EduTechK12November

""We saw how the best practices we were witnessing could inform a really transformative school model," Healy said. Here are their 6 chief take-aways from what they saw and learned about schools that work.

"The growing access to knowledge, information, people, and tools that our students are getting demands a shift in how we think about the work they do in school."

"Whatever you do the first year will be a trainwreck (compared to the nice and tidy sit-and-get PD). So from the beginning, everyone should be aware that it's all a work in progress-just like the profession itself. Perhaps the greatest potential here is in the chance to personalize professional development for teachers. The above ideas are too vague to be considered an exact guide, but an "exact guide" really isn't possible without ending up with something as top-heavy and standardized as the process it seeks to replace-or at least supplement. Instead focus on the big ideas-personalizing educator training through self-directed and social media-based professional development."

Common sense media

"The Buck Institute for Education commissioned the cutting-edge advertising agency, Common Craft, to create a short animated video that explains in clear language the essential elements of Project Based Learning (PBL). This simple video makes the essential elements of PBL come alive and brings to light the 21st Century skills and competencies (collaboration, communication, critical thinking) that will enable K-12 students to be college and work-ready as well as effective members of their communities."

" Four Steps for Jumpstarting Global-Collaboration Projects"

"The classic "3 R's" of learning are, of course, Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic. For the 21st century, we need to add a fourth R--and it will help inspire the other three: Algorithm. I know, it isn't a very graceful "R"--but 'riting and 'ritmetic are fudges too. And the beauty of teaching even the youngest kids algorithms and algorithmic or procedural thinking is that it gives them the same tool of agency and production that writing and even reading gave to industrial age learners who, for the first time in history, had access to cheap books and other forms of print. "

"We put together an infographic that describes some leadership qualities that can be developed and put in your own "skills" filing cabinet."

"Project-based learning is an example of innovation, but probably not the way you'd expect. While learning through projects is indeed innovative compared to sit-and-get, drill-and-kill, teacher-led and textbook-sourced instruction, PBL's primary innovation is probably its flexibility. There's almost no other learning trend or innovation than can not only co-exist with PBL, but also fit seamlessly and entirely within it. PBL promotes innovation in education by making room for it. But creating that innovation -- what does that require? What kinds of ingredients can you put into the tin, shake up, and end up with innovation? "

"Welcome to a series of posts devoted to the use of Project Based Learning. I know you will find new information… whether you are an experienced PBL user, or brand new. In this post I address the concept of "Driving Questions" I know it is a read you will enjoy and share. I have even included some amazing links including some to the BUCK Institute (BIE). They are the international leader in promoting PBL. "

"A new study from the Stanford Graduate School of Education flips upside down the notion that students learn best by first independently reading texts or watching online videos before coming to class to engage in hands-on projects. Studying a particular lesson, the Stanford researchers showed that when the order was reversed, students' performances improved substantially."

"A couple of weeks ago I had an interesting meeting with about 25 instructional designers from UBC, where we discussed design models for hybrid learning, defined as a deliberate attempt to combine the best of both face-to-face and online learning. "

"Linda Yollis and her second and third grader students share what they love about blogging."

Instead of painstakingly building local majorities, they attempted 2 compel entire populations. http://t.co/bWjeteFQYK #scalefail @sewilkie

Dr Seymour Papert (1999)