Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

Alan November: What’s your plan for making every home a center of learning?

The 2012 Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards ceremony featured a keynote speech from Alan November, a former classroom teacher and ed-tech pioneer who co-founded the education consulting firm November Learning. November challenged his listeners to make sure they include students’ home environments in their strategic plans.

“What is your plan for making every home a center of learning?” he asked those in attendance. “I’m concerned that we’re spending too much time fixing schools as the dominant focus in helping children succeed.”

South Korea is putting a 1-gigabit internet connection into every home in the country, he said, adding: “That’s more capacity than some states have for all their schools.”…Read More

Flipped learning: A response to five common criticisms

One of the reasons this debate exists is because there is no true definition of what “flipped learning” is.

Over the past few 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.

While the debate goes on, the concept of Flipped Learning is not entirely new. Dr. Eric Mazur of Harvard University has been researching this type of learning since the early ’90s, and other educators have been applying pieces of the Flipped Learning method for even longer.

It’s our opinion that one of the reasons this debate exists is because there is no true definition of what Flipped Learning is. The method is often simplified to videos being watched at home and homework being done at school. If this is the definition, then we should all be skeptical. Instead, we should look closer at Dr. Mazur’s work. The components he includes in his implementation make for a thoughtful, rigorous experience.…Read More

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Ending the ‘tyranny of the lecture’

Students need to assimilate information before they can apply it to a different context, Mazur said.

At an educational technology conference in Boston, Harvard University physics professor Eric Mazur explained how he uses “peer instruction” to help his students engage in deeper learning than traditional lectures can provide—and he unveiled a brand-new ed-tech service that can help educators take this concept to a whole new level.

Mazur used a simple experiment to drive home his point that lecturing is an outdated—and largely ineffective—strategy for imparting knowledge.

Speaking at the 2011 Building Learning Communities (BLC) conference, organized by educational technology thought leader Alan November and his ed-tech consulting firm November Learning, Mazur asked participants to think of a skill they were good at, then explain how they mastered this skill.…Read More

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Ed-tech innovators share their vision for education

Video_CameraresizedFrom ideas on how Web 2.0 tools and game-based learning environments can help schools move beyond the industrial-era model of instruction, to the key question that should define successful teaching and learning in the 21st century, eSchool News TV recently captured the insights of several education technology leaders in a series of video interviews you won’t want to miss.

With support from JDL Horizons, our video crew was at the International Society for Technology in Education’s annual conference in Denver in late June, where we interviewed several visionary leaders in education technology.

Here is a small sampling of the wisdom we captured on video during the conference. Be sure to watch all of our ISTE 2010 videos on eSN-TV, however—where you’ll find information on such diverse topics as the latest in school eMail security threats, new Microsoft certifications, and more.…Read More

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Four things every student should learn … but not every school is teaching

Schools are missing out on important opportunities if they fail to teach these lessons, says ed-tech consultant Alan November.
Schools are missing out on important opportunities if they fail to teach these lessons, says ed-tech consultant Alan November.

An awareness of the views of those in other countries, an understanding of how Google ranks the results of a web search, a knowledge of the permanence of information posted online: These are some of the lessons that every student should be learning in today’s schools, says education technology consultant Alan November—but not every middle or high school is teaching these lessons.

November was the featured speaker at a Jan. 14 luncheon session during the Florida Education Technology Conference (FETC) in Orlando. Although the session focused on how to balance safety and learning in the digital age, during the course of the discussion November also revealed several topics that he said every member of the Net Generation should learn:

1. Global empathy.…Read More

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New ed-tech tools and techniques mark FETC 2010

Actor and activist Ed Begley Jr. opened the 30th annual Florida Education technology Conference Jan. 13.
Actor and activist Ed Begley Jr. opened the 30th annual Florida Education Technology Conference Jan. 13.

Free online tools that can save teachers time, new innovations that could make online learning more accessible, and keen insight into how educators can let students take responsibility for their own learning safely were among the highlights at the 2010 Florida Education Technology Conference (FETC) in Orlando last month.

More than 7,000 educators and administrators gathered in Orlando Jan. 13-15 for the 30th annual FETC, one of the largest state ed-tech conferences in the nation. The conference also featured an exhibit hall with more than 400 ed-tech vendors.

Here are some of the highlights from this year’s show. (To read about each topic, click on the headline.)…Read More

November to educators: Let students use online social tools

Ed-tech consultant Alan November believes in the power of student-centered learning.
Ed-tech consultant Alan November believes in the power of student-centered learning.

The most important change that technology brings to education is that it enables students to take charge of their own learning, said education technology consultant Alan November. Yet, this is happening in too few classrooms, he said—and a key reason is that schools are blocking access to the very tools that allow such activity.

November was speaking at a Jan. 14 session during the Florida Education Technology Conference in Orlando. Sponsored by Lightspeed Systems, the session focused on how to balance safety and learning in the digital age.

If you were to ask teachers or administrators what one indicator they would look for to show that real learning was occurring in a classroom, most people would say they’d like to see that students were engaged in the lesson, November said.…Read More

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