www.edutopia.org In school, you’re learning all about fish. Would you rather look at, hold, and examine an actual fish to determine its species or would you prefer to read a textbook about a bunch of different fish? Sliminess factor aside, I’d vote for seeing the actual fish. The students in science teacher Michelle Underwood’s class feel the same way:  They love the hands-on projects — fish study included — that Underwood has worked into her c…

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Tags: Cisco, edtech, education, edutopia, George Lucas, IVC, TelePresence, videoconferencing

With the Pro Football Hall of Fame 2011 Enshrinement coming up next weekend, and the lockout over, I think it’s great timing to highlight what the Pro Football Hall of Fame is doing for students around the world. How many times during your grade school years did you come face to face with one of your celebrity idols? Most of us probably can’t attest to more interaction with our famous role models than seeing their faces on posters or inter…

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Tags: Art Shell, Buffalo Bills, canton ohio, Chris Hanburger, Dallas Cowboys, Dave Casper, Deion Sanders, Ed Sabol, education, football, Fred Biletnikoff, hof weekend, Howie Long, Jack Youngblood, John Madden, Les Richter, Lynn Swann, Marcus Allen, Marshall Faulk, Marv Levy, Miami Dolphins, Mike Haynes, Minnesota Vikings, NFL lockout, Nick Buoniconti, oakland raiders, pro football hall of fame, Richard Dent, Ron Yary, Shannon Sharpe, Ted Hendricks, TelePresence, Washington Redskins, Willie Brown

Remember when the principal used to come into your classroom? Though he or she was only there to observe your teacher, if you were like me, you immediately started running through the day and whether you had littered on campus or let a curse word drop. Total reflex action, then you promptly swallowed your gum and dropped the note you were writing (translation for anyone under 25—text message you were sending) and sat up straight in your chair. P…

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Tags: edchat, edtech, Education Week, Rick Hess, teacher evaluation, TelePresence

So, we’ve talked here about how telepresence can help humanize education, but I’m more and more interested in how telepresence can personalize the learning process. According to the “Young Adults’ Perspectives on American Education 2011” study conducted by Viacom and The Associated Press, one in four young adults thinks the education system does not understand their values and goals. As a result of this disconnection to their formal…

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Tags: american education, collaboration, education, higher education, museums, TelePresence, young adults

We read a lot in education news about evaluating teacher performance, and I wrote a few months back about how telepresence could help with assessing and developing classroom leaders. But what about the top school leaders? Education Week’s Christina Samuels wrote a recent article about the need for re-vamped evaluations of the people who manage the teachers: school principals. According to Samuels, school districts struggle to design and imple…

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Tags: Cisco, edchat, edtech, education reform, merit pay, teacher evaluation, TelePresence, video conferencing, videoconferencing