Monday, April 30, 2012

Help Save PicLits - Wednesday, May 2nd

Join me Wednesday, May 2nd, for a unique community brainstorming session on PicLits.com, the "creative writing site that matches beautiful images with carefully selected keywords in order to inspire you. The object is to put the right words in the right place and the right order to capture the essence, story, and meaning of the picture."

PicLits was conceived by Terry Friedlander in 2002:
"I read an article from USA TODAY which talked about the most often searched words and listed in the top ten was writing/poetry.  The numbers that I read were staggering.  Add that to my "refrigerator magnets, and a personal appreciation for photography and the emergence of the INTERNET/computers and you have a entrepreneurial  expensive project.  Being reluctant to take 'no' for an answer..., I persisted.  We actually launched the site in July of 2008.  It will be four years this July.  We did a few school presentations in Boise and Twin Falls, presented at CUE in Palm Springs in 2010, and that has been the extent of our marketing and zero advertising."
Terry admits that he is not a "computer person," and feels that for the site to keep going it needs a new home, new blood, new ideas, or all three. There has been a substantial initial investment and there are ongoing tangible costs to running PicLits (hosting, photo purchasing, "wordsmithing," etc.), and the dilemma he faces is that to create a premium or revenue model for the site and to take it to the next level (or even mobile) will require an energy or financial investment he is not prepared to make.

PicLits seems to have a lot going for it:  the site averages 260,000 visitors and 1.2 million page views per month. There are 40,000 registered users, most of whom are teachers from seven different countries.

Have you used PicLits? Do you like it? Is it worth saving?  Let us know in the comments, join the EdIncubator PicLits group at Classroom 2.0, and/or come on Wednesday to hear Terry tell his story and help brainstorm how to save PicLits.

Date: Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012
Time: 5pm Pacific / 8 pm Eastern (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate). Log in at http://futureofed.info. The Blackboard Collaborate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Blackboard Collaborate, please visit the support and configuration page.
Recordings: The full Blackboard Collaborate recording is at https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2012-05-02.1718.M.9E9FE58134BE68C3B413F24B3586CF.vcr&sid=2008350.

Terry Friedlander, another old hippie from the sixties, is known to his peers as the “Survivor” (having nothing to do with the reality TV show). Terry actually grew up in California and graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1960 without honors. He attended several colleges based upon his ability to shoot three-point basketball shots when there was no three-point shot. The heavily female student body at UC Santa Barbara, hoop practice, and other assorted distractions made it difficult for Terry to awaken in time to attend very many classes. Nonetheless, he did graduate from University of Redlands (his fifth college) in four years which, during the sixties, was a near record performance. A major in history with a minor in physical education led to a high school teaching and coaching career in the Los Angeles area. Deviating from the norm and the expectations of the community led to a vocational and relocation change to the state of Washington where he was the athletic director of the Jewish Community Center for four years.

The good news was that Seattle during the seventies and eighties was inspirational to Terry’s desire to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams. The dream came to light on one of the many grey, rainy days in Seattle. The idea was to create a retail store for professional sports team merchandise. With suggestions and tips from numerous friends, Terry modeled it after a store called “The Locker Room” based in Washington, D.C. For experience, Terry spent five weeks in D.C. following the owner around while taking copious notes and pictures. This period of self-employment is commonly known as instant poverty.

Starting with practically zero dollars, Terry found a financial partner and a location for the new retail store on one of the busiest prostitution corners in the Pacific Northwest. The Seattle version of “The Locker Room” opened in 1976 on the day that the Seattle Seahawks NFL team played their first game. Happily, the store was filled with Seahawks merchandise and business was good from the start.

Sixteen years to the day later, Terry signed the papers and sold the company (which had grown to 10 stores). Alas, at this moment Terry’s identity also went missing. Inevitably, the earring, motorcycle, and tattoo that followed resulted in withdrawal therapy, stern words from his wife, and a serious mid-life crisis.

However, after regaining consciousness (he started cycling), Terry’s restless brain and love for the outdoors led to a move to Ketchum, Idaho. PicLits.com emerged one cold, Idaho night near the turn of the century, from a combination of refrigerator poetry, an interesting article in USA Today, some Sun Valley Pale Ale, and a roaring fireplace.

Go figure.

(http://www.piclits.com/about.aspx)

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Live Tuesday, May 1st - Larry Johnson on the NMC Horizon Project

Join me Tuesday, May 1st, for live and interactive Future of Education conversation with Larry Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of the New Media Consortium (NMC). We'll talk about the NMC Horizon Project the NMC Horizon Reports, their summer conference, and more. With over one million downloads in the past nine years, the NMC Horizon Report series serves the higher education, K-12, and museum communities across the globe in their desire to understand the impact of emerging technologies on their chosen field or discipline.

Date: Tuesday, May 1st, 2012
Time: 5pm Pacific / 8 pm Eastern (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate). Log in at http://futureofed.info. The Blackboard Collaborate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Blackboard Collaborate, please visit the support and configuration page.
Recordings: The full Blackboard Collaborate recording is at https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2012-05-01.1625.M.9E9FE58134BE68C3B413F24B3586CF.vcr&sid=2008350 and a portable .mp3 audio recording is at http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/larryjohnson.mp3.

Laurence F. Johnson, Ph.D. is the founder of the Horizon Project, which produces the acclaimed series of Horizon Reports that are now used by more than a half-million educators in nearly 60 countries, and Chief Executive Officer of the New Media Consortium, an international not-for-profit consortium dedicated to the exploration and use of new media and new technologies. Its hundreds of member institutions constitute an elite list of the most highly regarded universities, museums, research centers, and companies in the world.

Johnson is an acknowledged expert on emerging technology and its impacts on society and education, and the topics of creativity, innovation, and how to think about the future. With more than 25 years of experience in the higher education arena, he has served in roles from professor to dean, CIO and provost, and most recently, president before joining the NMC in 2001.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Two Events Today - "Finding Your Roots" and "Résumés Are Dead"

Join us today, Wednesday, April 25th, for either or both of two live and interactive shows.

First, from 4:00 to 5:00 pm US Eastern Daylight Time is another WNET/PBS free webinar for educators on the new PBS 10-part series Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., which explores the family histories and genetics of famous Americans. Sheikh Yasir Qadhi, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl and Finding Your Roots Senior Producer Rachel Dretzin will be participating in the webinar to share their insights and interact with participants. The session will focus on episode 5 (featuring Buchdahl, Qadhi and Pastor Rick Warren) and episode 6 (featuring Maggie Gyllenhaal & Robert Downey, Jr.) and include tips for using the content in the classroom.

Next, from 8:00 - 9:00pm US Eastern Daylight Time I'll be interviewing Richie Norton for the Future of Education series. His ebook Résumés Are Dead and What to Do About It is currently available for free for Kindle or pdf download, and has been called "sheer genius" by none other than New York Times bestselling author Stephen M.R. Covey. I want to talk to him about the impact on both students and teachers in a world that now significantly (or so we believe) rewards the following of individual passions and pursuits--is this true, what does it mean for education, and what might it mean for teaching and other educational careers?

Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Date: Wednesday, April 25th, 2012
Time: 1:00pm Pacific / 4:00pm Eastern (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate). Log in at https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2008350&password=M.DF573861FBA5E9216A062C1A7524FE. The Blackboard Collaborate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Blackboard Collaborate, please visit the support and configuration page.
More Information: For questions or more details, please contact labevents@wnet.org.

Richie Norton on Résumés Are Dead and What to Do About It
Date: Wednesday, April 25th, 2012
Time: 5:00pm Pacific / 8:00pm Eastern (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate). Log in at http://futureofed.info. The Blackboard Collaborate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Blackboard Collaborate, please visit the support and configuration page.
Recordings: The full Blackboard Collaborate recording is at https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2012-04-25.1654.M.9E9FE58134BE68C3B413F24B3586CF.vcr&sid=2008350 and a portable .mp3 recording is at http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/richienorton.mp3.


Saturday, April 21, 2012

Live Monday, April 23rd - Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis on Flattening Classrooms

Join me Monday, April 23rd, for live and interactive FutureofEducation.com conversation with good friends Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis, authors of Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds: Move to Global Collaboration One Step at a Time. The book presents a seven-step approach to transforming teaching using current pedagogies, technology tools, and global collaboration to create standards-aligned, technology rich, cross-cultural learning experiences that enhance 21st century student engagement.

"Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds is a terrific guide, by two real pioneering teachers, on how the networked world can be used for cooperative learning that can enrich education and empower students -- anywhere and everywhere." - Thomas L. Friedman, author, The World Is Flat

Date: Monday, April 23rd, 2012
Time: 5pm Pacific / 8 pm Eastern (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate). Log in at http://futureofed.info. The Blackboard Collaborate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Blackboard Collaborate, please visit the support and configuration page.
Recordings: The full Blackboard Collaborate recording is at https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2012-04-23.1655.M.9E9FE58134BE68C3B413F24B3586CF.vcr&sid=2008350 and a portable .mp3 audio recording is at http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/flatteningclassrooms.mp3.

Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay are co-founders of the internationally recognized Flat Classroom® projects, Vicki has helped link thousands of students around the world in powerful 21st-century learning communities where multimedia, collaborative writing, and collaborative research are every day habits.  They have been featured in Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat (v 3), Don Tapscott’s Grown Up Digital, Curt Bonk’s The World is Open and many more. www.flatclassroomproject.net.

Vicki "Cool Cat Teacher" Davis is a full time classroom teacher and IT director and author of the popular, award-winning Cool Cat Teacher blog (http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com) with more than 30,000 subscribers and over 22K Twitter followers and past winner of the EDublog award for Best Teacher Blog. She’s received numerous awards for her work in virtual worlds, wikis, social networks, and classroom practices. Vicki is a Google Certified Teacher, Discovery S.T.A.R. educator, Adobe Education leader, and has written for many periodicals and online spaces including Edutopia, ISTE, and Educause. Her mission is to inspire teachers to excellence undergirded by her belief that teaching is a noble calling. View her bio at www.coolcatteacher.com.

Julie Lindsay is an international educator, having worked as a teacher and administrator in six different countries and has higher degrees in both music and educational technology leadership. She is currently E-Learning Coordinator and Middle Years Programme Coordinator at an International Baccalaureate school in Beijing, China. She is a prolific presenter and workshop leader in using technology to support teaching and learning across the curriculum, including in the UK, Europe, Asia the Middle East, USA and Australia. Julie is an Apple Distinguished Educator, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Ambassador and was recently elected to the ISTE Board of Directors as the International Representative. She is an early adopter of emerging technologies and has written for various magazines, including as an ICT specialist for ISTE’s ‘Learning and Leading with Technology’. Julie is inspired by curriculum development that successfully includes global collaboration through technology infusion. View her bio at www.learningconfluence.com.

Friday, April 20, 2012

The Social Learning Summit Is Tomorrow - Online and Free

Tomorrow, Saturday, April 21st, is worldwide 2012 Social Learning Summit, a one-day virtual conference being held as a partnership of Classroom 2.0 and the Discovery Educator Network. The Summit is from 9:00am - 3:00pm US Eastern Time. This is a free event, with a focus on inclusion and participation--all are welcome! All sessions will be publicly available to attend through the online Blackboard Collaborate platform, and every session will be recorded and made available immediately following the conference.

The conference theme is the use of social media and Web 2.0 in teaching and learning, and the URL for attending is http://www.classroom20.com/page/2012-sessions-schedule. To be kept informed of the latest conference news and updates, please make sure you are a member (free) at Classroom 2.0 (this will also allow you to correspond with the presenters and other members, and to comment on sessions and discussions).

A list of the session titles is below, and a schedule based on time zones (with full descriptions and session links) is HERE.  See you online!

1:1 in the Cloud - How choosing a cloud-based solution impacts student learning by Jason Markey
10 Reasons You Should be Podcasting by Rachelle Wooten
100+ STEM Websites & Webtools For Teachers by Letia Cooper
2nd Grade Bilingual Students Create Innovative Lessons for Author Bryan Chick by Martha Lackey
Anywhere, Anytime Learning by Chad Lehman
At the sharp end of the pencil - Driving Technology Adoption by Sonja Sharp
Becoming Social(er): Why Does Community Matter? by Lance Rougeux
Blended Undergraduate Biology: A Connectivist Approach by Robert Maxwell
Breaking out of the walled garden by Teresa Mackinnon
Building Real-World Skills - Increasing Collaboration within the Classroom and Beyond by Kim Jurczak
Closing the STE...M Gap: Mathematics Integration through 21st C publishing by Peg Hartwig
Connecting students across and beyond schools by Robert Sbaglia
Cool Educational Uses for QR Codes by Rita A. Mortenson
Creating a 24/7 Professional Development Model by Josh Allen
Creating a Library Website to Support Information Literacy Needs by Luann Edwards
Creating ePortfolios using Weebly by Valerie R. Burton
Creating Student ePortfolios by Melissa Green
Creative Learning Environments Promote Creative Thinking by Gail Casey
Digital Authentic Assessment by Kati Searcy
Digital Media Festivals for Elementary Students by Kass Bates
Directing the Moral Compass: Teaching Digital Citizenship for Social Justice by Lesley Farmerr
Enhancing Teacher Learning Skills Through Free and Open Online Training Sessions by Carla Arena
Get Your Students Connected Globally Through Blogging by Paula L. Naugle
Giving Students a Creative Voice Through Digital Storytelling by Jennifer Judkins
Hosting a Skype Author Visit by Abbe Waldron
Hunting & Gathering: Helping Creative Students Build Their Social Media Presence Wisely by Gigi Johnson
I have an avatar- How can she help me with my teaching? by Sandra Bassendowski
If It's Not Free, It's Not For Me! by Letia Cooper
It's not just "Icing on the Cake" in Student Competitions by Katie Leach
Join the Common Core Conversation by Kristina Holzweiss
Just-in-time support using free online tools by Nicole Naditz
Leveraging the Power of Social Media in the Classroom by Elaine Plybon
Leveraging web videos to truly flip the classroom by Ari Bader-Natal
Making Online Learning Environments "Brain Friendly" by Kristen Swanson
Mini video lessons lead to an effective differentiation model by Thomas McLaughlin
Modeling Lifelong Learning Through Technology by Torrey Trust
Moving Students Up The Technology Ladder by Mamzelle Adolphine
My Big Campus: Teaching 21st Century Skills in a Digital Learning Environment by Michele Eaton
O-MUN: How Wikis, Blogs, Facebook, Virtual Classrooms = The First Online Model UN Program by Lisa Martin
Podcast in Piano Lessons by Maja Dakic-Brkovic
Research Remix by Shannon Parker
Research, Technology & the Common Core - Grades K-4 by Jenny Lussier
Role Playing - A Web 2.0 Twist on an Old Practice by Lisa Ripley
skype-is-the-limit-edmodo-says-no by Chryssanthe Sotiriou
SkypePlay by Mardelle Sauerborn
Social Learning and Creating Social Change by Shelly D Gooden
Social Learning in the 21st Century Begins with Basic Understanding of Digital Citizenship by Sean Thompson
Social Media for Learning: The Twitter Alternative to Online Discussion Forums by Melissa A. Venable
Social Networking for Social Good with TakingITGlobal for Educators by Kate Gatto
Social Networking for Teacher Education by Leigh A. Hall
Social Networking to Promote Language Learning by Revathi Viswanathan
Student Learning 24/7! by Roxanne Clement
Studucate by Alisa Wright
Teaching Beyond Borders: Multilingual Multicultural Multimedia in Teacher Education by Melda Yildiz
Ten Media Tips-n-Tricks You Can Use in Your Classroom Tomorrow - And One to Inspire You by Matt Monjan
Text to Speech on the iPad by Linda Rush
The Birth of Social Flash Learning in the Global Collaborative and The Global Learning Framework by Richard C. Close
The Digital Citizenship Project by Jon Orech
The Equity Game: An Example of Experiental and Mobile Learning by Jackie Gerstein
The First Truly Collaborative, Impromptu, Online Social Keynote in the History of The World by Hall Davidson
The Future Classroom Blending Online and F2f Learning by Verena Roberts
The importance and seriousness of silly by Dean Shareski
The New Newsletter by Brad Wilson
Transforming Lessons with Technology by Elaine Plybon
UDL In the Classroom: Reaching All Students with Technology by Lisa Parisi
Using ePals and Skype To Reach the World by Troy Tenhet
Using VoiceThreads to Teach College Literature Courses by Vicki Phillips
Using YouTube for teaching piano accompaniment by Mr Goran Brkovic
Utilizing Social Media to Teach an Online Course by Ann Gaudino
Web2.0fying Classrooms by Sonia Sison
What's Your Story? Creating and Connecting with Digital Stories in the Early Years by Jason Graham
WoW - We're Reading, Reflecting and Working as a Team! by Jennifer Garcia

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Live Early Wednesday, April 18th - World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements

Join me early than usual on Wednesday, April 18th, for live and interactive FutureofEducation.com conversation with John Hunter and Chris Farina on their upcoming film, "World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements," being broadcast on American Public Television starting in May. The film interweaves the story of John, a teacher in Charlottesville, Virginia, with his students’ participation in an exercise called the World Peace Game. The game triggers an eight-week transformation of the children from students of a neighborhood public school to citizens of the world. The film, directed by Chris, reveals how a wise, loving teacher can unleash students’ full potential.

Date: Wednesday, April 18th, 2012
Time: 10:30am Pacific / 1:30 pm Eastern (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate). Log in at http://futureofed.info. The Blackboard Collaborate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Blackboard Collaborate, please visit the support and configuration page.
Recordings: The full Blackboard Collaborate recording is at https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2012-04-18.0822.M.9E9FE58134BE68C3B413F24B3586CF.vcr&sid=2008350 and a portable .mp3 audio recording is at http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/worldpeace.mp3.

The film traces how John Hunter’s unique teaching career emerges from his own diverse background. An African-American educated in the segregated schools of rural Virginia, where his mother was his 4th grade teacher, he was selected by his community to be one of seven students to integrate a previously all-white middle school. After graduation, he traveled extensively to China, Japan, and India, and his exposure to the Ghandian principles of non-violence led him to ask what he could do as a teacher to work toward a more peaceful world.

Hunter teaches the concept of peace not as a utopian dream but as an attainable goal to strive for, and he provides his students with the tools for this effort. The children learn to collaborate and communicate with each other as they work to resolve the Game’s conflicts. They learn how to compromise while accommodating different perspectives and interests. Most importantly, the students discover that they share a deep and abiding interest in taking care of each other. World Peace and Other 4th-Grade Achievements will inspire others by documenting the unheralded work of a true peacemaker.

Chris Farina is a graduate of the University of Virginia (B.A., American Government) and American University (M.A, Communication – Producing for Film and Video). His first two films, Route 40 and West Main Street, were collaborations with Charlottesville filmmaker Reid Oechslin, and both films are guided by the principle of respect for the individuals portrayed, allowing them to tell the story of their lives and their community. Each film portrays people living and working in familiar American settings that typically receive little media attention. He has also worked with fellow Charlottesville filmmaker and Academy Award winner Paul Wagner on two films, The James River and Angels.

More at http://www.worldpeacegame.org. John Hunter photo by Theresa White. Chris Farina photo by Will May.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Live Tuesday, April 17th - Tracey Wilen-Daugenti on How Technology is Reshaping Education, Work, and Society

Join me Tuesday, April 17th, for live and interactive FutureofEducation.com conversation with Tracey Wilen-Daugenti, author of Society 3.0:  How Technology is Reshaping Education, Work, and Society. From the Amazon book description:  "Higher education in the U.S. has traditionally prepared students for work and social success, but with families, work, and society itself undergoing revolutionary change, is this preparation sufficient to develop the 21st-century workforce? This book explores how evolving family structures, new ways of balancing work and personal lives, and rapid technological advancements will transform the ways that U.S. colleges and universities develop well-educated, career-oriented citizens. Society 3.0 will help higher education providers and industry leaders understand these potentially disruptive variables and design appropriate programs and career paths for tomorrow's workers.

"The book presents and explores the following insights: A wider range of family members, not just older children, now attend college, a decision that shapes—and is shaped by—21st-century demographics. Older students, recognizing degrees as vital for competing in the global workforce, now outnumber those entering college before starting careers. Today's workers are increasingly likely to be women, working outside the office or self-employed, or applying their education to innovation and entrepreneurship as small business owners.

"Technology is remaking the campus experience via smartphone learning apps, social networking among professors and students, and immersive engagement in virtual worlds—and even games. Society 3.0 will provide higher education and industry stakeholders a guide for understanding the emerging societal forces that are shaping the future."

Date: Tuesday, April 17th, 2012
Time: 5pm Pacific / 8 pm Eastern (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate). Log in at http://futureofed.info. The Blackboard Collaborate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Blackboard Collaborate, please visit the support and configuration page.
Recordings: The full Blackboard Collaborate recording is at https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2012-04-17.1710.M.9E9FE58134BE68C3B413F24B3586CF.vcr&sid=2008350 and a portable .mp3 audio recording is at http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/TraceyWD.mp3.

“Education pays off,” says Dr. Tracey Wilen-Daugenti, “because it is the best way to create tomorrow’s future today.”

Tracey Wilen-Daugenti is "Vice President and Managing Director of Apollo Research Institute. The Institute’s research demonstrates the value of education and provides recommendations to help leaders make the decisions that will ensure today’s workforce is employable tomorrow.

"Tracey sees education, technology and the workforce from multiple perspectives. As a visiting scholar at Stanford University’s Media X program, she knows what it takes to produce superior research and analysis. As a former Silicon Valley executive, she knows the relevance of education in our global high-technology economy. Finally, her work at Apollo Research Institute opens up insights into making education more accessible, sustainable and relevant to the workplace.

"Her own education path includes a master’s degree and doctorate in business. She has held executive positions at Hewlett-Packard and Apple, and was the Higher Education Practice Lead for Cisco Systems’ strategy organization. For over 15 years, she has taught business and women’s studies at colleges and universities in the San Francisco Bay Area.

"Through her numerous books, papers, presentations, and media appearances, Dr. Wilen-Daugenti has catalyzed new thinking among business leaders and academics in over 100 countries. In her books .edu: Technology and Learning Environments in Higher Education (2008) and the [new] Society 3.0: How Technology is Reshaping Education, Work, and Society (January 2012), she explores the intersection of technology, education, and business. These future-forward but pragmatic books have profound implications for employers seeking new talent, employees who want to stay relevant, and educators who desire to prepare the next-generation workforce.

"Dr. Wilen-Daugenti’s research also extends to how women are a force for positive change in the workplace and society. She has written seven books on the reality of doing business in emerging markets around the world.  Three generations of women have learned how to do business on three continents from her publications on women in international business.

"Dr. Wilen-Daugenti is a source of first choice on national and international radio and television programs, including CNN, KQED, CNBC, and ABC. She is frequently quoted in the mass media and outlets like the Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, Wired magazine and San Jose Mercury News. She was named San Francisco Woman of the Year for her outreach efforts and research on women and technology."

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Live Thursday, April 12th - Marc Tucker on Redesigning American Education Based on the World's Best Education Systems

Join me Thursday, April 12th, for live and interactive FutureofEducation.com conversation with Marc S. Tucker, editor of Surpassing Shanghai:  An Agenda for American Education Built on the World's Leading Systems. In the book, Marc and his colleagues examine the "high-performing" education systems of Shanghai, Finland, Japan, Singapore, and Canada with the goal to create an action plan for the United States. This is a thoughtful, fascinating look not just at the current educational practices of these systems, but also at the cultural and political climates that brought them forth.

"This extraordinary book could not be more timely or more important . . . This collection makes clear that, if we actually want to create high-quality schools for all children in the United States, our strategies must emulate the best of what has been accomplished in public education both here and abroad." — From the Foreword by Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education, Stanford University


From the publisher:  "This book answers a simple question: How would one redesign the American education system if the aim was to take advantage of everything that has been learned by countries with the world’s best education systems?

"With a growing number of countries outperforming the United States on the most respected comparisons of student achievement—and spending less on education per student—this question is critical.

"Surpassing Shanghai looks in depth at the education systems that are leading the world in student performance to find out what strategies are working and how they might apply to the United States. Developed from the work of the National Center on Education and the Economy, which has been researching the education systems of countries with the highest student performance for more than twenty years, this book provides a series of answers to the question of how the United States can compete with the world’s best."

Date: Thursday, April 12th, 2012
Time: 5pm Pacific / 8 pm Eastern (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate). Log in at http://futureofed.info. The Blackboard Collaborate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Blackboard Collaborate, please visit the support and configuration page.
Recordings: The full Blackboard Collaborate recording is at https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2012-04-12.1601.M.9E9FE58134BE68C3B413F24B3586CF.vcr&sid=2008350 and a portable .mp3 audio recording is at http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/marcstucker.mp3.

Marc S. Tucker is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Center on Education and the Economy. He is an internationally recognized expert on academic and occupational standards and assessment, and has also been among the leaders in researching the policies and practices of the countries with the best education systems in the world. Tucker served in the ‘70’s as the Associate Director of the National Institute of Education, in charge of the nation’s government-funded research on education policy. He then created the Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy at Carnegie Corporation of New York, and authored its report, A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century. He led the Carnegie Forum team as it created the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and served as the Board’s first president. Tucker then founded the National Center on Education and the Economy. Cited by President Clinton as a major intellectual contributor to Clinton Administration education and labor policies, he was appointed by the President to the National Skills Standards Board. He has also served as author, co-author or editor of many articles and several books and reports and has testified frequently to the U.S. Congress and state legislatures.

More praise for the book:
"Surpassing Shanghai should be on the reading list of everyone who aspires to improve American education. The message is clear: If we are serious, we have to stop simply comparing California to Connecticut to Kansas. It’s time to swim in deeper water with Singapore, Ontario, Japan, and others who are eating our lunch."
— John Merrow, education correspondent, PBS NewsHour and president, Learning Matters

"This book shines because it offers what is central to school reform: a commitment to wonderful teachers. It offers those of us in colleges of education a lot to think about—and a lot to do."  
— Mari Koerner, Dean, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University

"Tucker and his colleagues challenge us to ask why the U.S. is pursuing a reform agenda that differs markedly from what other advanced countries have found essential for creating good schools—high quality teachers, fair funding, and coherence in the system of education. After reading this book, one is left with the question: Is the U.S. so unique that an agenda so different from that of other countries can improve our schools?"
— Jack Jennings, president and CEO, Center on Education Policy

"Marc Tucker has assembled revealing descriptions of the ascent of Shanghai, Finland, Japan, Singapore, and Canada to the highest levels of international achievement in education. The book crystallizes the successful practices and patterns emerging from these top performers and then ‘takes the gloves off’ to contrast the efforts of high-achieving countries with current reform thinking in the U.S. . . . My big takeaway from Surpassing Shanghai is that success will come down to our collective will and our sustained commitment to thoughtful systems reform."
— Gene Wilhoit, executive director, Council of Chief State School Officers

Free Webinar Today - Educational Resources for the "Finding Your Roots" PBS Program



WNET is hosting webinars throughout April and May for educators focusing on the new PBS program Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. In this 10-part television series, Professor Gates continues the quest he began in African American Lives 1 and 2 and Faces of America, delving into the family history and genealogy of an all new group of famous Americans. Each episode features a different grouping of celebrity guests, who are bound together by an intimate, sometimes hidden link, whether it be through friendship, long-lost relatives, or even through a common ancestral past.

The upcoming webinars, conducted by the WNET Educational Outreach team and with support from Classroom 2.0 and Blackboard Collaborate, will highlight specific Finding Your Roots episodes and related educational resources and will include a discussion about the featured episodes and related tips for using the resources with students.

The first webinar takes place today, Wednesday, April 11th, from 4:00 to 5:00pm US-Eastern Daylight Time. The virtual room will be open 15 minutes prior to the session, which you can join at https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2008350&password=M.DF573861FBA5E9216A062C1A7524FE.

If you have any questions or want more details about the upcoming Finding Your Roots webinars, please contact the WNET Educational Outreach team at labevents@wnet.org.

Monday, April 09, 2012

Live Tuesday April 9th - Jenifer Fox on a Strengths-Based School

Join me Tuesday, April 10th, for live and interactive FutureofEducation.com conversation with Jenifer Fox, author of Your Child's Strengths, and now Head of School at The Clariden School of Southlake.  We'll be talking about what it's like to start a 21st-Century high school program, blended and project-based learning, and her relentless pursuit of getting people to stop teaching traditional content.

Jenifer Fox is a turnaround and strategic advancement expert. Her work includes expanding enrollments, boosting sustainability through rigorous and successful fund raising and taking independent schools to the next level through coordinated strategic plans focused on the organization's strengths. She is the author of the bestselling education book, Your Child's Strengths (Viking 2008; Penguin, 2009), Stories of Excellence: Case Studies of Exemplary Teaching and Learning with Technology. (NAIS, 2008) and the Differentiated Instruction Book of Lists (Jossey-Bass, 2011). Fox is widely considered the international leader in developing strengths-based curriculum for youth. Fox is also an expert at integrating curriculum and technology and is creating online, project-based platforms for youth.

Date: Tuesday, April 10th, 2012
Time: 5pm Pacific / 8 pm Eastern (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate). Log in at http://futureofed.info. The Blackboard Collaborate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Blackboard Collaborate, please visit the support and configuration page.
Recordings: The full Blackboard Collaborate recording is at https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2012-04-10.1655.M.9E9FE58134BE68C3B413F24B3586CF.vcr&sid=2008350 and a portable .mp3 audio recording is at http://audio.edtechlive.com/foe/jeniferfox2012.mp3.

2012 Social Learning Summit - Sessions Posted and Call for Volunteers!



The 2012 Social Learning Summit is coming up fast, and we have some important and fun information!

The 2012 Social Learning Summit is a one-day virtual conference being held as a partnership of Classroom 2.0 and the Discovery Educator Network, on Saturday, April 21st, 2012, from 9:00am - 3:00pm US Eastern Time. The conference theme is the use of social media and Web 2.0 in teaching and learning. This is a free event, with a focus on inclusion and participation. All sessions will be publicly available to attend through the online Blackboard Collaborate platform, and every session will be recorded and made available immediately following the conference. More information is available at http://www.sociallearningsummit.com.

The accepted sessions can be seen here:  http://www.classroom20.com/forum/categories/2012-social-learning-summit-accepted/listForCategory. The actual hour-by-hour conference schedule, as well as instructions for participating, will be posted on the Summit website on April 13th.

In the meantime, we are looking for volunteer moderators to help session presenters who may be using Blackboard Collaborate for the first time! If you are Collaborate-comfortable (or think you could become so quickly!), we would ask that you also sign up to be a volunteer moderator. This is a terrific community event, and a nervous presenter will greatly appreciate your help!

Volunteers should 1) use volunteer sign-up page is at http://www.classroom20.com/page/summittraining to select specific times to volunteer, 2) join the volunteer group at http://www.classroom20.com/group/volunteer-group-2012-social-learning-summit to receive special volunteer notices, and 3) look at the training page and training session calendar at http://www.classroom20.com/page/summittraining.  Please encourage any colleagues to help out as well. :)  Thank you so much!

Finally, please promote the Summit far and wide! The main URL for the conference is http://www.sociallearningsummit.com, the Twitter hashtag is #sociallearningsummit, and a page with logos and artwork is at http://www.classroom20.com/page/2012-social-learning-summit-artwork.

See you online!

Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Sneak Preview of Mightybell Version 2 on Thursday

Gina Bianchini, co-founder of Ning, is preparing to release Version 2 of her current project, Mightybell, and she is looking for a small and devoted group of educators to give feedback Thursday night on this significant overhaul. As I did with Gina for Ning, I'm again serving (and getting paid) as an educational consultant to help bring the community's voice and ideas to the project. When she released the first version of Mightybell, the Teacher 2.0 community I built there produced their largest community of users--and Gina both appreciates, and wants to magnify, the educator interest in the work she does.

For those of you who might consider attending, I will state this as thoughtfully and carefully as I can:  I think you're going to be blown away by what Gina and her team have created. I won't steal her thunder, but the commitment to social learning, content curation, and online conversation in this version have the potential to make Mightybell the 21st-century replacement for the textbook many of us have been waiting for. (I guess that wasn't very subtle, but those of you who attend will just have to let me know if you think I'm on the mark.)

Date: Thursday, April 5th, 2012
Time: 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate). Log in at http://sociallearning20.net. The Blackboard Collaborate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Blackboard Collaborate, please visit the support and configuration page.
Recording:  The recording can be played back at https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2012-04-05.1512.M.C66383778B1D070A48445A021E2450.vcr&sid=2008350.

Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Be a Part of Both the Social Learning Summit and the Classroom 2.0 Book Project!

We have two great projects coming up that I really want to encourage EVERYONE to participate in.

First is our Social Learning Summit on Saturday, April 21st--a virtual, free, and worldwide conference being sponsored by the Discovery Educator Network on the use of social media and Web 20 in teaching and learning. One of the goals of the conference is inclusion, meaning we really want to encourage the broadest participation we can, not just for attending but also for presenting (don't be shy--first-time presenters welcome!). We have started accepting presentation proposals already, and you can see the amazing and fun list of accepted HERE, and we are still accepting proposals through this Saturday, April 7th so don't delay. Session blocks are 30 minutes in length, and more information on how to submit can be found HERE.

You can also help us by publicizing the event! It is free and open to anyone who wants to attend any of the sessions through the online Blackboard Collaborate platform. You can direct folks to http://www.SocialLearningSummit.com to learn more, and you can use a logo or artwork from HERE.

Second is the Classroom 2.0 Book Project. Because we know that many people presenting at the Social Learning Summit are likely to also be great contributors to the book, we moved the deadline for contribution submissions to April 21st. This is an incredible project on the fifth anniversary of the Classroom 2.0 network to build a community-sourced set of "chapters" or resources for using social media and Web 2.0 in teaching and learning (sound like the Summit description!?). We have received dozens of excellent chapters already, and every chapter we receive will not only receive tender care by Chris Dawson, our editor, but will also get published and promoted on the Classroom 2.0 site as a stand-alone whitepaper available to download for free. We will then be selecting from these chapters for a print edition of the book to come out later in the year.

You can and are most-welcome to re-purpose material you have used elsewhere for your submission (as long as you have legal permissions to do so). We want you to share your expertise, and especially if you have never done so before! Please consider participating! All the details are HERE, and do help us promote this opportunity if you can.

I hope you get as excited about both of these opportunities as I am. Here's to a very exciting April!