Can We Deliver?

President Obama is echoing the sentiments of educators calling out for change:

"In a 21st-century world where jobs can be shipped wherever there's an Internet connection, where a child born in Dallas is now competing with a child in New Delhi, where your best job qualification is not what you do, but what you know -- education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity and success, it's a prerequisite for success."

"I'm calling on our nation's governors and state education chiefs to develop standards and assessments that don't simply measure whether students can fill in a bubble on a test, but whether they possess 21st century skills like problem-solving and critical thinking and entrepreneurship and creativity."

~Obama

With funding in place, a supportive administration, and a Nation lookig for answers, can Public Ed. deliver?

For a full transcript of Obama's speech, click here.

A Call for Change

“We See computers everywhere but in the productivity statistics”

Robert Solow

WHY?I believe Paul A. David’s 1989 essay, “Computer and Dynamo: The Modern Productivity Paradox in a Not-Too Distant Mirror” revealed the answer. Mr. David illustrated the lag between innovation and application by highlighting the time and effort involved to move from Thomas Edison’s invention of the light bulb in 1879 to electricity finally supplanting steam as our nation’s primary power source well into the next century.

“One of the major breakthroughs facilitating the changeover was how buildings and assembly lines were redesigned and managed. In essence, the entire manufacturing process had to be reconfigured.”

Reexamine the last two sentences substituting the words schools, curriculum, taught, and educational.

“One of the major breakthroughs facilitating changeover was how schools and curriculum were redesigned and taught. In essence, the entire educational process had to be reconfigured”.

If teachers are the gatekeepers of educational change, then we must reinvent the way we teach the teacher.

Sinking Sand

Like many educators, I've spent summers rediscovering the joys of manual labor, and have come away from the construction site with several gems of wisdom.

"Measure twice, cut once"

This tenet of carpentry is equally applicable to the science lab or writing class.

I've also been told...
"You can build a palace, but if the foundation is off, the whole thing ain't worth the crap you built it on!"

Unfortunately, the vast majority of our multi-billion dollar educational technology framework has been set on a foundation designed 150 years ago for transmitting information!

Our school structure must replace rigidness with flexibility, isolation with collaboration, and schedules with spontenaity.

To read a full length article on this topic from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, click here.

ISTE casts new "NETS" for Teachers

The International Society for Technology in Education(ISTE)has released the 2nd Edition of National Educational Technology Standards(NETS)for teachers.

(1) Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity
(2) Design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments
(3) Model digital-age work and learning
(4) Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility
(5) Engage in professional growth and leadership

The goal is to fundamentally transform education, not merely garnish traditional practices with a sprig of technology.

To learn more by visiting the ISTE homepage, click here.

Saber-Tooth Curriculum

" -as long as a society fails to bring its educational efforts - all of its behavior-changing ways - into focus with its goals and purposes, that society postpones its golden age. And if the discrepancy becomes too great or too prolonged, a society will destroy itself."
R. Lee Hornbake