BLENDED LEARNING PAVES WAY FOR DIGITAL CONTENT

Most of us are aware that blended learning means integrating face-to-face classroom instruction with online learning.

The benefits of blended learning are many, including allowing greater leeway for students to work at their own pace and take a lot more courses than they might otherwise have had access to at their own local schools. Think of it as an educational leveler.

But as Bob Wise, former governor of West Virginia and president of the Alliance for Excellent Education opined at a recent panel discussion, "Blended learning is not using technology to diminish the role of teaching, it enhances the role of teaching."

HOW TO STAY ALIVE IN THE SWAMP

The first four words in this article on EdSurge by Tony Wan, Nine Questions for Evaluating Education Innovation, caught my interest immediately.

They must have done the same for Mr. Wan as he took them directly off the title of a new report from Nesta and newSchools Venture Fund, an otherwise ’sober-sides’ educational organization.

What are the four words you ask? Hang on, I'm getting to them!

Drum roll... and the four words are, “Alive In The Swamp”!

Mr. Wan aptly terms these three words as a possible title for a “cheesy survival horror flick,” and also a good analogy for the problems experienced by “entrepreneurs and educators slogging their way through edtech jungle, trying to figure out how to best build, deploy and assess technology for the classroom.”

NAO ROBOT FASHION SHOW, HIGHSCHOOLERS ROCK

Teachers searching for innovative ways to interest kids in STEM learning should watch this video of high schoolers in Austin, Texas, producing their own robot fashion show at a local Barnes and Noble. That’s right! A robot fashion show complete with a runway and the latest fashions for well-dressed robots!

The students are from the award-winning robotics clubs of Anderson High School and Eastside Memorial. High School presented five ‘NAO’ humanoid robots developed by Aldebaran Robotics of Paris, France; they programed them with five distinct personalities, taught them to move like little models, and sent them down the runway strutting their stuff and dressed to the nines!

OHIO OFFICIALS LAUNCH 'STRAIGHT A' FUND

STEM LEARNING INITIATIVE IN ILLINOIS

EDTECH ISN'T OPTIONAL, IT'S ESSENTIAL

An overwhelming majority of teachers (86%) and administrators (93%) think it's "important" or "absolutely essential" to use products (such as apps, computer games, websites, digital planning tools, or digitally delivered curricula) designed to help students or teachers.

Almost all teachers (between 87% and 96%) agree the use of educational technologies increases student engagement in learning, enables personalized learning, improves student outcomes, and helps students collaborate.

And 9 out of 10 teachers agree they would like to use more edtech in the classroom.

HOW 3D PRINTING IS CHANGING THE WORLD FOR THE BETTER

AN ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF CRITICAL THINKING

MOTION MATH GAMES HELPS MAKE MATH FUN

DO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT ANSWER TO THE WRONG QUESTION?

Shari Stockero is assistant professor of mathematics education at Michigan Technological University and a former high school math and science teacher.

Stockero is studying teacher education experiences and designing new programs for beginning mathematics teachers in middle and high school.

Her research is funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award.

The award is worth almost half-million dollars over five years.