I have trying in vain to write a coherent piece about some things that have me thinking. Failing that I am sharing some ramblings. In education we often find ourselves trying to wrap our heads around and carry out new mandates and policies. Just when we think we are getting things settled it is out with the old in with the new. In Massachusetts MCAS tests and frameworks are becoming PARCC and the Common Core, the old ELL trainings will…
Next week I will be attending the MassCUE/METAA Technology Symposium. While there I will hear Angela Maiers‘ morning keynote. I have heard Angela speak before and am always inspired and encouraged. In the afternoon I will hear Robert Evans for the first time. I will be facilitating a session during the day on creating digital texts, the focus on developing a strategy for making it happen. There are a wide variety of sesssion on offer and I look forward to the day….
Teachers in the 1990’s were for the most part provided textbooks, teacher’s guides, lab manuals and workbooks. Many schools had libraries with audiovisual departments. How many of us remember filmstrips and laserdiscs? Teachers did not create class web pages nor need to search for or create the materials need for their classrooms. Now we expect teachers do all of these things in addition to their usual duties and responsibilities. In the early 1990’s we did not have the technologies that…
Many schools are looking for alternative digital books such a free open source texts like those found on CK-12.org, which are not interactive, or encouraging teachers to create their own interactive texts. The tools available to create interactive texts for the iPad are available; for a Mac there are iWork Pages and the free iBooks Author. The basic skills need for assembly of an interactive digital text are already mastered by most teachers; create text in a word processor, insert…
Many schools and districts are discussing the possibilities of adopting 1:1 devices such as the iPad. They are conducting trials to work out the technical issues and have teachers begin to think about how to integrate them in the classroom. One of the reasons schools give for this move is to be rid of traditional textbooks and move to digital books. However many digital textbooks are just non-interactive PDFs of their print cousins and cost about the same. Apple recently…
This morning while browsing through my feeds I came across this article “Why Don’t Top Private Schools Adopt Corporate Driven Reforms?” (Thanks for sharing Skip) As someone who has worked in private and public schools it has always fascinated me why public schools do what they do. I am often bewildered by my experiences in public education. This may be because I began my career in private schools and have never fully transitioned my thinking into public education. Before you…
There is much talk these days about abandoing traditional publishers and having teachers create their own content. There are many tools that make this possible, but just because it can be done, does not mean that it should be done. Having been a classroom teacher for almost 20 years and with increasing record keeping (data collection) I am not sure when a teacher can add this to their to do list. If a district did wish to create their own digital content…