Group items tagged

"3 Reasons Why Faculty Meetings Are a Waste of Time By Peter DeWitt on April 10, 2015 6:50 AM Faculty Meeting.png Many school leaders walk into a faculty meeting with a single idea of how they want to move forward and walk out with the same idea. That's telling... John Hattie talks a great deal about the Politics of Distraction, which means we focus on adult issues, and not enough time...if ever...on learning. That is happening around the U.S. for sure. Recently the Assembly of NY State only furthered those distractions, which you can read about here, which means that school leaders and teachers have to work harder to maintain a focus on learning. Quite frankly, well before mandates and accountability, school leaders focused on the politics of distraction and not on learning. Compliance is not new in schools. Faculty meetings were seen as a venue to get through and something that teachers were contractually obligated to attend. During these days of endless measures of compliance, principals can do a great deal to make sure they don't model the same harmful messages to staff that politicians are sending to teachers. Jim Knight calls that "Freedom within form." In Talk Like Ted, Carmine Gallo quotes Marissa Mayer (CEO of Yahoo) when he writes, "Creativity is often misunderstood. People often think of it in terms of artistic work - unbridled, unguided effort that leads to beautiful effect. If you look deeper, however, you'll find that some of the most inspiring art forms - haikus, sonatas, religious paintings- are fraught with constraints. (p. 190)" Clearly, constraints have a wide definition. There is a clear difference between the constraints of compliance and the stupidity of the legislation just passed by the assembly in NY. As we move forward, principals still are charged...or at least should be...with the job of making sure they offer part...inspiration, part...teacher voice...and a great deal of focus on learning. There is never a more important tim

"I remember George Couros when he came to our District, asking the question, "If you don't know what a hashtag is are you considered illiterate today?" I thought about that as I read a recent article by CEO of Hootsuite, Social media skills millenials lack.  Ryan Holmes states that using social media effectively is "the most important digital skill for tomorrow's CEOs"  He refers to a "social media gap" which is further supported by Professor William Ward, professor of social media at Syracuse University, who states "Students using digital and social media professionally in an integrated and strategic way have an advantage. [They're] getting better jobs and better internships …"   The fact is, students are good at connecting with people they already know, but don't understand how to network professionally.  I would add they don't often know how it works for learning either. That is a compelling reason to incorporate social media in the context of the classroom and yet there is a real reluctance to do this by many Districts."

"Ask anyone which professional skill is most in demand right now, and they'll likely say coding. But ask LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, and he'll give you a different answer. As head of the world's largest professional-networking site, Weiner presumably has access to more, and more detailed, employment information than any government. He knows what jobs people post, what jobs people have, and what jobs people want. And the biggest skills gap he says he sees in the United States is soft skills. What most employers want, Weiner says, are written communication, oral communication, team-building, and leadership skills. Never mind that salaries for coders (a median $103,560 in the US in 2017, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics) indicate that it's technical chops that are valued right now. Soft skills have staying power."

Wizer is a fantastic free tool for creating simple digital worksheets that enable learners and teachers to do some pretty complex things. When I first discovered the tool a few months back I was really impressed by how easy it was to create really engaging blended learning content for class or homework, so it's great to be able to publish this Q & A with Nira Mayorchik Sheleg the Co-founder & CEO.

Q & A with Edorble CEO Gabe Baker https://t.co/jtkB8K9hFQ #vr #elt #edtech #esl #k12 #3d #vle #mooc #edreform https://t.co/eghMHifOQb

"A year ago, Nick Anglin was a jaded 6th grader who, as he put it, "hated school and rarely paid attention or did homework." He punctuated the hours of boredom by cracking jokes and making his classmates laugh. Then, something extraordinary happened. Anglin went to a summer Maker Corps camp at the Sutherland Middle School in Charlottesville, Virginia, where his teachers Robert Munsey and Eric Bredder encouraged him to follow his curiosity and passion. As Anglin recently recalled, "They challenged us from day one: 'Create a project related to something you love, incorporate some type of technology and possibly start a business around it.'""

"In the last few years iPads and Chromebooks have both seen astronomical growth in education becoming two of the most popular devices for classrooms and one-to-one programs. In light of that it's only natural that power users and fans will compare and contrast their merits, given that so many schools have limited funds for devices. That's basically the setup for this spirited debate by Jennifer Gibson, CEO of PD Learning Network and an iPad connoisseur and Rich Dixon, vice president of professional learning and a devoted Chromebook user. "Sometimes you're forced to have one or the other," Gibson said. Together the pair dissect everything from price - $400-$600 for an iPad mini; $250 for Rich's basic Chromebook - to mobility, weight, screen resolution, apps, and camera quality."

"The guy who helped create the "Hour of Code," an event that even got President Barack Obama pecking out a line of JavaScript, almost sounded apologetic. "Not everyone should 'code,'" acknowledges Hadi Partovi, CEO and founder of Code.org, in a chat with EdSurge. But everyone should learn to think like a computer scientist, he adds. "We're about helping schools teach computer science," Partovi says, namely, to frame questions or information the way that computer scientists do."

" "I've tried to get into coding but my cleavage is just so distracting," quipped one young woman in this provocative YouTube video. "When I'm not menstruating, I'm ovulating, so there's no time to code at all," lamented another. If this all sounds entirely ludicrous, it's supposed to. Girls Who Code, a nonprofit dedicated to bridging the gender gap in tech, created this satirical clip to feature in a three-part series that explores the ridiculous gender stereotypes that exist in the world of computer science. "We wanted to try something different and use humor and satire to question the stereotypes that tell our girls that coding is not for them," said Reshma Saujani, the organization's founder and CEO, in a statement. "Our hope is these videos will spark a much-needed conversation about the messages we send our young women and what we can do to create a more inclusive, well-rounded image of a programmer.""

"Washington, D.C. -The American Library Association's (ALA) Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) today released "Progress in the Making: Librarians' Practical 3D Printing Questions Answered" (pdf). Co-authored by 3DPrint360 CEO Zach Lichaa and ALA Senior Policy Analyst Charlie Wapner, the document poses and answers sixteen practical questions related to establishing 3D printing as a library service. All of the questions were fielded from library professionals interested in 3D printing technology."

"Taking friendship bracelets into the digital age, Jewelbots teaches young girls to tinker and code their way into the exploding world of wearable technology. Whether it's the Queen of Coding Grace Hopper or the new wave of women innovation engineers, fashion brand CEOs and musicians, young girls today have a growing number of role models who use science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in their recipes for success. Having more role models is critical, but according to the founders of Jewelbots-the so-called friendship bracelets for the iPhone era-the next generation of women leaders and inventors will chase STEM endeavors at an early age, like a game of tag."

"Jeff Cavins, CEO of Fuzebox, recently wrote in Business Insider that the explosive uptake of tablet computers is fueling the growth of what he called the new "iPad economy." Cavins said: "The iPad is shifting the way businesses function, changing how executives interact and transforming the economics of today's business operations.""

"Adaptive learning means different things to different people, but adaptive learning technologies are usually designed to adapt content to the abilities and knowledge level of the user. In turn, the user is presented with a personalized learning experience. According to CEO Jessie Wooley-Wilson of adaptive learning company Dreambox Learning, "I think that in a matter of a few years, blended learning with apps is going to be so ubiquitous that people are going to expect this technology to have a place in the classroom.""

""There's a huge gap between the needs and requirements of the job market of the 21st century and what the education system is delivering," said Vishal Talreja, founder and CEO of Dream A Dream, a Bangalore-based organization that prepares young people from vulnerable backgrounds to succeed in a changing world. Talreja is right -- neither employers nor education leaders (not to mention some students themselves) would argue otherwise. But it is the second point Talreja made before the 2015 LEGO Foundation IDEA Conference that educator-innovators should pay the most attention to: "Learning spaces, which could be physical spaces of learning or just safe environments for learning, are extremely critical." A learning space differs in both look and feel from the traditional classroom. In the past year, we've met social entrepreneurs with an eye on education who are creating cost-effective methods to infuse schools with the type of culture and design that students need to better develop their curiosity, creativity, and imagination, and better achieve desired learning outcomes."

"From ambitious entrepreneurs to casual meet-up participants, women are proactive about engaging with STEM and with other women in their field. Besides their shared affinity with science, tech, engineering, and math, they often find that they have another thing in common. Many of these women can recall a time when they walked into a classroom or office, looked around, and noticed that they were sharing the space with an overwhelming majority of men. This was the experience of Nicole Messier, a former student of aerospace engineering, who recalls that she had sparse female role models, teachers, or peers in her undergraduate program. Instead of following a traditional aerospace career, Messier instead decided to help change STEM's evident gender imbalance. She is now the CEO of blink blink, a purveyor of creative circuit kits that help beginners get their feet wet with simple electronics, arts & crafts with embedded circuitry, and wearable fashion technology. Not only did she co-found the company, she also collaboratively designed the kits with the very girls that they're made for."

""There's a huge gap between the needs and requirements of the job market of the 21st century and what the education system is delivering," said Vishal Talreja, founder and CEO of Dream A Dream, a Bangalore-based organization that prepares young people from vulnerable backgrounds to succeed in a changing world. Talreja is right -- neither employers nor education leaders (not to mention some students themselves) would argue otherwise. But it is the second point Talreja made before the 2015 LEGO Foundation IDEA Conference that educator-innovators should pay the most attention to: "Learning spaces, which could be physical spaces of learning or just safe environments for learning, are extremely critical." A learning space differs in both look and feel from the traditional classroom. In the past year, we've met social entrepreneurs with an eye on education who are creating cost-effective methods to infuse schools with the type of culture and design that students need to better develop their curiosity, creativity, and imagination, and better achieve desired learning outcomes."

"Filmmakers are using virtual reality to make the problems of the developing world seem more ... real. But how can you see their work? You could buy a headset, but you might end up in virtual debt. Prices range from $200 to $500 for devices from big players like Oculus Rift, Sony and Samsung. And forking over that much cash is a problem since there's not a lot of content yet. MindMaze Software Engineer Nicolas Bourdaud demonstrates a virtual reality system at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday. All Tech Considered Developers Continue Push To Make Virtual Reality Mainstream An attendee at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles plays Sony's Project Morpheus London Heist video game with a virtual reality headset and Move controllers. All Tech Considered Gaming Industry Pushes Virtual Reality, But Content Lags "You're in a store ... and here's all the head-mounted displays and then it costs $200 or $300. Why would you ever buy it when you don't know why you're buying it? You wouldn't," Tony Christopher, CEO of Landmark Entertainment Group, told NPR last month. But there are inexpensive options that require only your smartphone and some cardboard. Google Cardboard, a project of the tech giant, offers instructions and templates to build your own cardboard virtual reality headset. Grab a pair of scissors, X-Acto knife and some glue. Then find some cardboard at home, print out the templates, trace and cut out the different pieces and assemble your goggles. The instructions can get confusing, so our multimedia editor Ben de la Cruz suggests following a how-to video like this one from the tech site, CNET."

Interesting comments in this blog post by Chris Kennedy, Superintendent of Schools / CEO with the West Vancouver School District (West Vancouver, BC)

5 minute video - CEO of Blackboard

"Last week, Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, announced more than 400,000 high-resolution digital images of public domain works in the Museum's world-renowned collection may be downloaded directly from the Museum's website for non-commercial use-including in scholarly publications in any media-without permission from the Museum and without a fee. The number of available images will increase as new digital files are added on a regular basis."