Derek E. Baird :: Barking Robot

Infographic: Students Want Teachers to Use Social Media

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Minds on Fire: Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0

The world has become increasingly “flat,” as Tom Friedman has shown. Thanks to massive improvements in communications and transportation, virtually any place on earth can be connected to markets anywhere else on earth and can become globally competitive.

Compounding this challenge of demand from college-age students is the fact that the world is changing at an ever-faster pace.

Few of us today will have a fixed, single career; instead, we are likely to follow a trajectory that encompasses multiple careers.

Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0

As we move from career to career, much of what we will need to know will not be what we learned in school decades earlier. We are entering a world in which we all will have to acquire new knowledge and skills on an almost continuous basis.

It is unlikely that sufficient resources will be available to build enough new campuses to meet the growing global demand for higher education—at least not the sort of campuses that we have traditionally built for colleges and universities.

Nor is it likely that the current methods of teaching and learning will suffice to prepare students for the lives that they will lead in the twenty-first century.

Creator/Author(s): 

John Seely Brown is a Visiting Scholar and Advisor to the Provost at the University of Southern California (USC) and Independent Co-Chairman of a New Deloitte Research Center.

He is the former Chief Scientist of Xerox and Director of its Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Many of his publications and presentations are on his website (http://www.johnseelybrown.com).

Richard P. Adler is a Research Affiliate at the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto and Principal of People & Technology, a research and consulting firm in Cupertino, California.

License: 

This is protected under the following Creative Commons License.

Publication Date: 

July 27, 2011

U.S. Department of Education Launches Digital Media 'Learning Registry'

The U.S. Departments of Education and Defense have announced the launch of “Learning Registry,” an open source community and technology designed to improve the quality and availability of educational media resources in education.

The launch is an important milestone in the effort to more effectively share information about learning resources among a broad set of stakeholders in the education community.

 PBS LearningMedia, which is home to a library of 16,000+ digital curriculum-based resources and tools for PreK-12 grade educators, will offer school initial access U.S. Department of Education's Learning Registry.

Under this relationships, a collection of resources, including photos, video, and audio files from federal organizations including NASA, the Library of Congress, and the National Archives, will now be easier to find, access and integrate into educational environments.

PBS' online media-on-demand service combines links to resources from the Learning Registry with original content from public broadcasting producers and programs like WGBH, Nova, Frontline, American Experience, Sid The Science Kid, and The Electric Company, all in one place. 

Rather than creating an alternative destination to existing websites, Learning Registry is a communication system that allows existing educational portals and online systems to publish, consume and share important information about learning resources with each other and the public

Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), Oprah.com and Facebook Lined Up for Oprah's 'Lifeclass' Series

Anyone who tries to make a distinction between education and entertainment doesn’t know the first thing about either.” —Marshall McLuhan

On October 10th Oprah Winfrey will launch an all-new five week series, Oprah's Lifeclass, where she will reflect on and share the lessons that she learned during the 25-year history of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

The Oprah's Lifeclass, which airs on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), will also feature an online companion course "Life Work" that will feature exclusive videos, articles, quizzes and advice from leading experts to help students get their life on track and moving in a new direction.

 

In a move that will surely appeal to the younger demographic, the Life Class series will also harness the power of Facebook as a learning platform and will feature a live post-show class meeting with Oprah on Facebook.

This isn't the first time that Ms. Winfrey has used emerging digital and social media in an edutainment  context. In 2008 Oprah used Skype to hold an Oprah's Book Club discussion with Eckhart Tolle. She joined forces with Anderson Cooper in 2009 to hold a Book Club webcast with Uwem Akpan.

For someone like myself, who has spent a good chunk of my time evangelizing the use of social media, education and entertainment as teaching tools, I'm beyond giddy that someone of Ms. Winfrey's stature is moving her network and voice in this direction.

What is truly exciting is to see OWN embrace both emerging social platforms like Facebook along with the web for online learning. Although, this shouldn't come as too much of a suprise that Ms. Winfrey is taking 'the classroom' anywhere the students are gathered and prepared to learn.

During her 25 years on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Ms. Winfrey turned the network television into the world's biggest classroom. Whether it's building schools in Africa or educating her live audience in Chicago or viewers at home in San Antonio, Stockholm or Sydney, education has been at the core of Oprah's message.

You can sign up for Oprah's Lifeclass here.

Women, Girls and STEM Education

First Lady Michelle Obama recently announced a National Science Foundation​ initiative to encourage girls to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and provide flexibility to working parents in research fields.

 

This fact sheet takes a look at why bringing girls and women into STEM fields is so important—and what President Obama and his administration are doing to help.

Girls, Women and STEM Education

The Ryan Seacrest Foundation Launches 'The Voice' in Pediatric Hospitals in Atlanta and Philadelphia

Ryan Seacrest, known in Hollywood circles as the busiest (and nicest) man in showbiz and host of American Idol, has launched the Ryan Seacrest Foundation (RSF).

The mission of the Ryan Seacrest Foundation (RSF) is to enhance the quality of life for seriously ill and injured children through unique programs that utilize multimedia and interactive platforms to enlighten, entertain and educate.

RSF’s first initiative is to build broadcast media centers, named THE VOICE, within pediatric hospitals for children to explore the creative realms of radio, television and new media as well as contribute positively to the healing process.

 

The Voice media centers have already opened in Atlanta and Philadelphia, with plans to eventually build up to 10 of the broadcast centers at pediatric hospitals around the country.

    

In addition, RSF will also reach out to the community and involve students from local journalism schools, colleges and universities to provide them with the opportunity to gain first hand experience in broadcasting, programming and operating a multimedia center.

There's lots of research in the educational media space on how the use of multimedia, social and digital technologies allows young people see themselves as an active participant, in the pilot's seat or director's chair, as they chart new connections between diverse and often unpredictable worlds of knowledge.

This is especially important for children who are critically ill. They spend so much time in the hospital letting doctors, nurses and other medical techs deciding what and when they do just about anything.

To be critically ill means giving up control. A lot of control. 'The Voice' project is important because it's the only part of a child's stay in the hospital where they--not the doctors or nurses--are in control.

They get to decide what song to play. They get to decide what button to push. Most importantly, it's a part of their day that doesn't revolve around heavy life threatening decisions, medicines, needles or any of the hard work of being a patient.

It's just fun. And that's the best medicine of all.

Connect with the Seacrest Foundation on Twitter and Facebook

Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF Goes High Tech

Those cutle little "Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF boxes are going high tech!

Thanks to a partnership with Microsoft TAG, kids can now ask you to scan the barcode on the side of the box with your smartphone and donate any amount--on the spot.

No smartphone? No problem. You can also contribute $10 by texting the word "TOT" to UNICEF (864233).

Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF just for teachers 

• The Complete Teacher's Kit (ZIP)
• Send Home Letter to Parents on Class Participation
• K-2 & 3-6 Classroom Units Aligned with National Content Standards

How To: Create a Classroom Facebook Page

How To: Create A Classroom Facebook Page

Infographic: How The Internet Is Changing the Way We Learn

via mashable.com

Exchange 2.0: The Teacher's Guide to International Collaboration

The Teacher's Guide to International Collaboration was developed to help teachers use the Internet to "reach out" globally. 

In his address to the Council on Foreign Relations in May 2010, Secretary Arne Duncan stated:

“We must improve language learning and international education at all levels if our nation is to continue to lead in the global economy to help bring security and stability to the world and to build stronger and more productive ties with our neighbors….We have never been more aware of the value of a multiliterate, multilingual society, a society that can appreciate all that makes other cultures and nations distinctive, even as it embraces all that they have in common.”

This Guide has been prepared as part of the Department of Education's effort to expand global awareness through collaboration between students and teachers in the US with their peers around the world.  

On these pages, teachers will find many projects and suggestions to begin or expand classroom projects that reach across the globe and enable students to learn WITH the world, as well as about it.

In each section of this Guide we have also provided links to elementary, middle and high school projects and links to organizations that are involved in international education via the Internet and Web 2.0 tools.

• Learn More about Exchange 2.0 and Connect All Schools on Facebook

Trend Watch: Twitter Finds a Place in the Classroom

Students tap away at their cell phones, laptops and iPads during Enrique Legaspi's high-tech history lesson.

In some grade schools, pulling out these devices during class would result in a one-way ticket to the principal's office. But Legaspi encourages this behavior, as long as the kids are using Twitter.

A technology enthusiast, Legaspi learned how to incorporate the social network into his 8th-grade curriculum while attending the annual Macworld convention in San Francisco earlier this year.

"I had an aha moment there," he said. "I said to myself, 'This is going to really engage my students.' "

Teachers across the country have been incorporating Twitter into classrooms for a few years, but the site's adoption by educational institutions appears to be limited. Read More >>>

Related: Facebook for Educators

 

 

Facebook DC Live: Facebook for Educators

Join Linda Fogg Phillips, co-author (along with myself and BJ Fogg) of the new Facebook for Educators guide, Karen Cator, director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education, and other panelists for a discussion of how teachers and administrators can connect safely and appropriately with students on Facebook and other social media sites to extend learning outside the classroom.

Facebook will also discuss some recent efforts both on and off of Facebook to thank teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week.

To watch at 1:30 p.m. ET/10:30 a.m. PT on Tuesday, click the "FB DC Live" navigation link on http://www.facebook.com/FacebookDC or go directly to: http://www.facebook.com/FacebookDC?v=app_141125442599532.

Ask questions for our guests on the wall of this event.

Study: One in Four Young Adults Say the Education System Has Little to No Understanding of Their Values and Goals

As part of its commitment to education, Viacom partnered with The Associated Press to conduct "Young Adults' Perspectives on American Education 2011," a groundbreaking study based on a combination of peer-to-peer interviews and a large-scale poll of more than 1,100 American 18-24 year-olds.

Viacom and The Associated Press approached the study by looking at 18-24 year-olds as "core consumers of education" and evaluating how the education system is meeting their needs.  

According to the study, young adults are optimistic that high schools and colleges can prepare them for the working world, but also feel these institutions aren't adapting quickly enough to meet students' changing needs.

As a result, more and more 18-24 year-olds are taking a less traditional approach to higher education, via self-directed curricula, internships and self-teaching.

Recognizing the important role young people can and should play in reaching their goals, Viacom launched Get Schooled, which provides the tools and guidance young adults need to succeed in today's competitive environment.

The full "Young Adults' Perspectives on American Education 2011" study is available on the Get Schooled website at www.getschooled.com or on the Get Schooled Facebook Page.

According to the study, students are increasingly creating individual, self-tailored curricula by cherry picking schools and courses. They're also taking longer to graduate because they feel that, by combining school with work and internships, they stand a greater chance of finding a desirable job.

Young adults are relying more on themselves, their families and friends and less on community or religious organizations and high school counselors when it comes to education decisions.

Detailed findings from the study include:

• Overall, 27 percent of young adults say the education system has little to no understanding of their values and goals. More than a third (36 percent) report it is ambivalent to their values and goals.

• Only 37 percent say the education system mostly or completely understands them.

• Among those surveyed with a high school diploma, but no college experience, 33 percent say the education system has little to no understanding of their values and goals.  

How College Leads to a Better Life is Unclear

The most consistent theme among those interviewed – from those with no college experience to those with bachelor degrees – is that college should prepare one to join the workforce.

But today's pragmatic, goal-oriented young adults are unsure that the education product being offered to them will deliver the job or career that they want.

• More than half of young adults say it's more worth the money to get "an education that is focused on success in the world."

• In fact, 28 percent of those who have attended college say college doesn't adequately prepare you for the workforce, while almost twice as many young adults (55 percent) say high school doesn't prepare you for the workforce.

• Thirty-one percent say college doesn't provide enough practical skills to survive as an adult and 51 percent say the same about high school.

Young Adults' Perspectives on American Education 2011

Skype In The Classroom: An International Social Network For Teachers [VIDEO]

Skype realizes full well its software is used by many school teachers and students from around the globe, and today announced that it has built a dedicated social network to help them connect, collaborate and exchange knowledge and teaching resources over the Web.

This morning, the company launched a free international community site dubbed Skype in the Classroom, an online platform designed to help teachers find each other and relevant projects according to search criteria such as the age groups they teach, location and subjects of interest.

How to create a profile and find a teacher from Skype in the classroom on Vimeo.

The platform, which has been in beta since the end of December, already has a community of more than 4,000 teachers, across 99 countries.

Teachers need only sign up with their Skype account at the website, create a profile with their interests, location and the age groups they teach and start connecting with other teachers by exploring the directory, where they can also find projects and resources that match their skills, needs or interests.

A members-only community, Skype in the Classroom lets teachers easily add each other to their Skype contact lists or message one another.

via TechCrunch

Global Youth: How Kids Can Help Japan

On Friday, March 11, 2011, a massive earthquake struck Sendai, Japan, resulting in a devastating tsunami that ravaged the coast just 180 miles from Tokyo.

In response, Students Rebuild has partnered with DoSomething.org, to ensure students worldwide have a way to support their Japanese peers.

Help Japan by making paper cranes

These simple yet powerful gestures will trigger a $200,000 donation from the Bezos Family Foundation - $2 for each crane received - to Architecture for Humanity's reconstruction efforts in Japan.

Once we reach our goal of 100,000 submissions, the cranes will be woven into an art installation - a symbolic gift from students around the globe to Japanese youth.

Why Cranes?

Cranes are sacred creatures in Japanese culture. According to legend, anyone who folds a thousand paper cranes will be granted a wish by a crane.

While anyone can contribute to the virtual mosaic on Facebook, our goal is to collect 100,000 origami cranes from young people to represent 100 wishes of support and healing for Japan. A list of wishes will begin to appear when we receive the first 1,000 cranes by mail.

Related Resources

• Tutorial: Make an Origami Crane
• Students Rebuild on Facebook
• Students Rebuild on Twitter