March 20, 2024 – Mike Paul

Ten books from MIT faculty to expand your knowledge of teaching, learning, and technology

As we head into Spring Break and, soon, into summer, you may already be building your reading list.

I know not everyone is busy marking professional learning books like me (yes, I have a sickness), but if you are, I have some recommendations.

Here are 10 books shared by MIT Open Learning faculty that explore teaching, learning, and technology. The books cover topics such as innovation in manufacturing, creating Android apps, sociable robots, educational technology, the science of learning, and workforce education.

One of my favorites, Failure to Disrupt, is on the list. I believe that text is required reading for anyone in the educational technology space if you’re brave enough to admit that we are often wrong about what technology can do in our schools.

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Doing the Work of Learning

There is no substitute for doing the work, whatever your work may be. Put in the time, mastery will come.

How Do Most U.S. Teachers Teach?

photo of woman tutoring young boy — Photo by Julia M Cameron on Pexels.com

Finding a definitive answer to how most U.S. teachers teach is difficult for various reasons. There are over 13,000 school districts in the U.S., with almost 100,000 schools and 3.2 million teachers, making it hard to track how each teacher teaches.

University researchers play a significant role in discovering this information, but very few such professors do this, and it takes time to observe classrooms and gather data.

Well, whose job is it to find out how most U.S. teachers teach? University researchers. Sadly, there are too few such professors who do exactly that and those that do seldom write articles or books that become “must reads” for teachers and the general public.
Larry Cuban

However, some studies and surveys have relied on direct observations, teacher self-reports of classroom instruction, teacher autobiographies, and historical records of classroom lessons to find out how U.S. teachers teach.

Star Wars Time Jumps with The Acolyte

Set some 100 years prior to the events of our beloved Skywalker Saga, The Acolyte provides a glimpse into the world of the High Republic.

I’m hoping this series compares well to the quality of Andor. Of course, we’re getting a Wookie Jedi, which might be worth it all.

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