Peter Pappas »
19 January 2009 »
In Commentary, Ed Tech »
Faced with writing a school report on an Australian animal, Tyler Kennedy began where many student begin these days: by searching the Internet. But Tyler didn’t use Google or Yahoo. He searched for information about the platypus on YouTube.
“I found some videos that gave me pretty good information about how it mates, how it survives, what it eats,” Tyler said. Similarly, when Tyler gets stuck on one of his favorite games on the Wii, he searches YouTube for tips on how to move forward. And when he wants to explore the ins and outs of collecting Bakugan Battle Brawlers cards, which are linked to a Japanese anime television series, he goes to YouTube again.
While he favors YouTube for searches, he said he also turns to Google from time to time.
“When they don’t have really good results on YouTube, then I use Google,” said Tyler, who is 9 and lives in Alameda. Calif.
Tyler is a self-directed and reflective learner, who monitors his progress. That's good news for educators as long as we can harness his growth, not stand in his way. As Eric Schmidt, Google CEO, once said “Search is highly personal and empowering. It’s the antithesis of begin told or taught.”
Noah Berger for The New York Times
Tyler Kennedy, 9, at home in California, uses YouTube to research reports for school and to hunt tips to advance in his video games.
Tags: Google, NYT, Writing
Peter Pappas »
13 January 2009 »
In Strategies, Students »
There's an interesting piece in the New York Times "At M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard" (1/13/09) that details an effort by the MIT physics department to move to a more student-centered, interactive approach to instruction. Physics is not simply a body of knowledge. It's a way of thinking, asking questions [...]
Tags: Engagement, Innovation, Motivation, NYT, PBL, Relevance, Science
Peter Pappas »
04 January 2009 »
In Commentary »
Innovation – an idea put to work – stands at the pinnacle of higher-order thinking. It begins with a firm grasp of the basics. Then the innovator must continue up through Bloom's taxonomy of thinking skills to analyze patterns and needs, evaluate alternatives and finally create something to resolve to the problem. Creating is nothing [...]
Tags: Bloom, Evaluation, Higher-order thinking, Innovation, NYT
Peter Pappas »
23 September 2008 »
In Commentary, Teachers »
As a 21-year-old rookie teacher I was pleased to find out I could finally be the most popular guy in class. I read all the books and crafted the "know-it-all" lecture that informed and entertained. It took me a few years to realize that my goal wasn't to be the smartest person in the room, [...]
Tags: Many Eyes, NYT, Wordle
Peter Pappas »
27 July 2008 »
In Commentary, Ed Tech, Literacy »
A new series examining the debate on 21st century literacy skills is beginning at the New York Times See: Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading? by Motoko Rich, July 27, 2008.As teenagers’ scores on standardized reading tests have declined or stagnated, some argue that the hours spent prowling the Internet are the enemy of [...]
Tags: Google, Innovation, NYT, Parents, Writing
Peter Pappas »
12 November 2007 »
In Ed Tech »
It turns out that the revolutionary XO, the much-touted “$100 laptop,” costs nearly $200. But for a limited time you can donate one to a third world child and get one free for yourself. Plus T-Mobile is offering donors one year of complimentary HotSpot access good for the XO laptop, and any other WiFi enabled [...]
Tags: Hardware, Innovation, NYT
Peter Pappas »
24 June 2007 »
In Leadership »
In May of this year I ran a two-day workshop for the social studies department at New York City’s High School for International Business and Finance. We focused on rigor and relevance and explored a variety of strategies that enable the student to “do the work of the historian.” More I was pleased to see [...]
Tags: NYT, Relationships, Relevance, Rigor
Peter Pappas »
18 November 2005 »
In Literacy »
I recently presented a workshop for teachers from the New York State Office of Children and Family Services. The goal was to share strategies for working with struggling readers in multi-ability classrooms in juvenile detention facilities around the state. I used reader profiles to guide teachers through identification of struggling readers and appropriate learning strategies. [...]
Tags: Motivation, NYT, Pat Martin, Suzanne Suor, Writing
Recent Comments