Over the last 30 years I’ve lead dozens of teams through strategic planning as a CEO and as an outside facilitator. I’ve learned there are three essential characteristics for a good facilitator. Strong listening skills A coherent framework A track record of success Bonus Round: Market knowledge and insight As…
In the mid-90’s I had the pleasure of working for a genuine serial entrepreneur (defined as someone capable of having 10 number 1 priorities). He was charming, he was brilliant, and as the company got larger he was a disaster. Eventually the lack of focus caught up with us and…
Watching my kids play World of Warcraft in 2005, I had a moment of clarity about video games and learning. At root WoW is a Learning Management System (LMS) with Orcs and dragons in the presentation layer. But grokking that potential and translating it into improved outcomes in school is…
Open Educational Resources (OER) are here to stay. Publishing, despite the rumors, is not dead. The real question is not “if” but “how” these two options will co-exist in the instructional materials market. A starting point is sorting out where each type of resource makes the most sense. For me…
In January 2001 as the dot com boom burst online education site wwwrrr.com went out of business overnight, literally. Coverage tended to focus on the employees – who ultimately filed a class action lawsuit for back pay and 401k contributions. Lost in that ugly coverage was the blunt reality for teachers and…
Filament’s award winning game Reach for the Sun has a major update coming to Steam later this week. We’ve taken feedback from teachers, students, and Steam players and developed a strategy mode for the game. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgMYSC42BhU&feature=youtu.be
My mother sent me this little bit of inspiration. Inspiration to focus on what is important, what gives our lives meaning, what we should be thankful for. OPOL What are you going to do today?
Texas has been a vocal holdout on adopting Common Core State Standards (CCSS) since the beginning. Last week all 14 publishers who submitted high school biology textbooks for adoption in TX ignored the state’s demand to include creationism. I believe these two news items are directly related and reflect a huge shift in the market dynamics for instructional…
“During the gold rush its a good time to be in the pick and shovel business.” Mark Twain There are large amounts of capital flowing into the education publishing market today. It appears we are experiencing a small gold rush as savvy technology investors bet that the digital transition in education will yield significant returns to those doing…
Frank has a great post over on Geekwire that does a great job of explaining why Dumbo Drops of tech don’t work in schools. The question he didn’t completely address is why do people keep making this mistake? One explanation is that a massive initiative that “attacks” a “problem” is…