1 – June Pick of the Month – Jane Hart
June is now over – and for us here in the UK it’s been one of the wettest Junes since records began! But fortunately there’s been plenty of good stuff to read on the Web. Here’s my round-up of my favourite articles/blog posts of the month under 5 key themes
2 – GIMP shortcuts - MakeUseOf
GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free image editing and manipulation tool editor which is often tagged as free Photoshop alternative. It can handle essential image editing tasks like image resizing, editing, cropping, photomontages, and converting images between different image file formats.
3 – A 7 year old’s vision for school reform – Education Rethink
“I’m struck by how reasonable, sensible and nuanced this view of education is. I’m not suggesting it would work beautifully. I’m not even sure if it’s what “every” seven-year-old wants. But I’m thinking that if student voice really matters and if we want to think in terms of meaning and relevance and seek after what is developmentally appropriate, maybe a few outside areas and paper airplanes might be a step in the right direction.”
4 - I Took a Web Detour, and Now I Feel Better – Jenna Wortham, NYT
It seems that instead of fracturing my focus and splintering my attention span, digital distractions have become a part of my work flow, part of the process, along with organizing notes and creating an outline for each article I write. Perhaps it’s possible to master the demands on my attention by figuring out a way to juggle the multitude of apps and services that beg to be looked at, clicked on and answered.
5 - Sometimes open source software just wins - Business2Community
6 - Making Organizational Networks a Force for Learning & Innovation - Business2Community
“To make informal networks a force for institutional learning and innovation, we must get beyond the idea that network creation is finding each other in the virtual hallways of social media. We need to bring focus to our networks, identify the value we wish to mine from them, align around that imperative, and then take joint action to pilot and perfect new products and services.”
7 - Can a Curator be a Thought Leader? - Business2Community
“Recently I came across this suggestion by Todd Defren: “Follow a 70/30 Rule – 70% of content curated, 30% branded. Why? Because the rest-of-the-world is at least 70% more interesting than your brand; and, promoting external content builds social capital, makes grateful fans of influencers.”
