Education Nation: Six Leading Edges of Innovation in our Schools (Jossey-Bass Teacher)

An educational innovator who worked at Sesame Workshop and The George Lucas Educational Foundation offers a new vision for learning As a result of constant innovation, learning is no longer limited by traditional confines and we're moving beyond students tied to their chairs, desks, and textbooks-and teachers locked away in classrooms. In Education Nation author Milton Chen draws from extensive experience in media-from his work on Sesame Street in its nascent years to his role as executive director of the George Lucas Educational Foundation-to support a vision for a new world of learning. This book, in six chapters, explores the "edges" in education—the places where K-12 learning has already seen revolutionary changes through innovative reform and the use of technology. Examines ways in which learning can be revolutionized through innovative reform and the use of technology Explores the ever-expanding world of technology for breakthroughs in teaching and learning Includes many wonderful resources to support innovation in schools across the nation This important book offers a clear vision for tomorrow's classrooms that will enhance learning opportunities for all children. Education Nation: Six Leading Edges of Innovation in our Schools 7 CONTENTS 9 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 11 FOREWORD 13 PREFACE MY LEARNING JOURNEY 17 INTRODUCTION: THE VISION OF AN EDUCATION NATION 27 PUTTING THE ‘‘EDGE’’ INTO EDUCATION 29 INNOVATION ON THE EDGES OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM 31 GLEF’S EDUTOPIA: TELLING STORIES FROM THE EDGES OF SCHOOL INNOVATION 33 ABOUT THIS BOOK 35 EDGE 1: THE THINKING EDGE: GETTING SMARTER ABOUT LEARNING 37 EDUCATION AND ECSTASY 43 TEN EDUCATION WARS TO CEASE FIRE: FROM EITHER/OR TO BOTH-AND THINKING 48 HYBRID THINKING FOR EDUCATIONAL INNOVATION 51 FEED THE ELEPHANT, DON’T WEIGH THE ELEPHANT 52 A ‘‘GROWTH MODEL’’ OF INTELLIGENCE 53 STUDENTS: FEED YOUR BRAINS AND WATCH THEM GROW 56 A NATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO TEACH BASKETBALL FROM TEXTBOOKS 58 EDGE 2: THE CURRICULUM EDGE: REAL LEARNING AND AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT 61 FROM TEXTBOOK-BASED TO PROJECT-BASED LEARNING 67 AUTO MOTIVES AND DRIVING INSPIRATIONS 72 LINKING HIGH SCHOOL, COLLEGE, AND CAREER 78 GOING GLOBAL: LEARNING BECOMES INTERNET-IONAL 83 CHINESE IS THE NEW FRENCH 88 THE LANGUAGE OF IMAGES 91 EDUCATING HEARTS AND MINDS 96 ASSESSMENT: MISUNDERSTANDING UNDERSTANDING 102 ASSESSMENT 2.0 105 EDGE 3: THE TECHNOLOGY EDGE: PUTTING MODERN TOOLS IN YOUNG HANDS 113 WEAPONS OFMASS INSTRUCTION: ONE STUDENT, ONE COMPUTER 113 THE ‘‘MISSING MIRROR’’ IN LANGUAGE LEARNING 122 ONLINE LEARNING: LEVELING AND ELEVATING THE PLAYING FIELD 135 THE DEATH OF THE LECTURE AS WE KNOW IT 144 INTELLIGENT TEXT 148 SERIOUS GAMES 152 ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY: ‘‘WE ALL HAVE SPECIAL NEEDS’’ 156 SCOTLAND’S ENLIGHTENED IDEA 160 EDGE 4: THE TIME/PLACE EDGE: LEARNING ANYTIME, ANYWHERE 165 LIBERATING SCHOOLS AS ‘‘PRISONS OF TIME’’ 169 A NEW DAY FOR LEARNING, BEYOND THE BELL 171 RECONCEIVING TIME AND LEARNING 174 SUMMER: ‘‘THE THIRD SEMESTER’’ 178 PUEO, THE WISE OWL OF HONOLULU 197 PLACE-BASED LEARNING: SCHOOL LIFE = REAL LIFE 199 PLACE-BASED LEARNING IN COMMUNITIES 207 THE SCHOOL AS A PLACE OF LEARNING: LOCATION AND DESIGN 209 THE NATIONAL PARKS: LEARNING ABOUT ‘‘AMERICA’S BEST IDEA’’ 211 EDGE 5: THE CO-TEACHING EDGE: TEACHERS, EXPERTS, AND PARENTS AS COEDUCATORS 215 TEACHERS AS PRISONERS OF TIME 216 RETHINKING THE 3 RS: READING, WRITING, AND ROSSINI 219 PARENTS AS PARTNERS: THE HOME-SCHOOL CONNECTION 225 LINKING HOME AND SCHOOL VIA THE INTERNET 228 GROUP EXERCISE: WRITE THE TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY TEACHER’S JOB DESCRIPTION 232 A DIGITAL SUPERINTENDENT’S VIEW OF TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY TEACHERS AND CLASSROOMS 234 EDGE 6: THE YOUTH EDGE: DIGITAL LEARNERS CARRYING CHANGE IN THEIR POCKETS 239 THE MARCH OF THE DIGITAL NATIVES 240 THE DIGITAL GENERATION SPEAKS 243 STUDENTS AS TECHNOLOGY TEACHERS 259 GROUP EXERCISE: WRITE THE STUDENT’S NEW JOB DESCRIPTION 263 AFTERWORD: TOMORROW’S EDGE, A 2020 VISION 267 NOTES 280 SELECTED WEB SITES 294 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 301 INDEX 303 0470615060,9780470615065,0470875437,9780470875438 "In Education Nation author Milton Chen draws from extensive experience in media--from his work on Sesame Street in its nascent years to his current role as executive director of the George Lucas Educational Foundation--to support his vision for a new world of learning. Presented in five parts and divided into "module" chapters, this book examines the ways in which K-12 learning can be revolutionized through innovative reform and the use of technology. Due in large part to new technologies, over the last few decades we've witnessed a huge shift in how we imagine teaching and learning. A good example is the educational revolution sparked by Sesame Street--which in its first season had a goal of teaching preschool-age children the numbers 1 to 10. At the time, experts dismissed it as an unrealistic goal since many kindergarten students were having trouble mastering this simple counting. Yet the research proved that preschool-age children learned those skills and many others directly from the TV screen. Now Sesame Street's curriculum teaches the numbers from 1 to 40. In today's digital age the number of new ways to teach and learn is ever-expanding and includes: television, Google, YouTube, TeacherTube, Facebook, iPhones, video games, GPS devices, open source textbooks, interactive whiteboards; and there are countless examples of ways technology positively impacts student learning--from voice-recognition software that helps children learn to read to translation tools that help teachers communicate with non-English speaking parents. As a result of constant innovation, learning is no longer limited by traditional confines and we're quickly moving beyond students tied to their chairs, desks, and textbooks--and teachers locked away in classrooms."-- Provided by publisher