‘Our Technology Is Our Ideology’: George Siemens on the Future of Digital Learning. What does it mean to be human in a digital age? Some people researching education technology might not spend their days wondering how their work fits into this existential question—but George Siemens isn’t "some people. " “Maybe my mama hugged me extra when I was a baby.” That’s his explanation for how he thinks about the role of education in the 21st century. A researcher, theorist, educator, Siemens is the digital learning guy. He’s credited with co-teaching the first MOOC in 2008, introduced the theory of “connectivism”—the idea that knowledge is distributed across digital networks—and spearheaded research projects about the role of data and analytics in education. Siemens’ work is on the cutting edge of what’s possible in digital learning, but he doesn’t want to discuss the latest fads in education technology.
“Our technology is our ideology,” Siemens says. Rise of the robots Siemens has both an academic and an industry perspective on digital learning. The path forward. 19 Incredibly Useful Websites You Wish You Knew Earlier – The Mission – Medium. We tend to think of learning a new skill or “going back to school” as something you’d do when looking to change careers, or to upgrade within your current one. But lifelong learning has incredible benefits, both personal and professional, say researchers.
It makes communities more productive and innovative, and gives employees the ability to cope with constantly changing workplaces. Lifelong learning helps us stay sharp as we age, and is also important for a successful economy. It helps us communicate better, socialize more effectively, and achieve greater success. Whether you’re looking to learn how to code, build leadership skills, or otherwise improve yourself, here are 19 awesome places to learn the critical skills that will change your life: 1.
Reddit Lectures This crowdsourced collection of top lectures from professionals, academia, governments, and leaders of all stripes is unique in that the resources are upvoted or downvoted by users, in typical Reddit fashion. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Student-Centered Learning Can Modernize Schools. Why Punishment Won't Stop a Bully. Grades, Courses Most Important in College Admissions, Survey Finds - High School & Beyond. As college application season ramps up once again, an annual survey of college admissions officers reiterates an important message for high school students who are worried sick about their SAT or ACT scores: The classes you take and the grades you earn are far more important to us than your test scores.
That's a key finding of the 13th annual "State of College Admission" survey, released Thursday by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, or NACAC. You'd never know it by the amount of cold sweat high school seniors generate nationally about admissions test scores, but that finding has stayed pretty consistent for 20 years, according to NACAC. The survey found that in the fall 2014 admissions cycle, 79.2 percent of responding colleges and universities gave "considerable importance" to grades in students' college-prep classes, while 55.7 percent assigned the same importance to admission test scores for entering freshmen. Analysis Projects Growing National Shortfall of Teachers. Pedagogical Documentation as a Tool for Thinking Differently. Formal Schooling and the Death of Literacy. My privilege is easily identified in my being white and male, but it is the story of my life that better reveals my enormous privilege established by my mother when I was a child.
I entered formal schooling with such a relatively high level of literacy and numeracy that from those first days I was labeled “smart”—a misnomer for that privilege. From Green Eggs and Ham to Hop on Pop, from canasta to spades, from Chinese checkers to Scrabble—games with my mother and often my father were my schooling until I entered first grade. And none of that ever seemed to be a chore, and none of that involved worksheets, reading levels, or tests.
Formal schooling was always easy for me because of those roots, but formal schooling was also often tedious and so much that had to be tolerated to do the things I truly enjoyed—such as collecting, reading, and drawing from thousands of comic books throughout my middle and late teens. Misreading the Importance of Third-Grade Reading The Literary Technique Hunt. Why Connected Learning. For more than a century, educators have strived to customize education to the learner. Connected Learning leverages the advances of the digital age to make that dream a reality — connecting academics to interests, learners to inspiring peers and mentors, and educational goals to the higher order skills the new economy rewards. Six principles (below) define it and allow every young person to experience learning that is social, participatory, interest-driven and relevant to the opportunities of our time.
Connected learning thrives in a socially meaningful and knowledge-rich ecology of ongoing participation, self-expression and recognition. In their everyday exchanges with peers and friends, young people fluidly contribute, share and give feedback. Powered with possibilities made available by today’s social media, this peer culture can produce learning that’s engaging and powerful. Interests foster the drive to gain knowledge and expertise. We’re Trying To Do “The Wrong Thing Right” in Schools — Modern Learning. We’re Trying To Do “The Wrong Thing Right” in Schools Whenever I think about the way most schools are structured today, I always come back to the same question: Do we do the things we do because they’re better for kids or because they are easier for us? For instance: separating kids by age in school. Is that something we do because kids learn better that way? Or do we do it because it’s just an easier way organizing our work?
I think all of us know the answer to that. And there are quite a few other comparisons like those that are worth thinking about: Do kids learn better when we separate out the content into different subjects, or is it just easier for us? To be sure, these are not new questions, nor are they unique to my thinking. So why bring it up yet again? “Peter Drucker said ‘There’s a difference between doing things right and doing the right thing.’ Here’s the video: I think the answer is obvious. Sadly, “doing the right thing” for our kids in schools is difficult. Reach of PARCC, Smarter Balanced, Drops Sharply in 2015-16.
Older Students Learn for the Sake of Learning. ACT Foundation Highlights of SkillsUSA National Meetings and Events - ACT Foundation. Louisville, KY (June 25, 2015) – ACT Foundation and the National Network of Business and Industry Associations proudly support the many competitors from across the nation who attended SkillsUSA Nationals in Louisville, KY to show off their talents and competencies in a variety of skill-based events. During the three day event, ACT Foundation and the National Network hosted a Breakfast meeting that included a powerful keynote address from Dr. Parminder Jassal, Founding Executive Director of ACT Foundation. The National Network, which is a joint effort of ACT Foundation and Business Roundtable, held meetings, working sessions, and discussions with thought-leaders, industry representatives, and SkillsUSA students to discuss the growing needs of working learners and the demands for a highly-skilled workforce by businesses.
Dr. Jassal’s keynote speech at the Breakfast event discussed the need for better connecting working and learning for increased life success. ACT Foundation Innovation Projects Aim to Close Skills Gap By Improving Learning, Training, and Hiring - ACT Foundation. WASHINGTON, DC (September 21, 2015) – The National Network of Business and Industry Associations, an effort led by Business Roundtable and ACT Foundation, is pleased to announce it will invest in 12 projects aimed at advancing talent development efforts across the nation in key economic sectors. Lumina Foundation and The Joyce Foundation have provided funding support for the initiative.
National Network members will use these investments to better connect learning and work. The innovation projects will further the National Network mission to provide students and workers clear pathways to meaningful careers and give employers a skilled, competitive workforce. Each project focuses on addressing the critical workforce needs of its sector, as well as on a specific aspect of the National Network three-point plan.
“Business leaders need skilled workers to fill jobs at their companies and make them competitive around the world,” said John Engler, President of Business Roundtable. ACT Foundation National Network Releases Work and Learn Guidebook For Employers - ACT Foundation. Washington, DC (November 18, 2015) – The National Network of Business and Industry Associations today released a guidebook for employers to understand and adopt work-and-learn programs, including modernized internships, apprenticeships and mentorships. Led by Business Roundtable and ACT Foundation, the National Network is a collaboration of 25 business organizations representing 10 economic sectors, and focuses on connecting the worlds of learning and work.
Work-and-Learn in Action: Successful Strategies for Employers highlights 15 real-life models, providing a blueprint to help companies implement similar strategies that improve workforce recruitment, training and advancement. The guidebook underscores the range of ways that employers are increasingly involved in addressing the skills gap, which is leaving an estimated 4 million jobs unfilled. The examples featured can help more companies design work-based learning opportunities for more students and workers who need new skills. Six Personalized Learning Risks Districts Should Avoid. Lack of Clear Narrative and Compelling Rationale As a Result... School leaders and teachers may understand pieces of what they should do - e.g. more small group instruction or flipped teaching - but aren't able to articulate why they are taking these new approaches and how these changes eventually lead to long-term expected outcomes.
Furthermore, district and school leaders struggle to identify early wins or proof points of success that would help them increase buy-in across the district and offer exemplars of good practice. Avoid the Risk Create a district vision statement and explain why personalized learning supports that vision Connect personalized learning to the instructional language and priorities of the district Identify measures of success early in the process - what's the expected path to this success and key indicators of success along the way Agree on a process to check if schools are on/off track from expected path, and identify immediate supports to course correct.
While High-School Graduation Rates Are Increasing, College Enrollment Is in Decline. The latest national data shows that more students are getting their high-school diplomas than ever before. Just over 82 percent of the students who were high-school seniors during the 2013-14 year graduated, up from 81 percent the year before. The rate has inched up annually over the last few years, largely because of strides made by disadvantaged students—an accomplishment President Obama is likely to highlight in his State of the Union address Tuesday. But that doesn’t mean more kids are going to college. Quite the opposite. Recently released numbers out of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center suggests that college-enrollment rates have actually decreased—and for the fourth straight year, all despite massive increases in federal aid for students who can’t afford tuition. The number of students enrolling in colleges and universities this year is 1.7 percent lower than it was last year.
The Classroom Is Dead — Bright. The Classroom Is Dead What if everything about the future of school was the opposite of school? We invited Eli Horowitz and Scott Teplin to consider the school of 2050. Now more than ever, we must be vigilant in our defense of our children’s future. Back in 2016, we spoke of “disruption” — disrupting entertainment, disrupting field hockey, disrupting smoothies, and, of course, disrupting education. That was a wonderful time. But now that everything has been disrupted (field hockey has never been edgier), what’s left? The answer: Welcome to the era of destruction — tearing down the outdated institutions, and then occupying their nonstructured absence. For generations, thinkers have attempted to reimagine the classroom, to improve the classroom, and, of course, to disrupt the classroom, and where has all that gotten us? Point is, the classroom is a dead end. True learning happens when we least expect it, when we aren’t even attempting it.
It’s not enough to think outside the box . Safety?
Family Action Network.