by Barbara Frank
(excerpted from Thriving in the 21st Century: Preparing Our Children for the New Economic Reality)
Ultimately, schools have enough on their plates teaching children the three R’s; adding a requirement for insuring that children become computer-literate can often overwhelm even the best schools. So if children don’t learn to use computers in school, where can they learn this vital skill?
by Mark Keys
Motives for education can be fundamentally broken down into students taking an initial investment in hopes of high returns in the future. College students forego working now, and instead pay to educate themselves at traditional universities. This initial cost for investment has historically proven worthwhile to college graduates. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, those with a bachelor degree will earn $900,000 more than a high school graduate on average over the course of a lifetime (the gap widens to $1.3 million for a master’s degree).
by Bruce Friend
A recent policy brief by the National Educational Policy Center entitled, “Online K-12 Schooling in the U.S. – Uncertain Private Ventures in Need of Public Regulation” suggests that private organizations who have entered the space of online learning have benefited from, if not promoted, an unregulated and unaccountable system of educating students.
by Bruce Friend
My job allows me to travel around the country visiting different schools and speaking to teachers and students about their use of technology in the classroom.
What I hear and see concerns me.
by Bruce Friend
Earlier this month I was contacted by a parent who was exploring online school options for her daughter. The daughter is not currently capable of attending a traditional “brick and mortar” school due to health issues. The parent will be officially registering her daughter as a home school student and then plans to enroll her in online courses.
by Bruce Friend
Accessing digital content has never been easier for educators. Could it be however that the abundance of digital content may inadvertently be an obstacle unto itself as it relates to the effort to find more engaging materials beyond textbooks for educators and students to use?
by Bruce Friend
Schools across the United States, indeed across the globe, face the challenge of providing access and support to their teachers on how to use current technologies to engage students and deliver instruction; as well as to engage and inform parents. Many home school parents face these same challenges.
by Bruce Friend
Tornados and floods have wreaked havoc across the United States this spring. Images of homes and schools destroyed and families uprooted from their communities are reminiscent of scenes from after Hurricane Katrina.
by Bruce Friend
Anyone involved in breaking away from the traditional methods of delivering education knows that obstacles and skeptics will emerge, often with the sole intent of preserving a system that they see as superior and meeting the needs of the masses. Certainly home school parents are well aware of such challenges.
by Bruce Friend
As an educator and parent of three girls who are of elementary and middle school age, I know firsthand how exciting and challenging it is to introduce them to new technologies that foster learning, sharing, and collaboration (Perhaps I should say how exciting it is when they introduce such technologies to me!).
