January 2018 archive

Putin’s game

What Putin Really Wants

Russia’s strongman president has many Americans convinced of his manipulative genius. He’s really just a gambler who won big.

JULIA IOFFE  JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 ISSUE

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/01/putins-game/546548/

(translated in Bulgarian http://librev.com/index.php/2013-03-30-08-56-39/prospects/europe/3371-igrata-na-putin-1

“They do plan,” said a senior Obama-administration official. “They’re not stupid at all. But the idea that they have this all perfectly planned and that Putin is an amazing chess player—that’s not quite it. He knows where he wants to end up, he plans the first few moves, and then he figures out the rest later. People ask if he plays chess or checkers. It’s neither: He plays blackjack. He has a higher acceptance of risk. Think about it. The election interference—that was pretty risky, what he did. If Hillary Clinton had won, there would’ve been hell to pay.”

Even the manner of the Russian attack was risky. The fact that the Russians didn’t really bother hiding their fingerprints is a testament to the change in Russia’s intent toward the U.S., Robert Hannigan, a former head of the Government Communications Headquarters, the British analogue to the National Security Agency, said at the Aspen Forum. “The brazen recklessness of it … the fact that they don’t seem to care that it’s attributed to them very publicly, is the biggest change.”

also: https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2016/11/13/hacking-voting/

in German: http://www.sueddeutsche.de/medien/phishing-attacken-der-feind-liest-mit-1.3378411

+++++++++++
more on cybersecurity in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=cybersecurity

K12 trends 2018

4 K-12 Ed Tech Trends to Watch in 2018

Analytics, virtual reality, makerspaces and digital citizenship top the minds of education experts for the year.

Blockchain, Money and Empathy

On Blockchain, Money and Empathy: EdSurge Talks Trends and 2018 Predictions

By Jeffrey R. Young     Jan 30, 2018

EdSurge’s CEO, Betsy Corcoran, argued that 2017 was a year when educators and schools were trying to take control of their technology choices “We have said from the time we started writing the newsletters that not every piece of technology will work for every student, or for every school or every classroom,” she said. “It’s all about asking the right questions to figure out if there is a piece of technology that will support learning goals. What we’re starting to really see across schools, districts and teachers, people really owning those questions. They’re saying, ‘What do I want to do with my classroom? With my kids? And what are the technologies that will support me?’”

Another discussion participant asked whether colleges and universities are starting to accept cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, or experimenting with the blockchain technology that drives those systems. Johnson said most of the hype around unversities’ blockchain experiments has centered on storing and managing credentials.

+++++++++++
more on blockchain and education in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=blockchain+education

Principalship EDAD

Link to this blog entry: http://bit.ly/principaledad

Fri, Feb. 2, 2018, Principalship class, 22 people, Plymouth room 103

Instructor Jim Johnson  EDAD principalship class

The many different roles of the principals:

Communication

Effective communication is one critical characteristics of effective and successful school principal. Research on effective schools and instructional leadership emphasizes the impact of principal leadership on creating safe and secure learning environment and positive nurturing school climate (Halawah, 2005, p. 334)

Halawah, I. (2005). The Relationship between Effective Communication of High School Principal and School Climate. Education, 126(2), 334-345.

http://login.libproxy.stcloudstate.edu/login?qurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ebscohost.com%2flogin.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26db%3deric%26AN%3dEJ765683%26site%3dehost-live%26scope%3dsite

Selection of school principals in Hong Kong. The findings confirm a four-factor set of expectations sought from applicants; these are Generic Managerial Skills; Communication and Presentation Skills; Knowledge and Experience; and Religious Value Orientation.

Kwan, P. (2012). Assessing school principal candidates: perspectives of the hiring superintendents. International Journal Of Leadership In Education, 15(3), 331-349. doi:10.1080/13603124.2011.617838

http://login.libproxy.stcloudstate.edu/login?qurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ebscohost.com%2flogin.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26db%3dkeh%26AN%3d77658138%26site%3dehost-live%26scope%3dsite

Yee, D. L. (2000). Images of school principals’ information and communications technology leadership. Journal of Information Technology for Teacher Education, 9(3), 287–302. https://doi.org/10.1080/14759390000200097

Catano, N., & Stronge, J. H. (2007). What do we expect of school principals? Congruence between principal evaluation and performance standards. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 10(4), 379–399. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603120701381782

Communication can consist of two large areas:

  • broadcasting information: PR, promotions, notifications etc.
  • two-way communication: collecting feedback, “office hours” type of communication, backchanneling, etc.

Further communication initiated by/from principals can have different audiences

  • staff: teachers, maintenance etc.

Ärlestig, H. (2008). Communication between principals and teachers in successful schools. DIVA. Retrieved from http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-1927

Reyes, P., & Hoyle, D. (1992). Teachers’ Satisfaction With Principals’ Communication. The Journal of Educational Research, 85(3), 163–168. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.1992.9944433

  • parents: involvement, feeling of empowerment, support, volunteering
  • students
  • board members
  • community

Epstein, J. L. (1995). School/family/community partnerships – ProQuest. Phi Delta Kappan, 76(9), 701.

  • Others

Communication and Visualization

The ever-growing necessity to be able to communicate data to different audiences in digestible format.

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2017/07/15/large-scale-visualization/

So, how do we organize and exercise communication with these audiences and considering the different content to be communicated?

  • How do you use to do it at your school, when you were students 20-30 years ago?
  • How is it different now?
  • How do you think it must be changed?

Communication tools:

physical

  • paper-based memos, physical boards

Electronic

  • phone, Intercom, email, electronic boards (listservs)

21st century electronic tools

  • Electronic boards
    • Pinterest
  • Internet telephony and desktopsharing
    • Adobe Connect, Webex, Zoom, GoToMeeting, Teamviewer etc.
    • Skype, Google Hangouts, Facebook Messenger
  • Electronic calendars
    • Doodle, MS Offce365, Google Calendar
  • Social media / The Cloud
    • Visuals: Flickr, YouTube, TeacherTube, MediaSpace
    • Podasts
    • Direct two-way communication
      • Asynchronous
        • Snapchat
        • Facebook
        • Twitter
        • LinkedIn
        • Instagram
      • Synchronous
        • Chat
        • Audio/video/desktopsharing
      • Management tools

 

Tools:

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2016/07/16/communication-tool-for-teachers-and-parents/

Top 10 Social Media Management Tools: beyond Hootsuite and TweetDeck

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2013/11/17/top-10-social-media-management-tools-beyond-hootsuite-and-tweetdeck/

Manage control of your passwords and logons (Password Managers)

  • 1Password.
  • Okta.
  • Keeper.
  • KeePass.
  • Centrify Application Services.
  • RoboForm.
  • Zoho Vault.
  • Passpack.
  • LastPass

+++++++++++++++++++++
class discussion Feb 2.

PeachJar : https://www.peachjar.com/

Seesaw: https://web.seesaw.me/

Schoology: https://www.schoology.com/

 

++++++++++++++++++++++
Group Assignment

considering the information discussed in class, split in groups of 4 and develop your institution strategy for effective and modern communication across and out of your school.

>>>>>>>>>>> Word of the day: blockchain credentialing <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

>>>>>>>>>>> K12 Trends 4 2018 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

 

 

TeacherGaming

TeacherGaming Raises $1.6M to Grow Subscription-Based Classroom Gaming Platform

Jan 30, 2018

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-01-30-teachergaming-raises-1-6m-to-grow-subscription-based-classroom-gaming-platform

TeacherGaming is a subscription-based suite of educational games for the classroom, ranging from $150 to $1150 per year depending on class size. The system includes lesson plans and an analytics platform for educators to track student activity and progress.

+++++++++++
More on gaming in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=gaming

more on MInecraft in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=minecraft

liberalism

Liberalism is the most successful idea of the past 400 years

But its best years are behind it, according to a new book

https://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21735578-its-best-years-are-behind-it-according-new-book-liberalism-most

quality of opportunity has produced a new meritocratic aristocracy that has all the aloofness of the old aristocracy with none of its sense of noblesse oblige. Democracy has degenerated into a theatre of the absurd. And technological advances are reducing ever more areas of work into meaningless drudgery

Mr Deneen’s fixation on the essence of liberalism leads to the second big problem of his book: his failure to recognise liberalism’s ability to reform itself and address its internal problems. The late 19th century saw America suffering from many of the problems that are reappearing today, including the creation of a business aristocracy, the rise of vast companies, the corruption of politics and the sense that society was dividing into winners and losers. But a wide variety of reformers, working within the liberal tradition, tackled these problems head on. Theodore Roosevelt took on the trusts. Progressives cleaned up government corruption. University reformers modernised academic syllabuses and built ladders of opportunity. Rather than dying, liberalism reformed itself.

1 2 3 7