Returning to the Questions

Remembering past discussions with colleagues, reminds me of our shared goals--helping students stay in the learning, and opening our minds to the tools they might use to show us what they know:

Karen's post: Questions to Ponder

What is World Cafe Dialogue?

Here you go: Nice video explanation--dialogue as collective

R Munkler's Christmas Gift to Us

This video was posted as end-of-course reflection at the graduate level. Enjoy.

Having a Geekfest with our Grown Children

Our grown children are home for Thanksgiving. We have been having so much Geek fun this am.GeekDaughter showed me the Files Lite app for the Iphone--you can file share between your desktop and your Iphone. SonnyGeek loaded the augmented reality app from Esquire and we played with that(after Timbuckteeth reminded me of it on Twitter). I showed him JING and he played with it some.

Art Site

Looking for a fantastic art history resource? This one includes images, conversations, and video:

http://smarthistory.org/

Wow.

Mobile Libraries: kiwanja.net / Mobile Applications Database

This very interesting resource came across from Mobile Libraries blogger Jerry McKiernan today. It is a database meant to help non-profs use mobile technologies in their work.

Mobile Libraries: kiwanja.net / Mobile Applications Database

Online Learning--Growing But Strapped

Chronicle Article

This article describes online learning's continued growth. That's the good news.
The bad news is related to HE state economies in distress and the need for money to support continued growth and quality. Also noted was the fact that the Sloan has ended its grants which amounted to $80 million in the past.

Faculty enthusiasm and vocalization are needed says the article. When asking why more faculty aren't exactly enthused, I want to ask, how does policy and the challenges of an LMS factor in? And how do instructional design training and instructional design support factor in?

Web2.0 Buffet

Check out this SlideShare Presentation: I was invited to present at the E-Learning Consortium of Colorado Faculty Development Day. Great time--it's great to be among enthusiastic practioners to learn and share.

Web2.0 Buffet

View more presentations from ConstantLearning.

Open Source Textbook Maker Flat World Gets Funded

I was just discussing open-text options with a reading faculty member yesterday. I want to explort this site...I know the open-source text movement is growing all the time.

Open Source Textbook Maker Flat World Gets Funded

Making a screencast in the next 30 minutes using Jing

Jing is a great little screen or video capture program.

Teachers Without Borders: SAfrica and Kenya

Here is John Schenker's video on K-12 experience with some of the edtech challenges, and with some solutions. We just need to keep working with it--glad people like him are in this world.

Photos from the Timbavati

Rick Voorhees took some fabulous pictures while we were in the Timbavati in South Africa:

DL at U Stellenbosch, South Africa

Thank you Dr. Tom Parks for arranging a rich and enjoyable visit to the Department of Telematics at Stellenbosch University. They have a tremendous interactive TV department there, and an interface that allow synchronous communication during sessions using phones for either text or voice. We are all asking ourselves how to best reach learners given our various geographical and technological contexts.

Increasing Learner Opportunities With Recent Technologies

View more presentations from ConstantLearning.

Shared Concerns and Intention from Nelson Mandela University

I'm at Nelson Mandela Metro University at the South African Association for Institutional Research Conference. I get to do be here because spouse Rick gave the keynote today. The Vice Chancellor named some of our shared challenges like the economy and trying to be all things to all people.

Here is also what he so well- expressed: "We need to find ways to combine social responsibility with compassion and also with realism, ... we ultimately want to stand for social good."

The conference opened with a performance by the awesome university choir and numbers ranging from a British show tune to the Beatles to a tribal dance/song medley which won them an award at a recent competition in Vienna.

BTW, the conference theme is "closing the loop--evidence to practice," with the emphasis on practice that is truly change-making at practice level.

It only reinforces my want of the importance of instructional research and how all sides of the house need to come together to design research that will help instruction and student services --to have the design help gather data that can improve instruction.

George Subotsky (University of South Africa, UNISA) provided a top-rate retention-success presentation on Distance Learning Students.

UNISA is a mega DL university serving 280,000 learners. He is talking about the importance of gathering data about the Student Walk (the journey or path represented by all contacts a learner(has with the institution along the way, esp. in the first two years) as a way of becoming better at supporting and retaining students. Love the term Student Path. He additional spoke of the "non-cognitive and institutional factors [that] may impact retention."

Once again, so much to appreciate about what can be learned from this community of practice.

Why Use Recent Technologies in the Classroom

I have been working on a presentation/
discussion for an exchange in South Africa --really excited to learn about technology-based learning there. As we've discussed topics of mutual interest, we've arrived at a title that goes something like "Increasing Student Learning Opportunities with Recent Technologies." It is an umbrella title for three topics I'd proposed--letting students use Web2.0 apps for formative and summative assessment purposes, the receptive, creative, and interactive uses of cell phones, and immersive learning through virtual worlds and serious games.

I think I've come up with a frame for why any of this matters beyond students want it or it is cool:

Cognitivists make a case for providing learning experiences which require increased engagement or active involvement, which result in more time and attention spent on the learning, and in turn increase the amount of learning.

From the institutional standpoint, though we may grumble about students as demanding customers, by paying attention to smart ways of delivering good learning we are increasing our institutional opportunity for delivery.

Your thoughts?

In the meantime, I've been exploring Virtual Africa in SL. Have my t-shirt and bought some other clothing. Visited a shop on Robben Island where I learned about native plants there as I love flowers and it will be spring when we go. Left a note with many others at the Leave an Imprint board put up for Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday.

Union of Cognititve and Affective Worlds

So today I had the opportunity to speak w/ a person in our office to develop curriculum for the next year. He brings together our Native American heritage and Asian experinces. He has extensive experience in digital storytelling and we were talking about the power of the added media in expressing the affective side of a cognitive experience.

In the meantime, son B who is in China was fitted for his (best-man) wedding clothes: silk robe, silk vest, hat. Can't wait to see those digital images.

Convergence...

Handheld Learning

I'm working with a colleague on a presentation of the cell-phone-clickers beta we just did and am looking for sources to add to our framework.

I searched Marc Prensky, remembering his cell-phone work, and then found a whole series of presentations on handheld learning:

Marc Prensky, Keynote

View more presentations from HandheldLearning.

Mobile Content Delivery in Louisianna

I would like to evaluate or do a case study on this new offering using Khan's Flexible E-Learning Model as at least one of the components. My understanding is that content is pushed through the phone, though interactivity with them does not occur through the phone. I'm still interested in the model though.

Wed. Instant Opportunity: 11 am Twitter as Assessment Online Session Today

Hi All,

I just happened to see this notice from the Teach Paperless faculty blogger-- He's providing a "Twitter as Assessment Tool" online today at 11 our time. Here's the link to join.

http://teachpaperless.blogspot.com/2009/07/twitter-as-assessment-tool-necc-20.html

Best, Alice

Just loaded TweetMic on my Iphone today

I'm all about giving options for creating content. So today I came across the TweetMic App for Iphone. It cost $.99 and I can create recordings that post directly to Twitter. When I think of the Econ faculty using Twitter because her class wanted it, for example, TweetMic could provide a verbal option for tweets to the class.

One feature I found frustrating--you can hear what you've recorded, but need to publish it clear the app for a future recording. I'm not sure what to do about a recording I'd like to delete rather than publishing it. The site says there is a "record over" option, but I am not seeing it.The only thing I could figure out was to publish a recording I wanted to delete, then go into Twitter and delete the post there. Hmmmm.

Howard Rheingold's Shoes from Twitpic

This is a fun picture from Howard Rheingold, a most savvy tech educator. He posted this picture with Twitpic. The code is available for placing the image on other sites. The only requirement it the link back to the site where it first was posted:



twitpic link

Visualizing Data as it Relates to Location

Having just finished Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer, I have been thinking of maps quite a bit today. According to author, Peter Turchi, mapping is about sense-making, and about visualization among other things. While searching out some educational use of map making, I came across this site which contains several ways to use Google mapping tools to help students visualize data as it relates to location:

Google Maps for Learning

More about mapping later...

Second Life Expands/Creates International Learning Opportunities

Opportunities for institutions to expand or even create international learning exchanges is well illustrated by this Second Life Workshop that U Oregon is offering with one of the Chinese universities:

http://casls.uoregon.edu/mychinainfo.php

Who is Publishing Your Work?

Some presses are becoming more aggressive about the rights of authors contributing to press-owned publications. These practices pertain to contributors/anthology editions more so than to editorial contracts--one press I have contributed to in the past requires that I rescind all rights to what I've written, with no royalties. I can then apply to use the content for specific reasons ("fair use") permissions (if I am aware that this is possible and ask for the form).

Other writers share that though they give up rights to the publisher, they simultaneously have the rights to use the content in workshops or courses. This is a more reasonable practice, but the rights are still signed over to the publisher.

In some international cases, my understanding is that there are presses where the authors do retain the copyright.

However, in the first cases mentioned here, writers contribute for academic reasons/motivations/pressures, and the presses are capitalizing on the academic need. With that in mind, I am re-considering where I contribute.


Looking at Athabasca Press gave me hope Athabasca Open Press.

Your experience and thoughts?

Educational Professional Development: Constant Learning, Community, Process

Education expert Will Richardson's recent post provides a current, continuous learning model for education professionals as well as everyone else.

It is continual, but how do you work that into the already packed day? It is communal--how do you get beyond physical space? It is process not web tools alone, though, and I would say that tools do become a way of thinking.

Online communities allow professionals to benefit, learn, and have company as they build expertise in small, continuous increments.

Nicely said. The strategies expand our possibilities for development. The practices will explains expand our definition and thinking about professional development, not only about expanding our practice through technology, but how we address challenges when we plan face-to-face events too.

MIT Student Designs

Have been thinking about this item since viewing it a few days ago for a couple reasons--mobility and the capacity to learn from everything around us. Could also push learning toward an increased considerations of connections between a myriad of sources?

Turchi's Book, Mapping, Imagination

I am currently reading Peter Turchi’s Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer, a birthday gift from daughter Danee. It captures two of my keen interests, maps and literature. Memorables: he distinguishes metaphorical map-making (symbolic regions) from scientific (realistic/geographic) map-making; he calls our sense-making activity “Tornado of the Mind” as opposed to “State of Mind,” reminds us maps omit as well as include, remarks that the size and emphasis of location on personal maps differ with individuals.

Not last, “Maps, like fiction and poetry, enable us to ‘see” what is literally too large for our vision” (p. 151).

This book joins other mapping artifacts in my collection, and all of this ties into thinking about just how technology is catapulting various forms of sense-making/mapping:

Transformation Scaffolds: Graphic Organizer Templates that can help students move from lower levels of knowledge to higher considerations: Transformation Scaffolds

Flickr’s Memory Maps Pool:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/memorymaps/pool/

My personal collection of maps from around the world, including some of my favorite bookstores and museums.

Wall maps to reinforce geographical references that come across in the media.

A book of maps about revolutions across the world.

Katherine Harmon’s You are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination.

And a book of essays in my workplace office called something like Geographies of the Imagination.

Potential List of Maps/web tours/mashups to make:
Work Map (What has been, is my work, where next?)
Maps of tech convergences related to teaching and learning engagement/demonstrations of learning
Life Map (Important Geographies or Periods and associated Personal Events )
Significant Conversation Maps (People, Content like learning and literature. the arts)
Subject Tour Maps for the Web and Second Life (kind of like brochures for walking tours..or is this just a list of links…)
Adventure Maps (ie Paris— Louise Borgoise sculpture of the hands (http://parisconnected.wordpress.com/2008/05/31/louise-bourgeois-welcoming-hands-for-you-in-paris-tuileries-garden/) as you depart from the Tuileries to walk up the Champs Elysees (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champs-%C3%89lys%C3%A9 )


Last, thought for this morning…and then there is the fact Google is mapping us.

Friday Film Festival: Michael Wesch Dance

Saw M Wesch's tweet about how he was moved by a dance performance based on one of his media videos.

Enjoy!

Field Trip to a (purchased) Paper Mill

This Chronicle feature hits a sore spot, but is an interesting expose: Journey to the Center of a Paper Mill.

http://chronicle.com/media/flash/v55/i28/essaymill/

Today's Chronicle and the old SQ4R

One of today's Chronicle of Higher Ed articles says recent research shows the students do well to read, then practice recall of what they just read as a retention strategy. While faculty may recommend careful reading, they were not stressing this particular step.

The studies support the old SQ4R study strategies--"Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Write, Review."

Many institutions had materials for this method listed on the web: One college's materials (I stopped counting at 30 instutions though there were many more.)So beyond the research points, another key point is that faculty also promote effective study skills for specific courses, perhaps.

NCTE Framework for 21st Century Curriculum and Assessment

NCTE Framework for 21st Century Curriculum and Assessment

This is worth looking at. Note how it adds the use of collaborative tools, global community, and graphic as well as textual expression.

Web 3.0 explained with a stamp (pt II: techniques)

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Web 3.0 explained with a stamp (pt II: techniques)

View more presentations from Freek Bijl.

Web 3.0 explained with a stamp (pt I: the basics)

Is it timely to learn more about Web 3.0?

Web 3.0 explained with a stamp (pt I: the basics)

View more presentations from Freek Bijl.

Mobile Learning for Healthcare

Today I attended (e-tended?) an Elluminate sponsored presentation about mobile devices and healthcare--very informative. The presenters provided examples of devices that relate to patient care, billing, and continuing ed for healthcare professionals.

Key issues?Privacy, standardization of health care records and systems.

But I will stop for a minute--one example the military is using is an ICEphone--I carry it on me, it provides critical health info if something happens to me. It also contains medical contacts and is a means of communciation for a health-care professional at treating me at the scene

Here's a recording to the session and future opportunities on various topics:

https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/event/description?instance_id=15560

Duke held its first film festival that included tweeting with viewing, then discussions.

Sue Waters' Keynote at TCC Conference

TCC is a 14 year old conference hosted by Hawaiin, Japanese colleges and sponsors like New Media Consortium. It's a worldwide conference and just a nice group of people who provide some really good presentations.

Just attended one of the opening keynotes by an educator/edublogger from Australia, Sue Waters. Her talk was about global projects that connect students to authentic global audiences--this understanding is different when we experience it. She pointed to the Net Gen Challenge and Flat Classroom Project as examples.

She advised educators to establish their own personal learning networks to learn and experience how the tools also impact/change the way we learn to "connect,communicate, collaborate,and create."

http://suewaters.wikispaces.com

138 in attendance: Australia, Saudi Arabia,Canada, and states including AK, OH, IA, AZ, PA, HI and more.

Last, Sue Waters has a sense of humor--when the technology got fussy, she remarked she might just "burst into tears and need chocolate." It resonated with a lot of us :).

DIP's Dispatches from the Imagination Age: The Launch of a Journalistic Experiment: The Virtual Newsroom of the American University in Cairo

DIP's Dispatches from the Imagination Age: The Launch of a Journalistic Experiment: The Virtual Newsroom of the American University in Cairo

New Journalism: In addition to the actual experince (Bloggers w/ James Glassman, Bush's then Under-Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs) one comment is that international conversations among avatars in virtual space adds a new dimension to the interaction.

And wait--this somehow relates to the Aspen Institute:
http://www.dancinginkproductions.com/uploads/pdfs/DIP_Aspen_2008.pdf