MVP Hack

Feedly - Follow Thought Leaders I use Feedly (Feedly:  https://feedly.com )  to follow ~100 blogs (RSS feeds) including these blogs specific to Education. They are not listed in any order, and some are a bit "commercial", but I've collected notes and ideas from all of them. You can add them to your bookmarks, but Feedly runs a continuous stream of ideas, allowing you to skim over the headlines, then deep dive into the details. The habit of visiting 100 URLs is a bit too difficult.  I would appreciate your feedback and comments to improve my list of one-person or small team blogs...  especially those writing about the US Education environment by K-12 teachers, librarians, and administrators.   Personal or Small Team Blogs Class Tech Tips -   Dr. Monica Burns -   https://classtechtips.com/ Confessions of a Community College Dean - http://suburbdad.blogspot.com/ CURMUDGUCATION - Peter Greene - http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/ Ditch That

Feedly - Follow Thought Leaders (and avoid the noise). Feedly  is  blog and new aggregator application. Users can create categories to track topics of interest without the noise of click-bait and intrusive advertisements. The free version allows you to follow 100 sources. Choose wisely and you will never run out of actionable content.  Feedly runs as an extension, or web page in nearly every browser. It is also available as an app in the Google Play Store (Feedly for Android) and the Apple iStore ( Feedly iStore ). It is not available on Kindle Fire devices. See our References page for a long list of content sources.  Sample Feedly Feed Click for larger image.

The Gartner Hype Cycle Gartner's Hype Cycle describes the five phases of maturity of an industry and is a model for how to think about innovative technology adoption. The Hype Cycle is interesting as a moment-in-time capture of the technology landscape, with a bit of prediction included. The Gartner Hype Cycle includes "expectations" on the vertical axis, and five stages on the horizontal axis:  Technology Trigger Peak of Inflated Expectations Trough of Disillusionment Slope of Enlightenment Plateau of Productivity  Garner updates the Hype Cycle frequently and has topical variations. Gartner Hype Cycle - Graphic Click for larger version. 

Gremlins and the Language of Hackathons While gremlins can sidetrack hackathon teams, they can also sidetrack momentum for leaders trying to implement an overall educational strategy. Language matters, words matters, terminology matters, it's horrifying how fast they bog down a program.  While some terms have relative consensus, others are packed with agenda, narrative, and all the distractions of a gremlin: STEM, +Art=STEAM, + Medicine = STEAMM, +Sports = SSTEAMM Science, Technology, Engineering, Medicine, and Mathematics (STEMM) <http://sites.nationalacademies.org/pga/bhew/mentoring/index.htm>   Can we add Reading, Recess and Language-Arts?  MVP - Minimum Viable Product Quick Example: A hackathon team at the ATXHack4Change hosted by St. Edward's University tried to code a full-blown  Registration Process, which was important, but not critical to their MVP. They could have described a simple registration process, while working on their MVP.  This same