My State of Flux Husband, Dad, Educator

This is So Very Sad

photo credit: Lawrence Whittemore

From Will Richardson:

Reality Check

Recently a school administrator shared a story that reminded me why I need to spend more time talking to more people outside of the echo chamber.

She said that a group of parents had requested a meeting to discuss the methods of a particular teacher and his use of technology. It seemed this teacher had decided to forgo the textbook and have students write their own on a wiki, that he published a great deal of his students’ work online, that he taught them and encouraged them to use Skype to interview people who they had researched and identified as valuable voices in their learning, and that he shared all of his lectures and classwork online for anyone, not just the students in his class, could access them and use them under a Creative Commons license.

When the administrator got the phone call from the parent who wanted to set up the meeting, she asked for some sense of what the problem was. The reply?

“Our students don’t need to be a part of a classroom experiment with all this technology stuff. They need to have a real teacher with real textbooks and real tests.”

Sigh.

Idaho Digital Learning Academy Facing Potential Cuts

Facing budget ax

This isn't the first and probably won't be the last.  We were fortunate this year in Michigan to see only minor cuts in our state funding, I don't think we'll be as lucky next year.

At some point the legislators have to figure out how to properly fund and support face to face and virtual education.  The question is , will it be be before or after innovative programs like IDLA and Michigan Virtual University are forced into the choice to "go private" or fold for good?

3 Ways Educators Are Embracing Social Technology

3 Ways Educators Are Embracing Social Technology

And how do you use it?