Technology+and+Change,+What+are+the+pitfalls

Common Sense Media
[|Common Sense Media] is dedicated to improving the media and entertainment lives of kids and families.

Texting & Cell Phone Use
What do we do with this major technology tool at nex+gen Academy?

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This article from Robert Marzano has some good points on the benefits in one of the few research studies done on this new technology. What implications does this have for us at nex+gen as we install this technology in every learning studio?====== ==== ====

This article from the Los Angeles Times seemed to be an interesting one that sums up where we should be heading at nex+gen Academy. What are your thoughts?
[| Google co-founder Sergey Brin wants more computers in schools]  "It's important for students to be put in touch with real-world problems," Brin said. "The curriculum should include computer science. Mathematics should include statistics. The curriculums should really adjust." He advocated putting all textbooks on computers, to make for easier access, and for putting high school students to work -- writing Wikipedia articles, and teaching technology to senior citizens and middle school students. In teaching, they will learn.

Newsletter LInk ==**Dr. Richard LaPan of the State of NM Public Education Department's Accountability department, sent this article link: The promise of technology and change, so far, has fallen short at Philadelphia’s School of the Future.Education Week: 'School of Future' Struggles to Break From the Past**== For those of us members of EdWeek online, you can go directly to this. For others, click on the link above to the article. What are your thoughts on ways we can avoid these same problems?

From Richard LePan, State of New Mexico Office of Accountability: "For me, it is always about remembering to focus on the notion that the student "is the curriculum" and that instructional materials, methods and technologies are useful to engage the student in their learning but are not what the learning is about. It is easy to presume that if we put modern tools of communication and creative enterprise (art, music, video) that they will magically transform students into successful student learners and sadly, as the article implies, this is not always the result. So, stay focused on what the students learn about what they learn and how they apply it to real world situations in their daily experience and some of these pitfall can be avoided. I hope this is constructive and helpful."

 =**Twitter Lessons in 140 Characters or Less**= As we work with with our "digital natives", our new students for nex+gen Academy, how do we use some of the new social networking technology? Do we have a responsibility to model proper and effective use? To provide those same opportunities for skill and proper development? Maybe this article has some answers:
 * By** [|Kathleen Kennedy Manzo]

**Smart phones are being used to help math students At six high schools in North Carolina, students are participating in a corporate-sponsored experiment using school-issued smart phones to help them learn math. Figuring out how to use the phones effectively in the classroom is a "learning process," says one educator, but teachers and students say math concepts are being better understood, and students are even using the phones at home to record how they solved math problems and sharing the solutions with their classmates. What are your thoughts?

** =ISTE's Special Interest Group Newsletter for the Fall: Innovative Learning Technology:= Has some relevant articles for us to consider for: And, a reference to our school on page 13-14 on our use of Cloud computing and Google APPS
 * Netbooks and Open Source
 * iPods and iPhones
 * Cell Phones