A Strong Sense of Civic Responsibility and Good-Neighborness:

I believe that each and every one of us Americans is responsible for education and technology transfer to our younger citizens.  With that concept in mind, let me recommend the following websites to you:

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I'm very excited about the Free Online Courses that are available to anyone, no matter where they live!

700 Free Online Courses- Open Culture

Carnegie Mellon University Free Courses

Coursera- professional development

29 New Schools, 92 New Courses, 5 Languages,

4 Continents and 2.7 Million Courserians

Harvard Open Courses- noncredit courses offered by the Harvard Extension School

iTunes University- many colleges and universities offer free classes here; learn on your computer or iPad

M.I.T. Free Courses

Modern Lessons- technology-related, including lessons on the iPad, Pinterest, Facebook

Open Education Database (OEDb)- over 10,000 free online classes

PBS TeacherLine- now also offers self-paced classes

SkilledUp- search over 60,00 courses from 200+ providers

UC Berkeley- free classes

Udacity- three levels of classes, inlcuding these subjects: business, computer science, mathematics, physics, psychology

University of Washington

This post first appeared on Julie Greller's blog "A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet"

Julie always has tremendous ideas, so I hope you can check out her posts too!

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Tomorrow's Innovation Comes From Today's Young Minds:  Exploravision from TOSHIBA: 

http://www.exploravision.org/about/

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EDUCATE TO INNOVATE!

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/president-obama-launches-educate-innovate-campaign-excellence-science-technology-en

President Obama Launches "Educate to Innovate" Campaign for Excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (Stem) Education, Nov. 23, 2009

Nationwide effort includes over $260 million in public-private investments  to move American students to the top of the pack in science and math achievement over the next decade

Among the initiatives announced by the President are:

• Five public-private partnerships that harness the power of media, interactive games, hands-on learning, and 100,000 volunteers to reach more than 10 million students over the next four years, inspiring them to be the next generation of makers, discoverers, and innovators.  These partnerships represent a combined commitment of over $260 million in financial and in-kind support.

• A commitment by leaders such as Sally Ride (the first female astronaut), Craig Barrett (former chairman of Intel), Ursula Burns (CEO, Xerox), Glenn Britt (CEO, Time Warner Cable), and Antonio Perez (CEO, Eastman Kodak) to increase the scale, scope, and impact of private-sector and philanthropic support for STEM education.  This coalition, with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, will recruit private sector leaders to serve as champions for STEM at the state level; mobilize resources to help scale successful STEM innovations; and raise awareness of the importance of STEM among parents and students.

• An annual science fair at the White House, showcasing the student winners of national competitions in areas such as science, technology, and robotics.

President Obama has identified three overarching priorities for STEM education: increasing STEM literacy so all students can think critically in science, math, engineering and technology; improving the quality of math and science teaching so American students are no longer outperformed by those in other nations; and expanding STEM education and career opportunities for underrepresented groups, including women and minorities.

Come on, be a part of it. 

Help INNOVATE the Future!

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Try this site to see how the schools in North Carolina are using smart phones to help in Algebra and Geometry classes via Project K-Nect. Students become engaged learners, posting blogs, making videos, collaborating with other learners either in their own school or across the nation. Be sure to watch the video.

http://bit.ly/b3FNjY

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Here's another from the DOE:

Transforming American Education LEARNING Powered by Technology: A Draft of the National Educational Technology Plan 2010, March 5, 2010, Office of Educational Technology, U.S. Department of Education.

Eample Goal:  Goal: All learners will have engaging and empowering learning experiences both in and outside of school that prepare them to be active, creative, knowledgeable, and ethical participants in our globally networked society.  You can read the whole report which is a pdf file, by going to this website:

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/netp.pdf

Instruction has to be Individualized, Personalized and Differentiated.

Educational resources and services will be open and proprietary; Digital textbooks, digital libraries, tutoring systems, simulations, augmented reality, interactive visualization, educational games and online labs.

Uses will include authoring, editing, disseminating and managing content: text processing, audio/video; capture/edit; programming, platforms, blogs, wikis, instructional/course management.

Administratively, technology will be used for scheduling, personnel/HR,  plant/facilities management, procurement, attendance, student records.

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RIchard Close, The Chrysalis Campaign

Global Learning Framework is lucky to have Richard Close.

Richard helps out at an Adult learning center in Downtown Brooklyn where one might find 158 languages and every race.

"It's not about methods or technology at all, but what we personally do with our lives:

 http://globallearningframework.ning.com 

Richard Close, CEO The Chrysalis Campaign has 20 plus years as a visionary, strategic planner and consultant to the eLearning industry. He has been an industry consultant, speaker, analyst and author of white papers on: search learning, Knowledge Management and eLearning, NLP, and Best Practices in Healthcare eLearning Methodologies. Clients in the training business include: IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Sun Microsystems and numerous eLearning companies. 

What is unique about Richard is that he donates one third of his income to the Chrysallis Campaign, which provides strategic consulting, learning services, training and creative services and resources that support urban US and African communities.  Read his story below:

http://www.richardclose.com/Speaking.html

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ACOT2 -

The Apple Classroom of Tomorrow-Today

Establishes a baseline for educators, students and parents to be immersed in 21st Century Skills through the Six Design Principles:

http://ali.apple.com/acot2/

21St Century Skill Outcomes

Relevant and Applied Curriculum

Informative Assessments

Social and Emotional Connections

Culture and Creativity and Innovation

24/7 Access to Tools and Resources.

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This website by Lisa Nielson is an award-winning blogspot.

http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/

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“The principle goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done - men who are creative, inventive and discoverers”

(Jean Piaget)

 

Need to help your grandchildren with their homework?  Want to visit the Smithsonian soon with them?  Here are some good government kid resources for you to try:

http://www.kids.gov/

This site features many different websites gathered up for you on games and activities, Presidents and First Ladies, Martin Luther King, the States websites, our Constitution, Careers, Dinosaurs and Test-taking tips.  Looking for community project ideas for Lincoln's Bicentennial?  They're all here!  Enjoy!!

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This is a delightful, multi-faceted, multi-leveled website that children will be sure to like!  You can be busy here for a long, long time, and the kids will learn a lot!

http://www.kidsolr.com/earlychildhood/basicskillsa.html

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U.S. News has listed the BEST COLLEGES for 2013. There are rankings for 1,400 schools.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges

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Scholarship Help Info is available here:

http://www.supercollege.com/

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Making a Bibliography?  

Try EASY BIB!  

http://www.easybib.com

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From a recommendation by Paul Peters from Linked-In, the Education Strategy of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

"All lives have equal value."

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

 http://www.gatesfoundation.org/United-states/pages/united-state-education-strategy.aspx

12 Major Foundations Commit $500 Million to Education Innovation in Concert with U.S. Department of Education's $650 million "Investing in Innovation" Fund.

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/press-releases/Pages/investing-in-innovation-i3-fund-launch-100429.aspx

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This email has been making the rounds for more than a year, so many of you may have seen it. However, I deem it so important, I'm printing it here as a quick reminder to everyone about the worth of a teacher..... PRICELESS!

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life.

One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued,
"What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life
was to become a teacher?"

To stress his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"

Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make? (She paused for a second, then began...)

"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor winner.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.

You want to know what I make? (She paused again and looked at each and every
person at the table)

I make kids wonder.
I make them question.
I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.

I teach them to write and then I make them write.. Keyboarding isn't everything.

I make them read, read, read.

I make them show all their work in math. They use their God given brain, not
the man-made calculator.

I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity.

I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.

I make my students stand, placing their hand over their heart to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, One Nation Under God, because we live in the United States of America.

Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life. (Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.)

Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant. You want to know what I make? I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. What do you make Mr. CEO?

His jaw dropped, he went silent.

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Tools and Widgets on Education.com

All sorts of widgets are here for the asking:  Activities, Worksheets, Bullying Info and so much more!

http://www.education.com/tools/?cid=57000.0000067&s_kwcid=TC8363teacher+blogswww.teacherfiles.comC3852562915&gclid=CJiYs4-wg6UCFQp75QodUVtPOA

Hoagies Gifted Education Page

National Association for Gifted Children

Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted

The Association for the Gifted

Institute for Research and Policy on Acceleration

A Nation Deceived

The World Council for Gifted and Talented Children

The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented

The Association for the Education of Gifted Underachieving Students

The Davidson Institute for Talent Development

Research-Based Resources (from the NRC/GT) (and more)

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Posted on the Linked-In Poetry Forum:

On Children
by Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Posted by Bonnie Tiver

If ALL of us put our heads, hearts and resources together to make American Education/ Worldwide Education so special, we will help prepare each student to succeed in a diverse and interdependent world.

If you know of anyone who is Retired, but still making a difference in Education, please contact us at m.bizic@comcast.net

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Realizing the limitless possibilities of Senior Life!

In an interview with the NEA TODAY (March/April 2010), Sandra Day O'Connor, the retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice, explained to reporters Mary Ellen Flannery and Karen Zauber, that she may no longer be writing opinions, but she certainly has them.   She's worried that too many Americans don't know enough about how their own government works....that more Americans can name the Three Stooges than the three branches of government.  But she did something about it!

U.S. Supreme Court Justice, retired,

Sandra D. O'Conner

Here's her latest project aimed at Middle School Students, but really for everyone.  "That's the time---sixth, seventh, and eighth grades--when the lightbulb first turns on in the brain that enables them to understand the principles of our Constitution and government.  They become curious and open to learning about it, and they not troubled by the issues often affecting kids in high school or later years."

www.ourcourts.org

And since this is Women's History Month, click here to read more about Sandra Day O'Connor and others, here: 

http://www.greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=115

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McArthur Foundation researching digital youth:

http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/report

Also includes White Papers and some grants for projects currently going on.

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Katherine Bolman, Ph.D. is a retired educator who is still making  a difference.  Rather than complain about the loss of History of Art and Architecture, she created an on-line course of art and architecture around the world.  She has students in Pakistan enjoying the fruits of her labors, which includes one of the largest databases of Prehistoric Art.  She used Skype in her home in Hawaii to network with the students there.

ahaafoundation.org 

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John Rudkin, an excellent educator, recommends the work of Stephen Heppell in perfecting learning opportunities.

http://www.heppell.net

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Join the Smithsonia's HISTORY EXPLORER page here for all grade levels:

http://historyexplorer.si.edu/home/

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American Memory

http://www.loc.gov/index.html

Our Library of Congress THOMAS site is like having a world of learning opened to you 24/7.  Check out the website above to learn more about the library itself.  A global partnership of cultural treasures from around the work. Free and open access to historic maps, photos, documents, audios and film. Knowledge at your fingertips!

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"You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives." – Clay P. Bedford

The above quotes came from this 13 yr. old website for Gifted Education guaranteed to keep you busy for a long, long time!  Excellent resources found here ------->

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/

Here are some wonderful quotes from the site:

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http://www.figurethis.org/

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http://www.exploratorium.edu/

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http://www.bookhive.org/

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Ask Jeeves for Kids

http://www.ajkids.com/

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NASA

http://www.nasa.gov/

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/nasalife/summer_of_innovation.html

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States and Capitals

http://www.50states.com/

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Discovery Channel

dsc.discovery.com

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YOU'LL LOVE THIS!

87 Optical Illusions & Visual Phenomena

 by Michael Bach

http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/index.html

And I always loved this Dali painting of his wife, "Gala Contemplating the Mediterrean Sea."

 I had to cover "Dali" 's backside with a little "towel" paper, but the effect was still seen, and the kids always talked about this... even from the hallway.  (Hopefully about seeing LINCOLN!)

http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/fcs_mosaic/index.html

If YOU can't see Lincoln, you're too close.

Move away.

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100 Inspiring Ways to Use Social Media

in the Classroom

http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2010/05/100-inspiring-ways-to-use-social-media-in-the-classroom/

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"Formal education is the basis for forming human capital, and policy makers should ensure that education systems help learners to adapt to the changing nature of innovation from the start. This requires curricula and pedagogies that equip students with the capacity to learn and apply new skills throughout their lives. Emphasis needs to be placed on skills such as critical thinking, creativity, communication, user orientation and team- work, in addition to domain-specific and linguistic skills. The acquisition of skills is a lifelong process; it does not end with formal education. Schools lay a base for lifelong learning, but ongoing skills acquisition needs to be encouraged. "

e-learning & distance education resources OECD Innovation Strategy, getting a headstart for tomorrow:

"Innovate or die: a message for higher education institutions" by Tony Bates, on June 28th, 2010

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The Learning Revolution-

Future of Learning in a New Free World &

How to Buid a World Wide Learning Web

http://www.newhorizons.org/future/dryden.htm

by Gordon Dryden

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Libraries of the Future

From "Shambles Guru" --- Chris Smith

Library:  http://www.shambles.net/pages/learning/infolit/library2/

Everything: http://www.shambles.net/librarian/

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Jeff Roth from Linked-In featured this "Back to School with Web 2.0" blog utilizing Brian Benzinger's Solution Watch which has a lot of information to help educators, most of it free:

http://www.solutionwatch.com/512/back-to-school-with-the-class-of-web-20-part-1/

http://www.solutionwatch.com/515/back-to-school-with-the-class-of-web-20-part-2/

http://www.solutionwatch.com/519/back-to-school-with-the-class-of-web-20-part-3/

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John Gaynard's Creativity Blog

http://johngaynardcreativity.blogspot.com/search/label/Creative Problem Solving

John's interests lie in pyschometrics, international innovation--both industrial and social, kowledge management, creativity, coaching and leadership development.  He's based in Paris.

Update:  On November 18 at 08:58 AM PST, John posted his favorite quotes on Knowledge, which he said, came from one person: Abi bin abi Taleb, Nahj Al Belagha, who lived between 556-619 of the Common Era.  He said he found these in the foreword of the UNDP's 2002 Arab Development Report.  I'm posting my favorites from that list:

No vessel is limitless, except for the vessel of knowledge.

No wealth can profit you more than the mind, no isolation can be more desolate than conceit, no policy can be wiser than prudence, no generosity can be better than decency, no heritage can be more bountiful than culture, no guidance can be truer than inspiration, no enterprise can be more successful than goodness, and no honour can surpass knowledge.

Knowledge is superior to wealth. Knowledge guards you whereas you guard wealth. Wealth decreases with expenditure, whereas knowledge multiplies with dissemination.

A good material deed vanishes as the material resources behind it vanish, whereas to knowledge we are indebted forever.

Knowledge rules over wealth. Those who treasure wealth perish while they are still alive, whereas scholars live forever. They only disappear in physical image, but in others' hearts their memories are enshrined.

Knowledge is the twin of action. He who is knowledgeable must act. Knowledge calls upon action; if answered, it will stay. Otherwise, it will depart.
 

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Kaleidoscopic

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 Mim's Education News

....8/9/10,   Update: 6/13/2013

http://www.notretiredfromlearning.com/

On one of the Linked-In Forums, a question was asked by Julia Fischer Baumgartner, if most organizations and their workforces, possess the required knowledge, skills and abilities to innovate? "I fear those days of creative problem solving have become remediation, after we finish our educations, vs. the kind of automatic thinking that comes from learning them at a young age."

I answered thusly:

We used to do a lot of creative thinking skills in the High Achievers Classes I taught at Edgeworth Elementary School in Sewickley, PA. Edward DeBono's "6 Hats Thinking," Eberle's "SCAMPER" techniques, etc. I think most of those went by the wayside as the new mantra was "everyone is gifted" (and that's fine too.... except when you don't have time for things like this because you have to make sure you're improving math and reading scores for the NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND testing.....

SCAMPER techniques I use almost every day to solve any problems I might encounter:

Substitute
Combine
Adapt
Modify, Minify, Magnify
Put to other uses
Eliminate
Reverse and rearrange.

You can do a lot of creative work with this kind of  thinking....

And of course, Frank William's ideas of Creativity (FFOE)

Fluency

Flexibility

Originality

Risk Taking

Curiosity

Complexity

Imagination

THE RISE OF THE CREATIVE CLASS:  "Cities will be dominated by educated, mobile workers in the future.  The places that thrive today are those with the highest velocity of ideas, the highest density of talented and creative people, and the highest rate of metabolism."

Need, Demand, Enthusiasm to Innovate....

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Education Editorial by Milana (Mim) K. Bizic  8/18/10

As parents, students and teachers everywhere are preparing to go back to school, I'd like to make a few comments about the most important thing they can bring with them, and that is a Desire.  A burning desire to be their individual best, to make a difference to the world, one person at a time.

We need everyone's individual talent exhibited in abundance to make America great.  Liz Coleman, on a recent TED talk show, said, "We the people have become inured to our own irrelevance when it comes to doing anything that matters, sidelined by the idea that someone else will come up with the answers to our problems we face as a nation."

The health of our democracy depends on us being productive citizens to enhance the public good.  Throughout China and India now, they are competing to see which country will be FIRST in Innovation, already thinking the United States is falling by the wayside with its emphasis on Entertainment and Sports, and not Academics.  We have to prove them wrong.  We have to show the world we have the desire not only to compete, but to lead again.

President Jefferson said, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."

We have the ability to change the downward trend of America losing prominence in the world.  We have the people to make the difference.  No one has all the answers, but EVERYONE has the responsibility.  We can take frameworks of action in all areas:  Education, Health, the Environment, Government, and so forth.  We need the vital engagement of everyone which will then lead to real happiness of finding that purpose in life.  And this starts at the youngest age.  This starts now.

Let's regenerate and reinvent ourselves.  Find your skill sets, realize your potential and have high expectations for yourselves and your children.

Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon Books spoke to the Princeton graduating class, telling them that "Our character is reflected not in the gifts we're endowed with at birth, but the choices we make over the course of a lifetime."

Back-to-school time is a time for all of us to rethink our priorities, time to dream and time to do.  As President Obama said, "Our kids have to understand, nobody's going to hand them a future.  Education is not just something where you tip your head and they pour it is your ear.  You've got to want it."

Back-to-school time= Time to re-engage ourselves 100%.  Onward and upward!  Let's go, America!  Forward to an Innovative and Productive Future!

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Power of Three: Mim's

Educational iPad App

 Read about it here on her

http://www.mimbizic.com

website!