This fifteen minute plus video is an introduction to the paradigm “gamification,” particularly as it could relate to education (clue…using off the shelf video [...]]]> Most education thinkers believe we need a real paradigm shift away from the centuries old “talking head” educational practices still dragging down student performance and draining public coffers (okay, my editorial comment).

This fifteen minute plus video is an introduction to the paradigm “gamification,” particularly as it could relate to education (clue…using off the shelf video games alone, a teacher took a class from below third grade level in language and math to above fourth grade level — IN EIGHTEEN WEEKS!)

Technology will be a big part of the solution to our educational issues, and the presenter makes a convincing argument that “gamification” will overhaul society, globally, over the next decades.  Here’s an overview to help get up to speed on what could be the next big thing…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2N-5maKZ9Q&feature=player_embedded

…I guess I was away when they re-defined failure

http://www.creators.com/opinion/john-stossel/school-competition-rescues-kids.html

I do believe No Child Left Behind is flawed legislation (particularly the documented fallacy of its premise that educational attainment levels are a measure of teacher effectiveness), so waivers for [...]]]> Frustration is understandable, but the administration’s announcement that it will grant waivers from NCLB for states which meet the Race to the Top criteria is a little uncomfortable.

I do believe No Child Left Behind is flawed legislation (particularly the documented fallacy of its premise that educational attainment levels are a measure of teacher effectiveness), so waivers for states pursuing serious education reform SOUNDS like a good idea…

…but who made the Obama administration overlord of education policy (well meaning as they may be)?  I don’t like the multiple layers of “oversight” — congressional, DOE, state legislature, Colorado Department of Education, local districts, state judiciary (yes, as improbable as it may seem, our Colorado state judiciary has decreed it has authority to determine education funding levels in Colorado) — and I particularly don’t like the executive branch grabbing the ball during a congressional time-out.

Leadership and vision is welcome, but process is fundamental to liberty…

http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/obama-administration-proceeds-reform-no-child-left-behind-following-congressiona

Here is its FIRST YEAR Ohio report card:

These kids are 42% poverty level and selected by lottery, [...]]]> Some communities are starting to get it right!  Newsweek and now CNN have featured an Akron middle school, the new National Inventors Hall of Fame School, for its problem based learning curriculum for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).

Here is its FIRST YEAR Ohio report card:

These kids are 42% poverty level and selected by lottery, yet are soaring academically and are eager to learn — they WANT to come to school and work on problems which they see as relevant, with their “learning coaches” (no “teachers” here)!

Congratulations to the students, their parents, and the district for having the courage to breakout from the old paradigms!

Also, note the many “Brain Rules” in the presentation: multi-modal (visual and audio), with the visual presentation including movement, which really gets the brain to pay attention. These are the [...]]]> A great 12 minute video by Sir Ken Robinson eloquently laying out the disconnect between what we have and what we need in education.

Also, note the many “Brain Rules” in the presentation: multi-modal (visual and audio), with the visual presentation including movement, which really gets the brain to pay attention. These are the kinds of new information delivery systems which can efficiently leverage the human capital invested in education, and improve the “product,” students with a passion for learning!

The controversy over whether tipping toward a more nationalized institution  is a wise move generates thought-provoking conversation — if education is going to be [...]]]> The Colorado State Board of Education adopted the national Common Core Standards for Math and English Language Arts yesterday (8/3/10) on a 4-3 vote (click here for article from the Berthoud Recorder).

The controversy over whether tipping toward a more nationalized institution  is a wise move generates thought-provoking conversation — if education is going to be a public enterprise, where does “control” belong?  The arguments for national standards are rational — “portability” is a valid concern for such a mobile society, and the need to keep internationally competitive is obvious.

What is IRRATIONAL is this current, multi-layered tax collection and rule-making agglomeration, where the feds, state and local politicians all have their fingers in the pie, isn’t working for students, parents or taxpayers.  It’s time for everyone to let go of their presumptions, prejudices and prepossessions, and focus on what’s really best for families.

Although there’s a near universal acknowledgment that creativity is the foundation for the advancement of an individual, a business, a nation, or the human condition itself, the article hints that the institution of education in America is heading in the [...]]]> Newsweek published a great article about the documented decline of creativity amongst American schoolchildren (Read http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/10/the-creativity-crisis.html)

Although there’s a near universal acknowledgment that creativity is the foundation for the advancement of an individual, a business, a nation, or the human condition itself, the article hints that the institution of education in America is heading in the wrong direction.

Nationally, we’re focusing on “…standardized curriculum, rote memorization, and nationalized testing,” according to an Indiana University researcher, while China and the European Union, for example, are adopting the problem-solving models we seem to have abandoned.

Just how does the problem-solving educational model relate to creative thinking?  The article provides a sketch of the brain processes involved, but intuitively, think of the connectivity of the problem-solving process — gathering facts underlying the problem, accessing and sorting through maybe just vaguely related information, imagining this data as an application to the problem, etc. — you don’t have to be a neuroscientist to “know” that rich, relevant, motivating stimulation is a good thing for the brain!

So, to recap, we know we value creativity (from the article, “A recent IBM poll of 1,500 CEOs identified creativity as the No. 1 ‘leadership competency’ of the future), we know creative adults were creative children,  (again, from the article, “The correlation to lifetime creative accomplishment was more than three times stronger for childhood creativity than childhood IQ”), why has education gotten standards-obsessed and dropped the ball on what we say we value?

Perhaps we are mistakenly confusing “equal opportunity,” with “equal outcome.”  The Chinese believed in “equal outcome” for years and tried to manufacture cookie-cutter citizens, but they have abandoned that approach as a national failure, and are now using the proven and successful American model, fostering individual talent.  So my question is — does our public education system still value equal opportunity for exceptionalism?  If so, we need to get our priorities and our policies back in alignment, ’cause they are seriously out of whack today.