"Welcome to EdTechAfterDark! Our community was born out of discussions for a rich EdChat type gathering for those of us who are thinking about the digital edu-landscape long after the sun has gone down. For us night owls, when the clock strikes 10PM EST, you’ll find us on Twitter over at #edtechafterdark. All are welcome! Our discussions range from our philosophies about EdTech, digital best practices, and simply sharing our stories." --www.edtechafterdark.com
Welcome to #edtechafterdark! I’m Dan, tech coach from sunny FL. Introduce yourself, role in edu, location, and...your internet campaign slogan (your last name, colon, your last text). Mine? “Koch: For A Year, I Think.”
Hey guys and gals! I’m Alex. An assistant principal from Central FL and 1/3 of the #edtechafterdark team. My slogan? “Stubenbort: Because I know you love literature 😉”
A1: I think it is ONE goal of education. Another should be critical thinking (for life!) and also how to learn from, and with, others. #edtechafterdark
A1: Absolutely. We are preparing Ss for the world beyond the walls of our classroom. Industries look at the schools in an area to determine if they will locate & if they have an educated workforce (sidenote: but are we really with all the testing?) #edtechafterdark
A1: I believe my role is to prepare my scholars to be community-ready. How can I teach kids to be inclusive, empathetic, willing to defend others, determined to make positive change? #edtechafterdark
A1: Loaded question. While I think it's important to prepare students for post secondary experiences like college, not all choose that. So teaching them to be Prob Solv, Crit thnkers, global learners is equal imp. #edtechafterdark
Welcome to #edtechafterdark! I’m Dan, tech coach from sunny FL. Introduce yourself, role in edu, location, and...your internet campaign slogan (your last name, colon, your last text). Mine? “Koch: For A Year, I Think.”
A1: If our schools embodied the diversity of options available to our students, I could get behind this purpose; but not every career is concerned with reading proficiency, ability to pass Algebra II, or staying silent for the vast majority of an 8 hour day. #edtechafterdark
Correct! We need to teach them the skills within our content that employers are looking for in their workforce: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, flexibility, problem-solving, etc. #edtechafterdark
A1: If our schools embodied the diversity of options available to our students, I could get behind this purpose; but not every career is concerned with reading proficiency, ability to pass Algebra II, or staying silent for the vast majority of an 8 hour day. #edtechafterdark
A2: I have students who HAVE to work to help their families with the bills or help raise their younger siblings b/c parents are working 2-3 jobs each. The "real world" is here for many of my HS students. #edtechafterdark
A2: truth is, privilege plays a huge role in this answer. White children are sheltered from so much (as we are also as adults). Minorities face reality all too soon, often in their own schools. To say they don’t know real life is to dismiss their lived experience #edtechafterdark
A2: Kids grasp what's going on around them, especially at secondary level..they totally get it. We need to show empathy and teach from experiences, not textbooks. #edtechafterdark
A2: this depends on the age of the child. I want my high school students to follow politics, social issues... but find it slips into my 3rd grader with too much fear & not enough context. But he is more privileged- I worry abt children facing real social issues. #edtechafterdark
A2: truth is, privilege plays a huge role in this answer. White children are sheltered from so much (as we are also as adults). Minorities face reality all too soon, often in their own schools. To say they don’t know real life is to dismiss their lived experience #edtechafterdark
A2: w/out appropriate teaching, modeling, & scaffolding; students’ use of social media void has catapulted them into adult situations at younger & younger ages. I’m in no way an alarmist, but we have to be proactive & give them appropriate tools to be successful #edtechafterdark
A2: truth is, privilege plays a huge role in this answer. White children are sheltered from so much (as we are also as adults). Minorities face reality all too soon, often in their own schools. To say they don’t know real life is to dismiss their lived experience #edtechafterdark
A2: w/out appropriate teaching, modeling, & scaffolding; students’ use of social media void has catapulted them into adult situations at younger & younger ages. I’m in no way an alarmist, but we have to be proactive & give them appropriate tools to be successful #edtechafterdark
A2: truth is, privilege plays a huge role in this answer. White children are sheltered from so much (as we are also as adults). Minorities face reality all too soon, often in their own schools. To say they don’t know real life is to dismiss their lived experience #edtechafterdark
A3: I think this is changing and evolving. For so long schools taught compliance, but many are changing to create a Culture of Thinking (COT) which teaches it's ok to have diff view points and learn from those convos.#edtechafterdark
A3: YES. We need to use methods like Socratic seminar and debate with more intention but I think it crept up on us. I think the fear of not being PC led to fewer opportunities to discuss and educate against racism, sexism, etc #edtechafterdark
Wholeheartedly agree. But we positively address digital citizenship so that students possess the appropriate tools to avoid the pitfalls & make a positive impact through their digital lives. I’ve seen some tragedies where students don’t receive such guidance #EdTechAfterDark
A3: In an age of "everyone gets offended too easily" sometimes it is easier to ignore the giant elephant in the room. It's our job to help our students have a proper civil discourse & LEARN from each other. "It's ok to disagree & still be friends" #edtechafterdark
A2) As we become a more global world, their connectivity does connect them with the “world out there.” That’s a great opportunity with proper guidance. #EdTechAfterDark
A3: There are some really great thinking routines to embed in learning environments to teach this kind of thinking. #CutluresOfThinking#edtechafterdark
Yeah by large I agree. The issue is we don't actually know what careers we are preparing them for! Greetings from the UK 👋 ps more like #edtechbeforelight#edtechafterdark
A4: yes. We have to get rid of the notion that the way I learned things in school is the best way to prepare you for an unknown future. #edtechafterdark
A4: YES. Who? What? Where? When? Those are lower level questions that can be googled in seconds.
How? Why? What if? These are higher level questions scholars need to be able to analyze and discuss. #edtechafterdark
A4: As Ts sometimes it's hard to get out of our comfort zone and refuse to change. I know how I teach now is not how I taught even 5 yrs ago, & def not like I did 19 yrs ago. We need to realize for basic info the Ss can just Google or Ask Alexa for the answer. #edtechafterdark
A4) I can’t help but think first about advanced math (which for me was anything beyond simple algebra). It’s more complicated than whether they “use” it—some content they learn facilitates thinking and analyzing skills. But we change it through differentiation. #EdTechAfterDark
A4: Tech will never replace good teaching. It's all about relationships. Kids remember the people & moments, not the lessons. We teach SO much more than content. Innovation & Learning are interdependent #edtechafterdark
A3) The last people I blame is educators. But I’d also challenge the notion that society has abandoned differing viewpoints. We may believe passionately, and that can be uncomfortable without always being negative. What educators can foster is understanding. #EdTechAfterDark
A5: Preach! So True! I think some feel it instills responsibility and discipline to hold students accountable for deadlines. This is why I LOVE standards based grading. It allows flexibility to learning at their own rate. #edtechafterdark
A5: ehhhhhhh...I definitely have deadlines I can’t put off. And my scholars definitely have assignments they have time and flexibility to accomplish. I do think it’s important to hold them to realistic expectations. #edtechafterdark
A5: I do "forgive" a missed HW assignment (or 2) without penalty. Life happens. It goes back to knowing your students. Setting clear but attainable expectations is important. But the relationships we build are more important than some grade to our students. #edtechafterdark
A5: I 100% believe grades should be reflection of learning, not compliance or completion. If a kid learns to swim in 2 weeks or 6 months, they still accomplished the goal.#edtechafterdark
A5.sidenote: How many other professions are expected to spend more time doing paperwork, planning, etc beyond the set office hours? Sacrifice time with one's own family? #edtechafterdark
A6: When a student asks a question, we should not be giving them an answer, but asking them another question to guide their thought process and invoke deeper thinker.Creating innovation in our processes, systems & outcomes. #edtechafterdark
A6: We need to give our students more authentic learning experiences. Find ways to share what they are learning is relevant beyond our classroom. GET RID OF STANDARDIZED TESTING!!! We are testing the joy of learning out of our Ss & Ts. #edtechafterdark
