I’ve appreciated the discussion taking place over the last few days regarding SAMR, and am impressed with the variety of opinions and pressures resulting from varied local implementations. Stop the SAMR madness. Wow. — David Jakes (@djakes) February 24, 2014 Because my district has yet to “shove SAMR” down teachers’ throats, I didn’t realize how invested …
Month: February 2014
That Time When SAMR Gets Us Into Trouble
There’s a lot of talk out there about SAMR these days (the model, not the rifle, although both are kind of cool). See what I mean? Combined with other models, you might even end up with this: Or this: Problems occur, however, when educators instinctively attempt to the climb the hierarchical ladder. In one such …
Tonight Show Genius
To start your Thursday, two quick clips from Jimmy Fallon’s new slant to The Tonight Show… From this first clip, it’s hard to beat the lesson Will Smith teaches about leadership. Near the two-minute mark, Will teaches Jimmy that The Tonight Show (has been and) will be a success because people, caring, and relationships matter most. People …
Planning for 1:1 Technology Access in Utah
The Public Education Modernization Act (HB 131) was introduced today in the state of Utah. To discuss the bill and the vision behind it, House Speaker Becky Lockhart spoke with one of our local media outlets during the lunch hour. Unlike many of the 1:1 plans we seem to be seeing these days, this one …
Pay Attention 2014
The talented Ann Oro has developed an update to the original Pay Attention video I created back in 2007. As I watched her updated version, I was struck by how many things have changed in so little time. Since 2007, I’ve taken a new position in a new school district. This alone has translated into …
Today We Fight Back Against Mass Surveillance #privacyisaright
As has been written in the International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance: Privacy is a fundamental human right, and is central to the maintenance of democratic societies. It is essential to human dignity and it reinforces other rights, such as freedom of expression and information, and freedom of association, and …
When #Data Misdirects
I got a Fitbit for Christmas and have loved it! I’ve loved how it effortlessly tracks my physical movements, and I love how it pushes me to remain active. There have been times when, near the end of the day, I’m prompted to take “just 834 more steps” in order to reach my daily goal. …
If Tomorrow is #DLDay, When Do We Celebrate Learning with Pencils? #LwPDay
February 5th is Digital Learning Day! Fun, I know. There’s a pledge you can take, by clicking a link. I took it, I know.1 There’s even an official avatar. How many days do you know that have their own avatar? Now, I appreciate a good party as much as the next guy, but why do we really …
Robots Speaking to Robots
Twitter user and apparent “Digital Learner and Teacher” Nick Chater has configured IFTTT to auto-tweet a link to my posts every time I publish. Upon scanning his Twitter feed, it appears that it’s been quite some time since he’s posted anything in person; nearly every tweet includes an IFTTT link or other script-generated action. Robots …
Vendor Trust and Their Competence with #EdTech Data
Bud Hunt writes a very timely post in which he expresses rightful disgust over the level of care many current vendors tend to take with student data. I can’t fathom why publishers and vendors are so willing to play fast and loose with precious data – student personal info, their schoolwork and creations, etc. But …