Start with a Question

The ugly sweater. No matter your faith, it is a recognizable holiday phenomenon. Some wear them proudly, and yet it is only because they are messy, loud, and noticeable. The time when they were fashionable has past (decades ago) but there are some trends that stick around because they are hard to forget. There are certain teaching and learning strategies that are no longer en vogue, but are so valuable they have quietly lasted decades in many classrooms. In many cases, the tools used to carry them out and the names used to describe them have changed. Lecture Yes, I said it. Even as a teacher who has criticized the practice of lecturing quite often, I do believe it is a tried a true practice that can be effective –– if done well. Educators who are masterful lecturers understand that a quality lecture is interactive, thought-provoking, and entertaining for all participants. Great lectures are not solo performances, they are engaging experiences. Pear Deck is one platform tha...

Author's Note: This article originally appeared in St. John's Prep Today . I had the privilege of working with co-authors Director of Communications Elizabeth Forbes and Digital Learning Specialist Julie Cremin to put it together. Follow St. John's Prep on Twitter @stjohnsprep . In Alexandra Horelik’s history class, the iPads are open and students are intently reading about the first European colonists in New England and responding to questions. Look a little closer and you’ll see that as they read, Alexandra and her students are getting instant feedback about their progress. Alexandra Horelik's laptop displays her students' answers instantly, making it easy to adjust lessons on the go. From grade 6 through 12, students like Alexandra’s are engaged, teachers are able to assess students’ understanding in real time, and the classroom experience becomes more personalized. All of this is happening at the Prep thanks to formative assessment, a teaching and l...

Open Education Resources and Formative Assessment tools are a match made in edtech heaven.  Sound confusing? It's not. What is OER? More and more, teachers are moving away from traditional text books -- even the electronic versions -- and turning to open education resources (OER). OER is the acronym for high-quality open-licensed educational materials that can be found online. They are also free, which means parents can often access them at home to see what their child is learning or help support their student.   What is formative assessment? EduCanon allows teachers to add questions and activities to videos so that  students engage with the content more actively and find out which concepts are most important to remember. (Image: Andrew Fondell ) Students analyze the resources and complete activities with ed tech tools like eduCanon and others. The teacher has access to live data as the students work. The teacher then shares this dat...

Source: Pixabay I was recently in a personal teacher training session regarding the use of a particular edtech tool. The purpose of the tool is to enable teachers to distribute and students to complete multimedia assignments. This is typical in my new role as an digital learning coach. The tool isn't important, but at some point during that meeting a question was posed: What if the teacher doesn't accept late work? Is it possible for the student to access this assignment beyond the due date? So, this would mean a student would get a zero for anything he failed to submit on time, even if he completed it a day, an hour, or a few minutes late. My immediate reaction in the moment was to respond with yet another question: Why wouldn't a teacher accept late work? Then the student doesn't get to learn from it. So, we chatted briefly about how different educators have different grading policies, and then moved on to continue exploring the edtech tool. But I can...

Thanks to the power of EdSurge, these 4 powerful teaching strategies -- made possible by some smart edtech tools -- are no longer a best-kept secret. I've seen some incredible change in student interest, engagement, and student-teacher relationships thanks to these ideas. Click the graphic below to read more! Ready for the New School Year? Get on Top of These Four Edtech Teaching Trends