This is what today's plans look like. It is the first of 15, all fairly much the same aimed to teach to the group.

 Here's the group:

This is the same information with the same objectives, meeting the same standards.

Which would you rather use as a learner?  Which would you rather create as an educator.
We are preparing to build the Universal Library for Learning.  Come and Join US.

THIS WEEK IN THE NEWS

This weeks edition of NGGE's paper:
Two articles are from edutopia, a site every educator (yes, that includes parents) who are interested in the direction of education in the 21st century.  
The first article, "The Role of PBL in Making the Shift to Common Core", shows how Project Based Learning (PBL) can support the Common Core Standards.  It is well known that NGGE supports the learner leading their education, not the standards.  Learners are not shy about challenging a teacher if the subject has no relevance to their learning.  Real-time, hands-on, collaborative problem solving such as PBL is such a powerful learning AND assessing tool.
The second article,  "An Unprecedented Opportunity for Educational Equity", points out what NGGE has been advocating for 2 years.   "The technological advances of online game-based instruction and the breakthroughs in neuroscience learning research bring us an unprecedented opportunity for achieving this equity and quality education nationally and internationally."  We have all the resources necessary to turn learning back over to the students, to support and mentor them as they forge their personal learning pathway.  However, these resources are scattered all over the world.  It takes much time and energy to pull the pieces together so they are organized and available to all learners.  That is the goal of NGGE and the "Universal Library for Learning".
Another article posted by Global Partnership for Education entitled "It Takes a Community to Learn" points out "250 million children – or around 40 % of all primary school age children in the world – either, never enroll in school, fail to make it to the fourth year of their education or, if they do manage this, are not learning to read even basic sentences." Schools are no longer today's learning environment, the world is.  And as such, it takes the world working together to support all learners.

Gaming Education: What stands in the way?

Who or what is standing in the way of changing education for the learners and using their tools to do it? Not the parents of today, and perhaps not the teachers either. It all comes back to the testing. As long as testing continues to lead learning, learning will continue to decline. But it doesn't have to be this way. NGGE.org supports John Holt 's concept of "unschooling".  Read this article from EmergingEdTech.
Next Generation Global Education believes the learner should drive his/her instruction by developing a Personalized Learning Plan that educators and parents can support, coach, mentor each to achieve their individual success.

Saving Students From A Shattered System: The agenda of children, or how to piss off everyon...

Saving Students From A Shattered System: The agenda of children, or how to piss off everyon...: Our current system of education is broken.  This shattered system of education was designed in the late eighteenth century by Thomas Jeffer...

Following a Passion

I am inspired by stories of a young person following his/her passion to become a leader and mentor for others to follow. Particularly, in this day and age when, for me it is the beauty of nature and their quite sounds which whisper, “Help save us” that draw my attention to the importance of education.

So I share the story of a young 9 year old boy, whose beaver friend was killed by trappers, that got leg-hold traps confiscated and destroyed. A young boy after my own heart, he would disrupt deer and duck hunters from shooting. I smile at the times my son, about age 9, and I did the same thing. And, I will confess, there seemed to be many a flat tire around where we lived as well.

This was just the beginning of his fight for the rights of the animals that we so enjoy watching. In fact, he was the co-founder of the Greenpeace Foundation. He was also a member of the Sierra Club and was very concerned and actively protesting the nuclear testing at Amchitka for fear of what it would to to the marine wildlife.

You can follow his leadership with the Greenpeace Foundation and his subsequent founding of Sea Sheppard Conservation Society by reading his biography: CaptainPaul Watson

So, as an educator, why would this be of interest to me? Let me refer back to my first paragraph, I love nature and all it teaches us and yet I take much of it for granted. A friend of mine recently said, “Paul ought to be a hero. He has taken what Jacque Cousteau spoke about and tries to do something about it.”

I asked, “And he isn't?”

He then showed me November 7 report, “Statement regarding the ICR vs. SSCS USA contempt proceedings in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals”

As I listened and read more I was once again hit by the power we have given corporations to rule every aspect of our lives including the right to protect those things so important to our future generations.

NGGE's Weekly Paper.1i

Highlightsfrom this week's NGGE

This week's issue focuses on recent recommendations from the Learning Metrics Task Force, a collaboration between 30 organizations with the goal of “of improving learning experiences for children and youth around the world.”

With the help of over 1700 individuals from 118 countries, Learning Metrics Task Force has made a number of recommendations “to use both existing assessments of learning and innovative, new measures to improve the opportunities and outcomes of all children.” You can download the full report here.

The recent 2013 WISE Summit (World Innovation Summit for Education) in Qatar. Educational, corporate, political and social leaders from over 100 countries spend 3 days in dialogue around the theme “Reinventing Education for Life”.

“We will need to embrace an approach that nurtures innovation if we truly want change the lives of the 250 million children who cannot read or write even after 4 years of school.”

Read the report by Alice Albright, CEO of the Global Partnership for Education.

November 18-23: Global Education Conference

The fourth annual Global Education Conference will be held during International Education Week (November 18-23).    There will be many keynote speakers including executive board member Julie Lindsay, Director of Learning Confluence, Director and co-founder of Flat Classroom® and co-author of Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds: Move to Global Collaboration One Step at a Time.
Presentations will be focused in the following six strands; "Teachers", "Students", "Curricular", "Leadership", "iEARN", "Education for All-Global Campaign for Education - US"
We will post the schedule as soon as it is released.  The entire conference is online and can be attended from the comfort of your own home.
Learn and share together at we work towards making global education a reality.