The good old teacher-librarian Diigo group comes through again with another gem. There are some very interesting results from a survey demonstrating perhaps how ineffectual the research skills of middle and secondary school students.Of note:half of all high school students "rarely or never" check the date of an article;2/3 "rarely or never" check the author;Worth … Continue reading Teaching the Ten Steps to Better Web Research →

Instructional designer and author, Ali Carr-Chellman, shares her thoughts on why boys are disengaged in their learning. Note: it is not due to video games.Why does Johnny need to be allowed to write about violence? Why are too many female elementary school teachers not such a good thing?Why is Kindergarten is the new Grade 2?http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf

So, Grandma's on Facebook and using social media...Can't say I'm not surprised. But what is startling is the rate of increase of use among our seniors using digital social media and closing a bit of the gap on the digital divide that exists.According to PEW Internet and American Life Project, the 74 and over age … Continue reading Why Grandma’s on Facebook →

Not CISCO.Not Intel.Not even Microsoft or Toyota.Google. Only Google gets it.The bigger picture.The future of science and technology needs this.The future generations of scientists-in-waiting need this. Google announced that they will be  sponsoring the first-ever online science fair. Check out their promotional website for registration and information.

This video has been circulating around the blogosphere for a few days now. In the video, Hans Rosling, co-founder of Gap Minder, presents 200 years of history in four minutes. The video focuses on the connections between health and wealth from 1810 through 2010.

After reviewing hundreds of TED talks, stats guru, Sebastian Wernicke, uses statistical analysis to design way to create and delivery the ultimate (or worst) possible TED talk in a very tongue and cheek(y) delivery. Remember: never, ever quote the New York Times, ecetera, ecetera, ecetera...http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf

Truth be told, I don't attend a great deal of meetings. Don't get me wrong. I like meetings when they are properly scheduled and serve a purpose other than to just disseminate information (Just send me an email, OK?).Last month's school leadership meeting was the background for an interesting dynamic that occurred. Of the eleven … Continue reading Rude or the new face of meetings? →

I just finished reading Photocopied Education, by National Post's Kenyon Wallace. And, no doubt, the fears that the new copyright law, Bill C-32, will bring to Canadian textbook publishers is well-founded. But, I think that it's more of an issue of ill-founded assumptions rather than what big-publishing might have us believe. These "concerns"appear to be … Continue reading Photocopied Education: Textbook →

Every single educational technologist, educator, administrator that truly values the power of the Internet for its ability to connect, collaborate, and learn knows all about PLN--personal learning network--and the important role it plays in lifelong learning. People like Fisch, Shirky, Alec Couros, Shareski, Richardson, and Warlick live on a daily diet of Twitter feeds, Google … Continue reading PLN: Right under my nose →

Once again, social media guru, Danah Boyd, has forced me to revisit and rethink an issue that I held for so long to be one of black and white in nature: teenage bullying. Once again we, as educators and parents, may not have our collective finger on the pulse of the morphing young adults that … Continue reading "Bullying" means very little to teenagers →