First, some context for the 19th episode of the Modern Learners Podcast: Kids cheat in school. In high school. In college. Do a quick Google search and you’ll find all sorts of research that bears this out. Ask a kid, and even if he doesn’t admit to it himself, he’ll most likely roll his eyes
#17: Your Cheatin’ Tech Read More »
It’s been a long time since I’ve written about tools, but today, I’m writing about tools. Tools that I use, or am learning to use. Tools that I think change the conversation when it comes to what we do in classrooms. Tools that make my learning world so different today from what it was even
The Global Refrigerator Door Read More »
Last week, one of the premier edtech events in the world took place in San Antonio, and it was our good fortune (Bruce, Missy, and I) to all be in attendance at the ISTE 2017 conference with about 16,000 others. In this podcast, Bruce and I reflect on the love/hate relationship we both have with
For a few days last week, the world’s biggest edtech event, ISTE in San Antonio, made me confront some harsh realities. Late on the third day, as I sat listening to our colleague Gary Stager’s ISTE session on the 50th anniversary of Logo, I was reminded of just how painfully incremental our adoption of computers
Where Have all the Powerful Ideas Gone? Read More »
Greeting from San Antonio, where Bruce, Missy, and I are gathering for our second Change School retreat, our first Change School Social, and, of course, the mammoth #ISTE17 conference where something like 17K educators from around the world are getting the latest about technology and how to (or how not to) use it in the
AR, VR, AI, and BS: The Modern Learners Podcast, ISTE17 Edition Read More »
I had the great privilege of delivering a commencement speech at a small school in New Jersey last week. It was the first speech I can remember that I wrote and read verbatim. Thought I’d share it here for posterity and, hopefully, to spur some thinking. Please read it as if you were an eighth
To what extent should we give students the opportunity to create their own presence and, dare we say it, brand online? On the college level, that’s being done with the project “Domain of One’s Own” which was started at Mary Washington University a few years ago and now has expanded to many other universities. The
#16: Helping Students Build a Presence Online Read More »
As the school year comes to an end in the Northern spheres, and many attend graduation ceremonies and start throwing caps high into the air, it may be opportune to consider just how we define success. While no doubt we want everyone to be successful in their own ways, taken to an extreme the school
The Paradox of Success Read More »
What are the “Internet Trends” that educators need to wrap their brains around? That’s the question Will and Bruce kick around as they take a deep dive into Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Report released last week. They don’t discuss all 355 slides in the report, but they do pick out several top level themes and discuss the
Are Your Schools Tracking These “Trends” on the Internet? Read More »
For most people, learning with others as opposed to learning alone is a no brainer. Learning is social by its very nature, and while there are certainly moments where it happens through deep reflection and application in isolation, we ultimately seek to share our learning with others and, in turn, learn with and from them. That’s
Small Communities, Tightly Joined Read More »
What needs to be in place for high-bar change initiatives in schools to sustain when the leader of that change initiative retires or moves to another school or district? That’s the question Bruce and Will discuss in Episode #14 of the Modern Learners Podcast. Too often, “hero leadership” is the driver of change. Not often
When Leaders Leave Can Change be Sustained? Read More »
As you sit back and watch the NBA’s playoffs or whatever sport grabs your attention at this time of the year, think for a moment about the talent of the people you are watching, and more specifically, when and how that was identified. For some it was obvious from an early age. For others, they
The Most Important Talent Search in the World Read More »
In this new podcast episode, Will and Bruce discuss the barriers to making change happen in schools. First, they reflect on the work they have done with school leaders recently. They often begin work with school leaders by asking the leaders to identify the barriers to school change. Before they get too far, it is
Overcoming Obstacles Read More »
At the “commencement” session for our first cohort of Change Schoolers this week, amid some fun awards and the popping of a cheap bottle of champagne, I gave the final reading, a snip of something that I hoped would tie the bow on our work together. Naturally, it was about change. And not surprisingly, it was by
The Roots of Change Read More »
What were you doing four years ago? For some that might seem like a recent memory, while for others so much water has flowed under the bridge it seems like forever. For Will and I, it was a conversation over a great bottle of red that launched Modern Learners. One thing that all of us
It Really is Time to Change School Read More »
