Kate Herzog's List: TLC '14 resources

"Based on job postings on Workopolis, as well as employer searches in our resume database, and other job market research, here are some currently much sought-after competencies.

-Essential employability skills for 2014-
*Analytical / Research Skills
*A skilled trade: Carpentry / Electrical / Plumbing / Welding
*Financial expertise
*Instructing / Coaching / Training
*Project management
*Programming / Coding
*Sales abilities
*Search Engine Optimization / Search Engine Marketing
*Web design
*Writing / Communications skills"

"candidates often don’t measure up... in their level of soft skills.... rather than job-specific qualifications, it was the basic business and people skills they were having trouble finding.

-Five transferable skills in demand with Canadian employers: -
*Positive attitude and work ethic
*Customer care / relationship building
*Communications skills
*Teamwork abilities
*Analytical abilities / problem solving

"In order to create a powerful and sustainable career path, it is becoming essential to have cross-disciplinary skills: communications + technical wizardry, skilled trades + business acumen, healthcare + management.

This kind of multi-faceted skillset is going to be the key to future success. The best paid and most secure jobs will go to people with solid analytic and interactive abilities, who are able to continually learn new skills in order to adapt along with the evolving needs of the market."

Read the series of 4 blogposts "Building a Professional Development Hub for your School":
Part 1: WHY?[ http://langwitches.org/blog/2014/08/26/building-a-professional-development-hub-for-your-school-part-1-why/]
Part 2- Characteristics
Part 3- Challenges
Part 4- Steps

In conjunction with Connected Educator Month (CEM)
1) Be Able to Define What It Means to Be a Connected Educator
2) Be Knowledgeable about Web 2.0
3) Be Willing to Join a Social Media Network
4) Become a Blogger
5) Be Reflective and Reach Out

the "Four Cs":
* critical thinking,
* communication,
* collaboration, and
* creativity

"The National Education Association offers up a guide to the 4 Cs in this article. What are the 4 Cs and why are they important?"

@denniscallahan's graphic "Social Learning in 3 Words" says it all [↬Bandura]

OBSERVING
THINKING
TRYING

In Pontefract's "Flat Army: Creating a Connected and Engaged Organization" (Wiley), he defines collaboration as: "The unfettered allowance and encouragement of employees to both contribute and consume knowledge, insight or ideas with any direct relationship via professional or personal networks to achieve an outcome."

Check out the alphabet of attributes he elaborates in this post.

1. What do they need to understand (standards)? "Understanding as 'IT': 'IT' is essentially what is to be learned, and it can be scary thing to both teachers and students. 'IT' is everything, described with intimidating terms like objective, target, proficiency, test, exam, grade, fail, and succeed."

2. What (and how) do they currently understand (assessment)?

3. How can they best come to understand what they currently do not (planning learning experiences and instruction)?

See Taxonomy for Understanding for details: http://www.teachthought.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/teachthought-simple-taxonomy-for-understanding.jpg

1. Parts:
* Explain or describe it simply
* Label its major and minor parts
* Evaluate its most and least important characteristics
* Deconstruct or "unbuild" it efficiently
* Give examples and non-examples
* Separate it into categories, or as an item in broader categories

2. Whole
* Explain it in micro-detail and macro-context
* Create a diagram that embeds it in a self-selected context
* Explain how it is and is not useful both practically and intellectually
* Play with it casually
* Leverage it both in parts and in whole
* Revise it expertly, and explain the impact of any revisions

3. Interdependence
* Explain how it relates to similar and non-similar ideas
* Direct others in using it
* Explain it differently-and precisely-to both a novice and an expert
* Explain exactly how and where others might misunderstand it
* Compare it to other similar and non-similar ideas
* Identify analogous but distinct ideas, concepts, or situations

4. Function
* Apply it in unfamiliar situations
* Create accurate analogies to convey its function or meaning
* Analyze the sweet spot of its utility
* Repurpose it with creativity
* Know when to use it
* Plausibly theorize its origins

5. Abstraction
* Insightfully or artfully demonstrate its nuance
* Criticize it in terms of what it might "miss" or where it's "dishonest"
* Debate its "truths" as a supporter or devil's advocate
* Explain its elegance or crudeness
* Analyze its objectivity and subjectivity, and how the two relate
* Design a sequel, extension, follow-up, or evolution of it

6. Self
* Self-direct future learning about the topic
* Ask specific, insightful questions about it
* Recall or narrate their own learning sequence or chronology (metacognition) in coming to know it
* Is comfortable using it across diverse contexts and circumstances
* Identify what they still don't understand about it
* Analyze changes in self-knowledge as a result of understanding

Part 1 in the series Learning In the New Economy of Information

"the new economy of information has freed teachers from their role as "font of knowledge" and allowed them to become chief analyzer, validity coach, research assistant, master differentiator, and creator of a shared learning experience. Today's teacher will have to make sense of information that he may not be able to predict (because it is student generated), and yet still ensure that the daily learning objective is met. This is done by highlighting and celebrating successes, building skills, and honing the ability to evaluate information."

Executives' Views of Student Outcomes and Preparedness, Innovation in Higher Education Northeastern University (pdf link) Most business leaders (54%) believe the U.S. higher education system currently lags behind both developed and emerging countries in preparing students for the workforce. Business leaders resolutely believe (73%) there is a skills gap among today's U.S. workforce and a substantial majority (87%) contends that most college graduates lack the most important skills needed to succeed.

?What would you say is the single most important skill or capability for a recent college graduate to possess?

Top 10 Skills
Communication / Communication skills - 13%
Inter-personal skills / networking / socialization / ability to work in teams - 11%
Adaptability / flexibility - 9%
Strong work ethic - 7%
Ability to learn / listen / being trainable - 6%
Willingness to work / learn - 6%
Experience (i.e. trainings, internships)- 5%
Critical thinking - 5%
Technology / Computer skills / knowledge - 5%
Drive / desire - 4%

??And, would you say that most, some, or very few recent college graduates today have that skill or capability?

College Graduates with Skills
Most - 14%
Some - 55%
Very few - 30%
Don't Know / Refused - 1%

Recordings from sessions of the inaugural Reinventing the Classroom Conference: "How Ed Tech Is Reshaping the Classroom Experience" held on Wednesday, April 30th and Thursday May 1st, 2014.

Conference strands include: Teaching with Technology, Student Devices, Online Learning, Subject-Specific Ed Tech, Creative Ed Tech, Web 2.0 & Social Software, and Administrative Support.

Also check out Twitter hashtag: #reinvent14

"Free Twitter 101 eCourse for Parents & Educators"

Total course completion time: 2 hours. May be shorter based upon a pre-existing knowledgebase of social media. Completing all parts in the same sitting is not necessary, but completion within the same week is recommended. This course & Youtube components have been customized to allow for listening in the car, at work or at home)

Part 1: The Basics
Part 2: The Language of Twitter
Part 3: Registration & Interface Overview
Part 4: Sending a Tweet
Part 5: Finding People & Resources, Taking Control of Your Own Development as an Educator

"Creating a Connected Classroom involves a complete change of mind about traditional education. Teachers need to create a synergy between the online and offline world. Thus what begins in the classroom can be taken to the internet to continue the dialogue and, in the same way, resources and ideas that emerged online can be transferred and discussed in the classroom."

Ways in which it can be implemented:

1. Blogging: Many teachers are using blogs in their academic work with positive results. There are many possibilities for a school or class blog such as a blog where the teacher is the author and encourages students to participate through comments or a collaborative classroom blog where all students post articles. In any case, one of the advantages of blogging is that the activity is open to outsiders who have the opportunity to contribute to the educational community online through the blog.

2. Study Groups: Another possibility is study groups, which allow students and teachers to initiate discussions and share learning resources with other members of the group. This provides a wide range of possibilities as the teachers and students can collaborate with each other by sharing their study resources.

3. Social Networks: Social networks have huge potential as a way to create an educational community around new technologies. The #hashtag, for example, can create open discussions in which everyone can participate and comment on a topic previously discussed in class.

"Interview with educators about the importance of being "connected" in order to be an effective teachers and leaders. Video was created as part of Connected Educators Month"

run time=5 min

annual Gallup/Lumina Foundation poll results

Key Finding #1:

Eighty-four percent of business leaders say that the amount of knowledge a candidate has is very important in hiring decisions.

By comparison, just nine percent of business leaders say where the candidate received their degree is very important in hiring decisions, and only 28 percent of employers say a candidate's major is very important.

"College degrees and other credentials are more important than ever, but times have changed, and the vast majority of employers in America put acquired skills far ahead of alma mater or major when it comes to hiring," said Jamie P. Merisotis, president and CEO of Lumina Foundation. "Whether attending a two-year, four-year or online institution, business leaders want candidates with the skills needed to produce in today's workforce, and our higher education institutions must do more to prepare students for success."

Key Finding #2:

The poll also found a significant perception gap between business and academic institution leaders when it comes to assessing the workforce preparedness of today's college graduates. In a recent survey done by Gallup for Inside Higher Ed, 96% of percent of college and university chief academic officers said they are extremely or somewhat confident in their institution's ability to prepare students for success in the workforce. By comparison, the Gallup/Lumina Foundation Poll found just 11 percent of business leaders strongly agree today's college graduates have the skills and competencies that their business needs. As a result, 40 percent of employers say they must hire foreign-born workers due to a shortage of American workers with the skills they need.

This is the URL to version 2.01 (21st March, 2014)

Chapters include:
2. Peer Learning
3. Motivation
4. Patterns
5. Groups
6. CoLearning
7. Cooperation
8. Assessment
9. Technologies

Peeragogy is a collection of techniques for collaborative learning and collaborative work.

You can download a free pdf copy of Version 2.0 <http://metameso.org/peeragogy-2.01-ebook.pdf> or use the online version.

"A networking plan should include your objectives, identifying networking activities or meetings, how to approach networking events, tracking results, and making changes for ongoing networking.

1) Clarify and state your personal reasons for networking.[This is NOT the same as socializing!]
2) Identify the types of people you want to meet and speak with.
3) Look for opportunities to network.
4) Outline your networking approach. The goal is not how many business cards you can pass out, or collect. The goal is to meet people with whom you have a reason to speak with again.
5) Schedule networking meetings into your calendar or they won't happen. Give as much weight to building relationships as anything else you do.
6) Track and analyze your efforts.

Work the Plan"