Recent articles
Standards Spotlight: Innovative approaches inspire students to be creative communicators
06/19/2018
Topics: Creative Communicator, ISTE Standards for Students, Knowledge Constructor
In my role as an edtech coach, I see student-created projects and authentic learning taking place in our schools every day. While collaborating with teachers to facilitate lessons, I’ve learned that the process is often considered more important than the product because this is where most of the…
7 NASA Citizen Science Lessons Any Teacher Can Lead
04/14/2021
Topics: ISTE Standards for Students, NSSEC, STEM & STEAM
Even as a die-hard science geek, molecular biologist Melanie Peffer found her science classes painfully boring. It wasn’t until she started engaging in authentic scientific inquiry in real-world labs that she…
Embed digital citizenship in all subject areas
09/21/2018
Topics: Digital Citizenship, ISTE Standards for Educators, ISTE Standards for Students
The ISTE Standards for Educators encourage teachers to “create experiences for learners to make positive, socially responsible contributions and exhibit empathetic behavior online that build relationships and community.” As a result of these learning experiences, the ISTE Standards for Students…
Teach students to manage primary source overload
09/20/2018
Topics: ISTE Standards for Students
Imagine you’re a seventh grader researching the history of segregation in the United States. Your teacher wants primary sources. You visit the Library of Congress website and type in “segregation.”
Your query returns nearly 10,000 results. Narrowing your search to “segregation…
Project Citizen: Bring civic engagement to your classroom
08/21/2018
Topics: Digital Citizenship, ISTE Standards for Students, Project-based learning
Student activists at Florida’s Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High, who attracted global attention by demanding better gun laws after 17 of their classmates were killed inspired some Eugene, Oregon, students to take on a civic engagement project of their own.
The…
Empower learners through project-based learning
08/15/2018
Topics: Global collaboration, ISTE Standards for Students, Project-based learning, Student empowerment
Tell me if this scenario sounds familiar: A teacher wants her students to engage in project-based learning (PBL) and also demonstrate their learning. So at the end of a chapter or unit, she assigns them to research a topic, collect some images and present their slideshows to the class…
Avoid These 4 Edtech Mistakes in Your Classroom!
07/28/2021
Topics: ISTE Standards for Students, Student empowerment
Yes, even teachers make mistakes. I know because I’m one of those imperfect teachers. I’ve taught students of all ability levels, and I’m the parent of three amazing children who, like my students, have very different capacities for learning. As director of instruction and digital media at a 1:1…
Embed computational thinking into PBL
07/17/2018
Topics: Coding & robotics, Computational Thinking, ISTE Standards for Students, STEM & STEAM
Like many of my students, my daughter, Anisa, is very familiar with using electronic circuits to make designs …
4 things to know about teaching digital literacy to refugees
06/14/2018
Topics: Digital Citizenship, Global collaboration, ISTE Standards for Students
Since 2012 I've worked with refugees in the Salt Lake area, a destination point where about 60,000 displaced people currently live. My work with the refugee population has ranged from hosting story times, participating in outreach, teaching adults how to use computers and, most recently,…
Students can explore the solar system's outer limits with NASA
06/12/2018
Topics: ISTE Standards for Students, NSSEC, STEM & STEAM
Wanted: Rogue planet believed to be hiding at the edge of the solar system. Cold, faint and hard to spot. Reward for information leading to its discovery includes the chance to contribute to a new field of science.
“It’s a huge opportunity for education,” says Dr. Marc Kuchner, a NASA…