I just learned (a bit) about the Zettelkasten Method! You probably already know about it, but I had never heard of it. Basically it’s hypertext without needing computers — just notecards and paperclips, though software is certainly allowed. In an… Read More ›
How much of this advertisement (from 1807!) can you figure out? Note that it says “hieroglyphical” where we would have said “rebus” when I was a kid or “emojis” today. You’ll probably do much better at reading it than I… Read More ›
Nine months ago I wrote about a mapping workshop at the Boston Public Library. That was before the pandemic, even if it feels like the pandemic has been going on for a couple of years now. Why, you may ask,… Read More ›
Who remembers diagramming sentences? I do, I do! If you’re my age, you never forget the experience of diagramming sentences. Love it or hate it (I was one of the few who loved it), you don’t forget it. Maybe you forget… Read More ›
That headline isn’t very helpful, as you have no doubt figured out. After all, it’s spelled “GIF,” but it’s pronounced with a hard G as in “gift” — or perhaps with a soft G as in “giraffe.” But which? You probably know the answer…… Read More ›
There’s a minimalism to teaching and learning math that I’ve always loved. With just a pencil and paper I can become a mathematician. With just one good question I can launch a math class. But now there’s a lot more… Read More ›
“At least,” I figured, “this webinar will surely be better than Tuesday’s debate.” Low bar, I know. (I had watched half of the debate before I couldn’t stand it any longer.) What I am referring to definitely surpassed that low… Read More ›
Gödel, Escher, Bach — what more do I need to say? Quite a bit more, you reply, especially since only 8% of you have actually read this amazing book. (Statistics gladly invented on the spot, of course.) If you’ve heard of… Read More ›
Some schools are back to 100% in-person learning at this point, but most are starting with either hybrid (apparently called “blended” in NYC) or all-remote. As I am (thankfully) mostly retired, do I still have skin in the game? Well,… Read More ›
So my course is over now, and I’m in the midst of final grading, which means I have a little perspective about how this new experience went. Twice this summer I’ve written about Zoom-based teaching and learning, first on July 3… Read More ›
You’ve heard of Fabricius, right? Actually, probably not. I hadn’t either. Here’s Google’s description of it: Fabricius, a Google Arts & Culture Lab Experiment that uses machine learning to help translate ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. That sounds implausible, but it’s true…. Read More ›
I was wrong. I admit it. For years I’ve been saying that it’s ridiculously archaic to be using fax technology. I said that in 2020… and in 2019… and in… well, I’ve been saying it since 2010 at least. It… Read More ›
Don’t tell anyone: there’s a dirty little secret here! I have some bad news: people cheat. More specifically, students cheat on tests and other assessments. So, how do you give secure assessments in a remote teaching-and-learning setting? It’s all too… Read More ›
Everyone knows Zoom (the teleconferencing platform, that is, not the old PBS kids’ show). Everyone knows Zoom. Now, raise your hand if you know MCET. I thought so: everyone knows Zoom, but very few know MCET, which provided my first… Read More ›
Today, on July 3, I am telling you that I survived my first week. Not my first week of teaching, of course: what I survived was my first week of teaching with Zoom — although sometimes it did feel like… Read More ›
Try to imagine, if you possibly can, a time when all teaching Is done remotely, when teachers don’t see their students face-to-face, when students spend classtime sitting at home in front of a screen watching a teacher in a studio… Read More ›
One day in the early ’80s, when very few people had even heard of the internet, I was reading an online discussion about computer programming projects in Logo. A certain angry participant got very upset at a contributor from Montreal… Read More ›
Say what? Of course high schools teach CS! Weston has done so for decades. Surely Mark Guzdial knows better, but his recent blog post asks that very question. So what’s going on? It turns out that I have MB (Massachusetts Blindness)…. Read More ›
Hypertext pioneer Mark Bernstein has just published Intertwingled, a collection of nine essays and one short story. No one could ever say that Bernstein is shy about expressing his opinions, so don’t expect some dry attempt at scientific “neutrality.” If you… Read More ›
You’re a student. Why are you required to buy a Texas Instruments calculator? Why not something cheaper and better? Usually what you’re buying is a TI-84, a 15-year-old piece of expensive technology. Zachary Crockett explains how we got into this… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 