What are the advantages of teaching kids to code? Millions watched the viral video on code.org trying to convince the younger generation to learn to code. But is the reason to learn coding to get a high powered job where you sit around in a beautiful office, making tons of money and eating fancy free food or to learn problem solving skills and perseverance? Watch the video and find out!

Kate Cohen discusses whether commercial video games like SimCity have a place in the classroom. Is this the end of education as we know it? Maybe it is and maybe it is not a bad thing! Watch the video and learn more!

As a school principal for nearly 20 years I played almost every role, as all administrators do. However, there was one role I relished the most. Surprisingly, it was not my position as head of school, coordinator of curriculum or community leader that was to become my legacy, but rather my talent as a captivating storyteller.

We are all well aware of the fact that if we want to figure out any new technology we basically have two choices. The first is to spend around a thousand hours either actually reading the manual or fooling around with the particular gadget (Do they even call them gadgets anymore?) until we give up in utter and complete frustration. The second choice (recommended, as they say) is to ask a six year old. The second option, while quite embarrassing, will save you time and add years to your life.

Kate shares insights into the future of technology in the classroom. Will the classroom include self learning environments where students will have blue tooth stereo implants in their ears?

Since I was a little boy – and that goes back quite a while –the rapid pace at which technology impacted our lives has raised danger signs. It began with the radio cutting into family time, graduated to television replacing family time, and finally resulted in the computer abolishing it completely. In many different areas of life we began to ask at what point was the human element going to be overtaken by the technological.

Funny how easily we get worked up over innovation. Frequently, we are so afraid of change that we stop thinking rationally the minute something new hits the classroom?

I am talking about all those flipping out over the relatively new use of technology in the classroom. The term used is the ‘flipped’ classroom. Simply put, teachers can fairly easily create their lessons on their computers adding any audio or visual, and make the presentation available to students. Sal Khan, and his Khan Academy, is an example of how the videos can be used.

In case you haven’t noticed, our kids spend a lot of time on the computer. ‘Everybody’s gone surfing’ meant something very different when the Beach Boys sang it than it does today. A virtual world of unlimited – but hopefully not unfiltered – information and media content awaits, a simple click away. A dizzying array of choices are offered, allowing them to individually answer the clarion call of ‘where do you want to go today?’ When they enter the world of the Internet they are in charge, the world is at their fingertips and they assume the role of both navigator and pilot.

Psychologists tell us that children today have the ability to process information at incredible speeds. Obviously being constantly bombarded with information has created the need for such processing ability. In many cases, the newfound ability has in itself created a craving to be bombarded. The vicious cycle is well known.

Why? Let’s be frank, it’s usually because I don’t particularly care to talk to you. This holds true in social relationships and it holds true in parent- teacher communication. We simply don’t want to talk.

Technology in the classroom has advanced in some schools to the point of virtual classrooms. Whether instituted to control class size or offer students a wide variety of learning options, E-learning has become an important component in schools from primary grades to high school. Are we moving towards an age of virtual schools?

In the not so distant past, use of technology in the classroom generally consisted of overhead projectors, perhaps a VCR to view a video presentation, and maybe calculators to reinforce math skills or on the high school level, to perform scientific equations.  In the last few years integrating technology in the classroom has reached new [...]