TheFlippedScientist

In recent years parts of the world have become increasingly disconnected, with nationalism increasingly driving many countries' policies, rather than a global perspective. However, is this the best approach when it comes to teaching our learners? As ISTE Global PLN Chair, I would suggest exposing learners to global connections has many inherent advantages. The process of building a classroom beyond national borders builds cultural understanding, communication skills, and knowledge and awareness of the wider world. Additionally, while this approach to learning is not novel, it is reaching a new level of efficacy as technology allows the development of global student collaboration allowing students to tackle a local issue of concern and solve problems with their international peers.  Classrooms tend to focus on knowledge acquisition and are driven by assessment. However, education is more than offering knowledge. It is also about offering skills, opportunities, and instilling em...

One of the common mantras from educational speakers like Sir Ken Robinson is that schools don’t change. That schools are stuck in some dystopian nightmare of a Dickenesque factory which is not keeping up with the demands of the 21st century.  It is true that many things may have remained the same in education but one thing that is new is the amount of data that is being produced in classrooms. We now obsess about data, from providing evidence of learning that has occurred in a classroom to  how our countries stack up in the international PISA rankings.   This data has divided educationalists. In one group lies those who believe that making student performance data accessible leads to teacher accountability and evidence-based teaching allowing improved outcomes for learners. Others reject the use of such data as an overly simplistic approach and not a true reflection of the complexities associated with teaching and learning. They argue that the numbers are often b...