NASA's Space Technology Program is looking for far-out ideas. The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts, or NIAC, program is seeking proposals for revolutionary concepts with the potential to transform future aerospace missions. Proposed concepts should enable new capabilities or significantly alter current approaches to launching, building and operating space systems.
NIAC projects are chosen for their innovative and visionary characteristics, technical substance, and early development stage -- ten years or more from use on a mission. NIAC's current portfolio of diverse and innovative ideas represents multiple technology areas, including power, propulsion, structures and avionics.
"NIAC is a forward-looking program that captures what's great about America's space program," said Michael Gazarik, director of NASA's Space Technology Program at the agency's headquarters in Washington. "NASA is looking for futuristic concepts that may enable leaps forward in how we work in and explore the space frontier. Equally important, we're asking for ideas from all sources: American citizen-inventors or educators working out of their garage to the visionary small business owners fueling our nation's economy."
This second call for proposals follows last summer's inaugural selection of Phase I concepts, which are now under study. Due to the tremendous response and large number of submissions received from last year's NIAC call for proposals, this year's Phase I solicitation will incorporate a two-step process.
NIAC will accept short proposals, limited to two pages in length, until Feb. 9. After review, NASA will invite those whose concepts are of interest to the agency to submit a full proposal of no more than ten pages. Full proposals will be due April 16.
NASA expects to fund approximately 15 proposals in this year's Phase I process. Those selected will receive up to $100,000 for one year to advance the innovative space technology concept and help NASA meet current operational and future mission requirements. Selection announcements are expected this summer. The solicitation is open to all U.S. citizens and researchers working in the United States, including NASA civil servants.
The number of awards will depend on the strength of proposals and availability of appropriated funds. The number of Phase I awards also will be balanced with NASA's selection of Phase II awards. Phase II awards will be selected from Phase I concepts submitted last year that the agency decides to advance.
Past NIAC Phase I proposals have included a broad range of imaginative and creative ideas, including: changing the course of dangerous orbital debris; a spacesuit that uses flywheels to stabilize and assist astronauts as they work in microgravity; the use of 3-dimensional printing to create a planetary outpost; microbial fuel cell technology for powering tiny robot explorers; and other innovative propulsion and power concepts needed for future space mission operations.
NASA's early investment and partnership with creative scientists, engineers and citizen inventors will pay huge technological dividends and help maintain America's leadership in the global technology economy.
NIAC is part of NASA's Space Technology Program, managed by the Office of the Chief Technologist. To view the NASA Research Announcement for this NIAC Phase I solicitation, and for more information about NIAC and NASA's Space Technology Program, visit this link.
Black, bezeled and rectangular? That's pretty much the go - to design for tablets nowadays. But lately Sony's been straying from the pack and taking a different aesthetic tack, which it recently showcased with the Tablet S and P.
On the showroom floor at CES, however, the company had two newer models secured behind glass to give consumers a sense of future form factors. These prototypes -- known prospectively as the Hybrid and Slate -- fall under the Vaio brand and clearly highlight an exciting direction for the Japanese electronics giant's impending offerings.
The Hybrid's most distinctive feature is its marriage of laptop functionality with tablet portability. Sliding the unit up and locking it into place reveals a keyboard in front (shown with a dedicated Windows button) and an expansive speaker grill behind. The company wouldn't elaborate on the materials used in the enclosure, but that sparkly, copper color manages to toe the line between cheap and space age -- a definite contradiction, for sure. At the base of the 11-inch unit is a dock that fits an included stylus, as this tablet is being designed to support touch pen input, in addition to the typical capacitive touch. None of the ports on the device are final, but when and if it ever ships, you can expect the usual array.
For a true glimpse into the next generation of tablet manufacturing, you need only look to Sony's tablet Slate -- the real stunner of this conceptual duo. With its use of a smart, soft touch flexible material -- the company refused to elaborate on just what -- that extends from the unit's back for easy table top mounting, it's easy to see a product like this setting consumers' interest on fire and nabbing that lust-worthy tech crown.
Unfortunately, this particular scifi casing is more than likely a few years off, but it's good to see the company innovating and attempting to break free from the shackles of ordinary builds. The Slate is also designed to work with a wireless keyboard that shares the same intelligent material and appears to incorporate a touch interface. Check below more pictures of those concepts and make sure to watch the brief video tour.
21st century education is experiencing significant turbulence as a response to the call for more meaningful and relevant learning experiences that comply with students’ literacy needs and competencies required to succeed in their lives.
Towards this end, deeper learning has emerged as a theory which could be the means to transform 21st century education when truly integrated in the classroom.
Deep Learning Quote by: Kelsey Sheehy. Image by: THE OFFICIAL ANDREASCY
Does this hold true? This article will attempt to provide some insights on the matter drawing from research findings from the last two decades.
What is Deeper Learning?
Deeper Learning is a broad term coined by the Hewlett Foundation and refers to the range of skills and knowledge required for students to acquire and master "in order to succeed in 21st century jobs and civic life” (Hewlett Foundation, 2013). The essence of the concept entails a set of competencies incremental to students exposed in academic content. The intention is that through the instructional principles proposed by the deeper learning theory, students gain an in-depth level of knowledge and understanding on different subjects rather than superficial learning, and are in a position to achieve problem solving in and out of a school context, both in their school-word and their lifeworlds to be able to successfully cope with challenges in their college, career and life.
Can Deeper Learning Contribute to Succeeding 21st Century Education?
In response to the dilemma for school leaders on what this transformation should entail for 21st century learning, educational researchers cohort that we should intend to cultivate deeper understandings and higher order thinking in a holistic manner by pursuing changes in terms of students, teachers, school culture, school systems and leadership (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Schools Tranformational Model by Lenz et al. (2015, p. 149)
In order to re-imagine schools in such a transformational and holistic way, deeper learning theory proposes 4 components that need to be implemented in a school setting (Infographic).
1. Policy makers and teachers should opt to create a strong school culture
2. Educational staff should be working collaboratively
3. Teachers should design instructional content that is meaningful and relevant to students' lives
4. Deeper Learning outcomes should be the ultimate intention of each learning experience
Infographic: 4 Components of Deeper Learning Outcomes (by Monica Martinez and Dennis McGrath)
One key indicator of whether learning has been improved, is student learning outcomes. The latter relates to achieving 21st century skills or the four Cs of learning as they are commonly referred to: creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration. In deeper learning theory, student driven outcomes are more specifically addressed and interpreted in terms of the following:
•Mastering core academic content: Students attain and master core key subjects and use a metalanguage to fulfill certain tasks
•Think critically and solve complex problems: It is imperative for students to exhibit competency in thinking critically, analytical thinking process and creativity in solving problems
•Work collaboratively: Students should be familiarized and feel confident working in groups to be better prepared to respond in a team setting later in their lives and succeed several goals.
•Communicate effectively: Students should be able to communicate effectively both orally and in writing. They must cultivate their presentation skills and developing logical and convincing arguments that are appropriate for communicating in a variety of settings.
•Self-directed learning and ability to incorporate feedback: It is imperative that students grow into mature learning, be able to set their own learning pace, determine goals and monitor their progress, as well as strive to improve.
•“Academic mindset”: The term refers to the mental state students have by feeling confident based on their skills and abilities, in a way that they are empowered to overcome obstacles.
These outcomes are incremental towards an authentic deeper learning approach.
Deeper Learning in Practice: The Strategies
Deeper Learning is far from a generic theory. In fact, it has already been utilized in a range of settings that extend beyond the scope of education, such as in training in businesses. However, the focus in this article is to examine the practical implementation and strategies pertaining to schools.
Over the last decade the spotlight is on deeper learning principles (DLP). In regards to the previous, research findings has indicated substantial benefits from the use of deeper learning principles. The National Research Council in its 2012 report Education for Life and Work suggests the following research-based methods for developing true deeper learning: to employ multiple and varied representations of concepts and tasks, encourage elaboration, questioning, and self-explanation, engage learners in challenging tasks through supportive guidance and feedback, teach with examples and cases, promote student motivation, and implement formative assessment.
Other research has showed that among the prerequisites for a successful implementation of the theory are to design instructional content that extends beyond superficial activities and relate to authentic life situations and problems. Towards this direction, learning experiences for students should stem from project based, connected approaches and inquiry based learning principles. Further to these, deeper learning activities should rely on apprenticeship-based learning, which adheres to allocating mentors with a real-world role. All the above should take place in the context of a collaborative classroom setting where groups of students work together to solve complex real life problems and apply transferable knowledge.
1. Empowering students to lead their own learning (student owned learning) through disruptive learning experiences. Students as self-learners are empowered through taking over leadership roles, managing complex projects and assignments, as well as engaging in reflective practice.
2. Emphasize meaningful learning experiences through inquiry-based learning that seeks solutions to real-world complex situations (student centered learning). Students in groups critically reflect and solve problems with teachers acting as facilitators in the learning experience.
3. Design connected experiences and subjects around central concepts and ideas that will lead to Deeper learning outcomes and content knowledge and skills (competency-based learning). In this way the instructional approach promotes a coherent picture of what in-school learning is.
4. Extend learning experiences beyond school with authentic and relevant entanglements and opportunities to learn. This can be achieved through interaction with local communities by reaching out to museums, organizations and corporations.
5. Personalized learning is incremental to cater for students’ individual needs. The latter requires substantial time and dedication to prepare a profile with insights of each student’s needs, abilities and competence in order to then design appropriate and meaningful lessons and activities.
6. Use of technology is a powerful tool in succeeding deeper learning in the schools researched by Martinez in purposeful ways promotes meaningful learning. Engagement in digital literacy by means of projects can enhance students’ analytical, creative and critical thinking skills, as well as communicative and collaborative attributes effectively regardless of the location, anytime and anywhere.
The above strategies are schematically represented in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Strategies of Implementation to foster Deeper Learning
Research Evidence of the Impact of Deeper Learning
With educators constantly bombarded with new learning theories and best practices to reach the objectives of the new millennium, there is reason to be suspicious and reluctant to adopt new approaches. Nevertheless, in the case of deeper learning, substantial evidence exists on the beneficial impact from its systematic implementation. The vast majority of this work is based in the United States where deeper learning has been embraced by schools, universities and a range of other learning settings.
The American Institutes of Research conducted a study in 2014 which illustrates that students in deeper learning schools graduated at higher rates than others from non deeper learning schools. In particular, in the San Francisco Bay Area, Envision High Schools, fostering deeper learning principles, succeeded more than 90% of their students continuing to college, in comparison to the 50% of students graduating from all California High Schools. Importantly, students from these schools managed to score highest rates in the standardized Academic Performance Index tests, when comparing to all other California schools. And in many of these cases, these students were the first in their family to attend college.
As a result of the need to assess deeper learning, influential foundations have developed different formative assessments including the Collegiate Learning Assessment, which is vastly used by more than 175 institutions across the United States. Internationally, the most reputable test is the Programme for International Student Achievement (PISA) exam, offering a reliable and widely acknowledged measure of key aspects of deeper learning. Further to these, the federal government has funded two unique consortia of states: SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) and
Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) in order to develop the next generation of assessments that comply with the principles of deeper learning and contemporary education standards.
Conclusion
The quest for deeper learning is not utopia. It is a complete theoretical approach with practical guidelines to integrate in variant school contexts. Although much research is still needed to determine its impact, the preliminary work being carried out so far illustrates that
deeper learning could be the path to re-imagining teaching and learning for 21st century education.
(DISCLOSURE: This page contains affiliate links. If you purchase a product through one of them, I will receive a commission (at no additional cost to you). I only ever endorse products that I have personally used and benefitted from personally. Thank you for your support!)
One of the most poignant discussions in the museum world, has been on issues of inclusion and access. Prolific museum figures like Nina Simon presenting in the recent Museum Next Conference in London, shared the vision behind OFBYFOR ALL, a new global initiative to help civic and cultural organisations become OF, BY, and FOR their communities. However, what is it that can help take the next step in terms of inclusion and learning within and out of museum grounds?
This article draws on a doctoral research study to investigate museum’s democratic potential, through transformative approaches to pedagogy aimed at meaningful cultural participation.
The ‘meaningful’, stands for a degree of competence in reading, interpreting and constructing meaning from the existing multiple forms of language (Stapp, 1984: 112; Mitchell, 2007: 3). ‘Participation’ involves an ability to negotiate the complex dialogic relationship that exists between the written word, the spoken word, images, objects, time and space (Mathewson-Mitchell, 2007: 3).
Consideration of issues of access in relation to the significant literacy requirements of museums, suggests that increasing focus on the explicit teaching of museum-based literacies, could be the way through which to expand museum visiting opportunities for the less 'conventional' audience.
It is actually proposed that museum-based literacies could act as the means to the development of cultural competence in museum environments. This evolution in theory and practice of, and about museums, has been notably part of radical changes in the museum world since the 1970s, mostly known as new museology.
Museums as Agents of Change
The development of a “new museology” (Mayrand, 1985: 201), is a concept used to describe the focus on the potential of museums as a positive social force. Golding (2009) suggests the museums should act as frontiers, places where learning and identity are produced and developed for all, while new ‘bridges’ are raised between non-dominant communities and their own histories (Philip, 1992 in Golding 2009).
It became profound that if museums accept their educational role, “they must also accept their social responsibility to work towards supporting a participatory democratic society” (Hein, 2005: 50). We need to “take advantage of the current context, as ‘opening new educational and social possibilities’ (Cope and Kalantzis, 2000: 18), to promote democratic education and human needs...” (Early, 2007: 67).
Changing Times, Changing Literacy
Ever since the 1960s, the nature of literacy practice and needs is changing; Hall (1989) suggests this is thought of as a consequence of New Times. New Times is an era of internalization, characterised by the breaking down of borders between local and global contexts resulting from rapid change in communicative practices (Gee, 2000: 183; Luke and Elkins, 1998).
One common element that has changed is that literacy has become inherently plural; thus researchers have problematized the very notion of literacy as a discrete set of skills. Luke and Freebody (2000) provide one of the more recent and useful definitions of literacy:
"Literacy is the flexible and sustainable mastery of a repertoire of practices with the texts of traditional and new communications technologies via spoken, print, and multimedia".
(Luke and Freebody, 2000: 9)
In such a perspective of literacy, the literate person is one who develops capacity to respond to emerging and communicative needs, a literate person who is a sophisticated user of texts. The individual engages with literacy practices as a decoder of text, as a maker of meanings, as a purposeful user of information and as a text analyst who employs critical thinking skills in the literate work (Luke and Freebody, 2000; Liddicoat, 2007: 20).
Figure 1: Evolution of the concept of literacy over fifty decades
Although acknowledging contemporary, 21st century demands of ‘literacy’ and education, this definition does not incorporate the social context of literacy. Literacy is, as Gee (1996: 22) has aptly described, “a socially contested term”. To this respect, literacy is a social practice rather than merely a means to an end.
Such a consideration draws on the paradigm of New Literacy Studies (NLS) and recognises literacy as a set of socially and culturally constituted practices enacted across and within social and institutional spaces. It acknowledges literacy as a social and historical construction that evolves dynamically (Giampapa, 2010: 4; Potvin, 2009; Garcia, Bartlett and Kleifgen, 2006).
Literacy is seen as a social responsibility including a critical or transformative emphasis in which literacy is a tool to understanding social structure in which we live so we can transform it in meaningful ways (Gee, 1996: 58; Street, 1995). The social perspective of literacy, implies more than superficial contacts with print; it icorporates an understanding of how to manipulate words and concepts through complex daily social interactions in an accepted manner (Giampapa, 2010; Potvin, 2009; Reid, 1998; Kern, 2000) through cultural apprenticeship (Rogoff, 1990).
The ‘New’ in Literacies: Multiliteracies
Following the NLS paradigm, ‘multiliteracies’ have emerged. The term “Multiliteracies” immediately shifts us from the dominant written print text to acknowledge the complexities of practices, modes, technologies and languages with which literate people need to engage in the contemporary world.
The “New London Group” (a team of ten academics including James Gee and Allan Luke) came together in 1996 concerned about how literacy pedagogy might address the rapid change in literacy due to globalisation, technology and increasing cultural and social diversity. They employed the term ‘multiliteracies’ to address these issues (The New London Group, 1996).
Since then, The Ontario Ministry of Education has come up with a number of literacy initiatives, some of which are characterized by a critical and social view of literacy, where literacy is conceived of as "the ability to use language and images in rich and varied forms to read, write, listen, speak, view, represent, and think critically about ideas" (Expert Panel on Literacy Report, 2004: 5).
Figure 2: Multiliteracies and their design elements (Adapted from The New London Group, 2000)
Luke and Luke (2001: 92-94) echo this idea, and argue that new technologies have facilitated the emergence of new kinds of artefacts, such as digital storytelling, requiring new levels of engagement and development of higher and different mental faculties (i.e. new multiliteracies). Luke (2000) also talks about the critical multiliteracies - being able to understand, debate, and act upon the material, political, and social consequences of technological change.
An alternative view of literacy calls for a reconceptualization of literacy as reading and writing the world (Freire, 1970). This conceptualization foregrounds critical thinking in both teachers and students, and looks beyond functional literacy (reading and writing skills), to the knowledge and power relations in literacy discourses.
Agnello (2001) refers to this approach as postmodern literacy, and argues that through this approach “reading and writing become enhanced methods for exploring the democratic self and its formation through ideological exposure to knowledge and power relations formulated by educational policy texts. Through such exploration, literacy becomes a tool for self-, student, and social advocacy rather than commodity to determine whether one measures up satisfactorily on test scores” (Agnello, 2001: 24-25).
Museum Learning as a Multiliteracy Practice
Museum-based literacies or museum literacy, refers to the competence in drawing upon the museum, its space and collections using certain skills and practices. In 1984, Carol B. Stapp observed that “museum literacy” was then a newly emerging phrase that articulated the older idea of a philosophy of museum accessibility.
Museum literacy goes beyond ‘reading’ objects; which may be understood as visual literacy; it requires a deeper level of process and understanding of the multiple and interacting languages and modes of communication found in the museum.
By broadening the view of museum literacy, it is acknowledged that the language that is involved in the museum is diverse and incorporates multimodal literacies including: linguistic, visual, audio, gestural, spatial patterns, technological and print-based (see for instance, Cope and Kalantzis, 2000: 160,203; Giroux, 1992; Hooper-Greenhill, 1999).
Figure 3: The multimodal literacies in museum-based pedagogy (Savva, 2016)
This view of museum learning redefines the goals and strategies of educators and the museum curricula. The idea of education in museums is seen as exploratory, broad, experiential, complex and multi-layered; museum strategies are now audience driven (Russo et al., 2007, Hein, 1998; Falk and Dierking, 2000).
To this discussion fits the incorporation of museum learning into the multiliteracies concept; this is facilitated by the realization that a display of material culture conveys messages about the people who created them and the times in which they were used (Pearce, 2003).
The act of creating an exhibit is parallel to the act of producing knowledge. Exhibits are not simply displays, but systems of signs that express messages about culture. Museums and their exhibits reflect the ideology of those who create them.
In the same vein that “There is no such thing as ‘reading’ or ‘writing,’ only reading or writing something . . .” (Gee, 1999: 93), the same would hold true for creating exhibits. There is no such thing as displaying an artifact without displaying something about that artefact. Also, the interpretation of messages is similar to the deciphering of text, using the signs, symbols, objects, etc., of a museum exhibit as part of the process of creating meaning (Roberts, 1997).
Griffin (1999: 8) identifies the unique learning opportunities offered by museums as: opportunities to closely examine objects or specimens; opportunities for comparison that allow trends and patterns to be deciphered; natural learning processes that incorporate the sharing and communication of ideas and the raising of questions; and opportunities to develop perceptual skills that teach how to gather information from objects and experiences.
Because museum exhibits make meaning through multiple media, multiple modes, and multiple symbol systems, the literacy practice of museum visiting is a multiliteracy.
An interesting project exploring the latter, is the ‘Museum Literacy Project’ in 2008-2010, involving nine different museums, administrations and training institutions based in five European countries, supported by the EU programme Lifelong Learning - Grundtvig Learning Partnerships, 2008. The project focus was on museums and audiences with low schooling level, and how museum literacy can be reached and maximize the museum experience for these audience.
Dimensions of a Pedagogy of Multiliteracies for Museum Learning - The Research Framework
Taking into consideration the unique characteristics of the museum environment, I undertook an empirically-based doctoral study involving the design, enactment and evaluation of the Living Museum Partnership (LMP), a museum-school partnership that unfolded in 13 weeks for the construction of a student-generated virtual museum to support environmental education curriculum (Savva, 2016).
Specific focus was on developing virtual learning environments and applying augmented reality to enhance culturally and linguistically diverse students' repertoires of literacy practices. This design-based research, draws from the field of New Literacy Studies, the proposed Museum Multiliteracies Practice (MMP) framework derived from the multiliteracies pedagogy of the New London Group, the Learning by Design Model adapted from Cope and Kalantzis and Schwartz’s museum based pedagogy.
Figure 4: The pedagogies interacting in the Museum Multiliteracies Practice framework (Savva, 2016)
It is proposed that museum educators and learning professionals undertake an approach for teaching and learning in the museum setting which incorporates multiliteracies pedagogy. Identification of museum literacies requires thorough examination into the interaction of modes that are evident, the incorporation of multiliteracies implicated, the various sign systems that are employed, and the unique nature of the museum learning environment (Mathewson-Mitchell, 2007: 7-8).
The focus should be not only on literacies as communication (meaning for others, as supports for social interaction). My doctoral research for instance also emphasized on literacies as a form of representation (or meanings for ourselves, as supports for thinking).
Cope and Kalatzis (1996, refined 2000, 2009) elaborate on the potentials of a ‘Pedagogy of Multiliteracies’ in fulfilling these aspirations. Two important ideas brought in a multiliteracies pedagogy are Learning by Design and Multimodality.
Learning by Design, is building into curriculum the idea that not every learner will bring the same lifeworld experiences and interests to learning, as well as acknowledging that every learner is not on the same page at the same time; pedagogies of learning are re-configured to construct learning as “a dialogue of difference” (Cope and Kalantzis, 2005: 31). The idea of Multimodality discusses learners’ movement between written, oral, visual, audio, tactile, gestural and spatial modes of meaning-making (Cope and Kalantzis 2005, 2009).
On this basis, the New London Group (1996) has proposed a multiliteracies pedagogy consisting of situated practice, overt instruction, critical framing, and transformed practice.
•Situated practice includes learners’ prior and present experiences in a community of learners (composed of experts and novices).
•Overt instruction involves the teacher’s or expert’s interventions to scaffold (Bruner, 1983) or support learning and increase the learner’s consciousness about learning. Scaffolding is a metaphorical concept that refers to the visible or audible assistance that a more expert member of a culture can give to an apprentice (Bruner, 1983, 1986). You might also note Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), that relates to Bruner’s notion of the scaffold here.
•Critical framing refers to learners interpreting the historical, cultural, political and ideological contexts of learning.
•Transformed practice includes implementing new understandings through reflective practice in other contexts.
Figure 5: The Multiliteracies Model and Learning by Design (Adapted from Kalantzis and Cope, 2000)
Also identified within the Learning by Design Model are four knowledge processes (See Figure 5 above). The knowledge processes identified are:
(a) Experiencing the known and the new
(b) Conceptualising by naming concepts and theorising
(c) Analysing functions and interests
(d) Applying appropriately and creatively.
Findings and Implications for Museum Learning Practice
Stapp (1984) had argued that schools do not address the knowledge, skills and attitudes for museum literacy. Recent observations of the characteristic use of museums by school-based teachers suggest that a relatively passive, idealist approach to museum experiences, as identified by Stapp, has continued, with teachers lacking confidence and competence in the museum setting (Mathewson-Mitchell, 2006).
Based on the findings of my doctoral research, it is suggested that addressing museum-based multiliteracies leads to effective museum-school partnerships and meaningful museum learning practice. Research data suggested that students’ repertoires of literacy were enhanced as they engaged in the learning process as active designers and multimodal learners (Savva, 2016). It was found that students gained opportunities to:
Figure 6: Findings of Museum Multiliteracies Practice research (Savva, 2016)
It is proposed that any museum education programme or museum-school partnership or collaboration pays attention to the following key principles:
1. Teaching children, especially digital natives of our time, to be literate in any setting is not just a set of skills that can be transferred. Rather, education needs to enable them to participate in social situations using the required literacy practices.
2. Museum visiting is seen as multiliteracy practice; as such it requires specific museum-based literacies that are rarely identified or explicitly taught by museums or schools.
Conclusion
Ultimately, this brief review and presentation of the proposed empirically based, research framework for museum learning practice, forms a pathway to follow for inclusive cultural participation at any level and age. The London New Group’s (1996) ideas further developed by Cope and Kalatzis (2000; 2005; 2006) for a Pedagogy of Multiliteracies, could inform the development of the specific literacy requirements of museums, in a way that could lead to full museum literacy and a transformative cultural engagement and participation for diverse audiences.
Your computer can help you try out many fun and interesting hobbies. These hobbies help you tap into your creative energy and give you something cool to do.
The following article explains five excellent computer-related hobbies you can pick up today.
1. Web Design
Thousands of novice web designers create stunning designs every day just for fun. You can teach yourself the basic technical skills through books and educational websites. Once you understand the basic concepts of web design, you can start to experiment with your own graphics and designs. Web design gives you the freedom to create simple designs or complicated looks that will impress even professional designers.
If you know how to design a website, you can make your own site. Many people enjoy creating personal websites to share information and pictures with their friends and family. Others create fan sites devoted to a favorite movie, book, or actor. For most people, this is a fun hobby that lets them express their creativity and interact with other Internet users.
2. Computer Games
Computer games have evolved significantly from their simplistic predecessors. Today's computer games feature eye-popping graphics, realistic sound effects and stunning musical scores. Video game players can take on hordes of monstrous creatures, run a virtual lemonade stand or solve a colorful puzzle. Most video game companies design games for a wide audience, including educational games for children.
Many of the most popular games are played online, allowing players to interact with their friends. Gamers can also find a number of quality single-player games that do not require an Internet connection. Some of the games feature rich storylines that resemble novels more than the easy games from years ago. These games provide people with a way to escape the rigors of work and other daily obligations.
3. Programming
If you learn a computer programming language, you can learn how to create your very own computer programs. Some computer programmers enjoy making video games or useful applications for their computer. This hobby helps you understand how computer programming languages work, giving you the tools you need to troubleshoot your own computer issues. Some amateur computer programmers improve their skills enough to release their own games and programs online.
4. Writing
Many writers enjoy using their computers to write. For many writers, typing on the computer is faster than writing by hand. You can easily store, organize and preserve your written works on your computer. Writing on a computer also gives you convenient access to online dictionaries and other useful writing tools.
Some writers take advantage of the Internet to improve and share their writing with others. For example, creating a journal of your life through blogging gives you a way to share your words with curious visitors on the Internet. Most bloggers write about their passions, from food to fashion. Other writers concentrate on creative writing, sharing their fictional stories and poems online.
5. Digital Art
Many computer programs give you the tools to create your own digital art. Photo-manipulation programs allow you to use your own pictures to create wallpapers for your computer. You can even use these programs to add a little humor to your family pictures; you can add funny captions or combine two photos to make an absurd scene.
Digital artists also enjoy playing with computer art programs. These programs let you paint digital pictures using a number of different virtual brushes and effects. Some digital artists use digital slates to draw with a stylus instead of a mouse. Many digital artists enjoy sharing their stunning artwork online with other art fans.
Finally, the first weekend of September is here and the educational world is preparing for yet another challenging year. Taking inspiration from this we have pulled together a useful list with articles that draw on all levels of education, from Primary to Higher Education and life-long learning such as online courses.
So, time to get some rest and catch up on some reading. Here we round up 15 key educational articles from around the web that caught our attention this week. Hope you find them interesting as much as we did.
1.Spaces for Learning. This excellent piece explores the significance of learning spaces of today by addressing the basic features of an emerging concept: ‘flexible’ learning spaces as environments that are catering for students’ different learning styles and needs while bringing an air of innovation and playfulness in the learning process. A glimpse to the classrooms of the future.
2.Growth Mindset: How to Normalize Mistake Making and Struggle in Class. Everybody makes mistakes. In terms of mistakes made during the learning process at school, this article addresses Carol Dweck’s research on growth mindset to explain how teachers should create the appropriate classroom atmosphere that supports student’s efforts and promote “productive failure”: student develop a growth mindset as they cope with challenges and overcome failures.
4.Myths and Realities of Online Training. Online training is one of the key ways that adults choose to learn nowadays. This useful article clarifies some of the misunderstandings and prejudice surrounding this revolutionized way of life-long learning.
5.Assessing the Potential of Gamification in Higher Education. Gamification, a term which refers to applying game-design thinking in different situations to make them more appealing is rising as an approach to teaching and learning in Higher Education. Know how it has been implemented in different universities across USA and what its benefits are.
6.Applying Learning Theory to Mobile Learning. Explore the latest issue of TD at work and know the basics of m-learning, drivers and barriers for its implementation, relevant learning theories and how to use them in practice as well as informal strategies to utilizing m-learning. A great resource.
7.6 Learning Trends Driving Education in 2015. Want to know the key teaching and learning practices and strategies that will influence education from 2015 onwards? This article compiles a list with learning trends including blended learning, maker education and four more that are changing the face of schools.
8.Learning Theory v5 - What are the established learning theories? An amazing graphic to get insights on the learning theories and key concepts surrounding them that have emerged in the past centuries. This is probably one of the most comprehensive summaries we’ve seen in a while on learning.
9.12 Ways to Support ESL Students in the Mainstream Classroom. One of the best reads recently with great tips on how to support English as a Second Language (ESL) for your students, which is a reality of most mainstream classrooms today.
10.Learning Power: new research identifies Mindful Agency as central to resilience. Research findings published this week from Professor’ Crick investigation using the Crick Learning for Resilient Agency Profile (CLARA) suggest that Mindful Agency is a key learning power dimension. Know more about what this term involves and how it can affect research and practice around learning.
11.Developing Critical Thinking Skills in Elementary Students. Critical thinking is one of the most incremental and essential competencies that students should possess in the 21st century. Find out how to develop critical thinking in the classroom through the advice in this article. Includes an infographic and videos.
12.Harvard Launches 'Virtual Classroom' for Students Anywhere. Fascinating stuff happening in Harvard university by introducing a futuristic classroom through using HBX Live to teach its business students who won’t be physically able to attend lessons. Great read.
13.Using New Technology to Rediscover Traditional Ways of Learning. This is an excellent article with an alternative view of technology, discussing how it can enable engagement and traditional forms of learning through embodiment and observation strategies.
14.Museum-based Multiliteracies and Learning for 21st century skills: a preliminary study. This academic paper addresses findings from a doctoral study that employs a conceptual framework for museum teaching and learning drawing on multiliteracies pedagogy, an approach that takes into consideration students’ cultural and linguistic diversity and the demands of an increasingly multimodal and digitally mediated world to promote learning of 21st century skills.
15. “We shouldn’t assume people know what digital citizenship is”. Get top insights from educators organizing the first annual Digital Citizenship Summit on what the concept of digital citizenship actually entails and possible ways to address the gap of knowledge for its implementation by the greater educational community.
These are all! Let us know your insight and suggestions down below.
We can surely say Microsoft is yet not died, a future that integrates biology and hi-tech. Enjoy the video!
Discover other interesting innovations from Microsoft Research and let us know what you think. You like our Blog? You want to show your support? Then kindly spread our voice to your friends and colleagues and subscribe on our RSS feed and Daily Newsletters for direct updates to your inbox.
This project explores ways for people to experience search that are complementary to fast, relevant search in response to queries. In particular, these concepts focus on new ways to spend time, rather than save time on the Web.
Launching a new business can be both exciting and intimidating. It’s exciting because it is introducing something new into the world. At the same time, it’s intimidating because there are numerous unknown factors to consider, complex concepts to learn, and dreams to validate.
One way to get to a good start when it comes to launching your own business is to find out if it’s a good idea, create a plan, build a team, use good technology, and model best practices.
1. Find Out If It’s a Good Idea
A business idea worth pursing has to be validated. There has to be a market for the product or service. Customers should either want or need it. The vision has to align with the opportunity. Besides validating the idea, you should also research the scope of the idea. Can the idea be improved, scaled up, or adapted to different markets?
2. Create a Business Plan
Your business plan is a formalized decision-making process about mission and values, business structure and revenues. These plans will serve as a blueprint to raise money and shape policies. When setting up the proposed budget, it’s a good idea to assume zero profits in the first year of operations. This does not mean that there will be no profits; it just means that should things not go according to plan, there will be enough money available to pay the rent, keep the lights on, and retain employees.
3. Build a Core Team
Despite the prevailing myth about the self-made man or woman, all businesses are actually a team effort. You should build a core team early to design the business’s philosophy. It’s essential to build this team built around shared values, aspirations, and ideals because a team that lacks a unified perspective faces the risk of falling apart due to dissension. A cohesive team will work together to evolve the groundbreaking decisions necessary to launch and grow a new business.
4. Use Good Technology
Technology is no longer something to add to a business. It is more like one of the foundations of business. Like office walls and furniture, technology is essential to the infrastructure of a business. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MegaPath, a company that builds Ethernet-based networks, summed up the intrinsic value of technology in a business when he said, “In today’s competitive environment, businesses require solutions that help them improve the way they do business, while reducing costs”.
5. Model Best Practices
While your initial research may have validated that your idea is a feasible one, you will get a head start if you model the best practices of those in the same or similar fields. This will give you a template to work from as you develop your business. There is no point wasting time and money reinventing the wheel. Instead, use the knowledge and wisdom gained from others who have gone before you. This borrowed model will help to shape and reshape your own business model. A model is not about imitating what other businesses are doing but about observing what works and what does not work. Additionally, a model need not be derived entirely from a single business. It could be a compilation of different businesses.
Summary
By finding out if your inspired vision is a good idea, creating a plan, building a core team, using good technology, and modeling the best practices of other businesses, you are taking practical steps to develop a firm foundation for the success of your business.
How to Dress for Success Wondering what is the appropriate business outfit for success? Here are some tips on how to dress and look professional. Weekly Promotion
