Meaningful Homework

Dominick Recckio, a student in a high school in Central New York, presents in his Edutopia blog, a student perspective on homework-- its importance, and a "a few fresh ideas" from his classmates.

He mentions the use of social media, such as creating groups for classes in Twitter, Facebook, etc. as one of the ways to make time spent on homework more meaningful for his classmates. Since using computer/mobile does not "feel like" school, youngsters may be more inclined to complete the assigned tasks.

Making real-world connections is another way, he mentions, to get students to get hooked on the task and feel more interest toward getting it done. He emphasizes that if teachers put more weight on homework, perhaps students would take it more seriously.

I welcome your thoughts!

Improving Teacher Questions

RE: Edutopia

Ben Johnson (school administrator and former assistant superintendent of the Natalia Independent School District) on steps for major improvements in student learning/ improving teacher questions.

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Ben Johnson quotes Robert Marzano's book, Classroom Instruction that Works, when he writes about the importance of asking questions in classroom instruction. He writes about the direct relationship between asking effective questions and teaching effectively.

As my audience of learners is comprised of adult learners of English as an additional languages, question formation is a big part of language learning. In addition, learning to ask questions in various levels (fundamental, analytical, hypothetical and critical thinking) are of utmost importance.

Take a look at the articule in Edutopia where he lists the three steps -- a shift in thinking, question preparation (using PowerPoint), scaffolding -- very interesting!

I welcome your thoughts on this three-step list on improving questions as listed by Ben Johnson!

Gaming and learning experiences

I enjoyed Andy's discussion on "blog on Edutopia regarding the use of gaming as an educational tool."  I recall reading an artible by Marc Prensky "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants - part II: Do They Really Think Differently?"

Prensky states that today's learners "cry out for new approaches in education" and this is one of the reasons why "Digital Game-Based Learning is beginning to emerge and thrive."

As I am a "Digital Immigrant" myself, I welcome your dialogue and discussion on this topic!

Suggested readings (books) from our EDU653 course site

Here is the list posted:


Friedman, T. (2005). The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century. New York: Farr, Strauss and Giroux.

Kline, D. & Burstein, D. (2005). Blog! How the newest media revolution is changing politics, business, and culture. New York, NY: CDS Books.

Geoghegan, M. & Klass, D. (2005). Podcast solutions: The complete guide to podcasting. Berkeley, CA: Friends of Ed.

Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts,and other powerful Web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.


I have purchased the required textbook, and have also borrowed Friedman's "The World is Flat" from the local library. I welcome your thoughts on both resources when you have a chance.

Instructions for posting and commenting...

Hi everyone,

This is a "reminder to self" about the procedures for posting and replying to a post on our blogs:

• we can subscribe to each other's blogs by clicking on "Posts" on our colleagues' blogs
• we can comment on each other's postings by clicking on "All comments" on our blogs

I am looking forward to the next few weeks in EDU653!

Welcome to Rita's Blog!

I hope to learn from all of you on this platform. Thank you!