Innovation must wonder why it is as cast as society’s bi-polar child. On the one hand it thrives in business, technology and health-care, domains to which we flock to see the latest gadgetry, invest in start-up opportunities, even volunteer to join beta-testing groups. This past week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was a perfect […]
Help Make 2014 a ‘Year of Learning Dangerously’ – and how
Memo from the “Creating Our Best Future” Dept.: As a learning innovator I see widely divergent gestures toward the nurturing of learning across education, gestures that have significant implications throughout society. And in scanning the education landscape my emotions in the past year swung from arm-pumping enthusiasm to head-shaking discouragement. With this in mind and […]
“Entrepreneurial Learning” Facing Challenges
To organizational researcher John Seely Brown (co-author: ‘A New Culture of Learning‘, 2011), the “entrepreneurial learner” is one who seizes opportunities to learn anywhere, anytime. With a disposition characterized by questioning, communicating, reflecting, and playing, such learners are increasingly valued in a job-world characterized by rapid and constant change. It’s also a disposition that is […]
Personalized Learning III – Resource Links
In my presentation and workshop last week at the BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils spring conference, I provided the list below of Personalized Learning Resources. The list is aligned with the categories I provided in my previous two entries:• John Holt resources [unschooling] (johnholtgws.com)• Dr. Maurice Gibbons (selfdirectedlearning.com)• Reggio Emilia [child-centred] – see Wikipedia […]
(Authentically) “Flipping” the Classroom
It’s all the rage: Teachers from coast to coast are “flipping classrooms“. To wit, they are directing student to complete core learning via online resources (e.g. videos) at home or outside of class time. What’s happening during class time? That’s for reviewing assignments and homework before teeing up the next “flipped” assignment. According to proponents, […]
Missing from “21st C Fluencies”: Self-Directed Learning
I attended the CUE-BC (Computer-Using Educators) conference a week ago on the occasion of a PD day. First up was keynote speaker Ian Jukes, a self-proclaimed evangelist for adapting schools to the “21st Century Fluencies”. You can learn more about the 21stC Fluencies here but suffice to say Jukes pitched them as “critical thinking skills […]
Some advice for BC’s new Education Minister
Following the resignation of (Curious) George Abbott last week British Columbia has a new Minister of Education: Don McRae. Let’s see, in the 22 years I’ve been a certified educator in BC we’ve had … about 15 Education Ministers! Alas, they don’t seem to have long shelf lives and if the polls for next spring’s […]
Ten suggestions to improve K-12 education :
The start of a new schooling year spawns renewed interest in education. Mostly, this interest is fleeting and lead by mainstream media serving up sound bites, lunchbox recipes and superficial debates on the subject of “Back to School.” Our children deserve deeper discussion. The world they live in and are inheriting is changing rapidly and […]
Prospecting yields a couple of noteworthy education trends
I used to be a prospector, a job requiring keen eyes and the ability to notice trends obvious and inferred. Prospecting is all about dreaming about what might be and why things appear just so. A few days ago I had a chance to dust off my prospecting skills while doing some research in the […]
For Robin Wheeler: Viva! Auto-Didacts; They deserve more respect, recognition
This week the community where I and my family live is mourning the loss of a vital woman, Robin Wheeler, who died recently from cancer. Inspiring mentor, dear friend and author (two books, New Society Publishers), Robin sparked at least six projects in the past dozen years that turned into major works of creation on […]
Michael’s book, Learn Your Way! SelfDesigning the Life You Really Want, Starting Now is an ERAC-approved middle and high school textbook for career planning and health education courses (British Columbia), and it has received many endorsements. Contact Michael directly to obtain a pdf copy of the book.