January - 2015

Jan 30, 2015
4 min

Are Technical Innovations Enough to Save Education?

We all know about the great work being done by both the headliners and the very small businesses in terms of introducing technology into the classrooms. We have gone from chalkboard to whiteboard and from smart board to tablets. Whatever we have thought about MOOCs, their arrival on the scene woke up the sleeping giant of online learning, and now innovators such as Canvas Infrastructure have challenged Blackboard for one and are making a name for providing tools for universit

Jan 30, 2015
4 min

To School or Not to School: That Will be the Question

OK, (following on my last blog), it does not necessarily take a learner from another planet to see what is happening in our educational system. Our kids are exhausted and many are disenfranchised, and our teachers are expected to relearn not only what they learned in school but how to teach so that we can meet a set of standards that we don’t even know will be applicable when these kids enter the workforce. There’s great work being done in edtech and professional development

Jan 21, 2015
5 min

Learner from another Planet

Consider a scenario in which a visitor comes on a mission of educational discovery in which she is invited to visit a family of four and trail them at school for a day. What does she observe and how does that impact on her opinion as to how we are educating our children? In our scenario, the visitor completes her stay and is interviewed about the experience by the local paper. What was the family’s morning routine like? The family I stayed with sends their two children to a p

Jan 16, 2015
4 min

E-Learning Days Pave the Way to More Flexible Educational Models

With winter starting to dig in its heels, I’m thinking again of the concept of e-learning days, as many schools and school districts have labeled them, days when kids do their work from home rather than attend school. E-learning days were first devised as a means of providing instruction on “snow days,” when students could not make it to school. Now some schools have added e-learning days to their school calendars in order to regularize virtual learning days as part of their

Jan 13, 2015
3 min

Dear NYC School Principals: Let Cell Phones Be Used for Learning

Last week, we learned that the New York City Department of Education will be lifting its long-time ban on cell phones in the schools. Kudos to the teams of educators who worked to make this happen! Much of the reporting on the lifting of the cell phone ban has focused on Mayor de Blasio’s comments on the issue, mainly around fairness and parental access. Many people criticized the ban as unfairly implemented and particularly harsh on students from low-income communities. In t

Jan 13, 2015
4 min

Flipping for a Change in Educational Models

We’ve talked previously about evolving, adapting, adjusting to the changes in the educational landscape. An article this week in the Chronicle of Higher Education has prompted me once gain to raise the issue of flipped classrooms and the great value this model can bring to all levels of education. In “When a Flipped-Classroom Pioneer Hands Off His Video Lectures, This Is What Happens” Jeffrey Young reports on the popularity of the videotaped lectures that Norman Nemrow, a for

Jan 13, 2015
3 min

Reflections on Learning Part II: Back to the Future

At the close of 2014, Designs2Learn shared memories of early learning: the rituals of school, learning journeys, learning how to fail, and becoming conscious about learning. As we enter 2015, we begin the process of creating the memories from another new year of learning. What will we learn and how we learn it? How can we design meaningful learning experiences and curricula that will persist into the future of our students’ workplace lives? A few key points come into perspect

Jan 5, 2015
3 min

Reflections on Learning Part I: Memories from the Early Years

I can play the moments back in my head like a movie. But it’s more than that. I can see images, but there are also sounds, smells and textures. Even the sense of touch plays a role when conjuring the memories of how I have experienced learning throughout my life. I have always loved learning. From the early days of kindergarten, moving amongst the Montessori-influenced “stations” to my decision in grad school to write a dissertation rather than sit for an exam, I can see myse

Jan 5, 2015
2 min

Listen for the Sound of Change in Education

Listening. That’s the big idea. It may be a simple idea, but it’s one that doesn’t seem to be common practice these days. While we all agree there are problems with the current educational system, there seems to be little agreement as to the specific nature of the problems or of how to solve them. In order to come to better consensus, we need to: Ask the right questions. As learning designers, we know how to devise the right questions to prompt a conversation around what is m

Jan 5, 2015
3 min

How Tragedy Opened the Door to a Teachable Moment

Oberlin College President Marvin Krislov’s decision to reject a student petition to suspend failing grades this semester has sparked further debate over academic flexibility, the lack thereof, and the importance of final exams and grades. The petition garnered over 1,000 signatures calling for suspension of the normal grading system and a no-fail mercy period to allow for student participation in and distraction over the decisions turned down in the Michael Brown and Eric Gar

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