Teaching & Learning in the Digital Age
What skills should we be teaching to our students in Higher Education? What digital tools should we be demonstrating in class to do these things?
Careers and the Future
Did you know?
Careers in the Future
10 Things Employers Want You to Learn in College
Work Ethic. Physical Performance. Speaking. Writing. Teamwork. Influencing People. Research. Number Crunching. Critical Thinking. Problem Solving.
The Future World of Work: A Gen Xer's Perspective
• Our livelihood will not be connected to a single corporation • More than 1/2 of us will become contingent workers • Coworkers will be at remote locations • Work days will be much longer, but flexible • Constant change and innovation • We will have to constantly upgrade our skills • Workers will have to be able to levarage the latest technologies (even if we don't know what they will be)
Top 60 Jobs that will Rock the Future
Gaming to Motivate Staff
Future-Proof Your Education
Levers of Change in Higher Education
Prezi. Video of Talk.
Food for Thought
Digital Dossier
Math and the End of the Written Word
Vilma Mesa's Classroom Maps
How is the Internet Changing the Way You Think?
If Textbooks go Digital, do we lose Deep Learning?
eLearning Sucks
Disruptive Innovation
Five Lessons Professors Can Learn from Video Games
Today's 8-18 yr-olds spend 7.5 HOURS a day with entertainment media
Everybody Teaches, Everybody Learns
BYU Learning Suite
BYU is creating an "open gradebook" that can pull in student-created content on the "open web" so that it can be graded behind a protected institutional firewall.
Hacking Higher Education
What would happen if we restructured the curriculum so that all classes taught traditional subjects in the context of current events, digital skills, and preparation for the future job market? Sure it would be a little scary, and it wouldn't work for all types of educational tracks, but imagine the possibilities!
Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes (21st). Excerpted from the Partnership for the 21st Century: "Mastery of core subjects and 21st century themes is essential for students in the 21st century. Core subjects include English, reading or language arts, world languages, arts, mathematics, economics, science, geography, history, government and civics. We believe schools must move beyond a focus on basic competency in core subjects to promoting understanding of academic content at much higher levels by weaving 21st century interdisciplinary themes into core subjects.". Four Models of Interdisciplinary Studies. Integrated Studies. All courses are new composites. A "wheel" of new courses transfers as equivalent to a wheel of existing courses.. Themed Studies. Every month, there is a new theme and participation is voluntary. To participate, simply try to include class examples, discussion, and assignments relevant to the theme where it is possible in your classes. With many instructors including examples from the same "theme" across disciplines, it will be easier for students to see the connections between subjects and how they are "relevant" to the world around us.. Global Awareness. Financial, Economic, Business and Entrepreeurial Literacy. Civic Literacy. Health Literacy. Biology & Human Enhancement. Examines the biology of existing human enhancements (pacemakers, artificial knees, etc.) and looks at ethics of future enhancements and medical treatments (e.g. stem-cell research, the singularity). Biology + Philosophy. Trend Analysis. Prediction of trends based on numerical methods and analysis of past eras. Identify eras, events that ushered in change, … Find and use data, trend curves, and rates of change to make predictions about the future. Math + History. Physics of Exercise. Health & PE + Physics. Exploring Water Issues. Water is essential to life and drinking water is scarce. Why can't we just desalinize ocean water? What are the politics of U.S. water policies? What is "grey water" and when is it safe to use? How do other cultures manage their water issues? How has the management of water impacted world events. Political Science + Chemistry + Biology. Data Analysis and Information Presentation. Statistics, interpretation, and presentation of information and data using good design principles. Math + Graphic Design + Communication. Design and Digital Presentations. Learn the elements of good graphic design of presentations and how to create and present an engaging power point presentation, conduct an engaging webinar, or create a short screencast. Analyze existing presentations for elements of good and poor design. Good communication techniques are essential, but so is good design. Graphic Design + Communication + CIS. Exploring Recycling and Refuse. Poverty and World Culture. Chemistry of Nutrition. Chemistry + Biology + Health & PE. History and Creative Experence. Build an avatar, learn to navigate a virtual world, visit historical sites, and participate in reenactments of events from the past to gain better understanding. Keep a journal of history through the perspective of a single un-aging individual to gain a better understanding of how events effect real people. History + Creative Writing (applied to Virtual Worlds and the Web). Information, Query, and Synthesis. Information is free, but finding good information can be tricky. What distinguishes search engines from each other. What is the business model for search? Learn to identify good sources of information, perform efficient searches, and synthesize information through writing. Library Science + English (applied to Web). Sociology and Psychology of the Web. Why are we so addicted to using social and mobile media? What elements of psychology and sociology can help us to predict behavior online, in social media and in virtual worlds? Sociology + Psychology (applied to Web). How Computers Think. Introduction to logic and basics of programming (if-then statements, for loops, logic charts). Constructing working code using existing code and troubleshooting problems using logic. CIS + Philosophy. The Creative Process. Ways to foster creativity (e.g. play, shutting off digital distractions, brainstorming, meditation) and other issues related to innovation (like patent law). ??? + Law. Energy. An in-depth course in understanding energy, energy needs, historical changes brought about by shifts in energy usage. Which alternative energies are cost-effective? Why are some "mythical energies" (e.g. cold fusion) impossible? Physics + Chemistry + History + Engineering. Writing for the Digital Age. Summarize a paragraph or idea in 140 characters or less, write an engaging blog post or web copy, write a position paper, work collaboratively on a white paper. English (applied to the web) NOTE: See "The New Literacy" in Sep 2009 Wired Magazine. Digital Presence. Create a digital presence that includes a portfolio of work, an ongoing updatable record, a clickable resume, and good graphic design. Learn to manage your digital presence (security and privacy) on social networks and in virtual worlds. Graphic Design + Communication + English + College Success. Art, Media, and Copyright. Creative works of all kinds live on the web. What are the forms, function, and purpose of these works. How does it compare to creativity before the web? Who owns it? How do you protect it? What's the law of digital copyright? Fine Arts + Law. Human Enhancement. Poverty. Food Supply. Water Supply. Social Media. Outsourcing. Copyright. The News. The Enlightenment. Economic Depressions. Mass Transportation. The Americas. This may seem like a strange theme, but it corresponds with the theme of our MCC Global Awareness Festival, held the second week of February.. The Future. Nuclear Power. Wind Power. Aging. Social Security. Prescription Drugs. Obesity Epidemic. Epidemics. Darwin Online. Far Tortuga. National Film Board of Canada. The Motorcycle Diaries. Americas WGBH. Math and Astronomy in Latin America. Music. The Future of Education. The Futurist Magazine. How Technology Will Transform Us. Navigating the Global Future. Military Robots and the Future of War. The Future of Cars. Mapping the Global Future 2020. Foresight 2020. Engineer of 2020. The Sputnik Observatory for the Study of Contemporary Culture. 2020 Science. Singularity University.
Lifelong Learning Skills (EFF)
Take Responsibility for Learning. Learn Through Research. Reflect and Evaluate. Use Information and Communication Technology. Bring in RSS of current news related to the field you are teaching. In the "General" tab, students are exposed to current RSS feeds about teaching math, education, and math in the news. In each "Unit" tab, RSS from student blogs (different students each unit) are visible.. Set up Google Alerts on specific topics. Learning in Depth. Recipe for Free Range Learning. Tools for Spaced Repititiion. Store information online. Good search techniques. Filtering good info from bad. Learn good search techniques. Digital Yourth Research. Organize some URL bookmarks. Build a mindmap. Build a web page of resources. RefWorks. Annotate. Zotero for Bibliography. Broadtexter. Anki. StudyBlue. SpacedEd. Explore the Invisible Web. Google Bookmarks. Diigo.
Life and Career Skills (21st)
Flexibility and Adaptability. Initiative and Self-Direction. Social and Cross-Cultural Skills. Productivity and Accountability. Leadership and Responsibility. Build a non-rigid syllabus. Design online courses around topics, not schedule. Allow flexibility in learning. Have students build a "syllabus" for their own projects and long papers (Personal Learning Plan). Why DO you have to learn this?. Spend time in Virtual Worlds or international communities. Teaching Tips from Video Games. Tweeting for Accountability. Dissertation Experiment. Appoint one student in each group to be the "leader" and grade them as such. Appoint one student in each group to be the "coordinator" that is responsible for the final product.. Require students to self-evaluate their efforts as a contributor to the group.. POGIL. Process oriented guided inquiry learning.
Learning and Innovation Skills (21st)
Creativity and Innovation. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving. Communication and Collaboration. Experiment with different techniques of creation. Subscribe to some "out there" RSS feeds or publications. Learn about Patents. Incorporate Systems Thinking. Constructive self-evaluation. Weigh pros and cons. What questions need to be answered before we make a decision on this?. Help students to build Metacognitive Skills. Inquiry Based Learning (i.e. games). Write the same "article" for two diferent audiences. Write an argument for two different medias (e.g. newspaper vs. blog). Write for different purposes (inform, instruct, motivate, persuade). Write and translate to a different language!. Write using collaborative tools. Write a Wikipedia article. Meditation. Brainstorming. Believe the Opposite. Express ideas with no words. Mindmapping. Kurzweil AI Net. TED Talks. Hplus Magazine. Humanity+. Futurist. Vain Inc. Babelfish. Use Social Networks to perfect translations. Google Docs. Wikis. Group blogs.
Decision-making Skills (EFF)
Plan. Solve Problems and Make Decisions. Use Math to Solve Problems and Communicate. Play in Simulations. MIT Beergame. Wolrd Without Oil. Cycorp. Experience it in a Virtual World. Use Simulated Reality. Play Games. Wolfram Alpha. Edward Tufte Create "supergraphics". Physics Simulations. Wolfram Demonstrations. OpenCyc.
Information, Media, and Technology Skills (21st)
Information R/evolution. Information Literacy. Access and Evaluate Information Use and Manage Information. Media Literacy. Analyze Media Create Media Products. ICT (Information, Communications and Technology) Literacy. Apply Technology Effectively. Send students on searches on difficult topics (like in a historical archives). Investigate Search Engines. Assign searches that you know result in lots of faulty information. Create ways to have information come to you. Build the same 5-minute presentation from two perspectives. Learn about assimilation vs accomodation of new information. Create using media tools. Learn sensitivity to Accessibility Issues. Discuss how the choice of media can change the tone of the message. Begin building a PLN. Survey different social networks and compare the results. Participate in or watch twitter chats. The Avalon Project. Calculus Tweetwars. Build a Rollyo. Assignment: First find the highest-quality resources in the subject area. Build a Rollyo search engine with those resources (up to 20). Test each other's search engines during the semester. Which sites consistently provided good information or high-quality resources? Which sites consistently provided bad information or low-quality resources?. Build a YouTube "Pipe". Do the same search in multiple engines. DHMO Website. Does pollution cause beautiful sunsets?. Pasta crop. Create Google Alerts to receive the latest updates about your topic. Use alerts in library databases. Use an RSS Reader. Netvibes. iGoogle. Yahoo Pipes. Board of company vs protest group. Commercial to two different ethnic groups. Commercial in support and against a new bill. Animoto. Machinima. Prezi. PowerPoint or Keynote. Learn to caption a video. Completely describe a video or diagram in words. Twitter. LinkedIn. Facebook. Zoomerang. Survey Monkey. Poll Everywhere. Facebook polls. #lrnchat. #mathchat. #editorchat. #gamedesign. Computing & Technology Club. Funky Function Notation. Intriguing Inverses.
How do we learn?
Chatzy Room for Sharing. What I learned on My Sabbatical. What's one thing you learned this summer?. Have PRIDE in what you TEACH. Self-study vs formal study. Learning in the Future. Practicing / Repeating. Reading. Internet. Discussing with others. Experiencing it Firsthand. Thinking / Reflecting. Experimenting, Play, Trial and Error. Academic / Formal Classes. Creating something. Hearing or Watching. The World is My School: Welcome to the Era of Personalized Learning. RSS Feeds. Google Alerts. Calibrated Peer Review. Learn to Search Well. Commenting on Blogs. Participate in Web Discussions. Bring in Guest Speakers (online). Attend free webinars. Second Life. Simulations. Digital Reality. Augmented Reality. Write a Blog Post (Student Samples). Create a Presentation to make sense of it. This is a presentation I created to make sense of a large body of International research about measuring teaching and learning in mathematics.. Wolfram Alpha. Wolfram|Alpha can be a good program to use for exploratory learning. One of the subjects we cover in MathET is ancient numeration systems. Rather than just tell students how the Babylonian number system worked, we can use Wolfram|Alpha to explore the number systems until they've worked out the pattern.. Play and Learn. Massive Open Online Courses. A University course called "Connectivism and Connective Knowledge" - students at Manitoba could sign up for credit, but 1200 others signed up and participated (to various degrees) in the course.. Academic Earth. Free access to video courses and academic lectures from leading colleges and universities.. Build a Mindmap. Write a Wikipedia Entry. Create a Digital Presentation. Students as "Guest Lecturers". Students record their solutions (sometimes with the other students "helping" in the background) using my tablet and Camtasia. During this recording time, the rest of the students continued to work on the next set of problems, taking turns with their "recording time." Why? Well, for the online students, of course.. TED Talks. What can I say ... if you haven't seen a TED Talk, you're missing out on "the good stuff". Academic Earth. Free access to video courses and academic lectures from leading colleges and universities.. Sputnik Observatory for the Study of Contemporary Culture. "Sputnik Observatory is a New York not-for-profit educational organization dedicated to the study of contemporary culture. We fulfill this mission by documenting, archiving, and disseminating ideas that are shaping modern thought by interviewing leading thinkers in the arts, sciences and technology from around the world.". Searchcube. Search results are given with images organized into a Rubik's cube that can be rotated in 3D.. Cooliris. Requires a download (Mac or PC). Powered by Google. Very slick interface where images drive the search process.. Clusty. Clusters your search results together by categories. Can be good for filtering out erroneous information.. KartOO. Search results are layed out Newspaper-style.. TinEye Reverse Image. You've got an image and you want to know where else it is on the Internet (maybe you're looking for its citation, maybe you're looking to see if your image has been ripped off).. Wolfram Alpha. A computational search engine. Good at finding data related to your search. Also, it can do math!. Stumpedia - "Power to the People!". Google Scholar. Let Simon Decide. Forvo: the pronunciation guide. Spezify. EntityCube. Experience schizophrenia. Great Places to Visit in SL. Learning Languages in SL. SL as Therapy for Asperger's Syndrome. MiniMogul. Harvard Humanities Students. BP SimCity Societies. JA Titan. SimSchool. Mars Simulation Project. CarBiz Megacorp. "CarBiz simulates the car industry from 1920 to 2020. You start a car manufactuering company as early as 1920. You can start your company as late as in 1960.". SimuTrans. An economics and transportation simulation.. Google Earth. Google Ocean. Worldwide Telescope. Microsoft Virtual Earth. Visible Body. Photosynth. Life-size Blue Whale. We Feel Fine. Encyclopedia of Life. GE Plug Into the Smart Grid. Telepresence Blog Post. WWF Augmented Reality Campaign in China. YouTube of schizophrenia.
21st Century Skills
What I wished I had learned before Graduation (Guy Kawasaki). Excerpted from www.guykawasaki.com: "Guy Kawasaki is a managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm and a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine. Previously, he was an Apple Fellow at Apple Computer, Inc. Guy is the author of nine books including Reality Check, The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way. He has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College.". Things you really need to Learn (Stephen Downes). Excerpted from www.downes.ca: "Stephen Downes works for the National Research Council of Canada where he has served as a Senior Research, based in Moncton, New Brunswick, since 2001. Affiliated with the Learning and Collaborative Technologies Group, Institute for Information Technology, Downes specializes in the fields of online learning, new media, pedagogy and philosophy. Downes is perhaps best known for his daily nesletter, OLDaily, which is distributed by web, email and RSS to thousands of subscribers around the world. He has published numerous articles both online and in print, including The Future of Online Learning (1998), Learning Objects (2000), Resource Profiles (2003), and E-Learning 2.0 (2005). He is a popular speaker, appearing at hundreds of events around the world over the last fifteen years.". Technology Skills We Should be Teaching in College. Equipped for the Future. Partnership for 21st Century Skills. How can liberal education prepare students for the future?. Finding a Job in the 21st Century The Global Talent Crisis. AT&T 21st Century Literacies. Information Media Visual Multicultural. Skills for Today's Workforce. How to talk to your boss.. How to survive a meeting that's poorly run.. How to run a meeting.. How to figure out anything on your own.. How to negotiate.. How to have a conversation.. How to explain something in thirty seconds.. How to write a ONE-page report.. How to write a five-sentence email.. How to get along with co-workers.. How to use PowerPoint.. How to leave a voicemail.. How to predict consequences.. How to read (understand deeply).. How to distinguish truth from fiction.. How to empathize.. How to be creative.. How to communicate clearly.. How to learn.. How to stay healthy.. How to value yourself.. How to live meaningfully.. Communication Skills. Interpersonal Skills. Decision-making Skills. Lifelong Learning Skills. 21st Century Skills for Science. 21st Century Skills for Geography. 21st Century Skills for English. 21st Century Skills for Social Studies. 21st Century Skills for Math. Route 21. Route 21 is a site that houses resources for teaching 21st Century Skills. Adaptability of beliefs, behaviors, assumptions. Imagination. Innovation. Read with Understanding. Convey Ideas in Writing. Speak so Others Can Understand. Listen Actively. Observe Critically. Cooperate with Others. Guide Others. Advocate and Influence. Resolve Conflict and Negotiate. Solve Problems and Make Decisions. Plan. Use Math to Solve Problems and Communicate. Take Responsibility for Learning. Learn Through Research. Reflect and Evaluate. Use Information and Communication Technology.
Communication Skills (EFF)
Read with Understanding. Convey Ideas in Writing. Speak So Others Can Understand. Listen Actively. Observe Critically. Tweet your learning every hour, page, or paragraph. Digress.it. Use an eBook Reader to take notes. Use a pound sign with tag words to create tags that work in eBook search engines. For example, I might use #mathed to tag references to math education. Then when I search for #mathed, I would find all my tags.. Tag notes with A.nnotate. Write a short article for web publication. Keep a learning blog. Write a tutorial. Create questions and answers. Peerwise supports students in the creation, sharing, evaluation and discussion of assessment questions.. Design a 5-minute slide deck to explain a concept (The Possible Impact of Wolfram Alpha on Math Eduation). Build a 5-minute Animoto lesson to explain a concept (Funky Function Notation). Give a 5-minute explanation of a concept (Social Networking for Academics). Make a tutorial to explain something using Jing. Twitter. Use a Live Chat room to ask questions (this way EVERYONE can respond). What was the most important point? (use chatzy or twitter to get results). Google Moderator. View the work of others (blogs, mindmaps, videos, etc.). Assign individual projects but share them with all so that students learn from each other. Give constructive feedback. "Quora is a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it. The most important thing is to have each question page become the best possible resource for someone who wants to know about the question." (from the Quora website). Tweeting for Accountability. Tweeting a Dissertation or Project. Wordpress. Blogspot. Mindomo.
Interpersonal Skills (EFF)
Advocate and Influence. Cooperate with Others. Guide Others. Resolve Conflict and Negotiate. Give a Presentation. Late Night Learning LIVE!. Design a 20-slide deck to explain a concept. Design presentations for the largest possible audience. Collaborate with Peers on Writing Good Questions/Answers. Peerwise supports students in the creation, sharing, evaluation and discussion of assessment questions.. Pair online students with F2F students for group projects. Build a game. What WoW can teach you about Project Management. Explain it to a colleague. Teach a 5-10 minute Lesson.