21st Century Technology Skills Are a Core Competency for Today’s Graduates A May, 2013 Gallup Study, summarized in this article, “In the U.S., 21st Century Skills Linked to Work Success”, indicates that young U.S. adults who say they developed 21st century skills in their last year of school are more likely to self-report higher work quality. “Gallup, in collaboration with Microsoft Partners in Learning and the Pearson Foundation, developed a 21st century skills index measuring seven specific areas: collaboration, knowledge construction, skilled communication, global awareness, self-regulation, real-world problem-solving, and technology used in learning. According to the study, 21st century skills prepare and equip youth for the challenges and demands of work in today’s knowledge-based, technology-driven, globalized environment.” (Sidhu) In 2006, the Partnership for 21st Century Learning published a report titled, “Are They Really Ready To Work? Some of the skills commonly being cited as vital in today’s workforce include: What are “21st Century Skills”?
Blogging--It's Good for You Self-medication may be the reason the blogosphere has taken off. Scientists (and writers) have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. But besides serving as a stress-coping mechanism, expressive writing produces many physiological benefits. Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in AIDS patients, and even speeds healing after surgery. A study in the February issue of the Oncologist reports that cancer patients who engaged in expressive writing just before treatment felt markedly better, mentally and physically, as compared with patients who did not. Scientists now hope to explore the neurological underpinnings at play, especially considering the explosion of blogs. Flaherty, who studies conditions such as hypergraphia (an uncontrollable urge to write) and writer’s block, also looks to disease models to explain the drive behind this mode of communication.
Network Learning: Working Smarter with PKM “In the period ahead of us, more important than advances in computer design will be the advances we can make in our understanding of human information processing – of thinking, problem solving, and decision making …” – Herbert Simon, Economics Nobel-prize winner (1968) The World Wide Web is changing how many of us do our work as we become more connected to information and each other. In California, Ray Prock, Jr. (2010) uses a Web-based note system to store messages, manage his financial risk and stay on top of the multiple factors necessary to run a successful dairy farm. He is constantly learning as he works and has found a method to keep up, thanks to the Internet. For many, however, keeping up isn’t easy. This information overload has a direct impact on workplace learning. We need to re-think workplace learning for a networked society. Informal learning is nothing new, but it is of growing importance in the modern, digitally connected workplace. Personal Knowledge Mastery Note:
The Millennials Uncanny Ability to Absorb Today’s post originally began as a response to a colleague’s request. Sidneyeve Matrix commented on my previous blog post suggesting my “observation about ‘the uncanny ability of Millennials to absorb’ deserves a separate post,” and that she would like to see my analysis on this behavioural trend. And though I myself replied that the posted would be finished yesterday, after I began writing, a whole can-of-worms seemingly opened up. So enjoy! We’ve all heard about the many characteristics that make the Millennials something of a unique bunch. From their psychological make-up to their technologically advanced environment and web-savvyness, to say the world has never seen a generation like this would almost be an understatement. The course of visible change that has occurred in this decade compared to the last is extraordinary. The Last 5 Years or So… The world we see today is drastically different from that of even just 5 years ago. Sharing, Connecting and… Absorbing? Millennial Absorption
Educational Technology and Mobile Learning: The 8 Pillars of Digital Literacies May 21, 2014 Edudemic has recently published this wonderful visual that outlines the eight elements of digital literacy. I am posting below for those of you who haven't seen it yet. Essential Elements of Digital Literacy "Cultural – Look at the context in which the literacy is situatedCognitive – How do we think when we are using a device (vs when we are not)? Religion vs. Humanism: Isaac Asimov on Science and Spirituality by Maria Popova “The soft bonds of love are indifferent to life and death.” Science and religion have a long history of friction as diametric opposites. But some of humanity’s greatest minds have found in science itself a rich source of spirituality, from Albert Einstein’s meditation on whether scientists pray to Richard Feynman’s ode to the universe to Carl Sagan on the reverence of science to Bucky Fuller’s scientific rendition of The Lord’s Prayer to Richard Dawkins on the magic of reality . Here comes a wonderful addition from the mind of beloved science fiction author Isaac Asimov , found in the altogether indispensable It’s Been a Good Life ( public library ) — a revealing selection of Asimov’s letters, diary entries, and his three prior autobiographies, In Memory Yet Green (1979), In Joy Still Felt (1980), and the posthumously published I. Asimov succinctly recapitulates his philosophy: I have never, not for one moment, been tempted toward religion of any kind. Donating = Loving
Art of Hosting München | Willkommen auf der Art of Hosting Community Seite in und um München. What Have We Learned From the Dropout Crisis? In Clark County, Nevada, Chaparral High School’s turnaround program had administrators going door-to-door to bring dropouts back to the classroom. Photo by Mike Fritz/PBS NewsHour. Here’s a statistic we’ve reported on all year: One in four students drops out before he or she finishes high school. That’s an estimated 7,000 students quitting school every day, or about a million each year. Over the past year, the NewsHour’s American Graduate team has traveled the country to find the stories behind the numbers. We found problems in many places, no matter what their size or situation — from small towns struggling to keep up with a booming economy, to big towns coping with the recession. Many communities were asking the same questions: How do we keep students engaged? As part of the American Graduate initiative, major public media hubs have looked to teachers, education officials, non-profit organizations and local enterprises who are trying to find solutions.
Framgångsrika skolkommuner Projektet Framgångsrika skolkommuner lyfter fram goda exempel från 16 kommuner som under flera år visat bra resultat i skolan eller kommuner som har förbättrat sina resultat. Vi har varit nyfikna på hur man leder och styr skolan på ett bra sätt. Rapporten "Konsten att nå resultat – erfarenheter från framgångsrika skolkommuner" beskriver åtta gemensamma faktorer från kommunerna. Vad kännetecknar framgångsrika skolkommuner? I rapporten kan du läsa mer om våra iakttagelser, konkreta exempel från kommunerna och ett internationellt perspektiv. I länkarna nedan finns sammandrag av slutsatserna och korta kommunreportage. Vi har sett att framgångsrika skolkommuner: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Fakta De kommuner som har deltagit i projektet för att de haft goda resultat är (i bokstavsordning): Arjeplog, Båstad, Danderyd, Kungsbacka, Lomma, Lund, Lysekil, Malung-Sälen, Nacka och Pajala. Kontakt Informationsmaterial Rapporten - analys öppna jämförelser grundskola 2009 SKL, Framgångsrika skolkommuner 1. 1.