SmartBlog on Education is shining a light on education technology innovations during May, exploring the latest products and tools and the hottest trends in ed-tech.  "My precious. My precious." You may recognize this phrase from "The Lord Of The Rings." It’s spoken by Gollum, the crazy creature who hides deep in the caves, and craves the one ring. It’s all he can think of. What if I were to tell you that this creature is real? What if I were to tell you that this creature exists in every school in the country? And what if I were to tell you that this creature, is you? Now, you probably aren’t some creature living in a magical land. However, while it’s not a pretty comparison, some of your students may view you much like we view Gollum. They sometimes view teachers as people who want nothing more than to hoard the student work and keep it for themselves. In today’s day and age, students are global citizens. They are on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and a whole host of other social media outlets sharing moments of their personal lives. These students have a global following before they leave elementary school, but therein lies the problem. When the students arrive at school, they see Gollum. In most classrooms around the country, students work on assignments for hours only to "share" their work with a single person. This isn’t good enough anymore. They’ve put time and effort into their work and there is a strong desire to share it with a wider audience. I started testing this idea in my classroom three years ago. I was introduced to a few tools that would allow my students to write and publish books for the world. One of the tools, Book Creator, is an iPad and Android app that allows for the easy creation of eBooks. The eBooks my students wrote for class were simple and effective. The students were laser-focused on their work because they knew it would be seen by more people than just their teacher. The fact that they were producing content for a global audience gave them more ownership of the writing process and created a buzz of excitement in the room. Fifty e-books and 32,000 downloads later, I can say with certainty that changing the audience from teacher to world makes a huge difference in the quality of work students do. This wasn’t an advanced class of high-school students I was working with either. I taught special education fifth- and sixth-graders for 12 years. Many of the 50 eBooks we’ve created were done with special-education students. Not only does it increase the quality of work, but it increases motivation. During one work session, I had to drag a kid out of my room to eat lunch. He was so excited about writing for the world that he didn’t want to stop working. I have also been the organizer of projects called #twima and #twima2. It stands for The World Is My Audience. This project has allowed me to collaborate with many teachers around the world to create a single e-book. They all tell me the same thing. Writing for the world has changed their kids. Teacher trainer Rushton Hurley once said, "When children create for the world, they make it good. When children only create for their teachers, they make it good enough." I love this quote and want everyone to understand that "good enough" isn’t good enough any more. In the last three years I have worked with kids in grades K-12 writing books, and I can say without a doubt that with a little effort and creativity you can help students say that "The World Is Their Audience." Jon Smith (@theipodteacher) is a technology resource teacher for Alliance City Schools and an Apple Distinguished Educator. Related Posts: Is tech helping you work smarter? Replacing print where it matters most: Textbooks Using next generation assessments to personalize learning, drive instruction The serious business of classroom fun Evolution of the "good" teacher The world is my audience originally published by SmartBlogs

SmartBlog on Education is shining a light on education technology innovations during May, exploring the latest products and tools and the hottest trends in ed-tech.  I want to think smarter. I don’t want to know more facts or spout more trivia. I don’t want to just work smarter, either. I want to actually think smarter. It’s a much harder goal to accomplish because I’m constantly evaluating not only what I’m doing, but how I’m doing it. I used to use an app called Any.do to manage a to-do list. Like most productivity apps, it synced across all platforms, and I really thought my productivity was going to jump because I would always have access to that list. I would end up ignoring notifications because I had either completed the task or I was being notified during I time when I couldn’t recommit my energy. I was using technology to try and work smarter, but I was actually working harder. I went back to a mix of pen and paper and strategically sending myself text messages, which has worked much better. Because I can now take the time to target — on my calendar — when to be notified to do something, I’m able to work smarter and more effectively. Working smarter doesn’t always involve an app doing something for us. What really matters is how we can use an app — or a hacked system of tools — to make it easier to work smarter. In his book "Smarter Than You Think," Clive Thompson explores this idea through the development of computer-aided chess. The question is simple: How does chess change when you play with your computer as a resource? The results are interesting, and I’ll let you pick up the book to read the whole story, but the short answer is that people played better. Not because they could research every possible solution or find a computer-suggested move with an algorithm, but because they could play more informed. Ideas and hunches could be tested and iterated quickly which would, in turn, inform their final decision. The ability to test ideas and make an informed play is an example of thinking smarter using technology. The same should be true in education. Technology is exploding in schools and districts, but often with strings attached. Rather than opening the doors to information and pushing students to make smarter decisions about what they’re learning, we’re canning information and delivering it in the traditional way with non-traditional tools. Technology affords us the opportunity to think smarter, but we’re packaging information and removing the thinking process altogether. To work smarter, you have to be able to articulate why you do what you do the way you do it. What is the goal you’re trying to achieve? Audrey Watters has a fascinating history of the development of the multiple choice test. It boils down to two main reasons: objectivity (presumably) and scalability. Scoring a test is simple: i\It’s a binary decision — you get each item correct or incorrect. Machines can do the scoring for us, which should help us think smarter because we can free up cognitive processes to analyze results rather than tally. Unfortunately, instruction is rarely informed and the students’ score, rather than a diagnostic, is now a report. Working smarter means making difficult decisions about the actual practice of teaching and learning. It means gathering information and taking action on that insight. It also means being critical about the technology you’re using to accomplish goals through action. I wanted to be more productive, but the technology I chose to do that wasn’t helpful, so I dropped it for something more effective. Working smarter is working critically and with an open mind, ready to shift if goals aren’t being met. When you’re working with students, think about the resources available and what goals you would like to achieve. Just because you can use an app to do something in class doesn’t mean you should. Don’t allow the push to "integrate technology" obfuscate the real reason for being in school — learning to think. Brian Bennett (@bennettscience) is a teacher at Elkhart Community Schools in northern Indiana. Brian also is a SmartBrief Education Editor’s Choice Content Award winner. Related Posts: The world is my audience Replacing print where it matters most: Textbooks Using next generation assessments to personalize learning, drive instruction The serious business of classroom fun Evolution of the "good" teacher Is tech helping you work smarter? originally published by SmartBlogs

A national conversation has been brewing on the topic of alternative digital credentials. The media and members of the education community often use the shorthand "badges" in reference to graphic representations awarded digitally for skills earned through a learning experience. But the term can be a hindrance — especially if you have some personal experience with, for instance, Brownies or Boy Scouts — if your goal is to understand the more serious potential of new credentials, beyond cute graphics. Badges can have all kinds of uses and instantiations on the web. A year after we started issuing our first badges at MOUSE, I came home to my then 3-year-old son angry over a software glitch on the iPad that was keeping him from seeing a badge on his profile in Chuggington, a popular Disney app. In that instance, badges appeared like gold stars, a mere indicator that a task (or level of the app, in this case) had been completed. You couldn’t use that badge to look back on his performance, it didn’t carry metadata to help understand more about the context in which it was earned, and importantly, he had no agency to curate the badges in a shareable way that might help him demonstrate what he knows to others. It’s important to get past the idea that "badging" is merely the gold star of the web. Train your mind to supplant patches with portfolio data. Wonder to yourself what it might be like to give your students new ways of demonstrating digital-age and workforce-ready skills. Dream a little about school models like IowaBIG, where students receive school credits for answering the question, "What is something that you hate?" with projects that impact their local or global communities. Consider new ways badges can help students provide evidence of their skills and knowledge future colleges and employers. Badges offer great potential and opportunity for today’s schools. Let’s keep the conversation going. Marc Lesser is the senior director of learning design at MOUSE, a New York City-based organization that trains under-served youth to become digital media and technology experts. ***** Tech Tips is a content collaboration between SmartBrief Education and GreyED Solutions. Have a tech tip to share? Contact us at techtips@greyedsolutions.com Miss a Tech Tip? Visit our Tech Tip archive. ***** Related Posts: No Related Posts Tech Tip: Digital badges aren’t gold stars for the Web originally published by SmartBlogs

Chris McGrath/Getty Images Imagine yet another meeting to discuss the new building you’ve been hired to design or construct. But, instead of just sitting around looking at 2D plans and trying to "see" what it will look like, you all take out your tablet or smartphone. You fire up an application, point the camera at the plan and immediately are able to visualize a 3D building information model of what the building - or building component — looks like from your perspective. Augmented reality construction technology Move the camera around a bit to look at the roof or through the windows. Strip off the cladding and see the structural steel, the heating and ventilation conduits and then decide the best locations to run the networking cables to avoid clashes. And do it all from the comfort of a climate controlled room instead of the dusty plot of land where the building will be. Do all your planning, let owners, architects, engineers and contractors see that building, add input to the design process and gain a real understanding of what will be before even putting a shovel in the ground. That’s what James Benham, CEO of JBKnowledge spoke about last week in a webinar hosted by BIMForum. His company has developed an application that renders a model onto your tablet or smartphone. You simply point your device at the plan, the camera see its and the app recognizes it and then overlays the 3D building information model on it. You can even see how this works at SmartReality.co, a website of Benham’s. Cameron Spencer/Getty Images Carry the augmented reality a bit further and bring your tablet into the now-completed structure. Point it at a QR code or sensor in a door jamb, for example, to bring up a geo-based laser scan of the as-built area, so you can determine exactly where to open a wall, ceiling or floor to add or remove a particular element or use it to pull up the user manual for a particular piece of equipment that needs maintenance. Or, let the heavy-equipment operators use it. They can strip away the building to its foundation and footprint and know exactly where to start digging. Or let project managers manage their projects, see the progress and highlight any issues. Virtual reality construction technology Robyn beck/AFP/Getty Images Now, go even further into this real-life StarTrek scenario, and add a piece of wearable technology. Strap a pair of large, weird goggle-like glasses to your head and bring the model up to full scale. Real reality is gone and you’re transformed into the model, where you can see, sense and feel. You can "walk" through the building, open a door, look out a window, and experience how large or small a room is. You might decide your concept doesn’t work. Others might decide it’s not exactly what they had in mind. Or, perhaps you’ll blow them away. Benham: Construction technology components with the most promise Structure Sensor SoftKinetic LeapMotion iBeacons Matterport Project Tango Skycatch Microsoft Hololens Daqri Smart Helmet The takeaway for AEC pros StephenLam/Getty Images "Remodeling will be fundamentally transformed," says Benham. "The ease of use to create documentation will be staggering … and a lot of [what you need] will be passively collected images and video. We will have terabytes of collected data of 3D models, photos and videos, all Geo-referenced." "Taking model from workstation to a mobile device democratizes BIM in a big way," Benham concludes. Related Posts: BIM benefits outlined by building industry pro Bimbo Bakeries USA exec: Bringing diverse cultures together for quality assurance Broadridge’s Daly: The future of Wall Street is technology Morningstar relatively bullish on Highway Trust Fund and road, bridge construction through 2024 The strategic CFO Star Trek-like construction technology originally published by SmartBlogs

SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 190,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each week in our e-newsletter. How well do you push your own thinking before involving others? Very well — I advance ideas as much as possible before relying on others: 59.4% Well — I could stand to do a little more thinking though: 36.32% Not well — I’m overly reliant on others to advance the thinking: 3.42% Poorly — I rarely advance the thinking before involving others: .85% Think Then Think Some More. Investing time thinking through your ideas is worth the effort. It increases efficiency as you’re not wasting a stakeholder’s time by having them think through something you can figure out. It builds your skills in terms of creativity and anticipation. It also improves your reputation as a more strategic thinker. So the next time you’re about to involve a stakeholder in your thoughts, pause and ask yourself if you’ve thought about the issue as much as you can. If the answer is no, keep thinking. Mike Figliuolo is managing director of thoughtLEADERS, author of "Lead Inside the Box: How Smart Leaders Guide Their Teams to Exceptional Results" and "One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful, Personal Leadership." Related Posts: How effectively do content marketing efforts (blogs, white papers, etc.) drive action by your customers? Where does the biggest threat to your organization come from? How important is a SWOT analysis in your strategic planning efforts? How well do you recognize when something will "trigger" you in a negative way? How involved are you with "more senior" conversations? How well do you push your own thinking before involving others? originally published by SmartBlogs

This post is sponsored by Infocomm. InfoComm 2015 has it all: the lights, the sounds and certainly the action. Most of that flashy stuff happens in prime time — exhibition days on the show floor. So you may be asking yourself, "What is there to do before then?" Decent question. The answer is pretty straightforward - plenty! From education sessions to networking events, there are many things you can do prior to the opening of the exhibit hall. A great way to spend pre-exhibition time in Orlando (other than enjoying the warm Florida sun) is to learn, learn and learn, and with InfoComm University, you can take the next step in becoming a better AV pro. Learn things that you will find useful in your everyday job or fortify your foundation. According to industry professionals, nearly every student who has taken a class with us found that the training was useful and was handy in real world application. So what’s holding you back? It’s time to rise up to the challenge, hit the play button on the training montage music and get motivated! With InfoComm University’s Three-Day Courses taking place from Saturday, June 14 to Monday, June 15, you can spend the aforementioned number of days learning new things or preparing yourselves to attack any situation that may arise. Let’s take a look at some of the courses that will be available: New for 2015! How to Effectively Manage AV Spaces and Staff Join John Arpino, CTS-D, of George Washington University for this new session. Discover how to create SOPs, develop onboarding tools, train and develop your direct reports, engage end users, and manage AV/IT incidents more efficiently. Gain fresh ideas, practice training techniques and examine real-world practices that will help you knock out everyday responsibilities with ease. Essentials of AV Technology Are you an AV newbie and looking for a great introduction to our great industry? Look no further than the Essentials of AV Technology course. Justin Watts, CTS of Apache Corporation and Joel Rollins of Everett Hall Associates give you a crash course on the cool parts of our industry. Explore microphones, cameras and displays, digital and analog signals, future trends and everything AV. You can also use this course as a review session for the InfoComm-Recognized AV Technologist Test, a certificate program to help you prove your AV knowledge. CTS Prep Many people who attend the show take their CTS Exams onsite, but if you aren’t quite ready to take the next step, you can always prepare for the next round. CTS Prep will ease your nerves and boost your confidence about the CTS exam by combining instructor-led guidance, collective group work and self-assessment. Networking Technology Learn about the fundamentals of networking tech in this core knowledge class for all AV professionals. Networking Technology teaches the basics of information technology and IP networking. You’ll learn to perform basic troubleshooting on the network that supports your AV system. All About Audio Gordon Moore, CTS of Lectosonics, Inc. provides a hands on training opportunity for those interested in learning more about audio. Troubleshoot audio issues by applying acoustical theory to live sound demos, sound memory labs and real-world scenarios. If you are new to the industry, don’t miss this primer. This is just a few of many of the three-day sessions available. So why not come visit us a little early this year and power through some valuable training on your way to seeing the coolest technology that the pro-AV industry has to offer? Get a sneak peek at the training opportunities available at InfoComm 2015. Be sure to register for InfoComm 2015 soon with VIP code BLOG and while you are at it, take on some great three-day classes as well! Narin Nara is the multimedia communications manager at InfoComm International in Fairfax, Va. Related Posts: No Related Posts Infocomm 2015: Cue the Three-Day Training Montage originally published by SmartBlogs

Every education conference features sessions about schools using technology to support teaching and learning in creative, interesting ways. But are schools and districts really nurturing innovative thought and practices? We polled SmartBrief on EdTech readers this month to take a pulse on whether or not innovation is a primary concern for their schools and districts. As it turns out, schools are split down the middle on this issue. When asked if their schools encourage them to think of out-the-box ways they can use technology, 50% of readers responded "yes" and 50% responded "no." Different barriers stand in the way of ed-tech innovation. Topping the list are tight budgets at 47%. Other obstacles include lack of time, tedious approval processes, limited tech-savvy educators and poor leadership support. But educators do want to know how their peers are pulling off these projects. When asked what kinds of information they’re interested in, 56% of readers said they want details on the how - the nuts and bolts of the plans - from idea to deployment. Thirty-four percent want to know how schools are getting funding for these projects. Here’s a full look at the poll data: Most — if not all — schools are using some form of technology to support learning and instruction or operations. But has your school made a priority of encouraging out-of-the-box ed-tech initiatives?  My school/district encourages us to think of creative — but productive — ways we can use technology. 50% No, for many reasons, such as tight budgets, lack of knowledge and low support for tech. 50% What barriers typically prevent your school or district from getting creative with technology? Tight budgets. 47% Lack of time. 17% Approval processes (getting ideas past my IT and legal departments) are tedious. 10% Limited number of tech-savvy educators. 17% Lack of leader support for tech initiatives. 9% Seeing how other schools and districts are getting creative with tech initiatives can be a great inspiration and knowledge source. What kinds of information do you want to see? Tell me where they got the money for the program. 34% Buy-in. How did they sell it to their stakeholders? 9% The plan. How they did it, from idea to deployment. 56% Is your school making innovation a priority? What kinds of creative ed-tech projects are happening in your classrooms? We want to hear! Drop us a line or leave a comment in the space below. Related Posts: No Related Posts Are schools encouraging ed-tech innovation? originally published by SmartBlogs

(Photo: Whitehall Lane Winery) It is nearly impossible to be taken seriously as a brand without establishing a social media presence. This holds true in the food and beverage arena — brands are expected to communicate and connect with their consumers online through social media in order to stay relevant. According to Razorfish, 64% of consumers have made a first purchase from a brand because of a digital experience, and more than half of consumers use the internet before making a purchase in shops. One St. Helena, Calif.-based winery, Whitehall Lane, understands the value and necessity of doing social media effectively. Katie Leonardini, vice president of retail sales for Whitehall Lane, created social media pages in 2008 and saw immediate benefits in the way these accounts allowed the brand to connect directly with its audience. She decided social media was worth the effort, and began a working relationship with The Abbi Agency to manage Whitehall Lane’s social media content. We have worked with Whitehall Lane to hone its techniques to a tight-knit strategy and have grown social channels to a collective more than 12,000 fans. With Leonardini’s goals of quality customer engagement and retention in mind, we have developed countless campaigns and worked to strengthen the winery‘s social accounts. We’d like to share some best practices we’ve strived for in our social media success: 1. Learn and follow legal guidelines First, and arguably most important, a company promoting alcohol-related products must learn the specific rules of what they are allowed to do online. Facebook has strict guidelines about promotion of alcohol, and requires posts about alcoholic products to be specifically targeted to an audience of a legal drinking age. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau does not allow us to give away any alcohol, or encourage engagement from those who are not of legal drinking age. These guidelines affect our daily social posting and overall strategy, but ignoring them would be detrimental to Whitehall Lane. 2. Encourage and use user-generated content We’ve found that one of the most effective ways to connect with fans through Whitehall Lane’s social media is by highlighting authentic brand experiences with user-generated content. We use and repurpose content posted by Whitehall Lane customers almost daily to each of our outlets. Before you can leverage user-generated content, you must find it. We started by establishing a clear brand hashtag that users could post to. To encourage use of our hashtag, we regularly host photo contests and work with Leonardini to offer non-alcoholic prizes, such as fun merchandise with Whitehall Lane’s logo. Sometimes these prizes will include tastings at the winery, other times we’ll work with another local business to give away a package or cookbook. We’ll also use Instagram locations to search through geo-tagged photos on Instagram and interact with people who have physically visited and tagged the winery. In reaching out to them, we’ll encourage them to participate in our hashtag and request explicit permission so we are able to share their content. Once your audience begins to participate in providing photos and other content featuring your brand, share it everywhere! We re-share content from Whitehall Lane fans on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and even as blog content. It has allowed us to feature passionate fans of our brand while also highlighting real experiences of the wine and winery. 3. STOP. Collaborate and listen While it seems counter-intuitive to use your online channels to promote other brands, we have found great success in partnerships on social media. By working with complementary brands that are either near Whitehall Lane geographically or have products that fit with the overall message, we have been able to grow our following and engagement through sharing targeted audiences. One of our most successful social media campaigns has been #MerlotMe, which was created by a dozen Napa Valley wineries in 2013 to promote appreciation for Merlot. With many other brands and users interacting with the hashtag #MerlotMe, we were able to capitalize on our use of the tag to create unique, branded content that fit with the overall conversation. 4. Reward loyal fans Whitehall Lane frequently hosts contests and giveaways through social media to increase user-generated content and newsletter databases. But, we also use these contests as a way to drive brand loyalty by rewarding faithful customers. We have never aimed to drive high numbers of fans, but instead to grow a quality fan base of followers who genuinely like our brand. This mentality stems from Whitehall Lane’s overall brand identity, but also is extremely effective on social media. An intimate fan base gives us the ability to interact more with our followers and reward them for following us. And, a fan who we call out or award prizes to feels appreciated and is more likely to share our content. Win-win. 5. Know and find your audience Whitehall Lane has a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest and has engaged audiences on each of these platforms. To develop these fanbases, we’ve learned what type of audience we have on each platform and have tailored our content directly to each one. Before expanding to a new social media platform, brands must spend time researching demographics and popular content on new platforms. This will inform posting strategies and assist in fan base growth. We are also always on the lookout for new places to reach our audience. Wine reviewing apps, such as Vivino and Delectable, have recently spiked in popularity, and we’ve worked them into our overall strategy. While we cannot directly respond to users on the apps, we search for Whitehall Lane reviews that have been shared through Twitter and thank users directly. In our work with Whitehall Lane’s social media accounts over the last couple of years, The Abbi Agency has developed a cohesive strategy across social media channels. Through contesting, development of original content, fan interactions and our work with user-generated content, we’ve been able to grow the overall social following by more than 9,000 fans and create more than 60,000 genuine interactions with individuals. Allegra Demerjian is the digital communications manager for The Abbi Agency, where she leads a digital team to create and implement cross-channel social media engagement strategies for brands. To keep up with her online happenings, follow her @allegradem. __________________________________________________ If you enjoyed this article, join SmartBrief’s email list for more stories about the food and beverage industry. We offer 14 newsletters covering the industry from restaurants to food manufacturing. Related Posts: How Whole Foods Market uses social media to keep its marketing fresh Pairing wine with social media Live at #BMA15: How B2B marketers must adapt Running scared when failure occurs How to create a WOW customer experience 1 winery’s best practices in social media originally published by SmartBlogs

I recently delivered a talk at an advancement conference on the topic of identifying and communicating a school’s unique qualities and mission. During the presentation, an issue emerged that sits at the forefront of the minds of many of the professionals who were in attendance. I spoke of the need for advancement personnel — development, admissions, recruitment/retention, communications, marketing, etc. — to connect deeply and continually with academic leadership. Too often, the two offices operate as independent silos, with each group focused almost exclusively on their respective domains without much awareness or interest in what is occurring across the hallway or elsewhere on campus. Part of this dynamic may come from each group’s familiarity and comfort level. Academic leaders are usually promoted from the classroom. They excel as instructors and instructional leaders and prefer to talk about pedagogy, to engage with teachers and students, and to deal with the kinds of tasks that are typically associated with school function — scheduling, supervision, curriculum, etc. Advancement personnel may not have any background as educational professionals; a sizable number of participants at my talk came to their current schools from the for-profit world and held degrees that were not education specific. As a former principal, I can also speak to the fact that many school leaders do not feel all that comfortable, or at least not all that motivated, to address advancement-related tasks and support their colleagues on the other side of the educational aisle. They see their jobs as "principal teachers" — the title that spawned the term "principal" — and view the business side of institutional function as necessary evils to ensure that the school can open its doors and fill its classrooms. This mindset can serve to erect formidable barriers between them and their advancement peers. To be sure, this "silo mentality" does not only exist amongst schools. Dr. Peter Hawkins recently delivered an online seminar to executive coaches on this topic. He spoke about how the days of the heroic CEO — the individual who single-handedly saves a corporation from falling over the fiscal cliff and restores it to past glory — are over. The team, he said, is the king of the 21st century workplace. And that is an issue because so many companies do not promote genuine teamwork, particularly across departments. Today’s challenges, said Hawkins, stem from the rapid rate of workplace change, as well as what he called the "unholy trinity": increased demands, increased expectations and decreased resources. Do more, at higher quality, and at a lower cost. To combat these challenges, Hawkins suggests that there needs to be lots of learning and deep connections, a continued flow of thoughts and ideas throughout organizations that bring people together to grapple with issues, identify solutions and build trust and efficacy. I believe that Hawkins’ suggestions work well in the school environment too. Change is a huge challenge for school-leaders today. Not only is technology and 21st century learning altering the way we approach classroom instruction and student learning, it also affects how schools connect with constituents and supporters. Principals and advancement personnel need to be in continuous contact to monitor progress and share information. They must come together to clarify their underlying mission, goals and objectives, and share information about their experiences, observations, successes and setbacks. This communication will help both sides in their work and promote consistent, complimentary messaging that is crucial to recruit and retain students and satisfy constituents. Are you a teacher? Would you like to strengthen school leadership? Take this short survey to add your voice to the conversation about how school leaders can best motivate their teachers to excel. Naphtali Hoff (@impactfulcoach) became an executive coach and consultant following a 15-year career as an educator and school administrator. Read his e-book "Core Essentials of Leadership" and his blog at impactfulcoaching.com/blog. Related Posts: Maintaining balance 4 R’s of summer school: Keeping the momentum going Is delegation a nasty word? How to go from "teacher" to "teacherpreneur" From classroom to boardroom: How to combine your passion for education and innovation Linking educational silos originally published by SmartBlogs

Alejandro Cebado This post is sponsored by TraceGains. Everyone in an organization has a role in providing our customers superior quality products, says Alejandro Cebado, senior director of quality systems at Bimbo Bakeries USA. Bimbo Bakeries USA has become the nation’s largest baking company through a series of acquisitions, and now operates more than 60 bakeries across the country. Cebado says working in that kind of environment has enabled him to learn and grow from the influence of the various corporate cultures that have been melded together. "I have the privilege to lead the BBU Quality and Food Safety team in building, implementing and operating a comprehensive and effective quality system that will support BBU operations in delighting our consumers every day with safe and superior quality baking products," said Cebado. SmartBrief recently spoke with Cebado about his role at the company and his advice for young quality professionals. What are the aspects of your position that you are most passionate about, and why? As you probably know, BBU is the result of several consecutive acquisitions. Due to that, different sectors of the company have very specific cultural differences and different approaches to solve similar problems or to operate similar processes. It is a fascinating challenge to discover this multitude of alternatives, understand and learn from each of them and, at the end, build a scenario that best covers our company’s requirements. That is only one quarter of the job! Once the agreement on the new approach has been built, implementing it through an effective change management process is another quarter of the challenge. The remaining half is operating the system and driving improvement in both the operation and the quality system. What advice would you offer for up-and-coming quality assurance professionals? Think of quality as one of the most effective business strategies available to drive a sustainable company. Every company exists with the purpose to provide goods or services that a user or consumer wants, and by doing that, create value. If a company doesn’t have that, that company doesn’t have a business, no matter how efficient, how well distributed the product, what strong brands are behind the product or how competitive the price. If the product doesn’t satisfy consumers, there is no business. The product is first — all other aspects are characteristics and things that are necessary to add to a good product. Improving quality is about reducing variation in the process. That alone is a powerful productivity strategy to reduce waste, this also enables the possibility to implement solid continuous improvement processes in a more predictable environment. Promoting quality also helps to create a healthy culture in the company, a higher objective, our responsibility to consumers, our communities and our families. Active participation of people at all levels is focused in the common goal of improving their operation and their processes. People have the opportunity to grow as professionals at all levels of the company through applying creativity and hard work. What are the most important qualities for young quality assurance professionals starting out in the business? It is a necessity to have an open mind to learn the business they are working for. The theory behind Quality does not change. The trick is HOW you apply that theory, where you start and how the system needs to evolve. Quality needs to be learned and developed in a company. That learning is never random. It needs to be driven with specific actions. This is possible with a deep understanding of the business (operation, market and culture). A solid education, of course is also required to manage the process. Customer skills to facilitate the translation of consumers insights into actionable specifications in the product. Communication skills. Driving the evolution of a quality culture requires communication at all levels, in order to engage, train, follow up and motivate others to join the journey. Systemic approach and change-management skills. What are some of the key ways that human decision-making and technology intersect in your role with the company? Technology provides better information for decision makers, giving them the necessary information to make accurate decisions. Let’s just be aware that excess of data gives the illusion of information sophistication and creates functional nonsense. Information should be simple and crafted specifically for the decisions or behaviors it intends to drive. What are some of the ways that inter-departmental collaboration is important in quality assurance? Quality is a shared responsibility. There are very clear relationships, like the procurement department and its role in sourcing good quality raw materials for the production. Other areas are not so clear: HR, for example, needs to attract the talent to manage and operate the processes and make decisions. Finance should have the correct costing process to determine prices in the market correctly. Every single person in the company has a role in delivering quality to consumers. How have your relationships with suppliers evolved over the years? In a general way, it has always been collaborative. However, from the quality assurance perspective, there have been trends that appear to be present in several countries: During the ’80s and early ’90s, there was an emphasis on intensive testing. There was a laboratory in every location. During the late ’90s suppliers were considered reliable enough to stop supervision. Manufacturers relied on certificates of analysis with very limited or no supervision. After 15 years of that process, the lack of supervision caused materials to have greater variations. Since 2010 limited or focalized supervision has become common again. Technology enables manufacturers to use more efficiently all the information generated in this process, something that was not feasible some years ago. Taking advantage of this opens significant improvement possibilities for both our suppliers and our business. What do you see as the keys to maintaining good supplier relationships? The first is transparency. Leave nothing to imagination. Translating that into a procurement and quality assurance system for materials, requires a supplier approval process, contract, documented quality, food safety and logistics expectations, agreed consequences for both parties in case of deviations, a supervision system visible to all involved instances, risk assessment, periodic review of results at different levels, corrective actions to eliminate deviations or improve performance and technology development. Second, create a healthy competitive environment. Distribute the risk among several suppliers. Learn about the market conditions, competitors, technical background, the role of those materials in your process, associated trends for that industry, etc. Third, close follow-up. Review results and look for opportunities no matter how high is the compliance level: there’s always room for improvement. __________________________________________________ If you enjoyed this article, join SmartBrief’s email list for more stories about the food and beverage industry. We offer 14 newsletters covering the industry from restaurants to food manufacturing. Related Posts: Pinnacle Foods: The human element in supply chain quality assurance Star Trek-like construction technology Broadridge’s Daly: The future of Wall Street is technology The strategic CFO How the food industry is making sense of big data Bimbo Bakeries USA exec: Bringing diverse cultures together for quality assurance originally published by SmartBlogs