Interesting thought. I once ran a short lived program that had homework help online after school via the web. It worked for kids even in the lowest SES programs. I think BL can help here much like the author suggests. "In this sense, technology can be a good option for making pedagogy more relevant to the lives of students and reaching those dropouts who want to go back and finish the high-school education that they previously abandoned. That is why some countries have begun to implement remedial programs that offer fast-track high-school prep, such as the ICFES-Saber program in Colombia, Ceneval in Mexico, or Adultos2000 in Buenos Aires. Such ICT-based programs offer flexible alternatives for adults with full-time day jobs, or families to take care of, and who cannot for any number of reasons sit in school throughout the day. Distance and blended learning can deliver a range of options, from traditional higher education for those Latino adults without a Bachelor’s degree to more targeted areas such as language acquisition or technical education. " (via How Can We Tackle School Dropouts and Talent Shortage with Blended Learning) Click on the link to go to the article. Photo from article

My views of PD are constantly changing, especially this summer, and the more I think people can...

Peter C. Lippman Assoc. AIA, REFP is a good friend of Holtthink and occasionally goes way out of his...

World renowned architect Peter C., Lippman recently ran a four part series here on creating active...

Kimberly Wright on Periscope: This is my endnote today at the EPISD PowerUp conference

Is Professional Development for Teachers One Big Boondoggle?: Interesting study, but the...

At their worst, walkthroughs are viewed as compliance checks with administrators strutting around schools and classrooms to enforce top-down initiatives. There’s not much progress when teachers generally wonder, "How can I avoid getting in trouble?" rather than, "How can I collaborate with my administrators to improve things for students?" At their best, walkthroughs are viewed as a part of an ongoing formative assessment process that finds teachers and administrators engaged in a system of reciprocal accountability. They work together to improve students’ results, their own professional development, and each other as people.(via Reimagining Classroom Walkthroughs | Edutopia)

The Changing Role Of The Teacher In Personalized Learning Environments: I think that the...

OpenTED: Either this is a great way to get ideas out into the open, or TED is running out of...

This Is What Today's Online Learning Content Tells Us About The Future Of School: I liked the quote...

Ditching the Desk: I think that this is a great idea. It makes for a more active learning...

The Mirage: Confronting the Hard Truth About Our Quest for Teacher Development: New study details...

Rewriting the Myths of Creativy: This is an interesting ebook where the author, David Burkus, looks...

I like this small little graphic. It explains clearly why we need to teach creative thinking. I think we spend too much time on the left panel of Knowledge, and very little time on the right panel. Project based, problem based and authentic learning give us the middle panel, but not everyone is on board with that type of teaching yet. I do not know who created this graphic, maybe you do, so I cannot credit the artist. However, whomever created it I tip my hat.

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