Last month I attend Moodle boot camp hosted by Remote Learner. The focus of the 3 days of training was on Moodle 2.0. It was one of the first training sessions they have run on Moodle 2.0. Just as it can be a challenge to first adopt it new release, attending the first training sessions can run some risks as well as not everything is always ready. I currently manage a 1.9 Moodle server and am looking forward to upgrading. …
Learning takes place within a learner it results in the change of the learners understanding and behavior. As toddlers we learn that fire is hot, and ice is cold. Those of us who watched A Christmas Story learned not to stick our tongue on a frozen flag pole. Though I am sure a few were inspired to try any way, they still learned the lesson. Learning takes place all the time as we engage with our environment and each other….
Doug Johnson recently wrote “Beware the straight-A student.” Doug wonders…. if straight-A students are “demonstrating, not intelligence, but the ability to conform, to mindlessly follow instructions, to support the established order? Do truly original thinkers and creative problem-solvers get high grades in school?” This reminded me of a situation I faced two years back in taking an online course designed for middle school science teachers. The course was in earth science and I have a strong back ground in the…
My father shared with me an article, India Graduates Millions, But Too Few Are Fit to Hire, from the Wall Street Journal. It discusses that many of the graduates from India’s colleges are not prepared to work in India’s business and engineering fields. Even call centers are finding it difficult to fill jobs. We have all heard “India has more honor students then we have students.” It does not matter how many ‘honor’ students you may have if they cannot…
A few weeks back I spent a lot of time at the skating rink at our annual skating competition. There were parents from a variety rinks in attendance. The conversation in the stands was not only about skating but about grades. I few moms were sharing about the report cards that had just come out and were comparing ‘war’ stories. As an educator my ears picked up and I joined in. From the discussion I heard the typical comments. So…
Those of you who follow this blog know that I have been experiencing a sift in my thinking about education over the last few years. Maybe not so much a shift but a clarification and redefining of what I mean by education, schooling and learning. I used to use these words almost interchangeably. But my experience as a parent, educator and, learner is teaching me that they are very different and sometimes in conflict. I also notice I am redefining…
I usually to do not write about personal events but this one seemed relevant to share. Yesterday I attended the memorial service, with my children, for John Stewart. He was my son’s homeroom and central subject teacher. My daughter was his student a few years back. A series of Facebook pages and a former student’s blog post may give you a glimpse in the impact this man had on his students. There were so many who came to honor this…