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Inside DoDEA Schools: Background

As someone who has taught various subjects and served as a deputy director in a private school, I can only imagine what it must be like to run a global educational system like the Department of Defence Schools (DoDEA). Let's look at the teacher qualifications, how much the tuition and costs are, and how the schools are accredited.

The Department of Defense Schools trace their roots to the aftermath of World War II.

• In 1946, the Department of the Army established the first schools for dependents of service people in occupied Germany, Austria, and Japan.
• These schools served children of American military personnel stationed abroad. Initially, the Army, Navy, and Air Force operated their schools separately.

Then, in 1964, the Secretary of Defense combined these into a single system.

• formally established the Defense Dependents' Education System, authorizing the Secretary of Defense to operate a free public education system for eligible overseas dependents.
• This act provided Congressional authorization for the schools. Over time, the system has evolved.
• In 1992 it became known as the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), incorporating overseas and domestic schools.
• Today, operates as a field activity of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, serving military families worldwide.

This video offers a look at the DoDEA schools in Europe.

The Tech Divide

Simply put, the tech divide I am referring to deals with schools that have robust technology and those that don't.

• K-12 education in the second decade of the 21st century needs five well-developed components to be successful.
• These components are not stand-alone items.
• They are linked and complement each other.
• The entire package is essential to overcome the tech divide in many parts of America.

If you've read this far, you're probably wondering why I am stating the obvious. After all, your private school has the best of everything. That's why you are sending your kids there. What I want you to do is to share that insistence on having the best possible educational outcomes for your children.

• Share it with a teacher you know.
• Introduce the local district IT director to your IT director.
• Create partnerships.
• Use your connections to overcome the technology divide.

Canva generated this picture of a private school 7th-grade classroom.

Enhanced Connectivity

Enhanced Connectivity in all our schools, private and public, is not just a luxury but a necessity.

• We expect the private school to which we are sending our children to have reliable, high-speed internet access.
• We know that facilitates seamless learning experiences.
• This connectivity is a crucial step that involves more than simply setting up a couple of routers around the school buildings and campus.
• Connectivity is also about ensuring

AI For Teachers

I'm a retired teacher. These days, I write about K-12 education and community college. However, I know how time-consuming it is to write lesson plans and rubrics and ensure compliance with the curriculum. Grading English compositions, communicating with parents, and creating quizzes take infinite time and patience. And those are just a few things we teachers are expected to do.

That's why I want to introduce you to my assistant. It's an AI app called . Now, there are dozens of AI apps you can use. is probably the most popular. Both Google and Microsoft have their versions of AI built into their search engines, as does . It doesn't matter which AI app you choose. What's important is to learn how to tell Perplexity or Chat-GPT what you want it to do. That's called prompt engineering. So, let's start with that first. Then, I'll show you some websites with AI tools explicitly written for teachers and administrators.

Introduction to Prompt Engineering

How do you write an effective prompt?

As teachers, you and I have learned how to give clear instructions to our students. We choose our words carefully to achieve a pre-determined result. In other words, we narrow the field and limit the choices. That's precisely how prompts work—that's the essence of prompt engineering.

The art and skill of writing effective prompts is called prompt engineering. It's a burgeoning field within the

Unlocking the Future: The Power of STEAM Education

As a classically trained musician descended from a long line of engineers, I have experienced the interplay and tension between my passion for music and my appreciation of how things work.

• When I studied trigonometry and Latin in high school, I never realized that STEM subjects would become a critical component of 21st-century primary and secondary education.
• Neither did I understand how the arts enriched my perspective on just about everything.

Canva generated this picture of students in a science lab.

In today's rapidly changing world, we must prepare students for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

• The focus on STEM has morphed into integrating arts subjects with STEM, creating the aggregation of disciplines we call STEAM. A STEAM education integrates science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics in a comprehensive and cohesive learning environment.
• Most private K-12 schools are well-equipped to teach the benefits of a STEAM education, thus providing their students with a strong foundation for future success in their life and work as adults.

In the explanation of STEAM and the subjects that comprise STEAM that follows, I have included quotations from various sites devoted to STEAM, so that you can explore the approach in detail.

The Interdisciplinary Approach of STEAM

is the idea that these five disciplines are interconnected and that we should adopt

Technology in the Classroom

I've wanted to write an article about technology and its uses in our classrooms forever.

• We've come a long way since and emerged in the 1980s.
• Over the past 45 years, devices kept getting smaller, more powerful, and, best of all, so much easier to use.
• That, coupled with the explosion of information online, means that any student, any classroom, can have the resources of a to the Nth degree at her fingertips.

Given the scope of this subject, I will divide it into two articles.

• The first deals with technology in the classroom, what's used, how it's used, its pros and cons, and so forth.
• The second will examine the future of educational technology, its sustainability, and its use in school offices.

Technology in the Classroom

There's no doubt that technology enhances learning experiences for students. Learning Management Systems (LMS) organize and deliver those improved experiences.

A Learning Management System is a software application or web-based technology used to plan, implement, and assess a specific learning process. Think of it as an electronic lesson plan book on steroids. Typically, an LMS provides an instructor with a way to create and deliver content, monitor student participation, and assess student performance. Source:

This video explains Learning Management Systems.