IDEA Blog
Microsoft wins TEACH campaign from Education Department
A division of Bill Gates(tm) Microsoft is taking over from the Education Department a campaign called TEACH that is aimed at recruiting new teachers into the profession.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan told the Microsoft Partners in Learning Global Forum last week in Washington D.C. that the division had won a competition to take over from the department the TEACH campaign and its website. The website provides free information for teachers and prospective teachers.
Duncan said that the Partners in Learning division will be the sole owner and operator” of the TEACH project, “improving and expanding the teacher recruitment campaign” as well as all related marketing efforts.
That the department would select Microsoft’s division is not especially surprising, given that Duncan and Gates walk and talk the same school reform line, sometimes sounding as if their speeches came from the same shop.
Reflections from the NYC Innovation Tour
The Stirrings of Subversion
It's that time of year again. All of the Christmas decorations are hitting the store shelves way too early; people are propping up trees before the turkey is even killed, let alone cooked; and children are running around after school, sporting their pilgrim hats and "Indian" feathers. War paint, garb, and lines to the latest "First Thanksgiving" play may also be prominently featured during play or bus stop chat.If there was one single thing that poked the speck of homeschooling sand beneath my wholly public-schooled shell prior to its pearled status in my heart, it was the way we learn about the first Thanksgiving in schools. I can remember the shock and outrage I experienced when I...
Real Education is Relevant
Real Education is Relevant And Relevance Is All About the Context
If we are going to talk about school reform designed to create meaningful education, we need to look at education within the context of the individual, her community, history, and the planet. And hopefully with as much sophistication as each context demands.
Today’s education reform narrative is filled with buzz words that are meant to capture the majority of perceived issues we need to address in schools. Most are about making today’s learners competitive in tomorrow’s job market. None does this better than “21st century skills.” I actually have little issue with “21st century skills.” It’s the common context and...
Real Education is as Relevant as Buying Milk
Real education is relevant. It presents students with a reason to learn and care about the subject at hand. It’s not rote memorization for a test or tedious exercises, but problem solving that forces students to think on their feet. The first child in any family is a guinea pig and beyond survival, one of the biggest things that new parents are trying to figure out is how to transmit essential information to their kids. My parents took the approach of making the world my classroom. They gave tasks to complete at every turn – from the playground, to amusement parks, to the supermarket.
For some reason when I was a little girl my family bought milk from somewhere different than...
Real Education is Relevant
In high school, I maintained consistently horrible grades in math. It was mainly Algebra that killed my GPA. I just didn't get it you know? But gosh... I wanted to. I wanted to understand all those letters and symbols so bad. I've always had trouble learning something if I didn't understand the practicality and usefulness of it though. So in my Algebra class... the one I took three years in a row in high school... I asked more than one teacher, on more than one occasion,"How is Algebra useful in a real world situation?"
"Why do the rules of Algebra work the way they do?"
"How do we know that this stuff is really true anyway? How is the truth of Algebra confirmed in the world and not on...
Relevant Education
Real Education is Powerful
One of the most powerful experiences of learning I've ever seen is captured in the Frontline special "A Class Divided." Here's an excerpt from the introduction on the website:
A list of incredible humans who know what real education looks like
Late last week, I was in a conversation with Sheryl Petty where she graciously encouraged me to look at just how much IDEA and my own thinking is impacted by other humans who have put their ideas and love into words.
In support of #blog4idec and today's theme of "Human", I thought I'd try to brainstorm off the cuff (no help from Google) the names of the people whose writing has profoundly shaped my thinking about what real education looks like at the most human level.
Feel free to add your own incredible humans in the comments box.
And yes, I am inviting several moments of, "how could I forget ________, and _____________, and __________ . . ."
Here's my list of incredible humans:
...Blog for IDEC 2012 Week Roundup: Real Education Is…
It's Blog for IDEC 2012 Week, and each day you're invited to submit a post on one of the defining values of the conference and what it means to you. Leave a link to your URL in the comments section, and we'll add it to this post. Check back throughout this week as we update this post with new links. Use the Twitter hashtag #blog4idec.And don't forget to register for IDEC before the Early Bird Special ends on November 7!
Tuesday, November 1: Real Education is Human.
- Esther Ohito: "Teach for Humanity"
- Kirsten Olson: "Real Education is Human"
- Zahra Lightway: "What does human education mean?"
- Melia Dicker: "Real Education is Human"
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Justen Eason: "Real Education is Human"...
Posted on Nov 01, 2011 - 11:49 AM by IDEC 2012
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