Just-in-time management and tech training of the sort you can receive at General Assembly will increasingly replace traditional just-in-case business degrees. Why get an MBA when you can start a company and get just-in-time support? Why take a crummy programming course from your local community college when you can get one free from Stanford or MIT? – Tom Vander Ark (former Executive Director of Education, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)

Agreed! So, agreed! I was recently asked by someone, “Do you think community organizations and the private sector should be involved in teacher training initiatives given that so many universities in the Middle East are expanding their offerings for pre and in-service teachers?” My response was, “Absolutely!” Why? Because…

• Not all learning should end in a degree! – There are so many educators out there that want professional development that will help them in their classes now, but that frankly don’t want to spend the time and money getting a 1st or 2nd master’s degree.
• People outside of academia can bring a lot of value to education – As I wrote in Unconscious Education, “How can it be justified that the teachers that are meant to prepare students for the world of work, so often have little work experience outside of schools?” Or, as Tom Vander Ark puts it, “New eyes with no loyalties other than to kids and community gives an observer a chance to ask tough questions about the strange collection of historical practices that make up the typical school day. While not valued in education, a breadth of leadership experiences and exposure to solution sets from other sectors is helpful.”
• We need more “just-in-time” learning solutions – Learning is more meaningful when there is motivation and relevant context behind it. I remember being asked to take a real estate financial modeling course a few years ago when I was starting a new job. While I was excited about the course, I didn’t have the prerequisite modeling skills, nor was I working on or going to work on any real estate financial modeling projects any time in the near future. As a result, the course was essentially “a wash”. There is always something to be said for “knowledge for knowledge’s sake”. But, workplaces need to get more savvy at determining when and how employees receive professional development. Furthermore, employees and entrepreneurs need to “own” their learning and seek help (courses, reading, mentors, etc.) when the time is ripe.

Tom Vander Ark’s interview in the Creativity Post is filled with so many nuggets of edu-wisdom from an insider’s and outsider’s point of view. Read it! Ponder it! Share it! Then check out his blog!

Anna

“When everything in your life appears to be organized, that is the danger-point, because what we call ‘organization’ is really just a story we’ve been told, but its not a story that can be sustained” – Paulo Coelho on The Zahir

Today I learned that Paulo Coelho had an entire career in music, as an activist, etc. before launching into his career as a “novelist” around the age of 40—nice to know that not all celebrities are born at the age of 20! When asked about his writing process in an interview at the end of The Zahir, he responded:

I plunge into my unconscious. I allow myself to be guided by the questions my soul asks, but which my mind has not yet understood. In the process of writing, I discover my own answers.

If the unconscious of one person can produce literary works as widely loved as The Alchemist (most sold book in the history of language, Coelho biography at end of The Zahir) and Eleven Minutes (world’s best selling fiction title in 2003, USA Today, Publishing Trends), what would happen if our education institutions (schools, libraries, work places, etc.) allowed more space for “education from the unconscious” in all people?

About a year ago, a friend of mine sent me her concept for a K-12 school. I noticed that the school day was four hours. So, one of my comments was, “Compared to international standards, four hours is quite a short day. What will kids do the rest of the time? Internships?” On second thought, why should school be eight hours per day? Or, any set period of time for that matter? Thinking more about current “norms” in education…

• Why should calculus be the pinnacle of high school math? Wouldn’t statistics be much more useful? (Note: I can’t remember where I read this comment from a college math professor, but I recall thinking about this during my travels in Greece in 2009.)
• In fact, why should math and language be taught as the most important subjects in school (for more on this watch Ken Robinson’s TED talk “Schools Kill Creativity”)?
• How can it be justified that the teachers that are meant to prepare students for the world of work, so often have little work experience outside of schools?
• What would happen if words like unconscious, dreams, soul and love were emphasized in school curricula more than words like objectives, facts, standardized tests and grades?

As one of the characters in Coelho’s book The Zahir points out:

Going back to the story of Hans and Fritz: do you think that civilization, human relations, our hopes, our conquests, are just the product of some other garbled story?

What is the “story of education” that we tell now? Under what circumstances was that story created? Does that story still serve us? Is it the story we want to continue to hold for current and future generations?

- Anna

Image available under CC licensure by mikebaird

While doing research on children and teen apps via the app search engine Quixey.com, I came across Cathy’s Book – an interactive teen novel for iPod Touch and iPhone. Very clever interactivity. Take a look…

On Happiness—Almost to a person, the elders viewed happiness as a choice, not the result of how life treats you. A 75-year-old man said, “You are not responsible for all the things that happen to you, but you are completely in control of your attitude and your reactions to them.” An 84-year-old said, “Adopt a policy of being joyful.”

The New York Times just published a delightful article by Jane Brody titled, “Advice From Life’s Graying Edge on Finishing With No Regrets”. The article summarizes advice from over 1,500 older Americans that were interviewed by the Cornell Legacy Project—an initiative to capture “lessons for living” on topics such as love, marriage, work, money, health, compassionate living, values, war, peace and more from 70+ year olds across a variety of economic, educational and social strata.

So, what did the interviewees have to say?

• On Careers—Take the time and energy to find the work you love. For more on this read what Bertrille has to say.
• On Raising Children—Spend time with your children even if you have to sacrifice in other areas. Don’t play favorites and lay off the comparisons. See more tips here.
• On Regrets—Be honest, travel, make that bucket list and start acting on it now summarizes what the interviewees have to say according to the Project’s founder and chief researcher Dr. Karl Pillemer.
• On Aging—Adapt to getting older with a positive attitude. See what Rebecca (92) and Sharon (76) have to say about aging here.
• On Worry & Stress—Life is short. Learn to live in the moment rather than fixate on long term plans. For more on this, read what John (70) has to say here.
• On Everything Else—Visit the Legacy Project and make sure to take in a few video interviews.

For a gal (me) new to her 30s with a strong penchant for future planning, I found the advice of the elders soothing and refreshing (especially the bit on travel… just have to figure out the whole “focus on present bit!”). More than that, it was a reminder to call my grandmothers! Finally, the article reminded me of how important it is for educators and education institutions to think beyond books, standards and exams and to get learners 1) to explore and identify what makes them happy, 2) to listen to their intuition and 3) to make the most of now.

“The world is our oyster!” Now, there is a lesson for living!

Anna

Have you ever had a project that you both cared about deeply, but also didn’t really care about at all? Perhaps a paper for school? A major initiative at work? An upcoming dinner party at your house? That tension between something feeling really important, yet insignificant in the grander scheme of things often leads to feelings of confusion, amusement or stress. So, how does one “deal” with this conundrum of sorts?

On a recent walk with a friend of mine who does lots of work in the field of coaching and conflict resolution, she mentioned to me a process for “thinking about goals” and it goes like this:

1. Attention – Pay attention to what you hope to do or accomplish.
2. Intention – Set an intention for how you’d like things to be.
3. No tension – Back off and be okay with the ebb and flow of things. (i.e. Don’t take things too seriously!)

I think schools do an excellent job at teaching “attention,” but the process of setting “intentions” and allowing for things to unfold organically with “no tension” is something that rarely gets address in schools nor the workplace.

What do you do to practice “intention” and “no tension”? What would be different if you took those steps more to heart?

Anna

Image available under CC Licensure by Y.Y.H.D.R.

How much will you pay for an educational app for your child? $.99, $1.99, $3.99, more?

Now, how much will you pay for a children’s book at Kinokuniya, Barnes and Noble, etc.? $5.99, $7.99, $10.99, more?

If the digital version of a book offers so much more in terms of interaction and avenues for deeper content exploration and engagement, why are the prices for digital versus physical so different?

While reading the latest installment of the edSurge newsletter, I came across the Children’s App Manifesto - an initiative to support the development and spread of high quality, engaging, educational and commercial-light educational apps in a sustainable way. The Manifesto authors (Andy and Daniel) point out:

Given sophisticated new digital tools, increased investment in app development, and the near-ubiquity of mobile devices, educational software developers are creating more engaging and empowering content today than ever before. Mobile platforms like iOS and Android enable small developers to build groundbreaking games, toys, and tools for kids to play, learn, grow, and develop – all free from commercial branding and at minimal cost to parents (at least for software) – a rare “win, win, win” scenario.

If we as parents, educators and developers want to maintain this, however, it’s time to take a step back and reassess our expectations: $.99 is not sustainable. We’re paying $19.99 at Target for games and toys that cost us $1.99 in the App Store. While digital apps are certainly cheaper to distribute than boxed software, development costs for these increasingly complex products far exceed parents’ and education markets’ price expectations. Given their relatively small market, this tension is particularly acute for educational developers – a true shame considering the incredible potential for these platforms as learning and creation tools for kids. If we don’t commit to supporting great content, then we’re effectively resigning developers to cut costs through quality reduction or supplement revenue through commercial branding/advertisement…

As the producer of a soon-to-be-released digital book app, I’ve been looking with our development team at sustainable business models to support the development of our high quality interactive literature app for early chapter book readers. The point Andy and Daniel brings up is critical. To sustain development, $.99 is a tough price point indeed (without Angry Birds level subscriptions!). So, some questions to parents and early chapter book readers out there:

• What do you expect from educational app developers when it comes to issues like features, advertisements and pricing?
• Are you willing to pay more for a more interactive, ad-free experience? If so, what is your price range?
• Are there questions educational app developers should be asking you that we aren’t asking?

Thinking about the Children’s App Manifesto…

Anna

Image under CC Licensure by 50 Watts

A couple of months back a friend of mine posted the following status update on Facebook:

“Don’t confuse education with intelligence”.

Struck by the statement, I started to tally all of the things I learned from school and all of the things I learned outside of school. As it turned out, living life outside of the classroom had taught me quite a lot! After which I started thinking about my friends with degrees and those without and to be honest all seemed quite intelligent. This got me thinking…

While not overtly stated, there is often an implicit assumption by those who teach and attend “institutions of knowledge” that “the educated” are somehow “more intelligent” than those who have not had the “opportunity” to attend (Western) schools of doing and thought.

***Pause. Think about the last paragraph.***

While the spread of Western education can be associated with tremendous evolution in medicine, communication, transportation… It is worth asking ourselves, “At what expense?” Or rather, “What has been pushed aside by the spread of institutions of ‘modern’ thought?”

This week I had the honor of watching and discussing Munir Fasheh’s TEDxRamallah talk on “The Occupation of Knowledge” at Open Diversity and “Schooling the World” at the Global Education Conference. Both films call into question the assumption that Western schooling is somehow better than other (more traditional) forms of education.

Some key questions that were raised in the films and subsequent community dialogs included:

• What is the impact of the spread of Western education institutions?
• Does quality of life improve with schooling?
• What kind of thinking does school promote? What kind of thinking is lost as a result of being schooled?
• Will “modern” education systems raise people out of poverty?
• What is the value of a degree absent modern day education institutions?
• What happens when you are under the “occupation of knowledge?”
• What are alternative models of bringing children into adulthood?
• How should education institutions evolve to allow for more humanistic, compassionate and sustainable ways of doing and being?

As a graduate of many Western education institutions and an active participant in the “education industry,” I am thankful for my schooling and I love what I do. But, as these films point out, one must not march blindly forward without thinking about the bigger picture and the impact of one’s thoughts and actions.

Is “Western knowledge” for the world?

Anna

The Bon Education team and I are currently developing an education app that we plan to release in early spring. As “producer” I am spending a lot of time thinking about strategy, business plan, partnerships, etc. In this article on pitching, I was reminded of a simple and elegant rule of thumb for presentations (by Guy Kawasaki):

I am evangelizing the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint. It’s quite simple: a PowerPoint presentation should have ten slides, last no more than twenty minutes, and contain no font smaller than thirty points. While I’m in the venture capital business, this rule is applicable for any presentation to reach agreement: for example, raising capital, making a sale, forming a partnership, etc.

Although more than 10 slides, the above presentation (as Kawasaki points out) is a good example of the 20-30 part of the rule!

To short and sweet presentations!

Anna

I love receiving emails from my friend Nitin because they contain to-the-point reflections, articles and research tidbits that always stop me in my tracks. Today he sent me a series of links from Study Hacks: Decoding Patterns of Success - reflections from a computer scientist (Cal Newport) who systematically studies, “why some people lead successful, enjoyable, meaningful lives, while so many others do not”.

The posts focused on the habits of average versus elite writers, violin players and Rhodes Scholars. If you look at “elite” players across various fields of endeavor, you’ll find some interesting (and similar) patterns.

• The average players are working just as many hours as the elite players.
• but they’re not dedicating these hours to the right type of work (i.e., the methodical work of stretching your ability)
• and furthermore, they spread this work haphazardly throughout the day. So even though they’re not doing more work than the elite players, they end up sleeping less and feeling more stressed. 

Newport adds:

This analysis leads to an important conclusion. Whether you’re a student or well along in your career, if your goal is to build a remarkable life, then busyness and exhaustion should be your enemy. If you’re chronically stressed and up late working, you’re doing something wrong…You’ve built a life around hard to do work, not hard work.

If you are interested in this topic, two additional resources come to mind:

• Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers–a behind the scenes look at the habits of “elite” players like Bill Gates and the Beatles. Through Outliers I too learned that the people “at the top of their fields” practice a lot (i.e. the “10,000 Hour Rule”). But that practice is not arduous. Rather it is focused, yet playful.
• Coaches Training Institute courses–Through CTI, I learned that being “busy” or being “stressed” is a choice. I can choose to be a victim of circumstance or I can be creative, playfully and the artist of my own circumstances. I can approach life with fear or I can approach life with joy and limitless possibility. By observing my thought patterns and consciously shifting my perspectives, the world and my activities within it change completely.

Success means different things to different people obviously. So, studies like the ones mentioned by Newport or Gladwell should be taken with a grain of salt. Regardless, I think they are useful to read because they highlight some very important questions worth a focused, yet playful ponder:

• What does a successful life mean to you?
• How do you want to perceive the world?
• What habits do you wish to cultivate in pursuit of your version of “a successful life”?

To finding our own versions of success and bliss!

Anna

Image under CC Licensure by rolohauck

Note to self: Before team brainstorms, allow time for individual brainstorming first.

Per Jena McGregor at the Washington Post:

Evidence has long shown that getting a group of people to think individually about solutions, and then combining their ideas, can be more productive than getting them to think as a group. Some people are afraid of introducing radical ideas in front of a group and don’t speak up; in other cases, the group is either too small or too big to be effective.

But according to a recently published study, the real problem may be that participants’ get stuck on each others’ ideas. On Monday, the British Psychological Society highlighted a recent study by Nicholas Kohn and Steven Smith, two researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington and Texas A&M University. They asked undergraduate students to contribute ideas for improving Texas A&M, both individually and in collective groups. They shared the ideas on a computer, either in small chat groups or alone, but combined together after the fact. As expected, the “nominal” groups, or those made up of individual ideas that were later pulled together, outperformed the real chat groups, both with the number of ideas and the diversity of them…

Image under CC Licensure by saaleha