It is very difficult to give weight to anything these days except for the conditions that we are now living and dying under, especially as a New Yorker. Time does not stand still however, so we need to assess where we are in order to adjust and move forward. If this pandemic has taught me anything, this would be my lesson learned.
When it comes to the American education system, I have experienced it in many ways and on many levels. I have been a student, a teacher,…
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Added by Thomas Whitby on April 10, 2020 at 1:00pm —
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With the cloud of the Corona Virus hanging over us and growing by the hour, it is difficult to see any silver lining. Health and safety are our greatest concerns. The stakes are high and the consequences may be fatal to too many. Anything I discuss here should
In the past, many discussions by several education leaders have sometimes suggested the idea…
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Added by Thomas Whitby on March 27, 2020 at 1:39pm —
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With the rapid spread of the Corona Virus, there has been a clarion call for schools to close and immediately shift to online learning in the interest of health and safety. With all that has been written and talked about in regard to “online learning” over the last decade, the perception is that now is a great time to put tech to work and implement this modern methodology to address our current situation and limit face-to-face exposure in order to self-quarantine a huge portion of our…
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Added by Thomas Whitby on March 9, 2020 at 8:03pm —
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As adults we generally learn about things that we need to learn about. Of course we also have an opportunity to learn about things we would like to learn about. We do not have anyone assigning us projects, or books or exams for which to prepare. The exception to…
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Added by Thomas Whitby on April 29, 2019 at 12:30pm —
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I recently attended the annual conference held by NYSCATE, the New York State ISTE affiliate organization. It is a favorite conference of mine, since I served as a board member of that organization for about six years. It is also both comprehensive and progressive in the way of education conferences. As with all education conferences it is easy to…
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Added by Thomas Whitby on November 29, 2018 at 8:00pm —
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In a recent #Edchat discussion we discussed whether or not schools should encourage teachers to use technology to reach out in communication with parents. I really did not think this would still be a relevant discussion in light of how we have all grown dependent on technology for communication, but evidently there are…
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Added by Thomas Whitby on October 31, 2018 at 8:39am —
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September 13, 2018 by Tom Whitby @tomwhitby
https://tomwhitby.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/bookkindle.jpeg?w=150 150w,…
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Added by Thomas Whitby on September 13, 2018 at 2:33pm —
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If a doctor, who is faced with a patient exhibiting multiple symptoms of an unknown disease, were to address each of the symptoms rather than addressing the disease itself, he/she might find the outcome for that patient to be disastrous in the long run. The patient might have had the symptoms lessened, but the disease would eventually win out with a poor outcome for the patient.
Our education system is…
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Added by Thomas Whitby on August 30, 2018 at 1:30pm —
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I have long been a guest blogger for Edutopia, which has been both a challenge and an honor. I have always found it challenging to be provocative in promoting change in education in a blog post, while remaining positive in tone. That overriding positive tone however is one constant in Edutopia posts that engenders loyalty, trust and a reliance from about a million followers who want to know more about education. To have my work read and appreciated by that vast audience is…
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Added by Thomas Whitby on July 17, 2017 at 9:30am —
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I recently read yet another article that questioned the effect of using technology in education. I believe it stated that there are 3.6 million educators using edtech as the basis for the post. The post itself was well done, but throughout my reading I was troubled by what defined an edtech-using educator. How is it determined that an educator is truly an edtech user?
I have been in meetings where educators had to fill out questionnaires…
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Added by Thomas Whitby on June 1, 2017 at 11:00am —
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I have been writing in social media about education and changes in education for about a decade at this point in time. One of my observations, as I enter discussions with educators in various parts of the country, is that many educators bring up problems within their own districts that were discussed in detail and often resolved in many other districts a number of years ago. There are topics and ideas brought up that social media has introduced, discussed, and developed as…
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Added by Thomas Whitby on April 20, 2017 at 1:35pm —
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A lingering general question hanging over the heads of all has been what effect does social media have on our society? That answer has never been so evident as it has been today as social media tools have been placed directly in the hands of the President of the United States, as well as foreign operatives. Social media is a very powerful tool that can have a lasting effect on what people do, and how they do it. Placing those social media technology tools in…
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Added by Thomas Whitby on April 20, 2017 at 1:30pm —
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During a recent snowstorm I found myself perusing a list of recorded television shows on the DVR. While watching an episode of Bull, a show about scientific jury selection, or possibly jury manipulation, there was a term used by Dr. Bull that I had not heard before, “The IKEA Effect”. It was explained by the main character that it was a cognitive bias in which consumers place a disproportionately…
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Added by Thomas Whitby on February 10, 2017 at 8:00pm —
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This year I made a few changes to my WordPress Blog site. I removed all of the ads that WordPress placed on it and I now use my name as the domain name to more easily traffic readers to the site. As I did these things at a minimal cost, I questioned whether or not it was worth…
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Added by Thomas Whitby on December 28, 2016 at 9:13pm —
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The flipped classroom, maker movement, project-based learning, blended learning, student centered learning, hour of code, collaboration, direct instruction, and lecture, there are passionate teacher advocates supporting each of these methods as the best way for kids to learn. I am sure that there are some additional methods or movements that I have not mentioned.
Each of these methods to teach can be effective with many groups…
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Added by Thomas Whitby on December 7, 2016 at 6:30pm —
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Recently, as I was tweeting about the need for teachers to be more aware of what was going on within their profession an unexpected tweet response came from a connected educator who I greatly respect and hold in high regard. He tweeted that he was tired of the teacher bashing. I was upset for that was the furthest thing from my mind as I tweeted my opinions out.
I have always supported teachers and have a record of doing so during my very public run in social media for the…
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Added by Thomas Whitby on October 11, 2016 at 1:49pm —
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As a society, we place a premium on innovators and entrepreneurs. They are admired, or for some revered in Business, Politics, and even Education. The reason for that bias is that innovators and entrepreneurs are scarce commodities. Most people are employees and not entrepreneurs. There is nothing wrong with that. Most people follow trends; they don’t start them. There is nothing wrong with that. Few people lead while most…
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Added by Thomas Whitby on August 20, 2016 at 9:55am —
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I remember way back in the 70’s, I think it was Time magazine that came out with an article listing the most difficult jobs in America. I remember it because at the top of that list was the job of an eighth grade English teacher. Time based its list on the number of decisions an individual had to make on the…
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Added by Thomas Whitby on July 26, 2016 at 2:28pm —
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Like many people my first foray into the virtual world of connectedness was through Facebook. I connected with family and friends. This led me to consider making some professional connections out of necessity. I began my connected collaboration as an educator over a decade ago. I realized as an adult learner that I learned best through collaboration and that collaboration could only take place if I was in some way connected…
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Added by Thomas Whitby on July 9, 2016 at 4:00pm —
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One undeniable fact
about teaching is that teachers not only need to be masters of content within their subject area, but they must also be masters of education as a…
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Added by Thomas Whitby on June 4, 2016 at 12:30pm —
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