4/20
This post was originally posted on the Teens in Tech blog. Yep.
Innovation isn’t easily defined and it’s hard to convey that to students. Innovation classes need to be very different from typical classes in high school, which teach students skills. (It should be noted, that I don’t think this is bad, but this method doesn’t work for the Innovation class.) To be an innovator, entrepreneur, different thinker, or just someone who sets out to change something for the better, there’s a very important requirement. It’s not tangible and it’s not easily taught. It’s a mindset. Just like audio technicians or programmers need a “troubleshooting mindset,” innovators need an innovation mindset. Innovation I teaches this mindset, so let’s see what that class is like.
Innovation I
“Welcome to Innovation I,” says the instructor during the first class, “just like the philosophical readings you encounter in an English or History class, this class is going to test the limits of your mind.” The instructor just did a fantastic job of establishing the class as a big deal, but we’re jumping the gun. The thought process for Innovation I must start long before day one. As most educators and students will understand, the majority of class curriculum is designed around tangibles, specifically memorizing facts. 2 + 2 = 4. Shakespearean sonnets have quatrains and a couplet. 1776 was the year the Declaration of Independence was created. It was also a leap year. You get the point.
Innovation I has no facts to memorize. It also has no tests. Stay with me, hyperventilating out-of-the-book teachers, it gets better! Innovation I eases students (and teachers) into the process as an interdisciplinary course. Let me explain by jumping back to day one of the class. Students, having written their interests on the board (which will likely become their companies later in the process), will hopefully be able to form teams around their interests. Assignment number one, here we come! Tell the teams to research a company similar to their interest. For example, if someone picks programming as their interest, they might want to research Twilio. If someone picks twenty-first century charity, they might want to research Charity: Water.
- Hint #1: The instructor should begin the process of “filtering” ideas here, because as I mentioned before, these ideas will probably become the students’ companies. So, if a student picks nuclear technology as their interest, as I imagine your school frowns upon nuclear testing within the building, this may be a good idea to filter and suggest they choose something more feasible.
- Hint #2: To keep the class interesting, keep the ideas current. A team’s idea should be current enough so they can research a company that is innovating now, not a company that was innovating twenty years ago and now they’re a massive company slowly dying. To (almost) ensure this, you could focus the Innovation classes on tech, but you don’t have to.
Before the students start their research, bring in an English teacher and/or a business teacher to teach them how to research properly. Then, once the research is completed, have the students turn it into a thesis-based paper. Encourage the students to have an opinion on the company they researched. It doesn’t matter what the opinion is, any opinion is fantastic. Don’t hand out a rubric. Does life have rubrics?
Hopefully you’re beginning to get the idea. I’m not including a full curriculum for the class in this blog post (though I will likely create and publish one soon), but from what I’ve said so far you can likely discern how this class is a bridge between a classic style of education and the not-so-classic idea of an Innovation class.
The purpose of the class is to bring students to a mindset where they can understand how and why companies and products are developed. Through projects, papers, games and whatever else you see fit, students need to begin to realize that companies are not formed overnight. They need to see how to turn fun ideas, or passions, into realistic products that benefit the marketplace, or better yet, products that benefit humanity. Students need to be brought together with other like-minded students spanning the gamut of skills needed to bring an idea to life. The Innovation classes facilitate this, but once the students are brought to a tactical understanding of how “creating something” works, the class must allow room for the students to expand their minds and become true innovators on their own. Say hello to Innovation II and Innovation III.
In the next post in the “Educating Innovation” series, I’ll write about Innovation II and Innovation III.
4/13
I want to read a tech blog that will not just report the news to me, but challenge my perceptions of technology. I want a blog that will open my eyes to a new way of thinking, like philosophical readings do. I want it to not just inform me, not just demo new techie toys, but have an opinion that makes me THINK. Don’t get me wrong, I still want to read and love TechCrunch, The Verge, Pando, VB, etc, but I also want a blog that forces me to form new ideas. Something that penetrates beyond the informative layer into the philosophical/strategic layer. It doesn’t have to be crazy Thoreau-like writing, but I want it to make me think.
Does this blog exist? If it does, I beg of you, please tell me. Otherwise, pease make it :)
4/7
This is really, really, really cool!
4/7
Image From: The Guardian
A new little website I’m going to be launching soon is all about Word of Mouth sharing on social media. That’s fun. But here’s what I want to know: what gets shared? If I put cats on the website am I a guaranteed success? How do I spread the word?
So basically, what do you think is the best way to generate social media commotion? Click the “Think” button and, well, tell me what you think! (Please please please)
4/6
I have been too busy to blog lately. Everyone who runs a blog has that type of post all the time, but it’s usually true. As awesome as blogging is it’s incredibly time consuming, but you already knew that. If you’re looking at my blog for the first time, well, here it is. If you’re a returning visitor (you’re awesome), you’ll notice there are some design changes to make it much better!
This weekend I will be working my ass off (yay?) and here’s what you’ll notice:
- I’ll have some new awesome(ish) posts on the Teens in Tech Blog
- [This Week] I’ll have a new interweb launching into private beta!!
- I have an idea for a quick, silly project for the internets. Would you like to help?
- [This Month] I’m launching a new social website that’s going to be a hub for the bro. ‘nuff said.
- [Fall 2012] We’re working on a new kind of high school club. That’s all for now ;)
So, yeah. It’s busy in Strike Internet land. There’s wicked cool things right around the corner, and that’s extremely exciting!
Click the “Think” Button below and tell me what you’re thinking! :)
1/27
SVAP. Silicon Valley Awesome Person. It’s a term I made up, half out of annoyance and half admiration. I think there are tons of people in The Valley doing a lot of incredible, yes, even revolutionary things and I’m really excited. There are a lot of people I want to meet from Silicon Valley and I think it’s a great place to live and work. That’s the admiration. Here’s the annoyance:
Everyone talks about this, so I’ll keep it short and sweet. There’s a lot of stuff going on elsewhere. Take Shelby.tv, for example. They are a TechStars NYC company that’s building a really cool product I love using all the time. It’s great. Should they be discounted because they’re in New York City (a place I happen to love)? I think not. That’s the annoyance.
SVAPs. It’s fun to say. It has meaning. You should use it.
1/23
Apple doesn’t care that they’re losing studios using Final Cut. Rewind back to the late 90’s when Apple introduced Final Cut Pro. Editing software was not what we think of today and essentially required a lot of money to use. So what happened? Apple did what Apple does. They completely changed an industry. In the subsequent years Final Cut Pro grew (along side Premiere) and editing (good editing, at that) became affordable and relatively easy. Some of this technology helped usher in the YouTube, Vimeo, blip.tv, etc, etc, etc revolution we know and love today. So that brings me to my main point, Final Cut Pro X is perfect, even though I don’t like it.
I started on Final Cut Pro 4. I now run FCP 6 because I didn’t see a big reason to upgrade to 7, but that’s another story. I consider myself an intermediate editor, so if I need to upgrade (which I will sooner or later) and Apple hasn’t fixed this snafu, I’ll probably be switching to Avid. That’s all beside the point. FCP X is perfect. Why? Apple is doing what Apple does, they’re completely changing an industry.
We have more prosumers than ever today, because of this YouTube revolution. More people have more places for more people to enjoy their content so they’re getting better stuff to make their videos. For example, take any YouTube star who has been editing their videos on iMovie and wants something better, something more professional. What’s the answer? Final Cut Pro X. It IS more professional. It IS a step up from the iMovie-like editing software. That’s where the market is and that’s where Apple is going.
Would I like it if Apple comes through and supports the Final Cut Studio I know and love? Absolutely. But I’m not Apple’s market. There’s far less of me than there are of YouTubbing people with lots of subscribers who want to make professional videos easily.
So I’m not complaining. If I get annoyed enough or my Final Cut version gets too old, I’ll just switch to Avid. I totally realize this is way harder for studios with hundreds if not thousands of licenses, but that’s not my dilemma.
1/10
parislemon:
Why do I hate Android? It’s definitely one of the questions I get asked most often these days. And most of those that don’t ask probably assume it’s because I’m an iPhone guy. People see negative take after negative take about the operating system and label me as “unreasonable” or “biased” or worse.
I should probably explain.
Believe it or not, I actually don’t hate Android. That is to say, I don’t hate the concept of Android — in fact, at one point, I loved it. What I hate is what Android has become. And more specifically, what Google has done with Android.
Read More
1/7
I’ve been really busy lately, and I’m actually writing this really quickly so I can get back to work. That begs the question, “why am I writing this at all?” I’m not entirely sure, but here I am, so that’s that.
I’ve been thinking about capitalizing on memes recently. They’re ridiculously popular, usually because they’re a lot of fun. If a company can jump on one of these meme’s train, couldn’t there be huge potential to gain customers and make monies? I think so. I’m going to try it. Let me know what you think. Tweet me @BenPaster
1/5
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