Education in the 21st Century

This article appeared in the New York Times on January 22, 2012. Definitely worth the read.

Visit to Nido de Aguilas in Santiago, Chile

Just returned from a week in Santiago, Chile where I, along with fellow Exeter teachers Chris Matlack and Jane Cadwell, worked with teachers on teaching around a Harkness table. Nido de Aguilas is a very successful, high-powered International school located in the Lo Barnochea region of Santiago. Besides being able to earn Chilean National diplomas and American secondary school diplomas, students can obtain the International Baccalaureate diploma.

On Thursday morning, Jane held a class for 14 history and mathematics teachers who read and analyzed a poem while Chris and I charted the discussion. In the afternoon, I led a class for English and science teachers on fair division while Jane and Chris charted the discussion. At the conclusion of each class we took time to discuss what the teachers had just experienced, how it might work in their classrooms, and what were the pluses and minuses.

Nido biology students discuss DNA

On Friday, we each worked with teachers in our disciplines; Jane with English and Humanities, Chris with science, and I with mathematics. I also made a short presentation to their technology committee on the iPad experiment we are doing here at Exeter. On Monday, we visited the school to see classes in action. This was the first day back from the two-month-long summer break…southern hemisphere, people.

For me, the “Harkness method” of teaching means having classrooms where the learning is student centered. Traditionally, classrooms consisted of rows of kids; their heads empty vessels, waiting to be filled with information delivered by the expert, the “sage on the stage,” the teacher. Students need to be more involved, participate more in their learning. The Socratic style of question and answer, with questions coming from the teacher and answers coming back to the teacher is better but, true student-centered learning requires the teacher to take a back seat and encourages discussion between members of the class with the teacher serving as a guide. Much about the Harkness table, the Harkness method, and how it all came about can be found at the Exeter website.

Nido mathematics class 

So, student-centered learning is the big idea but each school is different and “Harkness” classes have to be done on their terms. It’s not likely that other schools will have the luxury of having 12 students around a beautiful piece of furniture in every classroom on campus as we do at Exeter. Nevertheless, student-centered learning can happen, and is happening at Nido. It takes teachers who are confident in their discipline, comfortable with not being the expert in the front of the room, and supportive administrators who encourage teachers to try new strategies. Nido has all this in spades.

Grading The Digital School

Pretty good article in the New York Times today...to read it, click here.


“This is not about the technology, it’s not about the box. It’s about changing the culture of instruction — preparing students for their future, not our past.” Mark Edwards, superintendent of Mooresville Graded School District in Mooresville, NC.

Three Videos by Exeter Music Faculty

I recently reminded the faculty at Exeter of the link to this blog. In response, Jon Sakata, a music teacher at Exeter, sent me three links to videos that he and his wife, Jung Mi Lee, produced using only the iPhone camera and iMovie. Very cool. The first video includes music by the avant-garde American composer, Robert Cogan. Videos two and three use original compositions of Jon and Jung Mi, one for nine double basses and the other for multilingual voices and percussion. Enjoy.

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

Macworld|iWorld 2012

Saturday, January 28, 2012


Went to another quite amazing session this morning on Visual Note-Taking on the iPad by Rachel Smith.To see a video of Ms. Smith explaining visual note-taking, click here. For examples of completed notes, click here. Of course some people will not see the worth of this and prefer to take notes the old fashioned way...writing them down, even with the iPad. But, for kids, or adults, who are very visual, this is pretty cool stuff. 


One other thing...Jenny Oakley, who will be visiting Exeter in April to speak to students in Assembly and with the Art department, was one of twenty featured artists, worldwide, at Macworld|iWorld 2012. And, she was the only one featured who produced her artwork entirely on an iPad. 

Macworld|iWorld 2012

More from Macword|iWorld 2012...


Thursday, January 26, 2012


I attended an amazing session on Zen and the Fine Art of iPhone Photography by Jonathan Marks. It will take me a bit to get all the links to the apps he mentioned entered here but click on his name and check out his website. And remember, each and every image was photographed then manipulated on his iPhone. He did not, as most do, download his photos to his computer and use Photoshop or iPhoto to manipulate his images. I am hoping to bring him to campus to speak with the kids.


Friday, January 27, 2012


I attended a session entitled The Future of Learning by Nick Floro. Again, it will take me a bit to enter in all the links he mentioned but you can actually access all the slides from his talk here. I love the statistics he quoted, "There are 1.6 billion Internet users, 1.5 billion TVs, 5 billion cell phone subscriptions, and 2.5 billion toothbrushes in the world today." Of course, today was yesterday, so these numbers are no longer valid. Hopefully the number of toothbrushes has increased!

Macworld|iWorld 2012

Reporting live from the Macworld|iWorld 2012 Conference in San Francisco.


I attended an all-day workshop for educators yesterday which was sponsored by CUE, Computer-Using Educators, Inc. As I sat there from 10 am to 5 pm three things struck me: (1) the number of incredible, amazing applications out there for all levels of education, (2) the number of amazingly talented teachers putting these applications to use, and, (3) how little I know about any of it.


The following is a list of sites you can access to find out about the various presentations that went on throughout the day...
Slam Poetry

Advanced iMovie Techniques

iPhoneography

The Real World

Mobile Technology Invasion in the Classroom

A Peek Inside Our Second Grade Classroom

Go Code Cadets! iOS Development

Keynote Address by Peter Reynolds


As the second grade teacher was presenting how he uses the iPhone with his kids I began thinking about how his students, or ones in similar classroom situations, will be at Exeter in just seven years. And, in just seven more years, they could be teaching at Exeter. How will we receive them? I'm confidant that in seven years, if not before, we will be embracing the mobile technology that our students have grown up with and have used throughout their entire pre-secondary years. 


In the Fall 2011 edition of OnCUE, the publication of the CUE organization, there is an excellent article entitled Disruptive Technologies in Education by David D. Thornburg, Ph.D. The three disruptions are (1) the phonetic alphabet which gave the storyteller, or lecturer, control of the educational process; (2) the invention of the mass produced book, and, (3) mobile technology, or the smartphone, which we are in the midst of. In the first two cases, "education" and educators were slow to accept and adopt the change, so there is no reason not to expect the same reluctance today. But, as in the first two examples, the change will happen and education will be altered drastically.


More later...