Before COVID-19, Surveillance Software was the focus of EdTech. The question is will it remain that way or have we learned a few things? This post from sometime in 2017 is still relevant. There’s a growing sense that we’ve reached a breaking point with technologies in the classroom. France is banning all mobile devices from
Surveillance Software: the focus of EdTech Read More »
Surprisingly, it wasn’t Deputy Headmaster Rohan Brown abruptly cutting a student’s hair that was front page news, but rather what came next. It was a day in early March when school photos were being taken, and as the young lad walked through the front gate of Trinity Grammar, a prominent boy’s school in Melbourne, Brown noticed
Agency and the Rise of New Power Read More »
Today I am excited to welcome Dr. Susan Blum to the show. Susan is a professor of anthropology at Notre Dame University and the author of one of my favorite reads of the last couple of years, a book titled “I Love to Learn; I Hate School: An Anthropology of College.” And, she’s also the
#44: “I Love Learning, I Hate School” Read More »
“It’s hard to find good talent these days.” It’s a catch-cry becoming more and more familiar as the demands of our exponentially changing world force a quite radical shift in the way companies attract, retain, and build talent. Over the years, the Human Resources Department grew from what was previously known as the Payroll Department,
How Do You Discover and Develop Talent in Your School? Read More »
How important is it to ask what students think of their education? It’s vitally important for us to ask this of our students even though we may not be satisfied with what they say about their classroom experiences. Bruce and I are discussing this concept today, along with my recent eye-opening visit to a school
#43: Be Careful What You Ask For Read More »
Over the last dozen years, one of the things I’ve become most interested in is the ways in which schools define their value in the world. In fact, it’s one of the first things I try to suss out whenever I visit a school or a district or a board. What matters here more than
If You Really Want to Change School, You Need to Change the Lens Read More »
Is instruction really necessary in schools? That’s just one of the many intriguing questions we dive into in our latest podcast with our friend, mentor, and educational leader, Gary Stager, in a conversation that will have you thinking hard (once again) about teaching and learning in the modern world. Gary’s focus is on the nature
#42: The Lost Art of Teaching with Gary Stager Read More »
For all of the discussions we have shared in these posts and beyond in our Changeleader Community and in Change School, the cold hard facts are that many educators are reluctant or rather, immune to change. The irony of this comment is that for the most part, anyone reading this post has already self-selected as
How Does Your Practice Reflect the Modern Context? Read More »
Would you ever think that Justin Bieber would be the starting point for one of our conversations? Though it may sound crazy, that’s where we begin today, discussing what is possible through social media and technology, since there is no better poster-child for the subject. As always, we’re talking about what learning is and how
#41: Conflict with Competency Based Assessments Read More »
What if one primary goal we had in schools was to develop kids as “professional learners”? As in people who make money because they are learning. That’s the intriguing phrasing that one of my favorite workplace bloggers Jane Hart uses to describe what people formerly known as employees need to be to thrive today. In
Wanted: Professional Learners Read More »
If you haven’t heard (or seen) the movie “Most Likely to Succeed,” you may be in the educational minority today. The documentary highlights the problems of traditional schooling through the eyes of students, parents, and teachers who are seeking, and in some cases participating in a very different education, and it’s become one of the
#40: Interview With Ted Dintersmith Read More »
Brodie is an interesting kid; not precocious or in any way insolent, but also not afraid to share his opinions. He’d been going to one of Melbourne’s leading schools when late last year he decided it was time he and the school parted company. It was about that time his father, Nicholas, a local realtor,
Will Learner Voice Lead to the Learner’s Revolution? Read More »
Do you know the difference between technical change and adaptive change? Most change in schools involves technical change, like “dressing up” the current situation, but not really addressing the underlying issues. Adaptive change, as defined by Harvard’s Ron Heifetz, is changing culture, worldview, and self-worth. These are the changes that are the hardest to make
#39: Using Adaptive Change Methods to Revolutionize Education Read More »
One of the most interesting online debates I’ve come across lately is this one from the NAIS blog about the Mastery Transcript Consortium (MTC) which is trying to “reimagine the high school transcript.” (If this is your first introduction to the Mastery.org folks, you may want to spend some time digging into their site and
Is it About Teaching? Or is it About Learning? Read More »
You’ve had a full day shopping at the mall, and the last thing you thought about when you parked your car was where you parked your car. How often do you lose your car? Probably the worst place for me used to be airport car parks. I always had a lot on your mind, planes
The Importance of Forgetting Read More »
