In my last post I sort of mused about the problem of criminalizing technologies in schools (and viewing them, rightfully, as an opportunity to disengage as well as engage). The problem I have with some of the standard views I’ve seen in schools is that they decide that because something could be used for ill (a kid could, potentially, use a laptop in class to look at a social networking site or something) that they need to block the possibility entirely. Grade schools and high schools are not alone in this unfortunate action. My graduate work at a state university … Continue reading →

At the end of the school year many students come out of the shadows (or wherever they were hiding during the entire semester) asking for extra credit, hope, or whatever else might allow them to pass a class that they largely ignored. Often if they’d paid attention just few weeks earlier they could have done some extra credit, completed that paper, or finished that group project that would have allowed them to receive a passing grade. I feel for these students a little bit. While I don’t take joy in giving a failing grade for anything, I also don’t believe … Continue reading →