Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Starts Tonight - Free "Reinventing the Classroom" Online Keynotes and Conference. Join Us!


Reinventing the Classroom
kicks off tonight (US Eastern Time) with some great keynote speaker sessions, and runs all day tomorrow, Thursday, May 1st. So exciting! The speaker list and full schedule are below these announcements.

Please forward to your friends and colleagues - this event is free!

The theme of our 2014 Reinventing the Classroom conference is: "How Ed Tech Is Reshaping the Classroom Experience."  This is a free event, thanks to generous support from ClassFlow, and brings together classroom educators and innovators from around the world. The entire conference takes place online in a webinar format, and specifically encourages teachers to share their best practices with their peers. You are welcome to attend as many or as few sessions as you would like.
All sessions are recorded and the recordings are generally available within an hour of a session's completion. Keynote recordings will be uploaded to YouTube. Mobile users will be able to connect to sessions by going to ReinventingtheClassroom.com on your mobile device. Live chat and help during the conference will be at theconferencelounge.me. Tweets with session reminders and links can be tracked at @learnrevproject. Volunteer moderators--we need you. Please sign up here!

Keynotes


Schedule

Times are US-Eastern Daylight Time. To see the schedule in your own time zone, with session descriptions and links to attend, please go to http://reinventingtheclassroom.com/page/attending-schedule.

Wednesday, April 30

7:00pm  KEYNOTE - Vicki Davis on "Reinventing Writing"
8:00pm  KEYNOTE - Anne Mirtschin on "The Amazing e-Classroom"
9:00pm  KEYNOTE - Travis Allen on "Becoming a Mobile Learner"

Thursday, May 1

 7:00am KEYNOTE - Shelly Sanchez Terrell on "Byte-Sized Potential in a Digital World of Possibilities"

8:00am
  • DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER - Creating Innovators: Educating the Students That Will Change the World - Howie DiBlasi, CEO
  • Instilling Global Citizenship through On-line Collaboration Learning Platforms - Adam Carter, Teacher & Global Citizen School or Organization
  • RADIO SOLIDARIA AMIGA ONLINE Y RADIOSOLAMICHILDREN'S REINVENTANDO EN EL AULA - MÂȘ Magdalena Galiana Lloret
9:00am
  • DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER - Jennifer Barnett on "Powering Connections in the CTQ Collaboratory"
  • Which C is that? - Melissa Edwards. Instructional Technologist
10:00am
  • Online Collaborative Learning Model - Martha Cunningham, Director of Technology and Information Services
  • Tools for a Visually Exciting ePortfolio - Gina Marandino - Educational Technology Specialist
  • Who Can Teach?- Reinventing Education - Dr. Sue Bedard, Course Director
11:00am
  • DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER - Give Kids The World: Tools & Projects For Global Collaborations - Howie DiBlasi, CEO
  • DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER - Nicole Tucker-Smith on "Spreading Innovation in Education: Misconceptions and MVPs"
  • From Textbook to Interactive, Multimedia Wiki - Shayne Train, Curriculum Leader
12:00pm KEYNOTE - Steve Anderson on "Formative Assessment In The Connected Classroom"

1:00pm
  • Creating a global classroom - Ann Michaelsen, teacher and administrator
  • DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER - Mixing Sources, Amplifying Voices: Crafting Writing in an Information Age - Troy Hicks, Ph.D. Associate Professor of English Director, Chippewa River Writing Project
  • What I learned from testing software with students | My lessons as a Product Manager of an e-learning solution in India - Mydhili Bayyapunedi
2:00pm
  • DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER - William Kist on "Differentiating in a Community: A Key to Reinvention"
  • Promoting Student Learning with Videos - Mr. Cevdet Harun Boke
  • Returning Education back to the Learners - Tracy Hanson, Founder & CEO
3:00pm KEYNOTE - Barnett Berry on "How Teacherpreneurs Can Reinvent the Classroom"

4:00pm
  • At the Pole: Position Your Online/Blended Course for Student Success - Christine Voelker, K-12 Program Director
  • Do students see technology as we do? - Mrs. Maha Hassan
  • Drive Your Own Professional Development - Dr. Tracy Gray, Managing Director, PowerUp WHAT WORKS
5:00pm KEYNOTE - Rushton Hurley on "First Steps toward Reinvention"

6:00pm
  • DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER - Personalized Learning for College Math Readiness - Dr. Gary Lopez, CEO
  • Project Based Learning/Flipped/Digital – English & Science - Margaret Patterson, Teacher & Team Leader
  • Rethinking learning through educational time, space and technology - Melda N. Yildiz, Faculty
7:00pm
  • A Framework for eLearning - Dave Hallmon, Instructional Designer
  • Amazing People Role Models in Your Classroom - Mr Brett Moffatt - Educational Consultant
  • Authentic Learning in Math through Computer Coding: Turning Consumers into Creators - Dawn DuPriest, Mathematics and Technology Teacher
8:00pm
  • DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER - Jeff Piontek on "STEM to STEAM to STREAM using Augmented and Virtual Reality in the Classroom"
  • Is your Foreign Language Course Bound by the Course LMS? Struggle No More. - Kara Mac Donald
  • The 24-7 Classroom - Maureen Devlin, Fourth Grade Teacher
9:00pm KEYNOTE - Julie Evans on "Beyond the Digital Conversion: Engaging, Enabling and Empowering Innovation in the Classroom"

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Learning Revolution Free Events - "Reinventing the Classroom" Online Conference This Week - GlobalEdCon Call for Proposals - RSMiniCon This Weekend

The Learning Revolution
Weekly Update

April 29th


Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.
- Leo Tolstoy

The Learning Revolution Project highlights our own "conference 2.0" virtual and physical events and those of our over 200 partners. We also highlight good conversations about learning taking place between educators, learners, leaders, and others from the school, library, museum, work, adult, online, non-traditional and home learning worlds. The Internet is shifting the boundaries of these worlds, and we believe that as they increasingly overlap and integrate these conversations will be critical to framing and preparing for the learning revolution starting to take place.

To subscribe to this newsletter, please sign up at the Learning Revolution. Please share this newsletter with your friends and colleagues!

Updates

  • "Reinventing the Classroom" Starts Wednesday Evening!. Come join our free online conference this Wednesday evening and all day Thursday. Amazing keynote speakers and presenters--see details in the calendar listings below or at the website.
  • "Reinventing the Classroom" Call for Volunteers. We've got an amazing, and FULL, schedule for this week's Reinventing the Classroom event - all about how ed tech is reshaping the classroom experience. We could really use your help as a volunteer to make sure we can provide as great an experience for presenters as we do for attendees. Never used Blackboard Collaborate before? No problem! Join us for a training session and we'll show you all you need to know to be a great volunteer. Please join the volunteer group and sign up for times that you're able to help. Looking forward to seeing you there!
  • Global Education Conference Call For Proposals Opens May 1st!. We're excited to announce that the fifth annual Global Education Conference call for proposals is now open! Choose from six conference strands, and plan to submit early! We will begin accepting proposals on June 1st, and earlybirds will have the first priority of choosing the time slot for their session. Conference co-chair, Lucy Gray, has created a few great flyers for you to use to help promote this amazing event in your own publicity channels - the Call For Proposals Flyer to encourage potential presenters, and a more general Global Education Conference Flyer to provide an overview of this event for conference attendees. Don't forget that we'll be at ISTE in Atlanta on June 28th hosting Global Education Day! We can't wait to see you there.
  • Ed Tech Month - Free Webinar Series by PowerUp WHAT WORKS. Ed Tech Month kicks off on May 1st! Have you checked out the FREE ed tech webinar series that is being presented by PowerUp WHAT WORKS? Topics include: Personalize Your Math Professional Development, Learn About Differentiated Instruction and UDL, Personalize Your ELA Professional Development, and more. PD certificates will be available through the Learning Revolution. The first webinar of the series will be held next Thursday, May 8th, from 3:30 - 4:30pm EDT on "Personalize Your Math Professional Development." Please be sure to share this opportunity with your fellow educators, we don't want you to miss out! The Learning Revolution will be providing PD certificates for those who complete the series. Show off your PD! Don't forget that you can also share local ed tech events using #edtechmonth. Visit www.edtechmonth.com for more information.
  • Reminder: MiniCon May is Sunday, May 4th 9:30am - 1pm EDT. This is our last half day free online event to prepare us for July 11-13th official online conference. We will feature guest poet Chaouki M'kaddem, keynote speaker Steve Wheeler, a technology smackdown event that anyone can sign-up for, and seven mini-presentations that give you a sneak peek at what to expect at our annual Reform Symposium Free Online Conference (RSCON5), that will take place July 11-13th, 2014 and feature 60+presentations, 2 plenaries, 10 keynotes, student presenters, and much more. More details and schedule here.

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Partner Spotlight

CoSN

CoSN CoSN (the Consortium for School Networking) is the premier professional association for district technology leaders. For over two decades, CoSN has provided leaders with the management, community building, and advocacy tools essential for success. Today, the CoSN community represents nine million students in school districts nationwide and continues to grow as a powerful and influential voice in K-12 education. More information at http://www.cosn.org/.

Interested in becoming a Learning Revolution Partner? Please fill out a Partner Application today.

Partner Announcements

Become a Learning Revolution Partner and share your Partner Announcements in our weekly newsletter!

One Week Calendar

All events are listed in US-Eastern Daylight Time. To become an event partner and have your events listed here, please email admin@web20labs.com.

  • Wednesday, April 30th in Binghamton, NY CoSN 2014 New York CTO Clinic, Join us for the first annual New York CTO Clinic! Our full-day professional development event will bring together ed tech leaders from your region to network and problem-solve. As always, guests from other states are welcome to attend. Learn more and register here.
  • Wednesday, April 30th at 4pm Free BrainPOP Webinar: ELLs and the Common Core, Are you an ESL teacher struggling to address the Common Core? This webinar explores the ways you can harness BrainPOP ESL’s offerings to better equip your ELLs for the rigors of these new standards. Bev Fine, BrainPOP ESL’s Editorial Director, will be on hand to help you make complex material and vocabulary more accessible to all students. Join here.
  • Wednesday, April 30th at 7pm Reinventing the Classroom Preconference Keynotes, Join us at Wednesday evening for three amazing keynotes: 7pm Vicki Davis on "Reinventing Writing," 8pm Anne Mirtschin on "The Amazing e-Classroom," and 9pm Travis Allen on "Becoming a Mobile Learner." View the conference schedule in your local time here.
  • Wednesday, April 30th at 9pm Teachers Teaching Teachers, Weekly conversations hosted by EdTechTalk, a collaborative open webcasting community. For more information, click here.
  • Thursday, May 1st Reinventing the Classroom, Join us for a full day of presentations, including keynote speakers: 7am Shelly Sanchez Terrell on "Byte-Sized Potential in a Digital World of Possibilities," 12pm Steve Anderson on "Formative Assessment In The Connected Classroom," 3pm Barnett Berry on "How Teacherpreneurs Can Reinvent the Classroom," 5pm Rushton Hurley on "First Steps Toward Reinvention," and at 9pm, closing keynote Julie Evans. Also featuring special sessions by distinguished speakers Howie DiBlasi, Chris Haskell, Jennifer Barnett, Nicole Tucker-Smith, Troy Hicks, Bill Kist, Jeff Piontek, and Gary Lopez. See the session schedule in your local time here.
  • Friday, May 2nd in Boston, MA The Path to Digital Citizenship - Tech Forum Boston, In this session, panelists will describe the concepts and skill sets necessary to prepare students for a digital and information-driven education, and the strategies they use for teaching these concepts. Learn about addressing student privacy and up-to-date acceptable use policies that include social media. In addition, panelists will share ways they reach out to the parent community to share concepts of digital citizenship and to empower parents to become partners in the process of educating our students. More information here.
  • Saturday, May 3rd at 12pm Classroom 2.0 LIVE Weekly Show, Classroom 2.0 LIVE is an opportunity to gather with other member of the community in regular "live" web meetings. Follow #liveclass20 on Twitter and visit http://live.classroom20.com for weekly details.
  • Sunday, May 4th at 9:30am Reform Syposium MiniCon May, This is our last half day free online event to prepare us for July 11-13th official online conference. We will feature guest poet Chaouki M'kaddem, keynote speaker Steve Wheeler, a technology smackdown event that anyone can sign-up for, and seven mini-presentations that give you a sneak peek at what to expect at our annual Reform Symposium Free Online Conference (RSCON5), that will take place July 11-13th, 2014 and feature 60+presentations, 2 plenaries, 10 keynotes, student presenters, and much more. More details and schedule here.
  • Sunday, May 4th at 8pm I Have a Question EdTechWeekly, Weekly attempt to crowdsource answers to education questions from our community of communities. Tag your questions #eduquestion or post them on our Facebook page or Google+ community.
  • Monday, May 5th at 8pm TL Virtual Cafe - Show Me The Data!, Learn how to collect and share data that connects your library to student learning. Details and instructions for participants here.

For a full calendar of all upcoming events and conferences, click here.

Deadlines

  • Library 2.014, October 8th + 9th, 2014
    Upcoming deadlines: Presentation proposals will be accepted between now and October 1st for Library 2.014. This fully online, participatory conference presents a unique opportunity to showcase the excellent research and work that you do every day. How does your library manage digital collections? Is your library mobile friendly? Do you have a story to tell about maker spaces? Your participation as a presenter will steer the global conversation about the future of libraries. Please see the call for proposals and conference strands and consider submitting your proposal soon!
  • Global Education Conference, November 17th - 22nd, 2014
    Upcoming deadlines: The call for proposals for the 2014 Global Education Conference are now open. Proposals can be submitted from May 1st until November 15, 2014, and we will begin accepting proposals June 1st. Please see the conference strands and consider submitting your proposal soon!

Highlighted Recordings

Maria Droujkova from the Learning Revolution Conference - on "From adventurous learning to disruptive innovations: brave design in mathematics education"

Droujkova
http://youtu.be/5OP_pzr0GwU

Roger Schank from the Learning Revolution Conference - on "Out with the old and in with the new"

Schank
http://youtu.be/w9y77Z9ptGw

Pat Farenga from the Learning Revolution Conference - on "What is the role of the teacher when children learn on their own?"

Farenga
http://youtu.be/rE9UZy6_au4

Conversations

Classroom 2.0

  • Ed Tech in the Art Classroom. Carolina Kaufman shares the first installation of the Art Institute of Chicago's series on technology in art education. Have you been using technology in your classroom? When is technology vital to teaching and learning, and when does it get in the way? Have you thought about how technology contributes to learning in and through the arts? Check out the Google Hangout on Air session and hear from experts in the field as they discuss these questions.
  • Booktrack: An Immersive Reading Tool. Karen Cameron introduces us to Booktrack, a free web application that syncs digital books to audio, resulting in an immersive reading experience. Synced ebook, audiobook, and music lets the reader follow along with the narrator, allowing the reader to control the pace at which the text is read. As Karen described, this is a great tool for creative narrative writing, or read-alouds where students can add music and other creative details to their writing. This also seems like a great tool for foreign language learners, bridging the gap between listening to and reading in a new language. Thanks, Karen!
  • Working at a World Class Aquarium. In case you missed Katy Scott's recent post, she's announced that the Monterey Bay Aquarium is searching for an Ed Tech Specialist. Classroom teachers or informal after-school educators with hands-on ed-tech experince are perfect for this position. Does this sound like you? Check out Katy's post for more details. Thanks for sharing, Katy!

Education Revolution Google+ Community

  • Conversational Competency and 21st Century Skills. Laurie Corzett shared this recent article written by English teacher, Paul Barnwell. He finds his students struggle with real-time dialogue, which he attributes to their constant immersion in the digital world at their fingertips. Barnwell suggests that we develop a methodology for teaching students how to effectively navigate between virtual and physical environments, particularly as it relates to conversational skills. This may remind many of us of our friend, Harry Tuttle, and his great work around Modern Language Learning. In many of his talks, he describes exercises that increase language fluency -- seemingly a natural fit for Barnwell's concerns about poor conversational skills. What do you think? Share your thoughts with Mr. Barnwell here.
  • Home Based Learning and Entrepreneurism. Chris Chadbourne is looking for information about entrepreneurial lessons for home based learning teachers. Budding entrepreneurs used to start their education with a lemonade stand in the driveway. Has domestic pedagogy built on that wonderful experiential foundation? If you have any suggestions for Chris, leave him a comment here.
  • More About Flipped Learning: A Student Perspective. Regina Brown shares this article written by teacher and blogger, Marcus. Students describe the flipped learning experience as one that allows them to move forward at their own pace, and encourages them to learn and explore on their own time. While their classroom has a traditional syllabus, the flipped learning method encourages them to work ahead by exploring resources outside of the classroom. The really neat thing about this article is that the students are teaching each other about new topics outside of the classroom, and likely are sharing with their siblings and friends who aren't in their classes. Perhaps the real value of the flipped classroom is the potential for peer-to-peer learning and information sharing in friends' backyards, at sleep-overs, and on the basketball court.

See you online!

Steve
Steve Hargadon
www.stevehargadon.com

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Learning Revolution Free Events - The Conference - Next Up #Reinvent14 - Appreciative Inquiry and AERO

The Learning Revolution
Weekly Update

April 22nd


The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn...and change.
- Carl Rogers

The technologies of the Internet and the Web are reshaping where, when, and from whom we learn--and even how we think about learning. The Learning Revolution Project highlights our own virtual and physical events and those of our more than 200 partners. We also highlight good conversations about learning taking place between educators, learners, leaders, and others from the school, library, museum, work, adult, online, non-traditional and home learning worlds. The Internet is shifting the boundaries of these worlds, and we believe that as they increasingly overlap and integrate they will be critical to framing and preparing for the learning revolution starting to take place.

To subscribe to this newsletter, please sign up at the Learning Revolution. Please share this newsletter with your friends and colleagues!

Updates


Partner Spotlight

ISTE

ISTE The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE®) is the premier nonprofit organization serving educators and education leaders committed to empowering connected learners in a connected world. ISTE serves more than 100,000 education stakeholders throughout the world. More information at https://www.iste.org/.

Interested in becoming a Learning Revolution Partner? Please fill out a Partner Application today.

Partner Announcements

Become a Learning Revolution Partner and share your Partner Announcements in our weekly newsletter!

One Week Calendar

All events are listed in US-Eastern Daylight Time. To become an event partner and have your events listed here, please email admin@web20labs.com.

  • Tuesday, April 22nd at 7pm Learning Revolution Keynotes, Don't miss Carlo Ricci on "Learning and Love," Howard Rheingold on "Co-Learning, Social Media, Peeragogy, and Open/Connected Learning," Maria Droujkova on "From Adventurous Learning to Disruptive Innovations: Brave Design in Mathematics Education," and Mark Treadwell on "The Neuroscience of Learning - A Model for How the Brain Learns." See the schedule in your local time at http://learningrevolution.com/page/attending-schedule.
  • Wednesday, April 23rd at 4pm Free BrainPOP Webinar: Come Play! Mission US: A Cheyenne Odyssey, We welcome Christopher W. Czajka, Senior Director at LAB@Thirteen, the producer of our GameUp title Mission US: A Cheyenne Odyssey. Christopher will discuss how Mission US prompts young players to think critically, make choices, and reference primary sources. He'll also provide an overview of the accompanying educational resources. Join here.
  • Wednesday, April 23rd at 7pm ISTE - ISTE Standards and the Common Core Integration in Action, Are you daunted by the prospect of implementing the Common Core State Standards? Don’t be! The Common Core opens the door for innovative teaching techniques to ensure students are college and career ready. Join Catlin Tucker to see how she’s successfully blending technology and tradition to teach the new standards in her classroom. Learn how to leverage web 2.0 tools to engage students and teach creative problem solving, critical thinking, and effective communication and collaboration. Leave this webinar with lesson ideas you can use with your students today! Registration and more information here.
  • Wednesday, April 23rd at 7pm Learning Revolution Keynotes, Don't miss David Loertscher on "The Flat Co-Taught Learning Experience: A 'Core' Idea," Cynthia Mediavilla on "Learning by Doing: Internships and Residencies," and Bernajean Porter on "Futuring with Story Telling Inspires Communities, Schools and Student Lives." See the schedule in your local time at http://learningrevolution.com/page/attending-schedule.
  • Wednesday, April 23rd at 9pm Teachers Teaching Teachers, Weekly conversations hosted by EdTechTalk, a collaborative open webcasting community. For more information, click here.
  • Thursday, April 24th at 7am Learning Revolution Keynotes, Don't miss Pat Farenga on "What is the role of the teacher when children learn on their own?" Leonard Waks on "Beyond the University: New MOOC Audiences and Providers," Stephanie Sandifer on "Mobile Learning Among the Museums of Houston, Texas: A Blended & Personalized Learning Environment Leveraging Community Resources for Improved Learner Outcomes," Jackie Gerstein on "SAMR as a Framework for Moving Towards Education 3.0," Steve Wheeler on "Students Driving Change: How Learners are Making the Difference in the Digital Age," Roger Schank on "Out with the Old and In with the New: A Plan for Redesigning High School so that it is Fun and Useful," and Michael Strong on "Creating Great Educational Communities." See the schedule in your local time at http://learningrevolution.com/page/attending-schedule.
  • Thursday, April 24th in Omaha, NE Identifying the Learning Potential of Apps, Websites, and Games & Resources for Teaching Digital Citizenship on an iPad; , Common Sense Media presenter, Jeremy Nielsen, will deliver two great sessions at the Nebraska Educational Technology Association event in Omaha, NE. More information here.
  • Thursday, April 24th at 3pm Rethinking Lesson Design with App Flow & Digital Citizenship: A Whole-Community Approach, Common Sense Media presenter, Kelly Mendoza, will deliver two great sessions at the free, online Learning Revolution Conference. See the schedule in your local time at http://learningrevolution.com/page/attending-schedule.
  • Friday, April 25th in Denver, CO Making a Better World: Digital Citizenship & Literacy for K-12, Empower youth to be in control of their online lives by teaching them digital citizenship using Common Sense Media resources. The K-12 Digital Citizenship and Literacy curriculum includes lesson activities, student videos and interactive assessments...More information and registration information here.
  • Sunday, April 27th at 8pm I Have a Question EdTechWeekly, Weekly attempt to crowdsource answers to education questions from our community of communities. Tag your questions #eduquestion or post them on our Facebook page or Google+ community.
  • Monday, April 28th at the American Museum of Natural History, NYC YouthCaN 2014, YouthCaN is a global youth-run organization co-sponsored by iEARN that uses technology to inspire, connect and educate people about environmental issues facing the planet. Every year at our annual conference at the American Museum of Natural History, YouthCaN groups from around the world present and/or attend environmental science-related workshops. The date for the YouthCaN New York City Conference is April 28, 2014 at the American Museum of Natural History. More information here.
  • Monday, April 28th in Pacific Palisades, CA Tips & Tools to Tech Up Your Teaching, Today’s educators are tasked with integrating technology in the curriculum to enhance student learning and advance 21st century skills, but, with myriad of tools and educational applications to choose from, it can be a daunting task for already busy teachers. This professional development workshop is designed to help jump-start meaningful technology integration with ideas, resources, and teaching tips. More information here.

For a full calendar of all upcoming events and conferences, click here.

Deadlines

  • Reinventing the Classroom, May 1st, 2014
    Upcoming deadlines: Presentation proposals will be accepted between now and April 25th for Reinventing the Classroom. Conference strands include Teaching with Technology, Student Devices, Online Learning, Subject Specific Ed Tech, Creative Ed Tech, Web 2.0 & Social Software, and Administrative Support. Please see the call for proposals and submission instructions here.
  • Reform Symposium MiniCon May, May 4th 9:30am - 1pm EDT
    Upcoming deadlines: Sign up for the Tech & App Smackdown - Share your favorite web tool or app as we celebrate our amazing presenters from 2013 and look forward to #RSCON5 on July 11-13th, 2014. Your presentation will only be 2 minutes long with 2 images as your presentation. Or sign up to be an Inpire Presenter! You are invited to do a 3 to 5 minute presentation that either (1) gives us highlights of your RSCON4 presentation or (2) gives us a sneak peek at what you are thinking about presenting for RSCON5. Space is limited for these presentations, so sign up soon.
  • Library 2.014, October 8th + 9th, 2014
    Upcoming deadlines: Presentation proposals will be accepted between now and October 1st for Library 2.014. This fully online, participatory conference presents a unique opportunity to showcase the excellent research and work that you do every day. How does your library manage digital collections? Is your library mobile friendly? Do you have a story to tell about maker spaces? Your participation as a presenter will steer the global conversation about the future of libraries. Please see the call for proposals and conference strands and consider submitting your proposal soon!

Highlighted Recordings

Ian Jukes from the Learning Revolution Conference - on "What 21st Century Learning Really Looks Like"

Jukes
http://youtu.be/DfNF3fVS82U

Bron Stuckey from the Learning Revolution Conference - on "The Minecraft Experience: Curating Learning"

Stuckey
http://youtu.be/n6l2Skj_KhI

Bernard Bull from the Learning Revolution Conference - on "Eight Laws of the Self-Directed Learner"

Bull
http://youtu.be/XbAC51BNd-4

NMC Navigator Top Reads

Top Learning Tech Stories of the Week from the NMC/Horizon Project Navigator.

  1. Online grade books earn A for info, F for stress
  2. Myths of Technology Series: “Technology Will Replace Face-to-Face Interaction”
  3. U.S. Views of Technology and the Future
  4. Creativity and the Brain: What We Can Learn From Jazz Musicians
  5. Tell Me a Story: Augmented Reality Technology in Museums
  6. How a District Ended Student Dropouts with Personalized Learning
  7. Heartbleed, the Branding of a Bug, and the Internet of Things
  8. Games that teach: It’s not just about scaffolding
  9. Why Data Is the Key to Successful Course Redesign

Conversations

Classroom 2.0

  • Designing Baseball Uniforms in the School Library. Teacher-librarian, Selena Jensen, is looking for a comprehensive fashion design software program to help high school baseball players design their own uniforms. What an excellent idea! Do you have experience with design programs? Give your recommendations to Selena here.
  • Social Media for the Art & Design Classroom. Jessica Longmore is teaching a Level 2 Art & Design course and is looking for ways to engage her 16-17 year old students. She writes, Can anyone recommend a social media platform that would be suitable to use? I'm looking for something with a balance between safeguarding issues and valuable vocational insight. Share your ed tech best practices with Jessica here.
  • European Competition 2.0. Joel Josephson reminds us that the Ed2.0Work Competition is quickly appropaching. Deadline for submissions is September 12th. The European Competition 2.0 asks educators/teachers to show how they are using Internet software or sites and mobile apps in innovative and creative ways in their teaching. Learn more about this event here.

Education Revolution Google+ Community

  • Guidelines for Project Based Learning. Prasanna Bharti shared this Ed Tech Review article on project based learning. The article lists the "do's and don'ts" of designing a project based learning experience for students, from redefining "group" work, to remembering basic teaching principles. Check out the article here. Thanks for sharing, Prasanna!
  • Promoting Creativity in Math Education. Giorgio Bertini shared this article with the community, which describes theoretical learning models that encourage creativity among learners of mathematics. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to generate a model that explains how teachers make sense of creativity in the learning of mathematics and how teachers promote or fail to promote it in the classroom. Learn more here.
  • The Bumpy Road of 1:1. Dan Adiletta shares his article, Biggest Technical Headaches of Going 1 to 1, with the Google+ community -- I'm sure none of you can relate! In light of our upcoming Ed Tech Month which kicks off with Reinventing the Classroom, this seems like a great share! Bring these questions, frustrations, insights, and (most importantly) solutions with you to the great line-ups we have for you.

Final Notes

I am a big fan of a change methodology known as "Appreciative Inquiry." In Appreciative Inquiry, the idea is to drill down on that which is being done well as a means of then collaboratively designing improvement in areas that do in fact need it. Whether for individuals, groups, or institutions, what the Appreciative Inquiry process can do is to facilitate improvement in healthier and more productive ways than is often the case with the more-usual pattern of focusing on deficiencies. This is not to deny that problems exist or that there is need for improvement, it rather is to recognize that the temptation to focus first on deficiencies can produce cycles of accusation and defensiveness which may never get at the true issues and can be counter-productive.

In many ways, an immediate focus on deficiencies is a symptom of control mentalities, and control often (usually) invites the very behavior it is intending to control against. Controlling behavior isn't necessarily malicious, it's often just a misunderstanding of how to accomplish the ultimate task and it's usually the result of fear conquering logic. Think of the sports coach screaming at players from the sideline all through a game, compared with the coach who watches how the team is playing and where the players are struggling, works out what training and advice are needed, and then focuses on providing that help during time-outs and--better yet--in practice.

Institutions are often built on a DNA of control. Because of desires to assure consistent output and to protect the "brand" (or role) of the institution, controlling behavior and its accusatory/defensive culture are an easy trap for institutions. In this way institutions can become unintentionally myopic--seeing only that which they feel they can control, and missing good work which is independent of that control.

The best conference I attended last year was the AERO conference. This year AERO conflicts for me with ISTE, so I won't be able to attend, but if you want to see an education conference that manifests Appreciative Inquiry in education, may I suggest you consider attending AERO. The mission of the conference is to "help create an education revolution to make learner-centered education available to everyone," and I think what you will find is an event uniquely open to different perspectives on learners and learning, with representatives from a variety of educational approaches: everything from homeschooling to unschooling to democratic schools to progressive schools and beyond. More than anything else at AERO I felt the ability to explore intellectually and independently the deeper challenges and opportunities that face learners in our changing world, and an implied respect for the variety of opinions represented.

It is my hope that in some way LearningRevolution.com provides a similarly appreciative approach to thinking about learning. We are working hard to bring together those who have been thinking about learning from worlds that are often siloed: the same constituencies that attend AERO plus libraries, museums, and work-, adult- and special-education programs. Our goal is to appreciate that which is being done well by so many, and create constructive conversations by exposing them to each other. Do let me know how you think we are doing!

See you online!

Steve
Steve Hargadon
www.stevehargadon.com

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Learning Revolution Conference Schedule - Online and Free NEXT WEEK

Our first-ever Learning Revolution Conference kicks off this coming Monday, April 20th, online and free, with a terrific set of keynote and distinguished speakers and a full day of conference sessions on Thursday, April 24th. The schedule is below.

Please forward to your friends and colleagues - this event is free!

The LearningRevolution.com project has over 200 partner organizations and bridges schools, libraries, museums, and the work, adult, online, non-traditional and home learning worlds. Our theme for this conference is "What Are We Learning About Learning?" As the Internet shifts the boundaries of when, where, and how we learn, we believe our learning worlds will increasingly overlap.

All sessions are recorded and the recordings are generally available within an hour of a session's completion. Keynote recordings will be uploaded to the Learning Revolution YouTube channel. Mobile users will be able to connect to sessions by going to LearningRevolution.com on your mobile device. Live chat and help during the conference will be at theconferencelounge.me. Tweets with session reminders and links can be tracked at @learnrevproject. Volunteer moderators--we need you. Please sign up here! Wish you'd signed up to present a session? We're still taking submissions for our May 1 Reinventing the Classroom conference here!


Times are US-Eastern Daylight Time. To see the schedule in your own time zone, with session descriptions and links to attend, please go to http://learningrevolution.com/page/attending-schedule.

Monday, April 21

7:00pm  KEYNOTE - Ian Jukes on "What 21st Century Learning Really Looks Like"

8:00pm  KEYNOTE - Bronwyn Stuckey on "The Minecraft Experience - Curating Learning"

9:00pm  KEYNOTE - Bernard Bull on "Eight Laws of the Self-Directed Learner"

Tuesday, April 22

7:00pm  KEYNOTE - Carlo Ricci on "Learning and Love"

7:00pm  KEYNOTE - Howard Rheingold on "Co-learning, Social Media, Peeragogy, and Open/Connected Learning"

8:00pm   KEYNOTE - Maria Droujkova on "Math 2.0"

9:00pm   KEYNOTE - Mark Treadwell on "The Neuroscience of Learning – A Model for how the brain learns"

Wednesday, April 23

7:00pm  KEYNOTE - David Loertscher on "The Flat Co-Taught Learning Experience: A 'Core' Idea"

8:00pm  KEYNOTE - Cindy Mediavilla on "Learning by Doing: Internships and Residencies"

9:00pm  KEYNOTE - Bernajean Porter on "Futuring with StoryTelling Inspires Communities, Schools and Student Lives"

Thursday, April 24

7:00am  KEYNOTE - Pat Farenga on "What is the role of the teacher when children learn on their own?"

8:00am

  • eTwinning: creativity and innovation through collaboration - Grazina Likpetriene, Vladimir Mosijenko, Tanja Gvozdeva, & Larisa Tichonova
  • INSTILLING GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP IN AND OUT OF THE CLASSROOM - Adam Carter, Teacher & Global Citizen
  • Mobile Literacy with Audiobooks - Sue Toms, Head of Libraries
  • Multimedia and language and literature/ Medios audiovisuales y lengua y literatura - J. Daniel GarcĂ­a

9:00am

  • Building better teachers: Designing online instruction to impact student satisfaction. - Dr. Rochelle Franklin, Director of Faculty Training and Development
  • Kids Afield: Technology, Nature, Communication - Robin K. Long,Teacher Environmental Education, Biology and General Science
  • Learning through your workplace - Lidmyla Kovalova, CEO of G.U.N. Academy

10:00am

  • DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER: Beyond the University: New MOOC Audiences and Providers - Leonard Waks, Professor Emeritus Educational Leadership
  • Electronic Portfolios as Spaces for Students to Engage with Learning - Gina Marandino - Educational Technology Specialist
  • Hit Learners with Music! They feel NO pain! - Theodore Lalos, EFL teacher

11:00am

  • Application of Experiential Learning Theory in Technology Enhanced Learning - Dr.Revathi Viswanathan
  • Improving Modern Language Speaking Proficiency - Harry G. Tuttle, Ed. D
  • RADIO SOLIDARIA AMIGA ONLINE Y RADIOSOLAMICHILDRENS UNA EXPERIENCIA DE APRENDIZAJE - MÂȘ Magdalena Galiana Lloreet- docente infantil y primaria

12:00pm  KEYNOTE - Stephanie Sandifer on "Mobile Learning Among the Museums of Houston, Texas: A Blended & Personalized Learning Environment Leveraging Community Resources for Improved Learner Outcomes"

1:00pm

  • DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER: SAMR as a Framework for Moving Towards Education 3.0 - Jackie Gerstein, Ed.D., Online Faculty- Educational Technology
  • Revolutionize Data Reporting to Revolutionize Data Use - Jenny Grant Rankin, Ph.D. (Former Teacher, Site Admin, & District Admin)
  • Teaching Another Country's Culture With Mobile Devices - Harry G. Tuttle, Ed. D
  • What is Project-Based Learning (PBL)? - Judy Ha, Training and Development Manager

2:00pm

  • Authentic Learning Experiences: A Real World Approach to PBL - Dayna Laur - Educational Consultant
  • Best Practices for Discussion Boards - Marla Cartwright, Faculty Developer
  • Do students see technology the way we do? - Mrs. Maha Hassan

3:00pm

  • Disrupting the Classroom: What connected learning really means for your classroom - Sieva Kozinsky, CEO
  • How to Assess Project-Based Learning (PBL) - Jessica Chung, Assistant Director, Education
  • Rethinking Lesson Design with App Flow - Kelly Mendoza, Sr. Manager of Professional Development
  • Students + Computers = Engagement - Valerie R. Burton, English Language Arts Teacher

4:00pm

  • Digital Citizenship: A Whole-Community Approach - Kelly Mendoza, Sr. Manager of Professional Development
  • Putting the Students in the Driver's Seat - Paul Bond, Library Instruction Coordinator
  • Using the internet and social media to facilitate self-determined learning. - Rocco Ricci, PhD candidate

5:00pm  KEYNOTE - Steve Wheeler on "Students driving change: how learners are making the difference in the digital age"

6:00pm

  • Liberating ourselves from a textbook format: Innovative, inclusive, transformative and transdisciplinary ideas from teacher candidates - Melda N. Yildiz, Faculty
  • Transmedia Games For Learning - Randall Fujimoto, Game-Based Learning Designer

7:00pm

  • A Framework for eLearning - Dave Hallmon, Instructional Designer
  • Living the DREAM: Creating AWARENESS through Environmental Education - Carolyn Stevenson, Ed.D, Director of Education
  • Social Network Champions: new course collaboration opportunity - Carole McCulloch (CoachCarole)

8:00pm  KEYNOTE - Roger Schank on "Out with the old and in with the new: a plan for redesigning high school so that it is fun and useful"

9:00pm  KEYNOTE - Michael Strong on "Creating Great Educational Communities"

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Learning Revolution Free Events - Great, GREAT Keynotes - MiniCon - ISTE Unplugged! - Striving for Failure?

The Learning Revolution
Weekly Update

April 15th


The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man.
- T.S. Eliot

The technologies of the Internet and the Web are reshaping where, when, and from whom we learn--and even how we think about learning. The Learning Revolution Project highlights our own virtual and physical events and those of our more than 200 partners. We also highlight good conversations about learning taking place between educators, learners, leaders, and others from the school, library, museum, work, adult, online, non-traditional and home learning worlds. The Internet is shifting the boundaries of these worlds, and we believe that as they increasingly overlap and integrate they will be critical to framing and preparing for the learning revolution starting to take place.

To subscribe to this newsletter, please sign up at http://learningrevolution.com. Please share this newsletter with your friends and colleagues!

Updates

Partner Spotlight

21st Century Schools

21st Century Schools provides professional staff development, curriculum design and consulting for the purposes of designing 21st century schools. We believe that the development of everything from policies to facilities to lesson plans should be guided by our compass roses, Critical Attributes of 21st Century Education and the Multiple Literacies for the 21st Century. (http://21stcenturyschoolsinternational.weebly.com/compass.html) More information at http://www.21stcenturyschools.com/.

Interested in becoming a Learning Revolution Partner? Please fill out a Partner Application today.

Partner Announcements

Become a Learning Revolution Partner and share your Partner Announcements in our weekly newsletter!

One Week Calendar

All events are listed in US-Eastern Daylight Time. To become an event partner and have your events listed here, please email admin@web20labs.com.

  • Wednesday, April 16th at 4pm Webinar: What We Know About Families’ Use of Educational Media, Ask any parent about their children’s media use, and most will tell you they’re interested in media that help their kids learn. But what are parents’ experiences with their children’s use of educational media? In our community’s next webinar, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center will share the results from Learning at Home: Families’ Educational Media Use in America, a report from a national survey of over 1500 parents of children ages 2-10. You’ll hear how children and parents use media together, overall and by platform, and also how parents’ media use with their children changes as they get older. More information here.
  • Wednesday, April 16th at 4:30pm Free BrainPOP Webinar: STEAM Video Game Design - Tales From Students in the Field!, Peek into a STEAM game design lab with POPstar David Conover and some of his Pflugerville, TX students. They’ll share their unique experiences developing a “Circuit of Sustainability” and collaborating with the local PBS station (KLRU) and the Thinkery, a children's makerspace museum, on the design of innovative real-world games. David’s program is one of just three in the country to be involved with that collaboration. You’ll leave this webinar with new ideas for empowering students to communicate, collaborate, and create through game design. More information here.
  • Wednesday, April 16th at 9pm Teachers Teaching Teachers, Weekly conversations hosted by EdTechTalk, a collaborative open webcasting community. For more information, click here.
  • Sunday, April 20th at 8pm I Have a Question EdTechWeekly, Weekly attempt to crowdsource answers to education questions from our community of communities. Tag your questions #eduquestion or post them on our Facebook page or Google+ community.
  • Monday, April 21st Learning Revolution Conference Keynote Speakers, Join us Monday night for two amazing keynote speakers - 7pm with Ian Jukes on "What 21st Century Learning Really Looks Like" and 8pm with Bron Stuckey on "Virtual Worlds and Gaming in Education." See the schedule in your local time zone and join the sessions here.
  • Monday, April 21st at 3:30pm Webinar: Appy Hour - Challenge Math and Science Learners with Brilliant, Are you looking for ways to challenge high-achieving middle and high school students in math and physics? Brilliant is an online community of learners who share and solve physics and math problems. Perfect for AP students or those competing in math or science competitions, learn how Brilliant is a great website to challenge learners. View the session live on our YouTube channel, and join the Twitter conversation using the hashtag #appyhour. Regsiter here.
  • Monday, April 21st at 8pm TL News Night LIVE!, This is a LIVE show presented in news show format featuring a Wrap up of “This Month in School Libraries” and deeper discussion of topical school library issues with special guest experts. Did we mention it was LIVE? More information here.
  • Tuesday, April 22nd Learning Revolution Conference Keynote Speakers, Join us Tuesday night for 4 amazing keynote speakers - 7pm with Carlo Ricci on "Learning and Love," 7pm (also) with Howard Rheingold on "Co-learning, Social Media, Peeragogy, and Open/Connected Learning," 8pm with Maria Droujkova on "Natural Math," and 9pm with Mark Treadwell on "How the Brain Learns." See the schedule in your local time zone and join the sessions here.
  • Tuesday, April 22nd at 1pm CoSN - Smart Education Networks by Design, New advances in technology, including mobile devices, are making it possible for students to learn anytime, anywhere and to experience personalized learning. These advances can only happen if school systems have networks in place that support the new and dynamic context of learning. CoSN’s new initiative, Smart Education Networks by Design, is designed to address the challenges facing school systems by providing school system leaders the knowledge to wisely invest in educational networks for today and tomorrow. Learn about the resources that can help district leaders develop the next generation network infrastructure necessary to support multiple mobile devices on and off campus, the delivery of digital content, and administration of online assessments. Read more and register for this event here.
  • Tuesday, April 22nd at 5pm Personalize Learning Webinar: Leaving to Learn - Webinar #5 with Elliot Washor of Big Picture Learning, See why it is important to involve community to educate kids and why kids are less willing to compromise now. Elliot will share why in traditional schools kids have "no say and no way to get say" and why they are leaving to learn. He will explain how design is in the doing and how internship programs that are advisory-based support passion. Join this Blackboard Collaborate session here.
  • Wednesday, April 23rd Learning Revolution Conference Keynote Speakers, Join us Wednesday night for three amazing keynote speakers - 7pm with David Loertscher on "Personal Learning Environments," 8pm with Cindy Mediavilla on "Learning by Doing: Internships and Residencies," and 9pm with Bernajean Porter on "StoryTelling That Inspires Communities, Schools and Student Lives." See the schedule in your local time zone and join the sessions here.
  • Thursday, April 24th Learning Revolution Conference All Day, Join us for a full day of conference sessions, plus five (yes, five!) great keynote speakers - 7am with Pat Farenga on "What is the role of the teacher when children learn on their own?," 12 noon with Stephanie Sandifer on "Mobile Learning Among the Museums," 5pm with Steve Wheeler on "Students driving change: how learners are making the difference in the digital age," 8pm with Roger Schank on "Being an Education Revolutionary," and 9pm with Michael Strong on "Creating Great Educational Communities." See the schedule in your local time zone and join the sessions here.

For a full calendar of all upcoming events and conferences, click here.

Deadlines

  • Reinventing the Classroom, May 1st, 2014
    Upcoming deadlines: Presentation proposals will be accepted between now and April 25th for Reinventing the Classroom. Conference strands include Teaching with Technology, Student Devices, Online Learning, Subject Specific Ed Tech, Creative Ed Tech, Web 2.0 & Social Software, and Administrative Support. Please see the call for proposals and submission instructions here.
  • Reform Symposium MiniCon May, May 4th 9:30am - 1pm EDT
    Upcoming deadlines: Sign up for the Tech & App Smackdown - Share your favorite web tool or app as we celebrate our amazing presenters from 2013 and look forward to #RSCON5 on July 11-13th, 2014. Your presentation will only be 2 minutes long with 2 images as your presentation. Or sign up to be an Inpire Presenter! You are invited to do a 3 to 5 minute presentation that either (1) gives us highlights of your RSCON4 presentation or (2) gives us a sneak peek at what you are thinking about presenting for RSCON5. Space is limited for these presentations, so sign up soon.
  • Library 2.014, October 8th + 9th, 2014
    Upcoming deadlines: Presentation proposals will be accepted between now and October 1st for Library 2.014. This fully online, participatory conference presents a unique opportunity to showcase the excellent research and work that you do every day. How does your library manage digital collections? Is your library mobile friendly? Do you have a story to tell about maker spaces? Your participation as a presenter will steer the global conversation about the future of libraries. Please see the call for proposals and conference strands and consider submitting your proposal soon!

Highlighted Recordings

Dean Shareski & Vicki Davis from the Connected Cafe - on "Connected Leadership"

Davis-Shareski
http://youtu.be/F6chrs1qs_E

David Loertscher from the Future of Education Interview Series - on "Physical and Virtual Learning Commons"

Loertscher
http://youtu.be/XmooWI236tw

Eric Sheninger from the School Leadership Summit - on "Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times"

Sheninger
http://youtu.be/23-8pUxg-Bs

NMC Navigator Top Ten

Top Learning Tech Stories of the Week from the NMC/Horizon Project Navigator.

  1. Researchers use Google Glass to help Parkinson’s sufferers
  2. "Fixing" Higher Education Requires a Diversity of Assessments and Reforms
  3. Librarians Go From Quiet to Crowd Pleasers
  4. The New Digital Learning Playbook: Understanding the Spectrum of Students’ Activities and Aspirations
  5. What We Really Need To Know About Ed Tech
  6. Schools Shift from STEM to STEAM
  7. Using Humor in the Classroom
  8. 10 Courses With a Twist
  9. North Arizona University Launches Online Competency-Based Degrees
  10. What Does Learning Look Like? A Look At Physical And Digital Spaces

Conversations

Classroom 2.0

  • Digital Citizenship Infographics. Two excellent resources for your classroom, library, or media center from our friends at Common Sense Media. Thanks for sharing these, Karen!
  • Hot Topic: BYOD. There's a lot of talk around BYOD this week in Classroom 2.0. Morgan Thie discusses the class-bound implications of BYOD, as well as concerns about student behavior in digital spaces. Joseph Schools talks about the age old PC vs. Mac debate as it relates to BYOD, and provides some beyond-the-classroom benefits to relying on a personal device. What are your thoughts? Share them here.
  • Your Curated Reading List. Volume 3 of Karen Cameron's Best of the Week is out! She's put together a list of the best artiles on Classroom Management, Reading and Language Arts, STEM, History and Social Studies, and more. Check out her list here.

Education Revolution Google+ Community

  • The Data Driven Education Trend. Kirsten Winkler's latest article, The New Oil, explores the privacy concerns and market implications of student data being collected during this ed tech explosion. Read more about this issue, and Kirsten's thoughts on the potential of data in our lives.
  • Game Based Learning, Dyslexia, and Reading Comprehension. Sara Biggs' article discusses new research out of Oxford University suggests that video games may be potential tools for improving concentration and reading in people with dyslexia The research suggests that there is a positive correlation between the multi-tasking skills that students develop while playing video games and their improved ability to focus on reading-based activities. This is very exciting research! Read more about this study here.
  • Doubling Our Efforts to Keep Kids in School. The NEA shared this article that discusses nation-wide efforts to re-engage high school dropouts. According to the NEA, one in five students drops out of high school. The article describes some really neat outreach programs that are helping to match drop outs with mentors who help them either return to school or complete their GED certificate. Learn more here - this might be a great opportunity to create community partnerships and put your school and library volunteers to work!

Library 2.0

  • Books Gone Wild. Middle school librarian, Michelle Lowe, is looking for ways to encourage her students to help keep the collection in good shape so that other students can find the books they're looking for. Does anyone have any tips for getting students to help you keep the library in order? Share your ideas here.
  • Sneak Peek at Library 2.014. The Library 2.014 Proposals are already coming in! Are you thinking about presenting at the fourth annual conference in October? Check out what your colleagues are hoping to share. This is a great opportunity to find people who might be interested in co-presenting with you on a particular topic. We're looking forward to your sessions!

Final Notes

I was invited to give a fast five-minute talk as part of Fail Fest at the 2014 CoSN conference last month. The idea was to talk about a failure and then relate the benefits of failure to education. This has become something of a buzz-word topic lately.

I decided that the word "failure" doesn't actually capture the core educational value that I think we're really talking about. For me, the word instead is "risk." Failure is a one of the natural outcomes of risk, but we're not striving for failure--instead, we are encouraging risk and acknowledging that failure will often be the result.

Without risk, there is no progress.

Babe Ruth's batting average of .342 reminds us that in many arenas of life, to be great is to only connect with the ball some portion of the times that one goes to bat. What is important is not being so afraid of failure that one doesn't ever want go to bat. A high-stakes, test-driven education environment induces the opposite of risk-taking, it creates fear, and so results in little intellectual progress.

If we consider baseball and the batting average as a simplified but reasonable analogy for life, then what conditions exist in baseball that might inform our thinking about how we structure learning opportunities? I'd suggest that first is the recognition of the role of skill, and the importance of both individual and team skill-building. Second is the critical importance of practice with good coaching. Third would be the significant number of opportunities to perform (playing many game each season, with several times at bat in every game). And finally would be measurements that mean something to both the players and the coaches, and that are recognized as not perfect but enormously helpful.

We could go even further and think about how to help learners develop the "mindsets" of those who are able to take risks and who accept that success on their part requires a certain amount of failure. Here we would think about helping them learn from others' assessments, but focus primarily on developing personal competence, confidence, and their own measures for improvement. Great players (learners) believe in themselves because they know they are prepared and ever-preparing. We would recognize that each leaner will have individual strengths, and playing to those strengths is just as important as improving in areas of weakness. We'd help them recognize the role of chance in life, that things won't be fair, and how to still move forward bravely no matter the circumstance. And we'd help them keep life in perspective and remember that after the game or school is done, who you are becoming is ultimately more important than if you won a particular game or aced a particular test.

Celebrating failure itself, of course, makes no sense; nor does never allowing for it. Education is a choice we make in how we think about learners. If we want learners who will take risk, build their skills and talents, and then learn to live their lives fully as contributors and creators, we'll recognize that they need to learn to prepare and take risks, and that failures are an inevitable part of that process.

See you online!

Steve
Steve Hargadon
www.stevehargadon.com