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"The Managing Complex Change model puts language to that which makes some schools successful while others struggle. The model looks at five components necessary to create a desired environment. These include vision, skills, incentives, resources, action plan. If any one piece is missing the model indicates results schools will experience including change, confusion, anxiety, gradual change, frustration, and a false start. When thinking of successful schools such as Science Leadership Academy, The MET, The Island School, The iSchool, you will find they have all those components in place. On the other hand, when I hear teachers lamenting about their school failures, the model brings clarity to the fact that one or more of these components are missing. Below is the chart that lays this out. Following the chart, I'll take a look at what each missing component might look like in a school environment. As you read, consider which, if any are components, are missing at your school. save image Lack of Vision = Confusion When I hear exasperated teachers spinning their wheels, working so hard to get ready for all the various mandates and requirements, but never feeling a sense of accomplishment, it is clear there is not a tangible school vision that has been communicated. In some cases this is because what is being imposed does or can not reconcile with what the school wanted for their vision. Skill Deficit = Anxiety My heart goes out to those with a skill deficit. They are required to implement a curriculum they are not trained in using or being evaluated via measures with which they are not familiar. Or…they are put into a position they were not trained for or prepared to embrace. Social media provides a great medium for helping these teachers get up to speed, but when the outreach occurs, the anxiety is abundantly clear. Lack of Incentives = Gradual Change It is not unusual for innovative educators to feel like and be perceived as misfits. Islands onto their own

"After intense reflection, I have decided it is time to change the outlook of staff meetings. I want them to be positive, collaborative learning communities, where ideas are shared and staff walks away energized. I want my staff to look forward to coming together, not dreading the topic or the format. So, the staff meeting focus is now one of instruction, professional learning and sharing, and conversation, centered around topics to help move our school to the next level. As a lead learner in my building, it is important for me to facilitate the meeting, offering opportunities for discussion and idea-sharing."

""NSF funds compelling ideas, help test them and helps bring them to wider audiences," said Janet Kolodner, who ran the Cyberlearning program at NSF from 2011 to 2014. "We're interested in helping researchers envision the technologies that will impact learning in a decade and then assist them in transitioning the best ideas from research to practice. On top of that, we want to help scientists overcome the complexity of moving research ideas to real world use." The speakers in the lecture series, all leading cyberlearning scholars, represent the range of technologies, approaches and research practices being pursued today. They're only a small fraction of the remarkable projects being developed and tested at universities across the U.S. - in education departments, computer science departments, robotics labs and even neuroscience departments - but together, they represent the forces transforming what education may look like in the future. "

"Instagram is huge. As in 300 million users huge. As in, your students, and probably their parents, are on it. Already, 30 billion photos have been shared on the platform. There's a lot going on there. So while Facebook is dead and buried for the cool kids, and the likes of Snapchat don't really work for an institution, Instagram still has kudos as well as scale. If you want to be reasonably sure that the people you want are on board, then Instagram it is. So should a school use it? Should a school start to use the fastest growing, and already one of the biggest, social media platforms in the world? There's a certain amount of leading-the-witness in the question, but sheer scale doesn't necessarily mean there is educational value. Unless you use it right, of course. So how, and why should you be using Instagram in your school? Here's some suggestions:"

"No mess.  No danger.  No smelly fumes. BBC Brit's Biggest Bangs is a fun, interactive video experience that allows users to channel their inner mad scientists, mixing dangerous chemicals with sometimes explosive results without a proper laboratory. The secret behind the interactivity is a central choose-your-own-adventure video around which annotations lead to separate videos that respond to your chemical selections. Choose your first chemical and then select another from among eight on the laboratory table.  You'll see the team scientist take each chemical from the table.  Then pause to consider-will it explode or won't it?"

"f you're planning to give project-based learning a try during the coming school year, you may hope a spark of inspiration will strike during the summer months that will lead to a memorable PBL experience. And maybe that's just the excuse that hard-working teachers need to take a hike or daydream by a pool. But here's another surefire strategy for PBL planning: borrow project ideas from your colleagues and adapt or remix to fit your context. Here are ten project ideas that I've gathered from a busy season of summer conferences and professional development events (including ISTE 2015 and PBL World, an annual event hosted by the Buck Institute for Education). By sharing their thinking at this early draft stage, teachers invite feedback from peers. That's another strategy for effective project planning. (Most project ideas were shared anonymously and some are mashups of similar suggestions. Thanks to the creative teachers behind these PBL plans.)"

"I LOVE the app Skitch (free for Mac, iPhone, and iPad) for many reasons! I can easily use it to annotate any picture or screenshot.  I often use it when creating handouts for teacher training sessions. Knowing how simple the app is to use, I got to thinking it would be great for the kids use to annotate pictures they take in the classroom. This lead me to ask a kindergarten teacher in my building if I could come and co-teach an iPad lesson with her using Skitch (thanks, Kari!).  "

Race to Nowhere is a call to families, educators, experts and policy makers to examine current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of America to become the healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens of the next century.

The Habitable Planet is a multimedia course for high school teachers and adult learners interested in studying environmental science. The Web site provides access to course content and activities developed by leading scientists and researchers in the field.

"could lead to mass brain atrophy for a world that no longer has to think about what it's looking for."

"And one more thing… You can lead from anywhere. Leadership doesn't have to come from the top."

News-Basics.com is for students and adults who want to quickly learn the background behind major news stories. Each article covers the key facts you need to know, describes conflicting opinions, and leads you to sources of more detailed information. You may be confused about globalization when you start reading, but you'll know more than most people when you finish.

March/April 2009 Learning & Leading with Technology

Learning & Leading with Technology | March/April 2009

This article highlights 5 further principles, heuristics and approaches for effective web design - approaches which, used properly, can lead to more sophisticated design decisions and simplify the process of perceiving presented information.

This website was created to aid educators in finding valuable resources and information on new ways to integrate leading-edge technology into your school. Additionally, this site focuses on a very important area in education: STEM content areas. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics are key components of our educational infrastructure. Great attention is being placed on these areas as the need for improvement and advancement are becoming overwhelmingly critical for our students. This site demonstrates how Apple's iPod touch mobile device and other Apple equipment can be infused into the curriculum not just during school hours, but anytime and anywhere. These devices allow students to take ownership of their learning and are providing them with authentic and real-time educational opportunities