Building something with technology” makes people think of 3D printers and science fair robots. In the information age, building must extend to ideas. One of the most important skills students need to master to succeed in modern world is ability to effectively synthesize information into a coherent and persuasive thesis. As such, every year myContinue reading “Chapter 10: Something students have built with technology.”
Tag Archives: edtech
Chapter 7: Roadblocks to implementation of technology
The roadblock at our school is the local education authorities. In many ways our area is quite conservative and technology is no different. Students of all ages are not allowed to have phones on campus. Only students in grades 11 and 12 may have a laptop on campus with their parents’ permission. As a result,Continue reading “Chapter 7: Roadblocks to implementation of technology”
Chapter 6: Moving away from the “Campfire” method of teaching with technology
David Thornburg described The Campfire (one-to-many), Watering Hole (many-to-many), and Cave (one-to-one) methods of teaching (Couch & Towne, 2018). These methods align closely with the Think-Pair-Share method most teachers should be aware of by now. One way I have promoted Think-Pair-Share with my students is with the CommonLit website, http://www.commonit.org. CommonLit is a large collectionContinue reading “Chapter 6: Moving away from the “Campfire” method of teaching with technology”
Chapter 5: “Personal definition” of learning
I define learning as “combining pieces of knowledge to create something new.” I want my students to analyze and reply to the work of others. I have been teaching English as a Second Language for ten years which makes the “create something new” aspect of learning easy. The entire purpose of all second language curriculaContinue reading “Chapter 5: “Personal definition” of learning”
Chapter 4 – Helping students persevere
There is a scene from the HBO show The Wire that took ninety seconds showing how to help students persevere. In the scene, students in math class are rolling dice and “gambling” with Monopoly money. A student, Randy, makes a bet loses. The teacher comes by and asks why Randy made such a bad bet.Continue reading “Chapter 4 – Helping students persevere”
Chapter 3 – Being “realistic”
Every fall semester I need to be “realistic” about my incoming grade 10 students. Where I teach high school begins at grade 10. At the end of grade 9, all students across the country take a massive standardized test and are admitted to different high schools based on their scores. The government is trying toContinue reading “Chapter 3 – Being “realistic””
Chapter 2: One problem in education technology that needs debugging
Access to broadband internet needs to be improved across America before any true technological revolution in education is possible. Broadband internet is expensive in America costing an average of $61 per month (BroadbandSearch). Why is internet expensive? According to Segan (2017), seventy percent of American zip codes “have either zero or one option for 25MbpsContinue reading “Chapter 2: One problem in education technology that needs debugging”
Chapter 1: Parents’ educational technology
In high school, my mom used a slide rule in some of her math classes. She claimed televisions were never used in any classes. Some students had access to typewriters at home to complete reports and big projects; the school also had a few typewriters. She had access to erasable typewriter paper (which I hadContinue reading “Chapter 1: Parents’ educational technology”
The Keasy Depot 