Social Media is hot, but it is not clear how well we are measuring social media. A couple of years ago I wrote an article for the eLearning Guild about measuring social media. But it's not clear that we've got this nailed yet. With this worry in mind, I've created a research survey to begin a process to see how best social-media (of the kind we might use to bolster workplace learning-and-performance) can be measured. Here's the survey link. Please take the survey yourself. You don't have to be an expert to take it. Here's my thinking so far on this. Please send wisdom if I've missed something. We can think about measuring social media the same way we measure any learning intervention. We can also create a list of all the proposed benefits for social media, and the proposed costs, and all the proposed harms, and we can see how people are measuring these now. The survey will help us with this second approach. Note: Survey results will be made available for free. If you take the survey, you'll get early releases of the survey results and recommendations. Also, this is not the kind of survey that needs good representative sampling, so feel free to share this far and wide. Here is the direct link to the survey:   http://tinyurl.com/4tlslol Here is the direct link to this blog post:   http://tinyurl.com/465ekpa

So in the words of my most favorite middle school Geeky Girl, Simply Aubree: Ladies and gentlemen, please direct your attention to this screen—even though you’re probably already looking at it! The BAMS Tech Club recently entered a recycling video contest, and we wanted all of you to see the finished product. So, without further ado, please enjoy our video entitled "The Monster Trash", written and produced by Aubree, Kermit, Alex, Blake, Corey and Quintin with a little help from our friends, Ms. Forshey and Mr. Trexler. So, is that video just awesome or what? My most favorite parts are those in which these trashy students used stop animation to create various scenes! And yes—doing so was their idea! I love, love the skills my Geek Squad continues to learn and/or hone as they create these kinds of projects! Can you say rigor, relevant and real-world? Does it really get much better than that? I don’t think so! Stay tuned for the results of the contest which will be revealed on April 26, Earth Day…

A Brief History of Instructional Design Infographic Instructional design has come a long way. From ‘training’, which was merely considered a passive function in an organization, the emphasis has now shifted towards making learning and talent development an integral part of corporate culture. The Brief History of Instructional Design Infographic provides a brief history of how instructional design has changed over the years to take its present shape. Origins Instructional design first began during the World War II when a large number of psychologists and educationists were summoned to develop training materials and to apply their knowledge of evaluation. The Programmed Instruction Movement - Mid-1950s to Mid-1960s 1954 - B.F. Skinner through his article "The Science of Learning and the Art of Teaching" pioneers the concept of programmed instructional materials. 1956 - Bloomberg Benjamin leads the development of the "Taxonomy of Educational Objectives" identifying 3 principal domains of learning. Early 1960s - Robert F. Mager emphasizes the importance of desired behavior, learning condition and assessment in writing learning objectives. The Criterion-Referenced Testing Movement - Early 1960s In 1962, Robert Glaser coins the term "criterion-referenced measures" to assess students’ entry-level behavior & post-training competency. The Conditions of Learning - 1965 In 1965, Robert Gagne identifies the 9 events of instruction highlighting some very important areas in learning hierarchies and hierarchical analysis. A Rise of Interest in the Systems Approach - 1970s A number of models based on information-processing- approach are developed across military, academia and organizations, many of which use media to improve the quality of instruction. The Birth of eLearning - 1980s Methods are evaluated as to how the PC could be used in an academic and interactive context as PLATO, the first generalized computer assisted instruction system allows computers to be integrated into instruction. Concurrently, there is also a rising interest in the principles of cognitive psychology. A Rising Interest in Constructivism and the Importance of Performance -1990s The constructivist theory underlines the importance of "authentic" learning tasks that replicate the actual complexity of the real world environment of traineesas opposed to the theoretical learning approach which preceded it. The Rise of Online Learning - 2000s Deeper internet penetration, better bandwidths and rise of the social media makes online learning a viable, economical & effective medium. 2010 and beyond Now is the age of learning technology in all its form - social, mobile and personalized. Big data and analytics are shaping the way how learning is tailored to the needs and preferences of each learner. The principles of instruction are no doubt, rooted in years of research in ID, but learning is now designed to be more contextual, fluid and learner-friendly. Social Mobile Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) technologies are at the heart of this era of learning. Read also: Instructional Design Models and Theories Via: blog.originlearning.comThe post A Brief History of Instructional Design Infographic appeared first on e-Learning Infographics.

I've been sharing the ideas behind the learning and forgetting curves for years. In this new video, I go into depth about the powerful implications of these curves. On Vimeo On YouTube    

Whether you’re in need of some Easter lessons with a spiritual nature or maybe you’re an educator just looking for some seasonal fun. Regardless of your interest—puzzles, scavenger hunts, videos or poetry activities, you’re going to love bringing this holiday into your classroom with this updated collection of Easter Resources: » Harry Kindergarten: Check out this newly released video entitled "The Bunny Goes Hop", an Easter pattern song for kids, produced by my colleague, Pete Harry. (For additional educational videos and songs, visit the Harry Kindergarten YouTube channel and/or website.) » Easter Teaching Resources is a Pinterest board filled with arts and crafts ideas, educational activities, and printables to help you celebrate Easter in the classroom. The abcteach Easter category page features hundreds of fun, educational activities for classroom or home use, including coloring pages, crafts, board games, readings, puzzles, interactives, and much more! » Teaching Ideas offers an extensive range of ideas and resources to teach and learn about Easter—poems, stories, puzzles, curricular activities, images, banners, fonts, videos and Easter Egg Hunts. » Poetry activities, interactive games, scavenger hunts, sequencing cards, puzzles, a variety templates and more await you on TES Connect—the largest teacher network in the world. » Larry Ferlazzo’s Web Site of the Day is another site packed with online resources for teaching and learning about Easter and Passover. A few that stood out for me include a variety of Easter videos and articles from the History Channel, the Easter Bunny Rap, How Easter Works and Easter by the Numbers—a fun infographic about this holiday. » Education World contains resources for teaching science, graphing and creative writing that fit perfectly for Easter fun and learning. Classroom Connection: Use these themed lesson plans, activities and materials to teach students about Easter and Passover.

Deeper Learning for Alegbraic Understanding Infographic The Deeper Learning for Alegbraic Understanding Infographic covers the six competencies of Deeper Learning and shares strategies for using these competencies to make learning algebra more empowering, effective, and meaningful. Providing the right conditions for learning, every student can successfully understand algebra. What are these ideal conditions? They involve students thinking critically, working collaboratively, communicating their ideas effectively, and directing their own learning as they understand and master core academic content. Deeper Learning for Algebraic understanding can help provide the right learning conditions. Deeper Learning isn’t simply a checklist; it is a set of interrelated competencies that students need in order to develop a true understanding of algebra content and processes that they can use to apply their knowledge to new and unfamiliar challenges in the classroom, in life, and at work. When students are engaged in Deeper Learning, algebraic reasoning can be developed at any age. The possibilities and opportunities provided by blended learning models using appropriate digital tools and adaptive capabilities can support differentiation, acceleration, and remediation to enable student understanding. For teachers with a large number of students, adaptive learning technologies extend the capacity to individualize lessons and enhance student learning. Using the principles of Deeper Learning both in the classroom and with digital technology, educators can help elementary, middle, and high school students overcome barriers to learning algebra. For more information download the latest white paper on Algebra Readiness through Deeper Learning in Middle School: Empowering Students and Teachers to Achieve with Confidence.   The post Deeper Learning for Alegbraic Understanding Infographic appeared first on e-Learning Infographics.

My Dell Vostro laptop (after about 2 years of use) regularly runs 2 to 2.5 hours on its battery. It is a powerful laptop. I bought the Lenmar external battery to help me work on long-distance flights and to take to coffee shops, meetings, etc. (where I'm not sure I'll be able to find an electric outlet). I used the battery only once on a 5 to 5.5 hour flight from San Diego to Boston. And it worked great (so far) so I thought I'd tell you about it. I used my regular battery till I had about 20% charge left. I plugged the Lenmar into the place where my power-cord normally goes. It quickly (within about 30 minutes) boosted my battery capacity to about 98%--all the time I was still using my computer. I didn't have to reboot like I might have had to do if I was switching laptop batteries. I unplugged the Lenmar and continued to use my laptop and had about 50% left of it's capacity when the flight attendant told us to turn off all electronics. In other words, I probably had my computer on for about 5 hours, and it's likely it might have gone on for up to 5.5 to 6 hours.I don't know whether this Lenmar external battery will always perform this well, but so far, it's perfect for what I need it for. 1. It doubled my battery life. 2. It's about one-third to one-half the price of an extra computer battery. 3. It's reasonably small, a little smaller than an Ipad. 4. It didn't get hot (a little warm maybe). 5. It's easy to use. 6. It is better than carrying a second laptop battery because you don't have to shut down your computer to install the battery--you just plug it in. It is bigger than a regular laptop battery. 7. You can also charge your cell phone (I think at the same time, though I haven't tried that yet) 8. And it looks good too.In its first use, the Lenmar external battery appears to be a real find. I had no idea external portable batteries for laptops existed--and there seem to be only a few on the market that can handle laptops.

As Quincy Jones once remarked, "I’ve always thought that a big laugh is a really loud noise from the soul saying, "Ain’t that the truth." That said, Edu-fun Friday is a series devoted to adding some humor to the lives of teachers who visit this blog. After all, there’s nothing better than ending the week on a positive note! Plus, do we have the best topics to provide us with some comic relief or what? I have not yet experienced this type of student response, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of #time! Does cartoonist Mark Anderson create the best edtech laughs or what?

The Benefits of Out of School Math Programs Infographic Though slowly improving over time, the most recent national assessments indicate that about six out of every ten 4th and 8th grade students are still not working at grade level in mathematics. What can we do to accelerate the impact schools have on these rates of student proficiency? The Benefits of Out of School Math Programs Infographic features four out of school math programs that can help students connect to what is going on in the classroom and help students, especially those at risk, reach proficiency. Out of School Math Programs to Raise Achievement Districts, schools, and teachers taxed with too little time to effectively address the individual needs of all students during the school day can find ways to support the continued growth of each student and effectively close significant gaps by thinking differently about when and where learning happens. Children spend about 20 percent of their waking time annually in formal classroom education. Making use of some of the remaining 80 percent of their time by exploring and enhancing learning in out of school time (OST) settings can make a substantial difference in learner’s present achievement and future success. The Harvard Family Research Project’s review paper, The Federal Role in Out-of-School Learning: After-School, Summer Learning, and Family Involvement as Critical Learning Supports, notes "Educators, policymakers, and families increasingly agree: schools cannot do it alone. Children need multiple opportunities to learn and grow—at home, in school, and in the community." The same study cites reports such as Evaluation of Enhanced Academic Instruction in After-School Programs and the Study of Promising After-School Programs that show it’s possible to make significant gains in math test scores, particularly for low-income and minority students. OST Opportunities At Home: Ten years of research of over 100 studies shows that family involvement improves skills. After School: After-school math activities are of particular benefit to learners who are from low-income households. In the Summer: A 6-year study found that attendance in a summer math program resulted in a 20% improvement compared to students who did not attend. School and Community Partnerships: A study of 39 schools found that family and community involvement supports math proficiency. What’s essential to boosting achievement with OST programs? Connecting to what’s happening in the classroom. Research-based Best Practices for OST Programs Connect to grade-level benchmarks, standards, and the school-day curriculum to increase achievement. Develop thoughtful, fun, accessible activities. Survey and build on students’ interests. Motivate and engage all students to participate. Provide real-world activities that connect to the broader community. Provide effective tutoring and differentiated instruction for all skill levels. Integrate technology. Provide homework help. Provide staff training and professional development. Schools are using OST programs in blended models across the country with great success, many of them using DreamBox Learning Math. Want to get started or expand your own programs? Download the white paper Four OST Math Programs to Raise Achievement that provides more research, best practices, case studies, and funding resources you can use to deepen student understanding, improve confidence, and raise mathematics achievement. Via: www.dreambox.comThe post The Benefits of Out of School Math Programs Infographic appeared first on e-Learning Infographics.

To view this as a PDF, click here. ------------------------- To improve, we must know our biggest failings. In the training and development field, our five biggest failures are as follows: We forget to minimize forgetting and improve remembering. We don’t provide training follow-through. We don’t fully utilize the power of prompting mechanisms. We don’t fully leverage on-the-job learning. We measure so poorly that we don’t get good feedback to enable improvement. 1. Minimizing Forgetting, Improving Remembering It is not enough to help people understand new concepts or even to motivate them to utilize those concepts. If they don’t remember concepts when they encounter situations in which those concepts would be useful, then previous understanding and motivation is for naught. There are three powerful mechanisms that support long-term remembering, (a) aligning the learning and performance contexts, (b) providing retrieval practice, and (c) utilizing spaced repetitions. Most of our learning interventions do a poor job of providing these mechanisms—resulting in training that may create awareness but doesn’t support remembering or performance improvement. We need to give our learners more realistic practice using scenarios and simulations. We also need to space repetitions of learning over time—much more than we do now. Instead of trying to teach everything at a basic awareness level, we need to cover less content—but not just present it—instead giving our learners opportunities for deliberate practice. 2. Training Follow-Through Providing training but no effort to ensure that learners will apply what they’ve learned is the height of professional malpractice. If we assume that learners remember what they’ve learned (which as we just saw is not a given), learners still must (a) remain motivated to apply what they’ve learned, (b) feel that there is some benefit to applying the learning, (c) have the resources and time to put their learning into practice, (d) get feedback and guidance to improve their performance, and (e) be prepared to overcome obstacles and frustrations in applying the learning. Note how the first two failures create an additive effect—both significantly lessen the likelihood of on-the-job application of the learning. If learners don’t remember, they’re not going to apply what they’ve learned. If learners don’t receive after-training follow-through support, they are unlikely to provide the continuous and persistent focus needed to apply the learning in a way that creates sustainable success. To reach a credible level of training follow-through we need to (a) engage our learners managers to enlist their support, (b) provide reminders to apply the learning, (c) provide relearning opportunities for that which has been forgotten, (d) enable additional learning to improve and elaborate on the performance, (e) ensure our learners have the resources and time they need to apply the learning and integrate it into their behavioral repertoire, (f) provide coaching support to guide the learning-and-performance process, (g) ensure the learners are incentivized either tangibly with money or perks or intrinsically by aligning efforts with personal values and sense-of-identity, and (h) encourage persistence even in the face of obstacles and frustration. 3. Prompting Mechanisms Prompting mechanisms rely on one particularly powerful foible of the human cognitive architecture—that our working memories are triggered easily by environmental stimuli. Prompting mechanisms include things like job aids, performance support tools, signage, intuitive cues in our tools and equipment, and some forms of management oversight. They work because they prompt certain strands of thinking, and thus performance. For example, a job aid that lists 5 key interview goals, 10 key interview questions and their rationales automatically triggers in the interviewer a certain way of thinking about interviewing. For example, an interview template might remind its user that interviews are more telling if interviewees are asked to perform a work task or describe how they would perform a work task. Without such a prompt, the interviewer might focus only on how well they think the person would fit into the work culture, etc. While we are aware of these prompting mechanisms, we are not aggressive enough in their use. If we utilized prompting mechanisms more often with our training and more often as a replacement for training, we’d create better outcomes. If we went looking for grassroots prompting mechanisms already being used and helped spread their use, we’d be more effective. If we evaluated learning facilitators on their use of prompting mechanisms, we’d be more likely to encourage the use of prompting mechanisms. If we asked learners in training to practice with prompting mechanisms, we’d see more being used on the job—and our learners would remember more of what they learned. 4. On-the-Job Learning We as learning professionals tend to focus almost exclusively on the creation and delivery of training interventions even when we know that our learners are doing a great deal of their learning on the job without any training. Employees learn through trial-and-practice, getting help from others, through social media, by reading task instructions, by using help systems, and so forth. While we have much less direct influence on on-the-job learning than on training, we do have some influence and we ought to use it if we are serious about getting results. Often the biggest impact we can have is by accessing managers and encouraging them to actively promote learning. Managers can improve learning in their direct reports by (a) making it a point to monitor their employees’ competencies and guide them toward learning opportunities, (b) being approachable and available for questions and advice, (c) creating a culture of learning and information sharing, (d) encouraging data-driven decision-making instead of opinion-driven decision-making, (e) utilizing an experimental mindset, for example by encourage pilot-testing and rapid prototyping, and (f) giving direct reports time for learning and exploration. We can also have an influence on on-the-job learning by creating and maintaining social-media mechanisms that can be tailored to particular needs. For example, wikis can be used by project teams to get input from various parties and blogs can be used by senior folks to lay out a compelling vision. We can encourage better on-the-job learning by improving people’s ability to coach their fellow employees. Too often people asked to coach others do a poor job because they just don’t know what good coaching looks like. We can utilize diagnostic tools to help people in the organization see things about themselves—or about the organization—that they might not otherwise see. For example, if the organization engages in an effort to improve coaching ability, those being coached can be asked to take a short diagnostic survey on how well their coach is doing in coaching them. If an organization wants to change its culture to one that is more flexible and creative, we can utilize a diagnostic to track progress. We can also use a diagnostic to get the organization talking about specifics—so that employees know what behaviors represent the past culture and which represent the new culture. There are, of course, other things we can do to directly influence on-the-job learning. In addition, we can change our brand by stopping our tendency to be order takers for training. By changing the way we define our role, we can encourage the business side to be fuller partners in organizational learning. 5. Measurement and Feedback to Spur Improvement We as learning professionals suck at measurement, creating a vacuum of information that pushes us to make poor decision after poor decision in our learning designs. By only seeking learner opinions about the learning, we encourage a bias toward entertainment and engagement and away from content validity, remembering, and application. By measuring only when the learners are in the training context, we don’t learn whether the learning intervention would generate remembering in a work context that is not like the training situation. By measuring only during the learning event, we measure the learning intervention’s ability to create understanding, but we do not measure the learning intervention’s ability to support long-term remembering. We also fail to examine whether any training follow-through is utilized. By utilizing only low-level questions in our tests of learning, we fail to measure the ability of our learners to make decisions that relate to workplace performance. In short, we don’t get the feedback we need to make good learning decisions. Maintaining ourselves in a state of permanent darkness, we continue to make terrible decisions in regard to learning design, development, and deployment. We design primarily for engagement and understanding, while ignoring remembering, motivation, and application. We hire and promote trainers and training companies who get great ratings but who don’t help learners remember or apply what they’ve learned. Because our measurement is focused only on training, we fail to engage our business partners to ensure that they are adequately supporting learning application—we also never learn what obstacles and leverage points face our learners when they go to apply the learning in their jobs. We build e-learning programs that encourage learners to focus on low-level trivia instead of focusing on the main points. By abstaining from diagnostics, we leave employees blind to conditions from which they might benefit. Poor measurement enables the first four failures. The bottom line on measurement is that measurement should provide us with valid feedback. Unfortunately, because we haven’t taken the human learning system into account in our measurement designs—and in our measurement models—we are getting biased information and drawing inappropriate conclusions from poor data. The Five Failures are Fixable We as learning professionals—as a whole—though working honorably and with good intentions, are too often failing to maximize our impact. Our job is work-performance improvement. We can start by improving our own work performance. But instead of focusing on everything—which will certainly overwhelm us—we should focus on the things that really matter. We should focus on our five failures. Instead of following willy-nilly prescriptions that pop like fads from a popcorn popper—we should focus on five things that are fundamental—and inspired by the learning research. We should focus on the five failures. In this brief article, I have provided strong hints about how to rethink and redirect each of the five failures. While such a brief synopsis is certainly not sufficient to enable you to completely redesign your learning efforts, it should, I hope, motivate you to get started. ------------------------- To view this as a PDF, click here.  

OK, so who can’t identify with the modern social media craze known as the selfie? Yep, taking self-indulgent pictures has become so popular that the term selfie was even officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary last year.  These types of photos seem harmless enough, right? After all, what’s wrong with sharing a little love of one’s self? Well, before you (or your students) jump on the latest bandwagon and potentially expose yourself to approximately 2.4 trillion Internet users, think about this: Just because you can snap a selfie, does it mean you should? Check out the infographic shown below for some advice. Classroom Connection: Share this flowchart with students to encourage them to think before they snap and click! A shout-out to AlliWorthington.com for creating and sharing this very useful and relevant infographic!

Despite decades of advocacy by our best trade associations, our wisest gurus, and our most practical researchers, most organizations today still rely on training courses that have little impact in promoting on-the-job performance. As I mentioned in a recent article, we as learning professionals continue to fail in five major ways. You can access that article by clicking here. I used to think that this was just a failure of knowledge, but in most of the organizations in which I've consulted, there are at least a few learning-and-performance professionals who understand that training alone is not enough. Part of the problem is the dead weight of tradition--the "old normal" continues to blind us to new possibilities. The enlightened few have a hard time pushing back against the gravitational pull of this mass hypnosis. I recently had a new insight--a way of looking at this problem that I think might enable organizations to break out of their bad habits. The solution is that we have to gain control of the leverage points we have to push for change. We have to change the levers that warp and control our thinking. The big lever is learning measurement. I've been pushing this for years as our most important leverage point. If we measured better, we'd get better feedback, which would push us to create better learning interventions. But learning measurement isn't our only lever and changing your learning measurement practices is not always easy politically. Beside learning measurement, I've compiled a whole list of other leverage points that  really matter. In fact, it was only recently that I had this incredible insight (one I maybe should have had 10 years ago), that we ought to figure out all the levers we have at our disposal and change them to help push our organizations toward a performance orientation. I'd like to reveal one of those levers today. One of the things we do in our organizations is review our training courses from time to time--either intentionally or by osmosis and feeling. Well, instead of using the wrong metrics, why not use methods that we know--based on our understanding of learning-and-performance--are likely to be good indicators of whether our training course will support actual on-the-job performance. The Course Review Template is something that can be used on any training course--classroom training or e-learning.It includes a set of questions that are indicators of how performance-based your training course is. Each rubric in this tool is inspired by research or proven practices which I've learned in my 25+ years in the workplace learning field.  I should give you a warning. You're unlikely to be happy with what you find. If I bet each of you one dollar for each training course of yours that doesn't support performance, I'd be a millionaire overnight. But to be fair, I'm going to let you try out the tool yourself. It's free. Use it. And, let me know how your training courses rate. Are they likely to improve on-the-job performance or not? Click to Download the Course Review Template After you review a course, post your results at the following link, and when we get enough responses, we'll let you compare your results to others. Click to Post Your Course Review Results Maybe I'm having a momentary bout of delusional cognition, but I'm thinking right now that this simple Course Review Template might just revolutionize our ability to simply review our courses to see how performance focused they are. Such a grandiose statement will provoke eye rolls in some, so let me stipulate a few things. First, this is a first draft, so the Course Review Template is going to be imminently improveable. Second, the Course Review Template is NOT a precision instrument. It is not psychometrically derived, the numbers it assigns to each rubric are best guesses, and there was no super-committee here--just me. Third, the rubrics themselves are subject to interpretation. Instead of overcomplicating the form and making it unusable, I decided to keep it simple and make it less precise. Finally, course reviews are just one of the levers you'll need to completely transition from a course-focus to a performance-focus. The bottom line is that we have to try some innovate new things to push our organizations to a performance focus. The old ways have not worked. The Course Review Template--or something like it--is worth a try. And seriously, I think it could revolutionize the way your organization views its training courses.  

Debunking Common Myths About Virtual Schools Infographic While online and virtual schools are becoming more mainstream the misconceptions surrounding them are still at large. The truth is that quality virtual school programs are evolving and adapting to the needs of a digital society in a way that many traditional brick and mortar schools aren’t. The Debunking Common Myths About Virtual Schools Infographic shows that when education is no longer confined to a desk, classroom, or building the possibilities are endless. Myth: Virtual schools are only for "troubled" students. Truth: Online courses work well with all kinds of students. While online courses have been proven to work well with at-risk students in urban and rural areas, they work equally well for gifted students looking to get ahead, students looking to recover credits, and students who want to take an entire course load online. Myth: Students taking classes online are completely isolated. Truth: Students in quality virtual learning programs should never feel completely on their own. Teachers proactively communicate with students and online concept coaches are there to provide on-demand tutoring and concept demonstrations as needed. Myth: Students in virtual schools will lack communication skills. Truth: Online courses drive communication through a variety of mediums. Students can communicate through e-mails, group chats, forums, or discussion boards. These alternative means of communication are often ideal for introverted students who may feel hesitant to speak up in class, or "late learners" who need more time to develop their thoughts. Myth: Online courses are all the same/not challenging/boring. Truth: Nothing could be further from the truth. A good virtual school program is so much more than a textbook on a screen. Quality learning providers are offering courses with on-screen teachers and interactive, multimedia instruction that utilizes graphics, simulations, and props. Assessments are used to collect data on exactly where students are struggling or excelling so instruction can be differentiated accordingly. Often times, technology can help make connections between instruction and real life situations to drive deeper understanding in a way that traditional classroom settings can’t. Via: www.wherelearningclicks.comThe post Debunking Common Myths About Virtual Schools Infographic appeared first on e-Learning Infographics.

I’m typically not the self-promoting type, especially because I do not write this blog for any other reason than it has become one of my passions of life. However, when this girl gets mentioned in an article with the likes of edtech rock stars Richard Byrne (Free Technology for Teachers), Vicky Davis (Cool Cat Teacher) and Two Guys and Some iPads (Brad Waid and Drew Minock), there is cause for a high five—or two! So, here’s the background: The other day I came across a tweet regarding 10 blogs every teacher should follow. Since I’m always looking for new and innovative ideas, I immediately clicked on the link. Little did I know that Edutech for Teachers would be on this recommended list! Yeah, really! Check out the article here. Not only should you add the other nine authors and their blogs to your personal learning network, but I highly suggest subscribing to eSchool News, a daily tech news and innovation publication that is jam packed with the latest and greatest edtech information about how educators are using technology to advance learning. Many thanks to Contributing Editor Sydney Mineer for the shout out! You really made my day!

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS - Do you use new technologies and social media to teach in higher education? Please consider submitting a chapter (by January 15, 2012) to the upcoming book "The Plugged-In Professor". Details, contact information and an easy-to-use template are all available at http://nova.wpunj.edu/wilderh/Plugged-in_Professor_Call.html.

This is going to be a great conference, first, because I'm doing a keynote address, second, because I'm also speaking on Situation-Based Learning Design, and third, because this conference will have some very unique elements. In addition to me, the conference highlights other experts in learning and simulation. Dr. Richard Saetti will speak on using cinema and simulations. Brandon Andrews and Dean Fouquet will talk about mobile simulations. Phil Clements will speak on the business ethics of immersive learning. Mike Graham and Ken Spero will discuss how to blend soft and hard skills in simulations. Ron Kantor will speak on social media and immersive learning. And the list goes on. This conference provides many unique advantages compared with other conferences, which aren't as focused on the development of simulations and immersive-learning environments. First and foremost, the folks who are leading the discussions provide a blend of practical wisdom. These folks don’t just talk about immersive learning; they’ve actually built simulations that work. The conference is designed to have two tracks, one more conceptual—to ensure that we learn the right mental models about simulation design and delivery—and one more focused on the how-to’s of authoring simulations—to help us understand the nuts and bolts of how to actually build simulations that work.The conference is also going to provide a great opportunity for learning and networking, because it's going to be a small, intimate affair. If you want a chance to hob-nob with learning and simulation experts, here is your chance. The conference is sponsored by NexLearn, creators of SimWriter (a simulation authoring tool). All conference attendees will get a copy of SimWriter Simplicity--so even folks new to simulation authoring can build their own simulations. EARLY-BIRD SPECIAL Ends Shortly in about a week. To check it out or to register, click here.

Effective Use of Instagram in the Classroom Infographic It has been long since social media had made its way to classroom and been successfully influenced education to a good extent. Use of Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest have already reformed education and there are plenty of educators who batted for the use of social media in education as these media have introduced new learning activities in classroom. The Effective Use of Instagram in the Classroom Infographic shows how the popular social media, Instagram can be used as a learning tool in the classroom. One of the best ways to use Instagram in the classroom is to share various works of students, their creative artworks and let other students and their families see them. For this, you need to create a school community and make a private account for your school if you don’t want others to see your shares. Encourage your students to share photos related to their favorite subject. Math lovers can share any photo describing mathematical concepts like angles, parallel lines, etc. Similarly, students who love literature or language can share photos from fro their favorite books or characters. Let your students use their creativity and share with them photos that would prompt them to write essays or stories. Share a photo and ask them to compose a story as part of their weekly assignment. Use Instagram and reward a student once a month by featuring his/her works. This is a great way to encourage your students to carry on with their good work. Keep a track of student performance through their activities at the beginning and at the end of the year. Check out their shares and compare them to note their progress. There are sites like Prinstagr.am that offer low cost prints that you can use to see how your students have improved. Assign your students exciting projects like recording how a chemical compound changes color in Instagram or record the changes that occur when a plant unfurls. Create fun events! Ask your students to be a comic character for one day and share photos! View also: 26 Effective Ways to use Twitter for Teachers and Educators Infographic How Can Educators Use Pinterest infographic Via: www.fedena.comThe post Effective Use of Instagram in the Classroom Infographic appeared first on e-Learning Infographics.

The Neon Elephant Award 2011 went to a researcher whose work translates complicated research into instructional-design models with practical value. Click here to see who won... Click here to learn more about the Neon Elephant Award...

As Quincy Jones once remarked, "I’ve always thought that a big laugh is a really loud noise from the soul saying, "Ain’t that the truth." That said, Edu-fun Friday is a series devoted to adding some humor to the lives of teachers who visit this blog. After all, there’s nothing better than ending the week on a positive note! Plus, do we have the best topics to provide us with some comic relief or what? Raise your hand if you’ve ever had these thoughts before! Both of mine are up—ha, ha! A shout out to the Teaching Resources Facebook page for sharing this TGIF laugh! And kudos to cartoonist Mark Anderson for providing us with the laughter!

Who is better at crafting an instructional message about science, scientists or instructional designers? I say we instructional designers SHOULD be able to do a better job, so I'm encouraging YOU, my colleagues, to give Alan Alda's Flame Challenge a try. Here's Alda's challenge: "We’re asking scientists to answer the question - "What is a flame?" - in a way that an 11-year-old would find intelligible and maybe even fun." You can read the full challenge by clicking here. The deadline is April 2nd, so you better get moving!! To see what you're up against, consider the content, which you can find, for example, on Wikipedia, under the entry for flame. Some thoughts on how to be successful: Consider pairing with an actual scientist (it's not really us against the SME's!) Use adult learning principles, but not in the stupid, static, uncreative way most of us use them on adults, which is pretty ineffective for adults too. SMILE. Realize that if you really want to win, you may actually have to craft your piece in a way that won't really do all the things that we'd like to do as instructional designers. For example, where we know extra spaced practice would be good, those who judge the contest may not understand all that. Utilize multimedia and visually beautiful images. Utilize language that, like a flame, (a) illuminates, (b) produces emotional heat, (c) and mesmerizes attention. Good Luck Instructional-Design Team!!

Innovations in Reading Infographic The National Book Foundation is a non-profit organization with a mission to promote reading and great literature. Their team has published the Innovations in Reading Infographic which lists organizations that inspire people to read and engage new audiences with literature. The Innovations in Reading Infographic was prepared to support and promote the Innovations in Reading Prize. Every year, $10,000 is awarded to an organization or individual whose work is vital in promoting reading, through "vision, ingenuity, transformation, achievement & leadership." The $10,000 Winner of the 2015 Innovations in Reading Prize is Reach Incorporated, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit that hires struggling teen readers as reading tutors for elementary school students. Since 2009, The National Book Foundation’s Innovations in Reading Prize has honored 34 reading advocates who’ve made a vital difference worldwide. These honorees have a big impact! They have put over 1 million books in the hands of underserved communities, awarded over $1 million to education and literacy projects, and built over 100 new libraries in low-income neighborhoods. In particular: In just one year, My Own Book purchased more than 40,000 books for low-income third-graders. Readergirlz’ Operation Teen Book Drop donated over 30,000 new YA books to low-income teens. City National Bank’s Reading Is The Way Up® literacy Grants Program has awarded more than $800,000 to elementary, middle and high schools for creative literacy projects. In 2014 alone, 826 Valencia awarded $120,000 in scholarships to collegebound students in the Bay area. Honorees from all across the country 2015 Reach Incorporated (Winner), The African Poetry Book Fund (Honorable Mention), Call Me Ishmael (Honorable Mention), Lambda Literary (Honorable Mention), Motionpoems (Honorable Mention) 2014 Blue Star Families’ Books on Bases Books for Kids Chicago Books to Women in Prison HOPA Mountain’s Storymakers Program Las Comadres Para Las America 2013 City National Bank for Reading is the Way Up Little Free Libraries The Uni Project Uprise Books Projects Worldreader 2012 BookEnds Inger Upchurch/ Real Men Read Lilli Leight Literacy Chicago for Reading Against the Odds Street Books 2011 Burton Freeman/My Own Book Electric Literature Kore Press YARN 2010 826Valencia CellPoems Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop Mount Olive Baptist Church United Through Reading 2009 Fathers Bridging the Miles James Patterson’s ReadKiddoRead.com Maricopa County Library District Readergirlz Robert Wilder Interesting Facts Electric Literature’s website received over 2.9 million unique visits in just six months. James Patterson’s Read Kiddo Read website receives nearly 500K unique visits yearly and has over 150K Facebook fans. Worldreader Mobile provides e-books written in 44 languages to over a million readers in more than 89 countries. There are over 23,000 Little Free Libraries in more than 72 countries. Empowering the Populations That Need It Most Homeless Street Books, a bicycle-powered mobile library, has served more than 1,800 people living outside, providing them with more than 2,000 books. Lilli Leight’s "Giving Library" is located the Chapman Partnership’s Family Resource Center, which serves approximately 1,000 homeless children and their families each year. Military Over 1.5 million military service members and their children have participated in United Through Reading, a program which uses technology to help deployed service members read books to their kids back home. Books on Bases has held readings and provided books to nearly 120,000 military children worldwide. Prisoners Teen inmates who participate in Free Minds Book Club have a recidivism rate that is one third lower than the national average. Chicago Books to Women in Prison has donated more than 20,000 books to incarcerated women across the country. Youth Since 2011, The Uni Project has deployed 190 pop-up reading rooms in nearly 50 neighborhoods all across NYC. In Memphis, where nearly 50% of children live below the poverty line, Real Men Read volunteers have read books to over 6,000 toddlers. Via: www.nationalbook.orgThe post Innovations in Reading Infographic appeared first on e-Learning Infographics.

One shout out deserves another, right? Well, I think so anyway. So, here’s the situation… For the last few months a few of my very amazing Tech Club students—namely seventh graders Aubree and Quintin—have been submitting entries to the Flocabulary Week in Rap contest to try to win a shout out on their weekly current events video—one we share each Friday on our morning announcements program. And so… I’m guessing you probably know what comes next… Yep, you’re right! Quintin’s wildly imaginative essay and drawing about an original character won this week’s challenge to earn our middle school a super cool public acknowledgement that just rocks… Seriously! Check it out below—courtesy of a screencast created by Kermit, our go-to man of many talents. Take a look at Quintin’s winning submission located on the Flocabulary blog. This is what the folks at Flocabulary had to say about: "We were very impressed with Quintin’s creative entry, and it stood out to us as the clear winner this week." Is that way cool or what? Classroom Connection: For those of you who may not be familiar with Flocabulary, let me just say that you do not want to miss this fabulously engaging edtech resource. The site contains a library of hip hop songs, videos and exercises that can be utilized to engage and inspire students to learn a variety of concepts spanning the K-12 curriculum. Academic content areas include reading, writing, literature, vocabulary, grammar, science, math and social studies. Additionally, each Friday the folks at Flocabulary produce The Week in Rap, an awesome recap of the most noteworthy national and international current events stories that occurred throughout the previous week. But wait! There’s more! Flocabulary activities can assist teachers with mastering Common Core objectives in ELA and math. And their engaging material for social studies and science supports interdisciplinary literacy practice. Even if you’re not a fan of rap, this is the exception! Simply put: Flocabulary is a must-have resource for every teacher’s tech-box. Be sure to dial up this site sooner than later! Quintin and Aubree: I’m very proud of you and your accomplishments! Keep up the great work! ♥

My post on the Five Failures of Workplace Learning Professionals has been translated into French: FRENCH  Original in American English Many thanks to Frédéric Domon of Entreprise Collaborative. http://www.entreprisecollaborative.com/index.php/fr/articles/231-5-erreurs-de-la-formation-en-entreprise

The Work-Learning Research website is ranked as follows: #4 on Google #4 on Bing #7 on Yahoo When searching for "learning research." Interestingly, we hardly ever get paid to do research. Mostly we get paid to use research wisdom to make practical recommendations, for example in the following areas: Learning Design E-Learning Training Onboarding Safety Learning Evaluation Organizational Change Leadership Development Improving the Learning Department's Results Making Fundamental Change in Your Organization's Learning Practices Research for me is a labor of love, and also, a way to help clients cut through opinions and get to practical truths that will actually make a difference. But still, we are happy that the world-according-to-search-engines (WOTSE) values the research perspective we offer. And here's a secret. We don't pay any search-optimizer companies, nor do we do anything intentional to raise our search profile (who has time or money for that?). Must be our dance moves or something...