Bill Gates on what’s wrong with public schools

Gates appears in the new documentary Waiting for “Superman,” a powerful indictment of the U.S. education system, it features educators running the innovative Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) schools, and follows families desperate to get their children into high-performing charter

Effective Assessment in a Digital Age

What does effective assessment look like in the digital age? This document in PDF includes an articulation of four major perspectives on assessment: associative, constructivist, social constructivist, and situative. This is an excellent report, full of examples, case studies, and

The iPad for Academics

After having used an iPad shortly since its release I can safely say that the device — or another one like it — deserves to become an important part of the academic’s arsenal of gadgets. Choosing to plop down the …

Reflections on Teaching with Social Media

I think there’s a big difference between allowing the use of social media and requiring it. That difference probably explains the ambivalence of students in Brian Croxall’s courses, and he had them bouncing from wikis to Twitter to Wave. You …