As school districts across the country have come clean about their real graduation rates in recent years, there has been anecdotal evidence from both colleges and businesses of the need to put newly minted high school graduates through a series of remedial courses to tune up their academic skills before they can handle first year college coursework or move into the ranks of workers.

George Winship, editor of The Anderson Valley Post in California writes about how public school failure financially impacts California citizens. Read the rest of this entry »

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Originally, the video posted below  was a presentation for high school students. Since it’s first showing in 2006, it has been seen by millions of people around the world thanks to the viral nature of video sharing. The new version updated last year has been seen by several million people as well and both versions continue to circulate on the Internet.

It is thought-provoking, awe-inspiring and a little bit scary. This 2.0 version is 2 minutes longer than the original but there is no fluff. Among other things, it puts the impact of rapidly growing technology in easy-to-understand terms. Whether you are a K-12 publisher, a K-12 educator or just an interested party, there is plenty to chew on here.

After you watch the video, check out the Shift Happens website wiki for some excellent follow up questions. These are terrific questions that can apply to work teams, strategic planning, education reform, curriculum design, municipal green initiatives, you name it.

We talk a lot about teaching students 21st century skills. These skills are more than just technology skills. The ability to think critically and work collaboratively on a business or social problem will be part of a citizen’s basic toolkit moving forward. Watch this video and you’ll understand why.

What do you think should be in a 21st century toolkit?

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The National American Council for Online Learning (NACOL) defines online learning as: instruction and content delivered primarily over the Internet.

A newly released survey of 232,781 K-12 students, 21, 272 teachers, and 15,316 parents conducted by Project Tomorrow and sponsored by Blackboard, states that one in five students in grade 6-12 have taken an online course at school or on their own and one in three students chose online classes as a part of their ideal school. The report states:

As online learning becomes more integrated into day-to-day instruction, the compartmentalization of education breaks down. Everyone becomes a learner and an expert with opportunties to seek and share what they know, critique what they learn, and become more engaged and involved with the global community.    Read the rest of this entry »

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We have been talking about building online communities around specific websites where educators can share their teaching experiences and resources. Yesterday, PBS Teachers took this concept to a whole new level when it unveiled a new online community  that has the functionality of many of the popular social networking sites.

PBS Teachers Connect describes it this way:
“PBS Teachers Connect is an online community of teachers exchanging ideas, resources and instructional strategies on the integration of digital media and technology.”

In many ways it is a blueprint for what K-12 publishers can and should do to build vibrant, purpose-filled online communities. Read the rest of this entry »

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Before we leave behind the interview with Scott Walker of TeacherTechBlog, let’s review some blog best practices that he shared with us. If you missed our two-part interview with Scott, then take a few minutes and read it at the two inks below. We’ll wait.

How an Educator Uses Social Media to Share Ideas- Part 1

How an Educator Uses Social Media to Share Ideas- Part 2

So, what are some of the takeaways for the rest of us to learn from Scott?

1. He has accomplished one of the primary goals of blogging in that he has established himself as a credible authority on educational technology and other educators look to him for guidance and insight.

2.  He confirms the commitment of time required, but also sees that time as an investment in building a high-value experience for his readers.

3.  Scott’s readership growth in one year from launch to 10,000 means that his tech tips were successfully viral as he has achieved exponential readership growth in one year.

4.  He has built readership by reaching out to others in the blogosphere tackling similar topics and now has readers in 103 different countries. That is an impressive metric for one year’s work.

5.  Blogging has become an integral part of his own professional life.

6.  Even though he is not eliciting lots of comments on his blog (something that many bloggers focus on), that was not a part of his intention which was to share his technical expertise with other educators and so Scott has built a community of people who look to him for thought leadership and practical advice. Read the rest of this entry »

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