If you get on the 101 north and drive for about an hour and a half, you’ll find yourself in the quaint little town of Mountain View, California, home of a little internet company called Google – maybe you’ve heard of them. Undoubtedly, Google redefined how we use the internet, but they also redefined how employees spend their time while at work. Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin wanted to foster a culture of creative innovation, where employees felt empowered to work on projects of personal interest. The result: Google’s famed (and unofficial) policy encouraging employees to dedicate a percentage of their work week on projects not directly related to their to-do lists. Although some rumor that Google has abandoned its once avant-garde policy, companies and organizations the world over have adopted, en masse, the innovative apparatus that brought us things like Google News, AdSense, and even Gmail.

Here in Monterey, in our eternal quest to redefine the bounds of collaborative learning and innovation, the Center of Concentrated Awesomeness (also known as the Digital Learning Commons to the uninitiated) has implemented its own “10% Time.” Inspired by the book, “The 20Time Project: How educators can launch Google’s formula for future-ready innovation“, DLC graduate assistants are spending an hour a week mobilizing their passions and creativity to benefit not only themselves and the Commons, but also the wider MIIS community. Staff hope that the still inchoate project will promote increased learner agency and provide unique opportunities for learning.

Some projects included in the 10% time this semester include: Developing a culture of storytelling across the MIIS community, increasing personal knowledge of unfamiliar software, promoting awareness of digital privacy policies, and facilitating the optimization of collaborative learning in the Design Space.

If you’re interested in learning more about our projects, stop by the DLC and ask us about how we’re spending our “10% time!”