Educational Technology

Thomas Friedman wrote in his book The World Is Flat 3.0 , that the speed and reach of emerging technology are outpacing the ability of countries to manage it. This rapid pace of change is therefore creating many new pressures on businesses, governments, and individuals that currently do not have the capability to manage it. I believe the same is true for the influence of social media and its far-reaching effects on the educational system and a teacher’s ability to maneuver it. A conversation between friends on the phone or face-to-face is considered private speech. It is very difficult to reprimand a person for "letting off steam" or complaining about a boss or a hard day at work when it's a private statement. Unfortunately, people have used social media to take the place of these conversations. They've made them into tweets, Facebook posts, instant messages, video diaries, and blogs. Due to social media being a relatively new influence on society, a consistent s...

The Bedford County Public Schools Instructional Technology Coaches created a Mini Vodcast and set of resources on Differentiation. Today's blog is a quick summary of those resources and the vodcast. A future blog and mini vodcast will focus on Tiering. Check out the (Mini) #Vodcast on Differentiation (Part 1) on YouTube: https://bit.ly/36crHkR Differentiation is basically tailoring instruction to meet each student’s individual needs regardless of their abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. At the core of Differentiated Instruction is the modification of four elements Content (what students learn),  Process (how do students make sense of the information and ideas),  Product (how they show what they’ve learned) and Learning environment/Affect (the climate or tone in the classroom). This modification is based on an assessment of student differences in readiness, interest, and learning profile. Pros & Cons of Differentiated Instruction Pros Research shows differentiated instr...