The personalization of music and video began with playlists. With media providers like Netflix introducing a personalized recommendation system, movie-buffs could finally interact with their favourite content, building a base of videos, brandished with their own personal stamp. Education is now taking a similar path with adaptive systems offering educators and students alike the ability…
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“Education, for most people, means trying to lead the child to resemble the typical adult of his society. But for me, education means making creators. You have to make inventors, innovators, not conformists.” – Jean Piaget When I think of how we have moved into the age of the innovator, a few examples spring to mind:…
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Inquiry and project-based learning (PBL) are essential pedagogical tools for the 21st century educator. Encouraging creativity, rigor, collaboration and independent learning, such student-driven methods provide educators with the ideal opportunity to embrace their status as “guide on the side”. With the right preparation, inquiry and project-based learning can be a game-changer. The challenge for educators…
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“Pedagogy is the driver, technology the accelerator.” This popular thought has been making the rounds on social media, instilling the importance of “pedagogy first, technology second.” This kind of thinking speaks volumes to educators for many reasons. Technology is often branded ‘disruptive’, a term justly despised by many. After all, what educator wants disruption? By…
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For many, flipping the classroom simply involves turning the traditional classroom on its head – moving the class work home, and the homework to class. Others argue there is a lot more to flipping than meets the eye. Rather, as flipped learning pioneer, Jon Bergmann states, it’s moving from “sage on the stage” to “guide…
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The future of education publishing has been the topic of popular discussion of late. As classrooms, schools and districts move steadily towards the paperless, personalized classrooms of the future, the textbook is attempting to claim its place within the 21st century learning sphere. As previously argued in The Fate of the Textbook in the Paperless…
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How should we define digital literacy? Educational leader and PhD student, Lynnea West, explains her research on the principle ways of redefining education through technology, using digital literacy as a key driver: “I would hope that moving forward, we just call them ‘literacies’ and they’re just considered essential components of good literacy practices. We’re living…
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In 2012, U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan declared: “Over the next few years, textbooks should be obsolete.” As schoolbags decrease in size and paper and pen take a backseat, the questions surrounding the fate of the textbook continue to escalate. “Textbooks offer structured teaching and learning in a well-organized, aligned and unified manner” says…
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One of my main priorities as a teacher is to make math meaningful and relevant to my students’ lives. I believe in fostering a school culture that strengthens 21st century learning skills, and empowers every child. Knowing that all students have their own unique needs, abilities and interests, I have been searching for a resource…
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On November 4th, iNACOL’s Blended and Online Learning three-day symposium will commence in Palm Springs, bringing together more than 2,500 experts and educational leaders worldwide, focused on K-12 next generation learning. The annual conference has been labelled the industry’s leading event, with over 200 sessions and tracks for K-12 online and blended learning, competency-based pathways,…
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