November Learning: Expanding the Boundaries of Learning

• Articles

  • Banning Student Containers
  • Beyond Technology: The End of the Job and the Beginning of Digital Work
  • Creating a New Culture of Teaching and Learning
  • Designing Libraries: Learning for a Lifetime
  • Students as Contributors: The Digital Learning Farm
  • Drill the Teachers, Educate the Kids
  • Flipped Learning: A Response To Five Common Criticisms
  • Teaching Zack to Think
  • Why More Schools Aren’t Teaching Web Literacy—and How They Can Start

Banning Student Containers
When my 17-year-old son, Dan, comes home from school he shouts hello, heads right to his laptop, and logs on to IM. His buddy list is maxed out. His syntax and grammar would make most English teachers recoil in horror. While he’s sending quick notes to his friends he adds photos to his blog, checks the comments from his global audience, and snaps mini earphones into his iPod. [ Read More ]

Beyond Technology: The End of the Job and the Beginning of Digital Work
The real revolution that technology brings to society extends well beyond how to use computers, or in school terms, computer literacy. It is more complex than integrating computers across the curriculum or learning about multimedia or even using the Internet. The profound impact is that information communications technology is completely reorganizing how, where, when, with whom, and even why people work. [ Read More ]

Creating a New Culture of Teaching and Learning
I want to tell you a story about something that happened to me a few days ago. I had been sanding and painting a Pine Derby racing car for several weeks with my son Danny, who is seven years old. The car looked really good. Unfortunately, I had to do a workshop on the day of the race so I couldn’t be there. When I called Danny later, I found he had lost all four heats. [ Read More ]

Designing Libraries: Learning for a Lifetime
Pat Kyle, librarian at the Washington International School (WIS) was presented with a rare opportunity. A private PreK-12 institution in northwest Washington, DC, WIS had launched a five-year redesign of the school in which she would take an active role, helping build a brand new media center. [ Read More ]

Drill the Teachers, Educate the Kids
There is a famous story that describes what needs to be done when you want to hang a picture on the wall. You go the hardware store to buy a drill bit to make the hole for the hook. You don’t really need the drill, you need a hole, but the hardware store doesn’t carry holes, only drill bits. While the drill bit is important, it is two steps removed from what really needs to be done, hanging the picture. [ Read More ]

Students as Contributors: The Digital Learning Farm
Years ago, when farms dominated our landscape, children were responsible for performing meaningful jobs that were vital to each family’s success. Depending on their age, children would care for animals, repair farm equipment, prepare food to sell at local markets and more. Children were essential to the very survival of the family. At the same time, these jobs taught children the value of hard work, leading them to become more productive citizens within their communities as adults. [ Read More ]

Flipped Learning: A Response To Five Common Criticisms
Over the past two years, the Flipped Learning method has created quite a stir. Some argue that this teaching method will completely transform education, while others say it is simply an opportunity for boring lectures to be viewed in new locations. [ Read More ]

Teaching Zack to Think
Is your high school teaching students to access the Internet for research? Then it is essential that students also learn how to validate the information. The Internet is a place where you can find “proof” of essentially any belief system that you can imagine. And, for too many students, “If it is on the Internet, it is true.” [ Read More ]