One of the most surprising realizations for adults who begin working in schools is that what is taught is not what they were taught or what they think should be taught. Curriculum is a part of school that is affected by many factors; some are very local (individual teachers are ultimately responsible for what it Read More
While it is true that it is users’ perceptions of the factors related technology acceptance, their perceptions can sometimes be wildly inaccurate. Teachers are also a group of users who can be very quick to label systems as “broken” and to reject any attempts at support they perceived to be taking too long as interfering Read More
207: A Challenge for Rural #edtech Leaders The arrival of desktop computers reversed the trend to marginalize electronic technologies and information in classrooms; digital tools and digital media have become important tools for all students, and comprehensive education is understood to provide students experience using these tools. Early in the history of desktop computers in Read More
As they collaborate to make decisions about what technology to install and how to manage it, school and technology leaders must share understanding of three ideas. First, the systems must be sufficiently secure to remain functional and reliable, but open enough to allow for the functions educators deem necessary. Second, to accomplish secure yet flexible Read More
While individuals in each group do select their preferred classroom for recognized reasons (e.g. online learners’ preference for flexible attendance schedules), the best students in both settings are those who engage with the content, classmates, and the teacher. Learners who react to new and challenging ideas with reasons (excuses) why the ideas have no connection Read More
Since I was a teenager, I’ve been interested in teaching and learning. My adult life has been spent as an educator in many roles and in several types of institutions. I’ve taught, led, researched, read and studied, written… and learned. One unquestionable conclusion about learning (in my opinion) is that we use one single term Read More
Alex Kozulin noted in the prologue to his book Vygotsky’s Psychology (1990), For Vygotsky, one’s psychology is the product of complex dynamics between the individual and his or her social environment, and new discoveries raise more questions that can only be understood using inclusive methods. For Vygtosky, learning is a social process.
I believe that schools are becoming irrelevant in the lives of young people. Adults are trying to improve schools by looking towards their past; “what worked for me will work for them,” is their misguided reasoning. We (and this pronoun includes educators and all other adults who care about our children’s future) must reinvent our Read More
The expertise we need to improve education comes not from business leaders nor the other citizens who dedicate their time and energy to serving on boards of education or in the legislature, nor even from education leaders (most of whom have built careers building compromises that satisfy different constituencies). The expertise comes from scholars who Read More
Trofim Lysenko (1898-1976) was a botanist and plant scientist who lived in worked in the Soviet Union. He was the director of the Institute of Genetics which was part of the Academy of Sciences within the USSR. In that position, he was able to exert political influence and he used that influence to promote a Read More