The Answer Sheet: Technology


Posted at 03:00 AM ET, 01/27/2011

School district turns snow days into ‘e-days’
By Valerie Strauss
A tiny rural Ohio school district is experimenting with a new version of the traditional snow day -- one that some kids are not likely to enjoy much.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:00 AM ET, 01/27/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Technology, Technology | Tags:  classes cancelled, e-days, inclement weather policy, ohio snow days, schools that closed, snow days

Posted at 03:23 PM ET, 11/07/2010

Why technology scares (some of) us -- and what to do about it
By Valerie Strauss
Do old wounds from school hinder the ability of many adults to deal with Facebook, Twitter, SCVNGR , foursquare, etc. A veteran teacher thinks so.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:23 PM ET, 11/07/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Technology, Technology | Tags:  baby boomers, facebook, foursquare, technology, twitter

Posted at 11:55 AM ET, 06/14/2010

Willingham: The unrealized promise of whiteboards
By Valerie Strauss
Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham looks at the research about how well whiteboards help student learning. His conclusion: Not much.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:55 AM ET, 06/14/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Technology, Technology, Technology | Tags:  educational technology, smart boards, technology in schools, whiteboards

Posted at 11:15 AM ET, 05/20/2010

Obama’s mistake with technology in ed reform
By Valerie Strauss
The Obama administration's plan for rewriting No Child Left Behind makes the mistake of relegating technology – a catalyst for all educational reform efforts for the 21st century – to just an “additional, cross-cutting priority.”

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:15 AM ET, 05/20/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Technology, Technology | Tags:  blueprint for reform, obama and blueprint for reform, obama and mistake, obama and nclb, obamas, teachers college, teachers college at columbia university, technology in education, technology in schools

Posted at 03:23 PM ET, 01/28/2010

Hating interactive whiteboards
By Valerie Strauss
I’ve read a lot about how interactive whiteboards are powerful new tools that allow teachers to create fabulous lessons for their kids. But sixth grade teacher Bill Ferriter hates them, and in this lively piece from Teacher Magazine, explains why.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:23 PM ET, 01/28/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Technology, Technology | Tags:  technology, white boards

Posted at 11:30 AM ET, 01/20/2010

Good news amid screen gloom?
By Valerie Strauss
A new study tells us something we all pretty much know already: young people are spending all of their free time looking at one screen or another--more than 7 1/2 hours a day on electronic media. My colleague Cecilia Kang blogged about the Kaiser Family Foundation, providing interesting details about the lives of youths. Among the findings were that those kids and teens who essentially live on a screen do less well in school than kids who don’t, get in more trouble and report being sad. I’m not sure we know whether the screen time caused these problems or whether the kids with troubles retreat to a screen to escape. But one bit of news that has been portrayed as bad somehow doesn’t seem so bad to me.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:30 AM ET, 01/20/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Technology | Tags:  technology and kids