Literacy with ICT

"Last year, in the height of the election season, the Obama administration quietly released a national strategic plan for artificial intelligence (AI) research and development. The plan was the beginning of a national effort to prepare Americans for a future with AI-a future some computer scientist believe our nation is ill-equipped to handle. AI has become a part of the American fabric for some time. Siri and Alexa are already taking orders, self-driving cars have hit some streets, and the concept of interconnectivity is now a reality through the Internet of Things. But experts assert that in order for the society to fully embrace AI, learning machines should not replace human workers, but complement them. So to prepare the future workforce for a computer coworker, there must be a shift in teaching and learning-a change that should begin in the classroom."

There are particular behaviours and a mindset that accompanies effective reflective practice. Understanding and applying these allows us to become reflective practitioners.

"Email aliases are an easy way to get fresh email addresses in Gmail without having to sign up for an account all over again. Creating an alias is as easy as appending a + sign to your Gmail username followed by a keyword of your choice. Any email sent to this new address still ends up in your Gmail inbox, but will show a distinct To address that's different from your primary Gmail address. Here's how you can make this feature work to your advantage to manage your Gmail inbox better."

"Twitter can be overwhelming if you don't use it regularly. Here are a few tools to discover the best and funniest tweets, and ensure you don't miss out on some of its best moments."

"Social networks offer a stream of updates from your family and friends or people you follow. But the feed you see isn't chronological. Instead, the social networks try to figure out what you'd like to see first, and show that instead. However, algorithmic feeds mean you'll miss some updates you might want to see. Which is why you should disable algorithmic feeds and enable chronological feeds instead. In this article we show you how to do that on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. "

"Face it. Like all organizations, schools get locked into routine, impeding change. But all schools need to innovate to prepare kids for a dynamic and uncertain future. The question is, "How?" The Innovation Playlist can help your school make positive, informed change. It represents a teacher-led model, based on small steps leading to big change, that draws on best practices from outstanding educators and non-profits from across the country. The Innovation Playlist consists of albums (the big goals on the left) and tracks (the small steps on the right that help you reach each big goal). Each track can be done quickly - fifteen minutes to a day or two - with minimal downside and lots of upside. The playlist process can be led by a school's principal, by faculty at the school, grade or department level, or even by a family at home. The "Mobilize Your Community" album is the ideal place to start, letting you generate enthusiasm for innovation. Then, focus on a few tracks in coming months. Start with one (e.g., Curiosity Time), find a few eager volunteers to try it (many will!), and have them share their experience with the entire faculty. Over time, encourage the early adopters to go deeper, and others to give it a try. Innovation is contagious. This "small steps leading to big change" model means you don't risk the painfully-visible failure that inevitably comes from a sweeping top-down dictum. Each teacher can innovate as much, or as little, as fits their strengths and styles. Give permission to those itching to innovate, and let them run with it. And if a teacher isn't up for this kind of innovation, that's ok, too… It can be a good thing for students to experience a range of pedagogies."

"The term learning engineering was coined more than 50 years ago by Herbert Simon, a Nobel Laureate and Carnegie Mellon professor. Today there is renewed interest in the discipline, which merges scientific methods and engineering principles with learning. A new Guild Research report, Learning Engineering: A Primer, by Ellen Wagner, PhD, explores how learning engineering is expected to impact L&D. It may be of specific interest to instructional designers, who may already be incorporating or honing some of the skills that learning engineers require."

"The workouts we completed years ago may continue to influence and improve our health today, according to a fascinating new study of the current lives and health of people who joined an exercise study a decade before. The findings suggest that the benefits of exercise can be more persistent than many of us might expect, even if people are not exercising to the same extent as they previously did. But the impacts also may depend on the types and amounts of exercise involved."

"We love pool noodles! They're bright, colorful, and make great manipulatives for reading, math, and beyond. Plus, this time of year, they're so inexpensive to buy (you can even get them in bulk and shipped for free). Here are some of our favorite pool noodle uses for the classroom."

"Achieving success typically means keeping a solid grip on your motivation. Otherwise, long-haul projects fizzle fast as you encounter the strain of regular challenges.  But scientists from Emory University now say that chronic inflammation is a huge troublemaker, and that it might interfere with your drive to persist and explore. According to their new theory, detailed in the paper Can't or Won't? Immunometabolic Constraints on Dopaminergic Drive, chronic inflammation puts a squeeze on your brain's dopamine supply. You probably know dopamine best for its role in helping you feel happy, but it's a chemical that keeps your brain seeking novelty, too."

"We've talked about student engagement and motivational videos for teens, in addition to 'good class rules.' This is similar but not intently meant to 'inspire.' Rather, the hope is that by separating these kinds of messages into three different categories and perspectives (I, You, and Us/We), you might be able to use them to guide a lot of what you do, from curriculum and instructional design to creating class rules and norms."

"A couple of weeks ago TED-Ed released a video about spotting misleading headlines. I quickly added that lesson to my list of resources for helping students become discerning news consumers. This week TED-Ed released another video that I'm adding to that list of resources."

How might we prepare our students for an unknown future? If we accept that we are living in times of rapid change and that the world our children will inhabit is likely to be very different from the world of today, or perhaps more importantly, different from the work our current education system was designed to serve, what should we do to ensure our children are able to thrive?

"As the school year draws to a close, I am looking forward to the laidback freedom of summer with its less hectic schedule and longer daylight hours. If I'm being completely honest, there's something really incredible about turning off my alarm clock for the foreseeable future. For me, it's time to recharge, to reflect and to prepare to return to the classroom and library renewed with energy and ideas. As an educator, I'm also keenly aware of the potential for kids to suffer from the summer slide-a loss of academic progress over the course of the summer months. According to a study done by the Colorado Department of Education, children in low-income households fall behind an average of 2 months in reading during the summer. And, summer slide is cumulative, with these learning losses building up each summer. The basic solution? Stay engaged in learning: read, write, do some math."

"The Ancient Greeks loved algorithms, and devised lots of useful ones. One of the most famous is the Sieve of Eratosthenes. It is a way to find prime numbers, special numbers that are also known as the atoms of numbers. Prime numbers now form the basis of our most powerful encryption systems upon which digital money is based. Our electronic banking systems (and lots more) would collapse without prime numbers. You can use the Sieve of Eratosthenes as a way to practice times tables, spot patterns and explore how to improve algorithms, whilst also uncovering these mysterious, magical numbers with no obvious pattern of their own. Here you can follow in the footsteps of Eratosthenes and develop your algorithmic thinking skills."