Want to know how we can improve our schools using technology? Want to know how your son/daughter's education can be more effective? Today is the day to watch Digital Learning Day. It is happening all day.

You can see teachers and students talking about what works in the...

Here is a Christmas-Hannukah gift you can give yourself, a loved one, a friend, or the world---A university education online for free. Is this some kind of trick?

Nope, it isn't a trick. It is a new university called University of the People (appropriately named) but the degrees...

For 16 years Learning Matters with John Merrow has been showing the nation what's really happening in public education at all levels. Learning Matters has been producing education reports for PBS NewsHour as well as producing independent documentaries about what is happening in our schools.

In 2011...

One of the best ways to see what is happening in education is with documentaries and videos and one of the best creators of these documentaries is outstanding education reporter John Merrow on Learning Matters.

For the past 16 years Learning Matters with John Merrow has...

It was a night to remember. Imagine going to the White House for a holiday party. Yes, the White House... a place I have seen in photos since I was a small child. It was last night, Dec. 2, and the first of many such parties the White House is...

We are a country who says the glass is half empty instead of half full. We need to change our perspective, at least on Thanksgiving.

While the country is suffering the worst economic recession in decades, we all have reasons to be thankful. One important reason is that we are...

How is technology going to change the classroom? That was the number one question being discussed at the New York Times Schools for Tomorrow Conference held yesterday, September 22 in the Times Center.

Four hundred invited attendees including distinguished policy makers, entrepreneurs, and educators came up with a variety of...

We all just celebrated our nation's 235th birthday last week. Part of our great American heritage is the right to a free education. It is part of the American dream; come to America with nothing; get an education; get a job and lead a free and good life. We invite...

In anticipation of the celebration of Father's Day, here is an optimistic and funny view of the benefits of midlife fatherhood by Palo Alto writer Len Filppu. It is for all the men (and the women who love them) who wonder what it might be like to be a mid-life...

Reading levels.

We've heard of them, but most people have no idea what it really means. They only know that some texts are harder to understand than others.

Now Google has come up with something revolutionary that will help all of us, but especially teachers.

Google searches now allow users...

Congress and our policy makers have their priorities wrong.

Nothing new, but now the impact is even greater because it hits everyone where it really hurts -- our teachers -- again. It isn't as though policy makers are ignorant that the key to better education is the teacher. Having...

Something super exciting and revolutionary for educators worldwide is happening next week, November 15-19. It is an easy-to-attend conference promoting global education which is critical to achieving peace and understanding in the world today, an important issue for all educators.

It is a first of its kind and...

As we all know, U.S. students score pretty low on international math tests -- 24th out of 29 industrialized countries. What can we do to get kids really excited about math? One thing is to make it relevant to the world today. How about learning to...

No one disagrees that our education system needs to improve. Internationally, we score 25th in math and 21st in science. We have 2,000 high schools that can classified as "dropout factories." We have a dropout rate of 7,000 kids per week and in the fifty largest American cities we have...

American students' lack of knowledge about the world is unsettling.

According to surveys by National Geographic and Asia Society, young Americans are next to last in their knowledge of geography and current affairs compared to peers in eight other countries, and the overwhelming majority of college-bound seniors cannot find...

In late June, Jan Hoffman of the New York Times explored the tough issue of cyberbullying and the schools. She led her provocative piece with an anecdote about parents asking their 6th grade daughter's principal to intervene in a particularly difficult situation involving abusive and sexually suggestive email...

Written together with Michael Levine, Executive Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop.

America is celebrating.

The Fourth of July is a time for parades, parties, BBQs, fireworks---we certainly have much to be thankful for here in America, the most innovative country on...

Did policy makers read the study published last week by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) showing that merit-pay for teachers may be ineffective and have unintended negative consequences.

EPI economist Joydeep Roy, co-editor with NYU's Sean Corcoran of this series, noted that "Policymakers should probably think twice before...

Worried about college costs?

College does not need to cost thousands of dollars per year. Now there is an online university where students can go for free. The only fees are for application and examination processing--both of which are nominal.

Meet the University of the People, a nonprofit...

Open Education Resources (OER) just got a big boost this weekend.

Long time OER champion Dr. Catherine Casserly was just elected to the Board of Directors of Creative Commons to help provide further direction for the Open Education Resources movement worldwide.