Group items tagged

We tend to rewrite the histories of technological innovation, making myths about a guy who had a great idea that changed the world. In reality, though, innovation isn't the goal; it's everything that gets you there. It's bad financial decisions and blueprints for machines that weren't built until decades later. It's the important leaps forward that synthesize lots of ideas, and it's the belly-up failures that teach us what not to do. When we ignore how innovation actually works, we make it hard to see what's happening right in front of us today. If you don't know that the incandescent light was a failure before it was a success, it's easy to write off some modern energy innovations - like solar panels - because they haven't hit the big time fast enough. Worse, the fairy-tale view of history implies that innovation has an end. It doesn't. What we want and what we need keeps changing. The incandescent light was a 19th-century failure and a 20th- century success. Now it's a failure again, edged out by new technologies, like LEDs, that were, themselves, failures for many years. That's what this issue is about: all the little failures, trivialities and not-quite-solved mysteries that make the successes possible. This is what innovation looks like. It's messy, and it's awesome.

This article offers a list of questions that were developed to help teachers clarify the unique added value of a digital learning environment, and whether their assignments were making the best use of this environment. "The six questions should be used when evaluating the design of assignments and student work and if the answer is "no" to them, then the chances are that technology is not really being applied in the most innovative ways. The questions we ask to evaluate implementation and define innovation are critical."

"If we want to produce innovative products and services, there are lessons to learn from what Apple did."

Saba Ghole is an architect/urban designer turned education entrepreneur. As the Co- Founder and Chief Creative Officer of NuVu Studio, Saba leads the innovation center for middle and high school students, whose pedagogy is based on the studio model and geared around multi-disciplinary collaborative projects. Her experience in the urban design world exposed her to a myriad of innovative educational projects, including planning the Princess Nora Bint Abdulrahman University in Riyadh (the world's largest center of higher learning for women). Saba's design quirks and lure for adventure constantly fuel her efforts to re-design NuVu's curriculum and bring inspiring experts to coach students on how to innovate.

EducationEye allows the user to discover, explore and share new ideas. It maps hundreds of top educational websites, blogs, forums and case studies to provide up to date information about innovative ideas being explored in the education community. The information is then present in a visual format that is itself interactive. Type in your search term and let it find the relevant articles, websites or links. This is a innovative tool from Futurelab and well worth a visit

"ECAR has surveyed undergraduate students annually since 2004 about technology in higher education. In 2012, ECAR collaborated with 195 institutions to collect responses from more than 100,000 students about their technology experiences. The findings are distilled into the broad thematic message for institutions and educators to balance strategic innovation with solid delivery of basic institutional services and pedagogical practices and to know students well enough to understand which innovations they value the most."

Education system is 'stifling young innovators' an interesting read and some thought provoking comments. What do you think?

Computer technology has penetrated the classroom for thirty years with little impact. After hundreds of "disruptive" education startups, the best innovation in education is still the chalkboard. This isn't the fault of the entrepreneurs, but the fault of an education system which resists innovation at every turn.

An innovative and eco-friendly energy solution that converts exhaust heat from trucks and other large engine vehicles into a power source for on-board heating and cooling systems is getting a boost from Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE).

Indian IT news Magazine IT Voice which provides all the information by Print, Online, Android, Social Media & EDM etc The latest technology updates and launch of Computer Hardware, Software, Security, surveillance, Cloud, Storage, Open source, Networking, Semicon and Green IT Mobile, TAB, Telecommunication. News of Indian IT /Computer association programs and achievements. IT Voice is doing Awards, Events & expo for IT community.

"The internet is awash with exciting and innovative tools, and your students have grown up immersed in this world - get in on the act. The digital revolution has given us instant communication and easy global connectedness, with mobile technology in particular growing at warp speed: in 2013, there are almost as many mobile phone contracts as there are people in the world. This digital transformation has produced some extraordinary online tools for flexible education, which enhance students' learning and promise innovative pedagogy for teachers. However, they can also be daunting and challenging for educators. It is clear that teachers cannot ignore these tools, which go far beyond just Facebook and Twitter. Educators are now dealing with Generation Z - students born after 1995 who have hardly known a world without social media and have always lived a life measured in bits and bytes. Most have access to iPads and smartphones as well as textbooks and, therefore, the massive resource of the internet."

by Terry Heick Innovation is not something that just happens. Or, rather it does given the right chemistry. Oftentimes this chemistry is referred to locally in schools as "climate," but climate is only a small part of the formula.

Education has 99 problems, but the desire to solve those problems isn't one. But because we can't cover 99 problems in one story, we'll focus on seven, which the League of Innovative Schools identified as critical to educational innovation.

After Google+ entered the social networking scene not so long ago, the number of online distractions hasn't really decreased. At the same time, innovations and smarter solutions to handle your actions online have fortunately continued to thrive too. Instead of the usual to-do lists, news readers, or sharing tools, they tackle things in new and more helpful ways. What's most important for me, is that they slot right into my workflow, and allow me to become more efficient without changing my behavior. A few apps recently managed to do so brilliantly. Here are my favorite new tools to help you stay focused and use the Web more innovatively.

Smartphones and tablet computers are radically transforming how we access our shared knowledge sources by keeping us constantly connected to near-infinite volumes of raw data and information. We enjoy unprecedented instant access to expertise, from informal cooking lessons on YouTube to online university courses. Every day people around the globe are absorbed in exciting new forms of learning, and yet traditional schools and university systems are still struggling to leverage the many opportunities for innovation in this area.

Is pitching just a new "sexier" way to make decisions - does it actually achieve educated decision making? What skills are developed in those being pitched too - sounds like the Educational Dragon's Den!

"The Beyond Prototypes report provides an in-depth examination of the processes of innovation in technology-enhanced learning (TEL)."