While this person is probably just trying to be clever for a reporter from the Times, I wouldn't be surprised if he had no clear sense of what he was actually saying. "The medium is the message" is a central thesis from Marshall McLuhan's 1964 work, Understanding Media.
Active learning means actively participating in one’s own learning experiences. This concept takes place outside the typical intake of content. In essence, active learning deals with the learner’s ability to set goals and make plans to reflect and revise their learning experience in order to keep track of their own understanding. Self-assessment and reflection are important elements of active learning and the building of one’s schema, or an individual’s organized pattern of thoughts.
Written by Jeff Faust - Director of Product Development
Music has played an important role thoroughout my life. It is an essential part of who I am. My pragmatic side wishes to quantify this: How much music? How often? What modes? My purist side wants to indulge in the music gorging itself until overextended; The chinese buffet mode. The challenge is always finding the balance between these two warring factions and establishing the necessary harmony to continue my mutual satiation and mutual neglect of both. The following video effectively addressed the need for both these sides as well as identifiying benefits that I previously hadn't thought of . Now, my takeaway is trying to figure out how to keep Scitent moving towards "1 buttock playing".
Written by Matt Widiger - Web Applications Developer
This is the third in a series of blog posts I am writing on the subject of leadership. In my last blog I discussed the subject of listening carefully, and today I will delve into the subject of effective communication. The usual caveat for this article applies: I'm not the CEO of the company, nor do I hold a leadership position, so this is clearly not the definitive guide on leadership or communication. I am merely writing these to look at leadership from the computer guy's perspective and perhaps provide a "first steps" guide to getting him from behind the computer screen to running a team.
Ask a typical computer person on how to communicate well to people and he might say "write an email" or "explain things to them carefully", or somesuch. Effective communication, for a computer programmer, is much less important than it is for most jobs (though much more important than it used to be!) There are a great many jobs out there where one must learn effective communication, particularly in the services industries where interfacing with clients in a way that ends with them being happy is very important. To the good leader, the ability to clearly, cleanly (and effortlessly!) communicate is a vital part of his role (another reason why computer programmer are infrequently tapped as leaders).
In the famous words of Captain Jack Sparrow, “Yah savvy?” Though originally meant in a different context, this question is popular among people when referring to technology. A typical public school classroom has at least one computer, college campuses rely on technology-enhanced facilities, and businesses across the country have adopted the newest tech tools as a means to manage their projects. It is clear that being tech-savvy is quickly becoming an essential quality in achieving academic and professional success.
We all have the desire to live a life based around relaxation and low stress, simultaneously wishing to be accomplished and reach our full potential. Each road demands a wildly different personal discipline. The former is comprised of slow contemplation and flexibility, while the latter requires laser sharp focus, hard work and intensive planning. How can you get these two contradictory paths to work together when undertaking one seems to cancel the other out? Lately I have begun to realize that nurturing the abilities to skillfully juggle a life filled with deadlines and responsibility is probably the single most important thing that can be done to begin feeling balanced. In light of this realization, I have been looking for any method out there that can help me in my quest.
I am the new Instructional Designer at Scitent Technologies and have been waiting for an opportunity to share a little bit about myself and my field with all blog readers.
Written by Matt Widiger - Web Applications Developer
Welcome to the second in my set of blog posts on leadership! Today I examine the principles behind listening.
At first glance, this is a very simple idea. Other people speak words and they go in the ear. Listening, right? Well - to be an EFFECTIVE listener requires more. The first question the good listener asks themselves is, "Do the people I want to lead feel free to give voice to their ideas, opinions, or whatever?". If the answer is "No", or "I don't know", then clearly work needs to be done to empower the team to communicate.
Written by Vicky Mossman - Director of Business Development & Strategy
As I reflected on this Memorial weekend, I was thankful for all the freedoms that we enjoy as Americans. It was that freedom that so many men and women through time laid down their lives to protect. I wondered when this tradition began.
