Welcome back!  Today we begin with a wonderful post from Dr. Jackie Gerstein at User Generated Education.  The article, "Teaching Ethics in the Age of Technology" discusses how ethical decision making should be on the list of 21st century skills that we teach our students, and on the interaction between technology and ethics.  It's an excellent article and well worth the read! Next up, as part of Getting Smart's "Smart Student Blogging Contest" which invites students to share lessons and learning experiences, a 6th grader named Isabella offers her thoughts on "Tech, Tools and Robotics."  Isabella discusses her experiences in the robotics club and how the lessons she's learned there have helped shape her education.  And, if you haven't check out the "Smart Student" series, it's great. EdTech Magazine has a collection of articles which cover the details of the Consortium for School Networking Conference: How do Big Data & Digital Learning Improve Ed? More information on eRate 2.0 Big Data's Big Impact on K-12 Leveraging Classroom Tech Assessment Readiness Made Easy Over at Edudemic, Katie Lepi has a great new article entitled, "It's Time to Start Teaching About Sustainable Technology."  The post focuses around an infographic which examines how technology is effecting our environment and how our technology recycling habits might need to be changed.  Definitely worth taking a look! Here are a few of the new resources & reviews from FT4T: Word Cloud Tools to Help Students Analyze Writing 7 Student Response Systems for All Devices Building Flipped Lessons with Assessment Tools Speech to Text & Text to Speech in your Browser Most Popular Posts of the Week Next up, iLearn technology has a new review of "Google Story Builder: Create a Video Story Google Style."  Google Story Builder is a new app that lets you build a video story "that looks like it is being typed live between two collaborators in a Google doc."  It's a free, simple tool with a lot of fun classroom potential, so check out the review for more! Here are some of the great, new resources from ET&ML: Facts about How Tech is Transforming Education 2 Web Tools for Classroom Management Resources to Integrate Tech In Your Classroom 5 Tools to Help You Flip your Classroom Finally, edReach has a new collection of podcasts to peruse: EdAdmin: We Need School Leaders who can Code Flipped Learning: The Maker Movement EdAdmin: Practical Ideas for Promoting Creativity EdAdmin: On Formative Assessment EdCeptional: It's Just Tech! And that's all for the Roundup this week, thanks for reading!  We've also added some new reviews, so make sure to check those out as well!  And, to all my follow Jayhawks out there, I'll be mourning with you!  We'll close the Roundup today with a new infographic from Cisco (via Edudemic) on theImportance of Video in the Classroom.  See you next time! Courtesy of: Cisco

Welcome back to the Roundup!  Hopefully your team has made it to tonight's final four, or if not, that you're having a great weekend!  Today we begin at the EdTech Review with their brand new  "EdTech Implementation Guide - Part 1: Creating a Tech Integration Vision."  This is an excellent guide for districts, technology coordinators, or really anyone interested in integrating education technology. Speaking of edtech integration, Jennifer Zaino at EdTech Magazine has an excellent new article which discusses "Why Students and Staff Should Have a Voice in IT Decision-Making."  The post outlines why it is important for all educational stakeholders to have input into the technology purchasing and integration process.  And, from a personal perspective, I couldn't agree more with her advice. Here are a few of the great new resources from FT4T:Exploring History, Art, and World Wonders OnlineFree Google Apps that Bring Out the Best in an iPadVideo Guide to Using the Google Drive iPad AppLittle Bird Tales for Digital Storytelling in ElementaryThe Most Popular Posts of the Week Next up, Mary Jo Madda at EdSurge has a great new piece entitled, "No Silver Bullets: Hybrid High Learns a Tough Edtech Lesson."  The post tells the story of "how a school put teachers in charge of edtech and turned around a failing program."  It's a wonderful article about the challenges, successes, and possibilities for integrating technology and creating hybrid learning environments. Next let's head over to Mind/Shift for a new post by Shawn McCusker which asks, "How Are Students' Roles Changing in the New Economy of Information?"  In the article, McCusker discusses the skills students must possess to successfully navigate the enormous amount of information they are continually presented with.  It's an excellent and thought-provoking read, and definitely worth checking out. Here are a few of the new resources from ET&ML this week:Student Guide to Evaluating Web Content4 Free Educational iPad AppsEd Twitter Chats Teachers Should Know AboutEducational Web Resources for Teachers Next, Benjamin Herold at Education Week has a new article discussing how "Khan Academy, Open Ed. Providers Evolve with Common Core."  For anyone in one of the many, many states adopting the CCSS, and for those interested in blended or flipped learning, this will definitely come as great news.  The online content providers will be (and have already been) aligning their curriculum with the Common Core. Dawn Casey-Rowe at Edudemic has a great new post to help teachers integrate new tech on the cheap, "5 Ways To Do EdTech on a Shoestring Budget."  In the post, Casey-Rowe outlines five easy steps to bring technology into the classroom without spending boatloads of cash.  For anyone with limited resources, or just looking to save, check it out! Finally, here are some of the new podcasts from EdReach:EdGamer: Oculus FaceRiftTwo Guys Show: Aurasma's Head of OperationsaRTs Roundtable: Low Tech to High TechEdAdmin: Learning to Write Great SentencesiDig Video: Game of Thrones with Film Students And that's all for the Roundup this week!  I'll be out of town next week because... we finally made it to spring break!  Woo!  Have a great weekend and the Roundup will return in 2 weeks!  In the meantime, check out some of our new reviews and podcasts!  And if you had a chance to try out Been, and you're liking it, make sure to vote for them in the DEN March-Madness EdTech Championship! Thanks for reading!  -Mike

Welcome back!  After a week off for spring break, it's good to be back blogging! This week's Roundup begins at Edudemic with a new post from Katie Lepi entitled "How is Technology Affecting Kids?"  The post includes an excellent infographic and covers the latest statistics on students and technology use.  Next up, Katrina Schwartz at Mind/Shift asks "Are Existing Tech Tools Effective for Teachers and Students?"  The article centers around a new report released by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which surveyed 3,100 teachers and 1,250 students about effective digital instruction.  It's an excellent read (as is the entire report) for classroom teachers and administrators alike. Here are a few of the great resources from FT4T this week:Online 3D Models of MoleculesView Geolocated Historical ImageryTyping Speed Monitor Shows Typing Speed on WebSilk Adds Support for Drag and Drop EditingThe Most Popular Posts of the Week Tracy Clark at Getting Smart has some great ideas for digital spring cleaning in her new series "10 Spring Cleaning To Dos for Your Digital Adobe."  Clark walks us through updating passwords, automating digital tasks, cleaning out inboxes, and a whole lot more.  It's easy to forget the importance of keeping our digital lives organized and up to date, and Clark's post is a great and helpful reminder. Over at EdTech Magazine, D. Frank Smith has on new post on "Captivating Students with Perplexing Problems."  The article discusses a recent talk that math teacher Dan Meyer gave at the annual CUE (Computer-Using Educators) conference in March.  Meyer offers some excellent advice on engaging and captivating students, and how to use technology to help in that process. Here are some of the new resources from ET&ML:6 Apps for Better Interaction with Your Students5 Golden Rules for Kids' Online SafetyGreat Research Tools for Teachers & StudentsTools to Protect and Raise Digital Learners If you're not familiar with the recent movement to "flip" teacher professional development, and put more power in the hands of teachers as to what they focus on, it's pretty exciting.  On that note, TeachThought has a great new post which offers "8 Steps to Flipped Teacher Professional Development."  A few of the great podcasts from EdReach this week:The Myth of Digital Citizenship & Why We Need ItMacReach: MacReach Joins the LadyGeeksGoogle Educast: Google TakeoutTwo Guys Show: Integrating Augmented Reality in EdEdAdmin: Innovation, Google X, and Failing Finally, if you're feeling in supportive spirits today, we'll end with a new edtech kickstarter project called Crack the Books.  The project aims to offer digital textbooks at a variety of reading levels, so that students can all learn the same content, but at a reading level that is appropriate for them.  There is about 65 hours left on the project, so go check it out! That's it for the Roundup today!  Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your weekend!-Mike

Welcome back to the Roundup!  First, I'd like to wish all the moms out there (mine especially!) a very happy mother's day! Second, let's start this week's Roundup with Michele Molnar at Education Week who has a new report on "Google's 'Classroom' Learning Management System."  The application will allow teachers to easily collect assignments, provide feedback, make announcements, and more! Check it out! Jordan Shapiro at Mind/Shift has a new article entitled, "Math, Science, History: Games Break Boundaries Between Subjects."  In this post (which is part 3 of  Mind/Shift's Guide to Games & Learning) Shapiro discusses how teachers can use game-based lessons to embrace holistic learning and bring various content areas together, helping students to see beyond traditional subject-area boundaries.   Here are a few of the great resources from FT4T this week: Sugar and the Human Brain Free Webinars About Using Comics in Class 7 Tools for Creating Short Video Stories Develop & Test Rocket Designs on OpenRocket The Most Popular Posts of the Week Next up, Katie Lepi at Edudemic has an excellent infographic and analysis on "Keeping Students Safe Online." Lepi opens with some statistics (many of which are troubling) about students' behavior online.  She then goes on to offer strategies and tips for helping keep kids safe, and shares a great infographic as well. Here are a few new resources from this week on ET&ML 25 Ed Web Tools to Boost your Teaching 7 Tools for Assessment in a 1:1 Classroom Fundamental Teacher Apps The Four Pillars of Flipped Learning If you're a Twitter fan like myself, you've probably seen an occasional (or often) twitter Q&A discussion taking place. Maybe you've even wondered how you could launch your own Q&A session about a topic that you are interested in.  If that's the case, check out Lisa Nielsen's excellent new post on "How to Host a Q&A Twitter Chat." Finally, here a few of EdReach's new podcasts! Will Unstructured Play Turn Kids into LOtF? Google Educast: The Classroom w/ Eric Curts The Two Guys Show: Class Dojo Flipped Learning: Star Wars in the Classroom Teach Your Students to Make Documentaries The Lightning Round... Dom Norrish offers his predictions on How Will the Classroom of 2017 Look? Edudemic shares a new infographic on Slowing Down the Distracted Generation EdTech Review gives us 5 New Tech Tools that Teachers Must Explore Getting Smart covers the 12 Features of the Next-Gen Platform Finally, Edutopia discusses Tools for Professional Learning: Curate, Share, Connect And that does it for this week!  Again, a very happy mother's day to all you moms out there and thanks for reading!  We'll end today with a new infographic on how technology in education has changed over the past few years! Courtesy of: Cheapest Colleges

Welcome back!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend and a good start to the school year!  This week we'll begin at Getting Smart with a new post from Jim Schultz on "Three Ways Blended Learning Makes Teachers More Efficient."  Schultz opens with a basic definition of blended learning (in case you're unfamiliar) and then jumps into his reasons on why it makes for more effective classes. Next up, Nicole Blake Johnson at EdTech Magazine has a new post which outlines the Internet Keep Safe Coalition's"New Digital Literacy Program to Educate K-12 Students on Internet Safety." The post also discusses how the curriculum offers free lessons that align with Common Core Standards. If you're a computer literacy teacher, or looking for a good way to inform students about internet safety, this is a good place to start. A few of the great new resources from Free Tech for Teachers: Storyboard Creation for Classroom Cartoons Plickers 2.0 is Coming Soon! (Great tool) Project Based Assignments & Feedback w/ WeLearnedIt History fun with Fake Facebook and Fake SMS The Most Popular Posts of the Week Let's take it back to blended learning for a moment with a solid post from Reannah Sartoris at Edudemic. Sartoris' new post, "Top 5 Tips for a Blended Learning Classroom" offers some simple, easy-to-follow tips for teachers just beginning in a blended environment. Over at Inside Higher Ed, the team has just released a new 30-page booklet entitled "Online Education: More than MOOCs."  For those not familiar, a MOOC is a Massive Open Online Course, and has become one of the standards for online education.  If you're interested in online education, either K-12 or higher-ed, I definitely recommend reading thefree book. Here are a few of the new podcasts from the EdReach network Flipped Learning: Teacher Resources w/ Richard Byrne EdGamer: The Use of Gaming Data Google Educast: RISE Above It TheatreCast: Another Opening, Another School Year And finally, for those of us who love virtual reality, and the potential it has for the K-12 learning environment, Benjamin Herold at Education Week has an excellent new article entitled, "Oculus Rift Fueling New Vision for Virtual Reality in K-12." If you haven't heard of the Oculus Rift, it's pretty awesome, and offers some exciting possibilities for K-12 The Lightning Round... Teach Amazing gives us 5 Ways to Use Mind Mapping Apps in the Classroom Edudemic shares the Top Gamification Tools Worth Trying Educational Tech & Mobile Learning offers 2 Useful Videos on Flipped Learning Emerging Ed Tech covers 10 of the Most Engaging Uses of Instructional Technology The Ed Tech Review discusses 5 Ways for Teachers to Use Tumblr in their Classroom Finally, THE Journal provides 15 Apps Every Principal Should Have That's it for this week!  Thanks for stopping by and we'll have some new reviews up soon for you as well.  Enjoy the rest of the weekend and we'll close with a new interactive infographic from Open Colleges on the Uses of Google Glass in Education.  See you next time! How Google Glass might be used in Education - An infographic by the team at Open Colleges

Welcome back to the Roundup!  We've got a short one this week, so let's jump right in!  Up first, Holly Korbey at Mind/Shift explores an issue that's been on my own mind a lot lately,"Can Students 'Go Deep' With Digital  Reading?"  In the post, Korbey does an excellent job discussing the issue, incorporating recent research, and addressing both the advantages and disadvantages of digital reading. Up next, John Hardison at Getting Smart has prepared an absolutely awesome collection collection of tools and resources in "A Gold Mine of #EdTech Resources: Part II." Hardison covers Website Creation, Learning Management Systems, Apps, Blogging Platforms, and so much more.  There are tons of great tools here that are absolutely worth checking out.  And, if you're interested in part I of the series, you can find it here. And, of course, some great new resources from FT4T: MyStorybook - A Platform for Creating Picture Books Socratic Smackdown - A Game for Discussions Piano Maestro - Learn to Read Sheet Music The Most Popular Posts of the Week Finally (I told you it was a short one!) we head over to the Ed Tech Review for a nice collection of resources from Prasanna Bharti entitled, "Flip Your Classroom with These Great Online Tools." Bharti covers EdPuzzle, eduCanon, Blubbr, VideoNotes, and Teachem, all of which are good tools and worth exploring. The Lightning Round... EdTech Magazine gives us 5 Strategies to Reach At-Risk Students with Technology Edudemic covers 10 Ways to Use Instagram in Your Classroom Educational Tech & Mobile Learning discusses 30+ Features of the 21st Century Classroom Moving at the Speed of Creativity shares 70 iPad Apps for Elementary STEM Finally, T|H|E Journal covers6 Must-Have Apps for Tech Leaders And that does it for this week!  But before I go, I want to recommend checking out a new app that was designed by a student fresh out of high school!  It's calledSharedAgenda and it's basically a way for students and teachers to make the school agenda a social experience.  It's a great app and it's free, so check it out!  Thanks for reading and we'll end with a new infographic from Presence Learning which looks at some of the benefits of online therapy.  See you next time! Courtesy of: Presence Learning

With options for classroom technology growing every day, it has become an increasingly difficult challenge to find the best resource for your students’ learning needs.  Do you go with tablets? What about a "bring your own device" (BYOD) policy? Or maybe a laptop cart to share between classrooms?  While all these different resources have their advantages and disadvantages, one relative new-comer to the field is Google’s Chromebook, and it offers some serious potential at an incredibly reasonable price.  [Continue Reading]

And, we're back!  My apologies for the delay of Weekly Roundups lately! It's been a challenge balancing a new job with a new doctorate program and running the website, but I've got it sorted out now and the Roundups should be back to their typical weekend postings!  Hopefully.  To start with, remember that crazy robot Watson who beat everyone at Jeopardy? Well, s/he's back and ready to start teaching teachers! Read more over at EdTech Magazine! Next up, the staff at Edudemic has a nice"Guide to Creating Tech-Friendly Classroom Management Strategies."  With more and more technology creeping into today's classrooms, management of behavior is an incredibly important issue. Find out what edudemic suggests in their four-part guide. As always, Free Technology for Teachers has an excellent collection of new resources for class.  Here are a few: Three Online Tools for Building Review Games Poll Your Students with Google+ Polls The Best of the Web! Fall 2014 Edition Remind Launches Chrome App! Over at Getting Smart you'll be able to find a summary of the new report from the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL).  The article, entitled "iNACOL Report: Online Learning Can Close The Opportunity Gap," discusses how online learning allows for greater learning opportunities in schools and districts where particular courses and electives are unavailable.   For those of you who are fans of the Maker Movement like myself, Dr. Jackie Gerstein at User Generated Education has an excellent post on "The Mindset of the Maker Educator."  The article includes several graphics which outline a framework for maker education in the classroom and she also includes a presentation (below) on Maker Education. The Mindset of the Maker Educator from Jackie Gerstein Up next, Katrina Schwartz at Mind/Shift has a great post on "How Virtual Reality Meets Real Life Learning with Mobile Games."  Schwartz discusses how "situated games" which require students to interact with the real world, can be both motivating and educational.  It's an excellent article with tons of examples and definitely worth reading. Over at Mighty Skins (yes, the iphone/ipad/computer case makers), it turns out they have some great EdTech  blogs as well.  In their new post, "The Dawn of the Digital Classroom" the team discusses the emergence of digital learning.  But, more importantly, they share an excellent infographic on the prevelence of digital learning in education today. At Magoosh, Peter Poer has a new post which discusses how "Online Learning Can Work for Everyone."  Throughout the post, Poer outlines the benefits of blended learning, and the challenges to overcome when implementing blended learning in the classroom.  He concludes by discussing how students and teachers can overcome their fears of online learning. Finally, we've got a very special offer from Bettermarks for readers of the Roundup!  Anyone interested in a free access account just needs to click here and apply.  But wait, what is Bettermarks?  Bettermarks is an online learning service that offers adaptive math books, aligned with the common core standards, which adjust to your student's learning needs.  So definitely check them out and give it a free try! That's it for the Roundup this week!  Thanks for reading, and again, my apologies for the recent delay!  I hope everyone has an excellent weekend and I'll see you next time!

Welcome back to the Roundup!  I hope everyone is having a good weekend!  Today we'll begin over at ideas.ted.com (thanks to Mind/Shift for also sharing this) with an excellent post entitled,"There's No App for Good Teaching" by Laura Moorhead.  The post outlines "8 ways to think about tech in ways that actually improve the classroom" and it is a wonderful and insightful read. Next, John Hardison at Getting Smart has an excellent post on Project-Based learning, "Diving Into Project-Based Learning? Head These 7 Warnings."  He likens the experience of implementing PBL to skydiving, and includes lots of great resources, ideas, guides, video-cases, and suggestions for getting start with or improving your PBL practices.   If you've been using iPads in your classroom, you may have found yourself completely overwhelmed by the availability of resources and apps.  Educational Tech & Mobile Learning has organized Apple's most useful links on using iPads in the classroom to help you find some great new resources and ideas that you can put into practice. If you're thinking of going completely paperless in the classroom, or at least taking steps in that direction, you might be interested in Edudemic's new post, "The Ultimate Guide to the Paperless Classroom."  They provide an awesome list of resources, suggestions, websites, and examples to help you get started. As always, Free Tech for Teachers shares some wonderful new classroom resources: PicMonkey + Thinglink = Interactive Collages Handy Sheet of Google Search Modifiers PhotoMath Could Change Teaching Math The Most Popular Posts of the Week Finally, EdTech Magazine has a new article on Google's new classroom management application, "Changes to Google Classroom Give Teachers More Control."  The article outlines the changes that have been made to the app, based on teacher feedback.  If you haven't checked out the app yet, you can explore it here And that's it for the Roundup this week!  Thanks for reading, and if you missed the recent Bammy Awards for educators, you can find out more about who won here on their blog, or by checking out their video collection.   For now, we'll end with an enjoyable infographic fromTutoring Expert on "How The Greatest Minds in Mathematics Changed the World."  Have a great weekend! Courtesy of: Tutoring Expert

I'm currently working on a short publication and I could use the help of any K-12 teachers who use e-portfolios in their classroom.  Time commitment would be minimal, and you would be listed as one of the authors as well!  I would send you some questions, you would answer them, or write up a few paragraphs about how you're using the portfolios, and that's it!I'm hoping to find teachers outside of English and Computer Science, and teachers who are using tools other than Wix or Google Classroom, since I've already got those covered.  If you're interested, send me an email and I can tell you more about the project!In the meantime, have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!  And again, my apologies that the Roundup has been slower this semester, I've been focusing more on the reviews, so be sure to check those out, we've got a lot of new ones up!-Mike

Happy New Year from the Roundup!  We'll be back to our regular posting shortly (with a few changes to ring in the new year).  For now, I hope everyone's semester and year is off to a great start!  See you soon!-Mike

I hope everyone is having a great week!For those interested, my research team and I here at Indiana University are researching K-12 teacher global education practices. More specifically, we are interested in learning about how primary and secondary teachers are using technology in their instruction to address global and multicultural education. Additionally, we want to learn more about their global education experiences and how such experiences have shaped their teaching practices. Professional development related to global educational practices with technology is of particular interest.We have designed a survey geared for those involved in global education practices that takes approximately 15 minutes to complete (Here is the survey link).  If you have the time and the inclination, I'd really appreciate your support in getting as many teachers to take this survey as possible!Thanks so much for any help you might lend. Please let me know if you have any questions.Have a wonderful weekend!Mike

3rd Quote is a new service that aims to improve the process of technology purchasing in the K-12 setting.  Designed for administrators and technology coordinators, 3rd Quote can be used to find, research, buy, and review educational technology of all types.  It’s an excellent service and it’s completely free to educational institutions. Read more on our reviews page.

Propagate is a new service that allows teachers to embed vocabulary practice inside any digital text.  Right now the application is in Beta and is free for any teachers who are interested in trying it out.  If you’re using digital text in your class, regardless of the subject area, Propagate is an excellent way to help students acquire and practice new vocab.  Read more on our reviews page.

Happy New Year from the Roundup!  We'll be back to our regular posting shortly (with a few changes to ring in the new year).  For now, I hope everyone's semester and year is off to a great start!  See you soon!-Mike

The folks over at Dell were kind enough to send me one of their new, 13" Chromebooks for review from the education/classroom perspective.  If you’re not familiar with a Chromebook, imagine a laptop that runs on a web-based Google operating system, instead of the traditional Windows or Mac operating system.  You can find out more about the new Chromebook on our Review's page. 

myON is an online, interactive, digital library with over 10,000 books for pre-K to 12th grade students.  Teachers can use myON to assign books, encourage reading, and assess student growth.  Plus, students can find books based on their own personal interests and ability levels, and they have a large collection of Spanish reading materials as well. You can find out more on our Review's Page.

Today’s review focuses on ADVANCEfeedback™ from the educational technology and consulting company Insight Education Group.  ADVANCEfeedback™ is a cloud-based platform that allows for teachers to easily upload videos of themselves teaching for reflection, feedback, sharing, or for informal and formal evaluation purposes.  Find out more on our Review's Page.

Gamedesk is an organization that has a ton of avenues for exploration.  Not only do they design educational games for iOS and Android, but they've also created a space for research, training, interactive simulations and role-playing, and much more.  If you've never check them out, I highly recommend it.  Find our review of their two new apps, Geomoto and Pangean, on our review page.

Let me preface this post with a confession about my fan love for classic Sci Fi films. The story of George Taylor from Planet of the Apes. tells us how underestimating or judging a culture at face value can lead to missteps and frustration when it comes to being an agent for change. Near the beginn ing of the film, George was convinced that he could take over the planet, because the first sentient beings he encountered were primitive & "simple." As he sardonically cracks: Taylor makes an assumption without knowing who is truly in control of the planet & its culture Alas, poor George ends up finding himself in this situation. Then ultimately coming to this conclusion: Of course at moment George made his initial assessment, he didn’t know what he was truly dealing with. Making assumptions about the culture of the organization you when you’re attempting any change effort can result in the worst sort of initiative sabotage. It’s important that we instead really understand the culture of the groups we are working with and then plan accordingly. Instead of judging & then blurting out our judgments about group culture like George, we should carefully observe the culture of the organization we work with, then start to make an assessment of whether that change will be possible and with what level or nature of effort. I have a few grounding questions that I’m learning to ask to assess company culture. These questions attempt to go beyond evaluating the explicit mission & values. The answers can be indicators as to whether you’re going to have an uphill battle when it comes to making change happen. I’ll be examining these questions in more detail in the future. 1) Who is successful, who succeeds? Who does not thrive or fails? The plants that flourish can tell you a lot about the soil they grow from. What personality traits and behaviors are encouraged in the company’s environment? This includes ones that are explicitly and implicitly encouraged? If over time you notice that people who agree vs. constructively provide alternative suggestions tend to succeed in the eyes of leadership, this may be an indicator that the group has a fear-motivated culture or is highly dependent on a those at the top for decision making. Also, when making change proposals, you might want to determine the best ways to introduce or couch the change on multiple levels, with executive leadership, management, and staff. 2) How does management interact with their direct reports? How do the staff perceive & react to their management? How is information presented? What is the general tone? What is the tone of communications not just outward & official messaging, but everyday communication in email? Peer to peer or leader to subordinate and vice versa? Do people from varied levels of the company including front-line workers feel comfortable speaking up in town-halls? What kinds of questions are they bringing to leaders? Is sharing at all levels ‘guarded?’ Is humor appropriate to incorporate in presentations? If so how much? Use of humor can be difficult with cultures who are very formal. It might be helpful to observe how humor is used by leaders and influencers first. 3) What are the prevalent company attitudes and behaviors based on structure or hierarchy? Is the organization top down oriented? Per the observations mentioned in the previous question about how management & staff interact with each other - observe if the culture is primarily based on a top down hierarchy or does it lean towards being a flat one where people on multiple levels of the organization are empowered to make most decisions?  Be wary that there are some groups that claim that they are ‘flat’ when the underlying culture really operates on hierarchical principles. More, is there a cult of personality built around the company leadership? It could be that you will have to first court management and leadership in your organization.  Change may not happen unless the leadership approves, and sadly, if Leadership is not decisive or open to other ideas outside of their own fold, change is going to be challenging and slow because in a top-down oriented hierarchy it’s always the boss or higher ups that come up with the best ideas, and rarely the employees. It’s a culture of deciders and doers. Top-down management presumes that only the boss has the right answers. It vests power in the hands of people with titles and demands unquestioning compliance from people without them. From article "What Great Bosses Know About Top Down Management" It’s important for leaders to note that Millennial and Generation C employees entering the workforce are easily frustrated with communication in organizations with strict hierarchy. I am eager to see the influence that younger leaders may have on the cultures of the organizations they work in. Hierarchy is almost necessary in large organizations, and strict hierarchy impacts the speed of change without decisive and empowering leadership chain.  I’m very interested in finding stories that demonstrate where innovation and change thrives in hierarchical cultures. Regardless of what type of culture you are dealing with, don’t make George’s mistake and underestimate the nature of that culture and it’s possible impact. Additional Reading: Comparison of  Both Flat and Hierarchical Organizations  Millennials Can’t See Your Badge - Hierarchy Gap Understanding Generation C: The Youtube Generation (Google) Two Common Mistakes of Milennials at Work (HBR)

I recently read through IDEO’s Tom & David Kelley’s book Creative Confidence, and I found a great deal of inspiration for helping build buy in for my designs and proposals. I also was able to add to my collaboration tool kit, as the book also presents stories and collaborative processes that can help kick start creativity on any team. We have all worked on initiatives where we were so rushed that it felt if we built out our case logically and spelled out the benefits to our audience, they would naturally accept the change… or so we thought. But as we’ve found time and time again, "If you build it, they will come" often proves to be one of the most ineffective product launching strategies. IDEO’s approach to design and change initiatives is a human-centered one that examines potential reactions to any sort of new product, object, service or change. The Empathy Map tool presents a simple start at mapping and envisioning how people will react to what you’re putting in front of them whether it is a user interface to a purchasing tool or an ice-cream scoop. The Empathy Map asks four questions in regard to your change, product, or initiative: What will people say? What will people think? What will people do? What will people feel? Ask these questions to think out how your audience will receive or react to your initiative or change. Normally, you would put these questions up on a white board or pieces of chart paper and have your team write their answers to these questions on Post-It notes, but I work in virtual teams, so I created a PowerPoint version (see Resources below). These questions can help you sort through possible reactions and prioritize the ones that you should address. Then start making a plan for how you will address those. In my example PowerPoint, I included the simple example of sending out a survey. Everyone loves taking surveys right? After listing a few audience reactions, thoughts, and feelings, I made an initial attempt at addressing those that I’ve seen in the past.  What I appreciate about this approach is that is a little more thorough. It allows you to separate and methodically map these reactions vs. coming up with the most ‘scary’ ones and reacting solely to those. Resources: IDEO’s Design Tool Kit Empathy Map SAMPLE

Let me preface this post with the admission that I am not a professionally trained web designer. I have had experience designing web-based learning materials and have knowledge and exposure to Usability and User Experience (UX). Some of the past organizations I have worked for held UX as a primary goal in producing good products. I am still very committed to learning how to provide the most user-friendly solutions to the content I deliver. Happier users are more productive workers. DESIGN QUESTIONS: Should website links to external sites open in new windows? If so, how do you differentiate links on a site to external pages to links that point back (internally) to the site? I wanted to do some research on the questions above to help provide answers but also to solve a problem I am facing with a website I have inherited. This site, which I vaguely referenced this site in a previous post, needs a major overhaul starting with a card sort, but the immediate need is to update some of the more visited pages with current information. The site was created as a hub to connect learners with other content both within and outside of the site. Therefore,the site is linked to both internal and external resources and each page has multiple links. Sometimes dozens of links.*  Returning to the two questions above, I found the camp somewhat divided on opening in a new browser:   YES, open in a new window "Browser tabs have changed everything" UX Movement (2012) "If links are used as a reference"  Problog Design (2007)   NO, do NOT open in a new window "Opening in new browser is like the vacuum cleaner salesman dumping the bag on your carpet and not cleaning it up." - Nielsen (1999) Users will close the window themselves if the want to. - Smashing Magazine (2008) After reading the advice and developer discussions on the sites above as well as additional resources, I’ve come to the conclusion that I will continue to keep external pointing links pointed to opening in new browsers, because they are reference to content outside of our own.  I’m also leaning to proposal #1 below to help guide or teach users where to go. My proposed solutions to fixing the page content would be as follows: Train users where to expect internal pointing links vs. external pointing links. If possible keep the internal pointing links together in 1 section at the top of the page. Links that point to an external site are kept in a second section. There are no explicit instructions that warn users, but eventually repeat users learn that anything they click at the top of the page points to the same site, but links on the bottom half are external links. They start to expect the behavior. Give the users a choice. Have the current link open in the same browser, but provide an icon that allows them to open in a new browser. While this seems like the politest option, from a web developers perspective it is the most labor intensive. Also, it will me you will have to update links in two places. Proposed temporary solution to web page design. * I have to resist the desire to say that such hub sites are NOT helpful  to users because their architecture is often not based on personal user experiences.    

MGM Casino near walkway to NY NY - My colleague and I have had to send each other photos of our location to find each other. "Which Starbucks are you at?" The last time I was at MGM Grand Hotel was in the 80’s as a child, I remember riding the elevator with the comedy legend Dom Deluise. Today, this hotel seems even more massive and maze-like. I am trying very hard not to get overwhelmed by the Casino environment. Only my first day here at Dev Learn 2015, and my colleague and I have had to text pictures to each other to locate each other. We made the mistake of agreeing to meet by the Starbucks, and of course there are three in the hotel. I finally took a photo of the hotel map and drew a path to the conference area! But I may have to make visual breadcrumbs/associations still to mark my path. Topics of interest at Dev Learn 2015 - Day 1 (Wednesday, Sept. 30) Can you imagine these are just the topics of interest for me on the first day only: We Don’t Own Social in the Workplace Mobile Learning Innovations How Caterpillar Uses Bite-sized Learning to Close the Skills Gap Navigating Today’s Learning Metaverse Story Hero: Create Comics and Motion Comics Interactions with Storyline Unpacking Badge Analytics: What Metadata Can Tell Us Fast, Easy and  Cheap:  How to Use WordPress as a LMS Everyone Everywhere: How to Create and Deploy Multi-device Learning Content Building Bite-sized Learning in a Traditional Training World Microlearning Video on a Shoestring Digital Badges and the Future of Learning And… just because of the title… Where to Look for the Purple Squirrel Speaking of Rodents, with all the candy, toffee apples, cupcakes, fatty breads, high living and gluttony-inducing things around me… I couldn’t help but think that Templeton the Rat would have a great time here… at least in the dumpsters.

SESSION: Story Hero: Create Comics and  Motion  Comics  Interactions with Storyline PRESENTER: Michael Sheyahshe Remember to become aware…How we read comic books Comicbook style interactions, using animations. Place more emphasis on the story. Comics: create interest, focuses on story points.  Visually communicate ideas and grab your attention. What Panels do…. Allow you to storyboard content. Reference - Scott McCloud’s icons hierarchy. http://blog.visualmotive.com/2009/understanding-comics-with-scott-mccloud/ Comics -> Distance = Time. Closer = less time. Tripping the Z-axis. Translation perceived depth. Simple example = shadow. Comixology is a great app. Provides examples of how to execute. https://www.comixology.com/ Execution recommendations: Keep animation simple. Simple line motion animation can provide a  powerful effect. Remember distance = time. Create your comic layout/ and fill out the panels. Similar to how Prezi works with the zoom feature. Cool - can embed videos in a panel! Put panels on separate layers. Pause each panel and place the timing on the timeline for the layer/panel. You  can add a motion path. Add click interactivity to view next panel or layers. BRILLIANT!!! Speaker Sheyahshe <YouTube? Channel> Possible other resources: Articulate article - Comic style designs in Courses https://community.articulate.com/discussions/building-better-courses/comic-style-designs-in-courses