Paul McKenzie's Page

No single application out there more completely encourages the development of ISTE Profiles of the 21st C learner than Scratch. It is both broad and deep as well as being very flexible. From grade 3 students creating multi-player games and short animations to grade 12's producing interactive stories, games and educational activities to give others a better understanding of the true values of Arab culture and religion. Student engagement is fantastic, and key to true intrinsic motivation, student… Continue

Whenever I talk to American educators, I find myself nodding and shaking my head in condolence of their common plight. I am also forever reading commentaries that carry the familiar theme of how the American education system is no longer in the hands of educators, but gifted in a series of grand experiments to politicians, economists, business leaders, religious organizations, advocacy groups... who all think they know best, or are at least prepared to do some tinkering. They act almost like a f… Continue

I just posted this entry into the MyLearningSpace.org Ning group in response to a query about which Web2.0 tools are useful in schools.

I can't praise Diigo too much. The amazing functionality and connectivity makes it my favorite productivity and learning Firefox add-on. I guess Firefox itself would be the most useful tool. Try out Diigo, but give yourself a chance to discover all its abilities. Oh, and don't forget to join the EdTechTalk group. As much as I love Del.icio.us, I really think Di… Continue

I've been incredibly busy over the last several months - Kuwait to Canada and back, followed by 2 weeks in Southern India, curriculum scope and sequence plus accreditation committees, rugby coaching... all competing with my regular teacher and coordinator duties. On top of all this, my wife and I decided to hit the recruiting trail and aim for an International Baccalaureate school.

Simply put, schools accredited by the IB Organization deliver globally empathic programs that evolve in concert wi… Continue

Yesterday, I hadn't even heard of Johnny Lee, now I'm one of his growing number of fans. Johnny has a website with some great ideas for educators.

What caught my attention was this $99 Smartboard video. I had been thinking that a tablet bluetoothed to a data projector was the only viable poor-man's (educator's) solution to a smartboard. Being a New Zealander of Scottish descent (shor… Continue