We’ve also got some insightful thoughts from artist and motivational speaker, Herb Cohen, on the Power of Choice; a bid from Edutopia recognized educator, Rosemary Owens, to inspire students to action; an examination of the educational power of podcasts and learning with the iPod Touch, and a look at some student driven inventiveness.

We’re deeply grateful to the gifts of layout and design expertise of Studio 7  Communications for helping make our dream of publishing a magazine become a reality! We hope you enjoy The Curiosity Driven Life. We encourage you to share it with others and to consider contributing to upcoming issues.  In the meantime, enjoy your first issue, free!

The Curiosity Driven Life

By T. Willingham in LI4E Press

12 pages, published 4 FEB 2012

The Curiosity Driven Life is the most recent addition to the Learning is for Everyone (LI4E) family of learning resources, which includes a freshly redesigned website with an extensive Resource Directory, experiential learning events like TEDxYouth@TampaBay and the first ever Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire, and a history of advocacy and support for self-directed learning nationwide. Our magazine showcases:*Innovative , experiential learning ideas,…

Using the example of the 1,650 computers RIA employs in their centers to serve their communities, Molinari shows that the one to one model would only yield 1, 650 new users, while centers open long hours and serving 140,000 users yielded 34,000 digitally trained graduates from RIA.

We need to use technology, Molinari says, “as a means, not an end.”  Key to this more powerful use of technology is the creation of welcoming spaces that provide both electronic and real time social connectedness, valuable content and the training to use it; in short – focused hackerspaces for beginners that can evolve into true opportunities for the people who need them most.

“Technology is not going to save the world,” Molinari reminds us. “We are, and we can use technology to help us.”

Visit http://www.digitallearningday.org/ to learn more, find great resources and to see how you can get involved!

If you’ve ever helped someone learn the ropes of a new job or skill, coached a sport, coaxed someone through a hard time in his or her life, or simply taken the time to listen, you’ve been a mentor.

January is National Mentoring Month, an opportunity to reflect on the power of being there for another person in a helpful, instructive and nurturing capacity. National Mentoring Month is more focused on adult mentoring of youth, but adults and youth can also be mentors to one another.

Mentoring is a tried and true method of teaching and learning.  Learning is for Everyone employs mentoring in our most successful programs, like our FIRST robotics STEM education program, and in our Picturing America humanities education project.  We work as mentors to others in the community trying to start their own programs, or seeking guidance on their own educational direction. And Learning is for Everyone has benefited from the mentoring of others as we continue to develop our programs and projects.

There’s simply no better way to learn –or at least to embark on learning – than from someone with more experience, and a deep and abiding belief in the value of sharing those experiences.

So from the bottom of Learning is for Everyone’s heart, THANK YOU! to all our wonderful mentors!   We couldn’t do it without you, and we’ll continue to pay it forward!

For more on mentoring:

• Center for Interdisciplinary Mentoring Research
• Free Management Library: Mentoring
• Learning Mentors and Informal Education
• Mentor.org

The following is censored, in protest of SOPA and PIPA, proposed legislation that gives any corporation and the US government the power to censor the internet–bills that could pass THIS WEEK. To see the uncensored text, and to speak out against internet censorship, visit: http://americancensorship.org/posts/40087/uncensor (We’d never compel you to sign anything you didn’t want to sign, so if you just want to know what this says, drop me a line at info@Learningis4everyone.org and I’ll tell you – but you get the point – everyone should have access to the knowledge and information they seek…)

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CourseKit is free for students and instructors to use, with plans to add e-commerce functions like textbooks and other education related products as use builds. With its heavy emphasis on the social aspects of learning, CourseKit is an easier sell to students than instructors – whom CourseKit developers are focusing on over administrators – who are, as Big Think points out, more accustomed to working with the “more enterprise-centric software approach of Blackboard,” and possibly less comfortable with the idea of socializing with their students at random hours.

LI4E will be keeping an eye on CourseKit, and quite probably giving it a try!  We’re excited about these new online learning spaces and looking forward to seeing where they lead and how they evolve.

See Similar Offerings:

• LearnBoost
• Edmodo
• Moodle

Related Reading:

• Building Learning Communities Conference
• Disrupt Education

About 3000 online participants are currently “playing,” voting on everything from types of crops to grow, to  livestock needs, facilities investments, and machinery choices.  The only restrictions are the specific choices given for each decision, so “farmers” can’t replant feed crops with something illegal.   The whole point of the project is to “educate participants about the basics of farm life–which will hopefully make for better choices among its farm-ignorant users–courtesy of videos, discussions, and blog posts from on-site farmers. ”

As one MyFarm associate says, “…we’ll see if MyFarm can hold onto its user base and increase awareness about how agriculture actually works–or if participants will get bored and go back to their virtual, uncomplicated farms.”

Lots of possibilities and lots of questions raised in this interesting educational experiment, but it’s probably best not to count those chickens before they hatch!

“According to the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC), representing 353 U.S. science centers and museums, nearly 63 million visits are made to these science centers and museums a year,” writes Miaoulis. “ With resources that many schools do not have, museums offer interactive, standards-based activities complementing the school curriculum that can excite students and equip them with the skills to make informed decisions and pursue STEM fields. And 82 percent of these institutions also offer teacher professional development, aligned with best practices.”

Museums have long been at the heart of “informal education” , and there are now numerous studies exploring how visitors learn at museums and science centers.  While Miaoulis focuses on STEM education, science museums can provide comprehensive learning experiences across a broad array of subjects, from art to social studies.

Check out the full story at US News & World Report

For more on the topic, please visit:

• Center for Advancement in Informal Science Education
• Science Centers as Learning Environments
• Museums, Informal Learning & K-12 Education
• Assessment of Informal Learning at Holocaust Museums
• Museums & Informal Education

Tampa Bay Mini Maker will be a family-friendly event showcasing both established and emerging local “makers.” We’ll have be showcasing everything from machines, to DIY science and technology, alternative energy efforts, unique hand-made crafts, music and food, and educational workshops and installations.

We’ll be holding this one of a kind event at a one of a kind facility, the beautiful University Area Community Center Complex on 22nd Street North, in Tampa. Owned by Hillsborough County and operated by the University Area Community Development Corporation, Inc. the center is a 50,000 square foot collection of classrooms, offices, a fitness center, multi-purpose gymnasium, auditorium with stage, music and art studios, computer labs, daycare facilities, and more for area residents who enjoy free access to everything from childcare to the cultural arts in this state-of-the-art facility.

Check out the related pages on participating as a Maker or as a Sponsor and check back regularly as we continue developing plans for this celebration of DIY Fun and Learning!  Visit our Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire website to learn more!