“Good ideas are a dime a dozen,” said someone completely misled about what classifies as a good idea. We all know that good ideas are far more rare. Good ideas in the classroom, doubly so. But how can you tell the difference between a good idea and a bad idea? Let’s practice with some 50/50 cases, shall we?

• Let’s start with an easy guide. Steven Spielberg is a pretty good judge of what’s a good idea and what’s a bad idea, his bank account might say. For that reason, it would probably be highly educational to watch the “Good Idea/Bad Idea” shorts from Spielberg’s critically acclaimed Animaniacs.
• Whether it’s real or not, not many people are ready to change their lifestyles to tackle climate change. For instance, not many of us would trade our car/bus for a nice bike ride to school each day. Though maybe we would if we were getting paid, like some workers are in France. Care to predict the success of that project?
• Now let’s think about education specifically. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) tend to polarize opinions among educators. Some say they are the way of the future and a means to better educating the masses. Others say they’ve got more problems than they’re worth. Anant Agarwal of edX obviously believes the former. What do you believe?

And now, as a reward for all of your hard work above, here’s a funny comic about a young Ghengis Khan.

Happy Friday!