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"This toolkit contains the process and methods of design along with the Designer's Workbook, adapted specifically for the context of K-12 education. It offers new ways to be intentional and collaborative when designing, and empowers educators to create impactful solutions. At IDEO, we've been using similar processes, methods, and tools for years in tackling some dauntingly complex challenges. More often than not, we've experienced how Design Thinking helps to get to the next step. "

Interesting blog post from Jabiz Raisdana - do your reporting methods match our teaching methods and do the 21c learning tools we are using and expecting the students to use fit into the 'old' style report cards. Interesting things to think about

"Importantly, our early indications suggest that the least effective method of reading may be the one society has been clinging to for centuries: reading on paper."

In 1970 the top three skills required by the Fortune 500 were the three Rs: reading, writing, and arithmetic. In 1999 the top three skills in demand were teamwork, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills. We need schools that are developing these skills." That's why a new breed of educators, inspired by everything from the Internet to evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, and AI, are inventing radical new ways for children to learn, grow, and thrive. To them, knowledge isn't a commodity that's delivered from teacher to student but something that emerges from the students' own curiosity-fueled exploration. Teachers provide prompts, not answers, and then they step aside so students can teach themselves and one another. They are creating ways for children to discover their passion-and uncovering a generation of geniuses in the process.

As an instructor of undergraduate and graduate students at University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University, I created a syllabus for the benefit of other college/university level instructors. I created a copy of the original syllabus for modification to use with high school students (probably juniors or seniors). I will rely on actual high school teachers to help me modify this source document. Please feel free to use, modify, and share this syllabus in your own way. Reorder the modules, add or subtract required or recommended texts and learning activities. Use your own assessment methods. If you wish to help improve this seed document, contact howard@rheingold.com and I will add you as a commenter and/or editor. 

This is interesting research related to students doing video lecture then try VS try then video lecture methods. The authors call this Constructivist Exploration using Tangible User Interfaces. #spoileralert - Exploration followed by Video Lecture is more effective.

Summary via The Scout Report (April 2012): "The Sumanas Corporation was created in 1994 to help design accurate and interesting products for higher education. Along on the way, they have seen fit to create a range of complementary online animations for students and teachers interested in biology. On this page, visitors will find 37 helpful animations that cover a range of topics. The first two on the site address meiosis and mitosis and they are a good place to start for any student of general biology. Each one of the animations includes audio narration, along with a step-by-step tutorial and a short quiz. Other favorites here include "The Scientific Method" and "Simple Stimuli Trigger Fixed Behaviors" Overall, the site is well-designed and it may pique the curiosity of those who haven't thought much about biology in some time. [KMG]"

Use the contents of this Kit when you need help understanding an information fluency method. 

If we are feeling distracted, we should pay attention to that distraction.  It may be telling us that there is something better elsewhere, something more deserving of our attention.  Or it may be telling us we are on the wrong path, just when we thought we were zooming in to that perfect conclusion of a paragraph or a project.   Or it may be telling us we need better tools, that the set-up we have is not fully appreciating the particularities and peccadilloes of our own work life and demands.  Or it may be telling us that we need better partners, or a better method, someone or something to help us over the hurdle.  Or it may just be telling us we are working too hard and we need to put down what we are doing and go outside for a walk, or stop for a cup of tea, or go for a run, or maybe just check out Facebook for a while.  Distraction is our friend because it reminds us that we are fully human, not just workers, and that our lives are complex and, trying to shut out the complexity, may in fact turn out to be the least productive way to lead a life.

"Blended solutions combine contrasting learning methods and media in order to maximise effectiveness and efficiency. The More Than approach goes a step further to ensure the blend results in application to real-world tasks and the learner is supported along the whole length of their learning journey." This site includes a portfolio of resources, case studies, and video. 

re Charles & Ray Eames movie/book and its possible uses in the classroom.... "Powers of Ten is a reframing technique that can be used as a synthesis or ideation method. It allows the design team to use an intentional approach to considering the problem at varied magnitudes of framing."

"Children who are taught how to think and act like scientists develop a clearer understanding of the subject, a study has shown. The research project led by The University of Nottingham and The Open University has shown that school children who took the lead in investigating science topics of interest to them gained an understanding of good scientific practice. The study shows that this method of 'personal inquiry' could be used to help children develop the skills needed to weigh up misinformation in the media, understand the impact of science and technology on everyday life and help them to make better personal decisions on issues including diet, health and their own effect on the environment. The three-year project involved providing pupils aged 11 to 14 at Hadden Park High School in Bilborough, Nottingham, and Oakgrove School in Milton Keynes with a new computer toolkit named nQuire, now available as a free download for teachers and schools. Running on both desktop PCs and handheld notebook-style devices, the software is a high-tech twist on the traditional lesson plan - guiding the pupils through devising and planning scientific experiments, collecting and analysing data and discussing the results."  Software is free to download

Just how far can we incorporate the concept of video games into modern learning? This article from Edutopia by Judy Willis MD focuses on the video-game-strucutural-model-as-teaching-method scenario.

Classic article by John Unsworth (2000): the scholarly primitives are:  Discovering, Annotating, Comparing, Referring, Sampling, Illustrating, Representing

"We all know that we can share via iTunes over USB to any Mac/PC with a recent version of iTunes. Well would you believe the same thing works without a cable and it doesn't have to be the Mac/PC that manages the devices. It means that any teacher can access all the students files on a device that has been "Saved to iTunes".  You can even pick up the work, mark it and hand it back to the iPad whilst the iPad is still being used by the kids (unbeknown to the user!). As consumers we can sync over wifi and share files via iTunes. You can do this with a class set of iPads by attaching each device once to the teacher's computer and checking the "sync over wifi" option and "enable". Don't sync -just unplug each device. Provided you are on the same network, you can then open and close files on the class set from your computer."

Very interesting statistics on American teens' use of social media and technology.

Cathy N. Davidson on experiments at Duke University in instigating digital devices and teaching ..... what the students learned and what she learned....

found from link in twitter