Welcome to another issue of Quick Clicks, a summary of education resources worth sharing.
This month’s edition is a special one! For the entire month of February, I plan to share one discovery each day related to instructional design, ed tech, adult learning, and other adjacent ideas worth exploring.
Here is the running list of interesting things I have discovered so far this month:
4. AI Campus
AI Campus is an AI learning platform from Stifterverband, a German non-profit that focuses on “business, science and civil society” and fosters efforts to “rethink and reshape education and science with a view to strengthening society’s long-term capacity for innovation.”
Within AI Campus, there is a wealth of information and experiences found in the form of free online courses, videos, podcasts and other tools.
For example, check out this “AI Explorables for Schools” course. It’s a free online course that explores machine learning concepts like neural networks and reinforcement learning through interactive browser-based games and exercises along with recommendations and ready-to-use teaching ideas and materials to apply in classroom settings.
Similar to the Learning Uncut podcast (see #2 below), this is based in Germany. This provides an interesting global perpsectives related to AI and education innovations. While the primary language is German, many resources are also offered in English.
3. r/instructionaldesign and r/edtech
Reddit’s r/instructionaldesign and r/edtech communities are two suprisingly useful spaces to browse. While they are not “academic” or “scholarly,” they are packed with real world experiences from people sharing resources and having candid conversations. As with anything on Reddit, it helps to take advice with a grain of salt and remember that posts and comments are based on personal experience. Used in this way, these subreddits can provide helpful anticdotes to more formal learning and an easy way to keep a finger on the pulse on what is top of mind for people right now.
2. Learning Uncut Pocast
The Learning Uncut podcast is a series that features honest conversations with experienced educators about real learning solutions, strategies, and workplace development. Episodes cover a wide range of interesting topics like design thinking, performance support, culture, and emerging tools. Guests share practical tips and stories that can be used in one’s own work, and the show notes and resources are top notch! It is a good way to get fresh perspectives on professional development, on how adults learn, and on approaches that could influence planning and reflection for both student and colleague support. It’s also worth noting that this is Australia based, offering an interesting and sometimes differeing takes on common apsects of education.
1. ISTE and ASCD Transformational Leaders Series
The ISTE and ASCD Transformational Leaders Series is a free webinar series of one hour sessions on timely topics like classroom practice, instructional leadership, equity, educator well being, and new technologies (e.g., AI, of course). The sessions are led by experienced educators, authors, etc. They often go beyond theory and focus on practical ideas teachers can put to good use. Each webinar also includes a professional learning certificate, and many sessions are available to watch later, which makes this an easy and to stay in the know and pick up new strategies.
You can watch the most recent discussion on LinkedIn: