I am a big proponent of deep reflective thinking. I believe critical thinking is essential to learning. My process for this has always been to read, think, read, converse, think again and then write. That is not happening lately I can’t seem to focus long enough on any part of the process. Back in December I wrote about removing digital clutter to help me focus that did not help much, I find I have even less of an ability to…
Yesterday Google had a doodle for Copernicus on the occasion of his 540th birthday. There have been many pioneers in science that have challenged current thought and understanding. Copernicus challenged the Earth centered view of the universe and gave us the Sun centered view. He was not correct but based on the evidence he had he came up with a new idea. He stuck to the evidence and conventional wisdom and gave us the modern science of astronomy. The same could be said for many scientific ideas. With…
My son is a sophomore in high school and we are beginning to look at his post-high school life. He goes to a terrific high school. My daughter also attended the same school and was well prepared for her college experience. She often remarks on how much better prepared she was then her fellow freshman. I am very please with the choice of high school for my children. My son’s passions are computers, math and gaming (computer, cards, board). So…
I have this thing about words. Words have meaning and though these meanings change over time, words are essential in conveying ideas. I also tend to approach information from the perspective of a scientist looking over data and evidence. In a recent workshop (for non- educators) Critical Thinking and the Development of a Theory, we explored how theories change over time with new technologies, information and experiences. We looked over several theories from plate tectonics to climate change. Those conversations have…
I took some time the last week to organizing my digital life, really clean it up. It can get a bit unruly and combersome. I gather information from twitter, plurk, google+ and my rss feeds in my reader. I post occasionally in them as well. I feel disconnected, disorganized and distracted. I spent time looking for one tool that would let me collect and share from a single place. But nothing seems to do it all. I thought about…
I spend a lot of time on websites, particularly school websites. I love some websites, they have a clean look, intuitive organization and I can find what I want quickly without interferance. Others I avoid like the plague they are hard on the eyes, and the mind. I can never find what I want and all the pop up advertising and suggestions get in my way. Today I was at the gym running on a treadmill – The TV…
Pre- Reading My thoughts below are inspired by the following: Cast your NETS by Andrew Vicars Really? Its my Job to Teach Technology? by Jeff Utecht. My Thoughts I am a tech integration specialist, my title says my job is to integrate technology, presumably that means in the classroom. But I tend to think of myself more as an instructional or learning coach. It has never been about the tools, but about the learning. As educators I have always viewed …