Learning Innovation

This blog is called "Technology and Learning" - but maybe the word "Books" should also appear in the title. I write about books because I live so much in my head, and the books that I read form the mental scaffolding of my life. Some people learn by doing, I learn by reading (and writing). And I want to hang out with other readers. I want to know what other people who live their lives at the intersection of education and technology are reading. I want to read the same books as you, and spend time talking about what we are reading together.

The techno thriller is fast becoming one of my preferred fiction genres. Zero Day is a terrific beach book (or whatever the winter February school vacation equivalent is, the time period in which I interfaced with the book).

Come Fall semester I predict that Going Solo will be on the syllabi of sociology courses across the land.

One of the problems with the whole Predictably Irrational oeuvre of behavioral economics / social psychology literature is that I've lost much of my confidence in my ability to hire well. Turns out, we systematically overestimate our own abilities - in everything from driving to teaching to blogging to (yes) interviewing. Like the children of Lake Wobegon, we are all above average.

Where Google has real potential to make a difference in higher ed is not services, platforms or apps - but ideas. Google changed the economics information. A revenue model based on advertising and scale allows for (requires) the delivery of great platforms such as Google Apps, YouTube, Android, and hopefully Chromebook.

We are crazy busy. We get to work early. We eat lunch at our desks. If we manage to get home at a reasonable hour then the laptop comes open after dinner. E-mails to read and send. Documents to edit and compose. Presentations to prepare. Spreadsheets to crunch.

Imagine that you had the opportunity to spend 30 minutes with the person who runs Google's higher education business. What would you ask?

All of my professional career I've had a room of my own. The ability to close the door. Floor to ceiling walls. A window. A desk. A round table and chairs.