Category Archives: technology

The more things change…

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Jon Becker | Permalink 0

  Two recent articles caught my attention. It’s hard to read them together and not shake your head. The First Race to the Top by William Reese, professor of educational policy studies and history at the University of Wisconsin, Madison The testing groundwork was laid in 1837, when a lawyer and legislator in Massachusetts named Horace Mann became [...] Read more »

assessment, Cuban, Ed. Policy, Ed. Tech., education, history, Reese, technology

A Leader Amongst Us

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Jon Becker | Permalink 2

Hearty congratulations are in order for our very own John Hendron. Last week, John was awarded the Making IT Happen award at the 27th annual Virginia Society for Technology [..]

Leadership, technology , , ,

Middle School Algebra Article

Posted on July 9, 2012 by melaniekaywyatt | Permalink 0

This is an interesting article for middle school leaders.
Eighth-Graders and Algebra: Making the Case for Online Education
http://thejournal.com/Articles/2012/07/02/online-algerba.aspx?Page=3
Read more »

Educational, technology

Technology Plans, the Policy by the People: But is it for the People?

Posted on June 21, 2012 by melaniekaywyatt | Permalink 0

Introduction My initial thoughts on the topic of Technology Plans in schools were very chilling. My low technical reasoning score propelled me to emphatically and unyieldingly throw out a variety of other topic ideas. Nevertheless, my colleagues felt this is a topic that is drawing local and national news attention in the public education arena, [...] Read more »

Advocacy, technology, VCU

Tightening the narrative around school change

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Jon Becker | Permalink 0


The stories our leaders tell us matter, probably almost as much as the stories our parents tell us as children, because they orient us to what is, what could be, and what should be; to the worldviews they hold and to the values they hold sacred. In an opinion piece in the New York Times, [...] Read more »

argument, critique, Ed. Leadership, Ed. Policy, Ed. Tech., education, Learning, logic, McLeod, narrative, social media, technology

The Missouri “Facebook Law”: A conversation

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Jon Becker | Permalink 4


Senate Bill 5, also known as The Amy Hestir Student Protection Act, signed into law on July 14 in Missouri, goes into effect on August 28. Among lots of other provisions, the law stipulates that: No teacher shall establish, maintain, or use a work-related internet site unless such site is available to school administrators and the [...] Read more »

Ed. Policy, educator, facebook, misconduct, missouri, policy, sexual, social media, technology

Educational technology as the SkyMall catalog

Posted on December 10, 2010 by Jon Becker | Permalink 0


If you’re like me, when you travel by air, you invariably pick up and read through the Skymall catalog with great interest. I find it fascinating. Mostly, though, I find myself repeatedly thinking and/or saying, “What problem does that solve?” In other words, for most of the products I see in that catalog, I cannot [...] Read more »

21st Century Education, Ed. Tech., iPad, Learning, teaching, technology, value, Web 2.0

Learn(ing) with vs. Learn(ing) from

Posted on February 26, 2010 by Jon Becker | Permalink 0


Think about *all* the implications that come from shifting our language from learn(ing) from to learn(ing) with. (and words matter, right David Jakes?) That’s the “shift” that has to happen. (apologies to Karl Fisch)  That’s it. “Learning from” was often necessary when one party in the learning transaction(s) had greater access to information than the others. [...] Read more »

Ed. Tech., Learning, technology, Web 2.0