Hi-Tech and Low-Tech Converge in The Classroom
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We live in a technology driven world. It’s global. Even countries with no infrascructure use wifi, cell phones, iPads and other gadgets that seemingly make life easier.
In fact, as I watched a movie last night that was made in 1983 starring Burt Lancaster, I marveled at the hoops the businessman had to jump through just to call New York from the British Isle.
A cell phone really makes life easier today, all he would have to do is take it out of his pocket and make the call.
Then I noticed the incongruity of several news stories within the space of a few hours.
Here are three hi-tech and low-tech happenings that are converging with today’s students and their schools:
eReader, Tablet PCs and WiFi
A recent article on “3 Must Have Technologies for the Classroom” by edudemic.com cited the eReader, WiFi and Tablet PCs as classroom requirements. I wondered if this is a good idea.
While I agree that eReaders can contain the many textbooks and even interactive aspects that your typical text book does not, I imagine the students drifting off as they become more engaged with the device than with what the teacher has to say.
Amazon allows students to rent the textbooks or purchase them outright.
WiFi is necessary because “The school’s Internet account allows teachers to individually download books to each eReader without physically attaching to a computer modem; in fact, students can download the books themselves which can save precious teaching time during the school day”
As for the Tablet PCs, they provide an interactivity that the eReader does not. This one I really agree with because as the article notes “from pictures to movies, can be downloaded as well to enhance the learning environment. Boring class lecture? Teachers can break up a monotonous lecture period with an interactive game on the tablet PC that corresponds to the subject athand.”
Visual, auditory and kinestetic learners would all benefit from this interactive device.
You can download their free ebook to your iPad through iTunes at this link
A Typewriter Renaissance
The typewriter was the writing tool of choice when I was in high school. I used them to write my home work papers. There are many features about them that I loved, especially the IBM Selectic with it’s correction feature and almost musical click of the keys. I still feel nostalgic when I see even a picture of one and will involuntarily cllick on the keys if I see one in person.
It was a great surprise however, to see the story this morning on my favorite CBS Sunday Morning report about a typewriter renaissance.
Bill Geist shared a story about some typewriter enthusiasts and some high school students who thought the device was a new invention!!! Check out the video story below and tell me what you think of this.
One high schooler said “it makes me feel like a real writer.”
Ernest Hemmingway would be proud.
Bring Your Own Tech Devices and use Them in class
An hour after watching the CBS This Morning Sunday show I read an article that “in some cash strapped schools kids have to bring their own tech devices.”
I found it an interesting twist on the technology in schools story but there is a valid method to their approach and I support it.
According to the article ““By allowing kids to bring in their own devices, you free up school resources for the kids who don’t have access,” says Doug Johnson, director of media and technology for the Mankato Public School System. (Johnson wrote the book — literally — on the subject; The Classroom Teacher’s Technology Survival Guide is published this month.) For example, in classrooms that have a group of four computers, finding time for all 30 students to use them can be challenging. In Mankato, 90% of the students have some sort of wireless-capable device, which leaves only eight students in a typical class who will need to use the class computers.”
This unconventional method of thinking outside the box is one that I heartily support. If other schools would apply this method, it might even the playing field for some of the less fortunate students, and help them bridge the digital divide.
Some say that we are becoming too dependent on technology these days and in many aspects I agree. Since my undergraduate degree is in Computer Science and Management, I love technology and use it daily.
As schools move into the 21st Century, carrying a tablet PC or iPad, an eReader, and a smart phone might even save the backs of our young generation, as it lightens the load they carry in their backpacks, while increasing access to the tools they need for their education.
How about you? What do you think of the hi-tech and low -tech convergence?
 | Known as a highly effective teacher, public speaker, and communicator, Yvonne F. Brown has taught seminars on team building, leadership, communication, & management in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Yvonne is proficient in a variety of management topics, including interpersonal, organizational, and intercultural communications, conflict management skills, and helps employees with their career growth. If you would like to connect with Yvonne you can follow her on Facebook, see her in action on YouTube, network with her on LinkedIn or via her corporate fan page JAD Communications Listen to her radio show at Blog Talk Radio |
The new generation of employees were raised in an environment of trophies for everyone. The school system believes that if one student receives a trophy while the others do not, it will create low self esteem in the ones who did not.
To solve this problem, everyone gets a trophy or no one does.
While that may seem feasible to some, the outcome is a generation of people who expect to receive a prize for everything they do.
That’s a problem that has followed them into the corporate world. Managers today find that they are expected to reward their younger workers for everything they do.
If the manager does not compliment and reward their employee often, the employee feels slighted and some will even tender their resignation. Others just quit and move back home.
This was brought home to me recently during a management class when I asked the attendees how their organizations motivate their people. One student shared that they have discontinued their motivation program due to the following incident.
After setting the parameters for their staff one person did a particularly good job and so was rewarded for their efforts. Soon the other employees began visiting the manager’s office to complain that they did not receive a reward and thought it was unfair.
The whining was so bad the company decided to end the program. Now no one gets rewarded.
Why? I asked, and was told it is simpler to cancel the program than to continually explain the process and the situation.
You see, the employees are so used to everyone receiving a reward, that they simply cannot fathom what the organization is trying to do. They do not see this as a motivation program. They see it as an unfair program.
I was reminded of this exchange during the Christmas holidays when a school in Massachusetts instituted a policy that students who had attended an event to honor them and received shirts were NOT allowed to wear the shirts to school.
The reason? The principal thought it would make the other students feel left out and feel bad. The article said, “middle school enforced a new policy aimed at making sure no student feels left out.”
I have to tell you that it made my blood boil. If this is the mindset of the school principal, they will most definitely turn out a graduation class of low achievers with the mindset of the people who work for the above mentioned company from my class. They will graduate thinking that “Participation Trophies” are the norm and expect their employers to follow suit.
The Reality
In a global economy where Americans are competing for jobs, this just ensures that we are graduating a class of low achieves. It ensures that students all move to the lowest common denominator.
It ensures that students all move to the lowest common denominator.
It encourages the best students to hide their ability and just do the minimum. After all, you get a trophy anyway, so why bother?
It guarantees that the new generation of Americans will lose on the global markets.
With the state the worldwide economy, it ensures that our students will be unable to compete as companies search for the brightest and the best at a global level.
Nick D'Aloisio developed the app in his Wimbledon bedroom to help with his homework
Meanwhile on the other side of the pond, a 16 year old has written an app to help him with his home work.
The app caught the attention of a Chinese billionaire. “The private equity investment firm is controlled by Li Ka-Shing, the Chinese billionaire who ranks as the eleventh wealthiest person in the world according to the Forbes rich list. His previous investments include Skype, Facebook and Spotify.”
His firm sank $250,000 (£159,000) into the project.
It is currently available as an iPhone app. In an information overloaded society, this app is exactly what we need. It summarizes the huge volume of data returned by search engines like Google to help us quickly determine if we have found what we are looking for.
This my friends is the competition that our children are up against as they learn how to save their feelings from being hurt. I believe that their future is being hurt!
Wussification is Hurting American youth
What can we do about it? Well for one thing don’t rely on the school or teachers to educate your children. Pick up the slack and teach them at home. Institute your own reward system for their achievements.
Secondly, if you have employees who balk at the rewards that a productive and effective employee receives, explain to them what they can do to also win the reward next time. Mentor, coach and encourage them. Then follow through with the rewards WHEN THEY EARN IT!
Your comments are welcome.
| Known as a highly effective teacher, public speaker, and communicator, Yvonne F. Brown has taught seminars on team building, leadership, communication, & management in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Yvonne is proficient in a variety of management topics, including interpersonal, organizational, and intercultural communications, conflict management skills, and helps employees with their career growth. If you would like to connect with Yvonne you can follow her on Facebook, see her in action on YouTube, network with her on LinkedIn or via her corporate fan page JAD Communications Listen to her radio show at Blog Talk Radio |
An Awakening from Students and Today’s Millenials
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One of the benefits of being a speaker and trainer is that I meet people from all over the world who are students and conference attendees. It is a part of the work that I truly enjoy.
Today’s young generation have the privilege of having all the knowledge of the world in their back pocket. With one swipe or click on their phone they can access the internet and find anything they desire. From art, to history, to archeology, they are able to retrieve every book ever written, or movie made, and watch videos that even allows them to visit the Louvre in Paris and view the works of Michelangelo.
They are connected and know how to use technology.
That’s why I was so surprised when the following things happened.
1. On Dancing with the stars, a young contestant did not know who Fred Astaire was.
2. I attended a class and during the breakout session I suggested Gandhi or Jack Welch as examples of a leader and a young woman in my team did not know who either of them are.
3. During one of my training sessions, I mentioned Carly Fiorina as an executive woman and when I asked who knew who she is, not a single hand went up in a room of more than 30 women. 
I could cite more examples but you get the point. While the knowledge of the world is at their fingertips, many people use it more for pet videos on YouTube than for education.
Interestingly, they knew who Snookie, the Situation, Gillian Michaels, and Lindsey Lohan are. It would appear that “Reality TV” has taken the place of our true reality.
I sincerely encourage today’s youth to use the immense power at their fingertips to increase their education by investing in knowledge and content that will provide them success in life and in their career.
Knowledge is powerful. It can provide the needed information to propel them towards a good life and a worthwhile career.
I am aware that not all members of this generation are thus challenged, and many, like me, do not watch reality shows. It would be beneficial to our future as a nation though, if more of them used technology to learn things that can help them in their future.
What do you think?
| Known as a highly effective teacher, public speaker, and communicator, Yvonne F. Brown has taught seminars on team building, leadership, communication, & management in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Yvonne is proficient in a variety of management topics, including interpersonal, organizational, and intercultural communications, conflict management skills, and helps employees with their career growth. If you would like to connect with Yvonne you can follow her on Facebook, see her in action on YouTube, network with her on LinkedIn or via her corporate fan page JAD Communications Listen to her radio show at Blog Talk Radio |
As a teenager growing up in Jamaica I clearly remember the day that a moment in time made all the difference in the world.
Raised Catholic, I was tuned in to the upcoming events of the church. There is one big event that everyone wants to attend each year and my grandmother was determined to attend. Fashionista that she is, a new outfit, and a fresh hairdo is a must.
But there were no reservations to be had. All beauty salons were fully booked and so she decided not to attend the event if she couldn’t get her hair done.
We were awakened at 5:00 am to wailing in the streets.
The train taking the revelers to the event had derailed and many were dead.
My grandmother, Gong Gong said to me, “that’s why I couldn’t go, it was not my time.”
I never forgot it. She passed away peacefully in her sleep many years later.
A moment in time makes all the difference in the world in a person’s life.
A Live Wire
I received an invitation to join a sailing trip on Lake Michigan the other day, and immediately called a friend to join me. Luckily, she was available and we sailed off into a beautiful day with winds in our sails and wine, friends, and joy.
When my friend returned home, her house was cordoned off with police tape. The police and the fire department were there.
Here’s what happened…
While we were sailing, a power line snapped and flew around her back yard including where she typically sits to work.
The powerline burned things in it’s path. The gutters on a neighbors house was burned, the junction box was burned. The live wire grabbed anything in its path.
Luckily, the neighbor was not home and my friend was on a sailboat, sharing wine and friendship with some wonderful people.
A moment in time makes all the difference in the world.
Had she been home, my friend might not be here today, as the back yard where the power line snapped is where she spends a lot of her time and she would have been there had she not been sailing.
Just a few feet more
Another friend was recently out driving in her car with her inlaws in the back seat. A teenage driver suddenly ran right into the front of her car.
He hit her car so hard, the front end was completely sheared off and landed on the other side of the street.
Luckily no one was killed.
Just a few feet more and he would have slammed right into her door on the driver’s side and she would be dead. Everyone is OK. It was not their time.
Benjamin Button
All of this reminded me of a section of the movie “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” a movie that I really love.
At one point in the movie something terrible happens and the narrater says:
“A woman was on her way to an appointment and had to return to her apartment because she forgot something. while there, the phone rang and she took the call. As she reached the street, someone else stole the cab that stopped for her. So she got another cab. The cab driver had stopped for coffee and so had a hot cup of coffee on board. The woman stopped to pick up a package. The package was not wrapped and so she waited to get it wrapped. Then she got back into her cab in a hurry to make her appointment. Just then the hot coffee spilled and the cab driver looked away for a moment. Then someone stepped into the street…”
A moment in time makes all the difference in the world.
Odd things happen every day. Sometimes it makes us really angry. Sometimes things don’t work out. Sometimes, we wonder “why me?”
Perhaps it’s the universe saying, “it’s not your time.”
A Life Lost
The blog post would have ended here but that Steve Jobs recently passed away.
It was a surprise. I knew it was coming as he was ill, but it was still a surprise. He had executed the Succession Plan for Apple only six weeks earlier.
Here was a man who knew what he wanted, went for it, and did a fine wrap up before moving on to the next life.
He has shared his genius with us, released the iPad2 and the iPhone 4.
He knew that it was his time…
We will miss him.
| Known as a highly effective teacher, public speaker, and communicator, Yvonne F. Brown has taught seminars on team building, leadership, communication, & management in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Yvonne is proficient in a variety of management topics, including interpersonal, organizational, and intercultural communications, conflict management skills, and helps employees with their career growth. If you would like to connect with Yvonne you can follow her on Facebook, see her in action on YouTube, network with her on LinkedIn or via her corporate fan page JAD Communications Listen to her radio show at Blog Talk Radio |
How to Find a Job Using a Multi-Dimensional Video Resume
By · CommentsIf you are still using a paper version of your resume, you might be missing the boat. Times have changed and there’s a new way to present yourself to potential employers.
Gone are the days when you could just mail out or post your resume and wait for the phone to ring. Candidates today introduce themselves to a prospective employer visually and virtually. Now their resume can be viewed by a company anywhere in the world.
As I mentioned in a previous post, many job seekers are using a videos resumes to reach out to employers and to respond to job postings.
Here is an example: In this video Robert Bostick responds to an ad for “Demand Creation Executive
This is a great example of how to present yourself, your expertise, and your experience to an employer.
Some of the video resumes are an example of what NOT to do. For example:
Others are pithy. Here’s some instruction on how to create your own video resume.
How to create a video resume
What do you need to have a professional Video Resume?
Here are 5 tips to help you prepare
1. Begin with your current resume and select your words as carefully as if the interviewer is in front of you listening to your answer.
2. Dress for the video as you would for the face to face interview. Wear professional business attire.
3. Practice in front of the camera to ensure your video style presents you in the best light.
4. Practice with a friend or family member prior to creating the video.
5. Post it online both on your own website and on YouTube. Then share the link with everyone.
New industry to support the Video Resume trend
There are several websites offering services for you to create your video resume. One website that I like is Streaming Video Resume.
They help you to make a great first impression and helps you to stand out from the crowd of paper. With six different options you may be able to find the one that works for you. Or you can follow the example above of how to create your on video resume at home.
Your comments are welcome. I’d love to hear what you think of this new way to present yourself to employers.
| Known as a highly effective teacher, public speaker, and communicator, Yvonne F. Brown has taught seminars on team building, leadership, communication, & management in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Yvonne is proficient in a variety of management topics, including interpersonal, organizational, and intercultural communications, conflict management skills, and helps employees with their career growth. If you would like to connect with Yvonne you can follow her on Facebook, see her in action on YouTube, network with her on LinkedIn or via her corporate fan page JAD Communications Listen to her radio show at Blog Talk Radio |
I love the you
nger generation. They see life through a different lens than someone of my generation. It is not often that I have the opportunity to connect one on one with a twenty something person, so I was overjoyed to find myself sitting next to not one but three different young people on three separate flights recently.
On the first flight I found myself sitting next to Kaleigh a beautiful young woman on her way to Chicago to visit Loyola University for her graduate studies with a little side trip to see her beau.
Speaking with her was delightful especially as I learned a thing or two from her before the flight was over. One of the myths Kaleigh shattered is that younger people do not read books but prefer electronic readers. She was reading a copy of “Predictably Irrational” by Dan Ariely.
A second book she recommended was “Made to Stick” by brothers Chip and Dan Heath, www.MadeToStick.co
m.
This book is about why some ideas survive and others die. If you are like me, you get many ideas daily. Some are good, some are great, and some are fleeting. Why do some become the next Facebook or LinkedIn and others simply disappear into the ethos? Yeah, I don’t know either but the book tries to help us better understand what is happening. You can read an excerpt and decide for yourself.
Another book that Kaleigh recommended is one titled “Why We Buy” by Paco Underhill. Our discussion centered on how to get people to purchase your products online and in brick and mortar business.
These are all wo
nderful books and I had never heard of them until I met this lovely young woman.
By the time our flight arrived in Chicago I was completely charmed by Kaleigh and my perceptions of twenty somethings were shattered.
My next filght was to the East Coast and I found myself sitting next to Joseph a young man on his way to check out a potential college to study law. He too was an avid reader and not a Social Media lover by any means. He did not even have a Facebook or Twitter page. He was not interested. What he loves is Environmental Law and that is what he plans to study and practice. Not much time for TV watching, and he loves to read.
As I returned from the East Coast back to Chicago once again I found myself sitting next to a young lady of twenty who was heading home to visit family. Her focus is on social work but of a different nature than usual. She plans to study Epidemiology, which is the study of disease and the way it moves through groups of people.
Epidemiologists try to figure out what causes a particular disease (such as a virus), where it began, and how it spreads from person to person. She said her intention is to return to her community and help them fight disease.
I have to say that as a seminar leader who teaches companies about communicating with today’s multi-generational workforce I was highly impressed by these three twenty somethings.
They lifted my spirit, my faith in the next generation, educated me on a few topics, and added to my own knowledge about people.
I learned from them that there are many very smart young people out there. They may not be the ones the news broadcasts talk about, but there’s hope for America’s future.
Skype Interview Tips
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If you are uninitiated and uncomfortable with Skype or being on video, you might miss opportunities.
Skype is being used more and more for job interviews.
It is increasingly a common means of achieving a live, face to face conversation with job candidates.
According to a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, Skype is very popular with academia, so says Professor Stephen Winzenburg, a communications professor at Grand View University in Des Moines. Chicago Tribune writer Nara Schoenberg asked Winzenburg for some pointers and here they are:
Practice in advance with your webcam – Good photographs require good angles and the same is true of video. Experiment in advance to find out what works best for you.
Do a trial run – have a friend provide some honest feedback about how you look on your webcam. That requires you download and set up Skype in advance. Your friendly critic will have to do that as well.
Dress professionally - Determine the colors that presents you in the best light. Some patterns do not translate well on video. White reflects light and could give your face a washed out look.
Remove clutter and clean up – Ensure the area around you is clear of children or dog toys and bookshelves are straightened.
Use eye contact – In one on one interviews you have the opportunity to look the interviewer in the eye. The same is a requirement for the Skype interview. Look directly into the webcam when giving your answers to the interviewer.
Remain calm – Try not to fiddle, wiggle, or fuss even if the dog starts barking. If distractions occur, ignore them and stay focused on the interviewer.
The Skype interview is another example of the generational difference in today’s workplace. It saves money for the interviewing company as no travel costs are involved.
They also have an opportunity to “see you” at the start of the interviewing process. Practice as often as possible in advance to ensure that you move on to the next stage of the application process.
As always your comments are welcome. Have you done a Skype interview? I’d love to hear how it went.
miss job opportunities.
Top 7 LinkedIn Techniques to Help You Find a Job
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It’s anew year and time to execute your plan. If you are still looking for a job, now is a good time to use Social Media to reach out to your network.
I’ve observed that many of the Social Media sites are upgrading, modifying, changing, and readjusting their functionality.
LinkedIn, the business social networking site, has also undergone changes Read More→
Teenage Paparazzo Sets new Career Standard
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The New Career Option
Sitting in my hotel room recently, I happened upon an upcoming movie created by Adrian Grenier Star of the TV show Entourage.
I found it fascinating because the subject of the movie was a young home schooled kid who is the youngest Paparazzo in the world.
Now, typically I would not have been able to see this show because I do not have HBO cable. Within seconds, I was hooked. 13 year old Austin Visschedyk Read More→
