Author Archives: Andrew Plemmons Pratt

Digital Learning Every Day: Necessity, Not Luxury

Tomorrow, February 1, is the first national “Digital Learning Day,” an event designed to expand recognition of technology in education and promote innovation. The concept is as sprawling as digital learning itself, but the idea is to set aside one day … Continue reading

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Getting eBooks Into iBooks

As I have written about before, I’m a big proponent of getting eBooks into my scholars’ hands. Previously, I cast my vote for Stanza as my favorite app for reading eBooks on an iPad or other iOS device, but I’ve … Continue reading

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How I Crashed Two School Networks in Two Days: A Cautionary Tale

Back in September, I was sitting in a collaborative planning session with my principal and my department chair when an assistant principal stuck her head in the room and asked to speak to me outside. With her stood our technology … Continue reading

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The Socrative Method (for Capturing Student Responses on Any Web Device)

Socrative is a simple web-based student response system that I’ve tinkered with on several occasions, but its streamlined interface sits atop a deceptively powerful piece of software. The flexibility makes it something I’d recommend to any teacher with at least … Continue reading

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“Little Brother” is Magic

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow My rating: 5 of 5 stars From time to time growing up, my dad has said something that’s been on my mind a lot recently: “Technology that is sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic.” This … Continue reading

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A Brief Introduction to eBooks, and How to Read them in a Web Browser (or on a Smartphone or iPad)

Your students need books that they will like reading. One way to get them those books is to hand them a hard copy. Another way, if you’ve got the right technology, is to give them an ebook. Anyone who has … Continue reading

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Start Me Up: Dispatch from Startup Weekend Washington DC EDU

Over the weekend, I had the privilege to attend a portion of the second Startup Weekend event focused on education. Startup Weekend is itself a startup organization that organizes gatherings of developers, designers, business and marketing experts, and investors to … Continue reading

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Textlab: Literacy is a technology. Technology is a literacy.

Music: “These Legs” by Thanks,Again This is my pitch, created along with my colleague Jordyn Sims, for the TFA Social Innovation Award competition. Textlab.org Literacy is a technology. Technology is a literacy. Andrew Plemmons Pratt (TFA DC Region ’10, 7th … Continue reading

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Take your iPad to the dojo. ClassDojo, that is.

If you haven’t signed up for a ClassDojo.com account, go do so right now.  Got it? Okay. You’ve now turned classroom management into a video game.  ClassDojo is a a "real-time behavior management system" that allows you to track on and off-task … Continue reading

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Video: A Super-Quick Sprint Through the Features on My Class Moodle Site

My vision for this year includes migrating my class to an all (or mostly) digital environment. Reading, writing, collaborating online. Not because it’s hip or cool or social, but primarily because it’s efficient. Today, I showed off some of those … Continue reading

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