Online Education as Graduation Requirement

Here’s an interesting piece of news that I can accross. In a recent question/ answer session with teachers, Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty stated that he would like to make taking at least one online class a high school graduation requirement in order to teach necessary online skills and prepare students for online classes in [...]

Coolmath.com

Students and teachers are always looking for educational games that they can access in school computer labs. Coolmath.com is a great resource for online math materials including a collection of great arithmetic, logic, and spacial awareness games.
These games are not only fun to play, but are mentally stimulating as well. Personal favorites include [...]

Merit Pay and Teacher Assessment

I keep reading about more and more districts looking at using merit pay to reward the top teachers for the work that they are doing. This is exciting to some and scary to others. The main item of contention in my opinion is the way that teachers are assessed. Most districts that are [...]

Web 2.0 Powertools

This past Saturday I had the privilege of giving a workshop on web 2.0 powertools for the San Gabriel Valley Computer Using Educators (SGVCUE) affiliate.
The workshop included discussion on teacher’s obligation to teach 21st century literacies, the academic uses of blogs, RSS, wikis, and podcasts in education. The discussion focuses mostly on the use [...]

Tech Literacy Exam in 2012

eSchool News is reporting on the first national Tech Literacy Exam that is expected to hit schools in 2012.  A third party firm has been choosen to select the materials that will be covered as well as deciding on what grade levels should be assesed.
http://tiny.cc/t2OLz
As much as I have been frustrated by what standardized testing [...]