Andrew Pass's Blog – April 2007 Archive (8)

This morning on my blog I posted an entry considering the relationship between what Grant Wiggins has labeled "Understanding by Design" "Differentiated Instruction" and Web 2.0. While writing this entry I started thinking about the role of sims in different ways than I had before. I'd love to find a list of sims that are free, easy to download, and high quality for educational purposes. Imagine how easy it would be to engage kinestenthic… Continue

I just posted a sample work product demonstrating the way that students might use Web 2.0 to interact with text. I"m going to continue to interact with this product and try to enhance it over time. I"d be grateful for any feedback and suggestions. The link is: http://pass-ed.com/Blog41907.html

Here's a quick question: How much does the fact that I developed the product on my website and not on a wiki deter from the quality of it…

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One of the things that I love about the Jewish religion is the importance of learning. When Jewish people study they don't just study with the people in the same room. Instead, they use a book that contains ideas, questiosns and answers from other Jewish people who have lived throughout the ages. A typical page of Torah, when it's written in a book, has several short sentences of the actual text, in Hebrew at the top right of the page. RIght next to the original text is a translation in…

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Question: What questions will technology advocates have to answer for most teachers before they begin to use the tools of Web 2.0 including social networks sites, more frequently?

Answer:

1. What's in it for me if I use the tools of Web 2.0?

2. What's in it for my students if we use the tools of Web 2.0?

3. Are the costs of learning how to use the tools of Web 2.0 and becoming comfortable enough with them so that I can introduce them in my classes worth…

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Research clearly demonstrates that the most effective schools focus on learning, not teaching. Everybody learns in these schools from the students to the teachers to the maintenance people. Research also demonstrates that too little authentic learning actually occurs in schools. Many Some of us simply close our doors and teach the same way we have been doing for many years. We are intimidated about opening our practice to the scrutiny of others.

Recently there's been…

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Many of my current colleagues don't know that I have a B.A. in Talmud and Rabbinics from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. At one time I thought very seriously about becoming a rabbi. (Actually the word rabbi means teacher.) Though I'm no longer ritually observant, I still very much enjoy thinking about religious ideas.



So, on this day that is sacred to multiple both Judaism and Christianity, I want to ask three questions:

1. What does the word freedom mean?

2. What… Continue

So, I've been thinking about the role of a university program in social computing. I'll never forget speaking with my undergraduate advisor at Columbia. I told him that I wanted to major in business. He told me that I came to the wrong university. "The Ivy League doesn't teach people how to do specific things," he explained. "It teaches people how to think."

I'm not very familiar with the University of Michigan program. But, if it's worth consideration it probably does not teach…

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This morning, Will Richardson posted a blog about University of Michigan's new degree in social computing. He questions its utility suggesting that one can become an expert in social computing by simply becoming part of the social computing community and developing the skills needed to function successfully. He writes that one can demonstrate success by, " building a rich, online portfolio that illustrates your ability to be an online community…

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