Parents are key to mobile learning success
Don’t overlook parents as key partners in the success of mobile learning initiatives, a new report suggests. The report, commissioned by AT&T and written by Grunwald Associates based…
The former editor of eSchool News, Dennis Pierce is now a freelance writer. He has spent the last 20 years as an education journalist covering issues such as national policy, school reform, and educational technology. Dennis has taught high school English, math, and SAT prep. He graduated cum laude from Yale University. He welcomes comments at dennisp@eschoolmedia.com.
Latest posts by Dennis Pierce (see all)
- Study: AI detection software varies in effectiveness - June 3, 2025
- How will schools replace devices bought during the pandemic? - April 1, 2025
- Can technology help schools prevent AI-based cheating? - April 14, 2023
eSN Special Report: Closing Gaps Early
Located in Marion County, a rural area of north central Florida, the town of Weirsdale doesn’t offer many opportunities for preschool education. The median family income in the…
Why school librarians are critical to digital learning
School librarians are critical to the success of digital learning initiatives, and they deserve a place at the table in discussions about digital learning: That’s the message behind…
Failure to communicate
Education Secretary Arne Duncan slammed Congress for ‘ignoring evidence’ and ‘distorting positions.’ It’s a criticism that could be applied to him, too.
Editorial: Duncan disregards own advice
In a Sept. 30 speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Education Secretary Arne Duncan said that “too many [Beltway] inhabitants … are so supremely confident…
Special Report: Teaching with digital apps
Want to create your own video game to help students learn phonics? Or poll students to check their understanding in the middle of a lesson? There’s a free…
How technology has changed our idea of ‘knowledge,’ and what this means for schools
While technology hasn’t transformed education to this point, it definitely has transformed learning, researcher David Weinberger argues—and this shift has important implications for educators.
Zhao: U.S. schools focusing on the wrong skills
What is the purpose of our education system? If it’s to produce skilled employees, then we’re on the right path with Common Core standards and assessments, says education…
FCC to revisit eRate
The Federal Communications Commission voted on July 19 to open a new rulemaking process aimed at updating and enhancing the federal e-Rate program, which currently provides $2.3 billion…
ED’s former ed-tech chief discusses new role
In an interview with eSchool News, Karen Cator reflected on her tenure as the nation’s top ed-tech chief—and she described how her current organization, Digital Promise, is building…
Common Core testing will require digital literacy skills
The shift toward online exams aligned with the Common Core standards will require much more preparation than making sure networks can handle the strain; students will need basic…
Occupational therapy for special-needs students moves online
The San Francisco company PresenceLearning has provided live online speech therapy to thousands of K-12 students in the last few years through a process known as “telepractice.” Now,…
CoSN conference explores what it means to be an ‘audacious leader’
Transforming schools from places that deliver traditional, factory-era models of instruction to institutions that support engaging, personalized, and student-centered learning requires bold, audacious leadership—and that was the theme…
Integrating the ‘four Cs’ into instruction
While policy makers and education leaders have been talking about the need to teach 21st-century skills for more than a decade, not enough attention has been paid to…
Ed-tech leaders brace for online testing
What keeps ed-tech leaders up at night? Making sure their schools are prepared to roll out high-stakes testing to students online by the 2014-15 school year is a…
How to prepare for Common Core testing—and why current teacher evaluation systems won’t help
To prepare for more rigorous assessments aligned with the Common Core standards, teachers will need more time and opportunities to collaborate with each other, education professor Linda Darling-Hammond…
‘Good to Great’ author: How to have great schools
The most important factor influencing a school’s success isn’t class size, length of the school day, or other reforms, says researcher and author Jim Collins—it’s having a great…
Aspiring teachers ill-prepared to use ed tech effectively
Students who are studying to become teachers use social media in their personal lives more frequently than in-service teachers do, and they want to use ed tech in…
New developments in AV technology come into focus
A new way to measure the brightness of colors; the ability to recognize inputs from any source, and not just a computer; and the move toward more lamp-free…
New project aims to transform the ‘first five days’ of school
While there is general agreement that the first five days of school are “absolutely essential” for establishing a culture of learning that will set the right tone for…
How TED-Ed is helping to amplify instruction
Technology can extend a talented teacher’s reach to thousands or even millions of kids around the world, said Chris Anderson, curator of the nonprofit TED project—and he described…
How corporations can really support U.S. public education
Common-sense recommendations are fine, but if U.S. corporations really want to support public education, there's a better way.
Why releasing teacher ‘rankings’ is a bad idea
New York City on Feb. 24 became the latest municipality to release the “value-added” rankings of thousands of public school teachers. Here’s why the city’s move is seriously…
Four fallacies of the ‘teachers are overpaid’ argument
The Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute have released a new paper arguing that public school teachers are overpaid relative to the private-sector market. The paper is…
On ed tech, we’re asking the wrong question
Does the use of textbooks lead to better student achievement? Somebody should do the research. Schools nationwide are spending billions of dollars each year on textbooks, with no…
New web-search formulas have huge implications for students and society
A quiet revolution has taken place in recent months, as Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and other internet gatekeepers have revised their search algorithms in an attempt to bring users…
Editorial: Poised on the brink of opportunity
As in Joplin, Mo., the nation’s leaders have a critical opportunity to reinvent the future of education. Here’s hoping they have some of the same courage personified in…
Ending the ‘tyranny of the lecture’
Harvard professor Eric Mazur reveals how he uses peer instruction to make learning more dynamic—and how new software can facilitate this process.
Editorial: God bless taxes
Poor results from a national civics exam can hardly be seen as a surprise, when the nation’s own captains of industry have failed at the topic themselves.
IT outsourcing: Does it make sense for your schools?
Cloud computing, Software as a Service (SaaS), and “managed” or “hosted” services: These are terms that today’s ed-tech directors surely are familiar with. But do these models always…
Editorial: Bully for teachers
There’s a better way to improve the quality of teaching in the nation’s schools than to bully principals and instructors.
Editorial: Frenemy of the people
As educators and administrators band together in the face of opposition, it isn’t just vocal school reformers they need to worry about … but policies that undermine the…
Editorial: Public school employees under attack
Conservative lawmakers are targeting educators as part of a broader attack on public-sector employees in states from coast to coast—and the fallout could have lasting implications for the…
How to use YouTube at school, safely
As most teachers know, there’s a lot of great educational content on YouTube—and there’s a lot of inappropriate material, too, from racy images to offensive comments that might…
Kineo: Like an iPad, but made for students
As more school leaders look at using iPads and other tablet computers as learning tools, the Florida-based company Brainchild has developed an iPad-like device that is designed specifically…
Opinion: A nation being left behind
President Obama is absolutely right: America can’t afford to dither while other countries pass us by. But his message will be a hard sell to a House of…
Opinion: This ‘Superman‘ doesn’t fly
As a strong supporter of American public education, I don’t know what’s more depressing: that the film Waiting for ‘Superman’ is so bad, or that so many critics…
Putting our ideas of assessment to the test
Here’s a pop quiz: What are the skills that today’s students will need to be successful in tomorrow’s workplace? The answer to this question has enormous implications for…
Coming soon: ‘Super Wi-Fi’ connectivity?
A new flavor of Wi-Fi, with longer range and better wall-piercing power, could show up in wireless gadgets a year from now if the Federal Communications Commission works…
Opinion: Corporate policy making would result in a net loss
The future of digital-age learning could hinge on the boardroom deals being made by giant corporations as they seek to head off “net neutrality” regulations—and education leaders ought…