think:lab

Education Market for PDA and Cell Phones Gets the Big-D Treatment!

A friend here in the Dallas/Ft.Worth Metroplex passed on this story about a new business opening up in Dallas that seems to be pushing on the cell-phone-as-educational-agent paradigm.  Prasolus is gearing up to put:

....education materials such as worksheets and reading assignments on a Web-based tool, such as a PDA or laptop computer, that students can use both at home and in the classroom. Each school district will determine which method will be used to deploy the Internet-based technology.

Very intriguing.  Curious why Dallas is the place.  Did you know that Linden Labs (Second Life) and a fast-growing segment of the video gaming industry is based there as well?  Mmmm.  Wonder if other edu-tech companies will gather forces as well in the years to come. 

Could the Big-D become the Big-Ed?

My only critique if Prasolus is listening lies in why they tout the future of learning (quote from their site: "Prasolus uses the cohesive and magnifying benefits of digital technology to release teachers and students to achieve the goal of education...developing minds that positively impact the future" -- I like this, by the way!) but use the classic icons of blocks and a one-room schoolhouse to drive home the visual point.  Hopefully the 2.0 version of their site will reflect a more apt visual description of the future of learning.  To prevent a potential irony, at least!

Amazing how pervasive the 'ancient' icons of 'school' and 'education' are.  Apples.  Blackboards.  Rows of Desks.  Even the future of learning seems to want a pail to carry your lunch to school in. 

Jordan: Home of a Middle Eastern Deerfield Academy?

Any of you who are familiar with the famed elite bastion of private school academic life, Deerfield Academy, might be intrigued by the soon-to-open Kings Academy in Jordan.  A 'knock-off' private boarding school modeled after Deerfield, it is the dream (and reality) of one of the school's alum, King Abdullah II.  And its opening this coming year.

I'm curious if the 'right' model for middle eastern education is to borrow from the classic prep school world, or to create models of their own.  Didn't this happen throughout the 1900's when colonialism ran a bit rampant? 

What do you think?  And will Kings Academy continue to develop the cultural divide that is already so entrenched in the Middle East, or will it ironically create new paths for young students to enter the larger world?  And with fewer international students coming to the US for higher education post-9/11, will this also further fuel that trend as well?  Or are there simply too few students who will have access to this elite academic experience to warrant a trend?

Rise of the Participation Culture

Nobody seems to be diggin' the Web 2.0 label as of late (even though its still very wet behind the ears).  And even I agree -- while I still use it -- that School 2.0 is at best a funky cousin that will wear out its named welcome soon.  It is a nice bumper sticker now.  So I still use it.  But I realize it'll come to an end soon.  And its just a gimmick that can spark conversation temporarily.

"Participation Culture," however, is the kind of language that makes me think we might be onto something much more powerful.  And something much more accessible and feel-good-two-way from the get-go.

Just getting to know Steve Borsch of the "Connecting the Dots" blog.  Thankful, too, because he passed on a great presentation he did entitled "The Rise of the Participation Culture". Seems that it can have a significant impact on anyone trying to find 'the right story' to share with those we are trying to invite down the rabbit hole with us.  Want to put all the emerging technology together in an easy to digest manner?  Want to showcase what it all means in terms of how society, networks, "dig:nats" and learners 'do' what they do?  Want to get focused on future scenarios that might affect your org or school or viral network?

Then try this report out.  And tell Steve what you think!  It simply makes sense.  And its a nicely conceived document that is easy on the eyes, easy to absorb, and frankly makes a lot of sense.  And I'm going to use it this coming week in Austin, TX when I'm talking about the design of School 2.0 with architects and school leaders.  This will definitely be one of the resources I'll recommend!

Adolescence is So 10 Years Old

Is 10 the new 15?

"You get this kind of perfect storm of variables that would suggest that, yes, kids are becoming teens at an earlier age."

CEO's: Hire an Embedded Blogger

Check out this Inc article about a 'trend' of hiring bloggers to roam the halls of your organization.  Why do it?  And why not be the blogger yourself?  Because you want the truth and new perspective and a client's view.  Mmmm, is Scoble's (now-ex) insider-at-Microsoft model picking up steam? 

A snippet:

Rather than post himself or ask staffers to contribute, Balter decided to hire an outsider--someone who would function pretty much as an embedded reporter. For 90 days, the blogger would come to the office, attend meetings, interview employees, even go out for after-work drinks with them, and share his thoughts on the company's transformation. The project's name: 90 Days of BzzAgent.

What Do You Make of the NYTimes Article on the $100 Laptop Today?

“It’s as if people spent all of their attention focusing on Columbus’s boat and not on where he was going,” he said in an interview here. “You have to remember that what this is about is education.” -- Nicholas Negroponte in today's NYTimes in response to criticism about the $100 (err, $150) laptop. The article does a decent job of surveying the landscape of what the OLPC project means.  Interesting range of perspectives offered up, too.  Is Gates right? Or Negroponte?

Seems to me that the same focus/criticism on 'tech' being the point is true of everything from textbooks to laptops.  We get geeked out about 'the thing' (good and bad) and forget that paradigm changes under foot.  Seismic changes.  Love the Columbus comment by Negroponte.  I agree. Whether the OLPC project is the key, I can't say, but the direction we're ultimately headed is.

The Changing Brand of Public School?

I remember being wow'd by Alina Wheeler's talk about the need for schools to 'brand' themselves; it was at a school design conference a year ago. [Note:  Alina literally wrote the book on brand identity; ask a marketing student or graphic design student near you!] Spent time with here in Philly a few weeks later, being equally amazed by her spirit, insights, and provocation for schools (and school design professionals) to begin re-thinking the 'story' and 'brand' (beyond 'core business' and mascots, if you will) to deal with competition.  This was truly about storytelling in a stunning new way.  Something most schools and architects fail to embrace.  Sadly.  And I'm not talking about cute kids and press releases, sportsfans.

Competition?  Oh,...my.

Today in the Washington Post, there is a timely story about a public elementary school that created a marketing committee to attract great students, fill seats, and re-imagine their role in the community.  Yes, there was a fill-the-seat need, but the larger implications are wonderful:

But Thomson is different in another way. The school's principal and parents formed a marketing committee to aggressively recruit students. The team worked feverishly this spring, sending out fliers to Chinese nonprofit and business organizations, posting glowing messages on e-mail discussion groups and holding several open houses. All the promotion was done in three languages: English, Spanish and Chinese.

"We really made a conscious effort," said Principal Gladys Camp, who saw enrollment grow from 287 students to about 345 this year. "We wanted to make sure that our enrollment didn't drop."

Is Seth listening (he smiles)?  Imagine if Alina and Seth sat down with a group of school leaders and design teams. What fun that meeting would be for a fly on the wall!

Fear of Girls and Social Networking Tools?

Ready for a mind-shift?

Girls’ use of technology threatens the established social order. That’s the real reason behind the fear of girls using social networking sites.

Same could be true of saying "students" in replacement of "girls", but the point works either way.  Far better than yet another 5pm newscast of "mean girls using MySpace to be mean girls" to dumb us down further.  Mmmm....here's the original link.  Very, very, very interesting.  One more reason to spend time in the MacArthur digital space these days.

Ewan and Scoble Mix It Up in the UK

Hey, if Ewan and Scoble can begin to shift the edu-needle forward, esp. in the schools can't progress without social networking tools and paradigms being embraced, then I'm a huge fan. 

Okay, I already was.  Remember sitting with Scoble this summer in Montana in the minivan he was driving on the way to Yellowstone and the hot springs, telling him about a range of edu-bloggers that he needed to cozy up with.  That education was a wide open wild west of opportunity. Somewhere between the Equator and North Pole of opportunity, perhaps.

Pleased that his PodTech colleagues/team (thanks, John) also said they were fired up about a version of Edu-Vloggies one day, too.  I'd love to attend.  Blacktie and all.  Robert asked for a list after I returned from Montana.  Edu-guys to meet.  And clearly he's more than followed-up.  If he and Ewan are already in kahoots, then we're all better off.  Now, get Robert to meet Richardson, Ian Jukes, Warlick, Lehmann, Lars/Anders, and others...and we'll really be seeing some wildfire on the horizon line.

Here's a snippet of what Ewan said recently:

After Robert had introduced himself and the pivotal role of reversing the hierarchy in Microsoft, I set out a 5 minute summary of what impact social media can have in the right conditions in education. Nice and easy there, then ;-) I explained how education provided an interesting background around which to look at adoption strategies since, taking the 400 year old educationalists’ view of learning structure – textbooks/sages on stages/hierarchy/barriers - we had the interesting job of trying to make people who worked behind closed doors see the benefit of working with others.

He also paraphrased Robert's own big picture reasoning as to why blogging (aka social networking tools in general, I imagine) is so gosh-darn needed in schools:

Robert then outlined what he thinks makes social software social software. It's:

• Easy
• Discoverable and fast
• Easy to track
• Permalinking
• Syndication

So, Ewan, do you think Scoble will follow you down the edu-blogging rabbit hole?  And Robert, will you invite some of the edu-bloggers out to the next off-the-grid event, or to grab a PodTech video/view on the coast?

What's Your School 2.0 Bar Napkin Say?

What?  You mean Stanford's "d" school is getting into the blogging game?  According to the "Meta-Cool" blog mindtravels of Diego Rodriguez (IDEO, "d"school, and so much more!)

Note:  Several "dig:nats" have contacted me this year about how to get into the "d" school, connect to IDEO, or one day intern there.  Funny, I'm not affiliated and don't know.  But, here's an idea.  Add these links to your RSS feeds, sportsfans and "dignats".  And begin becoming a truly informed and passionate 'student' of the work Rodriquez and his colleagues at both institutions are doing.  OR just move out there and camp out on their doorstep with free bagels in hand and a I'll-get-your-coffee joie-de-vivre attitude.  Or just start your own "d" school wherever you're still doing high school.  OR your own IDEO for teens.  And show us how to do it!

This napkin sketch photo represents all that I love about where institutions of higher ed (and some other learning facilities at the K-12 level as well) is headed! 

You've most likely heard of how Stanford re-wrote the rules for what a business school is and what a design/arch school is.  And merged their lovely new selves together.  Why?  Daniel Pink would say that the MFA is more powerful than the MBA, but businesses need to think like designers in a conceptual world.  You mean its harder to get into a top-level MFA program than Harvard's illustrious case-study happy B-school?  Really?  And this may impact the future of learning and business in ways never before imagined?  And the information age is already over?  Ah.  I'm beginning to get it.

But what I want to know is when will a K-12 'learning portal' begin to barnap sketch out its future self in similar ways without falling trap to the watered down mission statement that uses "global learner" with "lifelong learner" while really sticking with worksheets?  OR, better said, what does your school's audacious view of the future bar napkin sketch look like?

• Imagine if your local elementary school taught "futurism". (heck, you're kids are already really good at the why-is-the-sky-blue-and-not-polka-dot question, so imagination isn't a problem.) 
• Imagine if your local middle school was framed around "scenario" creation/analysis. (what better use of a changling's mind than to do multiple scenarios about how the world will unfold as a filter for all subjects). 
• Imagine if your local high school re-imagined itself like Stanford's "d" school. (oh, the colleges would be crazy-happy about the minds you'd be sending them; businesses and communities, too!)

I'm getting light-headed (he smiles).