There was a vision: “The destiny of computers is to become interactive intellectual amplifiers for everyone in the world pervasively networked worldwide”.
In the 70s, Xerox Parc was THE research facility in the United States. Technology such as the graphical user interface, ethernet networking, and the laser printer was created at Xerox Parc.
A couple of the principles Mr. Kay lays out are mindblowing:
Fund people not projects — the scientists find the problems not the funders. So, for many reasons, you have to have the best researchers.
This one was particular mindblowing. Find the best people, and provide the support they need to create great things.
Problem Finding — not just Problem Solving
Progress is made on solving problems, and if you can’t find problems to solve, then you’re not making any progress.
When you think about a traditional school workflow, it’s not unlike that of a business: paper is generated and moved in a systematic way between the children and the teacher. Just as cloud computing has transformed workflows in business to make them more collaborative and mobile, that same type of change has been coming to…
We posit that a single exposure to rudeness in the morning can contaminate employees’ perceptions of subsequent social interactions leading them to perceive greater workplace rudeness throughout their workday. We expect that these contaminated perceptions will have important ramifications for employees’ work behaviors. Source: PsycNET Record Display – PsycNET Think about that student that comes to…
In the past, I’ve written on ideas for gamification—using games in the classroom—but lately I’ve been reflecting on some of the bigger ideas that games open up in terms of pedagogy and the classroom experience. While we can use games as tools and perhaps build units that are gamified, we might also adopt some basic…
With an emphasis on test scores and “digital literacy,” there is a myth among many that the school library is irrelevant and even old-fashioned. Talk to students and you will find that they don’t feel this way. Children want access to books. They want to spend time in a library perusing titles and discussing what…
Simplifying teacher expertise is no big deal– heck, textbooks are an old tech version of that, saving us all from the trouble of coming up with our own materials. I actually have spent some time thinking about this, resulting in my decision a few years ago to stop using the grammar textbooks my school bought…
The ninth graders in Elise Delamatre’s classroom at the City Neighbors High School in northeast Baltimore are sitting in a circle of armchairs, presenting their opinions about the merits of the color blue and Nacho Cheese Doritos. “Blue is the best color. It’s calming. It’s awesome,” says one girl, standing to address the room. Other…
