Recent Posts
OpenCourseWare: Universities Getting it, K-12 Not so Much
May 20, 2008 · Leave a Comment
The house is quiet and all seems at peace this evening, so I decided to spend a bit of time exploring the various universities affiliated with the OpenCourseWare Consortium. While I could become lost in the courses, I spent this evening exploring the “why”, which is often the question I’m asked by teachers, administrators, and others when discussing the “sharing” of course materials openly followed quickly by a listing of all the reasons not to go public. The Whys According to Them The various... [Read the full story]
Administration
Some Policies Simply Suck
May 17, 2008 · 2 Comments
While passing a few minutes in Barnes & Noble awaiting the pharmacy to fill my wife’s order, I was pleasantly surprise to see a 2nd grade class holding various performances based upon what they have read this year. So, I sat down and watched some great performances. Next to me, there were a number of anxious high schoolers. In speaking with them, they were about to watch a few students perform something they had written and they were fumbling with their Flip getting ready to film a portion of it for part of their... [Read the full story]
PLE/PLN
Expanding the Boundaries: An ASCD Proposal
May 4, 2008 · Leave a Comment
At the start of the year, I talked about my hope that educational technologists would expand their boundaries and seek to bring the discussions within the “echo chamber” to the “mainstream”. Since I never want to be one to only talk the talk, I looked to the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development as ideal to begin personally expanding these boundaries. Thus, David Jakes and I created the following proposal and submitted it to the 2009 ASCD Annual Conference: Learning Beyond Boundaries. Presentation... [Read the full story]
Blogging
Student Writing: Public, Private, or Both
May 13, 2008 · Leave a Comment
Since the moment I started teaching and following the philosophy of CyberEnglish, I’ve been a proponent of making work public as it enhances motivation, makes the audience “real”, and changes the dynamics of the learning environment. In fact, one of the great attractions for me about blogging is in how students can make their writing, reading, and thinking public all while receiving commentary, potentially, from a diverse audience. However, a recent article in the Chronicle, Readers Not Wanted: Student... [Read the full story]
Research
Live Blogging: The Dialogic Practitioner
January 27, 2008 · Leave a Comment
I’m wrapping up my Educon experience with Konrad Glogowski. We’ve talked a number of times this weekend and our research interests seemed to be aligned well so I’m excited about what this experience will add to my “work in progress”. Technorati Tags: konradglogowski, educon, professionaldevelopment, research Popularity: unranked [?]Share This Read More →
Prof Dev
SMART Networking
March 18, 2008 · 1 Comment
The whole concept of networking in a virtual space may seem a bit foreign for some educators especially when considering some of the tools might feel like a great leap into the unknown. A great starting point for those feeling a bit overwhelmed but recognizing the great value in enriching your personal learning environment is through the variety of Nings established for educators: Classroom 2.0, The Global Education Collaborative, EduBloggerWorld, and many more. One great Ning for educators using or pondering the use of... [Read the full story]
Articles
Raise Your Hands
March 31, 2008 · 6 Comments
Cross Posted at Techlearning Raise your hand if you spent time exploring, challenging, refining, and enhancing your professional practice today? Now, raise your other hand if that professional learning took place in a collaborative context with other professionals? I’m not a reform expert, but if all educators are not raising their hands almost each and every day when asked, the talk about school change and 21st Century learning environments is lost to the reality that the professionals that make up educations are... [Read the full story]
Featured Photos
Gaming and Learning
Return of Beanie!
While I was more of a Garbage Pail Kids kind of guy, the great Beanie Baby rage (and let us not forget Furbies) surely is something I remember. Honestly, who could forget McDonalds... [Read more]
More Thoughts
Critical Reading
On Writing from the Perspective of Students
The recent PEW survey Writing, Technology and Teens has prompted a number of writings across the Net over the past few weeks. While much of the writing focuses on different areas... [Read more]
More Critical Reading
Featured Video
The Playground
SearchMe recently opened the doors to its Beta version for a number of people based upon invite. Along with a host of others, I received that email and... [Read more]
FriendFeed is a really interesting little tool worth exploring especially because it simplifies centralizes produced content from a user POSSIBLY simplifying... [Read more]
I can admit it — I had a binky. Let me give you a few minutes to stop laughing and prepare your jokes. Okay, are you back? Good. My binky meant everything... [Read more]
Yep, Google launched Google Sites today and I’ve spent the last hour or so playing around with it. First, what is it? From Google, it is defined... [Read more]