The Future of Work: Quantified Employees, Pop-Up Workplaces, And More Telepresence For many people, especially those working at desk jobs, the workplace is very different than it was 20 years ago: there’s a computer at every desk, telecommuting is fairly common, and the traditional cubicle is giving way to more collaborative spaces. We’ve seen predictions about where we’ll go from here before; now PSFK, a popular blog that also happens to be a thriving consultancy, has come up with its own version of the future of work, described in a new 138-page report. It’s not as fantastical as many future-forward reports--it’s planted firmly in ideas that are already gaining a lot of traction. Perhaps that makes it more accurate. Here are our takeaways. Startup Training and Skills Marketplaces PSFK imagines that learning initiatives for young entrepreneurs, such as Enstitute, will become the norm. Office Feedback Culture You know the employee that keeps screwing up and eventually just gets fired without really understanding why? Quantified Workers More Social Communication Tools
Ante Litteram by Alessandro Rabbone on Prezi Reinventing School From the Ground Up For Inquiry Learning By Thom Markham A grave miscalculation exists in the minds of many educators: That inquiry-based learning, project based learning, and 21st century competencies can flourish in industrial model schools. Under this world view, the inquiry goals of the Common Core State Standards are “strategies” to be added to the existing list of classroom techniques, while skills like collaboration, communication, or creativity can be taught despite 43-minute periods, desks in rows, and pacing guides set in stone. In other words, reaching the top of Bloom’s Taxonomy is important, but less so than maintaining regimental order. But what we know—from industry and neuroscience—is that organizational structure, environment, and human performance are deeply intertwined. It is inevitable that schools must be completely redesigned if society wants to tap the wellsprings of creativity and exploration that the industrial system subdues. This redesign issue looms large. But a historical moment has arrived. Related
Jade Wright says think twice before sharing on facebook Facebook is usually a friendly place where people post funny pictures of cats and share their news. But increasingly I’m seeing my friends – who are mostly lovely tolerant people with no axes to grind – reposting photos from a facebook group called Britain First. They have no idea that Britain First is actually a political party which has been linked with the BNP. This is a group who describe themselves as: “A patriotic political party and street defence organisation. Their website boasts: “Britain first has the biggest facebook page of any UK political party.” They were in trouble at the European elections after posting "Remember Lee Rigby" on voting slips. I’m pretty sure that my friends wouldn’t knowingly post links from a far right group’s site. It must have escaped Britain First that those brave D Day soldiers were putting their lives on the line fighting a war against fascism. My grandma and granddad both served in the war, in the WAAF and RAF.
How to deal with difficult students FLIP IT! Teacher Strategies to Transform Challenging Student Behavior This is the second blog in the series “Building Resilience in the Classroom.” Thanks to Apperson for sponsoring this series. Looking around your classroom, you know which students struggle to manage their emotions. There’s the student who at the slightest frustration crosses his arms and puts his head down on his desk. And the student who is so easily angered it seems impossible to anticipate her temper tantrums. The thing is, if we want to change children’s behavior, the first thing we have to change is our own. F: Feelings All behavior stems from feelings. For example, when your student Jon takes one look at the assignment you handed out and pushes the papers off his desk, crosses his arms over his chest and slumps in his chair, you can approach him and whisper, “I can see that you’re frustrated right now. ...” TIP: Rather than asking children “why” they did something (“Why did you push your papers off the desk?”) TIP: Tone is important during FLIP IT.
10 well paid jobs of the future Mr Bellini posited the idea of an elderly well-being consultant, who specialises in personalised care for older patients, or a memory augmentation surgeon who helps counter memory loss. He also saw big changes in farming as food resources became scarce, with genetically modified crops becoming common and crops grown vertically in areas resembling multi-storey car parks to save space. Ian Pearson, a futurologist who wrote You Tomorrow, sees job growth in the field of augmented reality, where the real world is overlaid with computer-generated images. “When you look at a building it’s constrained by planning laws, but in cyberspace you can make it look however you want,” he said. “A company with a high street presence could make their shop look like Downton Abbey, or set it in a post-nuclear apocalypse environment.” Mr Pearson also argued that the better technology gets, the more people will have to focus on their “human skills” to survive in the workforce. Best paid jobs of today
Quanto deve cambiare la scuola del duemila Ho pubblicato questo articolo su Internazionale web, dove scrivo da qualche tempo. Lo riprendo anche su NeU perché il tema è strategico per il paese e perché si connette con il precedente post Il futuro del lavoro: le due facce di uno stesso fenomeno di profondo cambiamento. Capelli bianchi, abito formale e disinvoltura cosmopolita nel commentare tabelle e istogrammi, Andreas Schleicher potrebbe essere scambiato per un pezzo grosso della Bce. Invece fa un lavoro molto più appassionante: è il direttore del programma Ocse-Pisa (l’indagine internazionale che confronta le competenze degli studenti di oltre 60 paesi del mondo), e uno dei massimi esperti mondiali di sistemi scolastici. “Competenze” (skills) è la parola-chiave per capire l’obiettivo del Pisa. L’idea di base è che imparare non sia un’attività che trova la sua giustificazione in se stessa, ma serva a sviluppare il potenziale di ogni individuo. Per cambiare un intero paese attraverso l’istruzione bastano due generazioni.
2 reasons to keep the ‘e’ in e-learning | Disrupt & Transform The question comes up frequently in discussions related to using technologies in education: Why do we still have the ‘e’ in ‘e-learning’? Shouldn’t it be just about the learning? These questions, in my experience, often come from the early-adopters who are already well down the track of thinking about the effective use of technology. What the questions miss, however, is the importance of the strategic use of technology – the word ‘e-learning’ reminds us that this is a specialist field, that to use technology appropriately requires a clear understanding of the relationship between content, pedagogy and technology. The other reason to retain the ‘e’ is that, for many schools and teachers, for a number of reasons, there still is little or no ‘e’ going on. So, keep the ‘e’, at least while we are in a period of capability building. [Image: freedigitalphotos.net; tpack.org] Like this: Like Loading...
Why Does Chilli Burn, And Why Does Milk Help Soothe The Pain? Whether it’s a few flakes on a pizza or the spiciest vindaloo known to humankind, most people can tolerate or even enjoy the tingling, burning sensation chilli can bring. So how does chilli deliver its sting? And why is it that milk can take the edge off a spicy meal, while water doesn’t work as well? Our senses of taste and smell are collectively known as the chemosenses; they detect certain chemicals in the environment. Smell (olfaction) refers to the detection of volatile chemicals in the nasal cavity, whether they enter via the nostrils or via the throat. Till Krech/Flickr, CC BY “Taste” refers to the five primary tastes: sweet sour salty bitter umami. But people often misuse the word “taste”. Actually, the only taste you’re getting from the wine is some sweetness (sugars) and some sourness (acids). Our nose and mouth also pick up other sensations, such as pain or irritation, through chemical reactions. Chilli, capsaicin and hallucinations It is also potentially lethal. Why milk helps
learn new stuff Josh Kaufman, book "20 Hours Future of Work: What Skills Will Help Us Keep Pace? From Elon Musk’s tweet that artificial intelligence may be more dangerous than nuclear weapons to the growing clamor of voices warning robots will take away our jobs, it is clear we are focusing more on the problems of AI, robotics, and automation than the solutions. While the problems are real and should be taken into account, social innovators around the world are already working to deliver solutions. It’s true that today’s technology is reworking the economy and our role in it. But this needn’t herald economic end times. This is nothing new. During the Industrial Revolution, in the US, we demanded every child attend school and learn reading, writing and math. Throughout the 20th century, humanity poured tremendous resources into ensuring every human develop these skills as technologies advanced. Most of us have heard of STEM skills (science, technology, engineering, and math), but there is another lesser known skillset that will also be critical.