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Spot on! I have a MS; but have never had a job using my academic skills. In fact, the workplace has penalized me and on several jobs told me I have no skills to obtain other jobs or be advanced. In fact, I have been told NOT to put my academic degrees in a resume. So, I am a honor student with 9 solid years of academic education, and a work force retard. What do you suppose is going on here? Unfortunately, there a several varibles at work in my case. The "glass ceiling," discrimination, ignorance of what education means and is (or maybe a better grasp); no knowledge of what tranferrable skills are and as we brain storm the list goes on, especially as I get older.

I hear you. I turn 40 this year and I can't help but wonder if I'd be better able to support my family if I had a marketable skill, instead of knowledge about knowledge :) I fantasize about raising goats and alpaca and selling soap and sweaters. :)

Joy and Jennifer--EVERYTHING you shared hits home with me. I find myself in both of your places (as expressed in your comments) so I am now trying to enhance my resume and become more marketable as I age!--I'm already "too old and too expensive" to fit into the traditional classroom in either private or public schools so. . . thanks for being there for me and helping me learn new skills that are so needed in the domain of 21st century education.

I recently submitted my resume for an education software training contract and this was the response. "I read through your resume and realized that most probably our position would bore the heck out of you." I replied that I enjoy working with people and it's always a challenge and not boring. He responded with the other issue; salary. I told him that was very low for this area. His response was, "Most probably I'll be finding someone younger (less experience) or someone older (semi retired)."

Ouch that is discrimination! The "semi retired: comment was even worse!!! In the first case he stated you were over qualified; and in the second paying lower wages to "semi retired" people is even more discriminatory! His verbal behavior disgusts me!

One resource to join the movement against age discrimination is typing into a search engine...Gray or Grey coalition. http://www.graymatterscoalition.com/

AMEN, Sisters! I'm totally appalled at what happened to you, Jen--the whole thing was discrimination!! Thanks for the link, Joy--I'm looking into it!

WOW! The RSA Animate visualized version of Robinson's talk is terrific for a variety of reasons - I'm just trying to unpack it all! First the presentation provides an instant visualization of Robinson's talk - a shorthand for thinking and remembering his ideas. The animation is engaging, entertaining and memorable. Since it's on YouTube, you can go back and watch it all, or portions of it. The perspective moves from close up to big picture, and changes on the fly. What's especially powerful, however is the central idea that Robinson is talking about - a real elephant in the room. He says our educational system, which was created for a different time and economic era, is outdated. It's a factory system, arising originally from the Industrial Revolution, that to many students seems irrelevant to their own futures and careers in the 21st Century. It divides students into two camps - academic professionals (ie. "smart people"), and vocationals (blue collar, "not-so smart people"). In one memorable section, he distinguishes between "aesthetic" experiences - which enliven and engage human attention, and "anesthetic" experiences which deaden curiosity and passion. He associates these "anesthetic" experiences with our current educational process. The fact that he delivers these heavy hitting criticisms with such a light hearted, though well articulated sense of humor, is especially powerful.

Three points come to mind. 1. Presentation. The way the information was presented was totally engaging had me wanting to believe the message without question. I would have appreciated having the sources of his information indicated. As we've commented on in other posts as well, the verasity of information is always an issue. I tried finding the prescription distribution used in the tape, but could not find specific information to support the claim (although I'm sure it is somewhere on the internet.) 2. Education Model. Although his model definitely resonated with me, I think of education or I should say the educational system as having two goals - to train us to be academics (as he describes) and to prepare us for jobs. Some jobs do require specifc answer knowledge. 3. On-line learning. One of his earlier points about the educational system is that there was a paradigm shift when free, state-sponsored education became a reality. His description of education prior to that seemed to fit what we often see in "internet" learning - more individual driven learning.

Jennifer - I am so glad you included Sir Ken Robinson in your syllabus. I love his unique perspectives, especially about our educational systems. His talk about the importance of educators fostering creativity in the culture of the classroom is very powerful. I also finished reading Downes article about the role of the educator and I see his points regarding how technology has redefined/redesigned our roles. I find it very exciting. Regarding the value of"divergent thinking." As a teacher, I always encourage and appreciate this capacity in my students. However, I also ask they reflect upon this process of divergent thinking. "What led you to think this might be a possibility?" I often find asking students to be reflective and to articulate about meta-cognition frustrates them. In our overstimulating and quick answer/fix culture, is it wrong to ask how their ideas came about? "Could you follow your train of thought?" Also, (and not directly related) did anyone click on the game Downes referenced called "Evoke." What an amazing on-line game - a "designed, learning community" posing serious, real-life problem solving about starvation in Africa. Wow! I can see how a learning tool such as this would make a course very exciting, but I can also see where some basic geography, social studies and other content should be woven into the syllabus.

Ann, it is completely engaging. I recognize your concerns about sources. When they create the RSA Animates, they do take the talk out of the original context, and also add creative interpretation. It's interesting to see how those things can be mixed together for such a powerful effect. I've never taken the time to dig too deeply into them to find the original context and determine whether there's a publication with sources.

I've always been somewhat skeptical of Marc Prensky, who made the original distinction between Digital Natives and Immigrants. The skepticism comes from my impression that he's built a financially successful career out of promoting this distinction. Not to say there isn't some level of truth to it, but I'm not ready to throw the baby out with the bath water. The written word, for example - which has been a cornerstone of stored knowledge and communication - is as important now as it ever was.

Some of the things I believe hurt the most, are when we make sweeping assumptions about access to technology. In many cases, it is the privileged who have the opportunity to be "digital natives." I also think the digital immigrant idea is completely false. I used to advertise to help senior citizens with technology. I found they were some of the most eager and enthusiastic learners, because we learned things that interested them. The digital immigrant idea has also allowed us to write off senior faculty, waiting for them to retire, rather than connecting them with technologies that suit their needs. We're at a point of convergence. You don't have to understand all the technologies in order to use them. One person can compose in email, and the material can be viewed on any kind of device. I just wish the damage hadn't already been done, to so many who now feel they don't have the ability to participate because of their age.

Okay I am depressed. If we have been wiped out after being the ones that created this knowledge and technology in the first place, there is no hope for me to ever teach on line!!!

Joy, what we need are people willing to stand up and say that whatever your level of skill with technology, we all need to be able to communicate. We will all need to compromise and sacrifice. That could mean knocking on doors or hanging out on front porches, or it could mean learning a new language, or reduction of a language :)

I still don't understand where the labels are coming from. It seems like these labels are simply a way of discriminating against seniors. Now, the truth is, we were using computers before these generations were a light in their parents eyes. Some of us were designing the technology they are using today. Ok, looks like I am going to be on a lot of porches like the neighborhood dog looking for a handout! As for knocking on doors, I might need to invest in a good battering ram! Anyone ever watch the Capital One commercials? Maybe those folks are for hire!

The Digital Native/Immigrant theory came from Mark Prensky in 2001, but there's debate about whether or not he was the first to use the terms. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_native

My juices are flowing, Jennifer! This book is most intriguing and appears to be filled with questions and answers (?) that will nudge me in a new learning and teaching direction! I love the this phrase from the title: . . . world of constant change" because the most CONSTANT thing about life in this world IS CHANGE! It's a nice play on words. I am frustrated about not being able to view any of the videos as my network is slow today but I really appreciate your bringing this resource to my attention. Thank you, Jennifer, you are a grand facilitator!

Mary Ann, Your online course on the Galapagos Islands looks really interesting! I like the fact that you brought in and existing pre-developed course material site based on a scientific detective game, where students collaboratively take on the role as research scientists - a journey of discovery. It's a deliberate movement in the direction of student initiated learning, brought to life by your own photographs from 2004. Survey Monkey is used to get feedback regarding what students are understanding and learning during the course. I wish I had this kind of hands-on exposure to Darwin's ideas early on during my early schooling - I might have decided to become a evolutionary biologist!

I think this class is very interesting. You have really brought the content to life - knowledge in a fun way.

Interesting article. Rather similiar to the way lawyers are educated to question people in a court room, wth the exception of questioning to inspire well thought out answers of an academic nature.

I always like these condensed lists of pointers for making life easier: One of the biggest challenges for me is coming up with a decent topic of conversation for online discussions - which is usually posed as a single question or series of related questions. This list is very useful for thinking about types of questions to ask.

This is a great starting point for thinking about online discussions. It's not easy coming up with the right questions to stimulate discussion. Sometimes I tell myself that if there's a "right" answer to the question, it probably won't work for a discussion.

I loved this site! The home page is very concise, informative with good examples. And, "yes" we should do some additional sharing, research and practice regarding what types (structure) of questions illict good, reflective responses (let you know the learner has synthesized course material). In clicking around to other links on this site, I noticed Leslie Owen referred to educator/author H. Lynn Erickson as a man. Not that it's a big deal, but, HL Erickson is a woman and is a curriculum consultant who lives locally. Seems like we all struggle with this aspect of teaching - good questions for discussion. Perhaps we could come up with a simple exercise where we post questions we might use which address our course readings? What ya think?? Thank you Mary Ann for this great teaching resource.

Helen, I like your idea of creating some questions around our course readings that we could post and discuss. I also think some of the questions on the new collaborative doc Jennifer just posted would be excellent discussion points. There is so much to think about in that one!

Another interesting read. I quite understand the need and growing need for the workforce to understand social medias and other forms of Web 2.0 tools and be able to use them well. Reading more about millennials, it is becoming more and more apparent they need to have strong " crap detectors," the ability to think critically and analyze huge volumes of information on the net, just to name a few.

I think this is one of the better collections of 21st century skills. I'm mostly concerned about the ones that don't involve technology. Like many of you, I worry about a future where people don't have basic problem-solving and communication skills. As far as technology skills are concerned, I'd like to see kids learn programming, with a focus on humanity, rather than commerce. I'm surprised how many teachers adopt "free" tools for young students, without having them explore the terms of service, and learn how their data and content will be used, sold, etc..

Thanks for this, Mary Ann. As much as I value the technology and what it can offer and do, the interpersonal and social skills seem more and more critical now. Seeing kids standing next to each other texting, or texting rather than calling or meeting makes me wonder if they will develop those skills to the level they are required now.

Mary Ann, thanks for posting this article on the 21st Century classroom! Just based on some of observations of current trends and ideas, here are some of my ideas regarding this. To me it seems likely that whatever happens to the classroom in the 21st Century - ideally it will have some of the following features : 1) Instructors who have good live people connections, knowledge of Web resources and tools, and the ability to quickly readjust curriculum on the fly. They will be able to access the very best resources at hand to engage students (live presenters, online resources, web tools, etc.) 2) Teaching and learning will take the form of ad-hoc groups organizing around various kinds of problem solving or common interest explorations. 3) While traditional degrees probably won't go away soon, much of our ongoing lifetime learning will take place in courses like this one - or the MOMA online art series. We will obtain numerous certificates and engage in a variety of online cohorts/communities of shared interests. 3) Communications will become increasingly global and courses will not be necessarily bound to individual institutions. We will draw from a growing/maturing resource base of online lectures, virtual worlds interactions, simulations-based learning experiences, and multimedia databases. 4) The teaching technologies that we'll be using will have the functionality and freeform interactivity as videogames. Consider the Kinect, for example, which allows for full body and voice interaction with other people as well as maturing forms of artificial intelligence, as seen in this extraordinary TED talk with game developer Peter Molyneux. 5) Finally, I don't believe education will be transacted completely online, or that physical locations where actual human beings gather together will go awa

Wow! You're a week ahead. I can't keep up with you all!

I completed it! (fake answers, of course.) How was the process for you? Did you have any trouble with my directions? I was wondering if I should make a screencast, or instructions with screen shots. Your survey looks great.

I am interested in taking a independent study to write a whole course. I hope Jen or someone like her takes on the challenge!

Mary Ann, On your blog, you say: "Often, students don't live in proximity to the best teachers for their subject matter interests as in the case of language study--a school may offer only German and Spanish whereas the student might wish to become proficient in Swahili." I think that is possibly one of the great major benefits that will emerge from Web-based classes - that us in-the-trenches teachers may be able to bring some of the best knowledge experts in the world into our classes. One example of that happened just this past Thursday, when Jennifer had Howard Rheingold - the long term media commentator luminary stop by for a visit. I couldn't believe my eyeballs when I saw his name show up in Elluminate! I was even able to have short video conversation with him.

I loved seeing the photos. Thanks for sharing!

I found it very interesting and loved the pics, too. What a wonderful world we have. How sad we are destroying something so wonderful!

This lesson activity is the opener for my Course Framework, designed for middle school students. There is a link to a short video I made with Animoto that is posted as a "tour" for the research teams. Please note that if this was a real course, I would make a long video complete with narration and music containing most of the 500 pictures I took during my own trip to the Galapagos in 2004. Comments for improvement are very welcome.

I liked that blog. I would take that class...if I was that age or any for that matter.

Testing for retention weeks later might tell you more about what was learned. I think that being able to apply what one learns, is the better test. Please see Testing and Grade Retention. The following is a good article for thought:

Thank you for sharing this. Our interrogation of "presence" has been interesting this week. I've been looking forward to seeing each of you make decisions about personal online presence.

Susan, In your second article on your blog you describe a PLE or 'personal learning environment' by saying: "The purpose of a PLE is to gather and process information, act on the learning that takes place, then showcase the results of what was learned to include how one arrived at those results." I'm curious to know how you set up a PLE, and maybe 1 or 2 examples if you could direct me there. Is this related to Microsoft's OneNote , or Evernote, which lets you copy, scan, and store web-based information? Also, could you explain how you have found this to be useful for you or your classes? Thanks!

Bruce: The blog is my ePortfolio. You can use different tools to establish your personal learning environment...I began with a blog. There is a nice example of a PLE by a 7th grader who used a different tool to showcase her science project. I think you will find it an excellent example of how web 2.0 tool are being used at the grade school level. Here's the link...it's a youtube video narrated by the student. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEls3tq5wIY Susan

Thanks, Susan For some reason, I thought a personal learning environment was a fish of a different color. I get the concept now, thanks to Wendy, the 7th grader who I found using your YouTube link. The personal learning environment can be a blog, a wiki, or note gathering app, that allows you to quickly organize, filter, and access the online information that makes up your personal knowledge universe. She was using a tool named SYMBALOO, which I'm definitely going to try out - as well as some other useful apps - Evernote for note-talking and Glogster, for building a collage of related information. I really liked Wendy's tutorial on the PLE - it covered a lot of information in a short span of time, while effectively communicating her ideas visually.

Here's a screencast I made about my PLE when I did a guest week in EDUC250 last quarter https://www.screencast.com/users/ccchit/folders/EDUC%20250/media/f974b78d-3c78-4a44-b231-b758bb54cdbd

Thanks, Jennifer This was very helpful. Also your strong endorsement of Twitter as a way to quickly connect with communities of common interest is giving me more motivation to become more engaged with that world. I've been a slow adopter of Twitter - but this week's events in Egypt organized by a younger generation on Facebook and Twitter are a strong testament to the transforming power of these media.

I've made the understandings entry to my blog.

This is my first Camtasia project. I realize that there is room for improvement. As I use it more, I'm sure I will begin to develop better skills. I can see where this is a good application for getting information up in an online course.

So glad you posted this! I'm in the middle of a similar process, and I appreciated seeing how you're comparing products.

Thanks for your comparison of Moodle, Joomla, and Blackboard. I was quite surprised to find out that Moodle leads the pack - since I assumed that Blackboard/Vista would have the majority following. It's been around since the mid-1990's. Great comparison chart, and use of Camtasia!

After looking at Joy's post about Canvas, I need to review this and compare to these three vendors. Will, then, have to update the comparison chart to include Canvas.

Here's the link to my ePortfolio with this module's assignment

Susan, I *really like* this list of reasons why stories work well for teaching that you posted on your blog. I've been teaching class sections on storytelling, and this gives me some well considered principles for how stories can be "put to work" for real world applications in education and information design. 1. A learning event is an unfolding story 2. People craft a story to make sense of what they are learning 3. Stories are at the intersection of people's synthesis of learning 4. Stories are tools for thinking 5. You can move through complex information more efficiently through story devices than through standard forms of discourse One of my favorite destinations for interactive stories is the Second Story website. It's jammed packed with terrific examples of interactive storytelling - on all sorts of interesting topics.

Thanks for your attention on storytelling! It's something that is applicable for so many different learning situations, and works particularly well online.

While the most story telling I have done is one blog post and a short story about "I love my new Grandma" which I posted in this site...I want to do more and will hopefully b eable to get to this later. Nothing sticks like a good story!

Bruce: Thanks for the link on more interactive storytelling. I think this will help me to develop using case studies as learning activities for our courses.

Susan, your activity on identifying sepsis in pediatric patients was clear, concise, and easy to navigate. I liked the fact that we were directed to a wiki page with the "case" facts presented in story form with a very clear picture of the "rash". if I were a trainee in your course, I would be excited by this lesson and the follow-up survey you posted.

Thanks for your comments Mary Ann. This is the first time I've used these tools for a case study...I'm hoping the wiki will allow the students to discuss the case and also allow them to pose thoughtful 'what-ifs'.

The thought the story telling definition you found to be a good guideline. Cases are great. One activity I might add would be What can you do to stop it? I know the student at this point is learning, but gives them a focus to think about their involvement.

In learning the Camtasia application, I found many good tips...I share them in my portfolio posting this week.

I left a comment on your blog. I had to carefully think about what you had stated and found myself differing slightly with what you suggested. I suppose that attests to our differences. Nevertheless I appreciated the blog post Susan.

Here's the link to my blog where my final project is located.

Your question - How do you represent ideas with images? - is a very powerful one. We are bambarded with images all day. I often think of these images as trying to sell me something - such as a commerical to buy something - or sometimes a quick reference to information - such as a symbol for a restroom. I realize now that technology has allowed for the production of images to be so accessible that they are now a part of our normal dialog. It is easy to make a video or take a picture. On Facebook, we see this all the time; people adding content to their story with images.

Just looked at your portfolio which is a learning course in itself! You've done a great job of summarizing what we've been working on. Our portfolios are a perfect place to store this. You've inspired me to take a few steps back before I move forward with Module #4. Thanks, Bruce.

Ann and Helen, Thanks much for your feedback on the website. It's much appreciated!

Bruce...I have a question. I wrote a story blog this week. Can you tell me if your course would help me create a video presentation of this blog? http://joystechtool.blogspot.com/ I don't have your email, except maybe the one you have at BC. I would have to take it as a senior. Which means space available. Can this be done?

Joy, Just to let you know... the visual storytelling class won't be offered again until Fall 2011. It sounds like your story would make an interesting educational online comic or presentation - explaining the idea of backwards design. One approach, is that you could use a virtual world environment like Second Life or BlueMars to engage virtual characters/actors, and set your camera positions to tell your visual narrative. You could synchronize narration and other audio, and then post it to the Web via YouTube, Google Presentations, or some other presentation application like SlideRocket. Just a thought...

Thanks Bruce. Fall would be perfect! That is if I could get in the class. I suspect it is very popular on campus. I would like to use second life; but have not tried. Is it free. My understanding is it is very expensive. While I would like a video of the story to put with the blog, it can be done at a later date. What I do not know how to do is synchronize the narration and other audio. My husband uses camcording to capture band performances. Could you maybe email me on this issue? jal8008cel@comcast.net. Unless I am taking advantage of your knowledge here. Please?

Thank you, Bruce, for sharing the objectives of your Course. It sounds so intriguing that I would love to be a part of it! Perhaps that will become a reality for me as time passes.

Joy, I could probably begin to answer your question here, and then if you have more questions we can connect via my other email address: bcweb20class@gmail.com. Probably the best online multimedia delivery application that I know of is SLIDEROCKET. I've been using it in my courses for about a year. You can upload Powerpoint slides, incorporate video directly from YouTube (or uploaded video), images, graphics, text, and integrate these all with a sound track. Everything is built online, and the interface works well. The catch is this - after the 30 day trial period, it costs $12 per month. I taught a very challenging online course this summer, and I didn't mind paying that fee because of the excellent results I got. SlideRocket saved the day by pulling me out of a jam. It also now integrates well with Google applications. Another (this one is free) cloud-based multimedia authoring application is EMPRESSR . Here's a quote from the website: Empressr is the first free online storytelling tool that allows you to create, manage and share rich media presentations online. Earlier in the quarter, Jennifer recommended another audio editing tool called AUDACITY , which is really terrific! It's simple to use and produces good results. I actually prefer Audacity for audio editing over some other commercial products that have a lot more bells and whistles. I hope that helps!

Here's my post for mapping an evidence for understanding to specific learning objectives.

Bruce, I especially liked the "evidence" requiring students to create their own business card. Each item you posted was very concrete and would definitely indicate understanding on the part of students.

I second that business card lesson. It will prepare them for job hunting in the future. I think creating ePortfolios are another good practice.

Interesting comments. The postings in Diigo are very interesting as well. In a strange sort of way they do fit the course topics of the week. Each person is building on their own finds and thinking about the others perceptions and contributions. As for myself, I just want to know how to put a course together and make it the best possible learning experience. Sorting and read all the material is just loading my computer ( memory tapes) and eventually there will be a focus point to download what I am learning on to paper or a course in progress.

One of the main advantages I find in taking in course is that someone has organized the vast amount of data in a focused a way for me to expand my own knowledge in an area. So in response to the question on the blog, I prefer and would use in my course design the one-at-time posting approach. I find it to be focusing in an environment (the internet) that lets me be expansive.

I too am finding the organization of the course very helpful - and Diigo especially - in viewing and thinking about the material. I anticipate that the aggregate of the readings, responses, and activities will help in my understanding of how to construct an online course.

I left a comment at the bottom of your In post in Behind the Scenes.

Thanks for all your feedback. I'm glad you feel comfortable sharing so honestly. I'm very fortunate!

Jennifer, I agree with the following quote from the Chris Lehmann article you cited, with some some additions: With the research, creation and networking tools at our disposal, we have the ability to help students see that the lives they lead now have meaning and value... Ideally, what evolves is our ability to help students find approaches to real world engagement. As computing becomes progressively smaller in size, and more portable, online activities don't need to be limited to sitting behind a computer screen with a mouse. For example, Project Atlas at Harvard is using GPS and hand held devices to augment classes and and create hybrid projects that integrate with the non-virtual world. Ann Steven's account of the teaching/learning community surrounding colon cancer is a great model of web-enhanced knowledge sharing. Another example. I belong to a large social dance community in Seattle that communicates via email, websites, YouTube, Flickr, and Facebook. This is the way that everyone keeps track of current dances, classes, and gossip - such as wedding anniversaries, babies, new arrivals, and departures. For those who teach dancing for a living, participation is essential to maintain a successful business. It's a thriving hybrid teaching and learning community that exists simultaneously online and in the "real world". Just as the Web enhances and supports the dance community, it can be used to sustain and support our classes. Here are a few examples (there are many more) of social dance related sites in Seattle: Northwest Dance Network Century Ballroom WaltzEtcet

Bruce, thanks for the acknowledgement. The part of this article that resonated with me was: The true promise of technology does not lie in being able to reproduce - in shinier ways - the things schools have always done. It is difficult to think this way. Creativity often goes into the tools, which are a part of it, but not really a different way of doing things.

I read this blog and decided to ponder it a bit. I think not only must schools and institutes of higher learning change the way they think about technology; but they need to consider what it can do and how to incorporate it into international learning, as well. Not only can students learn from each other; but they can broaden their horizons even more with international connections to other students.