In this open letter, “Connected Educator” offers a blunt appraisal of the consequences for teachers and students when leadership refuses to connect classrooms to the world via public social media.
Public blogging, says teacher Ann Michaelsen, has proven to be the best way for her Norwegian high school students to sharpen their English writing skills. “When I do something everyone can see,” says one student, “I make it as perfect as I can.” Assessment data: Eleven of her students are finalists for the 2012 EduBlog award for student blogging.
When educators combine the modern smartphone with wireless internet access and the remarkable number of cheap and free mobile apps now available, they become truly amazing pocket-sized learning devices. Teacher Jennifer Carey tells how she’s using smartphones in her classroom: to charge up lessons, promote research and fact-checking, and harness powerful mobile apps to expand learning.
Teacher Jen Carey left the first iPad Summit, held at the Harvard Medical School, with three takeaways: the iPad is just a remarkable piece of hardware; iPad implementation requires large-scale professional development; and if iPad implementation doesn’t redefine the way educators use technology to create and perform tasks, it’s not worth the investment.
Short of banning smartphones (a short-term solution, at best), I think the evolution of AI services like Siri means that the problems I pose for my 8th grade math students will have to shift from a focus on finding the answer as the endpoint — to a greater focus on analysis. OK, you have the answer but so what? What does that answer mean in a real-life situation?
And I wonder how teachers in other content areas might have to rethink their teaching and assessment strategies, with Siri at our students’ beck and call?
In this post I want to highlight my favorite Mind Mapping program – MindMeister — and talk about several ways I use mind maps in my classroom. If you think you might like it as much as I do, you can participate in an opportunity to get a free professional account for a year. (Editor’s note: Winners of the MindMeister giveaway are announced in the comments section of this post.)
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