Is Free Community College the Answer?

I believe so... Read this article and you may or may not agree with me...

Jeff SelingoInfluencer
Author, COLLEGE (UN)BOUND | Columnist | Speaker

Is Free Community College the answer to Shortage of Middle Skill Workers?

8 Things you should not do every day...

I know, it may be almost simplistic; and yes it is! But, as I mentioned to my coachee last Friday, if you stop learning you stop living; end of story. And learning demands practice; so, once we forget to apply and let the good habits slip through the cracks between our daily to do's and routines, we need something as simple as this list (BTW, I am a fan of lists; although not of any list), to get us back on track. Read, learn and carry on!  http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/8-things-you-should-not-do-every-day.html?goback=.gde_60439_member_233861910

Venezuela, mi patria querida

Otra noche de mal dormir, peor que las de costumbre, pues no hay nada mejor para el mal dormir que recibir malas noticias a media noche… Mientras me enrollaba y desenrollaba en la cama, nublada en pensamientos poco productivos, miraba el reloj cada hora y así entre dormitar y despertar llegué a Amy Winehouse… Recordé como falleció y su canción firma “Rehab - They tried to make me go to rehab, I said, ‘No, no, no’”; y los paralelos con Venezuela… ya me quitaron del todo el sueño.

No me propongo hablar de si fraude o no, me limito a mencionar que ante una diferencia como la presente, no entiendo como es una tendencia irreversible sin terminar de contar o contar los votos del exterior. No soy matemático, pero definitivamente es necesario el reconteo o conteo total y apoyar  a quien ha dado el todo por el todo para llevar a Venezuela a su propia rehabilitación. Lo que no alcanzo terminar de entender es que haya aún mitad del país negado a ver que su adicción gubernamental está matándolo.  Lo tenía y lo tengo claro,  victoria masiva o pequeña, todos los venezolanos, con Capriles al frente, íbamos a ver a tener que ver a  una Venezuela retorciéndose entre las garras de una rehabilitación; profundamente herida y resistiendo al doloroso cambio por delante, como la de un drogadicto enfrentado a su rehabilitación.  Pero, conforme al CNE, lo que nos espera es ver, a nuestro súper dotado país, seguir perdiéndose más y más hasta morir bajo las garras de su perdición, como sucedió con la artísticamente superdotada Amy Winehouse.

Como todo quien ha visto o experimentado de cerca el tormento de un drogadicto, el ir una y otra vez por el objeto de su adicción, es la esperanza de revivir esa 1era experiencia  de euforia que sintieron aquella vez 1era, pero que por más que reintentan, consumen, y les dan más y más votos, no alcanzan a repetir. Yo estoy  convencida de que cuando las ideas de Chávez se gestaron, a quienes votaron por él deben de haberles parecido una fantasía tipo Disney, la misma que vimos y por lo que fuimos escépticos quienes no votamos por él; la mayor diferencia siendo el estado de desespero puro en que estaba un sector demasiado grande del país, dispuesto a comprar el remedio que fuera en la esquina, con tal de aminorar su mal.

Hoy el desespero es de quienes entendiendo el daño, los familiares y seres queridos de Venezuela, explicamos, recomendamos, e intentamos, particularmente con nuestro voto, de que el país escoja la rehabilitación por convicción propia; pero, ¿y si no quiere? ¿Y si la adicción es demasiado grande y poderosa para hacer ver el problema? ¡Señores, contando y recontando votos, así gane la rehabilitación, es la mitad del organismo del enfermo que clama por seguir con su droga!

Estamos en la etapa más oscura de ésta adicción. Vamos en términos de ella a realizar  una verdadera intervención… Con inteligencia, y capacidad de entender a este enfermo, contemos votos y encontremos al ganador. Ojalá sea Capriles, pues confío que con él habrá la requerida rehabilitación. Si es así, solo pido que una vez en ella, no salgamos a encontrarle las 5 patas al gato en todo; rehabilitación es rehabilitación, y tiene que doler, si no, no es rehabilitación de verdad. “Hay un camino”, pero si ese no es el que el país ha decidido tomar, “They tried to make me go to rehab, I said, ‘No, no, no’”, habremos también de enfrentar la cruda realidad que eso nos traiga.

Why Consultative Selling Doesn't Work | Inc.com

Why Consultative Selling Doesn't Work | Inc.com This is quite insightful article; can't wait to read one where diferentiating a coach's role from a consultant is written. Or another where being a coach and boss is somewhat of an oxymoron... Easy, easy does it, I guess; everything in due time!

Survey: School web filtering can impede learning

Many survey respondents
said web filtering can curb
learning’s social potential.

For years, working at private schools and high schools this has been a heated debate: to filter or not to filter; but mostly to filter, and I was at the wrong end of the debate! Obviously, there are many dangers out there and there's also the matter of the reputation of each of the schools. There are many good and reliable choices in the market that filter the nasty, and that I believe is enough. Blocking all entries and only allowing one by one is totally inefficient and a mind-boggling task. Also, I truly believe that the only way to teach and learn digital citizenship is by working at it. If everything is blocked, on which criteria will we find learning indicators? Wish the following article and more like this one had been available when I was at the no-filter end of the debate.
Read More...

Whenever we connect to others we can change what happens...

Hi everyone, been a while. Sorry about that. Family health issues got in the way. Learned a lot though, maybe I'll write later down the line about that.
Meantime I'd like to share this article, originally I believe in Brasiian portuguese, and translated to a very rough Spanish. Hope some can read it and learn many interesting things going on in cybercommunication, city forums and the likes. The world's social and political panorama is in constant change, can it really be harnessed? Take a read:
http://blogs.20minutos.es/codigo-abierto/2012/10/30/siempre-que-podemos-conectarnos-a-otros-podemos-cambiar-cosas
gd readings...

Are Kids really all that techno smart... Maybe not ...

Reading an eSchool news article by this title,  read more @ http://www.eschoolnews.com/2012/08/13/are-kids-all-that-techno-smart-maybe-not/6/, I remembered an instance with my own teenage daughter related to her use of her smartphone. She had been struggling with forgetting assignments or assignment details and I suggested why not use the calendar features on the smartphone... She stared back at me like I had no idea what she was going through, so I helpfully added how to make it work for her, alarms and all. Not only had she not considered the possibility as to where, what or when this feature could be applied. And, as expected from a teenage daughter with her mom, she proceeded to ignore me. I must say that this is no Tech dummy here, she uses phone apps, works around tech glitches and or obstacles and gets what she really wants from technology with her smartphone, tablet and laptop. However, each device is purposely used as a tool the way she was introduced to it; and looking beyond that has been a bit more of a challenge than expected... A phone is meant to communicate with, that is, apps included to enhance, improve,  and even further the communication objective. Photos, with the smartphone, is a feature to be used to further communicate; so the photo, as an objective itself, is not given much consideration. The idea of taking pictures with the phone to retain information, for example, was an advantage that was only considered (and broadly used thereon) quite a while after owning and using it for the purpose of communication. Being resourceful with the available technology is not something that comes natural to this techno savvy generation. Exploiting all the possibilities is something that maybe the older generation can somehow pass on to this one. As to my daughter, she still thinks it is something of the older generation to use the calendar and it's reminders to organize her life... But, I am definitely making waves, the other day she used her drawing tablet to cover for the wireless mouse that had run out of batteries... There is hope! 

Readers: Five ways to motivate students

Readers say getting to know your students and empowering them to be leaders are good ways to get students engaged

By Meris Stansbury, Associate Editor
Read more http://www.eschoolnews.com/2012/07/13/readers-five-ways-to-motivate-students/2/

Motivation has been, for as far as I can remember, the one factor baffling teachers and administrators alike. Concern over the lack of it and over-expectations when consciously applying motivators soon enough lead to frustration, both for students and teachers alike. Coaching, coaxing, motivating, inspiring and so on, is something that first must be understood as coming from within the individuals and can only work if the one doing it is indeed inspired and motivated to get things done.. Most of our stories around teachers motivated students are spun around a much motivated individual itself, inspiring other teachers as well students to act. Learning organizations foster motivation among all their members. Only when educational institutions grow into learning organizations themselves, is that we will see true joy, inspiration and motivation to learn and help the organization move along its learning path.
Read more by Meris Stansbury

“Students need to know that someone truly cares about them when they are in a classroom,” said one reader.

We recently highlighted a report from the Center on Education Policy that looked at how schools can motivate students. Now, here are some of the best ideas from our readers.

We asked readers: “What are some ways/tactics/activities you implement to motivate students?” Their advice ranged from “be there for your students and let them know you care about them,” to “entice them with technology they use with their friends.”

Here are five of the best responses (some comments have been edited for brevity). What do you think of these ideas? Do you have any stories of your own for how to motivate and engage today’s 21st-century learners? Be sure to leave them in the comments section!

Bill Gates: Why ‘game-based learning’ is the future of education

Essentially what needs to be underscored here is that gaming, and particularly digital or virtual gaming, has proved, beyond a doubt, that it is a learning medium that has  far exceeded expectations. Now this brings to the table the possibility to gauge the learning process and make use of it to scaffold further knowledge. I can't wait!!!! 

"In Bill Gates’ vision of the classrooms of the future, students are grouped according to skill set. One cluster huddles around a computer terminal, playing an educational game or working on a simulator. Another works with a human teacher getting direct instruction, while another gets a digital lesson delivered from their teacher’s avatar.

This kind of “game-based” learning is one of the priorities of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a nonprofit founded by the Microsoft creator.

Read more @ http://www.eschoolnews.com/2012/07/17/bill-gates-why-game-based-learning-is-the-future-of-education/?

Last year, the foundation announced it would invest $20 million in a variety of teacher tools, including this and other technologies geared toward changing the way teachers teach and kids learn.

Gates sat down with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week while he was in Atlanta speaking at the Education Commission of the States’ national forum.

The billionaire philanthropist said there are lessons to be learned from the enthusiasm kids have when playing video games, including that winning can be a motivator and that students should be able to move to the next level when ready.

“We’re not saying the whole curriculum turns into this big game. We’re saying it’s an adjunct to a serious curriculum,” he said"

Peru's ambitious laptop program gets mixed grades

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2012/07/03/perus-ambitious-laptop-program-gets-mixed-grades/comment-page-1/#comment-164475
Considering that teachers are ill prepared or not at all, and parents least of all, it is very likely that it all goes up in political smoke.
It looks and sounds very good for governments and politicians to take on projects like this, and greedy officials and suppliers know so; but if no firm scaffolding is in place to produce the desired results, the learning curve is surpassed by frustration and soon enough it turns into wasted effort.
A project, as this one, requires at the least the creation of digitally sufficient strategically located centers, with well prepared facilitators to create and develop a powerful learning network within reach of every community. If Teachers and parents aren't included, the chance for children and teens to overcome the digital challenge is very small.

New PBS resource could help advance digital learning | Curriculum | eSchoolNews.com

New PBS resource could help advance digital learning | Curriculum | eSchoolNews.com: "PBS LearningMedia will include content from more than 55 member stations, independent producers, and public institution partners. The site plans to launch with 12,000 digital learning objects, which include video clips, documents, games, images, and activities."

'TV textbooks' bring access to low-income Florida students | Curriculum | eSchoolNews.com

TV textbooks' bring access to low-income Florida students | Curriculum | eSchoolNews.com

Prompted by lackluster reading scores, Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) in Jacksonville, Fla., is attempting to reach low-income students by turning students' televisions into learning centers.

Now, this could be a quite a positive change for low income families and a welcome opportunity for schools working on a shoestring budget. Everyone owns a TV, and even any school who can't afford investing in computers, can maybe use this as a step up onto the Technology train without having to get into the heavy cost of hardware, software and maintenance involved in your average Technology ware investment.

Military snubbing cyber-school students

Military snubbing cyber-school students http://is.gd/vB7g32.

I have been for years now painfully aware of the snubbing of online graduates in the work world, but this raises quite a few more issues. It seems that although education is trying to reach all and everyone by incorporating and making use of technology, society is still far from getting over its prejudice over online studies and degrees. The question to society is, how do people expect to reach out to all and every individual and provide them with a possibility to educate themselves and improve their quality of life, if every road taken to make it possible is blocked based on biases and misconceptions. We need to get our acts together and really cut the double rhetoric and standards. Online learning is here to stay and we better learn to make the best use of it so that most of the population, wherever they are, whenever they can can achieve an education.

Europe Split on Nuclear Power Debate - WSJ.com

Europe Split on Nuclear Power Debate - WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

The Japanese nuclear crisis has placed atomic energy back at the top of the political agenda throughout Europe, but European countries have split into groups urging immediate shutdowns and others remaining firmly committed to...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703899704576204522187643688.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

Unfortunately there's much disinformation and even less education on the subject. I'm far from an expert; but certainly do not appreciate that people are being manipulated. We must read and learn, and not let ourselves be swayed by either the media or politics. Let's hope we are able to do so...

How—and why—to teach innovation in our schools Call for innovative society raises important questions about education By Alexander Hiam

It’s wonderful to hear President Obama call for a nationwide emphasis on innovation, but it raises an interesting challenge: Where will all those innovators come from? Currently, we are chasing testable competency in academic core

skills. It is quite a different thing to try to educate future innovators. We don’t test for that.

An innovation curriculum requires an emphasis on what I am going to call, for lack of a preexisting term, the Five I’s: Imagination, Inquiry, Invention, Implementation, and Initiative (the latter being a foundational trait that enables the other four). Here is my take on how to teach each of the Five I’s of innovation in our schools.

Read more...

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2011/02/01/how-and-why-to-teach-innovation-in-our-schools/

New Digital divide or a better understanding of what the divide really is?

When we talk about digital divide what mostly comes to mind is the lack of resources, that is economic resources, to engage with the digital world. However, it has always been my position that no matter how much economic resources are poured in to breach the divide, it is the lack of education on how to really make use of the resources what ends up making the divide much larger...

This article barely touches the surface of what the divide is really about... http://www.eschoolnews.com/2011/01/11/for-minorities-new-digital-divide-seen/2/?_login=879db19b8c?_login=879db19b8c/?_login=879db19b8c

After reading it, it is clear that a very few like the Dominican guy, despite limited economic resources are indeed making the most from the digital access they have.

Will Your Local Library Lend E-Books? (Or Can They?)

An excellent article that shows off the Publishing world in full color... No, they don't want to understand it is a brave new world...
http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2010/11/10/10readwriteweb-will-your-local-library-lend-e-books-or-can-3532.html?ref=technology

Facebook ‘Groups’ could boost privacy, collaboration

Facebook ‘Groups’ could boost privacy, collaboration
Nice feature, a bit too late for all other options already available and considering how schools are quite uncomfortable with opening up to fb, it is foreseeable that this won't go across too easily. Only time can tell. I can definitively say that private schools in Latin America won't go for it in a looooong time. Sorry guys!

Rutgers student kills self after sex act broadcast online

Rutgers student kills self after sex act broadcast online
Now this hits at the heart of Technology Education. We must and should address the safe, moral and ethical issues that surround the responsible use of such an extraordinary social and professional communication media: the online world. And it's not just minors, it is grown people who still are making these mistakes too!

Technology at its best....

This is yet another opportunity to see technology working in innovative ways..
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100908/od_yblog_upshot/canada-unveils-new-speed-bump-optical-illusions-of-children
Although there might be, as said in the report, the possibility of it being ignored; I believe this is definitely step ahead of speed bumps that contribute to damage our cars. I hope it sticks!