On Friday, I had the opportunity to go to an Ed Tech Meetup in Seattle, and I thought I’d share some resources and opportunities that I came across. The best thing about the meetup was the emphasis on equity. A speaker at the meeting mentioned Richard Culatta, Director of the Office of Educational Technology, and afterward I found this video of a fantastic twelve minute speech he gave in March.
Science teaching has suffered because science has been so frequently presented just as so much ready-made knowledge, so much subject-matter of fact and law, rather than as the effective method of inquiry into any subject-matter.
John Dewey, American philosopher and education reformer, 1910
It’s a little sobering to think that we are still struggling with the same problems in science education more than 100 years later.
Science teachers and principals from Schmitz Park and Arbor Heights Elementary Schools in West Seattle attended a day-long workshop co-hosted at the Institute for Systems Biology. During their visit to ISB, the educators were enthusiastic to collaborate, learn about new curriculum materials, and see first-hand what an innovative science research space looks like at ISB.
“The day signified much more than these teachers learning about some instructional materials,” said Dan Gallagher, the Science Program Manager for Seattle public schools. “Two different schools, with both principals side by side, working together on their desire…to improve science education for their students is pretty awesome.” Continue reading
The Science Slug 