Play is defined by a set of rules which form a bounded environment. But within those rules players have as much freedom as they like to create, innovate and experiment. Just think of all the amazing athletic feats that have emerged from a game like soccer, simply from the rule “you may not touch the ball with your hands.”
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A New Culture of Learning: An Interview with John Seely Brown and Douglas Thomas (Part ... - 1 views
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While I would love to let my students play and be creative, there also needs to be some time to explain some basic concepts before they can go out on their own and be creative. I think in a college environment, in higher level courses, you can allow the students to be more self-directed, but in more introductory courses, you need to work within a tighter set of rules until the students are aware of the basic concepts. Or, at the very least, some of the more self-directed learning may come towards the end of a semester, after the basic rules are understood. I know this is an issue in my online courses because I want to add more student-student interaction, but since they are newcomers in the area, it is hard to let them do that without a lot of instructor moderation. In later courses, they are much better at working through the concepts with each other instead of with the instructor.
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I think that this is a very interesting point. Like I said earlier, it amazes me at the number of young students who look for me to tell them what to do, what to believe, what is right. I want students to find their drive. To seek what they are interested in. How do we do this when the pressure of scores, evaluations, and effectiveness is all riding on test performance and the teaching of core curriculum?
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Our schools believe that teaching more, faster, with better technology is preparing our students for the 21st century.
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I think that this is a very interesting point! When reflecting on how my district views technology integration, I often think about the last few inservices we had. During those days, we sought video clips and websites to use in our lessons as activating strategies. Most of the time, these resources became extra visual aides in our lessons. The idea that we are using technology through this manner was expressed as the goal. After reading this, I see that the use of technology means something completely different!
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Marie, I agree with you. It reminds me of the reading assignment we had earlier in the semester where technology in classrooms were equated to fancier word processors. Often, the tool has changed but our purposes for the tools has not.
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Learning is happening everywhere, all the time
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One way that people need to change their thinking about the Internet is the idea that surfing around is inherently time wasting. Reading articles or posts can be just as educational as more traditional forms of learning. My Mom and Dad get their news from the newspaper, and I get mine from the Internet. We end up in the same place knowledge-wise, but we just get there differently.
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But we should be surprised when our students who go through the machine end up emerging looking like cogs.
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When education became more “mechanized” it began to lose that sense of play. After all, who wants “play” in their machinery? Play is not precise or efficient; it is messy.
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I was just reading about this period in educational history in the curriculum overview class, and what I thought of as a recent reform in schools of using corporate models is not recent at all. People were trying to use industrial priorities and methods to change education a hundred years ago! Maybe it's important to think of digital education as an evolution of mechanized education, just a computer is a digital evolution of a mechanical adding machine.
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Cultivation is a purposeful act, not something that just happens as a result of exposure or access,
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You don’t teach imagination; you create an environment in which it can take root, grow and flourish.
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Ken Robinson: How to escape education's death valley - YouTube - 1 views
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I really like listening to Sir Ken Robinson. So true what he said about education, that a teacher may be performing the task of teaching but if the students are not learning, then education is not achieved. Most people would agree that the role of a teacher is to facilitate learning. He made a good contrast between curiosity (engine of achievement) and compliance; creativity vs standardization
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I love TEDtalks I it is my favorite activity when I have the rare "down time". I have watched everything Ken Robinson has on TED and always enjoy his observations - complex ideas that are simply stated. "Culture of Compliance" - WOW! My biggest take-away was when he stated, "High performance systems (but not evident in America) focus on 1. individualized teaching and learning, Recognize the students are learning and the system has to engage them and their curiosity, individuality, and creativity - that's how you get them to learn. 2. They (Finland) attribute a very high status to the teaching profession...and invest in professional development. 3. They devolve the control down to the school level." REVOLUTIONARY!
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Why Teachers Shouldn't Blog….And Why I Do | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the ... - 5 views
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gives me a little more incentive to be on the look-out for new resources — and pushes me to be a little more creative in my thinking about how to use them
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I agree 100% that blogging allows a teacher to become inspired about other ideas. I find myself becoming inspired by other teacher blogs that I stumble across when "pinning" something on Pinterest.
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When I am bored, I go to the pinterest app on my iphone and look for inspirations for new lesson ideas, units, crafts, plans, etc. You name it, and you can find new and exciting ideas. I also like to take the ideas and alter them just a little to fit into my classroom and make it fit with my needs. You're right Marie, teacher blogs are also FILLED with wonderful ideas. As a first year teacher, I have been able to incorporate so many different teaching techniques thanks to blogs and apps. I wouldn't be nearly as "creative" without them :-)
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It’s a privilege to virtually “meet” so many other teachers with wisdom to offer.
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I have learned so much from reading blogs or articles written by veteran teachers! They encourage me to try new ideas or to avoid my spur of the moment ideas because they have tried them before! You learn so much about how to become a better teacher when you have the ability to talk out the "problems" or ideas you face everyday!
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@Marie - Which blogs do you like the best? How about sharing them with us via our course wiki :) https://edtec467.wikispaces.com/home
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You see… you don’t teach English. You teach kids. Flawed, messed-up, never perfect, wonderful, amazing kids. Every child you denigrated has something wonderful about them, even when you didn’t see it. Every child you insulted has worked hard at something, even if it wasn’t on the assignment you wanted them to work hard on. Every child you mocked has aspirations, even if they don’t match up with the ones you want them to have.
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This part really hit home for me as I teach at a community college with some students who are first generation college students. I want to be encouraging and help them with their career and life goals. So, while they may not be children, I still need to respect their efforts and work with them in whatever way I can.
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…provides me with a forum to clarify my thinking about the on-going classroom management and instructional challenges (see What Do You Do When You’re Having A Bad Day At School?) faced by me, and many other teachers in inner-city urban schools (and probably in many other schools, too).
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To me this would be so helpful as opposed to having to wait for a meeting or conference to share ideas with my colleagues, we can share with each other (and those who are far way) much faster. Sometimes I have an idea I'd love to share and think that I should tell when of my colleagues. But in the business of the day, I often forget (yes, I'm getting old!). Blogging, especially in the evenings, would allow me to reflect and share these ideas at a more convenient time (and before they are forgotten).
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sharing what I write about my students with my students is a clear indication that I really do think about them when I’m not in school, that I valued what they say and think, and that I am proud and want to tell others about them.
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"I value what they say and think" I really should start a blog to share with my parents and school community. I could center it around only what my STUDENTS say and do in my classroom. Being 5 and 6, they come up with some very interesting things. Some posts would be quite humorous, while others could be stories and learning experiences. I often share with parents via e-mail things that come up throughout the school day and they get a kick out of it. The more I think about this, the more ideas start springing into my head :)
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Shelby, my kids have had classroom blogs in some of their grades. I don't remember this in kindergarten, but it was the case in 1st grade. It was a great way for parents to see the amazing things the kids were doing in the classroom. I would wonder about privacy issues, because those 5 year olds will be teenagers before you know it and you wouldn't want some crazy kindergarten antics to be hanging out on the web.
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Edublogs can be a good option (from what I know) when it comes to privacy concerns because they allow teachers to configure access permissions http://edublogs.org/ You can see some of the options here http://edublogs.org/privacy-and-security/
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I believe that technology has its place, but also has to be kept in its place. I don’t think computers are a “magic bullet,”
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I really like this statement. It's important not to get lost in the flash and really find ways that technology can help teaching. I've overheard teens rolling their eyes and saying "Ms. _____ made us read blogs today. I bet she heard about that at some teacher meeting." They know when they are being force fed something without real value.
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I have seen a lot of classrooms rush to implementation only to find their lack of research and careful consideration only costed them precious time and resources. Sometime the saying, fast is slow and slow is fast, applies to the implementation of technology too.
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allows me to share resources that non-techy people like me can actually use.
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People sometimes assume that because you have a blog then you must be some kind of techy genius, but that's not the case. It's important that we break down the idea that only Comp Sci teachers can use technology.
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Sharing resources can be the best thing for teachers. We are limited to the learning culture that we reside in everyday. It becomes status quo and therefore, we must readily seek new resources.
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This is the reason for my response in Week 5 of our ELT class! This was the first thing that came to my mind. It's like the comment, "Never reply to an email the day you write the response. Reread it the next day and make corrections. Never reply in the heat of the moment." I'm so afraid that I would blog something that I would regret later and we all know that somethings online NEVER GO AWAY!
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Good addition here! One of his reasons for blogging nicely coincides with our recent reading and discussion of Hsu, et al. on Web 2.0 as Cognitive Tools - i.e., "provides me with a forum to clarify my thinking about the on-going classroom management and instructional challenges" When he notes that blog writing helps to clarify his thinking, this is precisely what Hsu, et al. are getting at in their article.
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Most comprehensive wiki dedicated to digital media throughout Asia - 0 views
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I found this wiki page from the article "Increasing importance of social media in education" as it relates to our Week 6: Wikis and Learning: Professor Michael Netzely, an expatriated American, teaches at the Singapore Management University. His course, based around internet communications, leans heavily on social media. However, rather than teaching from books, Netzley encourages his students to go out and learn by 'getting their hands dirty' on the likes of Blogger, WordPress, Twitter, Tumbler, Facebook and other social media platforms. As well as providing an obvious synergy with the subject of online communications, the approach allows students greater creativity and freedom to develop their communication skills." http://asiancorrespondent.com/61561/increasing-importance-of-social-media-in-education/
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That's pretty impressive that it's been recognized by the New York Times and other notable news outlets. I'm curious about the processes that led to this outcome. For example, what led him to dispense with the traditional textbook method? Did his students immediately embrace this approach or did it require some scaffolding?
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A New Culture of Learning: An Interview with John Seely Brown and Douglas Thomas (Part ... - 0 views
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“imagination is more important than knowledge.”
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The very idea of remix is about the productions of new meanings by reframing or shifting the context in which something means.
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Information and knowledge begin to function like currency: the more of it you have, the more opportunities you will have to do things.
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By returning to play as a modality of learning, we can see how a world in constant flux is no longer a challenge or hurdle to overcome; it becomes a limitless resource to engage, stimulate, and cultivate the imagination.
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I have been thinking about the idea of play and how it relates to college aged students. For many, games provide the same type of learning experience. In lab environments, we often play games such as simulating an epidemic or watching evolution in action by making and flying paper airplanes (these are some cool labs that I won't bore you with the details). But, I have found that my students love online games that can be found on some websites. For instance, no one cares about the science of blood typing until they have to pretend to be the medical professional and decide what kind of blood to give a patient (nobelprize.org offers this game and many others). I think about how much time I used to spend playing video games and how cool it would have been to incorporate that into my learning. So, my point is that play is important to children, but it is also an effective strategy for adult students.
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I'm very fond of game-based learning, expecially after my experience in one of my educational leadership classes. A group of researchers developed a board game that simulated realistic scenarios of what it takes to make systematic change in an organization. Seeing the real-like consequences of my decisions helped me learn the textbook information in a dynamic, genuine fashion. I also think our mode of thinking can be playful when faced with a problem. For example, multiply the numbers 15 and 31. Skip the rote algorithm with pencil and paper, and creatively multiply 31 by ten, taking half, and adding it to the first product to arrive at the answer. When faced with any kind of problem, tinkering with the options in this fashion of exploration and with no fear of failure or judgement or need to have the answer right away can inspire insightful solutions.
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The explicit is only one kind of content, which tells you what something means. The tacit has its own layer of meaning. It tells why something is important to you, how it relates to your life and social practices. It is the dimension where the context and content interact. Our teaching institutions have paid almost no attention to the tacit and we believe that it is the tacit dimension that allows us to navigate meaning in a changing world.
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This idea that you need to care about something, find meaning in it, has a definite basis in memory. Students remember something better if they can find some personal significance to the information. I also find that can remember something better if you tell a joke about it, but that is a different idea entirely. But I really try to point out "why do I care" moments in my teaching as these are the concepts that the students will remember. No one cares about all of the steps of blood clotting, but if you explain how those steps relate to a blood disorder like hemophilia, the students can find a reason to care about all of those steps.
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As a math educator, balancing between explicit and tacit knowledge is difficult. Some of my students may never use math beyond high school, while others may use it to find the cure to a form of cancer. Solving problems that are open-ended, real-world, and relevant to students is one key way that I can convey the tacit significance even to students who will not pursue STEM careers.
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I like how the author presents the important dimension of where "context and content interact." About this statement "Our teaching institutions have paid almost no attention to the tacit" - I think our professors are trying to let us create tacit content when they give us projects with a choice on the context for the application of our learning. What is important to me is often "how do I apply this knowledge at work" Btw, how Melissa and Justin draw their students into learning with the examples given here shows how IDs can make instructions in a courseware more engaging - by giving them meaningful context. I've not been a teacher and so I need to draw from the experiences of those who teach. Thanks
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the role of educators needs to shift away from being expert in a particular area of knowledge, to becoming expert in the ability to create and shape new learning environments.
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Expert content knowledge plays a central role in a teacher's ability to construct meaningful learning activities for students. Knowing what content is important, and why, directs how teachers construct self-discovery activities so that they equip students with the essential skills and concepts as students complete the exploratory task. This level of compentency allows the teacher to explain key information when students have questions, as well as allowing the teacher to scaffold learning accordingly as students sufficiently struggle to advanced in their self-directed learning. Not exclusively, however, should a teacher learn the art of creating these new kinds of learning environments. Know-how in this area is also of vital importance.
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Content knowledge is vital. I had a history class in high school where I knew more about the Cold War than he did, and I'd never studied it beyond just living through the wall coming down. The class was terrible because he just didn't know, and his idea of challenging me was to make me do his job. He had me create projects and assignments for the class to do. Having such an incompetent teacher was incredibly frustrating. Equally frustrating are administrators who think that all teaching is the same. There is a huge difference between teaching AP students in high school and then being told to teach kindergarteners. The learning environments are completely different, and that fact should be taken into account.
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When I taught 5th grade a couple of years ago, I had a class that was unsure in taking the reigns of their own learning. So, I created a Friday "game" of stump the teacher where they had the opportunity to take anything we had studied during the week and either find a new fact, create a problem, ask a trivia question, or something as a team that added to the lessons and then they either taught or tested me. I really had some interesting learning come from that session each Friday and the students started taking over their own learning after about the first grading period with more confidence. May sound silly, but it worked because the environment and expectations were changed.
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WOW! This quote from Douglas definitely defines how I feel as a third year teacher. We constantly are teaching our curriculum to fit the timelines set by the district and state. We test our kids to death to see if they are mastering the "core" content. Where in the world do they even have time to express their interests? I struggle with finding time to answer and investigate student questions that arise in "lectures!" If only we could allow students to learn through their best way! Being driven by self-motivation and their own inquisitiveness towards concepts directly related to them, will only yield higher level thinkers!
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Today, we are creating a society of rote memorizers. It is hard for students to grasp the imaginative side, the problem solving side, the risk-taking side. It is amazing that even at the primary grades, I see so many students who are afraid to try something; afraid to create on their own. They look to me for directions, samples, expectations! It is hard to reverse the thinking in some of the students. To allow my students to know that experimenting and being "wrong" is okay!
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Marie, I can relate to your observations. After talking with my 13 year-old daughter, I see where "wrong" and "bad" are often conflated with "failure". It is a hard mindset to untangle when it seems to be reinforced in school.
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nderstanding how knowledge is both created and how it flows in the tacit is the key to understanding and transforming learning in the 21st century.
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We take it as a truism that kids learn about the world through play
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I think technology especially is learned best through just playing with it. I always tell people who are uncomfortable with new software or electronic searching to just sit down and play with it. Time and use creates a sense of comfort, and I think using the word play changes the way that they think about their learning experience.
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Karen, I agree with your observations. I think it also changes the expectations of and attitudes towards the experiences.
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users are not so much creating content as they are constantly reshaping context
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Rethinking "EdTech" » Philly Teacher - 0 views
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A Seismic Shift in Epistemology (EDUCAUSE Review) | EDUCAUSE.edu - 12 views
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RSS feeds, sophisticated search engines, and similar harvesting tools help individuals find the needles they care about in a huge haystack of resources.
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Some may think that "finding the needles they care about in a huge haystack" would be a rather time consuming task; however, with RSS feeds like the one we were required to set up at the beginning of this course, the tool does the work for you. You will not have to filter through everything you read for the stuff that you really care about. In the Networked Student Video that is a part of the Week 8 tasks, students now use their iPod or music listening device to listen through iTunesU to literally some of the best professors in the world. You may think that what you are researching or trying to find may be like trying to find a needle in a haystack, but you can't be scared to go out and look for ways and people to find out as much as you can. As I read in this article, "It never hurts to ask- people love to share their knowledge in their fields of expertise.
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To add, again from the "Networked Student" video from Week 8, "Information management will be a major challenge in the 21st century". Subscribing to RSS feeds is changing the content on the internet that becomes availble to you.
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To be honest, I was completely unaware of RSS feeds prior to this class. It was overwhelming to set one up and to think about checking it. I didn't really see the point in it. However, the video clip really put into perspective how important that tool can be as we transition our students to this style of learning and the process of building PLN's.
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Valid question. Cutting Google Reader is one of the stupider things to happen on the Internet recently, like Flash stopping support on mobile devices. They've lost touch with how actual people use their services.
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@Marie - yep, RSS saves you the time of having to manually navigate to all those different websites and then also drilling down to that specific blog post.
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@cheryl - good question re Google "cutting RSS feeds" The word on the street is money; it's not profitable enough.
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From The Digital Reader: Wired has a new article on Google Reader.... They scored an exclusive interview with Richard Gingras, Google's Senior Director of News & Social Products. This article is Google's attempt at spinning the shut down of Google Reader (now only 24 days away), but in trying to come up with an explanation why the Readerpocalypse was a good idea, Google has actually revealed just how little they understand about how we read, and how we find content to read. But there's another reason Google decided to put its RSS reader to death. According to Mountain View, most of us simply consume news differently now than when Reader was launched. "As a culture we have moved into a realm where the consumption of news is a near-constant process," says Richard Gingras, Senior Director, News & Social Products at Google. "Users with smartphones and tablets are consuming news in bits and bites throughout the course of the day - replacing the old standard behaviors of news consumption over breakfast along with a leisurely read at the end of the day." http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2013/06/06/google-tells-wired-why-google-reader-was-axed-reveals-that-they-dont-understand-how-we-discover-news-articles/#.UdNgpfmmjfw
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At present, the response of most educators is to ignore or dismiss this epistemological clash. Many faculty force students to turn off electronic devices in classrooms; instead, students could be using search tools to bring in current information and events related to the class discussion. Some faculty ban the use of online sources and deride the validity of any perspective that does not come from a disciplinary scholar. Many see social networking sites as useless or dangerous and do not recognize the diagnostic value of folksonomies for understanding the language and conceptual frameworks that students bring to the classroom.
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Since many educators do take this standpoint today, and if much of the learning is done outside of this "classical perspective" of knowledge, you may ask yourself what exactly is the role of a teacher who is encouraging the use of Web 2.0 tools in the classroom? As I learned from the "Networked Student" video, the teacher has many roles. The teacher helps to take advantage of learning opportunities, build your "network", offers guidance, models, and organizes information. The teacher also assists students when they hit a bump in the road. This shift in "teaching" I believe is a struggle for many educators.
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It's easier to adopt binary, all-or-nothing policies (e.g., ban cell phones) rather than approach them in more nuanced ways and explore different learning scenarios in order to see where and/or how they work successfully.
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The binary approach is likely more common because we all know that we are distracted individuals. In a formal educational setting, some students just don't want to be there and don't want to pay attention. Providing them a means to "disconnect" from the class through web 2.0 tools (if not used for the proper purposes) just distances them from their education. However, if these tools can be introduced and controlled (although that word is too strong) by the teacher, than learning can be facilitated.
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I would argue that the tools AND the content could be introduced differently and could facilitate learning more effectively.
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I think that some students are going to find a way to be distracted even if we ban their devices. Doodling, note-passing, daydreaming, and the like can all occur without a device. We may be able to keep students on task better if we let them have their devices because instead of worrying about whether they received a certain email or whatever, they can check. It is hard for me to not look at my phone every few minutes, it is simply a behavior that I am used to!
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I, too, think it is important to remember that we are growing up in an age that is filled with multi-taskers. Students today can learn at the same time as doodling or playing on their device. Although we may not feel like the learner is paying attention and absorbing the information being presented, to the learner it is quite the opposite.
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Marie: I would also add that it depends on the level and age of the student whether devices are allowed and how much they are allowed. I really feel at the college level that it is the students' responsibility to learn and that I am their guide. If using a device helps them without distracting others, I see no reason to not allow it. It took a while for me to come to terms with this, but several times important information or tools have been shared in class because someone looked something up!
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@Jordan - "However, if these tools can be introduced and controlled (although that word is too strong) by the teacher, ..." Yes, that word is too strong. They can't be controlled per se and most advocates don't think that's a productive way in which to think of them. Managed? Yes, to a certain extent. Designed with deliberate learning goals in mind and founded on substantive learning theories? Absolutely. I would say, it's more about parameters when it comes to introducing and using these technologies. Students may take and use these technologies in completely unexpected ways, but in ways that are very creative or insightful. But letting go is difficult for many teachers because their training and prior experience with formal schooling environments (as well as a myriad of other factors) equates good learning with a quiet, well-controlled classroom.
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Expertise involves understanding disputes in detail and proposing syntheses that are widely accepted by the community. Possible warrants for expertise are wide-ranging and may draw on education, experience, rhetorical fluency, reputation, or perceived spiritual authority in articulating beliefs, values, and precepts.
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In a representative democracy, a small group of people selected by the entire population makes decisions.
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“knowledge” is constructed by negotiating compromises among various points of view.
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I think this is one of the biggest shifts with Education 2.0. Prior to this, it was a record of events, or "facts" from historical event, or the "effects" of inquiry. The barrier that WEB 2.0 has broken is not the idea of a new form of learning, communicating, or education, but instead…WEB 2.0 Education has broken the imposed barrier of artificial authority and created space for the "we" and "us" to construct what is right instead of what "you" and "them" have said it should be.
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Classical” perspective—the historic views of knowledge, expertise, and learning on which formal education is based. In the Classical perspective, “knowledge” consists of accurate interrelationships among facts, based on unbiased research that produces compelling evidence about systemic causes
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As a scientist, I'm confused by the argument here. Using the scientific method, many experiments led by many researchers collectively determine the best understanding for what we can see. If in the future, there are multiple experiments that determine that the explaination was wrong, the hypothesis can be revised accordingly. That is what I love about science, as a way of knowing, it allows for change if the data determine that is needed. By the way, my physicist/astronomer husband says he would not teach the colors in the sky in this way!
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@Melissa - I think Dede is referring to specific moments in time, i.e., at that time there is one accepted fact or interpretation of a given phenomenon.
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It's an interesting argument that may hold more value across different subjects. I don't agree with Dede that there is always "one unambiguous interpretation of factual interrelationships," but there are (in science, for example) undisputed truths. Whether or not we definitely know something at a particular point in time will always be up for debate, but regardless of whether or not we "know" something for sure it still exists as a fact.
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In the Classical view of knowledge, there is only one correct, unambiguous interpretation of factual interrelationships. I
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The biggest concern I have with all of this is where do we separate opinion from fact? If everyone agreed that the shift in the color of the sky was caused by increased use of Product XYZ, does that make it fact or opinion? I appreciate the "Classical perspective" because of the facts. When I am supporting my opinion, I turn to facts to bolster my position.
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In science, the accumulation of data that explains something can lead to a scientific theory. This is not a fact, it is our best understanding based on years of experimentation. For instance, the cell theory explains that all life is made of cells and cells come from other cells.
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Yes, it's important that "the collective" not suppress the minority view. An easy example would be Galileo whose minority view clashed with the more dominant Roman Catholic Church.
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I hope an individual can question established beliefs more so today than in Galileo's time!
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community-builders do not need specialized technical expertise to create new media.
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This is one of the biggest factors in this seismic shift. In the past, anyone could have knowledge or expertise on a subject. But now, all of those people have an easy means for broadcasting this knowledge. People can create, share, connect, and collaborate much more simply in the past and that has heavily influenced this educative shift.
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For teachers, who model the technology to their students, this ease of use is the lynchpin. Most teachers are not digital natives. Although some are and others put in the time to adapt, many are in over their heads. With user-friendly Web 2.0 tools, however, professional development can provide these teachers with a comfortable level of confidence in using these resources with their students.
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Epistemologically, a single-right-answer is believed to underlie each phenomenon, even though experts may not yet have developed a full understanding of the systemic causes that provide an accurate interpretation of some situations.
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overall, like many other technology-driven shifts, Web 2.0 aids with some problems but exacerbates others and creates novel challenges.
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Presentational/assimilative pedagogies typically result in learning that is ephemeral, unmotivating, and unlikely to transfer into life situations
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For students to feel comfortable learning intrinsically, it is going to take a true shift in where we place emphasis when teaching. If our focus is on grades and test scores, so will the students'.
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But what if we are part of an educational system that prepares students for a field in which they must take a test to receive their credentials to work in that field? I think it really depends on the content area. I want my health care professional to be able to demonstrate their expertise before they care for people on their own, so some sort of testing is important for that field.
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Melissa, you make an interesting point. When I took my Praxis exams as an undergrad, I definitely felt like they didn't really line up with what I had learned in my Ed classes. A little more direct emphasis or test-prep might have been helpful.
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In an epistemology based on collective agreement, what does it mean to be an “expert” with sufficient subject knowledge to teach a topic?
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With the tools that we currently have and the role of instructors changing, how much of a subject expert does one need to be to be a facilitator of learning? I would argue that in the current educational system, a teacher does not need to be as much a subject expert as a mentor, facilitator, and guide.
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I think that this is a very interesting point that mimics what other people have already stated in our posts and discussions prior. Information is at the tips of our hands. What we are interested in, we will ultimately research. So this question points to a very good thought, what do we need to know for future work and citizenship? Can we not just self learn the important information and build a credible PLN to help us along the way?
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Classical education, the content and skills that experts feel every person should know are presented as factual “truth” compiled in curriculum standards and assessed with high-stakes tests
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Premier reference sources, such as the Encyclopedia Britannica, and curricular materials, such as textbooks, embody “authenticated” knowledge as compiled by experts and transmitted to learners.
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In contrast, the Web 2.0 definition of “knowledge” is collective agreement about a description that may combine facts with other dimensions of human experience, such as opinions, values, and spiritual beliefs.
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Perhaps some similar synthesis about the nature of education can likewise bridge the Classical and the Web 2.0 views of knowledge, expertise, and learning—providing a smooth transition over this seismic shift in epistemology.
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The Web 2.0 definition of knowledge as "collective agreement about a description that may combine facts with other dimensions of human experience, such as opinions, values, and spiritual beliefs" does not exclude the need for evidence-based argumentation when it is needed, whether hard or soft sciences. Web 2.0 is associated with social, open, and mobile learning; and there is a directory of open access journals, http://www.doaj.org/
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Minds on Fire: Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0 (EDUCAUSE Review) | EDUC... - 22 views
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As a huge fan of Amazon and NetFlix, these examples were especially appreciated. NetFlix's variety of films including many excellent not-mainstream flicks has allowed the service to fulfill many consumers' entertainment needs without a DirecTV, Blockbuster, or RedBox. These are fantastic analogies for not-mainstream educational artifacts reaching learners thanks to the Internet.
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David Wiley is pretty well known, especially in the area of "Open Learning" In fact, he spoke at PSU's Teaching & Learning with Tech Symposium in 2009 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcRctjvIeyQ
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While the lectures are being played on a monitor (which is often powered by a battery, since many participating schools also lack reliable electricity), a “mediator,” who could be a local teacher or simply a bright student, periodically pauses the video and encourages engagement among the students by asking questions or initiating discussions about the material they are watching.
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This is very typical of the "Flipping the Classroom" technique and can just as easily be done without the use of technology, though it does make it a little more interesting. It is interesting to me that we have such a hard time convincing faculty to try this method when schools with little to no resources will try just about anything.
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This concept is also not new, as video conferencing has been used in distance education for decades. Although electricity and a cable or satellite hook-up is necessary for video conferencing, mobile phones can allow for this type interaction in more rural areas. A 2010 study that I read for another course looked at the use of mobile phones to teach rural women in India about setting up small enterprises in sheep and goat farming. While much of the technology was used for content delivery, it also allowed for some participation by the women. Balasubramanian, K., Thamizoli, P., Umar, A., & Kanwar, A. (2010). Using mobile phones to promote lifelong learning among rural women in Southern India. Distance Education, 31(2), 193-209. doi: 10.1080/01587919.2010.502555
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Hannah--I also love "flipping the classroom", as it saves precious in class time for interaction as opposed to delivery. I think I would do much more of it, but my lecture size is between 96-120 for most of my classes. The students feel very afraid to ask questions and engage in that size of a class.
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Melissa: Do you think using a system like the above Terra Incognita for small group discussions would be beneficial to your large classes? Have you used anything like that before now?
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Karen--I'm not sure as currently discussion works better in the smaller group labs. I have all of the students from my large lecture in a small group lab once a week so that helps. We are looking at doing some "flipping the classroom" types of activities to save lecture time and allow more time for discussion. I don't teach the large size class until September so there is definitely time to change some of the format.
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Melissa--That reminds me of one of my professors who gives a lecture to more than 100 students. I am not sure what your subject is and whether you have tried below before. But he uses his website where anyone in classroom ask any questions. His students post their questions a few minutes before break time and during break time, professor checks the comments and pick some questions which is highly ranked.
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Amii, Melissa- to engage students in large class you can use back-channels (twitter hash tags, clickers, Blackboard has a feature to collect SMS) that the instructor can flash on a screen
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I have colleagues that use clickers, but many of us are not willing to require clickers due to the additional cost. And using something through a cell phone is also difficult as not everyone has one or doesn't have a smartphone that allows for the use of many of these tools. It is definitely a different world in community colleges as we are trying to do the best we can with limited resources. We also have a very different pool of students--from traditional to returning adult. Some of my 50 year old students don't even like to or know how to email.
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These comments remind me of an article posted on Wired (http://www.wired.com/2013/10/free-thinkers/all/----same). It is about a school teacher in Mexico that was tired of the standarize testing and teaching. In one year, he took a class of 5th graders that performed badly on the standarized test to having some of the highest scores in the country, including one girl who scored the highest in the country in math. The teacher was inspired by Sugta Mitra's TED Talk titled, "Build a School in the Cloud".
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I also love the flipped classroom! We have 2 teachers who flip this year, and I'll be joining the adventure next year. I think it's a great idea to have students learn the basic facts at home. Then while in school, they can complete the reinforcing activities. The teacher can spend class time reinforcing the material, and also pulling small groups to help those in need and give enrichment to those who can gain from it. Too much time is spent in class memorizing facts. I can't wait to use my class time to reinforce what they learned the night before.
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The Cartesian perspective assumes that knowledge is a kind of substance and that pedagogy concerns the best way to transfer this substance from teachers to students. By contrast, instead of starting from the Cartesian premise of “I think, therefore I am,” and from the assumption that knowledge is something that is transferred to the student via various pedagogical strategies, the social view of learning says, “We participate, therefore we are.”
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I was especially struck with this idea of a shift in pedagogical strategies since in laboratory science teaching there is always a participatory element. The lecture setting does still work to present and transfer knowledge, but the lab setting allows for social interaction in student groups to apply the content. However, in online classes, I have not found a similar way to form lab groups in the laboratory simulation environment.
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This reminds me of the old saying "Tell me, I'll forget. Show me, I'll remember. Involve me, I'll understand." The traditional "sage on stage" approach to learning is very one way and treats knowledge as an article to be passed from one person to another. I think the social view of learning has more value in that it involves experimentation and trial and error to learn. However, I completely agree with you, Michelle, in that recreating these social/lab groups is something that is lacking in Web 2.0 learning.
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Referring to 'We participate, therefore we are" it is fantastic that students can take responsibility for their own learning through the affordances provided by Web 2.0 technology.
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I wish I could take information about this approach to my administration. I believe that this selection directly relates to education in America. We have created a "norm" for learning which looks like a single teacher standing in the front of the classroom, lecturing to students who are sitting and listening in nice straight rows of desks. Having the administration come in to classrooms looking for "order" is against this philosophy that in order to create a social/interactive classroom, it may look chaotic!
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Another saying that I find relates to this is "Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he'll eat for a lifetime." It highlights that by teaching the man to fish, he will be able to fish on his own every day after to feed his family and survive.
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Nor is it likely that the current methods of teaching and learning will suffice to prepare students for the lives that they will lead in the twenty-first century.
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I see evidence of this now when I'm on hiring committees and we are drawn to folks that can provide a portfolio of evidence of learning. Its not enough to list your college and grade point average, we want to see that you are agile in your learning process and willing to explore new concepts.
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Hannah - I completely agree. It's crucial for candidates to demonstrate these skills, but for better or worse the system still requires the more tangible credentials like a degree. I don't know if we'll ever get to a point where most job interviews are "demonstrate what you know" rather than "tell me what you know," but I think seeing that portfolio of actual work is far more telling that a candidates GPA.
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Regarding job interviews, I was just on a hiring committee and one of the important issues that was raised was related to continuing professional development and lifelong learning. I think it is important that a candidate can show that they want to continue learning even if they are not currently pursuing a degree.
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I agree witht his point but I have found that person indicate and say so many lovely things during interviews but once they land the job then they seem to forget what is said. SI I think we need to go further and work professional development as a requirement for job security and pay increase. This is a big challenge in my country some teacher have the mentality once trained always trained,
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These are all great points and I agree. I am involved in the badging movement at Penn State and I see badging as a viable new option that could and eventually will replace the way we learn and acquire knowledge.
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This is definitely an issue at my school. Many of the teachers are quite set in their ways and refuse to try and add any kind of technology to their curriculum. They need to continue to seek out professional development, especially in Technology areas where they have no experience.
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I would go a step further and point out that is not just teachers who are set in their ways, but also school policy and administration who prevent the modern application of many devices.
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For the past few years, he points out, incoming students have been bringing along their online social networks, allowing them to stay in touch with their old friends and former classmates through tools like SMS, IM, Facebook, and MySpace. Through these continuing connections, the University of Michigan students can extend the discussions, debates, bull sessions, and study groups that naturally arise on campus to include their broader networks. Even though these extended connections were not developed to serve educational purposes, they amplify the impact that the university is having while also benefiting students on campus.14
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Although some of my colleagues have created Facebook course sites, I have been worried about requiring my students to use this as a tool. However, this semester, several of my students created their own study group on Facebook and used it to share helpful videos, websites, and tips with each other. I suppose I should take the giant leap if they are already doing it for themselves!
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IMHO: I like teachers not worrying about requiring it, or not requiring it. I think a key take-away from Seely is that the students are doing it themselves, they're engaging in self-directed learning behaviors, rather than relying on the teacher as the sole source
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This was a discussion today at work as we were deciding on a textbook for a course for the next academic year. Some instructors really like some of the tools used by a particular textbook and I was noting that sometimes certain tools might not help some types of learners so I don't like to require them to complete those tasks. I know some instructors utilize different assessments that a student can chose based on their own learning style--making a portfolio for instance instead of taking a traditional test.
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I like that there are tools out there like Facebook that are more educationally organized to help facilitate this type of learning environment. One example that I was introduced to is Edmodo. This website mimic's Facebook but allows teacher's to take responsibility of their class page. Again, I like the idea of this tool but finding a way to implement this in the primary setting is frustrating. Hopefully throughout this course, I will be able to learn more about how to do that!
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Engaging students in any matter is positive. Whether it be social media or in the classroom, the more students continue to talk about what they learn, they more they actually learn.
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We are entering a world in which we all will have to acquire new knowledge and skills on an almost continuous basis.
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This is an interesting thought. Education/knowledge is becoming immediately accessible to nearly anyone who wants it, but if we are entering a time where we "need" to acquire all this new knowledge quickly then we must come up with an infrastructure to support not just the distribution of that knowledge but also what to do with the educated masses.
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Good point. What kinds of new professions, occupations are being created by these new knowledge opportunities?
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In relation to Jordan's comment, I'm not sure we've figured out what to do with the educated masses as there are plenty of people looking for jobs who have graduate degrees but can not gain employment. Instead they find themselves working in wage payroll jobs to pay the bills. Certainly within the library fields, new positions have been created or renamed (example: Emerging Technology Librarian) to stay ahead of technology use in the community.
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New kinds of online resources—such as social networking sites, blogs, wikis, and virtual communities—have allowed people with common interests to meet, share ideas, and collaborate in innovative ways
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Web 2.0 resources are great for bringing people together, but how do they allow for exchanges of diverse ideas? If people are only connecting with others who have "common interests," are there limitations to how knowledge can be transformed, rather than simply perpetuated?
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Yep, we can't let the algorithm-based social networks do all the work for us, or we indeed end up with nothing more than self-validating echo chambers. It can start by intentionally incorporating divergent perspectives into your social feeds (e.g., Twitter, Tumblr)
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I love Web 2.0 for creation of projects. I'll be interested to see what we can do with exchanges of ideas.
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I love the these Web 2.0 tools allow us to communicate. Fostering communication between peers is the best way to learn. Although I like the blogs and wikis for this collaborative purpose, I struggle with finding a way to make it manageable for primary grades. The value of collaboration on material covered can only enhance student learning but the hoops we need to jump through as primary educators is far more difficult then implementing the actual tool!
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I am a huge fan of two-way/interactive web learning.But it is sometimes hard for me to keep up with class activities to organize contents we discuss and exchange. Web 2.0 is very active learning tool if I can find the way I organize all the thing I need to remember with my own file. For example, I read some interesting comments yesterday, and now I don't see and remember his or her comments..
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I am new to the blogging/social learning way we are experiencing here. As a result of that, I am so overwhelmed with trying to keep up.
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A great virtual community that my class experimented with last semester was Google+ Hangouts. It provides a facebook feel yet has a "private group" where anyone in the group can post to the timeline. It keeps a running timeline of the class, which is pretty cool. I especially love Web 2.0 tools and social networking. In a sense, my generation grew up with it, so it almost feels second nature to me. I'm super curious and excited to see how learning and the world will look like in 10-15 years, when the generation in college and graduating high school starts overtaking the workforce in numbers.
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In this open environment, both the content and the process by which it is created are equally visible, thereby enabling a new kind of critical reading—almost a new form of literacy—that invites the reader to join in the consideration of what information is reliable and/or important.
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People often knock Wikipedia, but it's an amazing (and I think wonderfully executed) example of knowledge sharing. Thinking about not only how easily it can be accessed to find information, but also how easily it can open pathways to explore other topics. I would never pick up an encyclopedia for one topic and then when I'm finished reading, flip the pages to another random topic to learn more. But on Wikipedia, I constantly click through to other articles to learn more about related (or even unrelated) topics. I'm not sure if it's just the novelty of the tool, but it makes it feel more like knowledge exploration than "learning."
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It is true that this open environment invites readers to consider what information is reliable - I wonder if most people just grab the information they find and use it without checking if the content is accurate either due to ignorance or the pressure of time to submit a writing. This open environment should force us to be critical consumers of information.
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I believe as educators, we fall short in seeing and expressing the good intentions of open sources. I know that when I was in high school, Wikipedia was deemed "bad!" We were to never use Wikipedia for information, references, etc. when doing research for papers. I think that this article allows us to think about Wikipedia in a new context. Being able to evaluate the credibility of information before relying on it is essential. But the real value is in the collaboration that can go into a Wikipedia page to provide accurate, advance, and up-to-date information. We need to start teaching how to properly use these tools instead of scaring people away!
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I like my students to use wikipedia. Often, I will find an article that I know has a bit of misleading information just for the student's to use as an analytical piece.
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We construct knowledge as people. I use the same principle with my students. They appeal to me, albeit in vain, for the answer, but when using the Socrative method, I remind my students that they must come to a consensus on an answer.
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Although I cannot find the reference at this moment, I recently read that Wikipedia was as statistically correct as most encyclopedias (maybe it was in my stats class).
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There's been quite a bit of empirical research into the teams of people who contribute, edit, etc. Wikipedia entries. For example, one of my favorites looks at how some contributors become a "Wikipedian" http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~asb/papers/bryant_forte_bruckman_group05.html
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I agree that the perception of the validity of Wikipedia has improved over time! When I was studying for my Master of Library and Information Science, we found that wikipedia was more accurate than encyclopedias in some cases. However, when working with K-12 students who are looking for the fastest 'information grab'. I still encourage teachers to only allow them to use the references at the end of the article as sources.
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From the customers’ standpoint, online enterprises offering unprecedented choice are able to cater much more efficiently to individual tastes and interests than any brick-and-mortar store.
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It's easy to see how the long tail concept can apply to Web 2.0 learning. As it provides more choices and ways to access information, it becomes easier for the learning to develop and take control of their own education.
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Especially with different styles of learners, Web 2.0 tools can allow us to tap into all of the different ways that students learn.
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We need to construct shared, distributed, reflective practicums in which experiences are collected, vetted, clustered, commented on, and tried out in new contexts.
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This new form of learning begins with the knowledge and practices acquired in school but is equally suited for continuous, lifelong learning that extends beyond formal schooling. Indeed, such an environment might encourage students to readily and happily pick up new knowledge and skills as the world shifts beneath them.
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This would illustrate a shift in how we view learning, and I think it'd be a great one. Most students view learning as a task, as a means to an end (like getting a job). But as information becomes more easily accessible and life-long learning can easily be done, learning can be viewed more positively.
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I agree with you Jordan. When learning is viewed in a more positive light, it occurs more regularly and is not seen as simply a "task". My dad used to always tell me, "learning lasts a lifetime" and it has sort of turned into a family joke. He calls it our "family motto". We laugh about it since he says it so often, but it is quite true. Web 2.0 supports this and who knows how what we learn and how we do it will change and adapt within the coming years.
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The problem is that business leaders and politicians are now constantly releasing statements and publishing articles talking about how learning anything that isn't directly related to employment is a waste of time and money.
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Learning for its own sake is highly valuable. We should voraciously pursue it. As Shelby quoted her Dad, learning is one of the best investments you can make in yourself, especially because you will have it for pretty much your whole life.
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Fortunately, various initiatives launched over the past few years have created a series of building blocks that could provide the means for transforming the ways in which we provide education and support learning. Much of this activity has been enabled and inspired by the growth and evolution of the Internet, which has created a global “platform” that has vastly expanded access to all sorts of resources, including formal and informal educational materials. The Internet has also fostered a new culture of sharing, one in which content is freely contributed and distributed with few restrictions or costs.
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It was only in Oct'12 that I heard of the term 'open education' which is made possible by internet Web 2.0 technologies and the power of volunteers such that education is no more accessible to those who can afford it. Indeed Coursera, Audacity, etc are platforms for global education - what do you think will happen to future higher ed after watching epic2020.org and witnessing the tsunami of open courses/education
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Ivy League schools opening their doors to the world through their open online courses is a very bid deal. I don't really have an answer to your question at all. I just think it is an interesting experiment in democratic education. Some scientific journals are going all-access electronically as well in an effort to improve communication between researchers in the field, and I think one R&D researcher's question (when discussing it on FB) is valid... how is all this being funded, and will it impact the scholarly validity of the research?
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This is interesting statement in light of the recent debate over net neutrality. Currently, users gain access to all search results, but if the FCC has their way then it would be more of a pay per view Internet. This would drastically impact schools and libraries.
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@kmlambert - yes, this is definitely something to keep an eye on. One would hope that at the very least libraries would be given some kind of special "public interest" exemption if some type of tiered pricing model comes about
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If this is true, our world is in for a rude awakening. I'm teaching of the reasons for social class stratification right now in my sociology course. Uneducated population will simply add to this strain.
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It is a rude awakening and it seems the solution is open education where good universities make their courses available on the internet, making education accessible to all.
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I'd be cursious to see what this number is now, seeing how this article was written in 2008 and it is six years later, almost a decade.
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Agreed. I feel like the progression has made things a lot more accessible and there has to be a lower number 6 years later. Then again...I could be wrong.
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So this quote from Sir John Daniel was made in 1996? This was my senior year in high school so I suppose I fit into this population. Assuming again that the quote was made about the world in 1996, what do you think the numbers would look like today?
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In this system, students work together in a common space and peripherally participate in each other’s design process; hence they can benefit from their instructors’ comments on and critiques of other students’ projects and not just from comments on their own work.
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This method is great because it allows for schema reformation at a whole different level. A person may have a misconception in relation to some area and may never know until they have the opportunity to represent they idea. In this environment the tutor if realligning misconceptions that of not only the student he corrects but also of the other student who may have the same unrepresented misconception.
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I like this idea. I would really enjoy being able to see the comments on others work - it helps me when I create my own projects.
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To add to this: Not only would seeing comments and critiques of other students projects be beneficial, it would also be beneficial for classmates to be able to critique their peers projects. When I did my student teaching, we had "author's circle" where every child got a chance to read their writing to their classmates. At the conclusion of their reading, they would call on two classmates to give them feedback. As a teacher, I noticed that the students took their peers feedback very seriously and they wanted to improve their writing with the help of their peers (not only the teacher).
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I also had experience with this in a creative writing enlgish course in my undergraduate studies. Each writing assignment was also critiqued by several other classmates before the professor would even take a look at it. This way, we were able to hand in a well-round piece of writing that had other people's eyes check it out too.l
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This ties in with another comment I made above. My students use Google Docs for writing assignments and share with each other to proofread and edit their writing. They love being able to receive feedback from their peers!
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ocial learning is based on the premise that our understanding of content is socially constructed through conversations about that content and through grounded interactions, especially with others, around problems or actions. The focus is not so much on what we are learning but on how we are learning.5
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I engage in social learning everyday, but most of the time it id done through formal or informal meetings. It is a beautifl tool to utilise when engaging in problem solving, the ability to bounce ideas off of another colleague or here another perspective. Web 2.0 tool magnify the opportunities for social learning as it removes the barrier of persons having to be in the same location at the same time. It also allows for artifacts to be created that can be viewed over time.
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This is a great point and a great example of this would be Google Docs. Google Docs has become a super powerful tool in my education as well as my personal and professional lives. I can create a document and share it with whoever I want, and that person can add or edit. This is great for distant learning where students can work on the same document at the same time, from different ends of the world.
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I have tended to think that learning is a individual process. Want to learn how to knit, to drive, to ski, or to solve math problems? While each activity must be completed by an individual, it is usually only mastered through social learning.
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In my middle school language arts class, we use GoogleDrive/Docs all the time to share and collaborate on writing projects. The kids love to proofread each other's work and comment on how their peers can improve their writing. After implementing the writing process in two ways (traditional pencil/paper and using GoogleDrive) the students definitely put more time and effort into doing their work on the computer!
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I feel that this statement on Social Learning best describes my learning style. Reading texts or listening to lectures does not always bring important information into context for me. Instead, I find myself learning more from my peers who are able to "teach" the information in new way/context with added commentary and reflection.
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Light discovered that one of the strongest determinants of students’ success in higher education—more important than the details of their instructors’ teaching styles—was their ability to form or participate in small study groups.
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This contradicts most of what research as shown for a while. I'll be interested to see where this pans out.
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This never worked for me either. And I don't believe this is entirely accurate for all people. A great video to watch is Susan Cain's TED talk, "The Power of Introverts". There is a great part in there in which she talks about how the world is designed for extroverts. Group work in schools favor extroverts. How the classroom is arranged favors extroverts. What about the introverts that do better by themselves or need that extra time to think by themselves. http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts
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Greatly enjoyed Cain's TED talk, and started (but not finished her book, Quiet). As a shy, quiet, insecure K-12 student I hated having to talk in front of others, especially other students I didn't know. Are moving towards a framework where group work will be more prominent than self-directed work in educational and professional situations?
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The demand-pull approach is based on providing students with access to rich (sometimes virtual) learning communities built around a practice. It is passion-based learning, motivated by the student either wanting to become a member of a particular community of practice or just wanting to learn about, make, or perform something.
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Some great learning communities can be found on Google+ and Reddit. You can search for all sorts of topics and they are filled with a wealth of scholars, professionals, or passionate people. Reddit is more on the fun/entertainment side, but there are some great, informative subredits out there. Google+ is designed more for the eudcational realm and has a ton of great educational learning communites that anyone can join.
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I like the phrase passion-based learning. After attending a workshop based on the book "Strengths Finder 2.0" by Tom Rath, I discovered that I am a learner. I can pinpoint many previous experiences where I sought out learning opportunities . If this passion-based learning was encouraged more during K-12 settings, it would be more enjoyable for students and teachers.
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Knowledge is expected in todays world. Because of the amount of information at our fingertips, literally, we are expected for find answers before new problems arise. Students need to be taught in this manner to live in a web-based society.
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That's why information literacy is so important. Learners need to be able to instantly evaluate new materials on their own without depending on anyone else to tell them what to think. There is so much available, and we have to be able to think critically about anything we come across on or off the Internet.
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Sometimes I think research literacy is as important as information literacy.
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Perhaps the best known example is Wikipedia, the online “open source” encyclopedia that has challenged the supremacy of commercial encyclopedias
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Few of us today will have a fixed, single career; instead, we are likely to follow a trajectory that encompasses multiple careers
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Many high school students are unsure of what to pursue in college. Many college students are unsure what to pursue as a major. Even when they graduate with a degree, they might do something completely unrelated to their area of training. Field-specific training is important, but generalizable learning such as critical thinking, communication, and interpersonal skills might prove more effective in raising the adaptability of today's workers as they navigator several careers.
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I am definitely not doing what I originally thought I would do or what I did do immediately after graduation. I would also argue that some educational programs don't train you for what you typically end up doing. For instance, most Ph.D. programs in the sciences prepare students to do research in their field, although many end up being teachers with little to no training in teaching. This is beginning to change from what I have seen with some programs adding teaching options or doctoral programs becoming completely dedicated to teaching.
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I wonder if the "respect level" or "prestige level" is different for professors who dedicate themselves to teaching when compared to those who dedicate themselves to research.
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Last I heard, many people will change careers seven times over their working lifetime. While there is some componenents that overlap, I am not in a field related to my undergraduate degree.
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I as well am not in a field related to my undergraduate degree. However, my undergrad degree is quite broad, Communications. My full time job is an Education Program Assistant at Penn State, but I do film weddings as a freelance videographer which coincides directly with my undergraduate degree. Filming weddings and videography is more of a hobby and passion of mine, which I probably would not have picked up if it was not for my undergrad degree. I think it is funny that my passion lies within my undergrad degree, but I can't make a solid income with that specific work just yet. Who knows what the future holds though!
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Open Educational Resources (OER) movement, which has provided free access to a wide range of courses and other educational materials to anyone who wants to use them
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iTunesU offers Ivy-league caliber courses free of charge. From worksheets to lesson videos and assignments, these courses are available to anyone with an iOS device and Internet connection.
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Yes indeed Open Yale Courses, Harvard Open Courses, etc are sharing their resources freely however the videos are too long (recording lectures) - thus requiring deep linking to specific contents
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OER are free, and widely available, but I'm curious about their measured impact on learning. Learning includes assessments, scope, sequencing, and other curricular and standards-based alignnments; the internet is overflowing with information resources but we don't always know how effectively they are being used for student learning.
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An interesting side note, Centre County, PA is developing their own OER, called CrowdCourse. Developed with local partners in collaboration with Centre County Libraries. See: here: http://centrecounty.crowdcourse.com/
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@kristin - good question. B/c this phenomenon is relatively new, there's not a whole lot out there to my knowledge. However, David Wiley is considered one of the leaders in researching this area. He also spoke at a Penn State Teaching Learning & Tech symposium several years ago. http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=M47HR7IAAAAJ
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It seems as though some of the MOOCS are courses that used to be offered at a University but then became a free course for anyone to take. Does anyone know how this is decided? Is there a new version the universities are offering/charging for?
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This encourages the practice of what John Dewey called “productive inquiry”—that is, the process of seeking the knowledge when it is needed in order to carry out a particular situated task
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The e-Science movement is providing students with access to expensive and scarce high-level tools, giving them the opportunity to engage in the kinds of research conducted by professional scientists
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This initiative accomplishes the learning need of real-world relevant as well as training on tools similar to those used on the work world.
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NASA, Jet Propulsion Lab, and the Santa Fe Institute are doing some interesting work on this front, e.g., collaborations with schools that involve applied, authentic learning projects of one sort or another
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‘playful’ learning
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Learning and play go very well together, especially because in play mode, there's no fear of failure. Encouragement to explore and try out new things is the expectation.
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Since "everything I needed to learn, I learned in Kindergarten", I think playful learning can be added to the list.
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I love playful learning and if you follow gamification, you can see it becoming very big, espeically with badging. I hope to see elementary and middle schools adopt more of a playful learning style as there is no fear of failure, yet our standarize testing system has "punishments" for getting worng answers.
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Agreed. The form of play is the basis of all learning. We can see this in the animal kingdom and with human children. Lion cubs learn to pounce on each other, as they would on prey. Human children play with blocks, and legos to learn various forms of developmental skills.
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The power of peer review had been brought to bear on the assignments.
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Finding and joining a community that ignites a student’s passion can set the stage for the student to acquire both deep knowledge about a subject (“learning about”) and the ability to participate in the practice of a field through productive inquiry and peer-based learning (“learning to be”)
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Often the learning that transpires is informal rather than formally conducted in a structured setting
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world has become increasingly “flat,”
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Our world has also flattened by our lack of knowledge depth. We are expected to know a little about a lot and what we don't know be able to find by technological means. Is it enough to have a knowledge base that is a mile wide and an inch deep?
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This reminds me of the quote "To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge" -Copernicus Information being readily available provides us with opportunity to seek diverse as well as in depth knowledge and as a result connections can be made and we are able to grow holistically as individuals. When it comes to long term lasting development, I think it's important to weigh options with a broad perspective; however, I feel as though in depth knowledge that is trade specific aims to assure quality, safety, and efficiency by individuals who have practiced, observed, shared, and as a result improved on their trade which is also essential. Just like a formal learning environment, I feel as though there is a need for unique individuals that rely on each other as a key aspect of enrichment and success in the workforce alike.
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well-educated workforce with the requisite competitive skills
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I wonder how this though impacts enrollment in technological school. I ask only because of a recent conversation with an electrician that came to install a new light fixture for me who commented that it is harder to find younger people interested in the vocational trades. In fact, the average age for the company he worked for was around 38.
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This also makes me question many of the technology based policies of school districts. Use of devices within my school is limited severely. Isn't this hindering our ability to prepare students to compete in the modern workforce?
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The latest evolution of the Internet, the so-called Web 2.0, has blurred the line between producers and consumers of content and has shifted attention from access to information toward access to other people
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Steve Case, of early AOL fame, was the commencement speaker for UNC's graduation where he tweeted a picture of the class standing after he finished his speech (cool use of social networking especially since he sent it to Duke). Here he commented that people have multiple jobs and multiple careers so they should keep learning and be flexible. He also recently gave an interview about the internet and its future and offers interesting insight into the potential of Web 2.0 in education. The article discusses that the only thing holding back the 2.0 revolution is issues with the infrastructure. His interview can be found here: http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/05/29/2nd-great-internet-revolution-is-coming-aol-founder-says/
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active, passion-based learning
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When passion is injected into learning it no longer becomes a chore or a job but an experience.
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I totally agree. One of my favorite quotes, which I have featured on every page of my digital portfolio is from William Butler Yeats. "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."
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I like the idea of "passion-based learning" since this kind of internal exigency produces really strong work from students.
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I do too! When anyone is passionate about something it makes it less of a chore and more enjoyable!
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While the internet has provided us with a wealth of information, the internet is not always correct. Let us remember that anyone can enter information on the internet whether they are qualified or not.
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This is true, but it is also becoming easier to check online sources. Take Wikipedia as an example. I use Wikipedia quite often for personal as well as school use. However, I ususally check the sources at the bottom of the page and check that source as well. I do agree that the internet is not always correct, but I think a sense of accountability comes with using the interenet.
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If King is right, it makes sense for colleges and universities to consider how they can leverage these new connections through the variety of social software platforms that are being established for other reasons.
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If King is right, it makes sense for colleges and universities to consider how they can leverage these new connections through the variety of social software platforms that are being established for other reasons.
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While it makes sense for colleges and universities to use social media and social software platforms, it makes me wonder how this can be incorporated into the elementary setting. Young students can also benefit from social learning but the cost of the technology is often the sticking point for most districts.
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By enabling students to collaborate with working scientists, this movement provides a platform for the “learning to be” aspect of social learning. For example, the Faulkes Telescope Project, sponsored by the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, provides students in the United Kingdom with free access to two high-powered robotic telescopes, one in Hawaii and the other in Australia, which the students are able to use remotely to carry out their own scientific investigations (http://faulkes-telescope.com/).
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online social networks that have attracted millions of young people
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I find this interesting. I work with very young children...8 years old and they are already using the social networking devices to talk to their friends. I set up a kidsblog in my classroom and I found them using it daily to discuss their homework, etc. with one another. Start early and the future will be brighter.
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This is quite interesting that the children are using blogs to discuss their homework with another. I find that facinating. I think cloud schooling is the future, although the brick and mortar school will never go away, schools will look completely different in 20 years.
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This perspective shifts the focus of our attention from the content of a subject to the learning activities and human interactions around which that content is situated. This perspective also helps to explain the effectiveness of study groups
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A current example of an attempt to harness the power of study groups in a virtual environment is the Terra Incognita project of the University of Southern Queensland (Australia), which has built a classroom in Second Life, the online virtual world that has attracted millions of users.
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Last semester in Design Studio, we experimented with having a "virtual class" in Second Life. It was rather interesting. We all created avatars and met in a building. There was a screen in the building that could be used as a web browser, or to play videos or PowerPoints.This way, students could attend Design Studio in person in a real classroom (and join the virtual classroom) and students from a distance could join the virtual classroom and everyone could be in the same classroom. Having avatars gave a sense of personality to a person, which created a different online learning experience.
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This sounds like an awesome course! You met in an actual building? Was this a resident course or is it offered online?
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Although about 40,000 students are enrolled in classes on the university’s campus in Ann Arbor, King believes that the actual number of students being reached by the school today is closer to 250,000.
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Another great example of this at Penn State is World in Conversation. World in Conversation has classes and projects set up where students on campus sit in a room with a television and video conference students at another university on the other side of the world and have a discussion, usually about controversial topics such as race and poverty.
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Tools such as blogs, wikis, social networks, tagging systems, mashups, and content-sharing sites
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Another great tool not mentioned here is Twitter and the use of hash-tag conversations. I've participated in a number of these and have also found that I discovered other hash tag conversations and weighed in, not knowing the full context. This is a very cool concept because anyone who has a twitter account, which is a lot of people, can find your conversation and join by using the specified hash tag.
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The recorded lectures provide the educational content, and the local mediators stimulate the interaction that actively engages the students and increases the likelihood that they will develop a real understanding of the lecture material through focused conversation.
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The school where I work is doing something almost identical with a product purchased from the private company Edgenuity -- recorded lectures and online learning facilitated by classroom teachers in all subject areas -- piloted this year with a small group and next year will be rolled out school-wide.
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Learning to Be through e-Science and e-Humanities
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participatory medium that is ideal for supporting multiple modes of learning
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Becoming a trusted contributor to Wikipedia involves a process of legitimate peripheral participation that is similar to the process in open source software communities. Any reader can modify the text of an entry or contribute new entries. But only more experienced and more trusted individuals are invited to become “administrators” who have access to higher-level editing tools.
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This experiment suggests one way that the social life of Internet-based virtual education can coexist with and extend traditional education.
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This model seems more tenable than other MOOCs, especially one's that require proctors.
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Being able to (practically) instantly communicate to faculty and students in the virtual world is inviting, in comparison to many of the forums that MOOCs offer. Certainly, forums are a valuable tool for asking and responding to questions and ideas, but the reduction of steps and time it takes to communicate is inviting to me. Interacting with a virtual, on-screen character also seems more involving than responding to a 50x50 icon, too (not to knock on forums and blogs, of course; rather, to comment on how this use of a virtual world is an evolution of the practice.)
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Students can send to Illinois any insects (or other small creatures) that they have captured, then log on with their computers to control the microscope in real time and view their specimens (
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Since I come from the Humanities, it is interesting to see how the sciences can use the interactive element of the internet.
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I love this idea! even though I don't teach science, I feel like young lower-elementary students would really enjoy watching whatever little creature they caught. It's like having a class pet without having to actually care for it!
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The demand-pull approach is based on providing students with access to rich (sometimes virtual) learning communities built around a practice. It is passion-based learning, motivated by the student either wanting to become a member of a particular community of practice or just wanting to learn about, make, or perform something.
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earning might appear to be extremely resource-intensive
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it has also become “spikier”: the places that are globally competitive are those that have robust local ecosystems of resources supporting innovation and productiveness.2
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Typically, 20 percent of titles generate 80 percent of all sales, which means that most revenue comes from the “fat” part of the tail and that most of the costs of operation come from maintaining the inventory in the “long” part of the tail.
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Demand-pull learning shifts the focus to enabling participation in flows of action, where the focus is both on “learning to be” through enculturation into a practice as well as on collateral learning.
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In addition to supporting lecture-style teaching, Terra Incognita includes the capability for small groups of students who want to work together to easily “break off” from the central classroom before rejoining the entire class. Instructors can “visit” or send messages to any of the breakout groups and can summon them to rejoin the larger group.
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In addition to supporting lecture-style teaching, Terra Incognita includes the capability for small groups of students who want to work together to easily “break off” from the central classroom before rejoining the entire class. Instructors can “visit” or send messages to any of the breakout groups and can summon them to rejoin the larger group.
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In addition to supporting lecture-style teaching, Terra Incognita includes the capability for small groups of students who want to work together to easily “break off” from the central classroom before rejoining the entire class. Instructors can “visit” or send messages to any of the breakout groups and can summon them to rejoin the larger group.
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In addition to supporting lecture-style teaching, Terra Incognita includes the capability for small groups of students who want to work together to easily “break off” from the central classroom before rejoining the entire class. Instructors can “visit” or send messages to any of the breakout groups and can summon them to rejoin the larger group.
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Whereas traditional schools offer a finite number of courses of study, the “catalog” of subjects that can be learned online is almost unlimited.
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They are able to maintain inventories of products—books, movies, and music—that are many times greater than can be offered by any conventional store.
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The most profound impact of the Internet, an impact that has yet to be fully realized, is its ability to support and expand the various aspects of social learning.
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It is amazing to read this 2008 article for the first time and see how much has transpired in the global educational landscape with regards to open education. Where Web 1.0 expanded access to information, Web 2.0 transformed learning with these affordances: participation, interaction, collaboration, social learning... If Web 3.0 is coming - what will it be? The motivation for Coursera.org is very touching - I stumbled into this YouTube video - Daphne Koller: What we're learning from online education (http://youtu.be/U6FvJ6jMGHU)
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shared by Zach Lonsinger on 16 May 13
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John Seely Brown: Learning, Working & Playing in the Digital Age - 18 views
serendip.brynmawr.edu/...seelybrown
learning edtech seely brown ecology digital community collaboration education web2.0 technology
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Bricolage, a concept originally studied by Levi Strauss many years ago, relates to the concrete. It has to do with the ability to find something—an object, tool, piece of code, document—and to use it in a new way and in a new context. In fact, virtually no system today is built from scratch or first principles—like the way I used to build systems—but rather from finding examples of code on the Web, borrowing "that code," bringing it onto their site, and then modifying it to fit their needs.
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The course that I teach, anatomy and physiology, can be very difficult for some students. I encourage using the vidoes and dissection simulations that come with the textbook, youtube videos, online games flashcards, etc. I had an instructor in another discipline ask me why I didn't just use an online tool to make flashcards for the students for distribution. But this comment in the article really emphasized why I don't. Each student needs to find the study technique that works best for them. And in finding the appropriate video or website or whatever that helps them to learn the information, that process is part of the learning as well and teaches them important study tools for future classes.
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I use this concept when I write code for websites. Most of the time I don't write new code. I usually take it from a previous project or from another website that I like, and modify it to work for what I want.
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I believe that the real literacy of tomorrow will have more to do with being able to be your own private, personal reference librarian, one that knows how to navigate through the incredible, confusing, complex information spaces and feel comfortable and located in doing that. So navigation will be a new form of literacy if not the main form of literacy for the 21st century.
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I think this prediction was spot on! Today's learning is not really about what you know, but rather do you know how to find it and how quickly.
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"... private, personal reference librarian" with help from our networks (e.g., Twitter, Tumblr, FB, etc.)
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Research literacy is a requirement given how much information is available now. There is not as much a need to have a deep rich understanding of a subject. Instead, how to quickly find the necessary information from credible sources is a requirement for those operating in a digital world.
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I love the "private, personal references librarian". I always described myself to others as a Master Googler. I didn't think anything of it until I saw others try to use Google search engine and fail miserably. Navigation and being able to find what you are looking for is crucial in today's world. And knowing how to use Google, and finding what you actually need, isn't as easy as it looks, as one example.
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This made me smile as I am a reference librarian. As much as I find patrons that want to know how to locate something, I think I encounter at least if not more of patrons who just want the item handed to them and do not care to learn how to find it themselves.
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Further more often than not, most people assume they already know how to use Google, and will not ask for help searching or don't know how to interpret the search results.
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Social media and apps organizes our library for us: FaceBook, Instagram, Email, banking, gaming, even Pintrest. On your device, you can organize your apps by category, which will only make sense to that individual. I also like your google comment Zach! My students didn't even know there was an advanced search option for google. When they go to research, they can look for specific resources available at their reading level, or look up information during a specific time period!
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funny thought here... does anyone remeber using the good old card catalog instead of a computer search to find the old, antiquated devices known as books... Sorry, funny connection to the idea of a reference librarian.
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I do remember using the card catalog. I remember going on a field trip to the school library and having the school librarian demonstrate how to search for books using the card catalog. Even in gradeschool, it seemed rudimentary to me. Now card catalogs are nearly extinct!
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@jason - yes, libraries have most definitely felt the impact of Web 2.0, social technologies, etc. In many of the conversations and research that I've been following they've been more about helping students and patrons build skills in information literacy and navigating the massive trove of data that all these web-based sources, databases make available to us. Bluntly put, it's great that we have access to all this information through Google and various library databases, but how do we efficiently locate the most relevant, high-quality sources for our specific needs. That is no trivial task and so this presents librarians with an opportunity to assist.
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This interplay is best characterized as "knowing" and it lives in the action of deliberate inquiry where the concepts, heuristics, laws and algorithms comprising the explicit function as tools for action–deliberate inquiry.)
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I never really thought of the Web being a tool to reach multiple intelligences! The different tools that are on the internet would be great to use in the classroom because each child could express their learning in the context that best suits their needs. Some students could be typing written documents, others could be creating presentations or even short video clips. The possibilities are endless when involving Web 2.0 tools!
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I noticed this idea, too! I'm a very visual learner, so I appreciate how the Internet can easily include text, videos, and slideshows in the classroom learning environment. Being able to connect to audio for auditory learners or people with visual impairments would also be really useful.
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Much as discussed here, technology often reaches multiple intelligences at once seamlessly. I am a visual learner and my daughter is an auditory learner. Recently, we both watched a clip and picked up on different things because she was mainly listening and I was mainly watching. As stated here, this addresses not only how a child may express themselves but also how a child may learn too.
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Yes, can you imagine have these types of tools when you in a K-12 setting? I envision some of the harder subjects for myself would have been less difficult because I would be able to interact with the content in different ways.
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I would take it one step further to include that it not only reaches multiple intelligences, but also is great at adapting for ability levels. It posses the challenges needed for gifted students, the adaptations for students with needs, and can accomodate students who learn better in different languages. In many ways it is the ultimate instructional tool.
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Most of us experienced our formal learning in an authority-based, lecture-oriented school. And yet with the increasing amounts of information being readily available on the Web, we find a new kind of learning happening—it's not all that new; most of us did it informally anyway—having to do with discovery-based or experiential-based learning.
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The idea that we need to be shifting from lecture-oriented/teacher centered learning is something that is hard for young teachers to start changing in their classrooms because of the lack of support from administration. I believe that soon students need to be learning in schools that are discovery-based. There still would be an underlying core of subjects being covered per grade level but students could work on their own through self-motivating projects to discover the information. The role of the teacher would be more of an adviser/moderator that would check in with students on their projects, make suggestions, and stretch their learning!
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Marie--this is very interesting and I think what leads some parents to a home school curriculum. I am not a K-12 teacher and have no experience in that area, but with my own children I see that sometimes they are being taught one certain way to do something because that is the way they will be tested. Since my husband and I are both college professors, we often teach the kids other things and this gets them in trouble at school sometimes. For instance, we taught them 4 states of matter--liquid, gas, solid, and plasma. My son was told that plasma was not in the book so it was not a correct response.
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Ugh. Yes. The "the answer in the book is the only correct answer" problem. I was one of those horrible students who argued with my teachers all the time that the teacher's edition was wrong. It's why I always try to write questions that are either A) obviously open-ended on purpose or B) specific enough that there is genuinely only one answer. Sometimes it's all in the directions, but because of my annoyance in school, I try to keep it in mind.
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It seems like the discovery option in K-12 is not as prevalent in classrooms these days, because teachers/administrators are more worried about covering material for state tests.
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Marie that is exactly the type of classroom I try to maintain. Students all around the room discovering their own learning. Its amazing at how something as simple as the powerpoint project I'm having them create right now generates so much creativity and interest. The students get to pick their topics and I haven't seen them more excited about a single assignment since I've been there. They ask if we can get out the laptops every free minute and they are constantly calling me over while working to tell me the interesting pieces they are adding about their topic/person/thing. I also have them present their powerpoint to the class hoping everyone can learn a little about each other's projects and generate their own questions. As for "the answer in the book is the only correct answer", I haven't come across students that argue with the material yet (unless it is spelling and they are positive that tomato has an "e" in it), but plain and simple the books are outdated. The information is not always accurate and although I still use the books I try to alternate the books and current internet pieces on the same topic. Learning is about the students and we aren't constrained to just the old, dusty, resources in the room.
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We need to challenge students to think outside the box and using multiple levels of intelligence. they are multi-processors and we must continue to challenge them to do so - 1. to keep them from being bored and 2. so they continue to use this ability that they have.
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I would like to add a number 3 to that, so that we shape then into being the 21 citizens which will be required to drive the world forward.
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If we don't know how to use some appliance, software or game, etc., then we tend to reach for a manual, ask for a training course or ask to be shown how to do it by an expert. Believe me, hand a manual to a 15-year-old or suggest going to a training course and he thinks you are a dinosaur. "A manual? Give me a break! Let me get in there and muck around and try various things and see what works." More generally, today's kids tend to get on the Web and link, lurk and watch how other people are doing things and then try something themselves.
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This made me think of a TedTalk I recently watch. Titled, Sugata Mitra's new experiments in self-teaching" found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk60sYrU2RU. Basically, given a computer in India, school age children did not know English, did not know what a computer was, did not know what the internet was, and did not regularly attend school. Even with that, they taught themselves. It is worth watching.
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I saw TEDtalks by Sugata Mitra before. He is a great pioneer of educational technology. I definitely agree with this statement. It is also my favored way of learning a new system or machine. I just like to dive in and experiment and get my hands dirty. That is how I learn the best.
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I thought I posted about this before, but I remember reading an article where researchers handed non-speaking English children ipads. The children quickly figured out how to use the ipads without any instruction or previous experience with technology.
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The second aspect of the Web that has interested me for some time is the fact that the Web may be the first technology, the first medium that honors the notion of multiple intelligences.
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In essence the Web augments the knowledge dynamics of a region, increasing its diversity and expanding its learning resources by leveraging local expertise—in a lightweight way—for mentoring.
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It took 20 or 50 years for electrification to take hold and for society to enact new social practices that leveraged the potential of that infrastructure
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@Justin - agree; in many cases, the technical layer is easier than the social, e.g., changing mindsets, developing set of best practices, etc.
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As a society that has always had electricity, it is hard to imagine a life without it. Similar to what I expect the digital generation to realize that the Web did not always exist.
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It is amazing to think of how long it took for some changes to take hold. I feel the web has been able to catch on much more quickly in many ways yet the learning curve for some of its applications are very slow. Schools in particular a slow to adapt to the applications of web based technology.
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The Web helps to build a rich fabric that combines the small efforts of the many with the large efforts of the few. It enables the culture and sensibilities of the region to evolve, not only by enriching the diversity of available information and expertise,
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a shift between using technology to support the individual and using technology to support relationships. This shift will be very important because with it we will discover new ways, new tools and new social protocols for helping us help each other, which is really the very essence of social learning.
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If Web 1.0 was about building a relationship between the web and the individual and Web 2.0 is about building support for relationships, what will Web 3.0 look like ... tailored experiences ... personalization...collaboration? If so, are we already in a Web 3.0 world?
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The Web 3.0 could be the Internet of Things or building a relationship between an indivudal and a thing, or turning things into people. Like having an oven recognize that Zach put a turkey in the oven and the oven knows that Zach likes the turkey cooked a certain way so it automatically cooks it for you. Scary concept, but it's coming.
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In a lot of ways--and this is something that others have pointed out--big internet services have narrowed our influences because of more targeted use of the data we give off when we use Google, for instance. Thus, limited some of the potential for relationships that Brown talks about.
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Interesting! Could this information be considered public like the information that is already being sold by physical stores, etc.? Do you think there will be less material things in the future and more virtual or made of different materials? Like a physical stop sign won't be necessary when cars drive themselves. We won't have to paint our walls we can change the color with a click!
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Sam, I do think there will be less material things in the future. Check out this link. http://mashable.com/2013/05/18/stop-sign-water/ LaserVision, a light show company, designed a curtain of water with a stop sign projected onto it. It's been a project in Austrailia since 2007. The implications of this are endless. And I think we are approacing a very different and radical age.
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A second example: Hewlett-Packard and the Web. In this example, engineers at Hewlett-Packard use the Web to act as cognitive apprentices, or mentors, for kids wanting extra help on scientific, engineering or mathematical type problems. Again, the small efforts of the many—the engineers—complement the large efforts of the few—the teachers. Both of these examples barely scratch the surface of what could result from interlacing the small efforts of the many with the large efforts of the few.
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internet and the Web as a medium is that it enables us to leverage the small efforts of the many along with the large efforts of the few. Two very simple examples: consider a project called Pueblo that is happening in the Longview School in Phoenix, Arizona, in conjunction with some researchers from Phoenix College, a part of the Maricopa Community College System. These researchers have found a way to use a closed internet to connect a set of senior citizens acting as mentors with kids in the school systems. The result was that the small efforts of the many—the senior citizens
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Many of us tend to think that kids who are multi-processing can't be concentrating. This may not be true. Notice that the attention span of most top managers range somewhere between 30 seconds to five minutes, which seems to be about the right span for most kids that I know
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I love the idea of the digital age...however, not every job is going to be digital. These "kids" need to understand that they need to focus longer than 5 minutes if they are to succeed in life!
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Good point made, this means that schools cannot fully exchange one method for another but must skilfully integrate two world to ensure that whereas kids recieve training for the digital age we live in they also acquire other life skills.
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I think his argument would be stronger if he provided actual data. I see students that are 'hooked up' to multiple devices, but I wonder are their brains actually processing and storing data or is it more of a switch in knowing what requires more of their attention at one time?
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So in some interesting sense the need for making judgments is greater than ever. After all, who would necessarily believe something just because it was on the Web? If you found it in the Wall Street Journal you might have some reason to believe it, the National Enquirer, perhaps not.
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I totally agree that the needs for making judgements is greater than ever. It almost brings a sense of accountability to useing the internet. And at the same time, it is easier than every to double or even triple check a source. Wikipedia provides endless sources to back up its information, which is proving Wikipedia to be a valuable source of information today.
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I just had this discussion with my second graders. Just because something is on the web does not make it a fact. It could just be an opinion. Great way to teach FACT vs. OPINION!
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One of my fave examples of "something on the web is not always a fact" is the tree octopus: http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
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@Zach - Yes, Wikipedia has certainly come a long way since its early days when its credibility was questionable and was often the victim of spam wars or vandals. And while it's improved dramatically, there's only so much territory that their groups of volunteer editors can cover, and most of the participation has been by men and so the Wikimedia Foundation is looking at ways to encourage more women to participate. e.g., http://www.dailydot.com/society/wikipedia-gender-gap-sarah-stierch/
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nd so it will be for the Web. But to see this I think it is crucial not to think of the Web and the internet as just a network of computers but rather as the beginning of a fundamentally new medium, a medium as in TV, radio, theater and books. But this medium is going to have properties that are going to be very hard for us to understand because it's going to be a two-way or interactive medium
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t this medium is as transformative as was electrification and with similar diffusion properties. The industrial dynamo was introduced about 1880. It took about 30 or more years for the effects of the dynamo to permeate our society
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I have heard this comparison before--the internet era compared to the industrial revolution--and it is a very interesting comparison. Not just an invention but a disruptive change in the ways that we work, live, and think.
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It makes me think about the combination of technologies as tools and learning the language.
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Comcast offered about 50 billion dollars for Media One
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And to think this was 15 years ago. I wonder how much 50 billion is worth today. And people made a big deal with Facebook bought Instagram for 1 billion, and then more recently WhatsApp for 19 billion, and then a few month ago, Oculus Rift for 2 billion---and yet all of this still does not equal 50 billion.
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Recently, I was with a young researcher, albeit one that was a bit unusual, that had actually wired a Web browser into his eyeglasses.
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Does this guy work for Google now? Perhaps had a part in designing Google Glass? I got to experiement with Google Glass in February. Woah, was that cool. It was very unique in being able to watch a video in your glasses or wink and be able to take a picture. I can definitely see Google Glass, or a future model being implemented in education.
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Google Glass came to my mind as well. I've had colleagues that have had the opportunity to try them. It confuses me as to how it works exactly. Perhaps we have reached the Jetsons age?
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I've been more fascinated with what 3D printers can do in the classroom, where at least for now printers seem to have an easier to identify educational role.
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and to be able to pick up and feel comfortable with these new rapidly evolving multiple media genres
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I think this is evident in children today. You see kids everywhere with smartphones, tablets, iPads. And these kids are better users of these than some of their parents.
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Reminds me of the news article (last year?) which discussed the instance of American researchers providing a handful of children with an Ipad. These children lived in a third world country, but were able to master the use of the Ipad quickly and without any adult instruction.
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and may even become a prominent form of entertainment for the digital kid.
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The catch, however, is that if you are going to become a successful bricoleur of the 21st century, a bricoleur of the virtual rather than of the physical, than as you borrow things you have to be able to decide whether or not to believe or trust those things.
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I think this can get into the touchy subject of plagiarism. There's a famous saying that goes, "stealing from one source is plagiarism, but stealing from many sources is research". I also read a book titled, "Steal Like an Artist" by Austin Kleon. One of the famous sayings used was from Picasso, "Good artists copy, great artists steal."
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Again, I find most middle school and high school students, college-aged, and adults are not always certain on the differenences between a .gov or .edu site versus a .com site.
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The standards for "cobbling" or taking code fragments are different than traditional "ideas," though. Code seems less abstract and more material-based, at least virtually.
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So we now have navigation being coupled to, basically, discovery and discovery being coupled to bricolage but you don't dare build on whatever you discover unless you can make a judgment concerning its quality or trustworthiness.
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So troubleshooting is really story construction, not abstract logical reasoning.
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I love this. Stories are everywhere, from birth to death, and have always been apart of the human nature. I do believe stories are vital to education and how every child learns best. Not always just storybooks, but stories from parents, classmates, friends, and from their teachers.
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Absolutely! I always try to incorporate story telling into my classes. Sharing things I learned during my time in school and letting students share their stories with their peers and myself. A lot of the time I even learn from their stories!
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Learning was happening in a fantastic way in terms of telling and listening to stories.
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The real expert was not a person but was the community mind, the mind of the community-of-practice.
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The twist, though, was that once they received the video, the engineers would replay them in their own small study group, but replay them in a very special way. Every three minutes or so they would stop the video and talk about what they had just seen, and ask each other if there were any questions or any ambiguities that needed to be resolved.
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This is a great way to learn that I think a lot of professors on campus overlook. The engineers basically were experiencing what we call today a "flipped classroom". I think this is a great way to learn, especially with a small group of people where you can bounce ideas off and pause the lecture or re-watch it. Sometimes during a lecture or in a class, people need that time to pause, and think over the material. Some students do this, and then miss what the instructor continued to talk about.
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The next system is an experimental system in use at Cornell University and designed by Dan Huttenlocher. Here they use dual video cameras, one on the lecturer and one that zooms in on any student asking a question. The video stream can then be automaticallly segmented, identifying exactly when a student asked a question or the lecturer changed a slide, etc. Once a slide is identified its image is passed to an optical character recognizer whose output is used to help create an index of the video stream content.
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The traditional producers of knowledge (e.g., faculty) are also becoming consumers of the knowledge that their traditional consumers (e.g., grad students, firms in the region) produce.
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We're just at the bottom of the S-curve of this innovation, a curve that will have about the same shape but a greater slope than the one pertaining to electrification. And as this S-curve takes off, it creates a unique period for entrepreneurs! It is entrepreneurs, be they academic, educational or corporate entrepreneurs, that will shape and drive this relatively chaotic phenomenon especially as it relates to learning. Entrepreneurs are great at challenging the status quo. Their power lies in their willingness to see differently, unearth and challenge background assumptions and then act on their beliefs, often overturning an assumption that others felt were unassailable. Our challenge and opportunity, here, is to foster the entrepreneurial spirit toward creating new kinds of learning environments, ones that leverage how we naturally learn coupled to or enhanced by the unique capabilities of the Web.
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It'd be interesting to find out where this author believes us to be on the S-curve now. This statement made me realize that most discoveries are made by visionaries that want to push the envelope and have successfully done so, such as Steve Jobs & Apple or Mark Zuckerberg & Facebook. For better or worse they have revolutionized our society.
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learning becomes a part of action and knowledge creation.
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I have found that I learn and retain new ideas if I can read about it and then have the ability to interract with it in some fashion.
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When I was in primary and secondary school, I received notesheets that stated that the more senses one uses in studying material, the more likely he is to retain the material as knowledge. Rather than senses, perhaps relating new knowledge to familiar concepts and activitities should have been stressed. (After all, I probably will not be tasting the Renaissance anytime soon!)
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Enculturation lies at the heart of learning.
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These study groups were socially constructing their own understanding of the material.
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One of the things that makes an ecology so powerful and adaptable to new contexts is its diversity
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My understanding of this is that if everyone in a group has the same viewpoint, nothing new may develop. But if you have learners from various backgrounds, and life experiences then innovation can begin. Learner A will propose one solution and Learner B may submit another. Through discussion and evaluation, a final solution will be developed.
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Judgment, navigation, discrimination and synthesis are more critical than ever; again, congruent to our hypothesis about digital kids.
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Basically, each of us is part consumer and part producer. We read and we write, we absorb and we critique, we listen and we tell stories, we help and we seek help. This is life on the Web. The boundaries between consuming and producing are fluid—the secret to many of the business models of Web-based commerce.
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What I want to do this morning is to provide some evocative comments rather than give a coherent, logically argued talk. That is, these comments are meant to be idea sparkers that will, hopefully, evoke additional ideas for yourself concerning how the world might be changing and how we might actually recast or reframe some of the classical problems of education and distance learning in quite new terms.
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f you see a Web site that's more than six months old, it screams out at you—something is wrong.
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I notice this "off-kilter" quality with operating systems--especially when I toggle between my older iPod touch and my relatively newer iPhone. Must be a golden age for these types of graphic designers.
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My summer job is constantly getting new laptops and I never think there is anything wrong with the old ones but each new laptop has a better quality or different feature than the older that benefits the business. This six month timeline sounds about right.
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This is so true! I have a MacBook from 2011 that I have been using and loving. It always worked fine for me, and I saw nothing wrong with it. About a month ago, it started to act up and it eventually quit on me, so I took it in to the local Apple store. I basically needed everything replaced (thank goodness it was still under the extended warranty) and I received all new parts (except for the battery and bottom metal case). Essentially, now I have a brand new computer with the most updated software and I have am so surprised by how much faster and smoother it runs!
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Web surfing
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Knowledge has two dimensions, the explicit and the tacit. The explicit dimension deals with concepts, the know-whats, whereas the tacit dimension deals with know-how.
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even what constitutes a solution in the first place?
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as I mentioned earlier, lurk on the periphery and hear what was going on and in so doing could be a virtual cognitive apprentice. He could also move from the periphery to the center when he had something to contribute, very much like today's digital kids are doing on the Web.
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(This capability may be especially important as a child starts his learning journey. Afterwards, and after a sense of self confidence about being able to learn has been established, mastering a broader set of learning media will be easier).
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When I first heard of so many people having a wii fit, I often thought why not just do the real thing in real life? This section gets me thinking about the times I've been in a situation where my comfort level was minimal and therefore I took a backseat to observe (and also refrained from asking specific questions that would allow me to keep up). I enjoy reading about these "safe zones" and how truly essential they are to learner exploration and building confidence!
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This experiment reflects a win/win situation because the senior citizens wired together actually created a sense of meaning for themselves, through interaction with themselves and the kids, while also acting as a powerful resource to the kids.
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Then he linked and lurked and at the right moment he transitioned from lurking to asking a question therein initiating a brief conversation with this expert. A small momentary effort of one expert inspired this kid.
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Given the vastness of the Web, it's often possible to find a niche community or special interest group that exactly coincides with your own, idiosyncratic interest or, more to the point, a kid's interest.
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. It was a strange experience to say the least.
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You are picking up or apprenticing to the practices of an expert.
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This reminds me a lot of student teaching. In the last two semesters (at least in the Penn State program) are heavy on field experiences. Even though I learned a lot in my methods courses, the most valuable learning experiences I aquired in my time at Penn State were from student teaching, being in an actual classroom and working with an actual teacher!
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I have a student now that due to several reasons cannot read or write. I only have the student for two subjects and during our time with those subjects the student puts his finger on the page as if he is following along, but has no clue where the class is. The student is constantly cutting papers and never doing the assignment like the rest of the class. The student does not even remember my name, but if I give this student a verbal test the student receives grades of 80%. I have no idea how he is retaining the information when he is talking and looking at a completely different page, cannot remember my name, but can get almost every answer correct. Clearly he is able to concentrate on what is being read or spoken to him in those environments even though according to my eyes he's not paying attention at all. Just reminded me an example of multi-processing.
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learning ecology.
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So, having said all that, let's step back and ask about today's kids, kids growing up digital. How are their brains different? How do they learn differently? How do they think differently? How are they different? Because after all, today's kids are today's customers for schools and tomorrow's customers for lifelong learning. So we all have a lot of motivation to jointly come to some understanding of how the "digital kid" is different. Let me first give an overview and then I will dig into this topic a little bit more
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This is something I have put a great deal of thought to. Kids are different and have changed very rapidly. At the age of 36 I like to believe I am not yet in the category of being considered old. However, when i was going through elementary school the web was not yet something available to me. A computer was the good apple 2e. When I hit middle school and high school the web was coming onto the scene. The apple 2gs was in style and dial up and "You've Got Mail" were familiar to many, but not all. The kids of today however have grown up in a world that has never known dial up, have never been without text messaging or phones capable of standing in for computers. This has changed the kids of today. Their person to person communication skills are lacking, they demand immediate feedback, they multitask like pros because they do nearly everything while connected to an electronic device. This is an area of great interest to me because I believe the web and its associated devices have truly changed who we are as people.
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Starting about three years ago we, at PARC, started hiring fifteen year olds to join us during the summer as researchers
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Corporate research centers and high-tech companies are increasingly providing adjunct professors, guest lectures, thesis supervision, richly textured case histories to the universities. They are also providing consulting and sabbatical opportunities for professors and graduate students, thus providing opportunities for the academy to become better grounded in real world problems. Although such intermixing is not fundamentally new, the degree to which it is happening is new and various kinds of cross linkages are growing.
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What that medium will evolve into, believe me, none of us really know.
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A corporation purchases another for billions of dollars, for the purpose of investing in a medium with intense transformation potential. The uncertainty of what those transformations will be does not deter them. This is the power of increased convenience in communications: it is potentially of great service to billions of people, and worth more green bills than each of us shall witness in our lifetimes.
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shared by Zach Lonsinger on 26 Jun 13
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elearnspace. Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age - 17 views
www.elearnspace.org/...connectivism.htm
connectivism education learning technology web2.0 collaboration community
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Even social constructivist views, which hold that learning is a socially enacted process, promotes the principality of the individual (and her/his physical presence – i.e. brain-based) in learning.
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Objectivism (similar to behaviorism) states that reality is external and is objective, and knowledge is gained through experiences. Pragmatism (similar to cognitivism) states that reality is interpreted, and knowledge is negotiated through experience and thinking. Interpretivism (similar to constructivism) states that reality is internal, and knowledge is constructed.
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Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today.
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If we teach our students the "tools" to be able to learn outside of class, we are giving them the tools to become a "learner". Learning is not simply listening to information that is being given, but going out and finding that information and why it is important.
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I completely agree with Shelby that we need to teach information literacy skills. However, are these skills being taught to all? Are poorer school districts suffering because their students are not immersed in a life of smartphones and iPads?
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For me, the question becomes how to we do this if we are immersed in an enviornment that is consumed with standardized testing?
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I once had an administrator excitedly tell me about the new computerized test prep subscription website that they planned to use with the students. She was talking all this stuff about how much better it was to use technology this way, and I'm looking at her and trying not to be all "lady, it's still just test prep..." There was nothing creative about it. There are much better ways to use technology for learning.
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As a classroom teacher who does not always subscribe to the typical stuff my school tries to throw at us, "test scores, standards, common core..." I love this quote. I ultimately feel that grades, test scores, and the like are not what we are striving for. There will always be kids who can succeed on any test or fail any test. To me, the real measure is that we have given kids the tools to think, the ability to learn, the ability to question, and the ability to be analytical and critical.
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The need to evaluate the worthiness of learning something is a meta-skill that is applied before learning itself begins. When knowledge is subject to paucity, the process of assessing worthiness is assumed to be intrinsic to learning. When knowledge is abundant, the rapid evaluation of knowledge is important.
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I find it tricky when learners start to question why they are expected to learn certain information. In some fields, there have been decades of development for certain curricula, so shouldn't the learner value that the experts in that field find that information important? As an educator, I hear from students all the time that they don't know why they have to learn a certain chunk of material because they feel it doesn't relate to what they are doing. But in the future, they may finally make the connection and realize that it is important.
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In regarding Melissa's comment above (I see it was made last year), I still to this day question some of the material that I was being taught in middle school and high school. There are just some subjects and lessons that I feel we would have been better off without.
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I do believe that the skills of learning is the more important in school than that which a student actually learns. Gonzalez in 2004 speaks about the "half-life of knowledge" with this in mind, our student have to be prepare to learn, what is current and appropriate, and learn it very quickly. If I'm going to teach a girl to make a skirt, in order to access if learning have taken place, I could have her build a model or an actual skirt. It really only matter to me or the girl. what matter is if she can build a skirt.
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I agree that the evaluation of knowledge is tricky and a little subject-dependent. Evaluating someone's theory or argument can help a learner understand whether or not the theory is appropriate for supporting their own argument. The source theory could be apocryphal and, thus, unsuited for a highly structured academic piece. This would be a liberal arts/social science skill. But evaluating mathematical proofs seems like a higher-order ability that is for advanced learning, rather than middle-school-level learning.
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While learning theories may not focus on the value of knowledge, I feel that there needs to be a certain external criteria for this worthiness, especially when considering the implementation of learning systems that connect the digital and physical realm. This behaviorist approach seems to be the starting point, but certainly not the end.
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Knowledge flow can be likened to a river that meanders through the ecology of an organization. In certain areas, the river pools and in other areas it ebbs. The health of the learning ecology of the organization depends on effective nurturing of information flow.
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This description really emphasizes the importance of committee meetings, professional development workshops, and the like. We must have networks within our organizations so that knowledge can be shared. I have been fascinated at committee meetings how a representative from one area can drastically improve the understanding of the rest of the committee of some aspect of the problem. Committee work can be time-consuming, however, so moving it to a online environment can be more efficient.
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Know-how and know-what is being supplemented with know-where (the understanding of where to find knowledge needed).
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This is a testament to the need for informational literacy to be taught across the spectrum of education.
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Yes, it's so important for students to know how to find the information they need without getting frustrated by bad searches or misled by bad sources. It's frustrating because it's so often overlooked.
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The "know-where" mentioned here reminds me of the John Seely Brown article where he mentions how to "be your own private, personal reference librarian, one that knows how to navigate through the incredible, confusing, complex information spaces"...or a professional Googler.
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True! and 50-90% of the information on the web will never be accessed by a search engine; the 'deep web' contains some of the most valuable information sources
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I really like this quote because it sums up the idea that students are individually making connections with the world to gain knowledge. They tend to follow and explore information that is related to their interests.
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I like the quote for that reason, and I also like it because of the emphasis on the concept of performance and performance potential; thus, the idea of applying learning is incorporated into the very definition of learning!
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I love the way experience is an important part of the definition of learning. Experience and performance are great teachers, far better than any textbook ever will be and yet many institutions seem to insist that this is the way to learn.
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Learning is a continual process, lasting for a lifetime.
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It's so trendy now to talk about "lifelong learning", but there is definite truth to the idea that we never really stop learning just because we have finished our formal education. I'd bet most people don't even realize that they are learning even just by catching the news.
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Or from reading their social media feeds! I read so many articles from what my friends share!
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I used to think of Facebook as "recreation" but now I get alot of information/stay up to date through my "likes" and what friends post (so many Facebook pages available). I guess this is an example of how both are coming together.
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Behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism are the three broad learning theories most often utilized in the creation of instructional environments. These theories, however, were developed in a time when learning was not impacted through technology.
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These theories have been around a very long time regarding education. I wonder what "new" theories will be in place years from now with reference to technology? Will future students be looking back at the new theories and deciding how they impact education?
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I find this rather interesting. I've heard mentioned a few times over the past year or two that our education and school system was developed to answer the Industrail Revoultion, or factories. This can be seen with the the early and late bells in the morning of grade schools. Perhaps these learning theories also came out of the Industrial Revolution or a similar period. It will be really interesting to see what kinds of learning theories will be around in 30 years.
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I also wonder how quickly the "new" theories will change again with rapid/constant development. @Zach, that's an interesting thought!
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Learners as little as forty years ago would complete the required schooling and enter a career that would often last a lifetime.
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This is very true. I graduated in 1981. Most of my peers left high school and went straight into the work force. Many of them are still in those same careers.
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I have encountered many listings on job search engines in which positions are listed as entry level, yet require Master's and/or Doctorate degrees... and paradoxically, previous work experience! It seems like those without formal graduate education are not even considered candidates for many positions that used to only require a high school education or a 2-year college degree.
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Many learners will move into a variety of different, possibly unrelated fields over the course of their lifetime
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Is this a good thing? Can this be a detriment to the person if they find a job they love and for unforeseen circumstances they can no work? Will their portfolios give the indication that they cannot focus?
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This could be a good thing, and a bad thing. It all depends on the person I feel. If the person is just looking for a job, then it would be a bad thing. But if a person is pursuing a career, or even better, a calling, then it is a great thing. I just read an article the other day on LinkedIn (I can't find the exact article now) that talked about the difference between a job, a career, and a calling. I found it rather intriguing.
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It might be unrealistic of employers to expect that they can regularly find workers who love their jobs, if persons in the work force cannot pursue their passions from entry level to retirement. Yet, the expectation might actually be realistic, given the demands for more formal education from applicants than in previous years; perhaps that increased formal education and a general fostering for the desire to learn could encourage applicants to enjoy a variety of career paths. (I can say in my personal life that I did not enjoy being a retail manager with my B.A. in Psychology, however.)
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I feel like this is so common within the teaching feild (especially in the Pittsburgh area). I have so many friends who graduated college with and before myself who are having the hardest time finding a teaching job in the area. I also have friends who have given up completely and have either returned back to school for a completely different field or are doing something completely unrelated. I think the worst part is the time, money, and effort put into get a degree that isn't even being used to its full potential. However, if the person loves what they're doing, then it can be a good thing for them that they found something they are passionate about.
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Agreed on the cultivation of a new passion, though it doesn't always work out. Providing an obstacle between a person and their desired field, makes one question their original intent, and can often result in something previously unknown, yet equally satisfying.
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People will hold an average of 11 jobs over their lifetime. As a librarian I am in a different field from my undergraduate degree. Society needs change and workers need to change with it.
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It is an ever changing world with regards to technology. Staying current can be as easy as downloading a daily news feed.
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I feel the need to raise my hand to this question and answer "Web 2.0! Blogs! Wikis! News feeds from experts! Social networking; communicating with peers!".
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I like this question. How current is current do we want to monitor all the changes as they occur knowing that in a few months this knowledge will be obsolete whether we use it or not. Or do we stay current by taking a snapshot of what is current when we are required to be current
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As CJ noted, there are a variety of ways to stay current! It's even as easy as searching google to find the most recent information that comes up!
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Half of what is known today was not known 10 years ago. The amount of knowledge in the world has doubled in the past 10 years and is doubling every 18 months according to the American Society of Training and Documentation (ASTD).
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This is a mind-numbing statistic. It's almost impossible for me to wrap my head around this number. That is a lot of knowledge that my parents and my past and current teachers did not know when going through school.
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I agree that this statistic is amazing. I also wonder what the "half-life" rate since this stat was published. There is certainly a fair amount of information I will learn (and have learn) that will be obsolete.
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Imagine having an individual resource for each question you have. When I was young we had a set of encyclopedias but there were alot of questions I left go because I didn't have them by my side constantly.
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Agreed, this surely must have changed since 2004. Also, this is documented knowledge, and that which can be accounted for. This kind of makes me want to get a clearer depiction of what knowledge is given weight in such a claim.
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I too was curious about an updated statistic but was unable to find anything concrete with google. I did find an interesting artcle and corresponding TEDx talk. http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/stratedgy/what%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Chalf-life-knowledge#sthash.Wsl4FJs4.dpbs
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Technology is altering (rewiring) our brains. The tools we use define and shape our thinking.
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This is a neat, yet scary idea. I immediately took it in the literal sense, that technology is literally rewiring us (or brainwashing/controlling us). I know this is not the case, but our society and technology is not far away from people being able to "hijack" another person and control them via nanotechnoloy or tiny, microscopic swalloable bluetooth pills. But anyways, back to the article - this is very true. It is allowing us to become highly efficient multi-taskers that are able to complete more work in a shorter amount of time.
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I notice younger students multi-tasking using various media devices. They are able to do this because their brains have been 'wired' and 're-wired' to do so.
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that is, we need to act by drawing information outside of our primary knowledge.
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I think the internet has made this extremely easy today, especially Google. I recently just watched the Apple keynote streamed live from the WWDC 2014 conference on Monday (June 2nd). Their new opearting system is expaning on their search functionality. Now on a Mac computer a user will be able to simply click the maginifying glass on the desktop and type in what you want to fine. This will then search the computer for stored files or software AND it will also now search the inernet via Bing and provide "smart" search options.
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“Experience has long been considered the best teacher of knowledge. Since we cannot experience everything, other people’s experiences, and hence other people, become the surrogate for knowledge.
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This is an interesting idea and it reminds me of the Reddit (www.reddit.com) community. I am actively engaged in many subreddits and there is a subreddit for just about everything you could possibly want. And being able to freely navigate and comment on any subreddit allows you to tap into other people's experiences and knowledge in fields in which you may not know anything about.
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I always wanted to explore Reddit, but just never took the time to sit down and try it out (you may have inspired me). I like how this emphasizes the unique importance of others, and implies a sort of short-cut with the corresponding quote. By calling upon the experience of others in a time of need, you can leverage experience as living database. Each person representing specific sections of a cloud server which can be accessed on demand - thus saving time, and viewing perspectives of those who are embedded within communities of practice.
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“be informationally open, that is, for it to be able to classify its own interaction with an environment, it must be able to change its structure…”
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serendipity
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I love serendipity so much that it may be my favorite word. And from reading that word, it made a "weak tie" in my brain to an article I read a while back on LinkedIn. Here it is if anyone is intereted in the "notion that you could intentionally design your life to encounter surprises." https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140430125746-10842349-why-you-should-plan-for-serendipity?midToken=AQFCebI-qgsCUg&fromEmail=fromEmail&trk=eml-ced-b-art-M-3-7959820741678275557&ut=3eQ04cw4gPNmc1
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New information is continually being acquired. The ability to draw distinctions between important and unimportant information is vital.
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This is extremely important in today's culture, especially for the young person. I am 23, and I occasionally find myself with information overload from my facebook and twitter timeline. It is insane how much information is continually being pushed out from people on an hourly basis.
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Totally agree on the information overload aspect of today's culture, but even more important in my opinion is the ability to quickly determine important/valid versus unimportant/unreliable information this quickly changing world.
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The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe.
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I love this sentence. It really puts into perspective education and learning. Yes, the content (oil) is important, but without the ability to learn (the pipe), we will never get the oil. This reminds me of a quote I read the other day from Bob Goff. He said, "Spend a lot more time picking hte track you'll take than the train you'll ride to get there."
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#Limitless I feel this also applies to the possibilities that technology provides. Great quote by the way!
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Every time I have interviewed for a job in software engineering, I have been asked questions about how I keep up with changing software development approaches and continue to learn new programming languages, databasing concepts/techniques, and other relevant skills. Copious amounts of informal learning truly is a must, in the world of software programming!
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Driscoll (2000) defines learning as “a persisting change in human performance or performance potential…[which] must come about as a result of the learner’s experience and interaction with the world” (p.11).
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Content of knowledge – Is knowledge actually knowable? Is it directly knowable through human experience?
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Observable behaviour is more important than understanding internal activities Behaviour should be focused on simple elements: specific stimuli and responses Learning is about behaviour change
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Cindy Buell details this process: “In cognitive theories, knowledge is viewed as symbolic mental constructs in the learner's mind, and the learning process is the means by which these symbolic representations are committed to memory.”
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chaos states that the meaning exists – the learner's challenge is to recognize the patterns which appear to be hidden
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Luis Mateus Rocha (1998) defines self-organization as the “spontaneous formation of well organized structures, patterns, or behaviors, from random initial conditions.” (p.3).
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Albert-László Barabási states that “nodes always compete for connections because links represent survival in an interconnected world” (2002, p.106). This competition is largely dulled within a personal learning network, but the placing of value on certain nodes over others is a reality.
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Connectivism is the integration of principles explored by chaos, network, and complexity and self-organization theories.
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Landauer and Dumais (1997) explore the phenomenon that “people have much more knowledge than appears to be present in the information to which they have been exposed”.
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This amplification of learning, knowledge and understanding through the extension of a personal network is the epitome of connectivism.
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Mainstream media organizations are being challenged by the open, real-time, two-way information flow of blogging.
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And hopefully, we are not sacrificing too many truths in the name of appeasement.
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Paid subscriptions will eventually go the way of the dinosaur. In hindsight, the thought of objectivity from a few providers is scary. The open source nature of media put the power in the hands of the people, and their interaction allows consumers a method of control over media hubs that may not be honest about allegiance to specific policies and special interest groups.
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For as much as news networks have turned into a 24/7 reality -- it is even more clear that anyone with access to technology can report on current events as they happen. There is no waiting for the 5 o'clock news anymore to tell you what occured on the other side of the world. Users on twitter are tweeting or journalists are streaming from the location as the events unfold.
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If the underlying conditions used to make decisions change, the decision itself is no longer as correct as it was at the time it was made. The ability to recognize and adjust to pattern shifts is a key learning task
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Classrooms which emulate the “fuzziness” of this learning will be more effective in preparing learners for life-long learning.
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The ability to recognize when new information alters the landscape based on decisions made yesterday is also critical.
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The management and marshalling of resources to achieve desired outcomes is a significant challenge. Realizing that complete knowledge cannot exist in the mind of one person requires a different approach to creating an overview of the situation.
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This seems to be a significant aspect of the Connectivist learning theory. And it feels like an evolution of the social-constructive model: instead of social influences, Connectivism emphasizes organizational influences, like businesses and schools.
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Agreed. They seem to "steer the ship", relying on smaller units to function independently as a whole. These smaller entities are then responsible for identifying issues, and suggesting new methods that increase and improve efficiency - creating an interdependent relationship between both parties.
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Within social networks, hubs are well-connected people who are able to foster and maintain knowledge flow.
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What adjustments need to made with learning theories when technology performs many of the cognitive operations previously performed by learners (information storage and retrieval).
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o combat the shrinking half-life of knowledge, organizations have been forced to develop new methods of deploying instruction.”
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The organization and the individual are both learning organisms. Increased attention to knowledge management highlights the need for a theory that attempts to explain the link between individual and organizational learning.
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The organization and the individual are both learning organisms. Increased attention to knowledge management highlights the need for a theory that attempts to explain the link between individual and organizational learning.
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he organization and the individual are both learning organisms. Increased attention to knowledge management highlights the need for a theory that attempts to explain the link between individual and organizational learning.
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The organization and the individual are both learning organisms. Increased attention to knowledge management highlights the need for a theory that attempts to explain the link between individual and organizational learning.
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Chaos is the breakdown of predictability, evidenced in complicated arrangements that initially defy order.
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instead of thousands of ants crossing each other’s pheromone trails and changing their behavior accordingly, thousands of humans pass each other on the sidewalk and change their behavior accordingly.”
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The capacity to form connections between sources of information, and thereby create useful information patterns, is required to learn in our knowledge economy.
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Our small world networks are generally populated with people whose interests and knowledge are similar to ours
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Vaill emphasizes that “learning must be a way of being – an ongoing set of attitudes and actions by individuals and groups that they employ to try to keep abreast o the surprising, novel, messy, obtrusive, recurring events…” (1996, p.42).
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At some point, however, the underlying conditions have altered so significantly, that further modification is no longer sensible. An entirely new approach is needed.
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How are learning theories impacted when knowledge is no longer acquired in the linear manner?
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The consistency of classroom-based learning provided a traditional sender/receiver model, for theories to thrive, based on observed behavior among student populations. Now, there is a move toward the individual, and their impact on the world around them, as the boundaries are blurred. This forces theorists to adapt to the non-linear approach by establishing multiple approaches that converge to suit an individual - as opposed to a larger population.
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Chaos is the breakdown of predictability, evidenced in complicated arrangements that initially defy order.
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Jurassic Park fans anybody? This reminds me of Dr. Ian Malcolm, and his description of chaos theory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cVLUPwrSmU.
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Connections between disparate ideas and fields can create new innovations.
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Learning may reside in non-human appliances.
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This gives non-human subjects the ability to derive meaning through actor network theory (ANT): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actor%E2%80%93network_theory
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Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities.
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Knowledge that resides in a database needs to be connected with the right people in the right context in order to be classified as learning.
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John Seely Brown presents an interesting notion that the internet leverages the small efforts of many with the large efforts of few.
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The “half-life of knowledge” is the time span from when knowledge is gained to when it becomes obsolete
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I was able to put this into the context of personal entertainment devices. VCRs are a thing of the past, walkmans, boomboxes, and cd-players too. Show a child a floppy disk and they won't know what it is or how to use it. All of these items have no value in our society.
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Very true! However, when I threw away the VHS tape collection of videos from my library, many people were upset! When I asked if they would like to take them home, the answer was "what am I doing to do with them?" haha
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(the “black box theory”).
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I like the imagery that is created from 'the black box theory.' People are essentially a black box of knowledge, until the box is opened and that knowledge is transferred to another. Media often reports on the FCC needing to locate the black box in order to find out cause of airplane accidents from the data that was collected.
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Learning theories are concerned with the actual process of learning, not with the value of what is being learned.
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I have always been intrigued with the process of learning for myself and others. Why are some people able to instantly grasp concepts and others have to struggle with the material. A person with dyslexia will need to be taught how to learn in a manner different than a person without reading disorders. The brain is magical thing isn't it?
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Learners as little as forty years ago would complete the required schooling and enter a career that would often last a lifetime.
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learners create knowledge as they attempt to understand their experiences
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Personal knowledge is comprised of a network, which feeds into organizations and institutions, which in turn feed back into the network, and then continue to provide learning to individual. This cycle of knowledge development (personal to network to organization) allows learners to remain current in their field through the connections they have formed.
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As knowledge continues to grow and evolve, access to what is needed is more important than what the learner currently possesses.