Welcome to another issue of Quick Clicks, a summary of education resources worth sharing.
This month’s edition is a special one! For the entire month of February, I plan to share one discovery each day related to instructional design, ed tech, adult learning, and other adjacent ideas worth exploring.
Here is the running list of interesting things I have discovered so far this month:
26. Coursera and Udemy’s M&A
Talent Lab Solutions recently posted in their Substack about Coursera and Udemy’s M&A (short for mergers and acquisitions). “In December, Coursera acquired Udemy for just under $1B, with an implied valuation of $2.5B for the combined entity.” It seems both companies are adjusting their strategies to focus more on enterprise clients and recurring revenue rather than just individual course sales. What does this ultimately say about the online learning market? It will be interesting to see how this progresses.
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23. EdTech Magazine
It’s choose your own adventure at EdTech Magazine! First, pick K-12 or Higher Education. Then, dive into topics, information by state, videos, events, and more. The site is a wealth of information for all things education and technology for IT leaders, educators, and administrators.
22. ISTE Seal
With so many different ed tech tools hitting the market all the time, it can be difficult to vet them all to determine if they are worth their weight. The ISTE Seal is a helpful indicator that shows an educational tech tool has been carefully reviewed and meets quality standards like usability, accessibility, and alignment with the ISTE Standards for teaching and learning. Teachers can use it as a quick way to pick tried and true tools proven to support good digital practice in class.
21. TechNotes
TCEA is a nonprofit organization that supports educators with professional development, conferences, and resources focused on integrating technology into teaching and learning.
TechNotes is their daily blog that address a wide variety of topics from AI to classroom activities, leadership to research, LMSs to tips and tricks…and much more!
20. Tech Integration Playbook
Edutopia is one of the most insightful websites in ed tech, but the amount of information can be overwhelming at times. The Tech Integration Playbook is a centralized place for all of the articles, videos, and classroom examples that can help educators get started with or enhance their use of technology. It makes for a practical starting point for educators and schools that want intentional tech integration, not just “add more devices.”
And if you think that’s helpful, check out Homeroom, Edutopia’s feed, personally curated for each individual. Answer a few questions about your role, subject(s), grade levels, and areas of interest, and you’ll get a personalized information hub.
19. Cycles of Learning
“When curiosity is sparked…deep cycles of learning can occur.”
Science teacher, Ramsey Musallam’s blog, Cycles of Learning, offers interesting insights into ed tech. Recent blog posts cover topics like AI and Media Literacy lessons, Google Vids, chemistry, and more! Explore his archives; the categories are expansive!
Class Tech Tips is a long running edtech blog created by Dr. Monica Burns. She focuses on practical strategies for using technology in K-12 classrooms. Her site offers lesson ideas, app recommendations, podcast episodes, books, and ready to use resources that help teachers integrate digital tools in their classrooms.
17. Free Harvard Courses Online
Harvard has developed open access to some of their educational materials. Some courses specific to Education & Teaching include:
These are just a few examples. Explore the many learning opportunities available through Harvard’s Free Courses.
While many are free, there some costs associated with some. And in certain cases, you can take the course for free and pay a nominal fee for a certificate of completion.
**See #10 below for MIT’s free courses.
16. PBS Learning Media
PBS LearningMedia offers free, standards aligned videos, lesson plans, and interactive resources that teachers can easily plug into daily instruction across a wide variety of subjects and grade levels. It is a practical way to bring high quality media content into the classroom…easy and free!
Additionally, LearningMedia’s Educational Technologies professional development collection contains up to date articles, videos, and training resources that help educators integrate digital tools into planning and instruction.
15. Now Hiring!
Job openings are aplenty in education, including ed tech! Here are just a few examples of some places to find them:
14. Kids Spend Hours in School on Screens. And for What?
This recent Bloomberg article argues that the investment in and emphasis on technology in schools is not worth the negative outcomes. The argument is that schools are pouring billions of dollars into edtech despite decreasing student performance on measures like IQ, numeracy, and creativity. Research suggests that students often learn more deeply from paper, handwriting, and face to face interaction than from screens.
So many questions to ponder:
If the evidence is clear, why do schools continue to prioritize digital over analog?
While there are benefits of digital tools, are they worth the consequences?
Ed Technology Specialists is an organization that provides professional development opportunities for K-12 educators through partnerships with school districts and universities. Among their many course offerings, they have a free course, “Intro to Edtech and Online Learning,” which is an online professional development class that gives educators a wide range of tools, strategies, and digital resources to build confidence and skills in online teaching and learning.
Their Free AI Resource Hub is also chock full of more helpful information in the ed tech space.
12. Schools urgently need a redesign. Here’s how.
In this recent TED Talk from TEDNext, Aylon Samouha argues that most schools are built on an outdated model that does not match what kids actually need today. Instead of focusing mainly on academics and test scores, he says schools should prioritize real world skills like collaboration and problem solving. He shares examples of redesigned schools that give students more ownership over their learning, connect education to real life issues, and treat young people as the contributors they are right now, not just future adults.
Also check out Transcend, Samouha’s non-profit organization focused on redesigning schools in this way.
11. Radical Love in Education
Many topics related to ed tech get lost in the data. However, Brittany Hogan takes a different approach in her recent article for ISTE+ASCD’s blog. “Radical Love in Education Is a Responsibility, Not a Risk” makes the case that educators should show strong care and empathy for students and colleagues. People should see others as humans instead of just categories, behavior labels, or numbers. She argues that this kind of deep care is not something risky but honestly something educators need to take on so schools can be more supportive and fair for everyone.
The beauty of this article is that it transcends education and can be applied to any part of life.
Ask yourself:
What inspires you?
What is stopping you from showing radical love?
10. MIT Open Learning
**Free MIT courses? Yes, please!
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed Open Learning as an initiative to provide open access to educational materials. From professional development courses for workforce training to resources for K-12 educators and students to content on AI and new technologies, the resources are endless!
These are just a few examples. Explore the many learning opportunities available through MIT Open Learning.
** While many are free, there some costs associated with some. And in certain cases, you can take the course for free and pay a nominal fee for a certificate of completion.
9. eLearning Designer’s Academy
Tim Slade is an award winning eLearning designer, author, and speaker. He is also the mastermind behind The eLearning Designer’s Academy.
Recently announced by Google, Paper Banana is an AI system that automatically generates publication-ready scientific diagrams and statistical charts from text descriptions for research papers.
Being able to turn written explanations and/or data into clear visual representation (i.e., diagrams and charts) without advanced design skills is advantageous for educators and students.
7. Teachers’ Lounge
NPR‘s Teacher’s Lounge podcast features conversations with teachers, students and education leaders about the biggest issues affecting classrooms and shares real stories from schools and communities. If you’re not familiar with the podcast, start here and explore some of the best episodes featured last year.
In his most recent post, Hernandez explains how AI is reshaping entry-level work by automating routine tasks and reducing demand for traditional technical skills. In order to prepare students for future careers, educators should be focusing more on skills related to critical thinking and other broad cognitive abilities.
5. Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins, Jay McTighe
What is understanding and how does it differ from knowledge?
How can we determine the big ideas worth understanding?
Why is understanding an important teaching goal, and how do we know when students have attained it?
How can we create a rigorous and engaging curriculum that focuses on understanding and leads to improved student performance in today′s high-stakes, standards-based environment?
These are just a few of the many questions asked and answered in this book.
You have heard of the phrase “reverse engineering.” This is backward design! Backward design is a planning framework that emphasis curriculum design that starts with clear learning goals and evidence of understanding before lesson planning.
Take this one step further, and try this interesting exercise:
Read through the comments, and you will find information on Intelligent Tools, another highlight of the book. These are basically graphic organizers to help curriculum developers or teachers work through the concepts introduced in backwards design. (Here’s a link to a scan of the Intelligent Tools.)
4. AI Campus
AI Campus is an AI learning platform from Stifterverband, a German non-profit that focuses on “business, science and civil society” and fosters efforts to “rethink and reshape education and science with a view to strengthening society’s long-term capacity for innovation.”
Within AI Campus, there is a wealth of information and experiences found in the form of free online courses, videos, podcasts and other tools.
For example, check out this “AI Explorables for Schools” course. It’s a free online course that explores machine learning concepts like neural networks and reinforcement learning through interactive browser-based games and exercises along with recommendations and ready-to-use teaching ideas and materials to apply in classroom settings.
Reddit’s r/instructionaldesign and r/edtech communities are two suprisingly useful spaces to browse. While they are not “academic” or “scholarly,” they are packed with real world experiences from people sharing resources and having candid conversations. As with anything on Reddit, it helps to take advice with a grain of salt and remember that posts and comments are based on personal experience. Used in this way, these subreddits can provide helpful anecdotes to more formal learning and an easy way to keep a finger on the pulse on what is top of mind for people right now.
The Learning Uncut podcast is a series that features honest conversations with experienced educators about real learning solutions, strategies, and workplace development. Episodes cover a wide range of interesting topics like design thinking, performance support, culture, and emerging tools. Guests share practical tips and stories that can be used in one’s own work, and the show notes and resources are top notch! It is a good way to get fresh perspectives on professional development, on how adults learn, and on approaches that could influence planning and reflection for both student and colleague support. It’s also worth noting that this is Australia based, offering an interesting and sometimes differing takes on common apsects of education.
1. ISTE and ASCD Transformational Leaders Series
The ISTE and ASCD Transformational Leaders Series is a free webinar series of one hour sessions on timely topics like classroom practice, instructional leadership, equity, educator well being, and new technologies (e.g., AI, of course). The sessions are led by experienced educators, authors, etc. They often go beyond theory and focus on practical ideas teachers can put to good use. Each webinar also includes a professional learning certificate, and many sessions are available to watch later, which makes this an easy and to stay in the know and pick up new strategies.
You can watch the most recent discussion on LinkedIn:
