Alive and Learning

A series of TED talks regarding the percieved need to re-imagine school. Is this in response to a geniune need or simply neoliberal thinking looking to profit from previously inaccessible markets under the guise of a "crisis in education"?

I think it can be highly effective in flipped classrooms.

This is a great tool. I've downloaded it to my Samsung tablet can't wait to put it to good use!

Great tool to mix it up in the classroom

Fascinating discussion!

How cultivating empathy can change your life.

"Behavioral research has demonstrated that feeling understood by others enhances social closeness and intimacy, as well as subjective well-being. In contrast, feeling misunderstood can be harmful to social relationships, leading to loneliness and isolation. However, it is still unclear why and how felt understanding exerts such a powerful impact on both interpersonal and intrapersonal well-being" 

Thank you for sharing

Kind of a superset of Kolb!

Thanks for the translation!

A awesome read about using technology to connect with your students.

The new culture in the classrooms - digital learning drives student achievement

As good an argument as any I have seen about the benefits of comment-only marking

Interesting research here using novel approaches to monitor team communication, the features they identify resonate with my experiences.

People should feel empowered by the idea of a science of team building, The idea that we can transmute the guess work of putting a team together into a rigorous methodology, and then continuously improve teams is exciting. Nothing will be more powerful, I believe, in eventually changing how organizations work.

There is an interesting discussion going on at the Harvard Business Review on this topic "THE FUTURE OF TALENT IS CLUSTERS". 

The idea posed by is that we should be considering hiring "clusters" (aka teams) instead of individuals.  Or at least considering it.  To  me it is an "everything old is new again" conversation.  ...And that is a very  good thing. 

In the 90's we gained a lot of information from an intense  period of study on teams.  When I say we I mean those of us who were fascinated about advancing knowledge about group work and dynamics.  However, we lost the way a bit. 

We lost the momentum when other forms of collaboration we seen as equal to the power  of the autonomous and self managing team.  I'm not sure that's the  case. In fact, I am certain of it.   However, the HBR article is an example where the opportunity to learn is again  coming to the forefront. If you think this is  unusual - hiring a "cluster" or team as an intact unit - I have seen it.  We worked with a client who designed one of the most successful   autonomous team workplaces to date.  They were written about in journals  and feted at three national conferences.  However, when the client  decided to build a new,  more automated facility too far away for team members to relocate, the company worked with local businesses to find  the team members new employment. 

Here is where I witnessed a first for me (and I think maybe a first in modern era business)... the reputation  of the teams were so great and impressive in the region that some of the  teams were hired as "intact" teams.  They were asked by their new employers to bring the skills and capabilities to the new job.  I lost track of what happened to the team members, but they certainly learned team  skills at the most advanced level I had seen before - or since.   They had developed an ability to go into any situation and begin assessing how they could make things work better and how they could be successful doing the work.  What business could not use that?

Have you ever seen a work group so impressive that others wanted to hire them away - intact?  That was the ultimate praise.

www.pyramidodi.com

Very nice presentation about presentations....

Revisem les nostres presentacions.

Prezi isn't the only challenger of Keynote / Powerpoint any longer. Bunkr looks interesting, but I worry if this is not further transforming us into a cut'n'paste culture.

I have been having 'battery' issues with my iPhone so this post was timely. I use my iphone for personally and professional use almost 24/7 and often the battery is not lasting the day (particularly when I use camera/video/email/social networking/fitness tracking apps all day eg weekends!) I don't personally agree with all of it. In my opinion, by disabling some of this features you are also 'depowering' the device. I do agree with disabling the Location Services feature on 'unnecessary' apps that you don't regularly use. I also agree with disabling  the Notifications function on many apps (I've just done this on the majority of mine so will be interested to see if it makes a difference.). As with any 'tips and tricks' type advice I'd give it a go (as long as it is on a 'surface' level and not delving into the inner workings of the device and also that you have the confidence to 'revert' things if you need to), if it makes a difference for you then it was worth it. 

Not really African education, but will help speed up my ipad and I want to remember them

Some good advice can be found in this article.

How many of the 25 things successful educators do differently can you tick off? How many do you aspire to achieve over the next 12 months?

(From the article): Authenticity — what is it, who has it, and how do you get it? Most people associate authenticity with being true to oneself — or "walking the talk." But there's a problem with that association; it focuses on how you feel about yourself. Authenticity is actually a relational behavior, not a self-centered one. Meaning that to be truly authentic, you must not only be comfortable with yourself, but must also comfortably connect with others.