I just had a conversation with a teacher in which the fundamental question that has to be asked and answered is: How do students engage in relevant learning experiences? We already know the answer.

Compulsory learning does nothing for the student. In fact, it demeans the entire goal of learning and the intrinsic motivation to do so. Going through my preservice teaching classes, much discussion revolved around intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation to learn. Extrinsic, from my point of…

• Summer in Smallywood

  tags: gaming game gamebased gamification…

• Summer in Smallywood

  tags: gaming game gamebased gamification…

Digital literacy is knowing what technology to use for a specific purpose. This is one of the 21st century skills students and teachers should have in their tool belt. If a task is given to me I should be able to think of a numerous ways to complete it, but be able to choose the one web technology that allows me to complete the work.

As I said, the tool belt needs to expand for all learners. Expanding it takes a bit of perseverance and determination because trying to search for…

For those who do not know, here are two basic Twitter principles: 1. If you only follow 10 people you will only see the general tweets of those 10 people. 2. If only 10 people follow you, only those 10 people will see your general tweets. Although some might argue that the right ten people might be enough, I would argue that ten educators is a…

By my calculations, at the mid-point of the school year, many World History classes are studying World War II. Should these classes want to increase their use of an informational text in English or Social Studies curriculum, I suggest Elie Wiesel’s noteworthy speech …

The education landscape has been witnessing a range of new developments that are likely to expand in 2013. Browse our interactive infographics to find out more about education trends this year: http://bit.ly/Sk5Uvr…

Today’s “Best Educational Apps for Kids” list is Science apps for upper elementary and middle school kids (Age 10 to 15).  I did not include those animal related apps, as there will be a separate list of “Best Educational Apps for Kids” on ”Nature and Animals”. …

Confidence, as an educator, is something that is not a skill to be taught. It is not a method to be memorized. It is an attitude. It is a state of mind. It is also elusive to many educators. How do we foster confidence? How do we enable educators to be confident in their profession?

To answer the question of confidence, I rely on my understanding of what I know of my own struggles with confidence. I am only confident in areas that I have a proven knowledge of the subject. I think most…

The Aesop for Children is an interactive book app from Library of Congress.  It is adapted from the book “…

by William Washington, Ed.D. Scholar, Walden University

Perhaps the biggest misconception that one can have about 21st century learning is to think of it as a single reform program.

21st century learning is not a singular “thing” that can be plugged into an existing school environment and used as an easy upgrade to improve existing practice.  Learning that teaches children how to think is a process with deep philosophical underpinnings and embraces new findings…

The student’s eyes drift to the classroom window and the teacher’s voice fades from consciousness.

The daydream begins. It’s a familiar scene, one we have likely both experienced as students and struggled against in our students as teachers. But daydreaming is not what it might seem. Recent research in both psychology and neuroscience makes clear that daydreaming is an essential part of mental processing, reasoning and, yes, even…

"If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there." -- Lewis Carroll

There is a tendency when beginning a new journey to simply want to get on with it. Pack up, head on out. I have certainly been guilty of this myself. In the frenetic pace of activity and competing demands, jumping into action is second nature for me. Yet, without a clear vision of where we are heading, we run the risk of following any road and ending up nowhere.

The many ways that the term…

7 Steps to Flipped Professional Development

January 2, 2013 - by Guest Author

By Laura Conley, Professional Development Facilitator at Clarksville High School

First a short background on how and why we started flipping…

Arriving home from San Diego and having just attended…

Networking is a prime form of 21^st century learning.  The world is much smaller thanks to technology.  Learning is transforming into a globally collaborative enterprise.  Take for example scientists; professional networks allow the scientific community to share discoveries much faster.

Just this month, a tech news …

I have been thinking a great deal about the future of education:  how teachers will adapt, new pedagogies, brick and mortar vs. virtual, and new technologies.  It is a frustrating experience because I find myself on the verge of knowing what it should be but not being able to put it all together.  I also began a Google + community called InnovateEdu as a forum to get my thoughts…

The approaching new year brings with it an opportunity to reflect upon the past year and focus on new challenges ahead. This year I have been fortunate to connect with and learn from truly courageous educators who are taking on the challenge of creating the kinds of schools and learning spaces our students need for future success.

The power of social networks has enriched my own professional learning in so many ways. While I have been an active consumer of the insights shared by…

Today’s Best Educational Apps for Kids list is Natual and Animal Science Apps for Pre-School Kids (age 3 to 6).  For kids age 6 to 10, please visit the…

My New Year's wish is for our country to provide all of our kids with the financial concepts and tools they deserve to make wise and informed financial choices.

The average household income for the bottom 90% of American families is $29,840. Knowing this, it's not hard to understand why 85% of parents want a stand-alone course in personal finance to be a…