The New York Times reports that: a raft of new research in humans suggests that (the peptide hormone) oxytocin underlies the twin emotional pillars of civilized life, our capacity to feel empathy and trust. Reporting this month in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers found that genetic differences in people’s responsiveness [...]
keep reading →Few questions better summarize the limitations of our thinking over the past century than “nature or nurture?” The question implies that we need to pick one, that we need to reduce the differences between people down to the simplest possible level.
In fact, the reverse is true. We need to delve as deeply as possible [...]
keep reading →The bankruptcy earlier this month of DeCode Genetics raises the question, “Just how unique is each human being?” The well-funded ($700 million) company found that the genetic underpinnings of human disease are much more complicated than scientists anticipated. It seems that at minimum thousands of genetic mutations – rather than just a handful – [...]
keep reading →(excerpts) What if we taught like an iphone? Apple doesn’t try to anticipate my needs. Instead, it built a phone that is flexible enough that I can make it fit my needs. In the days of DVR’s that allow you to watch TV when and how you want, and Pandora radio that lets you create [...]
keep reading →(excerpt) Smart Technologies, the makers of the interactive SMART Board whiteboard have also introduced the SMART Table to classrooms. Already in more than 500 schools, SMART Tables have been an incredible success already both for business and for students.
New York’s Verrazano School has used SMART tables in its classrooms since May, and teachers say [...]
keep reading →(excerpt) I’m betting on social learning platforms as a lever for improvement at scale in education. Instead of a classroom as the primary organizing principle, social networks will become the primary building block of learning communities (both formal and informal). Smart recommendation engines will queue personalized content. Tutoring, training, and collaboration tools will be applications [...]
keep reading →(excerpt) I presented yesterday at the GooglePlex in Mountain View at the Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age conference. I was on a panel called “New Learning Designs: Scaling Innovation to Reverse the Dropout Crisis.”
My goal was to paint a picture of 339’s turnaround (so far) and the role technology has played. Keep in [...]
keep reading →(excerpt) Learn360, an interactive media-on-demand service for the K-12 educational market, is enabling educators to maintain continuous learning in spite of a potential widespread outbreak of H1N1 and other flu viruses. This initiative is helping school districts comply with the U.S. Department of Education’s recent mandate to minimize academic disruptions should their schools be faced [...]
keep reading →(excerpt) The teachers provide “differentiated instruction” – tailoring goals and expectations to each individual student, rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach that teaches students the same concepts at the same pace.
“It’s self-defeating for kids to come into a classroom . . . and see that they’re all expected to do the same thing that [...]
keep reading →(excerpt) Madison Elementary in Hinsdale, IL uses at least four diagnostic or standardized tests a year to detect student strengths and weaknesses so it can address them in “differentiated instruction.” A reading specialist works with small groups of struggling kids, and a gifted specialist joins classroom teachers in third, fourth and fifth grades to provide [...]
keep reading →Tales of Disruption
- Sometimes Words Escape Me
- No More Racing Home to Let Out Your Dog
- How to Get a Girlfriend, circa 2013
- Chatting about iBooks 2 with a Computer?
- Your Phone Won’t Let You Call Your Girlfriend
- Mission Impossible: Reaching Customer Service
- Paris with a Flexible Phone and a Sweet Tooth
- How Pachube Killed the Big, Slow Firms
- Banshee Construction Copter Robots
- James Bond meets Jonathan Livingston Seagull?
- Are Companies on Other Planets Stupid, Too?
- Fan Letter from a “Stalker”
- 3rd Party Candidate Becomes U.S. President
- Aha! (You Are a Cheating Spouse)
- Machiavellian Virtual Presence
