From DSC:
First, a word of caution. Due to the content of some of the stations available herein, I would recommend that only those people who are 18 or older visit this site.
On 05/21/2011,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, art, convergence, creativity, disruption, emerging technologies, global / globalization, innovation, internet, languages and translation, media/film, multimedia, music, pace of change, political science, psychology, society, sociology, television, transmedia, trends,
by Daniel Christian
On 05/04/2011,
in 21st century, active learning, assessment, education reform, educational games / serious games, engagement / engaging students, global / globalization, ideas, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, love of learning, morals/values, motivation, participation, play, policy, political science, presentations, project-based learning, real-world assignments, relationships, society, sociology, staying relevant, story, storytelling, strategy, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teaching & learning, vision/possibilities,
by Daniel Christian
John Hunter on the World Peace Game — TED March 2011 — my thanks to Mr. Joseph and Mrs. Kate Byerwalter for this great presentation
About this talk
John Hunter puts all the problems of the world on a 4’x5′ plywood board — and lets his 4th-graders solve them. At TED2011, he explains how his World Peace Game engages schoolkids, and why the complex lessons it teaches — spontaneous, and always surprising — go further than classroom lectures can.
About John Hunter
Teacher and musician John Hunter is the inventor of the World Peace Game (and the star of the new doc “World Peace and Other 4th-Grade Achievements”).
On 04/13/2011,
in computer science, ethics, internet, leadership, legislatures / government / legal, platforms, programming, society, sociology,
by Daniel Christian
Berners-Lee calls for higher purpose of Web — from cnet.com by Martin LaMonica
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the underpinnings of the World Wide Web, isn’t just concerned about getting browsers on more mobile devices. Architects of the Web need to consider how it will affect all humanity as it evolves.
…
But even as engineers hammer out the next version of HTML, they have a duty to fulfill a weighty social purpose of the Web, he said. As the way that people connect in society, the Web supports justice, government transparency, and human rights to freedom, he said.
On 04/08/2011,
in change, communications, disruption, emerging technologies, journalism, media/film, participation, social learning / networks, social media, society, sociology, the downsides of how people use tech, web-based collaboration,
by Daniel Christian
On 04/06/2011,
in faith, K-12 related, motivation, music, pedagogy, psychology, society, sociology, teaching & learning,
by Daniel Christian
Also see:
- Teachers: Watch this and Try not to Cry – Then DO SOMETHING! — from Gary Stager
as well as:
From DSC:
Perhaps you’ve seen this…but I’m reminded that our lives are but a vapor when I read this one. I’m also reminded of a person’s dignity and the specialness of a person, a life, a soul.
When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in Grass Valley, CA (USA). it was believed that he had nothing left of any value.
Later, when the nurses were going through his meager possessions, they found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.
One nurse took her copy to Missouri.
The old man’s sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News Magazine of the St. Louis Association for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on his simple, but eloquent, poem.
And this little old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this ‘anonymous’ poem winging across the Internet.
Crabby Old Man…
What do you see nurses? . . … . . What do you see?
What are you thinking . . . . . when you’re looking at me?
A crabby old man . .. . . . not very wise,
Uncertain of habit … . . . . with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles his food . . . .. . and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice . . . . . ‘I do wish you’d try!’
Who seems not to notice .. .. . … . the things that you do.
And forever is losing . . . . . A sock or shoe?
Who, resisting or not . . . . . lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding . .. . .. . The long day to fill?
Is that what you’re thinking? . … . . . Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse . . . . . you’re not looking at me.
I’ll tell you who I am. . . . … . As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, . . . . . as I eat at your will.
I’m a small child of Ten . .. . . .. with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters . . . .. … who love one another.
A young boy of Sixteen . . . .. with wings on his feet.
Dreaming that soon now . . . . . a lover he’ll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty . . . . .. my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows . . . . . that I promised to keep.
At Twenty-Five, now . . . .. . I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide . . . . . And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty . . . . . My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other .. . . . . With ties that should last.
At Forty, my young sons . . … . . have grown and are gone,
But my woman’s beside me . . . . . to see I don’t mourn.
At Fifty, once more, babies play ’round my knee,
Again, we know children . .. . . . My loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me . . . . . my wife is now dead.
I look at the future . . . . . shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing . … . . . young of their own.
And I think of the years .. . . .. . and the love that I’ve known.
I’m now an old man . . . . …. and nature is cruel.
Tis jest to make old age . . . . . look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles . . . . . grace and vigor, depart.
There is now a stone . . . . where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass . . . . . a young guy still dwells,
And now and again . . . . . my battered heart swells.
I remember the joys . . . . . I remember the pain.
And I’m loving and living . . . … . life over again.
I think of the years, all too few . . . . . gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact . . . . that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people . . . … . open and see.
Not a crabby old man . … . . Look closer . .. . see ME!!
Remember this poem when you next meet an older person who you might brush aside without looking at the young soul within. We will all, one day, be there, too!
On 03/10/2011,
in ethics, global / globalization, morals/values, relationships, sociology,
by Daniel Christian
On 02/25/2011,
in business, convergence, disruption, economics, Europe, future, social learning / networks, sociology,
by Daniel Christian
On 02/09/2011,
in budgets, career development, faith, political science, psychology, relationships, sociology, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
New website guides you through the homeless experience — from Mashable by Zachary Sniderman
Also see:
.
On 12/28/2010,
in business, change, corporate / business world, Europe, future, game-changing environment, leadership, organizational change, policy, political science, sociology, strategy, trends,
by Daniel Christian
40 for the next 40: A sampling of the drivers of change that will shape our world between now and 2050 — from gerdleonhard.typepad.com and Toffler Associates
From the foreword:
We are in the midst of an accelerating, revolutionary transformation. Change is happening everywhere – in technology, business, government, economics, organizational structures, values and norms – and consequently affects how we live, work and play. As industry and government leaders, we must acknowledge that this change demands new ways of governing and of running our organizations. The ways in which we communicate and interact with each other will be different. The methods through which we gain and process information will be different. The means by which we earn and spend money will be different. Through the culmination of these and other changes, organizations will be radically transformed.
This change is not unexpected. Forty years ago, Alvin and Heidi Toffler recognized that the pace of environmental change was rapidly accelerating and threatened to overwhelm the relatively slow pace of human response. Through Future Shock, the Tofflers persuaded us to consider the future by imagining drivers of change and preparing for a wide range of resulting future environments. Now as we look towards the next 40 years, we continue to use these time tested methodologies, our founders’ legacy to Toffler Associates, for understanding the forces of future change. We focus on the convergence and interdependence of seemingly orthogonal aspects to connect the dots and develop strategies for future success. In this way, we recognize, as the Tofflers did, that preparation is the best defense against the future (emphasis DSC).
Here is a sampling of 40 drivers of change that – we believe – will shape the future.
From DSC:
Includes sections on Politics, Technology, Social, Economics, and the Environment.
Education-related quotes from:
Poverty: ending the cycle
A 36-year study by Concordia University looks at the cycle of poverty through three generations of Montrealers
The third generation, growing up right now in this technological society, has no bright future without high school, Serbin says.
“Lack of education causes huge barriers, and these kids have a lot farther to go than others,” she says, “because they come from backgrounds with little education and stimulation.”
So is it any wonder that the dropout rate isn’t budging? Serbin asks.
“(Premier Jean) Charest talks about parents providing support, which is great. But how do you enable parents to do that?”
We need to teach parents the skills and offer them programs and support, so they in turn can support their children academically, she says. If poverty places parents in acute stress, how is it possible for them to help their children without outside support?
From DSC:
To me, this begins to get at the heart of the matter of education reform — helping develop stable, solid families with parents that actively support the education of their children.
It’s tough — if one was never taught the importance of education, how does one acquire that perspective? We need to help parents build a respect for education. But I realize that when a person is out there just trying to get by at all, it’s hard to worry about education. That’s why next year, I hope to begin offering a program on developing digital literacy to those children who come out of a background of significant need. I want to help them identify, develop and use their passions.
On 10/20/2010,
in Augmented Reality (AR), biology, dangers of the status quo, economics, emerging technologies, ethics, faith, future, geography / geology, global / globalization, health, internet, morals/values, political science, sociology, surviving, vision/possibilities,
by Daniel Christian
From biotech visionaries growing new body parts, to in vitro meat, from a global sensor web that monitors the health of the earth’s biosphere, to a massive effort to reverse-engineer the human brain, Surviving the Future takes a disquieting and astonishing look at some of science’s most radical new technologies.
The film also takes a hard look at the ‘new normal’ of the climate crisis, as we balance our desire to be environmentally responsible—to ‘do the right thing’—and still participate in the consumer economy that is, for better or worse, the basis of our society.
Surviving the future is an unsettling glimpse into the human psyche right now, as our culture staggers between a fervent belief in futuristic utopian technologies on the one hand, and dreams of apocalyptic planetary payback on the other.
Thought provoking and visually stunning, Surviving the Future looks at the stark and extreme choices facing our species as we prepare ourselves for the most challenging and consequential period in our history.
From DSC:
These are some of the things I was alluding to in my post here…I’d be more comfortable with many of these things if the state of the heart were in better condition.