Technology and the Whole Child

Here's an snip of the latest post by Chris Lehmann:

"And we wonder why we have not seen technology truly revolutionize education.

The true promise of technology does not lie in being able to reproduce - in shinier ways - the things schools have always done. If all we can imagine is how technology can "deliver instruction" in new ways, we will forever be limited by our own lack of vision. What technology can allow us to do is to realize the promise of many of our best ideas of progressive education. It can allow students to inquire, collaborate and connect in ways that allow us to realize the promise of Dewey's dream. Moreover, it allows students and teachers to see themselves as real people, defined not just by the power dynamic of the classroom, but through the social networks that they should and will and must cross."

Read the whole post called Technology and the Whole Child here.

Thoughts on Educon

In every classroom at Science Leadership Academy, the school's core values are prominently displayed on large posters:
inquiry
research
collaboration
presentation
reflection
and hence all work done by students and teachers is based on these core values.

Likewise, in every classroom at SLA, the essential questions for each grade (not each course--each grade) are displayed. The 9th grade questions center around the concept of identity, the 10th around systems, the 11th around change, with seniors pursuing independent "capstone" projects.

These two simple lenses--of core values and thematic grade-level essential questions--provide clarity and purpose to the students and the teachers. They allow for student-centered learning. They allow for and encourage interdisciplinary projects and collaboration among the faculty.

Imagine what this could do for BBA. We must distill our statements of philosophy into core beliefs, and consider how the UbD work each department is doing might merge into connected understandings and essential questions we can all share. I'm inspired to get this happening.