Social Learning Systems

Knowledge sharing tools key, says Google head - People Management Magazine Online

“We have a great starting point at Google – we have the culture and attitude that breeds innovation,” he told delegates. “Out talent philosophy is if you give people freedom, they will amaze you.”

He explained that the organisation had implemented several strategies based on this principle, including the ‘20 per cent time’ rule – where employees have the equivalent of one day per week to develop Google projects they feel passionate about. This initiative has spawned both Google News and Google Ocean, part of Google Earth.

Read the entire article here.

via www.peoplemanagement.co.uk

Social Learning doesn’t mean what you think it does! Learning in the Social Workplace

Harold Jarche makes this point succinctly himself in Social Learning: the freedom to act and cooperate with others

“One current theme in the workplace and education circles is to “blend” social with the formal and structured. But social learning is not a bolted-on component of our formal educational and training programs. It is a sea change. It will disrupt institutions built upon the technology of  the printing press – all communication enterprises, including education. Yes, we have always learned and worked socially, but we have never had the power of ridiculously easy group-forming or almost zero-cost duplication of our words and images.”

Read the whole article here.

 

via www.c4lpt.co.uk

Silicon Valley Pioneer Sandra Kurtzig Back In Start-Up Game With Kenandy - Venture Capital Dispatch - WSJ

Not many people could walk into one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent venture capital firms, ask to see a partner, and have him talk you into letting him fund your company.

But former ASK Group founder Sandra Kurtzig, one of Silicon Valley’s first female entrepreneurs and the first woman to take a Silicon Valley technology company public, did just that, walking into the offices of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and getting an immediate meeting with Managing Partner Ray Lane. 

Read the full article here.

 

---- So excited that Sandy Kurtzig has started this new company.  ASK was one of the best places to work in Silicon Valley and it's wonderful to see this brilliant woman partnering with Salesforce! I spent 5+ years at ASK and know that KENANDY is going to be a great success!  -----  More on KENANDY... 

http://kenandy.com/

 

via blogs.wsj.com

When Social Networking Goes 'Live' -- THE Journal

One doesn't immediately connect the country of Sweden with the Midwestern state of Iowa, but for five students in Shaelynn Farnsworth's senior English class, those ties are very strong and very recent. After connecting with a teacher at the International School of Helsingborg via Twitter, Farnsworth, a freshman and senior teacher at the BCLUW Community School District in Conrad, turned online social networking interactions into a trip of a lifetime for her students.

Here, Farnsworth discusses how social networking in the classroom came full circle and resulted in hands-on learning for her students.

Read the full article here.

via thejournal.com

The Differentiator

 
A great tool -

Pick the Thinking Skill.

Pick a way to Differentiate Content.

Pick a Resource.

Pick a Product for Students to Create.

Pick a Group Size for Student Group Work. 

Fabulous!

Here is a direct link to the tool.

 

via www.byrdseed.com

The Collaborative Organization: How to Make Employee Networks Really Work - The Magazine - MIT Sloan Management Review

The Leading Question

How can companies build more collaborative and innovative organizations?

Findings

• Executives should analyze employee collaboration networks to discover how high-performing individuals and teams connect.
• Networks should be designed to optimize the flow of good ideas across function, distance and technical specialty.
• Network analysis can show where too much connectivity slows decision making.

via sloanreview.mit.edu

Read full article here.

 

21st Century Skills | Home

An important book for education...

 

In 21st Century Skills, Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel tell why and how the global landscape for learning is reshaping itself, and what this global transformation, often called the “21st century skills movement”, may bring to a school near you. Based on a framework developed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, this book and DVD vividly illustrate the skills needed to survive and thrive in a complex and connected world:

• Learning and innovation skills


• Digital literacy skills


• Life and career skills

via www.21stcenturyskillsbook.com

Bernie Trilling: I Just Want my kid to be Happy... and Successful

Great Article from Bernie Trilling...

Read the entire article here.

 

There is growing agreement worldwide, from educators, business and government leaders (see for example www.p21.org), that the formula for success in our times involves fusing the "3Rs" -- the traditional basic knowledge-and-skills of reading, 'riting, 'rithmetic and other subjects like science and social studies -- with the "4Cs":

• Critical thinking and problem-solving
• Creative thinking and innovating
• Communicating
• Collaborating

via www.huffingtonpost.com

Mind Map: Best Online Collaboration Tools 2009

Robin Good's mindmap of collaboration tools is regularly updated and is a great resource! The map is now closed to public editing and updates are directly done on a weekly basis by Robin Good.

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Worried that your LMS doesn't support Learning 2.0?

This blog post at Skillful Minds presents a discussion of the integration of learning management systems and Web 2.0 tools to support learning and training in organizations. If you are curious about Learning 2.0 and how to build robust social learning into organizational learning and change, this blog post is a good place to start.

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