Latest News and Comment from Education

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… - But Will Secretary Duncan Listen To Her?

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… - But Will Secretary Duncan Listen To Her?:

But Will Secretary Duncan Listen To Her?

The New York Times has published a major article on technology use in schools titled In Classroom of Future, Stagnant Scores.

I’ll be adding it to The Best Research Available On The Use Of Technology In Schools, but I wanted to highlight what I thought was the most interesting part of the article:

Karen Cator, director of the office of educational technology in the United States Department of Education, said standardized test scores were an inadequate measure of the value of technology in schools. Ms. Cator, a former executive at Apple Computer, said that better measurement tools were needed but, in the meantime, schools knew what students needed.

“In places where we’ve had a large implementing of technology and scores are flat, I see that as great,” she said.


“Hot Spot” Interview — Report From Chile

I recently began a new regular interview series. There are always lots of “hot spots” around the world — places where there are natural disasters, political upheavals, etc. And English teachers can be found in most of those places. If you are an EFL/ESL teacher in one of those areas, please let me know.

Today, Thomas Baker from Chile has agreed to answer a few questions. As the PBS New Hour reported two days ago, Student Education Reform Protests Rock Chile, so this is a particularly timely interview.

Can you tell us what and where you teach, what made you decide on a teaching career, and what brought you to Chile?

My mother and my brother taught me to read when I was four years old. By the time I was five, I knew the multiplication tables backwards and forwards. When I entered first grade my teacher, Mrs. Johnson, discovere