K-12
School Board Proposes Limitations on Homework
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008If their legs were long enough to reach the pedals of their parents’ cars, young children would be emptying their piggy banks for gas money and immediately relocating to Toronto, Ontario.
Why the move? The Toronto District School Board, the largest public school board in Canada, is proposing to eliminate homework for kindergarten children and ban [...]
The Rubber Room
Thursday, March 13th, 2008National Public Radio recently aired an excellent This American Life episode called Human Resources. The first part of this documentary featured a story called “The Rubber Room,” which focused on a surreal situation in the NY City Public School System.
The rubber room is a place where hundreds of teachers facing disciplinary hearings for real, imagined, [...]
The Tinkering School: Helping Kids Discover Danger
Thursday, February 21st, 2008Last week, I wrote about a teen panel I attended that suggested that, except for a few small differences, today’s teens seem pretty similar to their boomer parents. Considering how differently these generations were raised, this is surprising.
When I was young, my favorite game was called stretch. My opponent and I would face each other, [...]
Low-Cost, Lightweight Laptops for Learning
Wednesday, November 28th, 2007I’m not at all in love with my laptop.
It was purchased just over a year ago for about $1,200. It has a battery that lasts about 2.5 hours, which gets me about 30 percent of the way on most of my business trips. And, although it was marketed as lightweight, it feels like I’m carrying [...]
One Laptop Per Child: “Give One Get One” Starts Today
Monday, November 12th, 2007Between November 12 and November 26, One Laptop per Child is offering a Give One Get One program in the United States and Canada. Buy two laptops, and one will be sent to a child in a developing country. You get the other for a child in your life.
This is a revolutionary machine. Here’s a [...]
The Biggest Learning Technology Story of 2007
Thursday, November 8th, 2007November 12, 2007 is the official launch of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) initiative.
It’s been less than two years since Nicholas Negroponte presented at the World Economic Forum the idea for a $100 laptop that would be distributed to children in developing countries. High profile companies, including AMD, News Corp., Google, and Red Hat, [...]
Study Suggests Omega 3 Helps Children With Learning Difficulties
Monday, November 5th, 2007Canada AM this morning had an interview with Oxford’s Dr. Alexandra Richardson about the positive effects of omega 3 fatty acids on children experiencing learning difficulties in school. In a recent double blind study, children given a half gram of omega 3 supplements showed significant improvements in reading, writing, concentration, and behavior compared to children [...]
