Karen Greenwood Henke is a professional writer and speaker on emerging technologies and their role in education. She is also the founder of Grant Wrangler, a free grants and awards listing service.
iPhones and iTouches have quickly taken the lead over laptops as the preferred student device for school. Further evidence of this trend is the development of apps with educational information. Discovery Education just launched an app for learning U.S. Geography by Discovery Education:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/u-s-geography-by-discovery/id374922243?mt=8
Bravo! More development for these tools means more engagement of students in real learning.
Teachers are starting to give up the cell phone battle. Think about it. Kids walk into a classroom with a powerful, tiny communication device and are told to turn it off and put it away. So the devices go under desks and into pockets where students continue to use them. When technology goes underground it becomes subversive and a classroom management headache. On Tuesday, I heard a student panel at Forsyth County Public Schools who were frustrated with the class time wasted by teachers asking students to put away their technology.
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It’s not quite what you think. The disconnect is not between classroom teachers and their students but between student teachers and the future. Unleashing the Future, the Project Tomorrow report on 2009 Speak Up findings surveys aspiring teachers for the first time and finds that these digital natives are learning to integrate technology using spreadsheets and word processors. REALLY!??!
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The winners of the MacArthur Digital Media and Learning Competition show a fascinating range of projects, technology tools, and locations. Reading the briefs, I’m struck that these projects focus on creating and publishing with technology, giving voice to those without mainstream media access. They are not just ways to get youth engaged in learning, but to get them engaged in their community as creative, empowered forces. What a terrific award.
Women videoblogging in India
Students worldwide collect and share data on fish populations
MetroVoice gives students a media platform on city buses
Hole-in-the-wall reaching children in the most remote communities
And so many more! Learn more about the programs and why they were chosen at the Digital Media Learning Competition blog.
As a member of the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) Board of Directors, I have the opportunity to meet and learn from educational technology leaders from around the world. At our last board meeting, I volunteered to draft a statement for the group to respond to the development of the National Educational Technology Plan by the U.S. Department of Education.
CoSN members are professionals who have first-hand experience with planning, implementing and maintaining the nation’s educational infrastructures. The plan’s vision for learning, assessment, and teaching with technology assumes seamless, reliable access to networks and computing devices. It assumes applications are intuitive, easy to learn, and responsive to changing needs. It assumes information is secure, integrated, and authentic. To become reality, this vision requires a comprehensive technology infrastructure with massive scalability and micro adaptability. Please view and vote for our statement if you agree: Laying the Foundation for Ubiquitous Technology.