Teaching children to be happy and resilient, to have grit, in a “changing and chaotic world,” and telling parents their children will now need skills “well beyond good test scores,” raises serious questions when you consider the no-excuses schools so many students now attend. I am referring to the upcoming Learning & the Brain conference […]
Rotting School Buildings and Magical Digital Learning Transformation
The key issue to watch in 2017 is the spiraling drive to privatize public schools through digital learning. One way this is done is through charter schools. Another strategy could be by not funding the upkeep of public school facilities then recreating them as blended learning schools. Allowing schools to crumble in order to justify […]
Killing Teacher Prep During a Teacher Shortage: A Mystery? (Maybe Not)
Are you in the mood for a mystery? Education Secretary John King recently came out with the intent to kill university teacher prep programs. His predecessor Arne Duncan, who never taught a day in his life, cheered him on. They will do this by denying future teachers TEACH grants to go into teacher preparation programs. […]
The Privatized Beaded Necklace “School of the Future”
The PBS NOVA “School of the Future” was interesting in that many corporate messages were strung together like an expensive necklace made of plastic beads. Grit, mindset, brain studies, social-emotional learning…you name it…it was there. Showcased individuals gave shout-outs to others in the program. Sal Kahn yelling out to students that they all have a […]
It’s Like Invisible Drones Following Students in School
Trustworthy Computing is the highest priority for all the work we are doing. We must lead the industry to a whole new level of Trustworthiness in computing. Bill Gates in an email sent to his employees, discussed in Wired January 17, 2002 __________ Happy 4th of July! This is a good time to think about […]