Most of my time is spent working with pre-service (students preparing to become teachers) or in-service (current teachers in the field) as they consider ways to embed digital, online technologies into instruction. As such, I have slowly been taking time out in my classes to talk about what they have heard, think about, or have…
As artificial intelligence (AI) tools and assistants start to get more attention in society, one of the conversations I’m paying attention to is the future of AI in the classroom, and ultimately the future of education. In these discussions, there is a lot of hysteria and hyperbole about what machine learning, virtual assistants can do…
I’m excited to announce that I completed the Student Privacy Train-the-Trainer Program for K12 from the Future Privacy Forum. The Future of Privacy Forum (FPF), is a nonprofit focused on privacy and provides the knowledge and skills to make you a student privacy expert while connecting you with a peer network and student privacy experts…
As I was preparing for the new semester to begin, I started to think about changes I’d like to make to my courses. In most of my discussions with colleagues, my common refrain was that I was thinking about throwing out everything I previously thought about assessment. I need to indicate for the record that…
Behaviorist learning theory, a philosophy that maintains that a well-rounded understanding of the relationship between stimulus and response can promote desired behaviors within an individual has long been regarded as inconsequential to educators attempting to adapt to the needs of a 21st-century learner. Instead, behaviorism has been replaced by perspectives that promote constructivism, innovation, and…
In the past I’ve written about bots and the future of education. I countered this with a recent post about the future including a human touch and I think about the opportunities for bots, AI, and the user experience. I think there are ways that we should frame this look at “bots” and extend it…
Twitter is a communication tool that allows for open collaboration to aid in teaching, learning, and socializing online. Get Started To get started with Twitter, first, get an account. All you need is an email address and an idea for your Twitter handle (username). Choose something that relates to your interests, passion, superpower, or just…
Educators must prepare students to be the multiliterate individuals that they will need to be successful in their futures. Schools are ultimately responsible for preparing students to be critical users of available technologies (Damarin, 2000; Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, & Cammack, 2004), problem solvers, and good communicators in networked civic spaces (Mishra & Kereluik, 2011; Binkley…
In an earlier post, I presented an overview of the literature on critical literacy and how it informs my perspectives on my work, research, and thinking. This was motivated by discussions in which colleagues and students indicate that they know/understand critical literacy, and then go on to equate it with critical evaluation. I think the…
A scoville unit is a measure of capsaicin, the chemical that makes a hot pepper hot. Most capsaicin is found in the ribs and seeds of a pepper, which is why seeding a pepper makes its heat less potent. The scoville scale is a way to rate the relative spiciness of chili peppers so you can…