When students can bring or access devices for learning, teachers want to figure out the best resources. To do that they have Graphite™. Graphite is a free service from Common Sense Education designed to help preK-12 educators discover, use, and share the best apps, games, websites, and digital curricula for their students by providing unbiased, rigorous ratings and practical insights from our active community of teachers.This is what a collection of boards looks like. Teachers can get on Graphite and create boards of the best learning resources for any subject. They can start by checking out the boards created by Common Sense Media for Elementary, Secondary, and K-12 in the chart below.   Elementary Secondary K-12 ELA ELA Special Needs & Learning Differences Math Math Research Science Science Formative Assessment STEAM Parent Communication Classroom Management Want to share your favorite online resources? Sign up for Graphite.org and get started!

The Americas Society and Council of the Americas invited me to discuss the role of social media in education with experts and leaders dedicated to advancing and shaping the political, economic, social and cultural agendas of the Western Hemisphere. The purpose was to take what works in New York City and bring it to other education systems. To follow are some ideas I shared that global leaders can bring back to their countries. Why embrace social media for students and staff?If we want to run for office, run a business, or change how things are run where we work, live, or play we must be savvy in the use of social media. It is crucial for college, career, and life success. It can also save time at work for teachers. Here’s how.The Stats - College, Career, and Citizenship Success Look who’s watching:1/4 of college admissions officers consider digital footprint3/4 of human resource managers1/3 of employers reject candidates based on something found in profiles More stats and info at https://magic.piktochart.com/output/1328944-nycdoe_create-the-digital-image- Ensuring Students Are Well Googled We need to be smart about ensuring we are preparing students to be well-Googled by the time they graduate high school. We must support them in creating an online presence that will lead help them get into that school, land that job, and attract the right people into their worlds for powerful global connections. Here are some ways to get started. I want more »

Today's #ThrowbackThursday brings us to a post I wrote that explains why blogging is important for anyone who wants a voice in global the global conversations that matter to them. In the piece I share how in the short time my blog had been around, I already was seeing the ability a blog gave me to share important ideas. Many of the sites, I referred to back then no longer exist. Keeping a blog or website active is hard work. But for me it has been worth it.  Here's a little more about that post. Written: Friday, May 9, 2008Topic: Why blogWho might be interested: Anyone considering starting a blog.Favorite excerpt:  It is crucially important that our digital immigrant educators begin teaching in meaningful and engaging ways that our digital native students will pay attention too. Part of bridging the gap between the natives and the immigrants occurs when the immigrants are communicating with the natives in the 21st Century platforms to which they connect and are familiar. I want more »

It’s time to get ready for the death of paper.  I know you love it. I know it helps you think better if you can just write on paper. I know you love the smell and the feel of paper.Get over it.It’s dead. Stop killing trees. Stop wasting time and MONEY.  Stop saying we can’t afford to get tech for every kid so we need paper. That’s a lie. We can get a Chromebook that will last three years for $300 bucks.  That’s $100 a year per student. In places like New York we pay about 10k per year for students, but it’s not even about the spending.  We’d spend more than that in all the paper books, textbooks, printing, ink, printers, and MORE!  Getting rid of paper saves us money.No more paper.  No more books. No more teachers giving dirty looks at students who embrace digital devices for learning. I want more »

Educators who incorporate social media into the work of students must ensure responsible use. I asked members of The Innovative Educator group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheInnovativeEducator) for their advice to students when it comes to using social media responsibly. Here is what they said. I want more »

Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot of what people are trying, but not succeeding, to convey to others. They complain: "I tried to tell him…" (How to do that right. Not to do that. It wasn’t a good idea. This person was trouble, etc.) And, they think it is the fault of the person they tried to tell, for not listening.  However, when I ask how they tried to convey their message, I find sometimes the problem wasn't with the audience. Instead, it may be with the person "trying" to convey their message, idea, warning, or lesson. You’ve seen this if you’ve ever watched someone trying to teach a person or class that’s just not getting it. You can spot when and where they’ve lost the audience. Perhaps they said one thing, but meant to say something else. Maybe they went too fast and someone couldn’t keep up or too slow and they got bored. Maybe the class completely misunderstood what was being conveyed. Maybe they didn’t have the foundation to grasp the concept or idea.  Maybe they just didn’t explain clearly or didn’t wait until the audience was focused and ready to receive the information.Here’s the thing, if you want to be understood, it takes more work than just talking at your audience. There are some ways you can convey your message more clearly. This is important in general, but especially important for teachers to do effectively. Here are four strategies to keep in mind.I want more »

The power of the hashtag is to bring to the conversation what is missing from the conversation. That is what I discussed with Amy Coupal CEO of Learnography at ISTE in Philadelphia. Amy asked me what was missing from the conversation at ISTE and I realized that with hashtags we can include whatever it is we feel is missing from a conversation. For example, during the opening keynote, @soledadobrien showed a clip from a school that did not offer classes such as calculus required by some college programs.  A student was able to get the class added to the school's offerings, but ultimately, nearly all the students dropped out. What wasn't addressed is that this class looked extremely boring and there was no technology. It was not a place I could imagine anyone would choose to be. In short, what I wanted to add to the conversation, was that it is not enough to offer a class. We have to offer classes that make kids want to be there. Because I am Twitterate, I used the appropriate hashtag, my thoughts were heard, and I became a part of the conversation (you can see one such conversation here).  Gone are the days when we can gripe about a conference, news program, or really anything, missing the mark. With hashtags we can contribute to the solution. Hashtags allow us to enlist the talent and ideas of a global community. That is of course if you have, and share, a hashtag.  Whether you are running a conference, a school, or a business, hashtags are indeed the magic bullet to bring the community into the conversation.  You can watch our conversation in the 90 second video below.  

I’m not alone in my experience of education: I made it all the way through college without discovering what talents, passions, interests, or abilities I might have.As a result I graduated college with a diploma in one hand and with the other hand scratching my head in puzzlement. What on earth I was going to do with my life? This happened because, for the most part, school is not engineered to uncover a student’s genius. It is designed to uncover and reward specific academic talent. If you don’t think textbooks, teaching and testing your knowledge of unwanted subjects will strike a chord with you, you might consider staying well away from traditional school. Consider students like Aaron Iba and Nick Perez, who were considered failures in school despite having a passion for and achieving success in their real-world pursuits. This is a problem people like Mike Rowe of "Dirty Jobs" fame often points out. He started a movement (learn more at Profoundly Disconnected) to address the problem of a school system and national curriculum that are not designed to prepare students for fulfilling and independent lives. Worse, it completely dismisses, disregards and disrespects them.It doesn’t have to be this way.  Walk into a school practicing the schoolwide enrichment model and you’d find a that every child there develops and shares their passions and talents. They can explain how their teachers, mentors, and helpers in the community help them grow their talents. Enter a Big Picture Learning school, and you may be surprised to find on certain days their are no kids in school. That’s because they are out in the world about three days a week discovering and pursuing their talents and interests. They are supported by mentors and a school advisory. Rather than sit through a one-size-fits-all standards-based curriculum, students choose seminars that will help them excel in areas customized to their interests. There are standards tied to the student rather than the system.  Unfortunately, in the current standardized, test-dependent public school system, such models are rarely seen or they are relegated to after school programs. Schools are not designed to recognize the genius of those like Albert Einstein. He was considered a foolish dreamer by his teachers, and one teacher even asked him to drop out of his class. That didn’t stop Einstein. He just taught himself subjects he was interested in such as calculus which he began studying independently at age 12.But what if there was a way to change this for every child? What if there was a way to discover, honor, and develop a child’s strengths, talents, and interests? Isn’t that exactly what students and their parents want?  Now there is.  It’s called Thrively.  Thrively gives every child a strength-based assessment that uncovers the student’s talents, interests, and abilities.  It also shows them via short videos the kind of lives and careers others have pursued who have similar strengths. Next, Thrively shows them how to pursue their interests via face-to-face and online activities, videos, experiences, and apps to inspire and challenge students- all personalized to their unique strengths. Finally, Thrively provides a digital portfolio for students to capture and share their accomplishments.  Back in 2008 I worked on a similar project called the Personal Success Plan which was aligned to the Renzulli Learning System engine. It was a great tool that helps students to identify their interests, understand how to develop these interests into talents, associate themselves with role models, and — ultimately — create meaningful, attainable goals and plans.Unlike that platform, however, Thrively is available free of charge either to individuals or students in a classroom. The platforms matches students talents, interests, and potentials with all that will get them there. It is powered by the same technology that powers Pandora Radio.  This video provides an overview of Thrively:https://youtu.be/YawH7dtG_i8 There is finally a free tool that enables us to know and grow every child’s genius. Not only that, you can help students learn in ways that are tied to their interests and strengths.  Another plus for teachers is that you can group together students who share strengths and learning styles to work collaboratively on projects of interest.  Sound interesting? You, your child, or students can get started by visiting http://thrively.com and joining, then take your free strength assessment.  You can see mine here. Here is a snipet.  Here is what a teacher sees at a glance for each student. Check out Thrively now. Do your profile. Create your class. Have a look around. If you have contact information for your student’s families, reach out and have them start on their profile. You’ll know a lot about your students before the year starts. If you don’t, Thrively is the tool you should be using to start your year and drive your planning.  

There’s a massive shift in the way people are watching TV Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/theres-a-massive-shift-in-the-way-people-are-watching-tv-2015-6#ixzz3eUiD8bJy "While mobile devices are driving a significant uptick in digital video consumption in the US, OTT devices like smart TVs, connected devices, and gaming consoles are driving long-form premium content, according to a new report from Hulu. The popularity of OTT devices and time-shifted viewing habits for premium content drove OTT devices to account for almost 60% of all streams on Hulu in the first quarter of 2015. The share of video streams on PCs has fallen sequentially, and it will likely continue to do so in the quarters to come. In the most recent quarter, PCs accounted for less than one-fourth of Hulu’s digital streaming, down from 41% the same time last year. Mobile is holding steady. Mobile devices accounted for 17% of Hulu’s streams in the most recent quarter, which held steady from Q3 2014. This share is unlikely to remain flat, as greater phablet adoption in the US, among other factors, helps drive mobile video consumption. Hulu ascertains that mobile’s stagnant share, combined with the drop in PC viewing, points to a growing trend of living room streaming habits. When content is streamed to a large screen, viewers tend to watch with friends and family; OTT devices average 1.4 viewers per stream, and for certain programming, the "co-viewing" factor, as Hulu calls it, can reach an average of two viewers per stream." Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/theres-a-massive-shift-in-the-way-people-are-watching-tv-2015-6#ixzz3eUiOQYU3   Stephen

Feeling the Internet: How people with visual disabilities surf the web http://www.hopesandfears.com/hopes/future/technology/215239-internet-blind-braille "Can you imagine using a computer without a monitor? How would you know where to click, where to type or what images your screen should be showing? These challenges are very real for people who are blind and visually impaired. Most of us have never considered how we would use a computer, let alone the internet without sight. Though the early internet consisted mostly of text-based BB boards and emails, as the web sped up, images, videos and graphics came to dominate its design. Though the visually impaired are cut off from much of what we think of as the internet, they can, and do, use it in as many ways as everyone else. Computers can be challenging without sight, but the solutions that have emerged are ingenious, and constantly evolving. Some recent advancements in tech, such as smartphones, wearables and connected products, may even come to benefit visually impaired people more than the sighted. But without help from the sighted, many of the functions we enjoy online will remain inaccessible to the visually impaired. The first step to change that is understanding the challenges. Here’s a tour of a side of the web that sighted people can’t see, guided by those who know it best."   Stephen