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Edgeryders

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The Top 100 Tools for Learning 2012 list is revealed UPDATE: The Top100Tools Club opening January This year’s Top 100 Tools for Learning list (the 6th Annual Survey) has been compiled from the votes of 582 learning professionals worldwide – 55% working in education, 45% working in non-educational organizations. The top tool for the 4th year running is Twitter, with both YouTube (2nd) and Google Docs (aka Google Drive) (3rd) retaining their places for the 3rd year in succession. Once again the list is dominated by free online social tools. However, what struck me when compiling the list this year (and reading many of the notes added to the individual contributors’ lists) was the huge difference between the tools that are now being used in education compared with those in workplace learning.

Social investing – the emperor's new clothes? First of all, I commend anyone engaging or seeking to achieve a better society for all. That said, I have a number questions about social finance and social investing. I dislike waste, inefficiency, lack of transparency and situations when people and businesses pretend to be something they are not. I can only speak from my own experience, observations and anecdotal evidence having met followers of this new social sector; but each encounter raises more questions than answers. There is much debate taking place around philanthropy, charity and giving; especially around social finance but what makes me uncomfortable is the notion of making returns from society's ills. I object in principle to the idea that helping the poor and less fortunate is a dividend-based activity.

Nov. 1998: "It takes a whole village to raise a child." - Igbo and Yoruba (Nigeria) Proverb African Proverb of the Month November, 1998 It takes a whole village to raise a child. Igbo and Yoruba (Nigeria) Proverb Explanation: This Igbo and Yoruba (Nigeria) proverb exists in different forms in many African languages. Incubators, Accelerators and Impact Investors, oh my! We need more incubators and accelerators, or so I am told, because start-ups, small businesses and social enterprises are not investment ready. Lots of would-be Fund Managers descry this lack of investment-readiness as a key reason for long investment periods and poor returns. On the flip side, well-meaning venture philanthropists have heard this cry and hope that by funding incubators and accelerators, deal flow will improve and more investments will be made.

How to Create a Robust and Meaningful Personal Learning Network [PLN] This post describes how educators can develop a personal learning network that supports meaningful and relevant learning. The MOOC, Education Technology & Media, etmooc, is used here as a working example of how to develop a PLN. “My Personal Learning Network is the key to keeping me up-to-date with all the changes that are happening in education and how technology can best support and engage today’s students.” Brian Metcalfe: teacher, blogger at lifelonglearners.com A visual image of participants in an open, online course- etmooc, which shows the potential to find and create personal connections as part of one’s PLN.

Application For Impact Engine Governments and nonprofit organizations can’t do it alone. Now, more than ever, society needs rockin’ ideas, smart entrepreneurs, and bold investors to change the trajectory of our future. If you’re ready to make an impact, apply to our upcoming program. Applications for Impact 3 open May 15, 2014. Sign up for our newsletter to be notified when they go live.

Metaknowledge Metaknowledge or meta-knowledge is knowledge about a preselected knowledge. For the reason of different definitions of knowledge in the subject matter literature, meta-information is or is not included in meta-knowledge. Detailed cognitive, systemic and epistemic study of human knowledge requires a distinguishing of these concepts. but in the common language knowledge includes information, and, for example, bibliographic data are considered as a meta-knowledge. Metaknowledge may be automatically harvested from electronic publication archives, to reveal patterns in research, relationships between researchers and institutions and to identify contradictory results.[2] See also[edit]

a better world powered by women - Make a Wave Pre Incubator Make a Wave is a unique specialist incubator programme for women social entrepreneurs. It's a learning and co-mentoring programme made of exclusive live and on-line sessions with funders, entrepreneurs and mentors, topped up with learning teleconferences, coaching, access to women angels, other support organisations and a strong peer-to-peer network. You learn about how to design business models, you also learn about yourself and the conditions that help you make an impact in your life and your community. Get clarity about how you are creating change in the world A new programme that aims to give 250 women thoughout the UK foundation skills to think about social enterprise, design a business model that will postively impact on people and planet, and get started for real! EVENTS CALENDAR (For registered participants only)

How to Share, Brunch, Learn for GOOD How to Share, Brunch, Learn for Good Grab the last spaces available at our summer party on June 18th! Join a vibrant global community of women social innovators at the Women's Social Leadership Awards event at the Hub Westminster, (#wsla12) with challenging speakers, disruptive finalists and some of the Ogunte Activist Angels! If you are a ticket holder, you can claim a 20% discount on our executive social innovations coaching package, available till December 2012. Also in this micro-mag: Partners News: - Ogunte and Hub Westminster present: The Big Brunch Membership - Aspire Foundation offers new global mentoring opportunities

Economic benefits The fundamental importance of women and child health is reflected in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It has been estimated that significant additional investment in health systems is needed to achieve MDGs 4 and 5, particularly to scale-up essential interventions for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH). Demonstrating the broader societal returns of investment in women’s and children’s health can be a critical tool in mobilizing additional resources. Economic arguments may resonate particularly well with certain stakeholders who influence investment decisions, such as Ministries of Finance, parliamentarians, bilateral and multilateral donors, global and regional development banks.

Impact Investing Done Right: No Shortcuts to Social Change By Patrick McVeigh The widely recognized challenge of socially progressive investing is ensuring that financial results are not sacrificed in favor of social impact, and vice versa. When it comes to impact investing, too often the financial goals are forgotten as investors focus primarily on putting money into a cause without considering the real social value of a modest return. Earned capital can be recycled back into the cause or taken for profit, making a greater long term impact while benefiting the investor.

Solidaridad Launches the Netherlands' First Fair-Trade, Fair-Mined Gold Jewelry Share on Tumblr Email Solidaridad, which founded the first fair-trade label for coffee in 1988, has been working with miners, traders, jewelers, and fair-trade organizations to develop a framework for responsible gold mining. Mobile Today, Facebook will launch the largest initial public offering in history. Over the course of a few minutes, an eager public will invest $16 billion in Facebook’s 3,000-odd employees. Here in Nairobi, Kenya, where I live, the eye-popping figures produce passive astonishment: A single company will absorb the rough equivalent of half a year’s GDP for Kenya’s 40 million citizens. Facebook will invest some of its windfall to create growth for its shareholders. But will the investment be productive? Facebook is being forced public by SEC regulations and the desire of some early investors to cash out; founder Mark Zuckerberg has made clear his company doesn’t need the cash.

Flip the Incubator Model to achieve Greater Impact By Lauren A. Burnhill @LaurenOPV I mentioned a couple of weeks ago the incubator and business plan competition mantra of citing how many businesses were rejected in the process of selecting 10 potential winners. Seriously, is supporting 10 of 10,000 socially responsible investments the best model we’ve got? I’ve been mulling over how to create a scaled model for supporting social enterprise and this post reflects my ‘stream of consciousness” thought process.

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