Friday, March 15, 2019

Five a Week- Pilot

This is the start of a new series since I am trying to get more writing done. This is part of my effort to build a writing habit, since that is something I struggle with at times.

Several names popped into my head as I was trying to figure out what to call the series.
  • Five a Day
  • Five a Week
  • Five for Five
  • Five in Five
  • This Weeks Five
I decided to go with Five a Week and then a subtitle of a theme if I can figure one out from the postings. This week it is just "Pilot". Ha! Very creative I know. 

I do a lot of web research looking for interesting articles on education and technology. This will be an effort to put down five of these resources that I feel are worth sharing. I figure that it is something simple that I can do to start getting into the habit.

I ended up with twenty three articles/resources that I felt would qualify and narrowed it down to five that I thought were what I wanted to share. I don't necessarily have any criteria in mind for selecting. Right now I think what I am concentrating on is whether I find it interesting and if I think other people will find them worth their time. I also have some topics in mind such as technology, education- theory and applied, accessibility, the future, and something fun. So, without further ado here is the list. 

The first is an article from The Evolllution, which deals with topics in higher education. Small Colleges Grapple with the Future of Enterprise Technology, by Marty Ringle which specifically looks at Enterprise systems vs a best-of-breed for database needs for small colleges. Since I work at a small college this seems particularly relevant to me and I think we often question this issue. While it is focused on small college, I believe that large institutions struggle with this question as well. There are lots of technology solutions out there that people can now use and IT departments can struggle with keeping students and data protected and useful to the institution.

It is hard to keep anyone's attention for a long period and teaching is no exception. While my job is to focus a lot on the technology side of learning, I believe engagement is a big part of this process. How to Make Your Teaching More Engaging by Sarah Rose Cavanagh looks at how we can help students engage in the learning process. It's a long article, but I think it is worth taking the time to read. Find a cozy area and plan to spend about 30 minutes. This might seem like a long time in your busy schedule, but the author does have some great insights. The author covers topics such as why care about engagement, four key principles, suggestions, and examples.

Most of us are stressed for time and getting things done. Elizabeth Grace Saunders in her post, How to Get Your To-Do List Done When You’re Always in Meetings gives some good advice on checking things off your to-do list. For most of us, having the perfect block of time doesn't happen that often. For example, with this post I decided that I couldn't devote hours to working on it. It's just one of those things I struggle with; finding a perfect time. So, I approached it a just listing the links I thought I would share and then coming back later to write the filling. This seems like a good approach and I hope to keep it up for the series.

I love reading and often think that Oblomov had the perfect life of reading in bed (not really). I always have a lot checked out from the library (currently 20) but ones I buy. 12 Books You Need on Your Leadership Bookshelf, by Peter DeWitt gives us some insight on what to read for our leadership skills. You may argue that you are not a leader, but I would counter that most of us are in some capacity and that it is important for everyone to work in this skill. I was surprised that I hadn't read any of these, so it's time to pick a few. A few that look most interesting to me are Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times (Corwin Press) by Eric Sheninger and Hacking Leadership (Times 10 Publications) by Joe Sanfelippo and Tony Sinanis. Take a look at the other ten to see what interests you.

Here is one for fun and education. Wingspan by Elizabeth Hargrave in a game about birds. A game? About birds? "Why would I be interested in that?" you say. Board games have been going through a renaissance and there are a lot of interesting ones out there. This one strikes me as particularly notable because it adds many of the elements we look for in a good game such as sensation, fantasy, narrative, challenge, fellowship, discovery, expression and submission which is attributed to  Marc LeBlanc, an educator and designer.

For this posting, I decided to leave the others that I considered below in case anyone feels like seeing them. I may not do this every time, but since they are already here I thought I would leave them. Let me know if you think I should have switched out any of the ones above for those below.

See you next week!

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