Leadership & Technology Blog

I've really been enjoying the Audrey Watters readings. She has a more negative lens about much of the modern educational technology than I do. However, I can't find any point she made that I can outright disagree with. She does a great job of articulating concerns that I have had about a variety of topics and does so in a way that gives me a bit of a chuckle.  When she wrote about the "flipped classroom" she had me reflecting back on conferences that I went to a number of years ago that touted the benefits of this model of teaching. The presenters were all very convincing. It seems that it was at a similar time that I was hearing all the reasons why we should be moving away from homework. These were very similarly convincing arguments. I never was able to resolve the two points. I was entertained by her criticism of "clickers".  I agree with her that the concept is not new. I have seen variations of it over the years. I am not sure that I agree with the stat...

When you hear mention of the digital divide, you probably think of the people who don't have access to computers or broadband, either at home or at school. You probably think of the scramble that took place in an attempt to give children access to their education when the pandemic hit and our world went virtual.  You probably think of the discrepancy between those schools that are loaded with all the latest technology and those with very limited resources.  Though these differences in resources are a large part of the digital divide, it is only the first part of the inequity. You could provide equal technology to all schools and make sure that everyone has reliable broadband and you still would not solve the problem.  We also need to ensure that we are providing equal education around the use of technology, by providing all students with a solid digital citizenship curriculum. Giving students the technology and not providing them with instruction around how to use it safe...

Digital equity is and should continue to be a concern in education. We are fortunate to be in Vermont where the per pupil spending ranks second highest in the nation, as of last year.  Report Outlines How Vt Education Spending Stacks Up . However, even within Vermont you can see dramatic differences in school budgets. Tax payers vote on their school budgets annually and some towns have had their budgets voted down many times over the years, while others pass easily. Over time, this has created a large gap in resources between schools. My group spent time learning about the Metaverse over the last few weeks. It is easy to get excited about the educational possibilities that the Metaverse offers as seen in the commercial below.  The Metaverse will be able to offer virtual experiences like traveling back in time during history classes, completing a dissection without killing a frog, practicing a foreign language on a virtual trip to another country, and even traveling through spa...