I have intentionally avoided this blog for about 3 weeks.  I was on blog vacation.  Did a little travelling (that… was life altering, thank you very much), did a little learning (that.. was career changing), did a little house remodeling (that.. was a mess) and did a LOT of doing nothing in particular (that.. was […]

Seems as if everywhere one looks these days, people have some things to say about online learning. On one hand - and I say this as someone who has been around the online learning block a time or two -...

Woke up this morning just after 3am, as usual, since my body clock is in "school mode" (and has been for a while.) But instead of getting up, this time, I went back to sleep. Last night, our district announced we would be closed through September 21st to get rid of mold recently discovered in our school. Well, that’s just awesome. Talk about a punch to the gut. I am not in the military but I know folks that are. This must be something like how "hurry up and wait" feels (see above, image credit: TMORT PHOTODESIGN.) You’re packed. You’re ready. Physically, emotionally and psychologically. But you’ve gotta wait. So the question becomes, how can I use this situation to my advantage and end up even better prepared when school starts? Being a "relentless optimist" (think "Christmas Pony"), I see multiple silver linings here: I have more time to plan my lessons. I got GREAT feedback from my colleagues during our in-service last week and am already brainstorming with a few people. I have more time to finish building my Learning Management System (LMS). We’re going with Symabloo EDU for K-1 and Haiku Learning for 2-3-4. My Donor’s Choose project "Newsroom Clocks" (which haven’t arrived yet) will now almost certainly be here before the first day of school. (Whether or not I can get into the classroom to install them is another matter; I can however design a nifty installation template in advance.) My student work tables and chairs, also enroute, are sure to be on campus by then. At that point, my classroom will be complete. Our Samsung Chromebook Series 5 550s were due to arrive last Friday; though we have a set of Series 5 500s in my room ready to go right now, it would be nice to have the machines we’ll actually be using in class available on the first day. (The 500s are for our elementary Chromebook cart.) And, in the non-instructional department, it looks like I’m going to have time to attend the Academy of Education Arts and Sciences "Bammy Awards" in D.C. after all. (I’m honored to be a member of the Council of Peers for this inaugural event.) Also in the non-instructional department, I can finish work on the school website and a few other web-based school tools I’ve somehow gotten responsibility for over the years. And finally, yes, I actually plan to enjoy some TIME OFF with my family. To be sure, the thought of having to make up OVER TWO WEEKS of lost time by the end of next year isn’t very pleasant. But, I have been known to say, "I’d rather be in school anyway." Guess I should be more careful what I wish for. Gotta run! I’ve got work to do today…

I’ve worked with numerous design and development teams over the years and one noticeable characteristic of these teams was their creativity. They spent lots of productive time creating games, matching themes to content, brainstorming interactions and developing suspenseful scenarios. Yet among some learner groups, online learning has a reputation for being boring and dull. Where’s the disconnect? Some design/development teams aren’t encouraged to be creative in the workplace. This can happen for a variety of reasons. Perhaps they don’t have the budget or time to explore new ideas. Some clients and SMEs get nervous at the thought of doing anything novel; they won’t approve of a creative treatment because of organizational policies or fear of how it will be perceived. Other times a team may lack creative insight simply because they are inexperienced. This got me thinking once again about how creativity is often stifled in our educational system. And I remembered a humorous presentation about this by Sir Ken Robinson. See the video below. The obvious extrapolation here is to consider how we can make the workplace more conducive to creativity, even in tough economic times. Some ways your workplace can facilitate creative thinking are to implement a few ideas from this list: Train a few staff members in the art of facilitating brainstorming sessions Hold productive brainstorming meetings Encourage people from different disciplines to converse and share Implement a social media technology that facilitates informal learning Value learning from disciplines outside of one’s expertise Provide ways for staff to decompress and play Promote visual thinking and problem-solving Place less emphasis on organizational hierarchies so employees feel free to innovate and take risks Provide opportunities for employees to see what’s going on outside of their universe, by bringing in speakers, participating in webinars and attending conferences (particularly ones in different fields) Withhold judging new ideas before they are thought through Let the magic shine through If this interests you, then watch this next video of Tim Brown, from the design firm IDEO, as he talks about how the process of play can enhance creativity. Online learning is at an exciting moment of convergence. This is the time for exploration, imagination and open minds. How can creativity can be enhanced at work? As always, your comments are welcome and encouraged. Somewhat related articles: 10 Book Recommendations From Varied Fields (reading books from other fields can enhance creativity) Review: The Back of the Napkin (visual thinking helps creativity) Post from: The eLearning CoachHow creative is your environment? Tweet This! Share this on Facebook Share this on Linkedin Buzz up! Share this on del.icio.us Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon

IMHO, Online learning is one of the best things to happen to higher education in a long time. Also - and this is my provocative poke for the day - IMHO for-profit universities may be one of the best thing...

First day of school! More to come!

Ok, so the dust is beginning to settle a bit.  Week 3 under our belts and among fun things that happened since the first day of school include a total reshuffling of my community team which, on the back end of it all now, I’m the new leader for my community.  I have no idea […]

As a learning professional, it’s important to stay fresh and current. You need to feel motivated and even fascinated with your work. One way to do this is to delve into how people learn and how the brain works. This can give you the deep insights required to understand learners and to create worthwhile learning experiences. With this in mind, here are a few sites that feature cognitive psychology podcasts, research, articles and news. I’m even sneaking in a few brain science sites for the true believers. And just in case you’re new to this field, cognitive psychology is the discipline that examines our mental processes, such as attention, perception, memory and learning. Cognitive psychology uses an information-processing model to explain mental operations in computational terms. Your resources are below. Enjoy. Brain Science Podcast Dr. Ginger Campbell produces these podcasts, featuring interviews with authors and scientists on popular brain topics. They share recent discoveries in neuroscience and focus on giving listeners insights into what makes us human. Cognitive Daily Although the Cognitive Daily stopped publishing new articles in January 2010, it has 5 years worth of archives that are worth browsing. Nearly every day for five years, Dave and Greta Munger reported on interesting developments in cognition. You can also check out their Cognitive Monthly page, where they sell a few mini e-books. Cognitive Science Blog You’ll never guess the focus of this blog.  M.G. Salvidar, a doctoral student in the above science, does a good job of culling informative and relevant articles at his site. He provides a short summary and a link to the original. A headline like this is sure to catch your attention, "Researchers find the remediation rewires learners’ brains." I’d call this site simple to use and effective. MIT Open Courseware: Brain and Cognitive Sciences You may be familiar with MITs Online Courseware as it’s been mentioned in the press for years. Although some of their courses only include the syllabus and lecture notes, many of the Brain and Cognitive Science lectures are recorded as audio files. Listen to these at the gym for a cerebral workout. Psych Files Michael Brit, Ph.D., has over 100 podcasts and videos on psychology related topics. You can download his podcasts on this site or through iTunes. He covers topics like Critical Thinking, Instructional Tools, Learning/Memory and Emotion. An excellent feature is the mindmap of his podcast topics. I’d listen just for this reason alone! Science Daily: Mind and Brain Science Daily is an aggregate site with the latest science research news, articles, videos and book recommendations. It has an entire section on Mind and Brain with loads of articles. In particular, check out the Neuroscience category and Educational Psychology topic (within the Psychology category). Do you have any cognitive or brain science resources you can share? If so, tell us in the Comments below. Somewhat Related Articles: 10 Ways to Learn in 2010 If you liked this article, then please share it on the sites below. Post from: The eLearning CoachCognitive Psychology Anyone? Tweet This! Share this on Facebook Share this on Linkedin Buzz up! Share this on del.icio.us Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon

Originally posted on Hooked On Innovation:The Past mixing with the Future #selfie A new school year always brings about new ideas and hopeful ambition for teachers. However, it’s almost 2015.  Gone are the days when we can use the excuse that "we don’t do technology".  Part of being a teacher in the 21st century…

Practitioners, analysts, proponents and critics of this thing we do with learning and technology solutions will frequently use all of these terms interchangeably to describe the discipline of using technology for connecting learners with learners, teachers, content, experts and experience....