“When the expertise and wisdom of the teacher is given equal weight in the blended learning equation, that is bold school” (Kieschnick, p.21). Recently, I had the honor of meeting and talking with Weston Kieschnick, senior […]
Category: Blended Learning
A Teacher by Any Other Name – The Instructional Shift of Blended Learning
What kind of power is in a title, and what if we redefined the role of the teacher? I’m currently reading the book Blended by Michael B. Horn and Heather Staker. Often when I read a […]
The Word of the Day Podcast—A New Way to Inspire Language Learners
To expand on a popular saying: Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll pass a fishing test and then forget how because he wasn’t all […]
Removing the Limitations in a Digital Environment
What is the ideal blended learning environment? I have had a lot of noneducators talk to me about technology in the classroom. Most don’t have informed opinions (so I’m happy to share mine with them). Many […]
The Carrot and The Stick: Are American Schools Actually Teaching Us?
When I was seven-years-old we moved from the United States to Switzerland because of my father’s job. I was born in Brazil, but having left it just two years old, I didn’t really know anything other […]
The Secret of Team Allocation in a Flipped Classroom Environment
In a flipped-classroom, blended learning environment with team-based learning it is important to consider the formation of students teams. For students who are first year undergraduate students, freshmen, it can be a much longer and more […]
My Experience of Hands-On Learning
I am a student that will always have trouble with math. I remember having trouble understanding the basic concepts since I was little, when I had difficulty telling time after most of the kids in school […]
An Inside Look at the Ineffable Writing Process
The beauty of writing poetry is that there is no concrete, one formulaic way in which to write it. Every piece marks a learning process, a play with words, a way to let your mind wander […]
How to Choose the Right EdTech Tools for Your Classroom
The world of educational technology is a rapidly changing universe, complete with hundreds of “must-have” tools for every classroom and every teacher. I am a firm believer in the power of educational technology in the classroom. […]
Blending the Traditional Book Study with Digital Tools
Summer is a busy time for many. Vacations. Family time. Housework. Yardwork. Painting. Hobbies. Reading. School book studies??? Summer is an opportunity when many educators dedicate time to read, find new ideas to implement in their […]
Preparing Teaching Candidates for Blended and Online Environments
There is a growing need for today’s pre-service teachers to be equipped with skills and competencies for blended, online, and technology-rich teaching and learning environments. As teaching candidates progress through teacher education programs, they should be […]
Finding a Balance: ThingLink for Digital and Analog Work
Do you sometimes find yourself and your students focused on one type of tool or another? Maybe you’re deep into a writing unit, and students have been immersed in their journals, pencils and paper writing. Or, […]
Bridging the Physical-Digital Gap with QR Codes in the Classroom
In a digital world of links, likes, tweets and pins, there are very few mechanisms for connecting our ever expanding digital world with the physical one around us. QR codes are one of the simplest and most well established ways […]
Google Trends: A Captivating Way to Explore Data with your Students
Overview Did you know that Google receives and processes over 4 million search queries per minute? That is a giant shed load of queries! It is also a giant shed load of data that Google collects and makes openly available to us with Google Trends. […]
When To Say No To #EdTech
I love to write about adapting technology to almost every area of the classroom and am a firm believer in its wonderful benefits across a wide range of subjects and situations. Having said that however, I am also […]
Why Technology Alone Won’t Reform Education
Dr. Madhav Chavan is a social activist, entrepreneur and the CEO of the educational non-profit, Pratham. He was also responsible for starting the Read India campaign, which aims to teach basic reading, writing and arithmetic to underprivileged children across […]
Exploring Auditory Learning Opportunities with audioBoom
Overview Our brains absorb information in many, many different ways, where each of our senses offer a different interface to process information. In classrooms, this may be through text, video, interaction or any number of different mediums, but one […]
Get the Most Out of Your 1:1 Classroom with Nearpod
Overview Coined “an innovative and interactive classroom tool to create, engage and assess“, Nearpod puts you in control of your students devices, helping them stay on track and engaged in the lesson. Using a desktop or mobile device, […]
Connect and Automate your Digital Classroom Using IFTTT
Overview In an effort to ‘simplify’ our busy lives with technology, it’s all too easy to end up swamped in a stressful world of logins, passwords, emails and notifications. IFTTT (If This Then That) is a beautifully simple […]
Reinforce Positive Classroom Behaviour with ClassDojo
Overview Managing classroom behaviour and devising fresh new ways to motivate students is a big part of the teaching skill set. ClassDojo is an excellent free tool that (with the help of some very cute and friendly […]