Tag: Education

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Education Innovation Reading

Latest Read: Power to the Middle

Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work by Bill Schaninger, Bryan Hancock and Emily Field.

Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work by Bill Schaninger, Bryan Hancock and Emily Field.

Bill holds a PhD in Management from Auburn University. He is a Senior Partner Emeritus at McKinsey focusing on organizational culture and change. Bryan holds a JD from Harvard University and is a Partner at McKinsey specializing in talent management and organizational development. Emily holds a BA in Political Science from Georgetown University and is a Partner at McKinsey focusing on data-driven organizational strategies.

Power to the Middle is one of the best books to read if you’re organization is even thinking of cutting midlevel managers in the new world of work. The real goal is to help leadership understand “Middle manager” in a post pandemic, AI driven world. The term is from our industrial era.

Yet Bill, Brian and Emily certainly reveals how this outdated term needs to change as our digital future demands it. They are also revealing how middle managers are closer to your workforce, and understand how to link them to your company strategy while also having the skillsets to engage your senior leadership.

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Artificial Intelligence Education Reading

Latest Read: How AI Works

How AI Works: From Sorcery to Science by Ronald T. Kneusel.

How AI Works: From Sorcery to Science by Ronald T. Kneusel

Ron holds a Ms in Physics from Michigan State University and a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Colorado Boulder. He is a senior data scientist at the Harris Corporation.

This book is one of a select few that address AI for anyone new to the world of this technology. Ron is presenting the right explanation of AI components and teaches users how to see all the pieces together.

The most inviting aspect of his work is there is not a single math equation to confront. Perhaps even more striking (and inviting) readers do not need any understanding of computer programming. Yet, it would be misleading to then think users will not really learn about AI. Ron certainly is delivering without the math and coding.

Readers will be introduced to the relationships of AI’s umbrella components machine learning, and deep learning. To start, Ron is also addressing the history of AI and why now a true revolution has started which will have large impacts across society. This includes the rise of neural networks, how they are trained, and how the magic of ChatGPT works.

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Artificial Intelligence Education Reading

Latest Read: The Worlds I See

The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI by Fei-Fei Li.

The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI by Fei-Fei Li

Fei-Fei holds a BA in Physics from Princeton University, MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering from California Institute of Technology. She is Professor in the Computer Science Department at Stanford University and Co-Director of Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute.

A Former Director of Stanford’s AI Lab she also served as Vice President and Chief Scientist for AI/ML at Google Cloud during her sabbatical from Stanford. She is co-founder of the nonprofit organization AI4ALL, aimed at increasing diversity and inclusion in AI education.

This book is a wonderful story of Fei-Fei’s life including the hardships her family endured leaving China to settle in America and smuggling to get by while a young girl. Another inspiration for the American dream as she took care of her ailing mother who dedicated her life to her daughter.

Throughout the book it is very clear Fei-Fei is moving between AI’s ability to become somewhat alarming to very optimistic to the potential of this technology.

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Artificial Intelligence Education Innovation Reading

Latest Read: Brave New Worlds

Brave New Words: How AI Will Revolutionize Education by Salman Khan.

Brave New Words: How AI Will Revolutionize Education by Salman Khan

Sal holds BS in both mathematics and electrical engineering from MIT. He holds a MS in electrical engineering also from MIT with a MBA from Harvard Business School. Sal founded Khan Academy after tutoring his cousin in mathematics in 2004 and launched online video tutorials in 2006.

He wrote Brave New Worlds in fact for general audiences to teach them about the AI revolution in education. He addresses the implications for parents and how to best address AI for good. Sal starts simple with ChatGPT, showing how it will transform learning. In fact, there is a roadmap addressing teachers, parents, and even students on how to engage our AI world. Sal demonstrates his AI-powered tutoring service Khanmigo which was obviously developed by Khan Academy.

Readers will also appreciate this is not an AI technology book. Sal is laying out the impact upon our society and implications from educational administrators, teachers, and guidance counselors, to hiring managers. Companies will certainly demand employees be AI aware in their education to make their workplace competitive.

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Design Education Innovation Reading

Latest Read: Sapiens

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. Yuval holds a PhD from the University of Oxford. He is a professor at the Department of History in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

This is an amazing book about the history of humans that should be in every K12 school. The topics he is documenting is certainly stunning. In fact, Yuval is addressing the entire evolution of human kind.

At first glance anyone would not consider that an entire history of anthropology, geography, psychology, religion, ideologies, and even how sapiens will evolve with robotic parts. This is a compliment to Yuval’s efforts.

In fact, by retracing human history, some key lessons emerge regarding historical folklore. On example is both chimps and sapiens can only organize into groups at a maximum of 150. So, humans have long believed in many myths that have ultimately sidelined the truth.

By documenting sapien migrations from eastern Asia moving into Alaska, Yuval obviously reveals movement south through Canada and down the west coast of America into Mexico culminating into South America’s southern tip roughly 150,000 years ago.

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