Drupal Schools Network

Drupal is the "Swiss Army knife" of web platforms - it can do more things in more ways than any other.  However,  it is neither an Integrated Learning System (like Compass Learning) nor a Course Management System (like Moodle).

Among the things Drupal is best at is groupwork:  collaboration, coordination, social networking and social learning.  Some teachers are like Drupal - they love to facilitate and support productive groupwork in the classroom, for the synergy of everyone contributing to each other's learning. 

Some teachers (and their students) view classrooms as social learning environments, where social constructivism (individual learning because of group interaction) meets social constructionism (learning contexts and curriculla created by the group).

Constructivism and No Child Left Behind don't play well together. 

NCLB is "convergent" - it wants to "get things done" and "make sure they got done".  It tells teachers and students what needs to get done by when, and evaluates them solely on those outcomes. 

Yet teachers and students burn out if they cannot pursue their callings and interests at the near edges of their comfort zones. 

Even if they must conform to NCLB, they need a time, a place and a technology to do something else - to claim teaching and learning for their personal selves.

Drupal can support social learning and constructivism within and beyond school walls.

But Drupal is not Wordpress. It is complicated and breaks easily in the wrong hands.

I dedicate this website to helping schools help each other to use Drupal to improve the scope and quality of  the learning that happens within, through, and after the school day.