I’m afraid there are a lot of teachers who avoid controversies--talking about guns in the classroom just opens up a touchy subject ..... we, as educators, are obligated to help our students develop opinions that are based on objective facts.
Category: 21st Century Learning
Interactive Whiteboard Debate
Fancy Projection Screens or Transformative Tools for 21st Century teaching? OK, I really come down somewhere in the middle on this question. Despite all the hype, an IWB is really only as good as the teacher using it. In a novice’s hands, an IWB often is just a glorified whiteboard, with electronic ink replacing stinky …
Mobile Learning at ISTE 2011 in Philly
Check out this QR (Quick Read) Code. I scanned it with my iPhone standing next to Benjamin Franklin’s grave in Philadelphia last week. I was on a field trip with the ISTE SIGML (special interest group for mobile learning). We were using QR codes to discover interesting facts about Ben Franklin as we did a …
Twitter Postings: Petroglyphs of the 21st Century
So what do petroglyphs have to do with twitter posts? Our spring break this early April was amazing. Normally, in Minnesota, spring break means late winter slush with melting snow and muddy trails. But this year was showing, spring was definitely in the air. I decided I needed a prairie fix. I'm attracted to the …
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21st Century Media Specialists
Provocateur Scott McLeod (otherwise known as Scott McLeod, Iowa State University associate professor and head of the Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education) came to the Minnesota Education media Organization fall conference to shake up the status quo. His provocative keynote challenged media specialist and librarians to examine the core of …
Getting Started with Blogs
Do you have something to say? Want to share it with a larger audience? Blogging may just be your ticket. But how do you start? This is a question I recently faced as I started Cultivating the Educational Technologist blog. It’s a little bit finding your voice, identifying the tool you want to use, and …
Getting Started with Web 2.0
Have you been thinking about doing something new and different with technology this year in your classroom or professional life? Are you daunted by the overwhelming choices of Web 2.0 tools out there? Should you start blogging—or using a wiki (whatever that is) or a Ning (now there’s a name for you)—or what about this …
Vision for 21st Century Learning Environment
In 2005, my then superintendent, asked me to come up with a vision for technology integration, and, "oh,by the way, present it in one month!" I was just 3 months into my current job as instructional technology specialist in Curriculum and Instruction, and, needless to say, I was a little overwhelmed. I came up with …
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School 2.0: Progressive Pedagogy and 21st-Century Tools: Part 2
(View the above video from the 10 minute mark to about 20 minutes to see how Chris Lehmann thinks technology is contributing to 21st century learning) 21st century learning is about so much more than just the hardware in the classroom. We can install the latest internet wired multimedia computer, connect it to a video …
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Making Connections 