The Best 1:1 Device is a Good Teacher

Photo credit: iStockPhoto Over the course of two years, I, along with the Burlington Public Schools tech team, had the opportunity to meet and connect with over one hundred schools. These discussions would usually involve what device works best in the classroom and how the iPad is affecting teaching and learning outcomes. Frequently this conversation focuses on the most effective hardware for teaching and learning. Smashing the State of the Art We have reached a point in education technology where devices are, for the most part, adaptable. This hypothetical simulation is a great example of how little hardware actually matters any more. As I mentioned earlier, the best device a school can roll out is a teacher who can adapt to new and emerging technologies, does not always require formal training for learning and staying current, and is not tethered to a product (such as PowerPoint or a SmartBoard) in order to teach. Innovation on the Fly Self-Paced Professional Development iTunesU Coursera

Vinna! Talking heads: why I'm part of the studio school revolution in education | Teacher Network | Guardian Professional How did you end up becoming a headteacher? I was a youth worker for several years, then I worked as a TA in a secondary school before I trained as a teacher and taught in inner-city London, specialising in geography and RE. My experience in those early years has really informed the work I do now, I got to experience the education system from all sides. What were your next steps? I worked as assistant head at Villiers School and then deputy head at Dormers Wells High School, both in Ealing, before leaving London and becoming deputy head at Ashlawn school in Warwickshire. What were the greatest lessons you learnt prior to becoming a head? I suppose the biggest was that the essential key for an effective school is relationships. You are now executive principal of the two Midland Studio Colleges, one of which opened last year and one this month. There are 30 in the country so far, but many more are in planning stage. How important is work experience to the school timetable? It's huge.

Post-2015 Education: Calling for your feedback on proposed indicators for a global agenda! | World Education Blog Join a global consultation on education indicators for a global agendaBy Albert Motivans, UNESCO Institute for Statistics Today, we are launching a new online consultation to gather your views on the proposed post-2015 global education indicators. The proposed indicators have been drawn together by a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) coordinated by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). It includes members from the EFA Global Monitoring Report, the OECD, UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank. In the run-up to 2015, several initiatives are underway to formulate a new set of goals and targets for sustainable development. Helping shape the post-2015 education agenda In parallel to the OWG initiative, the international education community is also helping to shape the targets of a new post-2015 education agenda through Education for All (EFA) mechanisms. How to measure the new post-2015 targets? The challenge now lies in developing indicators to monitor these targets. How to provide feedback