While political leaders in Washington debate immigration reform and debt issues, business leaders from a wide swath of industries are lamenting the deteriorating competitiveness of the U.S. in the global talent marketplace. Study after study shows the performance of U.S. students slipping when it comes to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
“We need an American competitiveness agenda,” Honeywell Chairman and CEO David Cote said during a panel discussion at the Milken Institute Global Conference. “Our world has changed a lot in the last 20 years, and we’re still acting like we did 20 years ago.”
But if you’re a student interested in pursuing a degree in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, what regions of the U.S. offer the best opportunities. According to this Esri-powered map from the Smithsonian, the answer is the Midwest.
The “Where Are the Centers for Education Innovation?” map breaks down the number of college degrees, charter schools and schools that focus on STEM subjects across the country. (read more…)
School administrator and #Satchat co-founder Brad Currie shares his top recommendations for professional development in 2013.
There is no doubt that 2013 will be another unbelievable year for relevant and innovative professional development opportunities. So far educators, including myself, have recently been affected by the likes of the ASCD Annual Conference & Exhibit Show, Educon 2.5 and the 2013 NASSP Conference in National Harbor, Md.
Looking ahead, there seems to be some outstanding opportunities for lead learners to collaborate and learn from one another. Let’s take a look at a few and why you should strongly consider attending not only to benefit yourself, but to bring back “lessons learned” that will affect your school environment.
Our first professional development opportunity takes us to New Milford High School in New Milford, N.J. for Edscape 2013 on Saturday, Oct. 19. Principal Eric Sheninger is the mastermind behind this innovation- and tech-driven conference. (read more…)
Today’s students will always be connected to their high-school classmates. No more last-minute exercise regimens before the 10-year reunion. “Friends” or “friends of friends” will already know who gained — or lost — 10 pounds, started a family and fulfilled superlative titles like “most likely to succeed.”
There is no denying that social media platforms have transformed how students interact with one another. If it’s up to Bill Gates, social media will also transform teacher communities, ultimately improving how we educate students.
During his keynote at the SXSWedu Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas, Gates called for a changing of the old guard — “the sort of isolation that has been more of the norm” — to the adoption of digital connections to create communities where teachers learn from each other.
“The fact that these platforms let you categorize and talk about what your challenges are and sort of reach out to experts anywhere in the country who will be able to give you examples of what works with that type of student, it’s really breaking down that isolation in a really strong way,” Gates told attendees. (read more…)
A strong undercurrent running through the sessions at the SXSWedu Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas is the idea of educators becoming facilitators in personalized learning environments.
Here are just a few ideas that speakers shared supporting this change in education.
- Teach students to find the answers. One hundred percent of the questions students ask teachers are Google-able, Alan November, senior partner of November Learning, told attendees during his session. Educators must become learning facilitators, teaching students, among other things, how to create solid queries for online research and use the technology and tools available to them, he said.
- Ignite a spark. Educators should be “spark igniters,” helping students find what sparks their interest in learning, Asenath Andrews, founder and principal of the Catherine Ferguson Academy in Detroit, said during her keynote. Students must be in the center of the learning process, she noted.
- Put context before content.
I am very fortunate to have a position that gets me invited to education conferences around the country, and occasionally out of it as well. I have written a number of posts describing the benefits, and the blemishes, of many of them over the last year. I am writing this post, as I am en route to Austin, Texas to participate in one of the big ones, the SXSWEdu Conference. Last week however, I attended a gem of a conference conducted by the Illinois ISTE affiliate, The Illinois Computing Educator’s Conference, referred to as ICE13.
After attending so many conferences, it is easy to point out the flaws of any, or each. Most conferences require RFPs, the requests for proposals, to determine the sessions for the conference program far too many months in advance of the conference. The need for this is to have several, and in some cases, too many people, read over the proposals in order to determine which sessions to approve. (read more…)
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