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Blog post by Miriam Persley, June 27, 2013 in Leadership Learning Community on The Individual in Collective Leadership. Look at excerpt on purpose below: "The quest for purpose is ageless and can happen once and/or multiple times in a lifetime. This timeless search is part of normal development and is testimony to the complexity of humanity. Depending on the timing, some may need a severe break away, others a more subtle revisioning, while others may land somewhere in between, but the need for purpose is behind it all."

"The Varied Functions of Badges" summary from HASTAC discussion, 9/2012 My interest in the functions of badges was spurred along when the MacArthur Foundation asked for help documenting the design principles for using digital badges that emerge across the 30 projects underway by the awardees in their Badges for Lifelong Learning project. We needed to come up with a manageable number of categories. Here is what we came up with: Recognizing Learning. This is the most obvious and arguably the primary function of badges. David Wiley has argued cogently that this should be the primary purpose of badges. If we focus only on purposes, then he may well be right. His point is that badges are credentials and not assessments. This is also consistent with the terrifically concise definition in Seven Things You Should Know About Badgesby Erin Knight and Carla Casilli. Assessing Learning. Nearly every application of digital badges includes some form of assessment. These assessments have either formative or summative functions and likely have both. In some cases, these are simply an assessment of whether somebody clicked on a few things or made a few comments. In other cases, there might be a project or essay that was reviewed and scored, or a test that was graded. In still other cases, peers might assess an individual, group, or project as badgeworthy. Motivating Learning. This is where the controversy comes in. Much of the debate over badges concerns the well-documented negative consequences of extrinsic incentive on intrinsic motivation and free choice engagement. This is why some argue that we should not use badges to motivate learning. However, if we use badges to recognize and assess learning, they are likely to impact motivation. So, we might as well harness this crucial function of badges and study these functions carefully while searching for both their positive and negative consequences for motivation. Evaluating Learning. The final category of

Commencement speeches at different colleges, June 15, 2014 Harvey Mudd College Beth Shapiro, evolutionary biologist "Your unique education has prepared you for careers at the cutting edge of innovation. This is both good news and bad news. It's good news because you're probably going to find a job, it will pay well, and it will be intellectually fulfilling. It's bad news because whatever you thought you were training for when you started this exercise might not actually exist anymore. Five years ago, when you guys were deciding where to go to college, there were very few mobile-app developers or big-data architects, and there certainly weren't any chief listening officers for social media outlets. It's hard to imagine where the next five years will go, but it's kind of fun to do so. ... Who knows, but you guys are going to be among the people that are actually making it happen. And it'll be awesome, as long as you're willing to take some risks and step outside of your comfort zone. When an opportunity arises, take it." UNC at Chapel Hill Atul Gawande, doctor and writer "Ultimately, it turns out we all have an intrinsic need to pursue purposes larger than ourselves, purposes worth making sacrifices for. People often say, 'Find your passion.' But there's more to it than that. Not all passions are enough. Just existing for your desires feels empty and insufficient, because our desires are fleeting and insatiable. You need a loyalty. The only way life is not meaningless is to see yourself as part of something greater: a family, a community, a society. ... the search for purpose is really a search for a place, not an idea. It is a search for a location in the world where you want to be part of making things better for others in your own small way. It could be a classroom where you teach, a business where you work, a neighborhood where you live. The key is, if you find yourself in a place where you stop caring - where your greatest conce

Blog by Gwen Teatro, You're Not the Boss of Me is name of blog, September 14, 2014. Identifies five elements that I believe are right on for real teams: 1. Everyone on the team clearly understands its purpose 2. Individuals on the team each know their roles in fulfilling the purpose 3. Individuals on the team see their roles as being no more, or no leass important than anyone else's 4. We pay attention to the team dynamic every time a new member is introduced 5. The team works together until its purpose is fulfilled.

wonderful article on differences between networking, coordinating, cooperating, and collaborating drawn from work of Arthur Himmelman.  They add up:  exchange information, alter activities, share resources, enhance capacity for each player. 

Blog by Steve Gutzler, Feb. 4, 2014 on the nine Ps of purpose. Tweeted by Lyn Boyer for WLS.

This video by Seth Dickens poses two questions 1) What do I know that could be shared? and 2) What do I want to learn? While I might disagree with the order, the rest of the video (about 4 minutes long) does a beautiful job of explaining what a learning (professional or personal) network is and what it allows one to do to connect purposeful and learn. Other information: Uploaded on Feb 21, 2012 This short video is an introduction to PLNs; known also as "Professional Learning Networks" and "Personal Learning Networks." These simple, organic networks help professionals to continually learn and add new skills and knowledge through informal learning. I'd be delighted to add you to my PLN, whether you're just getting started, or have already established a network. Join me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sethdickens Find me at my blog: www.digitalang.com/blog For Teacher-Training Seminars & educational Consultancy please contact info@digitalang.com This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You are free: to Share - to copy, distribute and transmit the work , to Remix - to adapt the work, to make commercial use of the work provided under the following conditions Attribution - You must attribute the work to Seth Dickens -www.digitalang.com Noncommercial - You may not use this work for commercial purposes. Share Alike - If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one.

A great discussion of brand that we are trying to effect in the Studio with our purpose driven raison d'etre, Tom Fishburne, June 30, 2013.

Article by Tanmay Vora, January 2016 on VUCA world (Volatile, Uncertain, complex & ambiguous) Traditional hierarchical structures are fading away to give way to purposeful networks and communities of people working together to achieve a shared purpose. The cumulative impact of these forces demands a new mindset and competences for leaders to be able to stay relevant and make a positive difference to people and hence, business.

Connected Learning, a new research-driven initiative was introduced at the Digital Media and Learning Conference 2012. This blog post by Jackie Gerstein discusses its essence and includes TED video of Henry Jenkins and separate video of Mimi Ito. See excerpt on core values and principals of connected learning: At the core of connected learning are three values: Equity - when educational opportunity is available and accessible to all young people, it elevates the world we all live in. Full Participation - learning environments, communities, and civic life thrive when all members actively engage and contribute. Social connection - learning is meaningful when it is part of valued social relationships and shared practice, culture, and identity (http://connectedlearning.tv/connected-learning-principles). This initiative is being driven by the following design principles: Shared purpose - Connected learning environments are populated with adults and peers who share interests and are contributing to a common purpose. Today's social media and web-based communities provide exceptional opportunities for learners, parents, caring adults, teachers, and peers in diverse and specialized areas of interest to engage in shared projects and inquiry. Cross-generational learning and connection thrives when centered on common interests and goals. Production-centered - Connected learning environments are designed around production, providing tools and opportunities for learners to produce, circulate, curate, and comment on media. Learning that comes from actively creating, making, producing, experimenting, remixing, decoding, and designing, fosters skills and dispositions for lifelong learning and productive contributions to today's rapidly changing work and political conditions. Openly networked - Connected learning environments are designed around networks that link together institutions and groups across various sectors, including popula

Once again, Jarche comes through for me. Tuesday, January 14, 2014 "The keys to motivation at work are for each person to have a sense of Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. This is a network management responsibility." Could we do a play on RAMP-R-----Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose in the Studio? Another excerpt that I buy to a point--I don't think networks are the new companies but short of that, I agree with his premise: Most management practices today still focus on 20th century models, such as Henry Fayol's six functions of management [look familiar?]. forecasting planning organizing commanding coordinating controlling I heard these same functions discussed by a workplace issues consultant on the radio as recently as yesterday morning. Notice that there is no function for enhancing serendipity, or increasing innovation, or inspiring people. The core of management practice today has not changed since the days of Fayol, who died ninety years ago. "But the new reality is that networks are the new companies. The company no longer offers the stability it once did as innovative disruption comes from all corners. Economic value is getting redistributed to creative workers and then diffused through networks. Knowledge networks differ from company hierarchies. One major difference is that cooperation, not collaboration, is the optimal behaviour in a knowledge network. In networks, cooperation trumps collaboration."

blog post by Allison Stadd on Media Bistro, December 9, 2013. Shows how Twitter users have moved from original purpose (what are you doing now?) to more worthwhile pursuits on Twitter. "When I explained that I use Twitter for purely professional and informational purposes - keeping up with news in real time, tracking trends, reading interesting articles, and cultivating relationships - she was surprised, and shared that she'd like to try that out. I was equally surprised at her impression of Twitter in the first place."

Bob Marshall on what an effective group workshop looks like--September 30, 2014, quite demanding yet doable. he above story illustrates a range of features of an effective workshop: Certain shared proficiencies in e.g. Skilled Dialogue, Lean Coffee, etc.. Pre-reading (shared), including "standard" texts - here including Nancy Kline and Chris Argyris. Clarity of purpose "just why are we here?". Shared purpose "we're all here for the same things". Folks tweeting and googling continuously during the workshop. Amanuensis / cybrarian to facilitate shared learning in the workshops. Democratic agenda-setting. Mutual exploration of topics. Active curiosity. "Essentiality" - avoidance of rabbit-holes and extraneous discussion of details. Focus on impacts (as compared to busyness, or outputs, or even outcomes). Post-reading - following up new references. Follow-up conversations, actions. Feedback. - Bob Afterword In writing this story, it seemed to me that a video of a workshop in action would be a great addition to the resources available to BaCo staff to help them appreciate the nature of an effective workshop. Maybe one day I'll have the opportunity to write and/or direct such a video. Further Reading What is Dialogue? ~ Susan Taylor (pdf) Share this: inShare10 Email Print More

Four principles of Conscious Capitalism--higher purpose, conscious leadership, stakeholder orientation, and conscious culture--part of a national nonprofit to reorient business and achieve greater success

Digital Literacy, NYC Department of Education "Digital literacy is more than knowing how to send a text or watch a music video. It means having the knowledge and ability to use a range of technology tools for varied purposes. A digitally literate person can use technology strategically to find and evaluate information, connect and collaborate with others, produce and share original content, and use the Internet and technology tools to achieve many academic, professional, and personal goals. "

"Digital literacy is more than knowing how to send a text or watch a music video. It means having the knowledge and ability to use a range of technology tools for varied purposes. A digitally literate person can use technology strategically to find and evaluate information, connect and collaborate with others, produce and share original content, and use the Internet and technology tools to achieve many academic, professional, and personal goals."

Excellent post on helping clients define what they want: do it on purpose with new clients; demand benchmarks, describe assignment, restate the problem again...

blog by Clay Johnson on Lifehacker, 2.23.12, on starting every day as a producer of information, not as a consumer. Excerpt: "The production of information is critical to a healthy information diet. It's the thing that makes it so that your information consumption has purpose. I cannot think of more important advice to give anyone: start your day with a producer mindset, not a consumer mindset. If you begin your day checking the news, checking your email, and checking your notifications, you've launched yourself into a day of grazing a mindless consumption. Starting your day as a producer means that your information consumption has meaning: the rest of the day means consuming information that is relevant to what it is that you're producing. Waking up as a producer frames the rest of your habits. You're not mindlessly grazing on everyone's facebook's statuses. You're out getting what it is you need to get in order to produce. Waking up as a producer is procrastination insurance. But there's something else that being a producer does: it gives you more clarity about what it is that you think."

Very good blog post by Peter Skillen on July 13, 2011 on PBL? Am I Doing It Right? Offers continua for structuring projects by students but couldn't these be adopted in setting up PBL for adult elearners? The continua are trust (locus of control), Questioning (who is generating the questions), Collaboration (how much collaboration is really going on?), Content (reductionist to complex), Knowledge (hidden to visible), Purpose (contrived to authentic).

Good history of Mozilla's open badge project, a joint venture between the Mozilla and MacArthur foundations. The open badge system is now called Badgr and is launched by a new entity for this purpose, Concentric Sky in partnership with edX. It is still open source and badge criteria still displays with the badge when awarded and displayed on a web site, profile, etc.

****This post by Derek J. Keenan explains his Social Professional Learning Model that served as his Masters Capstone paper at Alberta University, April 23, 2012. Its core is an action research approach to learning enriched by and anchored in social media. Substitute teacher with "other named professional" and it works for people in all types of work/interests. There is also a short (s cultivating connections with the people who have the same self-directed learning quest as you. The next step is reciprocating by publishing and sharing what you know or believe to be true. Throughout it is your experience that informs your participation and your participation informs your level of understanding--you are constantly learning and eventually building your personal learning network relationships to be there for you.