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Showing posts from November, 2013

These 4 Movie Scenes Are Reminders of What's Important in Learning

1.  A great learning lesson typically starts with a great story. 2.  Life & learning are adventures to be shared passionately without fear of failure. 3.  Deep, meaningful learning occurs through grit, determination, & resiliency. 4.  Inquiry, great questions, & reflection feed our hungry brains. Finally, why are these, and other, movie scenes so deeply entrenched in our memories? One reason is that emotion applies a layer of significance to the learning experience. Another reason is many of us are able to find a relationship between the scene's message and our personal experiences or learning schemas . I am interested in hearing from you. Please share a favorite movie scene along with an explanation of how it fits into your personal learning schema. Related Reading Create More Than You Consume - Life Hacks, Mikael Cho What do Emotions Have to do with Learning? - Mindshift, Annie Murphy Paul Why You Need to Use Storytelling for Lear

Google's Nine Principles of Innovation

Here is a summary of " Google's Nine Principles of Innovation " as shared recently by their chief publicist, Gopi Kallayil. Google's 9-principles-of-innovation from Robert Schuetz Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. I find Google's principles to be simple, yet powerful. Their mission, like their nine principles, is clear and at the same time, ambitious. What can we, as educators, learn from Google's vision?  How can this information be adapted to create a school vision statement? Why is it necessary for schools to have a clearly stated mission, and set of guiding principles?  Related Reading Top Ten Company Mission Statements - Dr. Diane Hamilton Google Reveals its 9 Principles of Innovation - FastCompany Your School and Google's Nine Principles of Innovation - The Learning Pond Google's 9 Principles of Innovation for Every Organization

"The Waiting" Is No Longer The Hardest Part

cc licensed ( BY SA ) flickr photo by Daniel Spiess For those of you looking for some deep, insightful thinking, click " Next Blog " near your header tabs. This post is just some shallow musings about how the Internet has increased my patience, especially when it comes to waiting. You may recall Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers singing " The Waiting " is the hardest part. While still a timeless classic, in this age of wi-fi and 4G networks, maybe the chorus no longer rings true. The story behind this " waiting game " reflection started at 10:00 this morning. Groupon came through for me with a terrific, economical, detailing package for my SUV. As I mentioned, my appointment was for 10:00am, and the service on my Dodge Durango would take approximately three hours. TopLine Auto Enhancements has a small, four-seat waiting area, and I asked the attendant if I could stay and wait for the car to be finished. He gave me a doubting look that said, "

What is a Personal Learning Environment?

There seems to be growing conversation about personal learning environments (PLEs). What is a PLE, and why is this concept relevant to present day education? Personal learning environments are systems that allow learners to obtain control and manage their own learning. A supportive learning system would include these three components: cc licensed ( BY SA ) flickr photo by Scott Leslie Establish measurable learning goals Manage learning content, processes, and products Network with other learners during the process According to Stephen Downes , a PLE exists as a node of web content (perhaps a blog) connected to other nodes supported by content creation services and used by other learners. The original node, or personal learning center, becomes a mechanism for reusing and remixing content based upon the needs and interests of the learner. This collection of inter-operating applications grows more environmental than systematic. Thus, the term personal learning environ

Twitter for Personal Learning & Personalized Professional Development

CC image - wind farm Last Wednesday night, around 9:00, Keith Sorensen and I were heading south on I-55. We were embarking on our yearly pilgrimage to the IETC  conference in Springfield , Illinois. About ninety minutes out of Chicago , we notice dozens, maybe hundreds of blinking red lights off in a dark horizon. I asked, "Did we ever find out what those blinking lights are? They're wind turbines, right?" Keith answered, "No, there are way too many of them - keep your eyes on the road." "OK smarty-pants, what are they then?", I asked. He returned the volley, "They are signals for aircraft." "I agree, and they are mounted on wind turbines!", I snorted. "I'll betcha (because no one from the Chicago area actually says, BET YOU) five bucks that those are wind turbines on a wind farm! My parents live a stone's throw from a wind farm." Without answering, but rolling his eyes, Keith pulled out his cell

Three Significant Obstacles to Creating a Personal Learning Network

Flickr CC image - PLN Last weekend, after enjoying  Joe Morelock's  keynote about the facing the challenges of rapid change in education, I shared my thoughts on personalized professional development with a group of about twenty eager educators. Midway through our session I made the mistake of asking the group, "What is your favorite activity, or tool, for engaging with your PLN?" A few averted pairs of eyes, a few puzzled looks, and a few others choosing to be distracted with mobile electronics (wait time...), and then courageously, Anna asked, "What's a PLN?" "Hold the phones! Stop the presses! What is a PLN? ", I let the question simmer for a few moments. I swiped back to my previous slide, and a few participants took their turns at defining a personal learning network, along with how they personally interacted with their own learning communities. "After learning a bit more about PLNs , how many of you regularly engage w