Category: Uncategorized
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Edu-preneurial thinking from this crisis
Regular readers of thewikiness know our excitement about emerging models of schooling. They may recall my conviction that American schools face an imperative: either bring the scaleable, cost-lowering power of computer-mediated learning into their curricula, or risk irrelevance and failure. The steady increase in quality web-based materials, the increasing access to wi-fi connectivity, the decreasing…
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Joe Flanagan's Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
In his tenure as my boss, Mr. Flanagan* did some amazing work. One of the innovations he brought to our department is the response card, a tool he devised for the purpose of communicating positively, and efficiently, with the learner’s home. You see the front of this tool depicted in this photo (right). Like any…
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In these scary educational times: WWJDD ("What would John Dewey do?")
First, WWJDS (“What would John Dewey say“) about the way the adults are dealing with a bloody budgetary winter? [Bloody budgetary winter? To summarize: in response to massive deficits, states are cutting public education, the heart of social health according to Mr. Dewey. Suddenly the means of social advance in a democratic republic has been…
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I am writing this now on a brand new little Acer "Aspire" netbook
wh/ i purchased for $350 this afternoon. Its keys don’t seem too narrow after a while, it runs Firefox OK and Chrome, but it has funky sensitivities that make fluent use something that will take time. Since I move among wifi zones, it makes sense to have this little guy. That way I can make…
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"Building a better teacher" = teacher as tool
“Building a better teacher“–appearing in the New York Times Sunday section last week– takes a mechanistic view of teaching, breaking the pedagogic “art” down into discrete behaviors which can be classified (tax-o-nomized). Once you’ve dissected something into its parts, you can study, replicate, and improve the parts, thus re-constituting a better whole, the logic goes. …
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Saw a Hip-hop Tribute last night in Chicago–you should too
At the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts (777 N. Green)–I got to see Theori Media’s production of “I still love her,” by Wendell Tucker. It’s a fun night of “edu-tainment”–music, words and amazing dancing– showcasing the “positivity” of hip-hop. See it if you can before it disappears. The show is running through 27 March.…
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Final reflection of EDT 6020: At last, a technology class that lets you use the tools!
My experience in EDT 6020 was extremely gratifying: it introduced me to a multitude of new tools and ways of thinking about those tools. It challenged me to learn web-based applications like Skype, Prezi, and Diigo that I had previously only read about, showed me a wealth of professional development and network memberships that are…
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So, how online is the USA today?
Well, it depends on your income and education, really. Check the chart below. It also has something to do with your age and your race as well. The new FCC report, released last week, showcases the “digital divide” that persists in America. With unemployment undoubtedly having gone up since the FCC’s report was written, I…
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EDT 6020 Field Test: Prezi, visual search, and google doc forms
The Assignment: Choose one technology tool (proprietary or non-proprietary) that you are not yet familiar with. Using this technology, create a lesson in which the tool will be integrated into the classroom environment. Implement this technology, using at least 10 individuals. Write a short paper (you may use an APA format, a chart or table,…
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Look at TimeLine's new show through tech-lenses
I had the good opportunity last night to see a performance of Arthol Fugard‘s “‘Master Harold’… and his boys” at the TimeLine Theatre in Chicago, and was impressed by a non-verbal technological touch pregnant with import. The play is very well acted, portraying the twisted human relationships that “master” whites and “free” but “servant” black…
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