Category Archives: Education trends

Discussion of current technology and pedagogy

The Price of Staying Connected

Posted on June 6, 2025 by knlistman

Before I entered grade school, I knew something about computers. That may be ordinary today but unusual for someone born in the 1950’s. However, my father worked for General Electric in Louisville, Kentucky which housed one of the first non-government … Continue reading →

Posted in Mental health, Social media, The information age | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Fear of Criticism

Posted on September 28, 2023 by knlistman

Ask an educator “How do you encourage creativity?” They will tell you students need an environment full of stimuli. They describe the ideal classroom as having an open, accepting atmosphere, free from criticism to build up self-esteem. Ask authors, poets … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Education trends, Group psychology | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Messrs & Co

Posted on June 29, 2023 by knlistman

Vernacular language can both draw in readers and become a pitfall. When we understand the vernacular, we feel a closeness to the author, having come from the same world and using those same words. Acronyms and abbreviations are no different. … Continue reading →

Posted in exclusion, Group psychology, Literature, Nonfiction, Social media | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Allusions

Posted on May 11, 2023 by knlistman

The man awoke in an unrecognized ancient building. He attempts to leave, only to find doors lock and windows barred. Then, he discovers other people inside as bewildered as he is. They are all being held as prisoners. The only … Continue reading →

Posted in allusions, Characters, Drama and movies, Education trends, Fiction in education, Novels, Story structure | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Whose Needs to Be Involved in Reading Curriculum?

Posted on March 3, 2022 by knlistman

Parents, children and school personnel all need to be involved reviewing books for the literature curriculum. I’ll tell you why. In sixth they had us read the Iliad and I wasn’t getting it. I asked my mom to read it to … Continue reading →

Posted in Censorship, Education trends, Fiction in education, Literature, Trends in books | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

How Much Do You Know about Banned Books?

Posted on February 10, 2022 by knlistman

The banning of books has gained a lot of notoriety recently. The image that pops into most people’s mind is a scene from Fahrenheit 451 in which books are torched in a flaming show of destruction. This has occurred in … Continue reading →

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A new definition of literacy

Posted on December 16, 2021 by knlistman

A child of mine made a joking statement that if we wanted to raise the level of writing we needed to lower the number of people who are literate. The supposed logic behind this suspect claim is that the books … Continue reading →

Posted in Education trends, Fiction in education, intelligence, Literature, Trends in books, Writing trends | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Does being well-read help you write?

Posted on September 3, 2021 by knlistman

Despite the flood of self-published books, there are still agents searching the field of writers attempting to discover the next best-selling author. I read a long list of short blurbs written by these agents describing what they required of those … Continue reading →

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Reduction of language

Posted on May 27, 2021 by knlistman

Sometimes, I am fearful for the future of writing. We are not exactly converting to “newspeak,” But, there’s a trend of eliminating some words or even parts of speech from usage. I’ve read questions on a writing forum in which … Continue reading →

Posted in Education trends, Style and voice, Teaching writing skills, Writer's resource | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The human factor in science fiction

Posted on March 22, 2021 by knlistman

Hardcore science fictions readers may mourn the loss of science fiction writers whose keen insights led them to glimpses of the future. Jules Verne created novels in which characters sailed under oceans throughout the world and traveled to the moon. … Continue reading →

Posted in Group psychology, Literature, Technology in education | Leave a comment