That's right--it's that time of the year when we recap the top stories that got your fingers clickin’ in 2013. Curious to see what caught your attention? We've compiled a list of our most popular articles for you to relive edtech in 2013 all over again.
WANT YOUR KID TO LEARN TO CODE? The President, rappers, and NBA All-Stars are all urging kids to do it. Over 19 million (and counting) did it in December. Yah, we're talking about coding. So to give you the scoop, check out our very first guide: Teaching Kids To Code. It's brimming with over over 40 tools to help you get started. We’ve also got cheeky insights and commentary from:
- Mitch Resnick: Learn to Code, Code to Learn
- Sheena Vaidyanathan: We Need Coding in Schools, but Where are the Teachers?
- Shuchi Grover: Learning to Code Isn’t Enough
A PEEK AT PEARSON: Bill Gates once famously (or infamously) noted that no company that led in one generation of an industry continued to lead in the next round. So what does that mean for Pearson, the world's largest "education" company? EdSurge got a chance to put that awkward question to the man in charge, chief executive John Fallon. Here's what he had to say.
BETTER KNOW YOUR BUYER: Schools too frequently buy the wrong things, at bad prices and for the wrong students. Why do they do so? Here’s some great pieces from a former chancellor, CTO, and teacher on understanding your customer.
- Harold Levy: Why Schools Make Bad Buying Decisions
- Gee Kin Chou: A Checklist for Engaging a School District’s Central Office
- Ben Stern: The Do’s and Don’ts of Pitching Technology to Schools
DEVICE ADVICE: iPads. Amplify. Chromebooks--2013 was the year where the Big Tech heavy hitters took their wares to the schoolhouse.
- Roshni Mirchandani: Chromebooks and iPads: Rival No More
- Greg Klein: Why Chromebooks Should Rule the School
- Betsy Corcoran: Google Tablet Goes to School
WHITEOUT: As Chromebooks and tablets make their way into schools, it's worth remembering that smartboards were once the darling of education technology. So why didn't they take off? Jason Orbaugh, a former teacher and education consultant with SMART Technologies, shares “Lessons from the Downfall of Interactive Whiteboards.”
GET YOUR GAME ON! It doesn't take a PhD to know that when students are engaged, they learn. But the experimental evidence is mixed. Here’s our EdSurge special guide, Playing Games in Schools, which covers the good, the bad, and those pesky pixels. It includes a handy dandy list of 30 great edugames and commentaries from:
- Alan Gershenfeld: A Cheat Code for Helping Education Games Win
- James Paul Gee: Games, Standards and Assessments: Staying Out of the Toxic Mess
- Tony Wan: Why Teachers Should Play Minecraft--In Class
GLASS IN CLASS: Ever wonder what the classroom look like through the lens of a teacher? Margaret Powers, a Tech Coordinator at The Episcopal Academy, has been chronicling how teachers and students have used Google Glass and shares some of her projects on EdSurge.
BRING THE ‘COOL’ BACK TO SCHOOL: Fail quickly. Fix quicker. If you're an entrepreneur that mantra might sounds familiar; if you're a teacher, not quite so. But as just many companies have been inspired by the book, The Lean Startup, so too have many educators that are experimenting with innovative school models.
- Patricia Gomes: The ‘Lean Startup’ Model Goes to School
- Christina Quattrocchi: When Edtech Meets Montessori, Kids Rule Edtech
- Tony Wan: How to Succeed in a Startup and Still Pass Middle School
THE EVOLUTION OF LEARNING: In December 2012, a group of educators and entrepreneurs gathered to discuss how digital technologies will change the roles, responsibilities and rights of learners and teachers. Not everyone agreed on every point, but there were all found some common ground in fundamental principles that shouldn’t be compromised. The result: a “Bill of Rights and Principles for Learning in the Digital Age.”
TEACHERS TWEET: Becoming a connected educator wasn’t just a theme for the month of October--it persisted all year. From online PD tools to Twitter, teachers took to the digital skies to meet and greet. Here are a couple of the most popular articles that sounded the “connected educator alarm”:
- Pam Moran: How Twitter Tore Down My District’s Walls
- Joan Young: 7 Ways My Classroom is Better Because I Connect
- Mary Jo Madda: Breaking the Rules of Professional Development
- Katrina Stevens: Dipping into Social Media in the Classroom
TOMORROWLAND: A gaggle of educators, entrepreneurs and edtech thought leaders are sharing with us their vision for 2014--see below. Patrick Atwater, Director of the Los Angeles Education Partnership, goes above and beyond in his snapshot of what the future of learning could look like, circa 2025.
