One of the project that I am heavily invested in is the transformation/renovation of our existing computer lab space. To tell this story, I am going to break this up into several posts, as it would be too long winded to explain in one mega-post. Today, I am sharing the pedagogical background to explain why we are doing what we are doing. Make, Hack, Build If you look around a classroom in the lower grades, you will most likely see a flurry of activity around centers, students building and constructing structures, experimenting with materials and structures. However, as these students […]

This is an updated post for 2013. As an introvert, I find ISTE can be overwhelming. Here is how I try to keep in balance. ISTE can be an overwhelming conference with over 10,000+ attendees. I have been to the conference 14 times previously, and ISTE seems to get larger each year. Coupled with the advent of social media, there is a celebrity-like buzz and excitement  that has evolved, especially with the growth of Hack Education (formerly EduBloggerCon/SocialMediaCon). This is so unlike the first ISTE (then the NECC conference) I attended in Orlando twenty years ago in 1993. My goal for […]

On the first day of my summer vacation…. It has been awhile since I have published anything via this channel and with the demise of Google Reader and the seemingly slow demise of RSS (which I hope I am misreading), fewer and fewer of you may actually find these posts. While I have not been publishing, I have been extremely busy and sharing tidbits of what is upcoming in my life through other social media channels, primarily Facebook and Twitter. Via IFTTT.com, I am going to have to make sure that these posts are visible to through may other channels. […]

Harvard Business School professor Willy Shih: “The ability to make things is fundamental to the ability to innovate in the long term.”

Each year, I eagerly await the release of both of the New Media Consortium’s Horizon Reports, the Higher Ed Report and the K12 Report. I enjoy seeing what new items are added to the list and which items move up or quickly accelerate upwards on the list. In years past, they have identified the move towards cloud computing and the shift towards mobile devices including tablets (iPads, Androids, etc.). As an educator and technology leader, I feel that it is important to not only focus on what we are doing today, but to keep mindful of change for the future. In […]