textbooks of the future are not books — from gigaom.com by Erica Ogg

Apple Jumps Into Textbooks — from the WSJ
With More iPads in Classrooms, Education Push Would Help Fend Off Android-Device Competition

Apple’s iTunes U Morphs Into a Tool for Full Online Classes — from Mashable.com by Sarah Kessler

Reinventing Textbooks: A Hard Course — from the New York Times by David Streitfeld

Also see:

How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work — from the New York Times by Charles Duhigg and Keith Bradsher

Donald Chan/Reuters
People flooded Foxconn Technology with résumés at a 2010 job fair in Henan Province, China.

Tagged with: Apple • digital learning • digital textbooks • game-changing environment • higher education • iTunes U • K-12 • new business models • new publishing models • online learning • online media • publishing • tools

Previous Entries Next Entries

Learning Ecosystems

Reflections/questions re: the Common Core State Standards

Categories

Tags