The hottest posts that everyone is talking about.

Here’s the roundup of what's been popular on The Innovative Educator blog this week. Below you’ll see the top weekly posts along with the number of pageviews. I hope there's something that looks of interest to you.  If it does, check it out. If you’re inspired, share it with others and/or leave a comment.

Article 14 interesting facts about text messaging Oct 7, 2012	Views 2065
12 Ways to Educate Yourself Without College Oct 12, 2012, 3 comments	1948
Cell Phones; Tools of engagement or distraction? Oct 8, 2012	1814
8 Ways Facebook Enriched 1st grade... Jul 15, 2010, 23 comments	1722
Cure ADHD without Drugs with These Resources from ... Feb 5, 2011, 23 comments	1611
A Friendly Guide to Deploying iPads at Your School... Jun 24, 2012, 7 comments	1609

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12 Ways to Educate Yourself Without College

Guest post by Blake Boles. Cross posted at The Huffington Post

It's popular to criticize college today. No matter which way you look, somebody is writing about a student loan horror story, declining academic standards, disruptive technological change, or the narrow work options available to graduates.

Criticizing is easy, of course. Offering solutions is hard.

The reality is that college fills many valuable roles today. It offers young adults the chance to build hard skills (e.g. writing) and soft skills (e.g. teamwork), be part of an exciting community, live independently, get exposed to new ideas, and signal employers with an (increasingly devalued, but still valuable) college degree. College is pretty much the only place that bundles all these good things into one convenient package deal. That's why, despite the voluminous criticism, college as we know it won't disappear anytime soon.

But in an era of skyrocketing tuition fees combined with widespread economic austerity, millions of students will find themselves unable or unwilling to finance the college package deal. Yet they'll still want, and need, to gain a higher education.

Luckily, higher education doesn't have to be delivered by a college institution. You can gain skills, community, independence, exposure, and work opportunities by piecing together a self-directed, a la cartecurriculum of real-world projects. It's a like a design-your-own-college-major program — but without college or its inflated costs.

Self-directed learning is one solution to the college debate, and certainly not the only one. But unlike other solutions, you can begin self-directed learning immediately, without spending a ton of money or waiting for policy makers or university administrators to change their ways. And perhaps most importantly, self-directed learning builds serious personal entrepreneurship: an incredibly valuable "soft skill" in an era of rapid economic change.

Here are 12 ways to begin pursuing your own self-directed higher education, right now, without college:

1. Kickstart something. Organize a Kickstarter or IndieGoGo campaign to raise money for one of your creative projects, upcoming trips, or educational ventures. You'll learn how to develop a product line, manage a budget, and market yourself with social media. Here how to get started.
2. Write for an audience. 19-year-old Jason Lovett publishes short Kindle guidebooks; 20-year-old Weezie Yancey-Siegel interviews people she admires; 24-year-old Cameron Lovejoy shares poetry from his life on the road. No matter how you do it, writing for an audience sharpens your mind and helps you figure out what other people find valuable. (For fastest learning, work with aprofessional editor and solicit as much reader feedback as you can bear.)
3. Take free or cheap introductory courses in multiple subjects. Introduce yourself to fascinating new ideas, people, and potential career paths using Coursera, The Floating University,Skillshare, Khan Academy, TED talks, DO lectures, Academic Earth, Udemy, or local community college classes.
4. Compose a goal list and share it publicly. Think of this as your self-directed syllabus. Sharing it publicly will help keep you on track, as you'll feel accountable to the friends and family who read it and get excited about your projects. (Here's my list.)
5. Recruit a mentorship team. Assemble a small team of trustworthy and knowledgeable people from whom you can seek guidance for your self-directed journey. If possible, include someone who currently works in your field of professional interest. Search Zero Tuition College to find mentors who understand the self-directed path.
6. Develop a hands-on skill. Think: cooking, electrical work, sports instruction, or automotive repair. Such skills aren't easily offshored or automated and therefore offer an excellent part-time or fall-back work option (as well as much-needed relief from a computer screen). Don't dismiss such work as intellectually devoid; it's not.
7. Couchsurf and volunteer your way across a country. International travel can be an incredible learning experience if you take the time to immerse yourself in the local culture. Do this—and save lots of money in the process—with the websites Couchsurfing, HelpX, WWOOF, andWorkAway.
8. Start a tiny business. It doesn't cost a lot of money to start many types of businesses —perhaps $100 — and you don't have to think of it as a long-term venture. Whether you succeed or fail, you'll learn powerful lessons that most colleges can't teach.
9. Teach. Record a series of instructional videos (they might land you a New York Times piece),offer a free online course, lead a hands-on class, tutor someone, or create a workshop for a conference.
10. Enhance your peer community. Face-to-face community is a vital part of higher education. Without being formally enrolled, you can find community through online interest groups, local events, and workplaces. If you're seeking a huge concentration of 18- to 25-year-olds, simply move to a college town and join an off-campus student house.
11. Practice, deliberately. "Deliberate practice" (DP) is the psychological process through which people attain deep expertise. Unlike regular practice, DP involves custom-tailored instruction accompanied by immediate, high-quality feedback. You can use DP to become a better violinist, swimmer, artist, or businessperson. But more importantly, you can learn the methodology behind the process and apply it to everyday learning situations. Start here.
12. Build an online portfolio. Demonstrate your capacities to potential employers by creating a website that tells your story, displays your biggest accomplishments, and highlights the value you've created for other people. When someone asks you what you've been doing with your time instead of college, point them here. And keep your eyes on Degreed, RadMatter, and Knowit: new ventures that may help you quantify your self-directed learning and enhance your portfolio.

These are just a few ways to start giving yourself a well-rounded higher education without college. Do you have other suggestions? Please share them in the comments below.

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5 Building Blocks for Success with Mobile Learning - Featured in Edutopia!

The mobile learning revolution is alive and growing in popularity every day. As schools begin to consider the movement towards mobile learning, it's important to support teachers with strategies for success, particularly if they are new. 

Toward that end, my  friend Lisa Michelle Dabbs asked my Teaching Generation Text co-author Willyn Webb and I to write a piece for Edutopia about how a new teacher might begin to use mobile learning in the classroom.

Check it out at Mobile Learning Support for New Teachers where we share the five building blocks that will help ensure you have just what you need in place for a smooth integration of mobile devices into your teaching, learning, and connecting with students and parents.

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Tech Forum NY Provides Insight, PD, & Networking Opportunities for Innovative Educators

Tech Forum New York, Tech & Learning magazine's annual event, is a terrific professional development opportunity for innovative educators. This high-powered, one-day event provides K-12 educators with thought-provoking content on the hottest topics of the day in education technology.

Unlike some larger conferences, what I enjoy about Tech Forum is it provides an engaging experience in an intimate setting, with expert presentations and plenty of networking opportunities that ensure participants leave with practical tools and key contacts for continued rich communities of practice.

At the conference I'll be hosting a roundtable on Twitter in the Classroom where I’ll share how this can be a powerful tool to engage learners.  The opening keynote will be delivered by Patrick Higgins who discusses Edubranding via Social Media.  He discusses the commonly held belief in the business world that if you are not in front of the publicity for your brand, someone else will determine how it is viewed by the public. Do schools fall under that same umbrella and, if so, what does it mean to have a brand for a K-12 institution? How has your school/district leveraged social media to grow its brand? Is it time for those of us in education to take a lesson in media branding?

I want more »

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The rigor (?) of kindergarten!

Editor's Note: How would you like a job with the following in the description? Severity, strictness, demanding, difficult, extreme conditions, exhaustive. I suppose some enjoy such jobs, but many of us would not like to be forced into such work. Unfortunately, this is exactly what our schools expect of our children...starting in kindergarten!!!  Read on to learn more.

By LearningSuccess Coaches | Cross posted at Learning Success Institute

There was an article in our local paper explaining a change in the birthday cut-off date for entering Kindergarten. By 2014 California children will have to turn five by September 1 to enter Kindergarten that year. And beginning next Fall, a new state law will allow children to take two years of kindergarten classes.

The title of the article was: Learning at Pace of Leisure - New prekindergarten law to allow

Image via Wikipedia

children more time to pick up skills.

So far, fine. But here's what spoiled the story: "This is much better for making sure the kids who enter kindergarten are ready for the rigor of kindergarten," said Rose Dunn, director of instruction for the Las Virgenes Unified School District, adding that kindergarteners are expected to master more advanced skills than in years past.

The rigor of kindergarten???Are your serious?

This reminds me of a clip of the comedian Sinbad talking about the ridiculousness of having to pass tests to get into kindergarten. It went something like this: If the kid can eat a cookie and take a nap, he passes!

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Cell Phones: Tools of engagement or distraction?

I have the opportunity to speak with Greg Graham author of Cell Phones in Classrooms? No! Students Need to Pay Attention on BAM Radio’s Educator’s Channel.  As the author of Teaching Generation Text, which encourages students to use the devices they own and love for learning, it is no surprise we disagree on the subject.  Graham is one of those educators who has yet to update his outdated practices and is holding students prisoners of his past.  To justify this, he uses advice that creative thinker, speaker, and writer Howard Rheingold.

1. Rule Number One is to pay attention.
2. Rule Number Two: Attention is a limited resource, so pay attention to where you pay attention.

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14 interesting facts about text messaging

Why are texts limited to less than 160 characters?  Does texting result in less talking on the phone? When do people feel texting in public is acceptable? How often do teens text? Check out the handy infographic below to find out the answers to these questions and more.

Via: CellPhones.org

Discover how to use texting for learning. Check out Teaching Generation Text: Using Cell Phones to Enhance Learning.

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