Thursday, April 25, 2013

Kaizen - The Art of Continuous Improvement

Kaizen (改善?), Japanese for "improvement" or "change for the better", refers to philosophy or practices that focus upon continuous improvement of processes in manufacturing, engineering, supporting business processes, and management. It has been applied in healthcare, psychotherapy, life-coaching, government, banking, and many other industries.



Tom Flick: Leadership, Vision and Continuous Improvement

I listen to Tom Flick at the MSBO conference and he was an amazing speaker. He talk about leadership and not planing but instead visioning. We manifest our destiny and if we think negatively that we manifest that into the situation. This is a short video that you can take away some great strategies.

Tom Flick: Leadership, Vision and Continuous Improvement

Ruckus Shines at MACUL 2013







When you are talking about BYOD or 1 to 1 you need to have a robust Wi-Fi network and Ruckus again and again shines when it comes to high density and high demanding throughput networks without a hiccup.
Ruckus was back at it again this time at the 2013 Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL) show at the Cobo Center in Detroit MI. Ruckus provided WiFi service once more for another major teacher's conference. Utilizing FlexMaster we capture the following stats: 
  • 5,811 unique clients over the course of the show
  • Multiple APs had over 250 clients connected
  • 3 APs supported 710+ clients in the lobby area 


Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Monday, April 22, 2013

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Brian Tracy talks about the Keys to Success



Brian Tracy does a great job outlining the character traits and habits that one must have in order to be highly successful.

Please vote for this Blog site :-)



I need your help, If you have read my Blog over the last couple of years and liked it. Please consider going to this site and vote for my blog. here is the link to vote for my site.

Bammy Awards

http://www.bammyawards.com/index.php/component/content/article/69-education-commentatorblogger/925-edtech-mi

 Thanks,

Friday, April 19, 2013

Understanding the New “Perfect Storm” of current education

Understanding the New “Perfect Storm” Environment for Digital Conversions “Students need to be lifelong learners. Our students will face career choices that do not even exist at this time. The future is changing too rapidly for us to create a finite list of skills. If we withhold their access to any current tools that would help in this endeavor, we are holding them back and doing a disservice.” ~(Assistant District Superintendent, California)

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

VocabularySpellingCity iPad/iPhone App

Introducing Google Now

Introducing Google Public Alerts

In times of crisis people are increasingly turning to the web for help. Google Public Alerts, available on Search, Maps and Google Now, are one way the web is keeping you safe.

Find out more at Google.org/crisisresponse/publicalerts

A chart to help with focus while studying

Click the picture to enlarge it.

TEDxGrandRapids 2013 speakers!

If you have not looked at TEDx you need to stop what you are doing and do this today. This will change your life by doing this. It is one of the best things that I have ever did in life. This will be my second year to TEDx Grand Rapids and I am looking forward to another great event. This year's line-up is one of the most geographically diverse yet, with individuals hailing from as far away as South Africa and Scotland and as close to home as right here in Grand Rapids. And though they hold a bevy of advanced degrees and have had a wide range of fascinating life experiences, their talks will be powerful and personal explorations of the ways each of us is called to lead, inspire, and contribute.

List of TEDX Grand Rapids Speakers

Dr. Simone Ahuja, Frugal Innovator. Ahuja is an author, researcher, consultant, and advisor whose work focuses on innovation in emerging global markets. She is the founder of Minneapolis-based boutique marketing agency Blood Orange and the author of the recent book Jugaad Innovation: Think Frugal, Be Flexible, Generate Breakthrough Growth.

Lucy Bernholz, PhD, Game Changer. Bernholz is a self-described philanthropy wonk and a visiting scholar at Stanford University. A graduate of Yale and Stanford, she advises and writes extensively on the intersection of philanthropy, technology, information, and policy and seeks to understand how we create, fund, and distribute shared social goods in the digital age.

Jose Bright, Global Educator. Bright is a consultant, teacher, author, and attorney living in South Africa. Interested in the power of 21st-century technology to serve and educate vulnerable and at-risk children, he is the founder of the Teboho Trust, a highly successful educational support platform which also focuses on small business development and incubation for the caregivers of these children in Soweto.

Nicole Caruth, Artist Activist. A writer, editor, and curator living in New York, Caruth is a leading voice on the subject of food in contemporary art. She is the founder of the non-profit organization With Food in Mind, which creates educational initiatives at the crossroads of food, visual culture, and social change.

Eric Daigh, Technology Artist. Daigh is a portraitist and conceptual artist whose work began as large-scale mosaic and has since expanded into new forms and site-specific installations. He lives in Northern Michigan and his work is exhibited internationally by museums, collectors, and art fairs.

Evan Grae Davis, Culture Changer. Evan Grae Davis is a husband, father, adventurer, activist, and filmmaker who travels the world advocating for social justice by writing and directing short documentaries and videos. His first feature-length documentary, It's a Girl, is currently screening worldwide, and focuses on why millions of women are missing in the world today simply because they are girls.

Luis de la Fuente, PhD, Classroom Futurist. A native Californian, de la Fuente is the Director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, where he works to transform today’s classrooms into personalized learning environments by combining the best of teaching with the best of technology. He’s interested in the power of personalized instruction to radically improve public K-12 education.

Greg Galle, Ingenuity Jumper. Galle is the co-founder of Future Partners, a rapid ingenuity firm, who explores how design improves lives through story, experience, visualization, user interface, and innovation. His award-winning work has been included in books and helps organizations, individuals, and teams of all kinds achieve more through design.

Fred Keller, Thought Leader. A materials science engineer by training, Keller is the Chair and CEO of Cascade Engineering. A Grand Rapids native, Keller believes in the unique power of business to achieve financial success as well as positive social and environmental outcomes, and his innovative views on sustainability and management are featured regularly in industry publications.

Gurgit Lalli, Social Entrepreneur. Born in England to Indian parents, raised in Scotland, and educated in Sweden, Lalli currently lives in Glasgow, where he is the founder of TEDxGlasgow and involved in multiple entrepreneurial impact ventures. He is the co-founder of The Power of Youth, an organization that harnesses the global energy and capital of young entrepreneurs to inspire and finance socially responsible development and collaboration.

Rick Leach, PhD, Genomics Expert. Currently the Vice President of Business Development for Complete Genomics, the first industrial-scale whole genome sequencing company, Dr. Leach’s previous work has been in areas including biotechnology, in vitro fertilization, and genetics research. His primary focus is to bring genome sequencing to clinical practice.

Dr. J.A. Mustapha, Go-Getter. A Lebanon-born interventional cardiologist who practices with Metro Health Hospital in Wyoming, Michigan, Dr. Mustapha is also an associate professor, researcher, and innovator who holds several medical-device patents. His special areas of interest include peripheral vascular disease treatments and amputation prevention.

Tim Rowe, Community Builder. Born and raised in Cambridge, MA, Rowe is the founder and CEO of Cambridge Innovation Center, which houses over 450 start-up companies and is perhaps the densest collection of startups anywhere in the world. A graduate of the MIT Sloan School of Management and Amherst College, Rowe has testified before Senate committees and met with senior White House officials on promoting entrepreneurship at a national level.

Lori Schneider, Obstacle Remover. Schneider is a teacher, mountain climber, and speaker whose life-long love of travel led her to visit over fifty countries in her first forty-three years of life. When she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1999, Schneider set out to become the first person with MS to climb the highest peak on each continent to prove her belief that ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Dell Open Manager a way to help create a green data center.

Leonardo da Vinci Happy Birthday April 15th 1452.


Listening: We don't even think about it, but it is an important skill that is being lost.

Map of USF ERate Funding

Here is a map of the united state and it has hotspots of district that use ERate funding. This map give us a better Idea of where the concentration of students are in the US and the funding of the USF-ERate. 

Click on the map to get a larger view.




Invest in classroom broadband connectivity


Sign ISTE’s White House Petition to Invest in School Broadband Today!

We are petitioning the Obama administration to invest in classroom broadband connectivity to ensure that all students are ready for college and 21st century careers. Please take just a few moments to sign this vital petition. Then, share this link with at least six friends to ensure we garner as many signatures as possible. Together, our voices will carry!

This petition asks the Obama Administration to:

Invest in classroom broadband connectivity to ensure that all students are ready for college and 21st century careers.

Education, like every sector in America, is undergoing a digital transformation. As students and educators embrace personalized instruction, online and mobile learning, adaptive assessments and data-driven decision making, and develop critical thinking, collaboration, communication and digital citizenship skills, demands on school networks will continue to skyrocket. Unfortunately, unlike the business and healthcare sectors, K–12 investment in school broadband infrastructure has lagged. Even the successful E-Rate program cannot meet rapidly escalating school needs for increased bandwidth. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) recognizes that we as a nation must invest in school broadband connectivity to ensure our students graduate equipped for success. Act now!

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Innovations class - This is an approach to putting learning in the hands of the students.

This is the first video update on what we are doing in our Innovations program. This is a broad overview of the class. Next week we will hear from the students on their progress.

Here are three videos on what it is about.


Video #1

Video #2


Video #3

Introducing Student HackEd

Dr. Zhao proposes a new paradigm of education




World Class Education
Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students


 In this presentation, Dr. Zhao proposes a new paradigm of education. Yong Zhao will discuss the triad model of education to prepare global, creative, and entrepreneurial talents that include:


  • personalized curriculum/educational experience, 
  • product-oriented learning, and the 
  • globe as the campus. 

PDF Click her for more information

 World Class Education Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students 
Tuesday, April 23, 2013 7:00 p.m. 
French Auditorium Education and Human Services Building 
Central Michigan University Reception 
book signing to follow presentation. 
For more information contact: Roxanne Jordan
(989) 774-6448 or jorda1rr@cmich.edu

Saturday, April 13, 2013

This Video is an example of a way to make learning fun for students

This video from Teacher Tube illustrates how we can make learning fun with popular modern music in a rock video format.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Saturday, April 6, 2013

How to manage K-12 iPads Easily


These days, many of our K-12 customers are either evaluating the iPad or have purchased iPads for their students to use.  Challenges arise when Directors of Technology are charged with the task of managing multiple iPads at the same time. What is the best policy for app deployment? How do you set restrictions? How do you distribute new applications? These are all important and valid questions for an K-12 IT administrator and I will try to address them here:
Q: What is the best policy for application deployment?
A: If you are a K-12 IT administrator and have more than 10 iPads, you need to sign up for Apple’s Volume Purchase Program (VPP.)  Signing up for this program will first help you be compliant with Apple’s terms and conditions and secondly, allow you to purchase selected applications at a reduced cost.  The link to the  VPP site can be found here.
Q: How do you set restrictions?
A: If you have more than 30 iPads, it is a good idea to look at an Mobile Device Management solution like Airwatch, Meraki App Management, or Absolute’s Absolute Mobile Device Manager (MDM.) This kind of software not only allows you to setup group policies for iPads based on the user’s status in Active Directory, but it also allows you to dynamically change those settings on the fly.  Want to disable You Tube on 300 iPads instantly, all at once?  No problem! Did you change your WiFi SSID and password, and need to change it on 300 iPads?  No problem!  Absolute’s MDM solution has you covered.
Q: What is the most effective way to distribute new applications?
A: The best way to distribute applications really depends on how many iPads you are managing. If you are managing 30 or less, a charge and sync station or cart is a great way to sync multiple iPads at the same time. Carts like those made by DS Datamation are superb for a school.  If you are managing more than 30 iPads, it’s best to look at a MDM software solution .  Although no solution can “push” apps to an iPad over the air, the solution allows you to purchase apps from the volume purchase store at Apple, insert the codes, and create a one-touch link on everyone’s iPad to download that app.
Managing iPads doesn’t have to be difficult.  There are some great tools and devices available that can make managing iPads a snap.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Adobe Connect iPad App Tutorial

Adobe Connect Demo

Tech Tips: Adobe Connect ~IUN~

Adobe Connect

Tech Tips: Document Camera ~IUN~

Document Cameras 101 - A Complete Guide

California Superintendent on the HoverCam

Horace Mann, G. Stanley Hall, John Dewey

Thomas Jefferson on the importance of education

Calls for State to Return Local Control to Newark, Jersey City and Paterson

We need to make sure that we don't give up local control of all of our school systems to the state or federal government.

The Paterson and Newark advisory school boards held a public session to update the communities about the status of state control over the school districts.

Digital Learning Day message from Superintendent Flanagan




Today is Digital Learning Day across the United States... and schools across Michigan and this nation are exploring how digital learning can enhance their learning experience. State Superintendent Mike Flanagan shares a brief message to help celebrate innovative teaching, and the highlighting of instructional practices that will foster the skills that Michigan students will need in their education, career, and life.









Mobile Learning Conference
LEARN HOW MOBILE DEVICES CAN EMPOWER LEARNING




Sponsored by MACUL, the REMC Association of Michigan and Kalamazoo RESA
MAY 10, 2013
KALAMAZOO RESA

1819 E. Milham Road, Portage MI

COST: $65

Register Now

Registration Deadline: May 3

Call for Speakers Deadline: April 10

Call for Speakers information

Hotel Information

Win an iPad2 and an iPad mini! All registered conference participants will be entered in a drawing to win an iPad2 or an iPad Mini. Must be present to win.
GOALS OF CONFERENCE:

All attendees will be able to:
apply at least one new skill in using mobile technology personally;
demonstrate leadership by teaching and modeling the use of mobile technology to others in their district; and
identify at least two ways mobile technology can be used to support instruction and student learning

- From the Principal's Office: 10 Things School Leaders Do to Kill a Teacher's Enthusiasm for Technology

- From the Principal's Office: 10 Things School Leaders Do to Kill a Teacher's Enthusiasm for Technology

This is a list of 10 things not to do as a technology leader trying to get your staff excited about using technology.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Ck-12 Foundation Quick Start Video

Learn how to get started using CK-12's new 2.0 flexbook system. Explore concepts, flex books, modalities, and more!

Get started now, visit: www.ck12.org

Monday, April 1, 2013

Harris Interactive Online Survey - How tablets are changing IT Managment


A computer manufacture Dell and Intel have recently commissioned a survey call the Harris Interactive online survey. They collected data from 203 school system in the US. Looking at this study completed by administrators and IT decision makers’ there are significant tablet management challenges faced by schools moving to tablets.

  • The results show that tablets are increasingly becoming a standard IT device (53 percent of IT decision makers surveyed have deployed them in their schools).

  • However, other studies show some tablets can cost significantly more time and money to manage. According to the results of the Harris survey:

  • Preparing tablets to work in a school’s existing infrastructure can cost more than $1,400 on average.

  • These costs include time spent on tasks such as device management, password setting and resetting, enterprise domain and access configuration and policy development.

  • 57 percent of education IT decision makers using tablets say there are applications currently used on their desktops and laptops that cannot be currently accessed on their tablets, 46 percent say some can only be used with limited functionality. Additionally, 41 percent say they have to purchase applications to mirror desktop and laptop functionality.

  • 31 percent say they require additional software or tools to manage tablets.

  • 59 percent of school system IT decision makers and administrators say choosing devices that integrate with their existing IT infrastructure and that can be managed by existing tools is the best way to minimize total cost of ownership for tablets.