Learning, Teaching & Leading Today

"In case you are new to Mind42, here's a quick roundup:

 

Mind42 lets you create comprehensive mind maps with our fast and simple online mind map editor. To get started simply press the button "Start mind mapping" to the right. For more information you might want to take a look at our user guide. If you have any questions or feedback you want to share with us feel free to contact us."

 

"In Mind42, "42" is not only the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. We pronounce Mind42 as Mind FOR TWO, and the whole word play is not only a reference to Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but indicates the collaborative character of mind mapping, and brain storming in general. And that's what Mind42 is. A collaborative browser-based online mind mapping tool.

 

Mind42 allows you to manage all your ideas, whether alone, twosome or working together with the whole world. Mind42 runs in your browser, so no installation necessary for the ultimate hassle-free mind mapping experience. Just open your browser and launch the application whenever and wherever needed."

"Question: Leaders of the Common Core have emphasized the importance of students understanding and responding to non-fiction, shifting away from the personal response, even going so far as to say “In college and careers, no one cares how you feel.” Do you think this will be helpful?

Yong Zhao: This is getting silly. The world is not filled with heartless, cruel, cold individuals, and the world actually needs individuals who understand emotions and feelings. If they had read any recent studies about creative, innovative, and entrepreneurial talents or books related to multiple intelligences, they would understand the importance of emotional intelligence and the value of empathy.

Question: How should we pursue excellence in the absence of national standards?

Yong Zhao: I have tackled this issue in my upcoming book World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students, to be released by Corwin Press in mid August. My basic suggestion is that excellence comes from the individual—individual students, individual teachers, individual schools, and individual communities. A true high expectation comes from the students themselves when are allowed autonomy and rewarded for genuine contribution to the society using their talents, passion, time, and efforts. My new book includes three elements of an excellent education: personalized learning/student autonomy, product-oriented learning, and the globe as the campus."

In the Brevia section of the 9 August 2002 issue of Science, Weir et al. report a remarkable observation: The toolmaking behavior of New Caledonian crows. In the experiments, a captive female crow, confronted with a task that required a curved tool (retrieving a food-containing bucket from a vertical pipe), spontaneously bent a piece of straight wire into a hooked shape -- and then repeated the behavior in nine out of ten subsequent trials.

"The TED-Ed team provides an in depth look at the powerful features of the newly-launched TED-ED Beta website. You'll learn how TED-Ed videos are created, how they are arranged, about the learning materials that surround each video, and how you can create customized or "flipped" lessons based on any TED-Ed video or any video on YouTube."

Dylan Wiliam reviews the changing nature of literacy in our society and the importance of developing creative thinking skills in young people.