Dot Learnt

We all have passions, interests and expertise, but few of us rarely know how to transform that zeal into a career. That’s why when I sat down with Yasmin Fodil, CEO and Principal Consultant at BYO Consulting – a leading consulting firm stationed in NYC focusing on solving public problems through digital technology, I knew that I had the rare opportunity of speaking to someone who possesses an energized knowledge. It was during the interview that Fodil explained how the perks of social media and instant communication could provide a critical support system for all sectors of society, even education. You’ll find the full interview below, followed by highlights from our conversation.

Could you briefly describe to our listeners what it is that BYO Consulting does?

The core of what we do revolves around solving public problems through digital technology. We work with a variety of clients in the government and non-profit sphere and think about how innovations in technology can help them with their public problems.

As you know, Bon Education focuses heavily on edtech development in emerging markets. If you were to make one recommendation to the Ministry of Education of say an emerging market located in the Middle East, what would you suggest?

When developing a social media or digital technology project, it is essential to understand the needs of the users such as the teachers, parents and students first, and then develop the technology or the social media strategy based off of their unique needs. Often times, decision makers, when presented with a new tool, tend to think of it as a silver bullet. It is really important to keep in mind how the change will impact those on the ground. (more…)

The following link includes a discussion with Yusuf Estes, a famous Imam and Muslim convert regarding whether Facebook is haram (forbidden) or halal (allowed) in Islam. In Islam, there are waajib, or compulsory actions and haram actions. The realm of technology falls in the middle. Estes makes the distinction between Islam as a religion and Islam as a social custom, and the lines between the two are often blurred.

In my last blog, I explored how technology can be used creatively in Yemeni ESL classrooms. Technology in Yemen must also be used in light of cultural sensitivity. Yemen is one of the most socially conservative countries in the Arab world and these customs play out in the classroom. As a female ESL teacher at AMIDEAST in Yemen, a particular male student never looked me in the eye or handed assignments to me. He preferred to place his homework on my desk as he was leaving class. Through his writing, I learned that he was uncomfortable with studying in a class with girls. Many of my students believed that classes should be same-sex and women should not go to college or work, especially after having children.

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Bon Education CEO Anna Batchelder was a featured speaker this week on CISCO Systems’ getideas.org blog.

Anna responded to the question “how can we use social media in education?”

Anna discussed the intersection of education and technology in the UAE. She emphasized the importance of community in education, and the role that new technologies are able to play in growing and sustaining this community.

“Every nation is filled with exemplary and transformative education initiatives. Perhaps the greatest value of social media is that education decision makes, teachers, and learners around the world are able to unearth these gems, learn from them, and be inspired by them,” Anna said.

High Tech High, based in the United States, is an example of a school that promotes a community of learners. “Teachers are empowered to created and collaborated on multidisciplinary units and share their lessons learned and passion is evident in all aspects of the school community’s work,” Anna said.

Many exemplary learning communities can be found outside of the classroom, and educators would “benefit tremendously by studying and incorporating methodologies from non-traditional community and place-based education programs,” Anna said.

One transformative education initiative in the UAE is the after-school program Tawasul, where study environmental science while learning to scuba dive with master diver Ernst van der Poll. Students engage in environmental stewardship projects and document their learning using a social network blog, which also enable them to share photos, publish videos and geotag their dives. To catch a glimpse of the teenage participants enthusiasm, watch Tawasul’s recent TEDxDubai talk.

Anna offered this closing thought on transformational teaching and learning: “We often focus on finding the “right” solutions when it comes to school reform initiatives. Perhaps we should take a step back and focus more on asking the “right” questions that welcome new ideas and transformative thinking.”

-Mary

Have you ever been perusing the Internet and come across a fantastic resource in your subject area for your students to use? How about a spot-on best practice tip to share with coworkers? Social media networks, whether you are networking with students, friends, or colleagues, are excellent venues for sharing content-area resources and best practices tips and ideas.

If you can’t wait to share the latest, greatest lesson plan, resource or tip that you’ve just found on the Internet, the new Flock Social Browser is the web browser for you.

The most unique – and useful – feature of Flock is a sidebar that maintains a running feed of all activities taking place on every social network you belong to (Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Flickr and YouTube), and every blog or news feed that you follow. From the same sidebar, you can also post to the social network of your choosing without leaving you current page.

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As the term was winding down in Oregon, I had the opportunity to interview Kevin Simpson , founder of the education consulting company Know.Do.Serve.Learn. I spoke with Kevin about his recent travels (Dubai! Bangkok! New York!), his philosophies on education – for kids and for adults – and his views on the role of social media in education.

Listen to the interview here:

Instead of creating a teacher-centered “Empire State of Mind” in the classroom (sorry, Jay-Z), Kevin wants to see a classroom with a “D-I State of Mind.”

“A Differentiated Instructions state of mind,” Kevin explains, “is where each and every day you take the data (prior knowledge, instructional needs, etc.) students bring to you and figure out how you are going to use that to teach them.”

And what is one thing that students young and old need? “It all comes down to the relationship,” Kevin says. “And listening, really listening.”

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Parent-Teacher Conference season is in full swing, and prideful parents, nervous students and (equally nervous!) teachers across the globe are gearing up for the showdown. Too frequently, however, the key players in Parent-Teacher Conferences are missing: the parents.

Detroit schools are trying to change this, with a proposal requiring truant parents to serve a detention – in the county jail.

In a story produced by NPR’s Talk of the Nation, host Jennifer Ludden speaks with Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, National President of the Parent-Teacher Association Charles Saylors, and KIPP: Knowledge is Power Program founder Tracy McDaniel about the importance of parental involvement in their student’s education.

Listen to the full story here: Schools Working to Increase Parental Involvement

In a push to increase parent involvement in their children’s educational careers, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, is proposing that delinquent parents serve a time-out, this time in a jail cell.

Charles Saylor, National President of the Parent Teacher Association, supports Worthy in her efforts. “You have case study after case study that proves that when a parent or both parents are involved in a child’s educational experience, both at school and at home, the child’s more successful. And so what we’re trying to do is generate a conversation to get more parents engaged and in the school door,” said Saylor.

So, what can a school do to encourage parental involvement? Worthy, Saylor and McDaniel offer these suggestions:

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As more and more companies, government offices and school districts realize that maintaining a social media presence (via Twitter, Facebook, etc.) is no longer a “nice to have,” but an obligation; websites like Mashable have all of a sudden become the Ms. Manners of modern day communication. Do you have bad Facebook manners? Ask Mashable! Feeling lonely on Twitter? Mashable can help you!

While we adults figure out how to mediate and moderate our online personal and professional personas, let us not forget to discuss online etiquette with our children. As this ad on Kitchen Cyberbullying painfully reminds us—“Think of the consequences of your text before you type it!”

Typing, texting and tweeting aside, as we learned in kindergarten, it takes two kinds of actions for a meaningful conversation to take place—talking and listening. The funny thing is that when it comes to social media these days, there is a lot of emphasis placed on how to talk and relatively little placed on what it means to listen.

How to listen to social media

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