NTN Innovation- Musings on innovations in technology, instruction, and school culture.

NTN Innovation- Musings on innovations in technology, instruction, and school culture.

02/15/10

The Students Are All Right -- It's the Adults Who Need to Learn to Communicate

01/31/12

Thousands of students, teachers and administrators will commemorate Digital Learning Day on Feb. 1. The effective use of technology in the classroom may be reaching new levels of acceptance, but for many of us in the educational arena we live and breathe technology daily and consider its use as natural as using calculators or pens. To our tech savvy students, all the hype around technology or digital learning evokes a 'what took you so long?' attitude. I look forward to Digital Learning Day because we can highlight innovative teachers and instructional strategies in the digital world with a simple goal in mind: transform teaching and learning into relevant and rigorous experiences that prepares students for success after high school. Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lydia-dobyns/the-students-are-all-righ_b_1...Comment »

New Chat Encourages Best Practices for PBL

01/30/12

This was bound to happen. Advocates of project-based learning are strong believers in collaboration. Many are also adept at using technology tools to communicate and connect. So it was only a matter of time before PBL educators would start their own regularly scheduled chat on Twitter. Launched in December, the weekly meet-up known as #PBLchat has quickly attracted a loyal following. The first chat saw more than 1,100 comments in just one hour, and the event continues to grow. It happens Tuesdays at 6 p.m. Pacific/9 p.m. Eastern. Kickstarting Collaboration Chat co-founder Theresa Shafer (@theresashafer) says the idea started within the New Tech Network, for which she is online community manager. New Tech Network includes 86 schools across the country, all using project-based learning with integrated technology as part of their 21st-century learning model. REad more: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/pbl-best-practices-twitter-chat-suzie-boss?...Comment »

Parents Attend High School, Too

01/26/12

My recent blog on school culture struck more than a few chords among readers eager to have the role of parents included in the education dialogue. Parents ARE critical role models for students. In a way, parents go to high school, too. But the role of the parent is complicated. I decided to go "to the source" -- and ask parents about their current experience with high school. Emily emerges from her shell Emily, a junior in Danville, Illinois, was particularly shy in school and it affected every aspect of her high school experience. According to her mother, Lisa Bueter, Emily had a core group of friends and found it difficult to branch out beyond that group -- that is, until she started at Danville New Tech. "Emily's experience at New Tech has been wonderful," said Lisa. "She had struggled a bit in the traditional high school setting, but is really thriving in the culture at New Tech." Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lydia-dobyns/parents-attend-high-schoo_b_1...Comment »