I will be blogging today from the Software Information Industry Association’s Ed Tech Forum 2008. The event is taking place at a monument to mid-20th Century American hegemony – the Princeton Club in New York. This is the first year they have had a real blogger friendly environment – they…
Products designed for the classroom must meet the needs of teachers first. If students are the primary users of your instructional materials this may sound a little backwards – but it isn’t. Teachers can make or break your product before a student ever sees it. Designing for teacher ease-of-use should…
In times of disruptive change the cutting edge is the safest place to be. To many people this seems counterintuitive. If there is rapid change the inclination of most people is to circle the wagons around the familiar. But, when the market is moving, breaking camp and moving forward is…
Piping hot education related blog topics served here! The debate over formative assessment, the top 10 sites for educational games, crowd-sourcing the next great novel, controversy around Microsoft’s new ads, the relationship between quality and advertising, and a hilarious spoof of Politicians all get the nod this week. Education Week…
Barack Obama is proposing significant new investments in early childhood education. More attention has been focused on his drive to recruit an army of new teachers but I believe the early childhood focus is equally important. Why? As students age the gap between low performers and even average performers gets…
As print and technology products in education blend together the distinctions between textbook publishers and ed-tech providers are blurring in some very interesting ways. A recent report by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press on how on-line and traditional news media are blending together raises some…
Hot sizzling education publishing and ed-tech related links here! Obama’s call for more teachers, kids media preferences, 2.0 de jour, and assessing 21st Century skills all get a nod in a short week. Eduflack talks about Obama’s call for an army of teachers. I confess that I worry about federalizing…
Fresh hot blog links to education topics here. These are some of the posts that caught my attention recently – enjoy. Facebook for Teachers. This article is sad – lots of promise and money invested by people who just don’t get it. One district can not support their own social…
Videogames in the Library? Wouldn’t installing a Wii or an xBox bring a lot of unruly teenagers into a refuge of quiet and intellect? It turns out that putting computer games in a library brings in a huge wave of new patrons and dramatically increases circulation – of books! Two…
Information is expanding exponentially. Applying database concepts to your information diet can mean the difference between overload and sanity, chaos and productivity. Database fluency is mandatory in a digital world. Students and teachers should be practicing and refining this skill so that today’s learners can make the most of the…