weblogg-ed

Nick Carr has a highly thought provoking piece in the Atlantic this month titled “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” that raises some challenging questions…

We’ve been wondering how long it will take until having a positive digital footprint becomes an expectation rather than an exception—and we’re already reserving domains so our kids can shape the story people find when they’re Googled.

Reflecting on Mark Bauerline’s book The Dumbest Generation, we argue that today’s young people are not “dumb” because of their technology use; rather, it is adults’ responsibility to model and guide meaningful learning with digital tools.

When Are We Going to Stop Giving Kids Tests That They Can Cheat On? We’re just askin’…

Reflections on Clay Shirky’s "Here Comes Everybody," the changing role of institutions like schools in an age of easy group forming, and why we need to rethink information, assessment, and our own assumptions in the midst of an epochal change.

We reflect on a recent post about 21st Century Skills for Teachers that drew 130+ comments and trackbacks, what that says about a growing, more connected network, the upsides and downsides of such intense participation, and the many new voices that joined the conversation.

We left the ThirteenCelebration conference inspired by powerful speakers yet deeply concerned that many education reform leaders lack real engagement with networked, Read/Write Web learning. Until we focus urgently on building 21st-century skills for educators—and expect them to publish, converse, and model connected learning—we’ll struggle to take calls for 21st-century skills for kids seriously.

We’ve been watching the flow of content coming out of Illinois, and it’s obvious we’ve reached a tipping point in how conference ideas escape the ballroom and reach the world. Here’s our tongue-in-cheek checklist for the ultimate, hyper-connected conference attendee.