It's easy to bust on standardized tests. They suck. They're boring. They're virtually meaningless. They kill instructional time. But what's the alternative? If we're not using multiple choice tests, what are we using? If we want a more creative classroom, what types of assessments exist…
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You've seen the videos imploring people to "look up" and abandon their devices. It's easy to look into a crowd and say, "They're not interacting with each other." But I've always had a hard time with these complaints. The problem isn't the device. It's the…
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Here’s a sketchy video I created for my technology pedagogy course. I have mixed feelings about SAMR, because it often implies that “lower levels” are not as good when often substitution works well. Royan Lee picked this apart well. I also think there are times…
Note: While this post points to a problem I have noticed with tech adoption and teachers, I want to point out that there is a free resource I developed with coaching questions for teachers on the technology journey. These correspond with a post I wrote…
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We use terms like “I’m on YouTube or “I’m going online” and it implies a sense of space. I might say "I spent an hour on Facebook," but I would never say, "I spent an hour on a book." And yet, when you are online,…
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Flash back to Tuesday afternoon: I'm sitting down at the computer overwhelmed by the uncertainty of audience. I'm thinking about that technology training where I had wanted to show teachers how to use Google Drive for assessment . . . and then Google Drive was…
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I believe that peer feedback is critical for students. Part of this is the nature of peer interactions. Peers are often able to share their thoughts in a more relatable way than teachers. Another part is simply the time limits that teachers have. Even with…
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Initially, I cringed at the term marketing. I viewed myself as an artist who thought that my work would be discovered. I viewed marketing as trickery. However, over time, I realized that if the initial goal of the design thinking cycle involved solving a problem…
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Over the last three years, I have realized that there were key things I want to learn more about. The first topic was business. Although I didn't see it this way at first, I quickly realized that as we launched a blogging platform, we were…
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I sit in front of the computer, staring at the screen. I have a general syllabus with little more than standards and goals. The university is giving me a crazy amount of freedom to design this online course. I shake my head, unsure of what…
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Dr. John Spencer
I’m a professor and a maker. Sometimes I make things. Sometimes I make a difference. On a good day, I get to do both.
