Kamehameha Schools Distance Learning (KSDL) Owau

I recently read this book: Thinking, Fast and Slow  by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman. Kahneman is a well established name in Cognitive Psychology, and his theories were the basis for my PhD dissertation in distance learning. His Nobel prize is in economics because his research has such strong implications for marketing, purchasing behaviors, and consumerism. In this book, he explains two mental systems: one is fast and somewhat automatic and the other is slower and more thoughtful. He explains how people come to decisions somewhat impulsively and illogically. The book is written very conversationally, and is easy to read, albeit it's quite long (499 pages!). It has interesting implications for marketing as well as for data collection. Below is a video of Kahneman himself discussing the two types of thinking. Enjoy!

Top 3 things I brought back from DevLearn 2013! Looking back on my trip to DevLearn 2013, I take back three of the most impressive things I have experienced there! Number 1: Guest speaker Jeremy Gutsche, author and founder of Trendhunter.com My take away from him first and foremost was his enthusiasm for everything he did.  And because of that the rest of the audience followed suit.  Through that presentation he delivered quite a bit of interesting strategies that could definitely help our Distance Learning program.  Below are a few videos that I had captured during the presentation and my comments will follow below them. My takeaway is about the importance of establishing a cultural connection..."your not speaking to me, your speaking with me!" My takeaway from this part of the presentation is that we can assume we know what our clients want by conducting surveys of clients that we already have.  We have to find a way to go i...

The Schools of the Future conference was a venue for educators around the state as well as some from the mainland to share their research, programs, successes and challenges with other educators. A few that I attended included: Teaching Toward Global Competence This presentation focused on why teaching global competence is so important. A few important take a ways included: We live in an every changing world which demands us to continually learn new skills The global economy we live in means new ways of working  Global issues require local solutions  Discussing world events are an important part of global competency, but only 37% of high school students say world events were discussed regularly in their classes.  Global Competency Matrix is a tool that can help students develop global competency  We help students: Investigate the World, Recognize Perspectives, Communicate ideas and Take Action.  Global Competency Matrices can be used when teachin...

The DISC (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness) workshop was an eye opening experience that starts to explain why people behave the way they do and how best to communicate with them. The workshop covered topics including: DISC styles of Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness to understand peoples’ needs  How all styles have their own set of strengths and communication preferences  How to communicate better to be fast, direct, to the point, results-oriented, and without a lot of detail How to communicate better with people who prefer communication to be specific, slower-paced, detail oriented, accurate and not too social.  How to communicate better with people who prefer communication to be social, warm, fast-paced and not bogged down with details  How to people-read and discern between the DISC behavioral styles  Models for adapting to each of the behavioral styles to increase comfort and effectiveness in relationships...

PAINTER 12 NEW FEATURES Aloha all, I wanted to share the features of the Painter 12 program. As I talked about in a previous blog this program is excellent to use to create paintings, pastel drawings, and many other fine art medium. Here are the main new features in Painter 12: Mirror painting so you can illustrate the half of the face and it automatically draws in on the other     side. Keleidoscope Painting, you can get intricate designs that cannot be reproduced this easily. Many beautiful images are posted on the web. Real Watercolor and Real Wet Paint, with this new feature you all heard of the saying, "Watching paint dry"? Well you can watch watercolor dry on texture paper. You can view one color blending into another color on wet texture paper. Painter 12 integrates well with Painter 11 and found no trouble using my Painter 11 files with the Painter 12 program. I am having fun with the new program. Please view the video to see the feature...

Participating in the inaugural KS Teacher Leadership Academy with our facilitator Joeleen Killion and numerous KS teacher leaders was a great experience for me this past July.  My top 3 highlights for our three days together included: Teacher leader roles and attributes are numerous, yet essential.   Roles range from data coach, classroom supporter, school leader, resource provider, mentor, learning facilitator, instructional specialist, curriculum specialist, catalyst for change, and continuous learner.   Attributes of teacher leaders: their knowledge to understand information, theories & research; beliefs about the value of specific information and/or strategies; skills they possess to apply their knowledge; aspirations and desire to engage in a particular practices; and behaviors to consistently apply knowledge and skills. We summed up our thoughts of a teacher leader through a visual reflection image (posted here). Teacher leader standards provide a f...

Google Map has changed the way we navigate the world, explore places we can't even fly over or walk in to, and share places we want others to go to.  It's easy to create your own map by dropping pins at points of interest, then adding text, photos or videos to those locations.  Descriptions appear in the side panel, and  viewers can click on them to be taken to that spot on the map. The above video take you through the basics of creating a map.  Your map has the features of any Google map - street or terrain view, the ability to turn on and view photos others have placed in the area, and zooming in and out.  Here are some examples of how easy it is to make your map interesting. To add media you must first upload the media to a website and have the URL for each item available. To add a photo click the Rich Text button, then the photo icon.  Enter the URL of the photo.   For a video watch this video  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJU6e-mBhBg...