My 100th Post: Balefire Labs and #EdApps

Posted on June 3, 2013 by karen mahon

Balefire LabsI’ve been a bit off the grid this past week, so my apologies for not writing. That said, this is my 100th blog post! Wow! Thinking back to my first blog post, it’s been a really fun ride.

For my 100th blog post I wanted to write about something that is special to me: my new educational app review business, Balefire Labs, that is launching to the public in July. It’s getting close enough now, with our beta test complete, that it is palpable. As we count down to the launch the excitement and anxiety is growing for me! My 100th blog post seemed to be an appropriate time to talk more about Balefire Labs than I have done so far…this post marks the occasion of one achievement and describes the next achievement that is pending! Continue reading →

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How To Cite Social Media: MLA & APA Formats

Posted on May 21, 2013 by karen mahon

This isn’t a “usual” type of post for me, but I think a lot of you will find it extremely useful. I know I will!!

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Past, Present & Future of SmartPhones…in the Classroom?

Posted on May 17, 2013 by karen mahon

Here’s a fun infographic for a Friday, originally posted on Edudemic.com. I’m fascinated by the surge in smart device use in classrooms, as you know, and for a few years I’ve been predicting (we’ll see how this works out for me) that smart phone use at school will surpass and eventually extinguish tablet use. I could be totally off base, but it just seems to me that with so many kids already having smart phones and with the price points being more affordable that it will eventually happen…especially in the developing global markets. So I’m curious to see which company will solve the interoperability problem across smartphone platforms…if someone can do it there’s big money to be made in the BYOD market, that’s for sure!

So take a look at this infographic and see if some of the future possibilities don’t blow your mind! Can you imagine some of those integrated solutions being used by students in the classroom?? Whoa! Continue reading →

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My First MOOC!

Posted on May 15, 2013 by karen mahon

moocSeems like I’ve been having a lot of interesting firsts lately…my first EdCamp last week, my first zip lining a few weeks ago (it was fun!) and now my first MOOC. For those new to  the term (which hopefully isn’t too many of you at this point!), MOOC is an acronym for the biggest and, arguably, most disruptive movement in education today: Massive Open Online Courses. Continue reading →

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My First EdCamp in Boston!

Posted on May 8, 2013 by karen mahon

edcamp bostonThis past Saturday I attended EdCamp Boston. It was the first edcamp for me and I’ll confess, I was skeptical. I’ve been to other teacher-centric events before and they’ve often felt like what I always imagined cheerleader camp would feel like: lots of “rah rah,” but not much substance. I’d heard a lot of hype about how great edcamps are, so I was anxious to see for myself. Continue reading →

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Parents’ thoughts on K12 Mobile Learning!

Posted on May 2, 2013 by karen mahon

We know that smart devices and mobile learning are HOT in K12 right now. And here’s what parents have to say (we think they like it!) Continue reading →

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Creativity and Basic Skills in Education

Posted on April 28, 2013 by karen mahon

creativityCreativity is a complex subject. To say the least. It’s also a topic that creates a great deal of conflict. I’ve been thinking about creativity for a long time as it applies to learning and education. I’m not really sure that we all would agree on what creativity is, but everyone seems to agree that it’s good. I always find that fascinating. So I did some poking around to see what some definitions of creativity are, as a starting point. Here’s a sampling of what I found.

Continue reading →

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Teachers Love Technology!

Posted on April 23, 2013 by karen mahon

I really enjoyed this graphic, which originally appeared on OnlineUniversities.com, so wanted to share it with you all here. We’re making huge progress with technology in the classroom. Isn’t it awesome? Continue reading →

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Competency-Based Education and Me.

Posted on April 18, 2013 by karen mahon

This image originally appeared on the Mommy Diaries. Click the image to visit the site.

This image originally appeared on the Mommy Diaries. Click the image to visit the site.

I’m kind of liking this competency-based education thing.

I think I’ve been behind the curve on this, because it’s only really come to my attention recently. And when I did a little more reading for this post, I could see that it’s been around for a little while now. It looks like it started primarily in higher education and has been making its way into K12. Continue reading →

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The Standards and creativity – compatible

Posted on April 11, 2013 by karen mahon

I really loved this post from Grant Wiggins…and I agree with him completely! What do you think?

grantwiggins's avatarGranted, and...

 

Why do people insist on viewing the Standards as inconsistent with teacher creativity and choice? I am baffled by such uncreative thinking. That’s like saying the architect cannot be creative because every house has to meet building code. Indeed, the whole point of mandating standards as opposed to curriculum is to free people up to create innovative curriculum that addresses the standards.

You’re an architect: your clients are students. Your job is to develop client-friendly learning that also meets code. How does this restrict freedom?

Here is an obvious illustration of our failure to think imaginatively now. When I started teaching in 1972, the legacy of the ’60s was still in full force in my school. There were all sorts of creative courses: Death and Dying, The Wilderness, Political Philosophy, Ethics, Why Do We Do What We Do? etc.

More importantly, many of these cool courses met the English…

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