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" It is a myth that we operate under a set of oppressive bureaucratic constraints. In reality, teachers have a great deal of autonomy in the work they chose to do in their classrooms. In most cases it is our culture that provides the constraints. For individual teachers, trying out new practices and pedagogy is risky business and both our culture, and our reliance on hierarchy, provide the ideal barriers for change not to occur. As Pogo pointed out long ago, "we have met the enemy and it is us." http://www.cea-ace.ca/blog/brian-harrison/2013/09/5/stop-asking-permission-change "

"One of the best ways for frustrated parents, students and teachers to convince school leaders that it's time for a reboot is with amazing student work. An unconventional learning community of "makers" - people who like to figure out and fix problems with their hands - stands ready to demonstrate a hands-on learning style in which students engage problems that matter to them, taking agency and displaying creativity along the way. The Maker Movement is slowly infiltrating schools across the country with the help of dedicated educators and inspirational students proving with their creations that they can do incredible things when given a chance."

"When I talk about the maker movement in schools I do talk about tools and spaces, but I try to make the point that it's about giving agency to kids in a system that most often considers students to be objects of change, rather than agents of change. One of our reasons for writing the book Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom  was to try to create momentum for the return of progressive principles of education, principles that have been yanked away from kids and teachers by politicians, corporations, and Silicon Valley gurus who think they know how to fix everything with an app. I think this is a historic time, a second Industrial Revolution, where everything is coming together right at the right time. And like the Industrial Revolution, it will not be just a change in technology, but will resonate in politics, culture, economies, and how people live and work worldwide"

"Can the act of making or designing something help kids feel like they have agency over the objects and systems in their lives? That's the main question a group of researchers at Project Zero, a research group out of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, are tackling alongside classroom-based teachers in Oakland, California. In an evolving process, researchers are testing out activities they've designed to help students to look more closely, explain more deeply and take on opportunities to change things they see around them."

"This week the Associated Press, the world's largest and oldest news agency, announced that its entire Archive is viewable on YouTube, and that it will be adding new material every day.  This is an INCREDIBLE treasure for educators who teach history, culture, science, current events, global studies, media literacy-pretty much anything.  I can easily imagine students embedding this interdisciplinary fodder in their creative projects!"

"If you're going to communicate effectively with young people, it helps to do it in a language and format they understand. Like Minecraft, for instance. One hundred million people already play the Swedish-born game, and even those who haven't played can soon appreciate its build-it-with-blocks vernacular. UN-Habitat, the UN's agency for sustainable urban development, has a program to improve public space in developing world cities. It helps build new parks, squares, sports fields, and sidewalks, and promotes the value of public space to local people. Recently, it's used Minecraft to engage young people."

"Over the past decade, maker-centered classrooms and making-centered learning have become increasingly popular - young people (and teachers and parents alike) have greater opportunities to build, hack, redesign, and tinker with a variety of materials, in school- or community-based spaces, design thinking and engineering programs, and Maker Faires. Maker-centered learning not only offers opportunities to learn about new tools and technologies, it requires certain thinking skills - such as navigating uncertainty, adaptability, collaborative thinking, risk-taking, and multiple-perspective taking - that are critical to engaging and thriving in a complex world. Drawing on research from Project Zero's Agency by Design project, this course offers classroom teachers, maker educators, administrators, and parents an opportunity to explore firsthand maker-centered learning practices and the opportunities they afford. Discover what kinds of tools might best support this kind of teaching and learning, and examine the benefits (to both young people and facilitators) of engaging in this work. Through hands-on, collaborative activities, consider how maker-centered experiences might fit into your own contexts."

"When I talk about the maker movement in schools I do talk about tools and spaces, but I try to make the point that it's about giving agency to kids in a system that most often considers students to be objects of change, rather than agents of change. One of our reasons for writing the book Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom  was to try to create momentum for the return of progressive principles of education, principles that have been yanked away from kids and teachers by politicians, corporations, and Silicon Valley gurus who think they know how to fix everything with an app."

There are three main educational goals for the game: * Teach players about how everyday residents of New Orleans acted heroically to help each other. This is a celebration of New Orleans residents and their culture. * Emphasize what are perhaps the two most important priorities in any disaster: communication and use of local resources, needs, and knowledge. The relief effort in Hurricane Katrina was severely hampered by the poor communication between government agencies and through most media outlets. Top down disaster management also led responders to ignore local resources and knowledge that could have saved many lives. Even in the aftermath, local needs and wishes are largely being ignored during rebuilding. * Draw attention to the continuing struggle in New Orleans as residents fight for housing in 2008. The city was destroyed by negligence, and, unfortunately, it is now being rebuilt without homes for many of its most loyal residents.

An ad agency called The Directors Bureau has developed a unique online tool that helps you to generate new ideas by displaying three randomly selected words next to each other.

The Money Belt is your gateway to financial learning. Here, you can build your knowledge and confidence in handling finances and situations involving decisions about money. It's the place to get practical tips and test what you know - and don't know - about managing money without the risks and consequences you would encounter in real life. Created by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, The Money Belt is dedicated to teaching financial life skills - the basics about money and the financial world in an easy-to-understand way that is relevant to you.

"The City is a learning program developed by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) and the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC). It teaches young people financial skills that they can carry with them throughout their lives. "

"The Maker Movement has inspired progressive educators to bring more hands-on learning and tinkering into classrooms, and educator Gary Stager would like to see formal schooling be influenced by the Maker Movement, which has inspired young learners to tinker, to learn by doing, and take agency for their learning."

"On September 20, 2014, I was fortunate to give a TEDxTalk. The title was "Power to the Pupil" but in retrospect, I wish I'd named it "Sorry Sir Robinson... I think I killed creativity." This talk is about what to do once you become inspired to embrace student agency, creativity and exploration in the classroom... but you realize that your students have already become rubric zombies. It's about wondering - what do I do now? Am I too late? "

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will lay the foundation stone for the Rs 5,100 crore Kochi Metro Rail Project on Thursday. The project linking the 25 km Aluva-Pettah stretch will be executed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. However, it is yet to sign an MoU on the division of work between the two agencies - DMRC and KMRL.

Whether you manufacture a product or are in the service sector - a private organization or a government agency - ISO is a fundamental business model. It is the foundation from which to build an enterprise. It focuses attention on organizational processes, your customers (internal and external), competency-based training, and continual improvement. That translates to improved business results.

"Jennifer Oxman Ryan is a Researcher and Project Manager at Project Zero, a research organization at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her current research project, Agency by Design, focuses on the thinking and learning engaged during making and design experiences. She is particularly interested in exploring how educators, schools, and organizations can optimize maker experiences and how these experiences can cultivate maker empowered youth. Jennifer has degrees from Mount Holyoke College and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She currently lives in Portland with a family of makers, aged 4 through 40."

12 year old arrested for online threats

"NASA made it much easier to explore Mars this week when the agency released a video featuring a 360-degree view of the planet. The video, stitched together from images taken by the Curiosity rover, offers views of the downwind face of the Namib Dune and a glimpse at Mount Sharp on Mars. The rover is about 23 feet from the bottom of the nearest dune, according to NASA, the mission's examination of dunes along lower Mount Sharp is the first glimpse of active sand dunes anywhere other than on the Earth's surface."