The iPod Took My Seat: "By visiting the course's websites, the 200 enrolled students could download audio recordings or watch digital videos of the lectures, as well as read the instructor's detailed lecture notes and participate in online discussions. But there was one big problem: So many of the undergraduates relied on the technology that, at times, only 20 or so actually showed up for class."
Comment: Personally, I don't equate attendance with learning. By now, it should almost be a requirement that course content should be available online - I don't book with hotels or airlines that don't offer online self-service (not sure if there are too many out there that don't have this option). Why would I take a course where online content and discussions aren't available? And if resources are available online, what does the classroom offer that can't be found online? I could see labs and practical demonstrations, some case studies, group simulations requiring attendance. Beyond that, most of what happens in a university lecture is equal to watching a video recording. The only negative I see: sometimes classroom schedules can keep students motivated and on task (so they don't get too far behind). Even then, a bit of planning by instructors (virtual office hours, weekly emails detailing required readings, etc.), and the problem can be minimized.
Christopher hits all the key concepts (and buzzwords) - a great one paragraph overview: Emergence of blogs and wikis
Don't confuse me with the facts: "When it comes to forming opinions and making judgments on hot political issues, partisans of both parties don't let facts get in the way of their decision-making, according to a new Emory University study."
Comment: There is more to thinking than cognition and mental computations. Our emotional/belief system often serves as a filtering agent to what we are even prepared to move onto our cognitive systems.
Blogs are our Brains: "The dilemma of the blogosphere as well as our brains is....chaos." Not sure if that's a good or bad thing...my own interests place blogging as a critical node in my personal learning network. In error, I believe, we place "knowing with certainty" as a more valuable than "knowing with chaos". We would rather have someone say "this is how it is" than someone say "I think it's this way, but here are some points that contradict that". That mindset needs to change in our information abundant era. Knowing is not the absence of doubt or uncertainty.
In previous posts, I've made vague statements that our conception of learning is too narrow. We define learning as knowledge acquisition, training, intellectual growth, career preparation, etc. These are all aspects of learning, but they are "small views". Simply put, life is learning, business is learning. Learning is not a component of life and business - it is the entity itself. Learning is a constant thread that runs through life. The challenges facing organizations today are addressed through learning - but not learning the way we have done it in the past. Courses, programs, and certifications still have a role, but no longer primary. The real task of organizations is to create an ecology of learning that provides the needed basis for transformations. Society, business, and life have changed so dramatically, that our existing means of organizing ourselves seems terribly outdated. The new organisation: "The way people work has changed dramatically, but the way their companies are organised lags far behind..."
Handheld/mobile computers offer much hope in extending learning beyond classrooms or physical learning spaces. The hype (and potential) around handhelds has been around many years. Unfortunately, we haven't really managed to create an infrastructure that works. I can use my Blackberry for basic browsing/email/SMS. Very few groups or organizations have managed to make mobile learning work (well, maybe they've made it work, but only at a fairly basic level). If you are doing something interesting or advanced with mobile learning (corporate, public education, or vendor), email me. wwwtools tackles the subject: Handheld Computers for Education
Nice iTunes U: "Students expect a campus environment that accommodates their digital lifestyle, adapts to their individual learning needs, and encourages collaboration and teamwork. Introducing a way to simplify and meet all these needs — iTunes U."
David Wiley is presenting on the manner in which learning is changing. He has requested feedback on his blog. Take a few minutes to read his post (some excellent thoughts on the nature of changes occurring int business, science, and the world) and provide some feedback. I'm particularly interested in this subject in relation to connectivism. The challenge of learning is forcing itself onto institutions - learners have changed, society has changed. The process of learning has not. It's a disconnect that will provide new opportunities for many, and deliver a death blow for others.
This should be the main discussion point for schools and training departments until they "get it" - New Media and Learning in the 21st Century: "The “box” of the classroom will not contain or meet the needs of the new global culture that the Net has spawned. Both millennials, with their native technology proclivities, and the larger population of lifelong learners, returning to education for career enhancement and life enrichment, will have little tolerance for “playing school.” Colleges and universities need to validate and capitalize on the propensities of these learners and leverage their abilities for engaging authentic challenges and each other."
The Come To Me Web: "As people get more accustom to reusing information and media as they want and need, they find they are not focussed on just one device (the desktop/laptop), but many devices across their life...Keeping information attracted to one's self or within easy reach, not only requires the information and media be available across devices, but to be in common or open formats."
When I first started playing around with learning technologies, I was surprised at the development model being employed - most instructors moved their own content online, applying their limited/extensive expertise of teaching/pedagogy/technology. The results were interesting (to put it mildly). Some courses were excellent, others were horrible. The challege then (as it is know) is for an institution to effectively use employee skills and resources to generate the best (defined by efficiency and quality) results. Many tasks (programming, Flash, instructional design) are best handled through specialized teams...whereas the teacher plays the primary role of fostering interaction and guiding learners. When a team development approach is used, issues of content ownership (and ego) quickly arise. The Myth about Online Course Development tackles some of the challenges of "lone wolf" instructors. Some skills (basic HTML, navigating an LMS, blogging, contributing to a wiki) can be described as basic literacy skills for students in a digital age...and all educators should be literate in those areas. Other skills, like programming, are best left to specialized members of a team.
David Warlick on Shallow Standards/Deep Learning: "Our students must leave school able to make themselves experts and able to teach themselves, becoming learners and relearners. Our current model does not do this."
A simple, axiomatic, but profound thought that shapes our organizations and institutions - Organizational knowledge: "It’s a common, powerful human behavior: most of us pay more attention to news, events, and opinions that seem to confirm our ideas than to evidence that those ideas may be wrong; most of us look for reasons to justify what we’ve already decided we want to do. And we live in a culture that values certainty more than doubt, especially in our leaders." (emphasis added).
Christopher Sessums links to his social software wiki. Take a few minutes and stop by his blog - some great thoughts over the last weeks.
Stephen Downes has a list of audio files available from a recent series of presentations. Topics include blogs, wikis, creative commons, social software, connectivism, etc. I chuckled at his take on the statement that multi-tasking diminishes a person's IQ by 10 points: if an individual has an IQ of 120, and works on four tasks, resulting in a 10 point IQ drop, the impact of four tasks still results in a working IQ of 440. Interesting logic.
Mashing up your aggregator: "I realized that the aggregator needs to extend beyond the box of a single tool."
Comment: Bloggers are still a fairly small aspect of the information space. Smaller still are those who read blogs via an aggregator. An aggregator (in very simple terms) is a software tool that automatically visits blogs (or other sites) and pulls in any new information on the site (or changes since the last visit). It's a great way to keep track of numerous resources without wasting time visiting sites that haven't changed. I use bloglines - a web-based service. My aggregator has become a second browser - I learn more through my aggregator than I do through any other digital device (take that Google!). While I value its simplicity, I would like more functionality - like quality tagging, social bookmarking, long-term storage of information, information rating, etc. I would like my aggregator to extend beyond simple information acquisition, and become more central to other areas of my personal learning network (not only blog reading).
It's been awhile since I've posted anything directly related to RSS - here's a quick primer article for newcomers: "RSS is all about making it easier to find and read (or listen to) the information that you are seeking...The idea of an aggregator is to bring all your information together in one place."
Nurturing the network: "As a teacher, my role is a fine line between taking over the network, leaving it too much alone, and nurturing it, helping it to build up." Exactly. I've viewed long viewed an educator's role as being that of a facilitator. I now believe that an educator's role is to foster and direct network formation - connecting learners to each other, to content, to new tools.
I encountered this listing of neuroscience lectures from Mind Hacks. The videos are at times choppy (and postage stamp size), but still a useful collection - covering subjects such as emotions, cognitions, memory, language, and brain structure. Advances in neuroscience are giving educators a new view into the learning process and ways to optimize the experience for learners. What used to be largely theoretical machinations of educators is receiving strong support from latest brain-based research
Several edu-bloggers have been exploring Personal (Virtual) Learning Environments in relation to Learning Management Systems. Terry Anderson details the advantages and disadvantages of both PLEs and LMS...James Farmer chimes in with his thoughts on the architecture (i.e. how this should work) of a PLE. I really believe that over the next several years we will see significant change in how we teach with technology. I believe that an LMS of some type will be part of the process, but not the center. I believe that the end-user will gain greater control over their identity and their content (eportfolio system). I believe that learning will continue to be acknowledged as a social process (blogs, podcasts, networks), we will make some progress transforming (not only transferring) learning from classrooms to online/blended, the aggregation of the many will be a key component in shaping our shared understanding, and networks of connections and content will tie the whole thing together. Many of the individual pieces are available - unfortunately, too much of the conversation seeks to exclude either LMS' or PLEs. Acknowledging the multiple domains of learning, and then selecting the right tool for the right task, is a starting point we still often skip.
David Wiley offers a challenging question on the status of learning objects (David, together with Stephen Downes, has contributed enormously to the learning object discussion): "So if learning objects are dead - and they may be - what is it that we should care about? As instructional technologists interested in further empowering people to exercise their right to education, what should be the focus of our design and research efforts?"
Stanford iTunes is a great example of universities experimenting with informal learning. Numerous podcasts of lectures are available (faculty lectures, sports, news, business, etc.). This approach would also provide organizations the ability to communicate with staff through a listing of podcasts/lectures/corporate procedures. To use the Stanford service, iTunes software (a free download)...it would be nice to have lectures available as simple audio files, not only through iTunes...but this is a start.
As part of the ongoing increased functionality of social bookmarking (and integration with other social tools): blinklist: "BlinkList is social bookmarking merged with people powered search and expert recommendations".
Soon we'll have the blog, wiki, social bookmark, social network, podcasting, RSS aggregator, personal learning network tool...:).
I've posted a 6 1/2 minute podcast on personal frustrations with designers/developers who have an approach to learning...and try and use it for every situation. The requirement and environment of a learning need should define the approach...
I have yet to come across a complete timeline of how learning technologies have developed over the last 10 years. The Learning Technologies Timeline project provides an overview of the history (and attempts to predict the future) of development. Activity in the learning technology space has exploded over the last decade - a clear overview of this stage of development would be nice...
Wikis: News, History by Committee: "News is one of the most effective uses of an oddly named technology created in 1995 by a Portland, Ore., programmer named Ward Cunningham, which was based on the idea that information should be shared openly and remain accountable to everyone. Known as "wiki," the software allows the creation of Web pages that can be edited indefinitely by anyone with access, regardless of who wrote the original work."
Crash Course in Learning Theory - this is an accessible exploration of learning. Creating Passionate Users does a nice job incorporating images in explaining ideas and concepts. A great example of images and emotion to assist in learning. The article explores many commonly understood strategies to motivating and fostering learning (Gagne's 9 events of instruction, brain-based learning, learning styles, multiple intelligence, etc.). The author asserts that dry academic writing inhibits learning...where a more conversational tone improves learning. From my experience, I agree. However, I find that writing that appeals highly to emotions and interest, sometimes sacrifices cognitive elements (such as this "bogus research" on reading, seeing, hearing). I'm not sure what it is, but a nice graphic seems to communicate so well that critical thinking takes a back seat...
Is Content King? No. Absolutely not. Relevant and current content may be king...but all of our content delivery structures (newspapers, TV, education) are geared to content that is static. Our structures are not designed for dynamic, rapidly changing content. That's the systemic problem with education today. We are currently only seeing cracks in the structure, but those cracks will soon become gaping holes (think music, movie, and news industries).
Is the mind like a computer? Evidence that it is not - I've stated previously that learning is more about pattern recognition than information processing. This article partly supports that assertion by detailing potential multi-tasking/multi-use aspects of cognition: "Unlike computers, whose highly specialized hardware often performs only a single task, the mind appears to make use of sensory systems not only for sensing, but also for imagining."
Will Richardson has published an overview article of different tools available for teaching and learning. Blogs, RSS, webcams, podcasts, and streaming video are reviewed. As I was reading the article, I was struck by the "un-LMS-like" view of learning created by these tools. Each tool for a task, not an LMS for all learning tasks.
Microsoft is in the middle of a large scale reorganization of focus and intent. Through numerous initiatives (blogs, channel 9), Microsoft is beginning to listen (competition has a way of making a company do that :)). Google, however, seems to quickly be taking the baton of arrogance in the eyes of techies. This article does a fair job of detailing the dynamics of today's technology environment. The move from closed source (on desktop) to open source (on web) is beginning to impact the strategies of long-established software companies. As Google illustrates, being online does not equate with open source. APIs, while nice, do not equate with open source. Ultimately, for most people, the question is less about "is it open source" and more about "can I do what I want, when I want, with this tool?"
WHAT IS YOUR DANGEROUS IDEA? - if you're looking to waste a day, this is a good place to do it. Various thinkers have been asked to posit their dangerous idea. The resulting work is posted on this site. Be prepared for an exciting, infuriating, and frustrating article! From the site: "Something radically new is in the air: new ways of understanding physical systems, new ways of thinking about thinking that call into question many of our basic assumptions. A realistic biology of the mind, advances in evolutionary biology, physics, information technology, genetics, neurobiology, psychology, engineering, the chemistry of materials: all are questions of critical importance with respect to what it means to be human. For the first time, we have the tools and the will to undertake the scientific study of human nature."