What we’re reading in October

It’s been a busy end to the back-to-school season, which can make it tough to find the time to keep up with all that’s happening in the world of educational technology. So we want to make it easier for you to keep up with the news by sharing what we’re reading lately. Enjoy!

Letters To The Teacher Celebrate A 40-Year Career

From NPR’s “All Things Considered,” this is a touching story about high school and middle school English teacher Molly Pollak, who’s retirement gift captures compelling reflections from students spanning her entire career.

Where the OECD Report Missed the Mark

In Education Week, Tom Vander Ark takes on “kneejerk headlines” and offers a contrarian point of view on a recent OECD study that found limited connections between increased technology use and student learning performance improvements.

‘Freakonomics’ author Steven Levitt got a bunch of college kids to confess to cheating

In Business Insider, Bob Bryan takes a look at how an unnamed “top American university” asked one of the world’s leading economists to use data analytics to shed light on a cheating problem that frustrated students and confounded administrators.

In Successful Edtech, Pedagogy Comes First–Devices Second

In The Huffington Post, Ken Eastwood, superintendent of Middletown City School District in New York offers a thoughtful look into the ways to make edtech succeed. The key, as Eastwood explains, is to put the instruction ahead of the hardware.

Google Virtual-Reality System Aims to Enliven Education

Natasha Singer of The New York Times reports on how students in New York and Chicago are taking virtual field trips across the globe from the comfort of their classrooms by using Google Expeditions.

The Prettiest Elementary School Ever Is in France, of Course

Finally, we set our sights on European schools as Wired magazine’s design department offers us a look into what it calls ‘The Prettiest Elementary School Ever.’ It’s in France and you’ll simply have to see it to believe it.