I was quietly reviewing my RSS feeds in Google Reader when I happened upon a link to this video. This is the first that I have seen by RSAnimate and I was hooked. Combined with the content from Daniel Pink, I find this is an extremely captivating video. The part that spoke to me the most was regarding mastery. I enjoy working on web sites and find it very satisfying improving my skills and developing [...]

In the June/July issue of the magazine, the result from this poll was published: Although the responses did not surprise me, it did force me to ask, “What would adequate support for integrating technology into the classroom look like?” Would it be… The presence of coaching support / modeling? Access to technology resources? Planning time to modify instructional plans to integrate technology? Timely support for technical problems, such as software installation, wireless access, etc? What [...]

From the executive summary of the report: The following five trends have been identified as key drivers of technology adoptions for the period 2010 through 2015; they are listed here in the order they were ranked by the Advisory Board. Technology is increasingly a means for empowering students, a method for communication and socializing, and a ubiquitous, transparent part of their lives. Technology is impacting all of our lives, and especially the lives of students, [...]

It’s Friday. I needed inspiration. I hadn’t been to the TED Talks on YouTube for a while so I decided to look today. This is what I found. I am inspired.

A friend (thanks, Steve!) sent me a link to this movie about Web 3.0 If you have 15 minutes, take a look. I found it interesting to hear the variety of viewpoints . Like Tim Berners-Lee, I can’t imagine what the web will be like in the not too distant future – but I am looking forward to it! Web 3.0 from Kate Ray on Vimeo.

A March 9, 2010, article in the Washington Post was titled, “Wide Web of diversions gets laptops evicted from lecture halls.” I found the article very interesting and have selected some passages: A generation ago, academia embraced the laptop as the most welcome classroom innovation since the ballpoint pen. But during the past decade, it has evolved into a powerful distraction. Wireless Internet connections tempt students away from note-typing to e-mail, blogs, YouTube videos, sports [...]

Doug Johnson, the Blue Skunk Blog fame, from TEDxASB last month: Entertainment tends to be for amusement or diversion, for leisure or for fun – passive. In Doug’s terms, entertainment is ephemeral. However, engagement requires emotional involvement or commitment – it is active. One way to engage students is through authentic problem-solving. Assignments or projects that simply require information collection or recall is not engaging. What Some other highlights from the presentation that caused me [...]

While working on another post I came across this video by Sir Ken Robinson. Something to think about…

Will Richardson says, “More and more, though, as I look at my own kids and try to make sense what’s going to make them successful, I care less and less about a particular teacher’s content expertise and more about whether that person is a master learner, one from whom Tess or Tucker can get the skills and literacies to make sense of learning in every context, new and old. What I want are master learners, [...]

Via Professor Michael Wesch’s blog. I am a fan of the Office and thought this was hilarious the first time I watched it. But as I watched it a second time I was more reflective. Watching the “teacher” move from writing on the white board with a marker to presenting with a PowerPoint, distributing content on 3.5 inch floppy disks, or using Skype to display his image, doesn’t really change the instructional delivery. Still teacher [...]