Have you ever heard of taking a cooking class that didn't include a kitchen or learning how to swim in a classroom not a pool? It can be helpful to watch instructional videos on YouTube, but mastery of anything usually requires practice with the tools and within the context of whatever a person wants to master. Especially digital citizenship. But students are being taught this "subject" largely in … [Read more...] about Digital citizenship, the ‘lived curriculum’: Part 1
education technology
Schools’ disappearing walls: Explore the benefits!
School walls are disappearing. Probably anybody who's raising or teaching young digital media users has noticed this. For more than a decade and a half (in developed countries, anyway), schools have been opening up to the world just as more and more of the planet has joined the wired and wireless global network. Less and less can learning – formal or informal – be compartmentalized into rooms, … [Read more...] about Schools’ disappearing walls: Explore the benefits!
Neutralize the ‘negativity bias’ against kids’ Net use
This post is not about technology. It's about how we (humankind) have been wiring our brains to think about technology. We have quite a hole to climb out of. Not only are our brains already "wired to scout for the bad stuff," the Huffington Post reports, referring to what neuropsychologist and author Rick Hanson calls our "negativity bias." We've been reinforcing that bias with at least 15 years … [Read more...] about Neutralize the ‘negativity bias’ against kids’ Net use
Digital media’s power for all kinds of good: One student’s story
Rarely do we hear stories about how playing in digital environments in school – much less playing a popular videogame not originally designed for school – can be life-changing in a good way. So here's one (names in the story have been changed to protect everybody's privacy): For four years, starting in 2008, when he was in middle school, "Zach" participated in the WoWinSchool Club every day … [Read more...] about Digital media’s power for all kinds of good: One student’s story
The power of kid-powered tablets
This article about tablets in school has something to teach us about tablets at home too. Tablets – iPads, Kindle Fires, Meeps, Nabis, iTouches (see this) – and even the apps on them aren't the main event. They can be seen as the means to an end: creativity, communication, learning, fun (author and game designer Ralph Koster says that "fun is just another word for learning"). What a child brings … [Read more...] about The power of kid-powered tablets