Can a struggling education system be saved by the iPad?

This is a really interesting article from the Wired website.  The title of the article gives you some idea of the content:

'Can the iPad Rescue a Struggling American Education System?'

The article raises a lot of interesting points.  One that resonated with me is the comment that because iPads are so easy to use, students are learning the lesson, not the hardware.

To find out if the iPad can rescue a struggling education system, click here to read the article in full.

A cheesy Apple education profile

Even though this profile is a little cheesy I still find it quite inspirational, particularly the accessibility of the principal.  To see what I mean, click here to watch the Burlington High school profile.

Build a school in the clouds

The blurb for this inspiring TED talk is:

'Onstage at TED2013, Sugata Mitra makes his bold TED Prize wish: Help me design the School in the Cloud, a learning lab in India, where children can explore and learn from each other -- using resources and mentoring from the cloud'.

I strongly encourage you to watch this talk, it's well worth 22 minutes of your time!

Digital Classrooms in the 21st Century

Have a read of this article from the Stuff website.  It's about plans for 21st century learning in New Zealand.  The article starts:

'A classroom where a digital teacher delivers a lesson from another city is being touted as the way forward for education in the 21st century. 

The education and science select committee's "Inquiry into 21st century learning environments and digital literacy" focuses on redesigning education and creating modern schools'. 

I really like some of the ideas and vision in the article.  However, what I can say from my own experience as a teacher and leader in New Zealand schools is that there is a long way to go in regards to infrastructure and resource allocation before these ideas come to fruition, especially in low decile schools. 

To read the article in full, click here.

Using Twitter as class blogs

Lakeview School has recently started using class Twitter pages instead of class blogs.  Already I can see that this is going to be a lot more successful.  Here's why:

• It's so easy to send a Tweet
• Posts are only 140 characters
• Attaching photos and video is very simple
• Parents can access through their phones (this is the only Internet access some of our families have)
• All teachers have been provided with iPads, with the Twitter app loaded, signed in, and ready to go.

You can check out our Twitter pages through the links on our website homepage.

Making Science Teaching Fun!

This is from the TED website:

'High school science teacher Tyler DeWitt was ecstatic about a lesson plan on bacteria (how cool!) -- and devastated when his students hated it. The problem was the textbook: it was impossible to understand. He delivers a rousing call for science teachers to ditch the jargon and extreme precision, and instead make science sing through stories and demonstrations'.


 

Colin Powell's thoughts on kids needing structure

Check out this TED talk from Colin Powell (former U.S. Secretary of State) re kids needing structure.  Some interesting thoughts and ideas.