Group items tagged

Brendon Burchard talks on how "SMART" Goals are limiting. Instead, why not work on D.U.M.B. goals? A different way to view how to grow and work with an abundance vs. a deficit mentality. Question: How do SMART goals in education limit our work, vision, and enthusiasm?

"At Reebok, the cushioning in a best-selling basketball shoe reflects technology borrowed from intravenous fluid bags. Semiconductor firm Qualcomm's revolutionary color display technology is rooted in the microstructures of the Morpho butterfly's wings. And at IDEO, developers designed a leak-proof water bottle using the technology from a shampoo bottle top. These examples show how so-called "peripheral" knowledge -- that is, ideas from domains that are seemingly irrelevant to a given task -- can influence breakthrough innovation. "The central idea of peripheral knowledge really resonates," says Wharton management professor Martine Haas. After all, who can't think of examples when ideas that seemed to bear almost no relation to a given problem paid off in some unexpected way? By bringing peripheral knowledge to core tasks, it is well known that work groups can recombine ideas in novel and useful ways. But the problem, Haas notes, is primarily one of attention: How do you get workers focused on a particular task to notice -- and make use of -- seemingly irrelevant information?"

Nice example of how to use Google Forms to capture information by students on how they perceive different aspects of your courses. Class evaluations shouldn't be something to fear, but welcomed as a lifelong learner. Give students a voice into your reflection process.

"The world is full of noise and those that are the loudest are the ones we tend to follow but what about the quiet ones? Author Susan Cain shines a spotlight on introverts and reveals how over time our society has come to look to extroverts as leaders. Not suggesting that one is better than the other, Susan argues that the world needs an equal space between introverts and extroverts; that an innovative, creative world wouldn't be the same without the two coming together." How can we help students and teachers take advantage of this intersection of introverts and extroverts? How can we effect leadership with these two personality types? via blog post by Fenella Olynick - http://goo.gl/LjcdSh

Kirsten Wilson (@teachwiki) shares how social media has provided the platform for educators (& others) to share, collaborate, & communicate, moving us from just being social to a community of learners. Curation is an important part of that process. She shares apps she uses to collect and share with others. I like how she includes several good questions to consider in the process.

Learn how to build websites using html & CSS, the building blocks of the Internet. Also, here is instruction in writing Java script, PHP, API's, etc. There is s growing movement to teach students how to create using code.

Award-winning educational futurist David Thornburg discusses classroom design and four learning models he has written about extensively in his book, "From the Campfire to the Holodeck: Creating Engaging and Powerful 21st Century Learning Environments" Is your classroom designed primarily for the traditional lecture? For using technology to do the same old things better than differently? Give out too much information vs. using more open-ended approaches? Transform the way information is learned and used? This article helped me to reflect on the way I encourage the use of technology and how to make its use an experience more reflective of what is presented in the CCSS and 21st century learning. What is your response to the article? Agree, disagree? What model(s) do you see yourself using? What movement would you like to make in your approach?

Some great points at how to view engaging teachers who may be hesitant learners/implementers of technology. It may help you get into their thought processes and understand their unique needs in a respectful way. 

Great read and video for that Wednesday Slump in Data!

"It seems like just yesterday that I was a disconnected nomad working hard to maintain the status quo and conform to a rigid system commonly known as education. You see, prior to 2009 I was adamantly opposed to even the thought of using social media for both personal and professional reasons. As a building level leader burdened by endless responsibilities, I could not fathom wasting even a precious minute in what I saw as a perpetual time sap. " Read the rest of this post to see how Eric discovered being connected on social media and engaging in conversations with passionate educators has transformed his work in education.

Richard Byrne helps readers clarify how to use blogs in teaching practice, including the use of blogs with students. It will help give you some ideas of how to meet your objectives with some different approaches. 

Holly Clark, aka EdTechDiva, provides some great points about how to help improve search skills for students AND teachers. There are other skills, as well, but these are a good start. Google also has resources for building these important skills.

detailed outline of how to use infographic tools to show data analysis.

Nice, short video tutorial on how to search for publicly shared Google Docs, Slides, Presentations, & lesson plans.

Discussion on how technology is being used and why we're still struggling to give more control of learning to students. A good read!

Stephen Downes was asked (along with Dave Cormier and George Siemens): "How might it be possible to show that cMOOCs are effective for learning, in the sense of providing evidence that institutions might accept so as to support opening up more courses to outside participants (a la ds106, Alec Couros' EC&I 831, etc.)? Or, more generally, providing evidence that participation in and facilitating cMOOCs is worthy of support by institutions... What I'm looking for are criteria one might use to say that a cMOOC is successful. What should participants be getting out of cMOOCs?"

What is the relationship between synchronous and asynchronous experiences? The opportunity to learn more about digital literacy by treating both sessions as one continuous "meeting" helps define what digital literacy actually implies (the ability to move seamlessly within these various digital platforms to create one cohesive experience). How we define "meetings" is being transformed with the advent of the blending of synchronous and asynchronous experiences and I think will have a profound effect on education and professional development. What literacies will be needed to learn in these settings?

Terry Heick, Curriculum Director, etc. wrote this short blog post with a nice graphic aimed at helping us look at self-talk that encourages a "Growth Mindset." I like this statement in the post: "While teachers are constantly admonished to change, there is very little dialogue as to what that kind of change looks like, exactly how to go about making that sort of change in the face of local expectations, and maybe most critically, what kind of "internal coaching" a teacher might start with to establish the kind of thinking position of mindset that promotes fluid change."

What are your go-to stress busters when the pressure is on? This article provides some great ideas for how to interrupt stress and create better health in the workplace.

Easy to read chart on how to cite social media sources in academic work.