New York, Texas, California, and Florida have opted out of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and will be abandoning all high stakes testing. It is unclear at this time if other states will follow, although indications from across the political spectrum are clear there is strong interest. In a joint…
Tom Chapin’s satirical song “Its Not On The Test” is worth a look. Even if you are a fan of No Child Left Behind this issues he raises need an answer. I particularly like the jab at shout TV which reduces all discourse to name calling. Education reform is a…
Information Overload and Education Publishing Marketing penned (keyed?) by yours truly was published today on the AEP blog. This is a summary of the longer series I did last year on information overload. If you want a quick introduction or need a refresher hop over and take a look. While…
Curious about how Web 2.0 is going to affect education? Steve Hargadon has distilled into one blog post an excellent summary of the trends that are leading us there and what teachers can do to help their students thrive in this new environment. Much of what Steve talks about has…
What is the future of publishing? I moderated a distinguished panel at the IIR Education Industry Investment Forum in Phoenix last week that tackled this question. The general thrust was that publishers need to adapt to a new environment or they will be left behind. Nader Dareshori CEO of Aptius…
Does real learning happen in virtual worlds? Cable in the Classroom Magazine published an article I wrote on this topic in their March issue. The premise is: “There have always been scientific concepts our children should experience that are too dangerous, too expensive, or too time-consuming for school. For these…
Students at Westlake High School in Austin TX are in their second year of creating a virtual Vietnam Memorial to those who died in the war. Carolyn Foote, the Librarian at Westlake, has written movingly about it on her blog. Students are assigned a soldier, conduct research, assemble a presentation,…
In Japan novels are serialized for cell phone delivery and published as dead tree editions only after they are hits. John Rice has a great post on on this at his Educational Games Research blog. While this works because of Japan’s rather unique commuting environment the central point that any…
What do Web 2.0 and Social Networking mean for Education Publishing? On February 7th I was on a panel at the Association of American Publishers (AAP) in Sacramento that tackled this question. Ann Flynn Director of Education Technology at National School Boards Association (NSBA) reviewed the excellent study they released…
Ed Note: Do videogames embody the best in cognitive theory? In Part 2 of his series on educational video games guest blogger NT Etuk explores the work of James Paul Gee. Part 1 is here By NT Etuk – CEO Tabula Digita Why do videogames work? Why are gamers so…