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20 Dec 09

Schools plan curriculum overhaul - Parentcentral.ca

"Ontario's government is conducting a sweeping review of curriculum from Grades 1 to 8 to fix what educators charge is an overcrowded jumble of disconnected facts that fail to prepare the province's 1.4 million students for the future.

Based on tough input gathered this fall from teachers and school boards, Queen's Park says it will start clearing the clutter by the fall of 2011 with leaner guidelines, fewer checklists of facts and more time for deeper learning.

It is the first overhaul designed to weed out some of the staggering 3,400 "expectations" built into the new curriculum designed 10 years ago when Grade 13 was abolished.

A special advisory group is expected to propose a new blueprint by February, based on such input as a tough-talking missive from the Toronto District School Board that called the curriculum "a series of overly robust subject-based documents which are disconnected, overwhelming and full of content reflective of 20th century knowledge. "The curriculum does not engage students within their own realities, nor does it integrate the skills society hopes to see in a 21st-century learner," said the recent submission by a group of principals, teachers, superintendents and trustees. "

www.parentcentral.ca/...hools-plan-curriculum-overhaul - Preview

shifts schools parent_book reform

03 Dec 09

WatchKnow - Videos for kids to learn from. Organized.

"Imagine hundreds of thousands of great short videos, and other media, explaining every topic taught to school kids. Imagine them rated and sorted into a giant Directory, making them simple to find. WatchKnow--as in, "You watch, you know"--is a non-profit online community devoted to this goal. "

www.watchknow.org - Preview

video education schools 4thedition parent_book

01 Dec 09

Student-led learning at Calgary school draws interest from Down Under

"There are no bells at Bishop Carroll High School ushering students onto their next class.

There are no classes, for that matter, no timetables telling students where to be and what to study.

For almost 40 years, the southwest Calgary high school has embraced self-directed learning by allowing its students to individually decide how they'll tackle their high school studies.

Bishop Carroll High School is one of six schools across the country that make up the Canadian Coalition of Self-Directed Learning."

www.calgaryherald.com/...story.html - Preview

new_models self-direction schools shifts pres_ideas

05 Nov 09

BCDS mashUp

"The BCDS mashUp showcases Beaver Country Day School student and faculty work. The material is in different media (writing, photos, videos) that we combine (or mash up) on this site."

www.bcdsmashup.org - Preview

schools 4thedition social parent_book

Social Media in Action at Beaver Country Day School - mStoner - Blog

"At Beaver Country Day School, an independent school in Brookline, MA, social media plays an increasingly important role in marketing and communications and in the classroom. Jan Devereux, BCDS director of communications, said that the school’s laptop initiative and significant investment in information technology and professional development has accelerated the momentum for these (and other) online communications. "

www.mstonerblog.com/...n_at_beaver_country_day_school - Preview

schools social parent_book 4thedition

Educational Video Games With a Mix of Cool and Purpose - NYTimes.com

"KC is one of a growing number of children who are playing educational video games as part of their school curriculum, in after-school programs or via the Web from home. After years of watching technology transform the way children play, socialize and learn, a range of academics, foundations and now start-ups are working on games that will put the passion children have for the genre to good use.

Gamestar Mechanic, for example, is part of the curriculum of Quest to Learn, a New York City public school focused on game-based learning that opened in New York City this fall. A nonprofit group called the Institute of Play set up the school, and its executive director, Katie Salen, helped design the game with financing from the MacArthur Foundation. "

www.nytimes.com/...02games.html - Preview

gaming schools new_models

KC is one of a growing number of children who are playing educational video games as part of their school curriculum, in after-school programs or via the Web from home. After years of watching technology transform the way children play, socialize and learn, a range of academics, foundations and now start-ups are working on games that will put the passion children have for the genre to good use.
Gamestar Mechanic, for example, is part of the curriculum of Quest to Learn, a New York City public school focused on game-based learning that opened in New York City this fall. A nonprofit group called the Institute of Play set up the school, and its executive director, Katie Salen, helped design the game with financing from the MacArthur Foundation.

22 Oct 09

Op-Ed Columnist - The New Untouchables - NYTimes.com

"Just being an average accountant, lawyer, contractor or assembly-line worker is not the ticket it used to be. As Daniel Pink, the author of “A Whole New Mind,” puts it: In a world in which more and more average work can be done by a computer, robot or talented foreigner faster, cheaper “and just as well,” vanilla doesn’t cut it anymore. It’s all about what chocolate sauce, whipped cream and cherry you can put on top. So our schools have a doubly hard task now — not just improving reading, writing and arithmetic but entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity."

www.nytimes.com/...21friedman.html - Preview

schools shifts future assessment Friedman innovation parent_book

15 May 09

If We Didn't Have the Schools We Have Today, Would We Create the Schools We Have Today?

Today’s model of schooling is to bring the learner to the knowledge—tomorrow we will bring the knowledge to the learners. We must recognize that schools and classrooms are becoming nodes in networked learning communities. We must begin to think about how to organize learning in networked communities and not limit learning within the boundaries of classrooms and school buildings—which would be to limit our thinking to what has been possible in the past in a single school or node.

www.citejournal.org/...article1.htm - Preview

network_literacy shifts schools 3rdedition quoteable

And the trick is, if you
wouldn’t create today’s schools, what are you doing
about it? If we
continue to prepare teachers as we have always prepared them, we
are going to continue to recreate the schools we have always had.
- Too true. This is a huge professional development undertaking. - on 2009-05-15
Add Sticky Note
Papert (1996) has suggested that another way to think about this
question is to ask, “If the changes in education over the
last 100 years had been as dramatic as the changes in medicine over
that time, what would our schools look like today?”
33 more annotations...
- Today’s
  model of schooling is to bring the learner to the
  knowledge—tomorrow we will bring the knowledge to the
  learners. We must
  recognize that schools and classrooms are becoming nodes in
  networked learning communities. We must begin to think
  about how to organize learning in networked communities and not
  limit learning within the boundaries of classrooms and school
  buildings—which would be to limit our thinking to what has
  been possible in the past in a single school or node.
- A Networked Learning Community is constructed as its
  members collaborate to achieve common goals, learning together as
  they develop solutions for problems they are addressing in common.
  As the learning community grows, the members of the community
  develop new knowledge and skills through their participation and
  contributions. Everyone becomes a learner in a Networked Learning
  Community, and the distinctions between students and teachers fade
  away.
  - That part about the distinctions between students and teachers fading away is a big, big shift for most. This is where the idea of Learning First, Teaching Second comes in. - on 2009-05-15
  Add Sticky Note
- The first dimension is knowledge
  “transmission” and conservation. In this learning mode, the
  community focuses its resources on ensuring that the young learn
  from the old.
- The second dimension of a learning community is knowledge
  “adaptation.” In this mode, traditions
  and existing knowledge are modified to accommodate new
  developments. The old
  often learn from the young (as they do when older generations in
  immigrant families learn from their children, who adapt quickly to
  new cultural traditions). Old knowledge blends with
  new. The community values progress and accepts that Change is Necessary . The
  community is often focused on applied learning, in which existing
  knowledge and understandings are revised through experience.
- The third dimension of a learning community is
  “invention” and knowledge generation. In this mode, young and old
  learn to collaboratively construct new knowledge.
  - This is huge. "Collaborativly construct new knowledge." - on 2009-05-15
  Add Sticky Note
- Through this collaborative
  learning, young and old join forces to create the future. The
  community values innovation, and Change is Good .
- But our information age
  economy demands this intergenerational, collaborative construction
  of knowledge, and our schools will fail to develop young people who
  can be productive citizens in this economy if they do not support
  this mode of learning.
- If
  you are an experienced learner in the community—practiced at
  solving problems—you have a role to play helping others to
  learn. You may bring past knowledge and experience, and you will
  learn more as you help them learn.
  
  If
  you are a young person or a novice at learning in a particular
  field, you still have a role to play as you construct your own
  knowledge and understanding, and through that process contribute
  new insights, experiences, and creations that enhance the learning
  of others in the community.
- In the
  networked learning communities of the future, expert learners (we call
  them teachers, educators, scientists, and researchers today) are
  going to be recognized for their ability to learn and help others
  learn, as they continue to construct new knowledge and develop
  their own expertise.
  - This is such a great statement. Will be recognized for their ability to learn and help others learn. - on 2009-05-15
  Add Sticky Note
- Their job will not be to teach – but to
  help others learn, as they model learning through collaboration to
  solve problems and achieve goals they have in common. (A
  significant part of the expert learner’s role will be
  organizing and managing the collaborative learning community.)
- In a networked learning community, we will have
  “schools” that are nodes in a larger learning
  environment, and in those schools there will be no teachers and no
  students– just
  learners .
  - Wow. - on 2009-05-15
  Add Sticky Note
- As we begin this transformation, it is important to note
  that a networked learning community is not a community of learners.
  A learning community
  learns as a community—unlike a community of learners in which
  each individual is engaged in his or her own learning.
  - Very true. - on 2009-05-15
  Add Sticky Note
- The new and more powerful opportunity
  available to educators today is to use these technologies to help
  individuals collaboratively construct networked learning
  communities that will accelerate and augment the community’s
  learning, as well as each individual’s learning.
  - I struggle with how this networked learning becomes tangible. What does it look like for the group as opposed to the individual? - on 2009-05-15
  Add Sticky Note
- This
  can only be an effective mode of education when the content is
  assumed to consist of static or immutable facts, and when our
  expectation is that all learners need to acquire the same facts at
  the same time. This
  is the transmission and knowledge conservation learning mode.
- Once we move the teacher—as an expert
  learner—into the learning activity we begin modeling the
  learning process with the students. They are all learning together. And as I have said,
  once we reach this point, it’s not useful to distinguish
  between students and teachers, because they are all learning.
- Trying to introduce new technologies into schools without
  these changes would be similar to efforts in the sailing industry
  during the 1800s, when steam engines were installed in wooden
  sailing ships.
- The sailing industry never got the true benefits of steam
  power until they reached the constructive transformation. They
  altered the entire design of ships. They took down the masts, got
  rid of the sails, changed the whole configuration of the ship, and
  made it of steel. They changed the design, because to work
  effectively, sailing ships need a very different hull shape than
  steam driven ships. Once they made this transformation, and once
  they prepared the sailors to navigate with these new vessels, they
  achieved tremendous benefits from the new technology.
- In our schools, we are only
  beginning to think about how to change our learning models with
  these modern technologies. Most of what we are doing
  with computers is comparable to putting steam engines in wooden
  sailing ships.
- But
  these transitional phases are important steps toward using these
  transformational technologies for improved learning.
  - This is what I want to say to Gary Stager. This is a process. VIrtually nothing acheives excellence on the first try. - on 2009-05-15
  Add Sticky Note
- We will not get
  out of our wooden ship schools until we use communication
  technologies for two-way interactivity that allows us to
  collaboratively construct the learning experience and new
  knowledge.
  - I wonder how many people still don't understand this. - on 2009-05-15
  Add Sticky Note
- Since we have all seen that schools have the power to
  resist change, why do I think these technologies will give us the
  power to transform education? I think there are a number of
  reasons, similar to the forces that lead us all to use phones
  whether we have the research to support that use or not. These
  forces are going to drive changes in education whether we are ready
  for them or not.
  - Sounds like Shirky. - on 2009-05-15
  Add Sticky Note
- The web is
  displacing CDs and other fixed content approaches because it
  supports interactive communication and collaborative construction
  of knowledge. This is
  a force that schools cannot resist. The Web gives learners
  access to powerful learning opportunities anytime and anywhere.
  Learners have open
  access to this new learning tool, whether the schools are ready or
  not.
  - This is depressing. We're making the same argument today. - on 2009-05-15
  Add Sticky Note
- The second factor to consider is that these interactive communication
  technologies give power to the learning revolution.
- The
  learning revolution is about constructivist learning, and these new
  communication and information technologies allow us to facilitate
  constructive learning in ways that we could never do before. They
  are becoming cognitive
  amplifiers that will accelerate learning and the development of
  new knowledge in the same ways that machines accelerated production
  during the industrial revolution.
- The third reason schools will be driven to change is that
  we have now reached a point where work is learning . Work in
  the workplace is learning.
- The fourth force is that learning communities have no
  boundaries . In a
  networked learning community, schools and classrooms will simply
  become nodes in a larger learning environment. The boundaries of
  the schools and classrooms with their fixed curriculum and dated
  texts are no longer going to limit learning.
- An increasing number of
  parents are discovering that they can make more powerful learning
  opportunities available to their children in the home than they can
  in the schools, and unless the schools change, more parents will
  collaborate to construct alternative learning opportunities with
  these technologies.
- First, the purpose of
  education will move from being curriculum driven to being learning
  centered.
- It will be driven
  by knowledge work in a networked learning community.
- The teacher will become an
  expert learner organizing and leading others in networked learning
  communities.
  - To me, this is the money quote. Helping kids to grow their own personal learning networks in safe, effective and ethical ways. - on 2009-05-15
  Add Sticky Note
- Any time
  we put teachers and students in predefined courses with a linear
  design, bound by dated texts, credit hours and static tests of
  factual recall, we are still on a wooden sailing ship. What we are
  moving toward is authentic, long-term projects, asynchronous
  learning, knowledge-work and nonlinear learning. “Just-in-time,”
  consumable information used for specific purposes, instead of
  “just-in-case” facts packed into our heads at an early
  age that few of us can recall.
- They are learning to access
  and use knowledge when and where they need it.
- Assessment will be
  embedded on an ongoing basis in electronic learning activities and
  documented in digital portfolios. We will move from a standard,
  one-size-fits-all curriculum to mass customization in education. We
  are already seeing this in other industries—the automobile
  industry, the clothing industry. You can go on-line now and buy
  clothes that are custom-made to your style, shape, and dimensions.
  It is called mass customization, and we are going to have education
  that follows that model. These modern learning
  technologies give us for the first time the power to truly
  individualize learning.
  - I agree. And this is something that we don't talk about enough. Everything is customized for us these days...except learning. - on 2009-05-15
  Add Sticky Note

06 May 09

Complexity and Humanity - Freesouls

The challenge of the near future is to build systems that will allow us to be largely free to inquire, experiment, learn and communicate, that will encourage us to cooperate, and that will avoid the worst of what human beings are capable of, and elicit what is best.

freesouls.cc/...r-complexity-and-humanity.html - Preview

quoteable yochai_benkler learning schools 3rdedition

The challenge of the near future is to build systems that will allow us to be largely free to inquire, experiment, learn and communicate, that will encourage us to cooperate, and that will avoid the worst of what human beings are capable of, and elicit what is best.

05 May 09

Students as 'Free Agent Learners' : April 2009 : THE Journal

What this year's survey found was that "there continues to be a digital disconnect, shall we say, between the way students are learning and living outside of school and the way they're interacting with technology inside of school," said Evans. "In fact, students tell us that they have to power down to go to school, and then, at the end of the school day, they power back up again--a real disconnect in the way students are viewing technology from the adults in their educational lives."

For one, students see significant obstacles to using technology in schools. They reported that school networks block sites that they need to access, that teachers specifically limit their use of technology, and that there are "too many rules," preventing students from using their own devices, accessing their communications tools, and even limiting their use of the technologies that the school provides.

For another, teachers and students do not view the value of various technologies in the same ways. Students place a much higher value on technology than teachers, according to the research, and do not agree on which technologies would have the greatest impact on learning.

www.thejournal.com/...printarticle - Preview

3rdedition digitaldivide education schools learning students

What this year's survey found was that "there continues to be a digital disconnect, shall we say, between the way students are learning and living outside of school and the way they're interacting with technology inside of school," said Evans. "In fact, students tell us that they have to power down to go to school, and then, at the end of the school day, they power back up again--a real disconnect in the way students are viewing technology from the adults in their educational lives."
For one, students see significant obstacles to using technology in schools. They reported that school networks block sites that they need to access, that teachers specifically limit their use of technology, and that there are "too many rules," preventing students from using their own devices, accessing their communications tools, and even limiting their use of the technologies that the school provides.

For another, teachers and students do not view the value of various technologies in the same ways. Students place a much higher value on technology than teachers, according to the research, and do not agree on which technologies would have the greatest impact on learning.
- Obviously, students don't know what's good for them. ;0) - on 2009-05-05
Add Sticky Note
5 more annotations...
- More than twice as many students as teachers chose online classes; more than twice as many students as teachers chose gaming; nearly three times as many students chose Internet access; and three times as many students chose mobile devices.
  - Interesting. Wonder, as always, whether this is a lack of use by adults or lack of pedagogical context. - on 2009-05-05
  Add Sticky Note
- But that's much higher than parents, only 32 percent of whom said they thought their schools were doing a good job of preparing schools. Thirty-nine percent of students said they thought their schools were preparing them well for the future. This figure dropped to less than 25 percent among students who identified themselves as advanced technology users.
  - Interesting to see the level of parent support. - on 2009-05-05
  Add Sticky Note
- According to research, the "big four" activities are gaming, downloading music, communications activities (such as text, IM,and e-mail), and social networking.
- And the No. 1 usage of students' personal Web sites/social networking sites is communications.
- And 19 percent of middle school and high school students are using collaborative writing tools, such as Google Docs.
  - ARe they doing that on their own or for school? - on 2009-05-05
  Add Sticky Note

16 Apr 09

Education Week: Don't Just Rebuild Schools—Reinvent Them

Let’s start with the fundamental building block of almost every single school in this country: the classroom. Who seriously believes that locking 25 students in a small room with one adult for several hours each day is the best way for them to be “educated”? In the 21st century, education is about project-based learning, connections with peers around the world, service learning, independent research, design and creativity, and, more than anything else, critical thinking and challenges to old assumptions.

www.edweek.org/...28nair_ep.h28.html - Preview

schools future shifts parent_book

Let’s start with the fundamental building block of almost every single school in this country: the classroom. Who seriously believes that locking 25 students in a small room with one adult for several hours each day is the best way for them to be “educated”? In the 21st century, education is about project-based learning, connections with peers around the world, service learning, independent research, design and creativity, and, more than anything else, critical thinking and challenges to old assumptions.
student-centered approach
5 more annotations...
- Will the money be used to break down the anonymity of the larger school by creating small, personalized learning communities of between 100 and 125 students and from four to six teachers? These communities would replace classrooms with multifaceted learning studios and common areas for various collaborative and hands-on activities.
- Will the plans enable school buildings to finally enter the 21st century in the arena of technological sophistication? Support should be given to schools that are committed to redressing the imbalance between students’ technology readiness and the schools’ willingness to let them use it for learning at all levels.
- Students should have anytime, anywhere access to the Internet via high-speed wireless laptop computers, smartphones, and hand-held computing devices.
- Experts from all over the world should be able to pop in on demand via distance-learning programs accommodated by two-way videoconferencing facilities. Schools should be the coolest places in the community when it comes to high-end equipment and for testing new and experimental software.
- begin a process of finding ways to shift the buying power of this institution to support better alternatives that do less environmental damage, lower carbon dioxide emissions, reduce use of toxic substances, promote energy efficiency and the use of solar energy, help to build a sustainable regional economy, cut long-term costs, and provide an example to other institutions.

10 Apr 09

Report Envisions Teacher Shortage Looming - NYTimes.com

Over the next four years, more than a third of the nation’s 3.2 million teachers could retire, depriving classrooms of experienced instructors and straining taxpayer-financed retirement systems, according to a new report.

The problem is aggravated by high attrition among rookie teachers, with one of every three new teachers leaving the profession within five years, a loss of talent that costs school districts millions in recruiting and training expenses, says the report, by the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, a nonprofit research advocacy group.

www.nytimes.com/...07teacher.html - Preview

schools parent_book shifts teaching

Over the next four years, more than a third of the nation’s 3.2 million teachers could retire, depriving classrooms of experienced instructors and straining taxpayer-financed retirement systems, according to a new report.

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Graphic

When a Million Teachers Retire

The problem is aggravated by high attrition among rookie teachers, with one of every three new teachers leaving the profession within five years, a loss of talent that costs school districts millions in recruiting and training expenses, says the report, by the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, a nonprofit research advocacy group.

03 Mar 09

Most Students Bored at School | LiveScience

School can be a real yawn. Two out of three high-school students in a large survey say they are bored in class every single day.

It might not seem startling to learn that kids don't like school or that they are bored sans computer games, text-message time and freedom to roam the Internet. But the underlying reasons for the boredom are significant and troubling, according to a report released today.

About 30 percent of the students indicate they are bored due to lack of interaction with teachers and 75 percent report material being taught is not interesting.

www.livescience.com/...070228_bored_students.html - Preview

parent_book schools

14 Feb 09

Education Leaders Regret Reduction in Stimulus Funding for Technology-Rich Classrooms

Two leading education associations today expressed concern over the reduction in funding for technology-rich classrooms included in the conference report of the economic stimulus bill. The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) and the International Society for Technology Education (ISTE) released the following joint statement:

"We are deeply disappointed that funding to create technology-rich classrooms has been significantly scaled back in the compromise economic recovery bill. The funding provides a much-needed down payment toward meeting President Obama's vision that all students receive the benefits of 21st century learning environments, but the final level of investment falls short of funding in the House and Senate bills, and far short of what is needed by our students to compete in today's digital age.

www.earthtimes.org/...y-rich-classrooms,716863.shtml - Preview

parent_book politics future schools

06 Jan 09

Weblogg-ed » So What is the Future of Schools?

All the *buzz* words become *authentic* when education is modeled on LEARNING rather than TEACHING. In the future, I see *student-centered* environments in which learners pursue their *passion-based* areas of interest by *constructing* knowledge needed to

weblogg-ed.com/...-what-is-the-future-of-schools - Preview

network_literacy future teaching schools quotable

21 Dec 08

Looking for Common Ground as More Schools Share a Roof - NYTimes.com

Similar dramas are playing out across New York, where 42 percent of 1,577 traditional public and charter schools, with more than a quarter of the city’s 1 million-plus students, now cohabit with at least one other school, and as many as five. And througho

www.nytimes.com/...21shared.html - Preview

shifts parentbook schools for:chrislehmann

21 Nov 08

K-12: Innovative Schools | HASTAC

www.hastac.org/1107 - Preview

new_schools schools shifts

19 Nov 08

Stumbling Blocks: Playing It Too Safe Online Will Make You Sorry | Edutopia

Like Garcia, teachers across the country sometimes must travel circuitous paths to use online resources in the classroom. In the interest of child safety, individual schools and entire school districts often install content filters that aggressively block

www.edutopia.org/-2.0-tools-filtering-firewalls - Preview

filters shifts schools parentbook

16 Nov 08

NEA: Technology Not Being Used Effectively In Schools

Educators say they don't feel adequately prepared to integrate instructional software into their classrooms and are not receiving the technical support needed to fully impact student achievement, according to a joint study by the National Education Associ

www.nea.org/...nr080610.html - Preview

schools parentbook plpmktg pd

21 Oct 08

The High School Dropout's Economic Ripple Effect - WSJ.com

According to one study, only half of the high school students in the nation's 50 largest cities are graduating in four years, with a figure as low as 25% in Detroit. And while concern over dropouts isn't new, the problem now has officials outside of publi

online.wsj.com/...SB122455013168452477.html - Preview

shifts schools network_literacy