Qualitative researchers are among the thinkers who practice inductive reasoning. They investigate questions, gather experience, immerse themselves in their data which captures the part of the world that holds their interest. From their data, they identify generalizations that appear to be supported by their data and they seek to apply those generalizations to other situations. Read More
I’ve been reading some of Robin Dunbar’s work recently, specifically Dunbar’s number. According to this idea, humans are capable of having meaningful interaction with about 150 people. In my recent readings, it seems “other” personified entities (such as God or our pets) can be included in our counts. Dunbar suggests the number is actually one Read More
“Effective schools” is a nebulous term. We could define schools in which students earn top scores on standardized tests as effective; likewise, we could define schools in which students write cogent essays (or create paintings, music, and dance) expounding the evils of standardized tests as effective. In fact, these schools may not be exclusive; perhaps Read More
While learning is familiar to all, it has become the subject of serious scientific inquiry in the last several decades. New imaging technologies have provided cognitive scientists a view into the functioning brains and they can see the results of learning as differences in patterns of brain activities. This has led both cognitive and learning Read More
For a generation, educators have been attempting to teach so that students are “career and college ready.” One tenant of this goal has been “grades must reflect what students know and can do.” Educators were encouraged to remove criteria such as participation, homework completion, timeliness, and other aspects of work that are not associated with Read More
A good online course will be complete (the syllabus will include everthing that it should), clear (well-organized and accessible to students), and allow for connections (between students and content and teacher and the world beyond the course). Such courses are designed through three iterative processes: First, the outcomes and products are designed to ensure it is clear what students will learn Read More
213: Thoughts on Schools School has been a social institution for centuries. The purpose of school, the nature of the curriculum, the role of the experts who operate school and teach in school, and the people enrolled as students are variables that change to reflect the dominant culture. In many cases, these factors are explicit Read More
I have addressed the problem of cold closure in this blog before, but I still see it happening… and it is still a drain on educational technology resources. Just like good stories, good technology support has a beginning (when the problem is reported to the appropriate technician or trainer), middle (when the problem is solved), Read More
Computers break; they break frequently. Timely repairs of IT systems are essential in schools. For much of the history of computers in schools, the “timeliness” of repairs was ill-defined and not critical. The strategic goal of schools is ostensibly to “help students learn to consume and create information.” When most information was created and consumed Read More
Forgive the deviation… this is not a post about technology or teaching. Forgive, as well, the seeming “fuddyduddiness” of this post. Can we please start using “myself” in the right way? I have pretty much given up hope of hearing the correct use of “me” and “I.” I accept the fact that people will say, Read More