RE@L just chanced upon a summer blog this week by former RE@L guest-blogger, Anne Jolly. It brought to mind that Nat King Cole song that some of us older teachers may still recall: “Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, Those days of soda and pretzels and beer, Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, Dust
RE@L wants to pause for a moment in our day’s occupations of teaching all those dear students out there who depend on us whether they know it or not. Many kids do know it, of course, witness this letter we found on Facebook today, published on a great website called “Bored Teachers.” It’s a blogsite worth your
Last year, MECC’s Oregon Trail™ world-famous simulation game was selected by the The STRONG Museum of Play to be enshrined in its heralded Hall of Fame. Today, we have another exciting Press Release from them! Read on! You may recall our earlier RE@L Blog on that great Hall of Fame honor. Click here. Yes it was an honor!
Almost 40 years ago this young girl posed for a LEGO ad showing what she could do with her newly-designed home and carport…or is it a heliocopter-port? Maybe both. We at RE@L like to think she not only knew how to build new designs, but she also liked to play with her MECC science- and
The operative question to many us still is: “How can I teach in the midst of unexpected chaos or disengagement? How can I keep my passion to help all kids learn when so many are passionate about their non-learning?” That’s the same question that we at RE@L wrestle with as we create software products and
Editors Note: Given the growing interest in STEM and Project-Based Learning, RE@L is reprinting a relevant blog from our Guest Blogger, Bob Pearlman, first published in January 2016. The four options he lists for training STEM staff are still valid today. That is the very path that RE@L has chosen for the development of our STEM
RE@L Blogs: The RE@L View! RE@L brings you a series of blogs and interviews on STEM Careers. Why? Well, there are milions of K12 school kids out there who need to know if a STEM career is right for them. Girls and boys. If a STEM job piques your interest, now’s
RE@L’s VP for RE@L Product Development, Don Rawitsch, recently wrote a Guest Blog for us on his attendance and presentation at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco last month. Click here for Don’s previous blog on this topic. One of his conclusions was that, with hundreds of booths showing the latest in gaming to 25,000 attendees,
More good and fun news on the newest learning simulation game Oregon Trail. Guess where it came from? None other than some Oregon students and their creative teacher. It’s a clear case of hands-on, heads-on learning at its best. Once again we hear from Powell Butte Charter School in Oregon. We heard from them in a recent blog. Click here
RE@L welcomes back our frequent Guest Blogger, Don Rawitsch. Don is also our Executive VP of RE@L Product Development and RE@L STEM Investigatons©. RE@L highly values Don’s vision and creativity with K12 software. Don was one of the co-inventors of the MECC Oregon Trail (OT) learning simulation game from back in the 70′s. Given Don’s industry prominence, he was invited to present to
Our last RE@L Blog urged viewers to go see a feel-good, family-friendly, learn-lots, PG-movie about the early space-moon program. It’s called “Hidden Figures” and was recently released by 20th Century Fox Films. The film has received many positive reviews and accolades. Click here for our previous blog on the film. Below is the recent IBM story about
The more we at RE@L read about what’s going on with EducationTechnology, the more we are convinced that well-known popular products and services are important to us all. In earlier days, it was like earning the “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” for an exciting, new laundry soap or a vacuum cleaner that really cleaned. Next, along came “Consumer Reports” and
Remember our RE@L New Year Resolutions from January 1, 2017? Well, we do….so here’s what we resolved to do even better: Our New Year’s RE@L resolution is to continue to bring you: An array of topical, timely RE@L blogs on EdTech and STEM, Reviews of other insightful bloggers and pioneering leaders, Helpful Case Studies and Results
RE@L sends greetings to all our readers and followers for a great Holiday and even better New Year! We’ve all worked hard this past year to make good things happen, no matter what we do. That’s why you’re reading this! We, your RE@L Bloggers, pledge to keep our focus on “What Works And What Still Needs
Here are some excerpts from K12 educator Tom Whitby’s recent blog titled: The Key to Educational Reform. We think you will find his insights and suggestions very helpful for improving K12 professional development: Tom Whitby: “The flipped classroom, maker movement, project-based learning, blended learning, student centered learning, hour of code, collaboration, direct instruction, and lecture, there are
As promised, RE@L brings you the second STEM Case Study, this one from Jackie Murdock LaFrenz, another “Passionate Practitioner” from Oregon, and wife of last week’s guest blogger, Todd LaFrenz. Jackie LaFrenz is the Head Teacher and 4th grade instructor at Powell Butte Community Charter School in Powell Butte, OR. The charter school began when the local district decided to
RE@L is proud to bring our readers a “Double Perspective” of Case Studies on STEM-based Real World Learning. This kind of learning goes by many names these days: STEM, STEAM, PBL (Project-Based Learning), EL (Expeditionary Learning) to name some. Todd LaFrenz and Jackie Murdock LaFrenz are dedicated teachers from Bend, OR who use these powerful principles,
Recently, reporter Greta Kaul wrote a fine story on MINNPOST.com The title was: “Almost 50 years ago, Oregon Trail revolutionized educational software. Can the game’s creators do it again?” It’s a great question. You can read her story and answers by clicking here. The title of Ms. Kaul’s report does ask a key, thought-provoking question: “Can the games creators do
“In the fall of 2014 I was invited to visit Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) in Pittsburgh, which provides a formal preparation program for future technology-based game designers. The structure of the ETC program, the faculty, and the student work that I observed were impressive. Recently, I was fortunate enough to reconnect with
Back by popular demand: Know Your STEM Careers! GET RE@L: The RE@L View! RE@L brings you a series of blogs and interviews on STEM Careers. Why? Well, there are milions of K12 school kids out there who need to know if a STEM career is right for them. Girls and boys. If a STEM