Reinventing Curriculum | Blog
Here you'll find analysis and views on technology, policy and curriculum in elementary and secondary education by two outspoken technology advocates, Elliot Soloway and Cathie Norris. Reinventing Curriculum is published twice per month. Below you will also find the archive for Elliot and Cathie's previous blog, Being Mobile.
Chicken Little is out of the chicken coup! It’s Bubble 2.0! Not so! Just the opposite in fact: while the stock market may go and down, technology is tremendously more rooted in our daily and enterprise lives than it was when Bubble 1.0 occurred. Time to integrate technology (mobile, in particular) into schools; technology (mobile, in particular) is not going away.
- By Cathie Norris, Elliot Soloway
- 02/10/14
While good news about how technology is positively impact student achievement in U.S. K-12 schools is in short supply, the fact is this: It is not a mystery how a school can use desktops, laptops and, yes, even iPads to increase student achievement. Check out our blog; we spill the beans on how Nan Chiau Primary School in Singapore is using smartphones and 1:1 to support increases in achievement -- especially in students' development of 21st century skills!
- By Cathie Norris, Elliot Soloway
- 01/28/14
The data are clear: when using online resources such as the Khan Academy videos, videos from flipped classrooms, and in higher ed -- MOOCs, learners sitting at the kitchen table or in their room or on the family couch will at some point hit an "I'm stuck" bump. Instead of quitting, which is what usually happens, use YesWeKhan, an Android app, to collaborate with a buddy and work through the confusion. Currently, YesWeKhan VERYbeta supports watching Khan Academy videos -- collaboratively.
- By Cathie Norris, Elliot Soloway
- 01/21/14
From Dewey in 1916 to PISA findings from 2012, with scientific research and personal experiences in between, we know that student ownership of their learning is absolutely key. In this week’s blog post, we explore how student ownership is facilitated in a direct-instruction school (Carpe Diem schools) and a project-based school (New Tech Network schools).
- By Cathie Norris, Elliot Soloway
- 01/06/14
A classroom teacher speaks up about the difficulties of finding good iPad apps for her students' to use. Frankly, "we" could make it easier; "we" could address the difficulties she cites. So, why don't "we?"
- By Cathie Norris, Elliot Soloway
- 12/11/13
From Smart Watches to Smart Margarine with Smart Bras in between, we are being inundated with smart objects. While the epithet “smart” may be overused, we argue that it is precisely this next generation of “smart” objects that will be the catalyst for the profound and fundamental change in education that we techies have been promising for the last 50+ years.
- By Cathie Norris, Elliot Soloway
- 12/02/13
One hand washes the other; time for us to help each other in using mobile devices effectively in the classroom. Teachers, please, send us a curricular tip on how you use mobile devices in your classroom. We will publish your tips in our blog; thank you!
- By Cathie Norris, Elliot Soloway
- 11/13/13
We step above the technology tsunami that is enveloping us and note the types of changes in devices and changes in usage patterns engendered by those device changes that are taking place. Your computer is not your father’s computer; no way, no how.
- By Cathie Norris, Elliot Soloway
- 11/04/13
Everyone wants K-12 students to learn to collaborate. But where are the supports?! Well, finally, here are some free, easy to learn, easy to use, apps for iPads and Androids, that help students as they synchronously collaborate in creating concept maps, KWL charts, etc.
- By Cathie Norris, Elliot Soloway
- 10/15/13
Truth is, up till now, technology in classrooms has been ignorable: Between limited access and flaky networks, the textbook publishers had no real incentive to produce technology-based curriculum. With the coming of mobile devices, however, technology in classrooms is no longer ignorable. The Big Disruption is imminent.
- By Cathie Norris, Elliot Soloway
- 10/07/13