Here are a number of things that were more than the average morsel of information and made me go “Hmmm, that’s interesting!” Happy chewing!
A new word I really like: “Complexipacity – the cognitive skills necessary for dealing with complexity, including systemic thinking, creativity, collaboration, problem solving, contextual learning, and cyber-literacy.” – David Pearce Snyder in Futurist magazine.
“Silo thinking by discipline area doesn’t help kids deal with complex situations.” (author of quote unknown.) Sounds like Christian schools should be leading the way in non-silo thinking since we believe all things cohere in Christ – right?
“What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.” George Bernard Shaw
From the book: The Young and the Digital: What the Migration to Social-Network sites, Games, and Anytime, Anywhere Media Means for Our Future by S. Craig Watkins. Besides winning the longest subtitle award, here are some interesting comments and facts from the book:
- You thought you knew what CPA meant: “An unintended consequence of young kid’s adoption of digital media is that fast entertainment and continual partial attention (CPA) are invading our nation’s schools.”
- Comment on student texting – 42% of the teens in a Harris Interactive online panel indicated they could text blindfolded!
- Countering the idea that technology disengages kids from reality: “…more young voters than older voters reported attending a campaign event…a larger percentage of Americans under the age of thirty voted than at anytime since 1972…turnout was between 52 and 53 percent…the reversal of a near quarter-of-a-century trend…Obama won young voter by 34 points (as opposed to Gore in 2000 by 2 points, Kerry by seven points in 2004.)
Instead of playing “Devil’s Advocate” consider being an “Angel’s Advocate” – list three good ideas about a new idea first, then address your concerns. – Marci Segal in Futurist magazine.
“Everybody thinks of changing humanity and nobody thinks of changing himself.” – Leo Tolstoy
“For most of us, the great danger is not that we will renounce our faith. It is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we will settle for a mediocre version of it.” – John Ortberg
nurturingfaith.wordpress.com 
Indeed it is food for thought! I absolutely agree with John Ortberg in his quotation. The problem with most Christians is that they are easily ‘distracted, rushed and preoccupied’ with the non-essential to the extent that the essential get ‘squeezed out’ or ‘watered down.’ I believe compromise and complacency is the result of undue ‘distraction, rushing and preoccupation’ with what is of secondary value. John Kitur