On July 6, 2009, we started the first week of workshops with teachers at Liwa Primary School in Cape Town, South Africa. We had spent the previous couple days learning as much as we could about this community. As a result of apartheid, many of teachers and learners lived in informal housing — shantys that were built with whatever materials they had on hand. Crime … Continue reading Zac’s Keynote

In his breakout session at our March 5 inservice program, Zac Chase started with one question: What do you want to learn today? The session became a conversation between the presenter and participants, highlighting some online resources, some new ideas, and some different perspectives. The topics discussed run the gamut from overcoming the challenges of time to finding useful resources for classroom projects to figuring … Continue reading Teaching in Our Teens

This year, like most, there were lots of sessions at the eTech Ohio Educational Technology Conference about new technologies. There was a definite theme to many of them: overcoming the taboos of technology. In our schools, cell phones have been governed by a variation on “don’t ask, don’t tell.” We know that nearly all of our middle- and high-school students have them. They bring them … Continue reading No Fear

We see that the world has changed. We’ve been listening to the buzzwords for a decade now. Online learning. Digital citizenship. Web 2.0. Personal learning networks. Social networking. Data-driven decision making. We have to prepare our students for a world we can’t imagine. We have to re-invent our industrial age skills. If Rip Van Winkle woke up today and visited a school… blah blah blah. … Continue reading Helplessly Hoping

Last weekend, I was struck by the difference in approach between ISTE and Educon. Last month, ISTE announced their “Top Ten in ’10,” which identifies their ten priorities for boosting student achievement and closing the achievement gap. They start off the list this way: Establish technology in education as the backbone of school improvement. To truly improve our schools for the long term and ensure … Continue reading Education, !Technology

The problem started because a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing. It was 1999. I had a new job. My predecessor had ordered a new server, which arrived after I did. I didn’t know the first thing about setting up or running a server. But I had web access, and I had some help, and before I knew it, the students and … Continue reading In Search of Egg Baskets

It’s been a year since I got into the future-prediction business. And while I don’t want to make this a habit, I did say I’d return to the list at the end of the year to see how I did. If you’re going to make predictions about the future, it’s only fair that you review your predictions and admit how bad you are at this. … Continue reading Another Year Over

There’s a standard litmus test for technology use in education. What does the technology give us that can’t be done in other ways? If I’m going to spend all of the time and money needed to implement a technology initiative, there should be some reason for it. Let’s face it: technology is expensive. The hardware is expensive. The software is expensive. Maintenance, wiring, utilities, support, … Continue reading The Crisis of Gadget-itis

Several years ago, I was in the market for a new car. I did a lot of research into vehicle dependability, safety, customer satisfaction, and warranty. I wasn’t surprised with the results. I was looking at mid-size sedans, and the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry were high on the list. Then, I looked at fuel economy. Almost all of the cars were around 30 miles … Continue reading Metered Conservation

I was sitting in the movie theater when my cell phone rang. It was on vibrate, and it didn’t disturb anyone near me. I pulled it out, silenced it, and glanced at the caller ID. It was our school district’s emergency notification system. That’s bad. Something’s wrong. When I listened to the message, I learned that one of our high school students had died unexpectedly … Continue reading Emergency Fund Raisers

Note: Some people have said that they won’t vote for school levies if the schools let students watch the President. If you’re one of those people, please don’t read this. It’ll probably only make you more upset than you already are. And so, after a week-long firestorm in the political world, President Obama will address the nation’s schoolchildren Tuesday. Or, at least, he’ll address some … Continue reading Talking to Students