Growing up in a small South Dakota prairie town and with sparse financial means (my mother was left in significant debt after my father died), for me, equality-of-opportunity in education was not a major challenge. (Regretfully, at that time, my friends and I were all ignorant of the education inequalities faced by African Americans and Native Americans.) We all believed that if you “worked hard” and applied yourself, all possibilities were open...
For a change of pace, I’m going to shift the focus away from formal education and training. Through a single example, I want to describe how technology learning can be made successfully available for “the family,” and can help liberate the adult members from poverty while increasing parent/child involvement in the school setting (the single most important determinant in a child’s educational progression). While I am sure there are hundreds of similarly...
‘TEACHERS STRIKE IN WEST VIRGINIA!” “TEACHERS STRIKE IN OKLAHOMA!” “TEACHERS STRIKE IN KENTUCKY!” “ARIZONA TEACHERS CALL FOR STRIKE VOTE!” “COLORADO TEACHERS STAGE ‘DAY OF ACTION!’” And so it goes — slowly, but surely, spreading throughout many parts of the nation. Growing up in a small South Dakota town, the culture I encountered valued certain professions above others: doctors and nurses, police, firefighters and teachers. Those were considered the noble professions — individuals...
I cannot begin to enumerate the number of great concepts and brilliant adaptations of technology that I have seen fail. For example, someone discovers how to use state-of-the-art technology in new and exciting ways. That excitement is quickly picked up by co-workers and friends. “Isn’t this just the neatest thing ever!” “What learning challenges can be successfully addressed with my idea!” “Just wait ‘til they see this!” With all this cheer leading...
Last week, we examined several issues relating to the education and training associated with the traditional vocational/technical post-secondary schools. Today, we’ll focus on two ultra-important issues that are beginning to infect some of our traditional colleges and universities as politicians are attempting to change the focus of higher education and limit access at the same time. “For the first time, students in more than half of all U.S. states are paying more...