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Untangling Rich Resources: Web 2.0 Innovation Map

One of the best ways to stimulate creativity in the classroom and promote productivity is exploring what’s happening beyond the confines of school. Taking a look at innovation and creativity in action reveals intriguing ways to assimilate and use knowledge in novel ways. For example, swing by the Web 2.0 Innovation Map and see how web-based creativity and development is geographically dispersed. Each marker identifies the exciting formation and dissemination of ideas and approaches to using data in original ways. Doing so might even spark some ideas for classroom projects and procedures.

Videolicious

 

I just stumbled upon Johnny Blakeborough's most excellent Videotech blog. Johnny is a Media Technician at Malaspina University College's Educational Technology Centre. If you're interested in integrating digital video into your classroom instruction, Johnny's tips on how to work with video resources will help you master this innovative teaching tool.

Making It So They Want To Learn

Here's an idea: what if teachers constructed education in such a way that students actually wanted to come to class to learn? I mean, what if education involved planning lessons so pupils said, "I can't wait to get to class because today we're going to ____!" Dr. Marilyn Arnone (co-author of Turning Kids on to Research: The Power of Motivation) explores this concept in an ERIC Digest article called Using Instructional Design Strategies To Foster Curiosity. Arnone's suggestions, coupled with the appropriate technology could make a lesson a "must-see, must-do" event for students. Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, a respected psychologist explores a similar concept. He suggests that when individuals experience events that are interesting and pose challenge they often enter a state called flow. What if students came into a class that they found very engaging, a class that introduced concepts that were easy enough for the pupils to understand but were also challenging in that students had to (and actually wanted to) put forth more than a little effort to understand them better? In short, it would be a scenario in which learners voluntarily came to school because the want very much to get better at learning. We could actually teach kids to want to be smart and creative. Before you dismiss this idea, consider this: students do this kind of thing in sports like basketball as well as computer -based games. If our pupils can learn to do complex moves in sports or games, they should be able to master literature and math if we, their teachers, make our lessons more engaging, right? What do you think? Leave us a comment.

Robots: Running Toward the Future

If you still think of robots as more sci-fi than reality, take a look at this streaming video clip of Honda's Asimo. The future's a whole lot closer than you think. How well are you preparing your students for assimilation into a world where technology and innovation go hand-in-hand? Japan's getting with the program because it knows that technology is an important tool for learning. Is America ready to join the game or are we gonna sit this one out on the sidelines because education's not ready to integrate technology? Comments?

Kindergarten Kind of Kool

The Lifelong Kindergarten Group at MIT develops new technologies that "...in the spirit of the blocks and fingerpaint of kindergarten, expand the range of what people can design, create, and learn." Take a look at some of their projects. After that it's snacktime and we all take a nap.

Innovation in Education

Looking for innovative approaches to education? Check out the tasty suggestions served up at the George Lucas Foundation's Edutopia web site. Edutopia highlights a number of practical and productive projects that are sure to motivate administrators and teachers alike. While you're there, be sure to subscribe to Edutopia's excellent magazine.