Posts Tagged ‘pedagogy’
Netbooks in primary school
Posted by: ashleytan on: September 30, 2009
Thanks to a Tuck Soon, I discovered a my paper article yesterday on how some North Vista Primary School students were using netbooks.
Click the image above to see a larger version.
I am glad and mad for a couple of reasons. First, the reasons why I am glad.
I have written about netbooks before, the earliest almost [...]
Google Apps in schools
Posted by: ashleytan on: September 24, 2009
Two days ago, I tweeted MOE’s press release on how all schools here were adopting cloud computing in the form of Google Apps. I thought that was wonderful news.
What do other people think of it? Chris Dawson who is far away in Massachusetts and a fan of Google Apps seemed pleased for us, but he [...]
Teaching naked
Posted by: ashleytan on: August 31, 2009
This NPR report headlines as “Dean Urges Tech-Free Classes”.
It’s not accurate. Dean Jose Bowen actually urges faculty to use technology more strategically and effectively.
Read and hear for yourself. And keep your pants on!
Beyond hearsay
Posted by: ashleytan on: August 13, 2009
Our part of the world experienced a slowdown in Internet access yesterday. Like other users, I wanted to know why.
I started by trawling local and regional news sites, and when I found nothing, I turned to real-time search on Twitter. There I discovered that others were complaining about slow Internet access via Singnet and Starhub. [...]
Learned helplessness
Posted by: ashleytan on: July 17, 2009
I have always felt that I was not alone on this and now I am more certain. Of what? The fact that many teachers have learned to be helpless.
I mentioned this in passing in a short blog entry last year. I was reminded of this thanks to a wonderfully written course description by Howard Rheingold [...]
It’s not about the tool, it’s about the learning
Posted by: ashleytan on: July 6, 2009
My last rant started with the broadband divide and ended with tired pedagogies (as exemplified by IWBs). I follow up today with a conversation hosted by Tom Barrett.
Barrett shared his views after getting his students to use surface computers (Smart Tables) and invited other educators to share their thoughts. Sharon Elin responded and here are [...]
Broadband divide
Posted by: ashleytan on: July 3, 2009
Yesterday a writer at Ars Technica asked How wide is the world’s digital divide, anyway? More specifically, the writer was wondering about the penetration rates of broadband in various countries. In a survey of 127 countries:
only 10 countries are above 80 percent—mostly small places like Hong Kong, Singapore, Denmark, and South Korea. Together, the ten [...]
Second pedagogy?
Posted by: ashleytan on: March 9, 2009
Sometimes I wonder how I would function as an educator without the Internet to help me with resources both human and non-human.
My four classes of teacher trainees started exploring Second Life (SL) this week. Over the weekend, someone I met a few years ago by email (and only this year in person) sent me a [...]
Pedagogy before technology
Posted by: ashleytan on: January 29, 2009
This New York Times article highlights an important concept: Pedagogy before technology.
The physics department at MIT decided to do away with traditional lectures. Why? Attendance was low and failure rates were high.
Instead, they replaced the lectures with “smaller classes that emphasize(d) hands-on, interactive, collaborative learning” and the attendance has gone up while the failure rate [...]
Wireless for good reason
Posted by: ashleytan on: November 21, 2008
In previous entries [1] [2], I talked about how schools could create anytime-anywhere, secure wireless networks instead of relying on computer labs or special media labs. I also described how students could be given laptops or netbooks on a 1:1 ratio. If not, they could adopt mobile labs like the ones Apple has been offering [...]
