General Q+A, Discussion, Feedback on Challenge

andrew's picture
Submitted by andrew(1662)November 21, 2011 - 5:40pm

 

All,
 
Thanks to all who made the 90-Day launch meeting today.  (Billy Gioia more than compensated by inviting me to his Critical Friends Group this morning to engage some of the DOE-side coaching staff..+5 Cred points!)
 
I'm very excited to dig into this work with such a strong group of instructional and systems thinkers.  As I mentioned, the goal is for this experience to engage you in a compelling experience within the YouPD challenge format while simultaneously supporting you in designing a compelling challenge experiences for others.   I look forward to moving between learner mode and coach mode as we attempt to guide our challenge-building within the challenge framework.  Whoa! Experience the hall of mirrors infinite regression that's going on here.  A challenge about challenge building about challenge building.
 
Please take some time in the next day to get things rolling in the challenge space.  The direct URL for the challenge space is http://www.youpd.org/challengemaker
 
Please use this discussion thread for any discussion that falls outside the confines of the specific "required" discussions that exist within the challenge.  
 
Ask questions!  
Provide feedback on the workflow and process by which we're engaging in the work!  
Offer suggestions for making this challenge better!
 
 
 
 
 

 

Challenges:

Comments

andrew
andrew1 year 23 weeks ago

Please offer comments on MacArthur Teacher Badges Contest Draft

If you have a spare moment between now and Monday morning, please take a moment to read and comment on our draft MacArthur DML Teacher Badges contest submission.  If you have a Gmail account, you should be able to post your comments directly on the Doc.  Thanks in advance for your help!

If you want to see the contest guidelines, visit the DML site: http://www.dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/teachers-stage-1.php

kristenswanson
kristenswanson1 year 23 weeks ago

Well done

I think the draft is very complete. One thing I may mention would be the high quality of the content, as users will access and popularize the best content through self selection. In that way the content is similar to peer reviewed journals, and it allows for a sustainable model of review. I might also mention how schools would make time for these activities, or how schools would value them. Overall, great job!

andrew
andrew1 year 23 weeks ago

Thanks for the suggestions

We had to gut 300 words from the version you looked at (not sure when you saw it), so if we do add anything it will have to come at the expense of something else;)

I love that you emphasize the site as fostering a sustainable mechanism for "peer review" in the K-12 space, both as a driver of content quality, but also as a driver of adult learning and professional culture.

Your second question is one we definitely haven't fully hashed out.  How should schools or school-leaders understand this space?  At this point, we are taking a "direct to teacher" approach, with the assumption that if we are able to build a vibrant learning community, those higher up in the system will ultimately "give credit" to this model.  Innovative school leaders might engage us as challenge design partners, or use the existing challenges, to shift their use of brick and mortar PD time towards a blended, asynchronous model.

 

andrew
andrew1 year 23 weeks ago

Great Joi Ito quotes from today's Science times...

"In fact, it is now usually cheaper to just try something than to sit around and try to figure out whether to try something. The product map is now often more complex and more expensive to create than trying to figure it out as you go. The compass has replaced the map, and “rough consensus and running code” has become the fundamental philosophy for the so-called lean start-up movement."

The rapid-iteration of design on a live site, in collaboration with users, couldn't a be more exciting way of working from my perspective.  Our primary objective in this R+D process is to learn quickly by trying things, and we now have the official blessings of the head of the MIT Media Lab!

Here's one more from the article that I would love to see embodied as the essential spirit of YouPD.

"Neoteny, one of my favorite words, means the retention of childlike attributes in adulthood: idealism, experimentation and wonder. In this new world, not only must we behave more like children, we also must teach the next generation to retain those attributes that will allow them to be world-changing, innovative adults who will help us reinvent the future."

Here's a link to the original article http://goo.gl/xmhpx