Recent research examining efforts to enhance collaboration in districts and schools strongly indicates that purposefully building trust works. Studies by the Consortium on Chicago School Research and the National Center for Educational Achievement (a division of the firm that develops the ACT college admission tests) bear this out, as do the examples of the Cincinnati, Union City, New Jersey, and Springfield, Massachusetts public school districts. The weight of this accumulating evidence suggests that it is time to reverse course from the ineffective reliance on the coercive “sticks” that have dominated education policymaking to a new set of approaches that would promote effective teamwork and intensively collaborative practices.
7 Good Virtual Tours for Students
So many great resources in here. This is one I’m toying around with now:
The Google Art Project uses Street View technology to take you inside dozens of famous museums. An extension of this is Hangout Quest on Google+. Hangout Quest is a game that allows you to go on a virtual scavenger hunt inside the Palace of Versailles. The object of the scavenger hunt is to find artwork and other objects in the palace. If you invite others to your Hangout you can compete against them in a race to find the objects first. Hangout Quest uses the Street View imagery of Google Maps to bring you inside the Palace of Versailles. Another cool piece of technology added to Hangout Quest is facial tracking. The facial tracking technology allows you to move around in the Palace of Versailles by just moving your head instead of clicking around with your mouse.
GE Offering Thousands Of Its Patents In Exchange For Innovation
General Electric, the inventor of inventing, is reinventing inventing.
The company is teaming up with a crowdsourced social platform Quirky to release thousands of its patents to the public, starting next month with a few hundred searchable patents.
“People will be able to use GE’s technology in the creation of their own consumer product ideas,” the companies explained.
The move by GE follows in the footsteps of companies like Google, who recently contributed 10 patents to allow developers use. The Open Patent Non-Assertion (OPN) Pledge not only offers open source software, but also cuts down on the chances of lawsuits.
In our complex and problem-ridden mass society, we need to develop radically new understandings about collective action. What seems clear is that the problems of our collective world are such that no leader or system could ever resolve them. In fact, attempts to find solutions in that tried and untrue direction will undoubtedly lead to further complications.
The sad fact is that our organizations isolate and keep each of us apart. As much as they hold us together. We have assumed that because individuals are essentially separate particles, collective action must be coordinated through these imposed external structures. But what if we dropped that assumption and allowed self-organization to create our communities? What if we intentionally forged our social solutions in the fires of creative chaos?
John Briggs and David Peat, Seven Life Lessons of Chaos
(via stoweboyd)In order to complain about the tourists clogging New York’s streets during the holidays, Alexandra Horowitz recounts the research findings of William Whyte, who deciphered the rules of walking in crowds. Tourists simply screw it all up.
Alexandra Horowitz, Walk Like A Fish
The study of…
(Source: underpaidgenius)
Using Chrome as a second controller?
Smartphones and tablets are great for all sorts of games, and lately we’ve been thinking about new ways to play. Chrome Super Sync Sports is a new Chrome Experiment that uses the unique features of mobile devices to create a new gaming experience on big and small screens. In this game up to four friends can compete in running, swimming and cycling on a shared computer screen, using their smartphones or tablets as game controllers.
To get started, you’ll need a computer and a smartphone or tablet that run a modern browser, likeChrome. Visit chrome.com/supersyncsports on your computer, pick a game and decide if you’re playing solo or with friends. Next, visit g.co/super in Chrome on your smartphone or tablet and type in the unique code shown on your computer screen. You’ve now “super sync”ed your mobile device with your computer, and you’re ready to race!
“To grow our middle class, our citizens must have access to the education and training that today’s jobs require.” —President Obama #JobsNow
The tables should be long, so workers who don’t know each other are forced to chat. And, after running an experiment, Google found that stocking cafeterias with 8-inch plates alongside 12-inch plates encouraged people to eat smaller, healthier portions.
I just found all these awesome activities for teaching about discrimination and prejudice in our world today and in the past. They say college classroom activities but I could see using almost all of these in a high school setting as well. Check it out!
