A year ago I trialed a method of project-based learning that incorporates a number of skills that we associate with critical collaboration, networking, and group communication skills. It strengthens student ownership of the process and the product and ensures that the students are working on problems that are meaningful to them, not just to the [...]
Who in the educational community would prompt you to jump on an airplane, and spend the time and money just for the chance to hang out for a day of learning? Maybe I am selfish, but the answer for me is “I love you all, but not many”. When I knew John Hunter would be [...]
Every time I think I have abstracted up to the highest level, I find I have not; one would think I would learn. So here is my new highest-level understanding of the critical link between the future of education and how we get there: The model of proscriptive education is busted. The world is changing [...]
Just over a month from now I will hit the road for more than 12 weeks to visit with educational leaders at some 60+ schools around the country. Over the next 30 days I will post a few thoughts about preparation for such a journey, some practical, some thoughtful, some metaphorical for the journey that [...]
In his post “The Immeasurable, Pt. 2” Will Richardson posted this great graphic to articulate the problem with assessment: He states, correctly, of course, that we spend most of our time in the bottom left quadrant, and little in the upper right quadrant. I think this is an issue that goes well beyond assessment, or [...]
This is the third of three posts about the Three Horizon framework of innovation. If this third horizon sounds tough, or something we should not worry about, or a problem for those in a distant future, think about the folks that just landed a rover on Mars. We revel in their success! We get goose [...]
I am writing a short three-part blog that reviews the Three Horizon framework for innovation that Paul Hobcraft detailed in the last few days. The first post focused on the first horizon, finding ways to enhance value in existing programs that are close to our core business. The next horizon is, frankly, the most challenging [...]
Innovation is a simple word. Gets thrown around a lot. We all want to be innovative. The fact is that true innovation, the creation and implementation of new ideas that bring true value to our organizations, is hard. Real innovation will always get stuck on the back burner as we are overwhelmed by the stress [...]
I have been so fortunate to be associated with the Behavioral Science and Leadership Department at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point for the last two years. For two summers I hosted groups of cadets in San Diego for my Falconer seminar. Last year, the cadets signed a copy of a book for me [...]
The secular world should realize that the closest thing we have to a multi-cultural meeting of faith and souls only occurs once each two years, and we should all take the Olympics fortnight off as a global vacation. Guess not; back to work (but the iPad and London streams are close at hand!) Catching up [...]