Schools say put e-devices away when they could transform instruction

Loved this post from Sam Gliksman and his quote: “Technology is transforming every aspect of our daily lives. Even further, the ways in which children access, absorb and process information is changing as a result of their exposure to technology. When you walk into many schools however, you still find technology used sparingly. The average classroom today looks much like it may have 50 years ago. School policy usually requires that students put away any devices they own.”

I know this is true of our county schools. There are a couple computers in each classroom, used just as reinforcements of lessons/lectures. Teachers are hoping to get smartboards installed in each classroom in a couple years-but wouldn’t having a “smartboard” (ie. a tablet) in each child’s hands, manipulated by them, lead to the kind of instructional transformation we need to move into the next century of learning? Children would get the right information, at the right time, at the right pace. And with a touchable interactive interface, we’d have less fidgeting, and less boredom.

iTots-A digital learning future

As I research much needed education reform in the U.S. I’m discovering the multitude of people and organizations pushing for a new future–a digital learning future. This huffingtonpost.com article describes the need for our nation’s young people to prepare for life in a Jetson’s world, and let go of a Flintstones age. Just as we are told to limit our children’s time online, we just may find that digital learning, and a school system that supports it, could be the answer to a decades long decline in the effectiveness of our nation’s public schools.

Plain writing can save lives

Have you noticed your over-the-counter drug labels are easier to read? Here’s a “before and after” of a Food and Drug Administration over-the-counter standard drug label http://www.plainlanguage.gov/examples/before_after/overctrdrug.pdf. Adding a doses table, a larger font, a clearer layout, and using bullets instead of wordy sentences, make a huge difference in understanding. And, in this example, could save lives. More examples are on the site, and dates for upcoming meeting/seminars to learn more.

Be Google-like: use fun & games to prompt creative genius

This fun video shows techniques described in the book Gamestorming from the founder of XPlane. Looks like a fun way to spark creativity and innovation in the workplace.