Category Archives: Conferences and Community Events

Lucy Gray, Education Technology Specialist Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education University of Chicago This post was originally published on the Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age blog. Imagine a learning community for educators, a place where teachers can connect to the world. Teachers can pose questions and receive just in time help and advice from virtual colleagues. Links to interesting web sites are exchanged. Practitioners connect with researchers at universities. Up to the minute news is disseminated and absorbed.…

This post originally appeared on the Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age blog.   Creativity continues to be an essential skill in the emerging creative economy. Since scientific and technological creativity are tightly intertwined with cultural and artistic creativity, developing tools for creative expression can help all members of society. Thus, ensuring open access to creativity-enabling technology is crucial for supporting social equality in the creative economy. With the global proliferation of mobile devices regularly breaking boundaries, we (the Human-Computer…

This post originally appeared on the Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age blog.   I vividly remember a physician friend of mine, Dr. Karen Hein, saying that, for AIDS, asthma and other health problems, geography was destiny. She meant that poverty and the problems associated with it were key determinants of health. Poor people got the short end of the stick: less access to preventive care, more diseases, and fewer resources to help them recover. Now a new report sponsored…

This post originally appeared on the Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age blog.   Recently, at a conference on education reform, I heard a state superintendent from one of the country’s highest performing states share a comment I found concerning. He said he believed there would be a tension between meeting more rigorous common core standardsand personalizing learning for students to make schools relevant and engaging to learners. While I have a lot of personal respect for this man, I think…

This post originally appeared on the Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age blog. A new high school is being built near my office. The old high school had served its function well over time, but in recent years the level of maintenance necessary to keep the school functioning translated into diminishing returns. School committees, planning committees, state and city officials, community members, and advisory groups came together to define a new future for the students of this city. Their passionate…

This post originally appeared in the Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age blog.   A young girl, age 5, sits down at her family’s computer and logs into Webkinz with some help from her mother. She’s got a plush toy on her lap. It’s a Clydesdale horse named Mirabelle who, seconds later, appears reincarnated as a pixilated horse on the screen. The little girl grabs the computer mouse, points to the screen, and shouts, “look Mom!” A three-dimensional room is…

An article ran in the New York Times the morning after the 61st Primetime Emmy awards titled “Television Thanks You for Watching.” The article punctuates a theme throughout the broadcast of comments alluding to the shift of notable programming to cable networks and other media platforms. The television community is clearly seeing a movement to where viewers are seeking quality programming, but not on standard broadcast television anymore. When Sesame Street started out, public television was pretty much the only choice for us. It was…