Recent articles
MIA in school: Instilling a sense of purpose in students
12/28/2018
Topics:
“Dad, I want a narwhal cake for my birthday.”
“A narwhal cake?”
“Yes, a narwhal cake.”
I have a 10- year-old who knows exactly what he wants.
“So you want a cake with a picture of a narwhal on it? The whale with the unicorn horn?”
“First of…
Edtech impact guide is a resource for vendors — and school decision-makers, too
11/08/2017
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Today’s education decision-makers face many challenges when it comes to procurement, not the least of which is determining a product’s effectiveness — that is to say, the likelihood that…
Speak Up Survey shows mobile learning on the rise
11/10/2017
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Students have long said they use different devices to do different things – from research, watching videos and taking notes to emailing teachers, checking grades and accessing textbooks.
In the 2016…
Personalized vs. differentiated vs. individualized learning
01/24/2018
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Words are meaningless unless all concerned agree on their specific definitions. Even if there is a general consensus on terms, what those terms actually mean in the real world has a tendency to…
Find, vet and implement edtech painlessly!
12/13/2018
Topics: Procurement
Protecting student data online can be difficult in a district with 8,500-plus students — especially when teachers can easily find their own free apps for classroom use, bypassing the official procurement process and potentially putting students’ privacy at risk.
But Sun Prairie Area…
How a schools culture affects edtech
12/12/2018
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Boni Hamilton has been evaluating how technology works in the classroom for more than two decades.
She has written two books about integrating technology in schools and wrote a doctoral dissertation about how computers are actually used in classrooms and the…
Digital equity starts with teachers-in-training
11/13/2018
Topics: Standards, Teacher prep
For teacher educator Nicol Howard, addressing digital equity issues starts long before K-12 students ever get close to a classroom.
One of the key starting places is the training those students’ teachers receive in their degree programs. But it’s not as simple as teaching new educators…
Digital equity: Don't leave mobile-only families behind
11/06/2018
Topics: Digital Citizenship
A few years back, I was chatting with a dedicated and passionate third grade teacher who was showing me her fully developed website and her beautifully designed weekly newsletters. As the…
Family tech nights can narrow the digital divide
10/17/2018
Topics: Education leadership, Parent engagement
When we talk about digital equity, the conversation often focuses on providing opportunities for all students to learn in an increasingly connected world. We talk about devices and home connectivity. We talk the importance of parental support. We talk about training all educators to …
There's more to digital equity than devices and bandwidth
10/03/2018
Topics: 1:1, Assistive and adaptive technologies, Augmented reality, BYOD, Computational Thinking, Curriculum, Education leadership, Gamification, Gaming, Makerspaces, Mobile learning, Personalized Learning, professional learning, Project-based learning, Robotics, STEM & STEAM, Technology infrastructure, Tools
The past decade has seen a narrowing of the digital divide when it comes to two things: the number of devices in classrooms and the Wi-Fi that transforms these devices into powerful learning tools.
But it’s premature to say the digital playing field has been leveled.…