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The site is owned and run by Nesta Logo the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts. Planet Science sits within the Future Innovators Team at NESTA, and contributes to the aims of this programme in three ways: * Stimulating an interest in science and investigation: Science and technology are major drivers of innovation, and these sectors need passionate and ambitious scientists. * Developing the skills and attitudes of future innovators: Learning about science helps young people to develop important skills for innovation, such as enquiry, research and problem-solving skills. * Sharing learning/best practice: Teachers, parents and young people can use the free resources that have been tested by the Planet Science team.

Op Ed Piece in LA times on change.

Op Ed Piece in LA times is representative of the call for innovation in schools. As with all change - you can be part of it or it can be imparted to you. Which would you rather have? The imperative to innovate is here -- and those who don't act will ultimately be the ones who lose. Unfortunately, kids aren't getting any younger -- older people will just hurt their career in a life that is already one of educational excellence -- children will never reach their potential. It is important - we cannot waste time where children are at stake. We don't waste time when it comes to our own and the travesty is that many don't see anything wrong with wasting the time of another parent's child.

Innovation is learning and the skills listed at end of article

"Here are insights from the team of educational innovators at one of the most transformational schools I have visited: SCIL, the Sydney Centre for Innovation in Learning at NBCS, the Northern Beaches Christian School." (via Pekka Ihanainen)

Mia MacMeekin at "An Ethical Island" has made a profound infographic "27 Ways to innovate" that you'll want to share and read.I love the quotes and suggestions throughout this graphic which is inspiration, insightful, and very motivational.Why not get each teacher to pick something and come back together and discuss.

NEA Foundation and the US Department of Education Challenge to Innovate contest is requesting classroom teachers to identify and solve the current pressing issues regarding education. Smallish grants designed to help implement small pilot projects.

Young innovators grant.

Young innovators award from HASTAC and the McArthur foundation -- this is targeted to innovators aged 18-25 with original, participator learning projects. (I'm not young but am working on another grant with this organization as well.) Apps are due October 15th so get going!

This announcement came in recently: "The University of Northern Colorado is about to launch the Education Innovation Institute. University and government officials will detail plans on Sept. 24 for what is being billed as the "leading authority on education policy research and analysis." UNC has been a leader in the field of education since its founding in 1889 as the State Normal School." I hope that they will blog it, for if they truly want to influence educational innovation, they will share their findings and become part of this amazing grassroots network of educators. Be part of change or be irrelevant.

We need autonomous, self-motivated students in love with the process of how humanity has learnt.

"If there is one thing I have come to realise in headship it is that you can't do it all by yourself. Surrounding yourself with the very best people is a start - but getting the very best from the very best requires an atmosphere and culture of trust to develop. As the new calendar year dawned and the Spring Term commenced I gathered the staff together from both of my schools to introduce my Innovation Recognition Scheme which I intended to roll out across the federation."

Kyle Dunbar is running a virtual book club. The first book is Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds. This website includes a blog that talks about the takeaways and the recordings that they are discussing. Please feel free to join in and mark your calendars - they are meeting on Tuesdays at 7:30 pm. I hope you'll join in. It is vital that you and I both connect with other classrooms around the world. Students are the greatest textbook ever written for each other - they need to connect and learn from each other. You'll meet other educators and model the kind of learner you want your students to be. If you want your students to innovate YOU must be innovative. If you want your students to collaborate YOU must be collaborative. Here's the schedule: January 7th - Meet the Flat Classroom, Chapters 1 & 2 January 21st - Connection and Communication, Chapters 3 & 4 February 4th - Citizenship, Contribution and Collaboration, Chapters 5 & 6 February 18th - Choice and Creation, Chapters 7 & 8 March 4th - Celebrating, Designing, Managing a Global Project, Chapters 9 & 10 March 18th - Rock the World

Alfred Thompson shares information on the 2013 Imagine Cup - Bigger than ever. He's the one blog at Microsoft that I read on a daily basis and worth following. He's also a dear friend and speaks very highly of the great things he's see happen in the Imagine Cup. There are some great things that are included in this year's contest including making an app that could change someone's life in the Wold Citizenship category. Make a game in the games category and in INnovation to "reinvent" something - social networks, shopping, music, etc. Those are the 3 competitions. If you're inventing and innovating in your classroom, consider joining in.

Guy Kawasaki on Innovation and Lessons Learned

Business people and management should read this article about the transformation of business by using workplace communities. "Workplace communities are designed to solve workplace-related challenges" -- they focus on tasks. I would find it interesting to see a business REALLY use technology to change things. Having the business in a business network (OK a NING) and let people tag their posts with the business related PROBLEMS they are having and blog, video, or photograph it-- the tag cloud would tell the business IMMEDIATELY what the problems are in the company. The problem with this model is that there are few corporate executives who REALLY want to know the problems within their organizations. They don't want to be problem solvers, just opportunity creators. However, when managers open their eyes (and I'm a former General Manager myself) and see that two things give business opportunity: problem solving and innovation. And they are directly related. True innovation solves problems. Read this article and think about how you may solve problems using the networks you may now create. If you don't want everyone to know, keep it private and only allow people in your company in.

Great videos on leadership, insight and innovation.

Per David Warlick blog - "A recent report (Ready to Innovate/pdf) from The Conference Board and Americans for the Arts, in partnership with the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), reminds us that creativity, and integral part of innovation, is among the top five skills that will become more important over the next five years. Yet, according to their survey, school superintendents and American business executives differ in some significant ways in what this means."

People obsess over the latest flavors and innovations in digital communication and interactivity. I'm talking about everything from new email technologies to social networking tools, even new hybrid interaction platforms like Wave. Many of these innovations are exciting and have permanently earned a place in our lives. Their growing popularity drives volume and efficiency of one-to-one communications.