Graded 21st Century

t’s a signal that the kinds of learning experiences that are gained through making can be recognized and valued in education, as they should be. It also serves as a reminder that the kind of informal learning that happens outside of school is important, and should be considered alongside achievements in formal education.

“We love it when students pursue their passions outside of class,” said Dr. Wendell, “and making is a fantastic example of that.”

T]he essence of what colleges want is for students to be engaged in whatever they are doing. We don’t want students who do things because they have to, or because they think it will look good on their résumé. We want students to do things because they find true enjoyment and personal growth from them. That’s the way that young people — and, for that matter, old people and middle-aged people — thrive.

In short, their ability to be creative, to share complex knowledge across locations, contexts and cultures and to manage global innovation and product development teams effectively is precisely why multiculturals in integrative roles in the innovation process do make such a positive difference.

In addition, they identified intercultural, cognitive integration (one’s ability to simultaneously hold and apply several culturally different schemas and thus to think as a member of one culture or another depending on need and context, or to think simultaneously as member of several cultures) as the key to creative, adaptive and leadership skills fostering their career success. As one of the managers Hae-Jung Hong interviewed put it:

The most important skill I need in order to develop and launch this product line successfully is to exploit what I’ve got from one part to other parts of the world, which brings something innovative in the market. I am able to do this because I have references in different languages— English, Hindi, and French. I read books in three different languages, meet people from different countries, eat food from different countries, and so on. I cannot think things in one way only. That’s not my way.

he rules that define effective visual storytelling—much like the rules that define written language—do in fact exist, and Stephen Apkon has long experience in deploying them, teaching them, and witnessing their power in the classroom and beyond.

he unique thing about this position was that he would only accept interest in the position through a post on Twitter, and that he would look solely at a candidate’s digital footprints and not at any paper resume.

Vala was looking for candidates to have a minimum Klout score above 60, a minimum Kred influence score of 725, a Kred outreach of at least eight, and more than 1,000 active Twitter followers in order to be considered.

or a month, it was a time to establish new connections, even with some of the other candidates themselves, as we waited for opportunities to interview with the company. We began to grow and learn from each other. The process was amazing. I was able to see their passion and they could see mine. By looking at what these candidates did for a current job and to see times of the day and days of the week that they were devoting to posting and sharing online digitally, I started to get a sense of who everyone was and what their passions were and what their work ethic was like. I got a chance to know candidates well before I even knew who they really were.

ony Wagner that the world doesn’t care anymore what you know; all it cares “is what you can do with what you know.”

And they increasingly don’t care how those skills were acquired: home schooling, an online university, a massive open online course, or Yale. They just want to know one thing: Can you add value?