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Really great tips for working virtually by Haley Hoffman, May 4, 2015

Forbes, August 17, 2015 by George Anders on how Slack and other successful tech start-ups rely on those with a broader-based, or liberal arts education, to humanize and make apps and plug-ins more user-friendly and just plain friendly. The rebirth of the liberal arts education??

Reflective piece by Carol A. Cassara, March 26, 2015, on changing from a fast beat of life (in musical terms--prestissimo) enabled by social media and technology to adagio (moderately slow) by breaking old habits of checking email before the sun comes up every day. "Relaxation is a muscle that needs to be exercised, and I think it's one workout I'm really going to enjoy."

AARP offers tech ed for real newbies who buy the AARP Realpad.

Great article on why more progress in the classroom isn't happening with student-centered uses of technology. June 10, 2015 Edweek, quotes Larry Cuban.

From The Next Web (TNW) News by Michael Redbord, the VP of Global Customer Support and Technical Services at HubSpot. Backs up what the Forbes, USNews, and other articles are saying about the ability of liberal arts majors to think, problem solve, see from different perspectives, and translate the Technical into common language. Although geared towards recent grads, good advice for any job seekers on applying for jobs, a resume that tells your story, not your lists of accomplishments, and evidence of your investment in yourself.

Harvard Business Review's top trends identified by using 5 questions that determine if these are indeed a trend or not. Top trends for 2015 are: Deep learning (machine learning); Smart virtual personal assistants; Uber's monetization of downtime and the offer for those needing employment to work. Uber-like businesses such as grocery delivery, massage services, dry cleaning and laundry, etc. will take off; Oversight for Algorithms - ethics of how algorithms can be used especially when programmers add subjective judgments to algorithms causing false answers; Data privacy - dealing with ongoing breaches. The public does not blame hackers but blames business for not taking measures to combat hackers; Block chain technology is a transactional database that is shared by everyone participating in bitcoin's digital system. Block chain systems may become a universal platform for anything needing a signature or authentication.

Harvard Business Review's top trends identified by using 5 questions that determine if these are indeed a trend or not. Top trends for 2015 are: Deep learning (machine learning); Smart virtual personal assistants; Uber's monetization of downtime and the offer for those needing employment to work. Uber-like businesses such as grocery delivery, massage services, dry cleaning and laundry, etc. will take off; Oversight for Algorithms - ethics of how algorithms can be used especially when programmers add subjective judgments to algorithms causing false answers; Data privacy - dealing with ongoing breaches. The public does not blame hackers but blames business for not taking measures to combat hackers; Block chain technology is a transactional database that is shared by everyone participating in bitcoin's digital system. Block chain systems may become a universal platform for anything needing a signature or authentication. 

recording of tech platforms for volunteering--NTEN sponsored in San Francisco,

a quick video to explain what clouds are for nonprofits; concepts are simple and appropriate for individuals to understand. By NPowerPA, a tech nonprofit that helps other nonprofits with their computer technology needs

Blog by Annie Murphy Paul, June 20, 2013, PBS Next Avenue on 8 things that can make you smarter. "4. Attention You've probably heard about the "marshmallow test," a famous experiment conducted by psychologist Walter Mischel in the late 1960s. He found that children who could resist eating a marshmallow in return for the promise of two marshmallows later on did better in school and in their careers. Well, there's a new marshmallow test that we face every day: the ability to resist the urge to check email, respond to a text or see what's happening on Facebook or Twitter. We've all heard that because "digital natives" grew up multitasking they excel at it, but in fact, we now know there are information-processing bottlenecks in everybody's brain that prevent us from paying attention to two things at the same time. Focused attention is an important internal situation that we must cultivate in order to fully express our intelligence." Another excerpt: "A common example: The ready availability of technology has convinced many people that they don't need to learn facts anymore, because they can always "just Google it." In fact, research from cognitive science shows that the so-called "21st-century skills" that we're always hearing about - critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, creativity - can't emerge in a vacuum. They must develop in the context of a rich base of knowledge that is stored on the original hard drive, one's own brain. For tech to make us smarter, we need to know when to put it away.

Emerging Ed Tech site with blog on how MOOCs will impact the future of college education, K. Walsh, April 25, 2012

video on google search tips, 7 minutes long, found it from Free Tech4Teachers blog, August 2012.

Alison Griswold from Business Insider, Oct. 8, 2013. In addition to the same tips from others, she adds separating your digital devices so you are working on specific devices for work, and set aside others for play. This is especially doable if you get tech devices from your company.

blog from Huffington Tech on FaceBook and Twitter stats. interesting stats such as: 32% of all Internet users use Twitter.

""We do our best work when we're physically connected," says Roy Hirshland, CEO of T3 Advisors, a commercial real estate advisor. Dialing in on Skype will work in a pinch, but it's not a substitute, he says. "When you're in the same room, you can see facial expressions, you can feel energy in a room." The idea is based on Media Richness Theory, which posits that some tasks require face-to-face interaction. Skype doesn't fit the bill. "Skype is a great, free way to communicate with sound and picture, but with glitchy connections, awkward camera angles, the limitations of webcams and cheap microphones, etc.," says Dr. Matthew Lombard, a professor at Temple University and president of the International Society for Presence Research. "It's far from the same experience as talking to someone in person. Face-Time and other tablet and phone methods have the advantage of mobility, but they suffer in terms of the vividness of the experience." "Narrow-bandwidth tech like text-based chat rooms and messaging, and email, are great for specific, relatively straight-forward, 'dry' cognitive tasks but not so good for things that involve ambiguity and emotion," Lombard says. "So there are an awful lot of tasks people need to complete in business (and certainly in life generally) that don't lend themselves well to these technologies.""

"Networking is a prime form of 21st century learning.  The world is much smaller thanks to technology.  Learning is transforming into a globally collaborative enterprise.  Take for example scientists; professional networks allow the scientific community to share discoveries much faster. Just this month, a tech news article showcased how Harvard scientists are considering that "sharing discoveries is more efficient and honorable than patenting them."  This idea embodies the true spirit of a successful professional learning network: collaboration for its own sake. As educators, we aim to be connected to advance our craft.  On another level, we hope to teach students to use networks to prepare for them for a changing job market.  But what is the best way to approach PLNs?"

World Education's blog and index for adult education teachers on using technology in the classroom. These are practical lessons for use in adult ed, literacy, and college transition classes. They are fun and easy to follow, but don't really build teacher networked skills - they are use when you can or want to. Good for us to refer to, but what we want to offer goes deeper and aims to guide teachers to be networked learners themselves. This site does not do that.

Very interesting article from the NYTimes on how mindfulness has taken hold in Silicon Valley encouraging tech workers and beyond to take time out, meditate even for a minute, and creating new apps to help you do it. Google has a course on mindfulness that sells out whenever offered. Rebranding mindfulness from groovey discipline to way to clear your head to increase productivity, prioritize to do lists, unclutter your work life.

blog post by Susan Gunelius, about tech, on why people blog