Philosophy Without A Home

Originally posted on my work blog http://techintegrationblog.blogspot.com/ Some basic resources for effectively using twitter as a teacher. http://twitter.pbworks.com/w/page/1779796/FrontPage A wiki to introduce people to twitter. Yes, you can tweet all about your boring breakfast (and worse) but if you would also like to get past that you can. http://twitter4teachers.pbworks.com/w/page/22554534/FrontPage A wiki specifically for teachers to learn about using twitter in education. The real question is: Why would I bother using twitter as a teacher? It does make one wonder. This Internet time suck used by celebrities and sports stars, how can it possibly be an effective tool for a serious endeavour like teaching?   That is the beauty of twitter, you make of it what you want or need. Twitter, along with many other similar social media sites (Google +, Facebook, “yes, facebook”, pinterest, scoop it, etc...), has the ability to connect like minded people. Imagine if you will the t

Perhaps this is just my view, but it looks like education is slowly inexorably changing and we have two choices competing for the dominant theory of what constitutes a quality education. TECHNOLOGY BECOMES THE TEACHER This is a nice model for the business community, because, eventually, the costs will drop. The basic premise is that if we design adaptive software students can sit in front of a computer all day and just follow the learning program. Costs will be limited to the hardware (less than $1,000), software, ($5 per student), and a person to monitor students (minimum wage). $45,000 for a class of 30, or $1500 per student, $65,000 for a class of 60 or $1,100 per student. Or about 10% or less of the cost to teach a student now. TEACHERS AS MENTOR / FACILITATOR. Instead of the presenters of knowledge teachers become the facilitators of knowledge. Experts in their craft who guide students through individualized learning experiences. Teachers of young children f

I've read a several times in different articles this week the author saying something to the effect of If a student can learn from the best teachers then why shouldn't they? This is a great sentiment, but I find the underlying assumption being that the idea of a great teacher is a person who wrote a great book, made a great discovery, presents a great lecture. I think they are missing the point. Teachers don't present the material so much as they set up the learning environment. Teachers facilitate learning. Sure it could be a lecture, or a presentation, or a power point-keynote, whatever. On the other hand it could be a project, or following a misconception all the way to it's end. Teaching is more than filling the empty vessels, it is igniting the fire. "For the mind does not require filling like a bottle, but rather, like wood, it only requires kindling to create in it an impulse to think independently and an ardent desire for the truth.&

Master Learners , a photo by Clint Hamada on Flickr.

So I get this in the mail the other day. Dear Friend: Today, we are excited to announce that more than 1,700 schools will plan and hold events during National School Choice Week 2013 (January 27-February 2, 2013). Please check out our press release below. National School Choice Week 2013 is going to break all records — so please help spread the word on social media about our big news today! If you're on Twitter, be sure to retweet this tweet. I know many of you are on Facebook too, so please like this post. You can also check out our new video. Now is the time to start thinking about how you will participate in National School Choice Week 2013 — and we're excited to have you celebrate with us. Best, Andrew And I think to myself. What do they mean by school choice, don't they really mean I give up? Our public schools are what we make it. We vote the school board in and we sit on our butts and watch Tuesday night TV while school boards decide what