Let’s start with an uncomfortable statistical truth: In the United States, at least, today’s schools are failing our students. While graduation rates may be at historic highs (Layton, 2014), almost 60 percent of the students in our high schools are disengaged (Busteed, 2013). Boredom is the driving force behind the decision to drop out – […]
Doing Work That Matters Read More »
Disneyland and the Measles. Each week, Educating Modern Learners picks one interesting current event – whether it’s news about education, technology, politics, business, science, or culture – and helps put it in context for school leaders, explaining why the news matters and how it might affect teaching and learning (in the short or in the
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“The classroom, with all its limitations, remains a location of possibility.” ~ bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress Digital pedagogy is not equivalent to teachers using digital tools. Rather, digital pedagogy demands that we think critically about our tools, and demands that we reflect actively upon our own practice. So, digital pedagogy means not just drinking
Learning is Not a Mechanism Read More »
Bruce and I had the great fun of spending the day at Educon in Philly on Saturday, and we sat in on a great session led by David Jakes and Kristen Swanson on “Rethinking the Purpose, Process, and Promise of Professional Learning.” (You can watch some of the stream from the session on YouTube.) At
Learner First, Modern Second Read More »
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.” – Albert Einstein I spend much of my free time with 3 year-old twins, and the questions that spill out of them are awe-inspiring. The sheer volume, the pivots they make in reasoning, the deepening of complexity all leave me
Funding for Online Training Companies. Each week, Educating Modern Learners picks one interesting current event – whether it’s news about education, technology, politics, business, science, or culture – and helps put it in context for school leaders, explaining why the news matters and how it might affect teaching and learning (in the short or in
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Another week, another story of parents under investigation for letting their kids play outside without supervision. Ten year-old Rafi and six-year-old Dvora Meitiv had been allowed by their parents to walk around their Silver Springs, Maryland neighborhood. But recently, as they walked the two blocks to a nearby park, someone called the police and Child
Raising (and Educating) “Free Range Kids” Read More »
Obama’s Education Policy Proposals. Each week, Educating Modern Learners picks one interesting current event – whether it’s news about education, technology, politics, business, science, or culture – and helps put it in context for school leaders, explaining why the news matters and how it might affect teaching and learning (in the short or in the
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The pioneers of the American west moved into a wilderness they didn’t understand, building their homes with new materials and wrangling a landscape full of promise and peril. From their efforts sprang the infrastructure to create communities and towns and cities. They laid the groundwork for the great migration west so that others needn’t be
The Benefits of Coding for the Whole Learner Read More »
Let’s start here: my “baby” will be graduating high school in about six months. It’s absolutely flown by, and here I am, like most parents, awestruck at how quickly it went. Good news: she’s a pretty awesome human, and there’s a lot to love. Also good news but in some ways unsettling news: her path
No Engagement? No Education. Read More »
Duolingo for Schools. Each week, Educating Modern Learners picks one interesting current event – whether it’s news about education, technology, politics, business, science, or culture – and helps put it in context for school leaders, explaining why the news matters and how it might affect teaching and learning (in the short or in the long
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Who decides what teachers teach? More importantly, who decides what students learn? Cedar Riener’s recent article for EML unpacks some of the implications of academic freedom in the classroom. He cites the AAUP’s statement on academic freedom, which states that “[t]he common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition.” Riener
Academic Freedom is for Students, Too Read More »
To help you keep up to date with your professional reading, we’ve pulled together 14 of our best posts into one free ebook/pdf. These pieces, by 14 different EML authors, are a great starting point for thinking differently about your work as a education leader. To help us grow and continue shifting conversations about education, download, read
14 Great EML Posts Read More »
Although I spend a lot of time looking at the past and the present of education technology, I’m just not that good at predicting the future. Back in January 2012, for example, I wrote a New Year’s blog post predicting that Google would cancel its Chromebooks program. I mean, the company does have a horrible
Making Ed-Tech Predictions: The 2015 Edition Read More »
The New GED. Each week, Educating Modern Learners picks one interesting current event – whether it’s news about education, technology, politics, business, science, or culture – and helps put it in context for school leaders, explaining why the news matters and how it might affect teaching and learning (in the short or in the long
What You Should Know This Week Read More »
