Techcon 2012 Techcon occurred October 26, 2012 at the Naperville Campus of Northern Illinois University. Over 160 local school administrators, technology leaders, and classroom teachers convened for the one-day session. Google’s Jaime Casap (Twitter: @jcasap) was the keynote speaker. His… Read More ›
Leadership
Virtual School’s Symposium 2012 Summary
The student panel at the Virtual Schools Symposium 2012 Over 2,000 conferees assembled in New Orleans, Louisiana for iNACOL’s edition of its Virtual Schools Symposium held October 21-24, 2012. Across the program, presentations looked at research in the field, instructional models, administrative… Read More ›
Where’s the Education Leadership on Technology in Schools?
Image Credit In 1988, Congress’ Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) reported the “most promising current uses and demonstrations” (pp.12-13) for computers: Drill and practice to master basic skills. Development of writing skills. Problem solving Understanding abstract mathematics and science concepts. Simulation in… Read More ›
Successful Online Courses
Image Credit The SLATE Conference is October 11-12, 2012 at the Northern Illinois University campus in Naperville, Illinois. The conference brings together conferees who are interested in non-traditional forms of learning, especially in electronically supplementing traditional courses or implementing online… Read More ›
Starting an Online Program: To Blend or Not to Blend
Image Credit Blended Learning: First, in all of the blended programs, the students learn in a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home at least some of the time. Second, the students’ experience online delivery with some control over the time,… Read More ›
Innovation and Democracy
Image Credit Is innovation a democratic process? Innovate: to introduce something new; make changes in anything established. (reference) In Disrupting Class, author Clayton Christen informs school boards that introducing digital learning into schools may be hampered by purposeful democratic processes that are part of schools’ cultures. Cooperative… Read More ›
Technology Enhancement: Fundamentally Flawed
Image Credit The use of the term “technology enhancement” is fundamentally flawed. First definitions from dictionary.com: 1.to raise to a higher degree; intensify; magnify; 2.to raise the value or price of. In schools this means purchasing a variety of techno gizmos so that teachers can teach the same way, moving… Read More ›
Deregulation of Education 3: Show Me The Money
Image Credit Wes Freyer recently reported on a digital learning conference in Oklahoma. In this report he included a video about the money potential in digital learning that is embedded below. The presenter outlines the money in Pennsylvania Cyber Charter… Read More ›
50 Years: We Should Continue to Count!
NASA Photo Today is the 50th anniversary of John Glenn’s space flight. It was a different era, a time of competition for the high frontier. Three times around Earth was an accomplishment beyond comparison. In his 1999 memoir, Glenn described the perils… Read More ›
Technology is Distraction in Schools
Image Credit Ron Packard of K12.com spoke today at an Illinois Policy Institute program today in Chicago. He thinks technology is a distraction in schools because it in not fully part of the core learning. A classroom may have a few computers at the… Read More ›