Collective Intelligence for Leadership and Innovation

On summer 2014, I went to a seminar in Harvard Boston Club: Harvard Global Systems. While I was in Boston I visited my former colleagues at MIT and I learned about MIT center in collective intelligence. I become fascinated with it. Their definition is simple "The MIT Center for Collective Intelligence brings together faculty from across MIT to conduct research on how people and computers can work together more intelligently and on the underlying scientific questions that help make this possible." 
I began researching about it, I read the book made for Harvard professors called "Collective Genius"  The art and practice of leading innovation. This is something I was thinking all along. The thing is it didn't occur me to called "collective intelligence" - I was calling it 1 + 1 = 3 or group synergy or something else.  I have to admit collective intelligence is much better name and have a deeper meaning. 
Something that caught my attention after hearing Malone talk (he is the founder of MIT center of collective intelligence) was to learn  that Interpersonal skills are more important than you think (yikes!) watch his presentation: Malone. As an Introvert myself this is revealing, and we can learn, and I have learned through the years to improve my interpersonal skills, believe it is not easy.  I was very happy to heard Susan talk about the Power of the Introverts- Now introverts have to develop more interpersonal skills- Susan you need to answer Malone!.
Please watch both videos and learn in what areas they agree or contradict each other.
In addition, Use the materials provided in class to discuss your role as a leader of an organization to support a collective intelligence to lead innovation, and the role of technology in all of this.

Academic Analytics: the uses of information management in higher education

Accreditation in higher education is a collegial process based on self and peer assessment for public accountability and improvement of academic quality. If you would like to learn about the nuts and bolts, I would advise you ,to begin reading The council for Higher Education Administration (CHEA) have published an excellent “accreditation toolkit”. http://www.chea.org/accreditation_toolkit/accreditation_toolkit.pdf ] Technology has played a big part. Faculty and administrators have used several apps, software and web-based programs to support, not only their reports, but to collect data for accountability. The major section is to collect student evidence of learning. During the last year, my knowledge of technology has been my ally. I have created reports for accreditation institutions, have review my students learning status, also have used to improve my lessons. I am constantly looking for the “new thing” that can make my life easier either with assessment reports or my lessons. There are several software’s that supports teaching and assessment. Diane Oblinger (2012) presented several options in her presentation in Educase 2012 Accreditation in higher education is a collegial process based on self http://www.chea.org/pdf/2014_Presentations/Oblinger%20PowerPoint%20Presentation.pdf In the last decade, Higher Education administrators have looked for web-based resources that help with their projects. This is in the section of academic analytics. In the business world, we have called it, Business Intelligence. It is how we use the technology in education. Academic analytics comprises several technologies. These are used in the seven key areas of higher education: Advancement and fundraising, business and finances, budget and planning, institutional research, research administration, and academic affairs. Mostly used in extraction and analysis of data (~50% of academic analytics are used in this area), are analysis and monitoring of operational performance (~18 %) and decision making (5%). How would you explain what you use or someone you know, is using technology in any of the key areas of higher education? Would you mention what kind of technology are you using? (i.e. tableausoftware, taskstream, etc).

Assistive Technology for English Language Learners

The ESL population in the United States has been on a steady rise in recent years. The language needs of these and other ESL students have motivated teachers to seek new and innovative ways to educate these students.According the the IES The percentage of public school students in the United States who were English language learners was higher in 2010-11 (10 percent, or an estimated 4.7 million students) than in 2002-03 (9 percent, or an estimated 4.1 million students). Learning English can be very difficult and frustrating at times. Apps on iPads and tablets are great ways for students to practice English and have fun while doing it. For practicing grammar rules, apps like Grammar Up allow students to test their knowledge on specific topics (verbs, prepositions, etc.). The app also keeps track of students’ progress and allows them to skip questions by shaking the tablet. Best Colleges Online offers a list of 16 apps for ESL students, ranging from basic letter instruction to pronunciation guides. Students can also play classic games like Scrabble and Boggle on mobile devices. Assistive technology is not only used for students with special needs. But also they are useful to help English Language Learners. If a child is determined to need assistive technology for English language learners, there are plenty of tools available to streamline the process for everyone involved. The following are a few effective assistive technology tools: The SOLO Literacy Suite With Read:OutLoud, a reading comprehension supportive text reader, spelling tools and a draft writing kit, this package offers a little bit of everything to help those trying to improve their language acquisition skills. WorldWordExchange.com The World Word Exchange is a new approach to language learning online .

Assistive Technology

Assistive technology (often abbreviated as AT) is any item, piece of equipment, software or product system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. People often think in physical disabilities but these technology is also available for students with emotional disabilities. Last semester while I was teaching 7669 Practicum in Educational Technology, one of my students decided to explore an area I wasn't familiar, Assistive Technology for Emotional Disabilities. Please listen this podcast to Ms. Burgan in a Brooklyn School who teaches 1211 classrooms, that means the students take standarized tests. Her students have emotional disturbances and learning disabilities http://www.internationalprofessor.com/documentation/interviews/emotinaldisab.m4a The teacher in the podcast works with Assistive Technology, in this case using Ipad. She is use a macbook, LCD projector, and project in their ipads. She mentioned several Apps. Dragon Dictation, Pretzi - she consider this was good for indeed presentation, padlet. There is ATIA Online Professional Development and conferences. I found out that there is a webminar and seminars in their website http://www.atia.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3859 Please listent to the podcasts or webminars, and add any interesting information about Assistive Technology