Computational thinking (CT) is a set of problem-solving methods that involve expressing problems and their solutions in ways that a computer could also execute. Computational thinking is the step that comes before coding and programming. It is the process of breaking down a problem into simple enough steps that even a computer would understand. It…
I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. In identifying new opportunities, there is often a chance that we’ll let this derail us and lead us astray from our…
I came across this post by Tom Stafford that discusses “forgetfulness”, or at least what I thought was forgetfulness. 🙂 The post discusses the “doorway effect”, or at least the challenge that happens when you run into a room looking to do one thing, or grab one thing and you get lost or forget the one thing…
To gain your own voice, you have to forget about having it heard. – Allen Ginsberg In many of my blog posts, I’m taking time and space to give my brain an opportunity to think through things. In the process of writing, in the process of getting ideas and putting them down on paper, I…
I first came across this story and quickly shared it in my newsletter in 2015. Since that point, it’s been something that I want to fold into my system. Jeremiah Dillon, head of product marketing at Google Apps for Work, sent out an email to colleagues indicating that they were scheduling themselves all wrong. They…
In starting up, or building your digital identity from basic scraps, or nothingness, the first step is to begin thinking about the role or representation you’d like to have online. Write out six words to represent you…and the identity that you’d like to have online. These six words could be individual sentences, a phrase, etc.…
Digital badges provide great opportunities to recognize, assess, and motivate learners in and/or out of traditional learning contexts. Digital badges are web-enabled tokens of accomplishment that contain specific claims and evidence about learning and achievement along with detailed evidence supporting those claims. Badges traditionally consist of an image and relevant metadata (e.g., badge name, description,…
The [common trait in] people that we have noticed are best at learning a language is that they have no trouble sounding stupid.Luis von Ahn This quote from Luis von Ahn makes me think about the considerations people will have as they build up their online identity. I put myself out there, and always have.…
Exposure is leverage.Gary Vaynerchuk In issue #262 of my weekly newsletter, I shared this post by Doug Belshaw. The post discusses the challenges and opportunities as we “work out loud.” Much of this was inspired by Austin Kleon’s book. If you really want to dig deep on this topic, check out this full session from…
This morning I’m giving a keynote virtually to the Virginia College Literacy Educators. In this address, I’d like to focus on our current state of affairs as we deal with current educational and social contexts. The slides for this event are available here. We Privilege Care As we confront unprecedented challenges, I want to take…