The Wall Street Journal approached me to write an article sharing my views on whether technology belonged in the classroom. I was surprised anyone was still having this conversation, but like the technology-banning professor Clay Shirky, there are others, who don't see the power of technology beyond a device of consumption. They still view school time as a place for stand and deliver instruction where students need to be told how to learn and think critically and they can only do that with humans who are physically present. Of course, innovative educators have a different view of learning. We know that technology can be used as a tool to engage students with a global network experts and others who share their passions and interests. We understand that technology lets us go beyond handing work in and on to publishing it.  Please check out both sides of the article in The Wall Street Journal at this link and comment there and here with your views on the topic.I can't wait to discuss.Visit this link to share your thoughts and comment on the article.

I had the opportunity to speak to parent coordinators (those who are the liaison between families and schools) about great tools to stay connected to families this summer.  The focus was on free social media tools that parents can access via their cell phone. About half of the resources could be accessed on basic, text enabled phones which is great for communities where not all parents have consistent data plans or internet access.I shared examples of each of the following tools. The goal for participants was to come away with one tool they would use this summer to stay connected with families. Here are the resources I shared: ToolNumberURL1Cel.ly23559http://cel.ly2FacebookN/Ahttps://www.facebook.com3iPadio866-605-0336http://www.ipadio.com4Remind81010http://www.remind.com5Twitter Fast Follow40404https://twitter.com6UStreamN/Ahttp://www.ustream.tv7VimeoN/Ahttps://vimeo.com8YouTubeN/Ahttps://www.youtube.comHere is the presentation I delivered to show how each resource is used:Which of these resources have you used?  What has worked well? Have examples?  Share in the comments.

Today is the first day of the New York City Department of Education's "Bring Your Own Device" Institute.  Below is an interview featuring teachers from two participating schools that was conducted by Common Sense Graphite (originally posted here.)  By Erin Wilkey Oh On March 2, 2015, the New York City Department of Education lifted its school cell phone ban. Students are now allowed to bring cell phones and other personal electronic devices to school. Each school is tasked with creating its own cell phone and electronic device policy for students. This brings some challenges but also many exciting opportunities for those schools willing to explore the possibilities of a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) program.I recently chatted via email with Jackie Patanio, technology coach at Public School 16 in Staten Island, N.Y., and Carolyn Semet, technology specialist at Intermediate School 230 in Jackson Heights, N.Y. I wanted to hear how things were going for them and the teachers they work with one month after the ban lifted.I want more »

PBS LearningMedia which provides digital learning experiences for students, recently conducted a study that goes beyond looking at the impact of technology on students ability to fill bubbles in old-fashioned tests. Instead, it showed the positive impact of educational media on student achievement.Key findings include:1)    High quality digital content positively impacted student content knowledge and critical thinking practices when integrated into existing curriculum. Across subject areas (English language arts, mathematics, science and social studies), student performance on content assessments showed significant improvement, increasing by eight percentage points.I want more »

A recent study from the Center for Economic Performance in London makes a disturbing recommendation to ban students from using their digital devices for learning. The study making the rounds in stories like this one (The Conversation), this one (ABC On Your Side), and this one (NY Mag) disregards what innovative educators know and research shows: Paper assessments are a poor indicator of student achievement. The study indicates that after schools banned mobile phones, test scores of high school students increased by 6.4% of a standard deviation, which they say means that it added the equivalent of five days to the school year. It goes on to say the results indicate the ban has a greater impact on special needs students and those eligible for free school meals.But before schools and districts start pulling devices from the students who need them most, it is important to take a look under the hood. I want more »

In case you missed it, ASCD's Ed Leadership magazine has an entire issue dedicated to "Teaching with Mobile Tech." My Teaching Gen Text co-author and I had the opportunity to contribute. Here is an excerpt:Teaching with Cell PhonesResearch suggests that students are eager to use their cell phones for learning. Are schools ready to catch up?Cell phones need not be a distraction in schools. Instead, they can be tools for sustaining engagement, supporting real-world cooperative learning, and empowering learning on the go.Students already know this. According to a Project Tomorrow survey (2013), 78 percent of middle school students say they use their cell phone to check grades; 69 percent credit it with helping them take class notes; 64 percent enjoy its aid in accessing online textbooks; 56 percent say it helps them write papers and do homework; and 47 percent say it helps them learn about school activities. If students are doing all these things on their own, just think how much more they can accomplish when educators incorporate cell phones into instruction.I want more »

Capturing student voice and engaging students in robust discussion and questioning is an important element of the Common Core Standards. It also increases teacher effectiveness and student achievement.    With traditional teaching methods, reaching students who are either, too shy or not motivated to participate, can be difficult. Darlynn Alfalla, the Tech Coordinator at Wagner Middle School provided advice to the "Questioning and Discussion Study Group" at her school. She helped an interested teacher, Robin Danky, incorporate a back channel called "Today’s Meet" into her lesson. It worked like a charm. Here is the video which outlines the results. Click this link to view video.I want more »

You've heard the stories.  Raunchy photos that result in people getting fired, kicked off the team or appearing less attractive potential mate. But what if you could make the images people find, great?  You can with a headshot.  This is something I discussed with librarians last week in a workshop about taking control of your digital image.  For the workshop, I also was able to secure a teacher with a passion and profession as a photographer to take headshots.Robert Lieberman gave back to his colleagues and we benefited. I have a lot of serious headshots. I asked him to take one of me being silly. Here it is:You can help do the same with your students and staff. Barter services with a talented teacher. Work with the photography club to take headshots of staff and/or classmates.  Use a service like Fiverr where you can get a headshot for just $5. I want more »

Kids these days. They're re-wired with a need for constant attention and engagement. They could never do what we did: Sit for hours locked in our room or under a tree with a single book.And that's okay.Don't knock em. Join em. Help em. Even learn from em.Nearly 40% of parents say their child does not spend enough time reading for fun but when you take social media into account you realize that is simply not true. Today's digital learners are not only reading like never before, they are writing too using social media. And that's a great thing. More and more research shows this is an effective  way to increase literacy among our youth.Here are some ways we can harness the power of social media to inspire reading (and writing!) and join families everywhere as part of the PTA Family Reading Challenge using social media.I want more »

At #ISTE2015 there are a lot of great Tweets and some you may want to share with others where you work.  Do you know how to do that?  If not, read this to learn how in a few easy steps.1) Find the Tweet2) Right click on the date3) Select "Copy link address"4) Select "Open in new tab" to see what it looks like to othersHere is what the link looks like when others open it: