The selection of technology can be a wicked problem for a community. The devices or software available are likely to have some features that are needed but are underdeveloped in the available tools, while other features that are less important will be highly developed. As a result, a poor technology selection can leave some important Read More
Especially in this century, education has become the focus of much political attention. Government agencies, politicians, and philanthropists are all much more influential in determining educational policy and practice than they were in previous generations. Neal McClusky, a policy analyst for the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom observed the effects of No Child Left Read More
Deep learning is an alternative to the version of curriculum that supports instructionism. Among the assumptions in which deep learning are grounded are: appropriate curriculum depends on individual’s existing knowledge as well as social context schools give students experiences within which they develop and refine skills for on-going learning through reflection, learners understand themselves as Read More
A part of all education research is recognizing one’s responsibility to proceed in a manner that respects the subjects, the process, and the community. Ethical researchers do not endanger the physical or emotional health of subjects, and they take steps to ensure the privacy of subjects and preserve subjects’ right to withdraw without penalty. Also, Read More
As a student, I attended a high school that had four computers available for students (my classmates’ recollections confirm my memories). I was thoroughly unimpressed with the devices. I had fun playing the game in which I tried to hit my opponent’s castle with projectiles. Ostensibly, the game was played to reinforce the lessons taught Read More
Fundamentally, human communication includes: (a) encoding, (b) storage, (c) transportation, and (d) decoding. Responding to the limits of human communication that result when we rely exclusively on our bodies and motivated by the necessity of communication for our social species, humans have developed a long series of both hard technologies and soft technologies for extending Read More
Multitasking is the mythic capability of people to perform more than one task at a time. A youngster who is messaging a friend on a computer computer, carrying on a text message conversation with another friend on a phone, and listening to music all while doing homework is multitasking. (So is that youngster’s parent who Read More
In cleaning out decades’ worth of journals, letters, and reflections including those stored on both bits and bytes, I have identified several types of situations encountered over and over in my professional life. In this post, I describe one of them that I call the “You Had Better Save Yourself.” The title is grounded in Read More
Education has broad and diverse goals in our society; *free* and *appropriate* education is to be available for *all* learners. We educate learners who have many different needs and goals. We educate for society that recognizes many different needs and goals. Despite this, a generation of students and teachers have heard that education is grounded Read More
My email response to a leader seems to deserve a place on this blog: The purpose of education is to help people learn. Learning is a natural physiological process of the human brain. Nature, then, defines the rules within which educators (and education policy makers) must play. While it might be convenient for policy makers Read More