Two For Tuesday 9/28/2010

1. Where Good Ideas Come From - Video by Steven Johnson
In this video Johnson illustrates (literally) how good ideas come to fruition. He addresses the time it takes and the collaboration that is required to take something from a hunch to a reality. My favorite line: "Chance favors the connected mind."



2. Guy Walks Across America - Viral Video
This is an incredible stop motion video of a man walking across America. Be sure to scroll down on the page to watch the Behind the Scenes video that shows how they created it. I am amazed by how accessible media has become. While it was extremely complicated to create this particular video, it didn't take a lot of money or expensive technology.

Seven Shanghai Surprises

I have just returned from the Learning 2.010 conference in Shanghai, China where I was invited to facilitate a cohort of learners on the topic of social media. It was an incredible experience in so many ways. Here are just a few of my thoughts on the experience.

1. English - I was amazed my how much English signage there is in Shanghai. All of the street signs are in Chinese and English. The ATM machines and the ticket machines for the Metro all provide English as an option. Sometimes the English translations are interesting, but I couldn't even begin to translate my English to Chinese, so I won't complain.

2. Better City Better Life - This motto is everywhere in Shanghai. Guy Kawasaki speaks about the importance of having a motto. China has embraced this concept whole heartedly. The construction in Shanghai is beyond imagination. And, at every construction site you will see "Better City, Better Life."

3. Unconferences really work - I have been to several unconferences and I even run one every year at BLC. They are daunting to put together because you have to trust in your participants to build the conference. The Learning 2.010 team was extremely brave to take a previously structured conference and reconstruct it in the unconference model. I think it really helped to have the facilitators there to help run sessions, but by the last session the unconference ran itself.

4. Social Media in education has its benefits and challenges - The topic for my cohort was "Social Media." On the first day we wrote about the benefits and challenges of using social media in the classroom. I think my cohort made some excellent observations.

5. Building Community is up to the Community - Facilitating a group of teachers is challenging. Michael Lambert and I did the best we could to meet the needs of the people in our group. We were constantly adapting and changing our plans to try to react on our feet to the feedback we were getting. I hope we succeeded, but in the end I realized it really isn't up to me. Each person has to find their own way into the learning. I can help guide them, but we each need to take responsibility for our own growth and connections.

6. My Edtech Rockstars really are Rockstars - It was amazing to be given the opportunity to spend a week teaching and learning with people whom I have respected and admired for years. I felt incredibly honored to be in their company. I had the chance to work and hang out with Kim Cofino, Darren Kuropatwa, Wes Fryer, Alec Couros, Jeff Utecht, Julie Lindsay, Tim Lauer, Steve Hargadon, Gail Lovely and Melinda Alford, Chris Betcher, Gail Lovely, Michael Lambert, Laura Heikkila, Ann Krembs , and Madeleine Brookes. Most of whom I had never met face-to-face. They all proved to be as inspiring in real life as they have been online.

7. Jeff Utecht is an Amazing Host and Tour Guide - Shanghai would not have been the same without him. He took us to eat some of the most delicious food I have ever eaten, showed us the sights and taught us how to bargain like a pro. I am profoundly grateful to him for everything. Thanks so much Jeff!


And of course @intrepidteacher's charming wit was a bonus!

Two For Tuesday 9/21/2010

1. Rhymer.com - Free Online Rhyming Dictionary
For all your rhyming needs, Rhymer finds beginning rhymes, first syllable rhymes, last syllable rhymes, end rhymes, and double rhymes for any word. Next time you are writing a poem and need a good rhyme, this is the place to go. (Thanks to Pedro R. for suggesting this one.)

2. Tracking the Oil Spill in the Gulf - New York Times Animated Interactive Map
This map shows how the spill has grew and moved between April 22nd and August 2nd 2010. You can also see where the oil made landfall, efforts to stop the leak, effects on wildlife and more.

Two For Tuesday

Every Tuesday during the school year I try to share two links that I think might be helpful to educators and students. Last year, I created a separate blog to share the links. This year, I've decided to move these links to this blog.

Here are two interesting links to start off the school year.

1. Yolink - Search more efficiently and effectively
Yolink searches your searches, shows you where your search terms appear in your search results and gives you the context for those results. Download the Firefox add-on and improve your search results today!

2. Sign Up Genius - Manage your sign up lists Online
You can organize your team, event, dinner or party with this free invitation service. It includes templates to help you create your invite and automatic email reminders to keep everyone organized.

Just Blog It!

I have been so lame about blogging, that I just got off the couch and decided to write something, anything just to get myself going again. Here are a few things that are going on with me these days.

1. School just started and I am once again teaching digital journalism. So far it is going well (we've only had two classes). Two new things I'm doing - starting each class with 8 minutes of writing and planning to do more actual journalism (not just learning about it, but doing it).

2. I'm heading to Shanghai on Sept 11th for a week to facilitate a strand of the Learning 2.01o conference. My cohort will be looking at social media in education. I'm really looking forward to it, but I'm also a little nervous. I'm really not a world traveler. I've never been to Asia. This should be a really interesting and challenging experience.

3. I was recently elected to the MassCUE board. The annual conference is fast approaching and I'm looking forward to attending with a different perspective. I'm also looking forward to being a part of this organization.

OK - It isn't a fancy post. No images or big messages, but at least I got something out there.

It is great to be in a profession that offers so many fresh starts. May we all have one this year!

10 Tips for Managing Information Overload

Yesterday at the BLC conference I presented on how to manage information overload. Together we looked at the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment for this all to prevalent problem. Here is a list of 10 things you can do to keep your Online life under control.
1. Have compassion for yourself - We are all works in progress, don't be too hard on yourself if you don't know everything. No one can know everything. It is OK Not to know.

2. Measure - There are many tools that you can use to measure your use computer use. They run in the background and will give you data on the sites you visit, the applications you use and how much time you spend on each tool.

3. Set goals - Before you open up a browser consider what you are hoping to accomplish.

4. Triage - Filter on the way in, not on the way out. Look through your email and create filters so that not everything comes in to your inbox. For example, if you are CCd on an email you probably don't have to look at it immediately. Filter those messages into a separate file to look at later. Also check out Howard Rheingold's resources on mindful infotention.

5. Ask a Librarian - Don't overlook the human resources in your own building.

6. Don't check email until lunch - If you are the fastest responder to a problem, you will get all the problems. If you wait to respond, they may figure out their own answers.

7. Be effective, not just efficient - Being efficient is doing things right, being effective is doing the right things. Make sure you are doing the right things right.

8. Use a productivity tool - Applications like Evernote and Remember the Milk can help you to keep track of all your tasks and information. You can learn about other productivity tools here.

9. Mark as read - Don't be afraid to go through your reader and mark everything as read. Start fresh. If it is important it will come back up to the top.

10. Take time outs - Explore the Pomodoro technique which suggests you use a timer and set it for 25 minutes of work time and then take a 5 minute break. And, during the work time you keep track of your distractions and take a look at when they occur and what they are.
Do you have a good strategy for managing your information overload? Have you tried something on this list that has worked for you? Please leave a comment and share it with us.

image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelmarlatt/3150759027/

Full Brain after First Day at BLC 2010

I have had a great first day of the Building Learning Communities conference, but my brain is full. The day started with an interesting keynote by Mitch Resnick, the inventor of Scratch. I do a lot with Scratch at my school and it was wonderful to see all of the projects that students are doing with the Scratch software. Mitch pointed out that good technology should have a low floor, so that it is easy to get started with, a high ceiling, so that students can take it far, and a wide walls, so that students can follow their own interests. Scratch certainly has that and I think it is a great rubric for evaluating any software.

In my second session I was not the smartest person in the room with Dean Shareski. School is no longer the primary place for learning. He asked the great question, what does it mean to be a life long learner? How do we move past an educational model that is tethered in time and place. Students have already moved there, when will schools follow?

In Jeff Utecht's session on Blended Learning, he showed us how his school is using blogs as online portfolios of their work over their entire school career. He suggests finding a container that works for you, whether it be a blog, a wiki or a ning, and using that to hold student work. He also encouraged us to be connectors for our students to use our own networks to help network our students and expose their work to a wider audience.

Finally, I learned about different iPad apps at Seth Bowers's session. He showed us too many to talk about, but he nicely posted a list here.

If you aren't at the conference, you can follow a lot of what is going on by searching #blc10 on Twitter or checking out the delicious bookmarks tagged BLC10. If you are here, I hope you will leave a comment and or a link and share some of the highlights of your first day!