Group items tagged

"Last week, someone criticized my makerspace as not being a "real" Makerspace because it does't have power tools and suggested that I research what "real makerspaces" are.  Part one of my response to this criticism was my post last week where I looked for definitions from a variety of research and writing on makerspaces.  Today, I'm looking at what the Twitterverse had to say."

"Reading articles and posts on your iPad necessitates having a solid dictionary app installed on it. It is definitely not practical to be frequently having recourse to an online dictionary while there are several apps that when installed on your ipad, can be integrated with the text you read and all it takes to define a certain term is tapping onto it two times."

"Within Parkland School Division, our mission is stated as the following: Our purpose is to prepare, engage and inspire our students to be their best in a quickly changing global community. As there was a lot of work to create this mission with our stakeholders and community , I looked deeply at the work that I do as the Division Principal of Innovative Teaching and Learning and how we could help make this mission come to life. As there are often overarching vision, mission, and value statements, it is essential that we look at these areas and break them down into more achievable "chunks". It is important we define "why" we do the work, but it is also important to bring these statements to life as well."

"When technology arises in discussion among educators and parents, the conversation often turns to an issue of human behavior"

"The process of combining more primitive pieces of information to create something more meaningful is a crucial aspect both of learning and of consciousness and is one of the defining features of human experience. Once we have reached adulthood, we have decades of intensive learning behind us, where the discovery of thousands of useful combinations of features, as well as combinations of combinations and so on, has collectively generated an amazingly rich, hierarchical model of the world. Inside us is also written a multitude of mini strategies about how to direct our attention in order to maximize further learning. We can allow our attention to roam anywhere around us and glean interesting new clues about any facet of our local environment, to compare and potentially add to our extensive internal model."

"Howard Gardner is an internationally recognized leader in the field of developmental psychology. He has prolifically authored several books and journal articles on the nature of intelligence. He is best known for his theory of multiple intelligences (Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons in Theory and Practice ). Gardner defines intelligence as the ability to solve problems in a given context."

"Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. Go Back and Forth. Get Reactions. Rinse and Repeat. There are many ways of looking at the design thinking process. The main premise remains the same though: Take Action and Create Something to Solve a Problem of Some Sort. Below, I describe the most commonly used and taught Design Thinking Process. However, it is not about what the names of the 5 spaces are. Rather, "doing" design thinking is about understanding what each space involves and that the process rarely occupies a single space. In fact, any project will have the designers focusing in one area, but working within the constraints of several spaces. For example, new ideas will occur everywhere along the way to the "permanent" solution, even in the testing stage. And, the process is cyclical - it never ends... There are always improvements to be made."

" According to the latest EQAO report, half of Ontario Grade 6 students don't meet the curriculum standard in math. That's a problem. But it's not the only one. What worries me is that only 13 per cent of students who didn't meet the provincial standard when they were in Grade 3 manage to catch up so they meet the standard for Grade 6. That's the lowest number on that indicator in five years. If you fall behind in math you stay behind. That's why it's important to get it right, not just at some vague moment in the future, but for kids who are in Ontario schools right now. Fortunately, every parent in Ontario is sure they know how to teach math. Many parents want to get rid of "discovery math," broadly defined as "doing it weird." If only that loopy Liberal government would teach math the way we learned it when we were kids, the theory goes, there'd be no problem. Sure, great, except for one thing. Very few parents I've met can perform more than the most rudimentary arithmetic for themselves. If you all learned math so well, why do you inch toward Junior's algebra homework with a cross and a bulb of garlic?"

"As Abby walked into the school building she had a sinking feeling in her stomach. It was November and she had just moved into a new community. She was nervous about starting a new school midway through the school year. This was her first day of school and she kept her eyes down, nervous, not knowing what to expect as she walked into the main office. Suddenly, the office secretary called out to her in a tone that made her skip a breath, "Where are you supposed to be?  Do you have a pass?  Move on now before the tardy bell rings and the vice principal gives you a detention for being late." Each day in school offices across the country this scenario is playing out with regularity.  Although it may come across as somewhat exaggerated, those of you who have spent any amount of time in school have probably at one time or another been witness to such an interaction in the main office area.  It is these defined interactions that has led to us to ponder this question.  Have we reached the point where we are willing to allow negative interactions to drive the level of success of our students, staff and our school? What if we were to pause, step back and view our office culture through the eyes of students, parents, guests or even staff who visit the main office? What would they say?  If we manage our interactions appropriately they will leave feeling valued and cared for and look forward to their next return trip."

""AI won't obliterate jobs, but it will transform jobs," said Daniel Pink, author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. Pink said he's told his own kids to "think about what you can do to augment what AI does-work that only humans can do that smart machines cannot." That includes: creativity; dealing with ambiguity, nuance and poorly defined problems; understanding other's emotions and point of view; Developing expertise and sense making; and Identifying reliable sources. "

"One of the questions we're asked most often is "what is a Global Digital Citizen?" Being a Global Digital Citizen is about more than just being a citizen of Earth. These are leaders, learners, and creators. It's a way of living well in a world that's changing fast, and showing others how to do the same. Carl Sagan once defined an ideal citizenry as people "with minds wide awake and a basic understanding of how the world works." Global Digital Citizens are concerned with connection and contribution. They know our technology plays a part in a much larger communal picture. With all this in mind, welcome to your definitive guide to understanding the Global Digital Citizen. First our definition, and then our explanations."

"96 percent of Americans use the internet daily, and 62 percent of working Americans rely on the internet to do their jobs. We live in an internet age - an age that requires specific skills. Digital literacy skills have become essential to academic, career and interpersonal success. Digital literacy is defined as the ability to find, evaluate, share and create content using the internet - but it's much more than that. Digital literacy skills (also referred to as "21st century learning skills") have permeated the classroom, becoming requirements for both teachers and students. To address this need, we worked with education expert Leah Anne Levy to create USC Rossier's Toolkit for Digitally-Literate Teachers. This toolkit provide teachers and school administrators with how-to guides, actionable strategies and real-life examples of the benefits of digital literacy in the classroom."

"As defined by Jeannette Wing, computational thinking is "a way of solving problems, designing systems, and understanding human behavior by drawing on the concepts of computer science." To the students at my school, it's an approach to tackling challenging questions and ambiguous puzzles. We explicitly integrate computational thinking into all of our classes, allowing students to draw parallels between what they're learning and how they're approaching problems across all disciplines. Our students rely on four computational thinking skills, as well as a set of essential attitudes"

"In his book "Start with Why" and the accompanying TED talk, author Simon Sinek claims that we're all very clear about "what" we do. In fact, you often define yourself by what you do - "I'm a teacher" for example. You focus heavily on "how" you should do whatever it is you do and usually develop a routine to make it easier."

""By the way kids, from today onwards you can bring your iPads to school!" - Done. I just launched a BYOD iPad program… Yeah. I'm afraid there's a bit more to it than that. In fact, there is a great deal more to it than that. A lot of thought and communication must to go into defining a program before students, parents and educators can really begin to reap the rewards that BYOD can bring. In a recently published SlideShare and blog post by educator and speaker, Chris Betcher, he shares the public launch of their school's BYOD iPad program, shedding some light on what their school has put in place."

"Creativity works in mysterious and often paradoxical ways. Creative thinking is a stable, defining characteristic in some personalities, but it may also change based on situation and context. Inspiration and ideas often arise seemingly out of nowhere and then fail to show up when we most need them, and creative thinking requires complex cognition yet is completely distinct from the thinking process. "

"The video consists of three sections. It starts introducing Gardner and the main problem of education versus different individual skills. Then it turns to present the eight intelligences as proposed by Howard Gardner, including a suggested learning strategy for each of these intelligences. Then in the third and final part it presents the concepts of personalization and pluralization, defined in respect of the multiple intelligences theory, as the guiding principle for a more including and developing educational strategy. Regardless of what type of student, their age, level, or subject you're teaching, awareness and understanding of the theory of multiple intelligences will help reach more and deeper in the teaching effort. Even for people not directly involved in education, this theory will help in getting a more nuanced and deeper picture of human skills and personalities."