“8 Things You Need to Know About Collaboration”- Dale Arseneault
"
1. Collaboration is over used and mis-used and is becoming a buzzword for business people and technologists alike2. Collaboration isn’t the same as cooperation or coordination - each have different processes, practices and depth of engagement
3. Collaboration is a human process – throwing technology at people won’t magically/automatically create collaboration
4. Meaningful, productive collaboration won’t happen without mutuality of desired outcomes, shared values of transparency and information sharing, compassion, compromise
5. Collaboration implies that 'the needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few or the needs of the one' and sometimes people aren’t really interested in living by that principle
6. Collaboration isn’t always the best process
7. Collaboration is not equal to Web 2.0
8. Collaboration can be a source of real value in the face of complex environments and situations where no single person has the right answer"
(Via Reflections on Knowledge Management and Organizational Innovation)
Spot on!
NPR- “Study: Not All Kids Are Computer Whizzes”
From NPR...
Something that stuck out...
Most kids don't click past the first page.
“Publishing different: What the tablet brings to the table” – The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
"Publishers need to expand their ideas about how readers interact with a book. A lot of readers tend to make notes in the margins, highlight text, or dog-ear pages as they're reading. Instead of traditional tools, readers will be using electronic equivalents. But what will the electronic equivalents be?"'
Via- TUAW
“Teaching 4th Grade Students using Wolfram|Alpha” - Wolfram|Alpha Homework Day: Teaching 4th Grade Students using Wolfram|Alpha
Wolfram|Alpha is an amazing resource...
YouTube - Wolfram|Alpha Homework Day: Teaching 4th Grade Students using Wolfram|Alpha
(Via Wolfram|Alpha Blog.)
Gifted Children in America
Here are some interesting findings from NAGC's "State of the States" report regarding gifted students...
Is American Education Neglecting Gifted Children? -- THE Journal
"Some of the findings included:
- A full fourth of states provided zero funding for programs and resources for gifted students last year;
- In states that did provide funding, there was little consistency, with per-pupil expenditures ranging from $2 to $750 last year;
- Only five states require professional development for teachers who work in gifted programs;
- Only five require any kind preparation for these teachers;
- Gifted students spend most of their time in general classrooms and receive little specialized instruction;
- Key policies are handled at the district level, when there are policies in place at all, rather than at the state level, creating 'the potential for fractured approaches and limits on funding';
- There is no coherent national strategy for dealing with gifted students."
(Via T.H.E. Journal.)
I personally know that one of the things I need to work on the most as an educator is making sure to consistently differentiate my instruction in such a way that challenges gifted learners.
Moving Windmills: “The Boy Who Harnessed Wind”
William's work is inspiring and uplifting...
"Using Energy described how windmills could be used to generate electricity. Only two percent of Malawians have electricity, and the service is notoriously unreliable. William decided an electric windmill was something he wanted to make. Illuminating his house and the other houses in his village would mean that people could read at night after work. A windmill to pump water would mean that they could grow two crops a year rather than one, grow vegetable gardens, and not have to spend two hours a day hauling water. “A windmill meant more than just power,” he wrote, “it was freedom."
(Via Boing Boing.)
Entire Cities Recreated with Flickr Images
This is very cool!
Entire Cities Recreated Using Thousands of Flickr Photos
"A group of researchers with University of Washington’s graphics and imaging laboratory (GRAIL) wanted to see if they could build a piece of software that would search the web for images of a particular place and recreate that place in 3D in under a day.They succeeded, and the team, lead by Sameer Agarwal, created a simulation of Rome using 150,000 images harvested from photo-sharing website Flickr, and build a virtual model within a day."
(Via The Next Web.)
“Future of Learning” Video
I like how they mix in old footage and commentary of classrooms from decades ago and the diverse range of uses for technology and learning that go beyond only replacing printed text with digital text (video, audio, etc.). Below is a picture I snapped yesterday at a historical school house building at our local county fair. Some things are very different from today, while some are the same...
Geography: “20 Fascinating Ancient Maps”
http://associatesdegree.org/free-edu/fascinating-ancient-maps/
An awesome collection that is worth a look! Click on the link above the photo to see 19 more.