Skip to main content

Home/ EET Learns/ Group items tagged informal

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Jackie Doherty

Personal Learning Environments: Challenging the dominant design of educational systems - 1 views

  • To support effective organization of information, mechanisms of flexible tagging should be combined with list creation and sharing facilities
  • Smart groups are used extensively in products such as iTunes [21] and enables organisation to structure itself based on simple user-provided rules
  • more value can be obtained by the user when the information of services is combined to enable sorting, filtering and searching
  • ...14 more annotations...
  • ather than relying on services to offer a very detailed set of metadata using a common profile, systems will instead need to offer greater capability for managing either heterogeneous information or operate on a very limited set of information which can be commonly assumed, such as titles, summaries, and tag
  • While the contexts of formal education systems can be characterized as having bounded variety (e.g., a course typically has around 20-2000 members) and possessing rigid boundaries, general social systems used in informal learning can possess more diverse levels of variety
  • Connecting with very large contexts using a PLE poses both a technical and a usability challenge, as it will not be possible to absorb all the information within the context into an environment to be operated upon locally, nor is it feasible to present users with flat representations of contexts when they contain thousands of resources
  • ilter the context to reduce the amount of visible users and resources based on the declared interest of the user.
  • it remains unclear what mechanisms can underpin the coordination of collective actions by groups and teams within a PLE.
  • the PLE is not a single piece of software, but instead the collection of tools used by a user to meet their needs as part of their personal working and learning routine
  • the characteristics of the PLE design may be achieved using a combination of existing devices (laptops, mobile phones, portable media devices), applications (newsreaders, instant messaging clients, browsers, calendars) and services (social bookmark services, weblogs, wikis) within what may be thought of as the practice of personal learning using technology
  • TenCompetenc
  • So how will the PLE and the VLE design co-exist
  • whereby VLE products start to open their services for use within the PLE.
  • LE are incorporated into the VLE, yet along the way robbing them of some of their transformative power.
  • The VLE is by no means dead, and those with investments in this technology will attempt to co-opt new developments into the design in order to prolong its usefulness
  • PLE model will develop in sophistication, making the VLE a less attractive option, particularly as we move into a world of lifelong, lifewide, informal and work-based learnin
  • Within the field of education technology, the focus in recent years has been on the improvement of the technology of the virtual learning environment (VLE, also known as a Learning Management System, or LMS) with software and techniques that do not fit the general pattern of capabilities of a VLE being largely marginalized
Jackie Doherty

McElvaney - 1 views

shared by Jackie Doherty on 28 May 11 - Cached
  • Free and easy-to-use technologies offer new ways to find, organize, create, and interact with information.
  • The 2009 Horizon Report defines personal webs as "customized, personal web-based environments . . . that explicitly support one's social, professional, [and] learning . . . activities via highly personalized windows to the networked world" (Johnson, Levine & Smith, 2009, p. 19), and heralds them as an emerging learning trend.
  • This paper explores personal web technologies (PWTs) and their learning applications. Examples are given of commonly used, customizable technologies such as: social bookmarking, personal publishing tools, aggregators, and metagators.
  • ...34 more annotations...
  • learning needs extend far beyond the culmination of a training session or degree program. Working adults must continually update their skills and behaviours to conform to the constantly changing demands of the workplace (Lewis & Romiszowski, 1996)
  • some needs may best be addressed by the individual him/herself.
  • PLE) to manage their own learning resources; whether these are wikis, news feeds, podcasts, or people.
  • The use of PWTs for learning directly supports several principles of connectivism, a learning theory outlined by Siemens (2006): (i) Knowledge rests in networks, (ii) Knowledge may reside in non-human appliances, and learning is enabled / facilitated by technology, and (iii) Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities (p. 31).
  • If individuals can sufficiently develop their ability to find, organize, and manage these connections, their available knowledge does not have to be limited by the confines of their own skulls.
  • To navigate the Internet more efficiently, individuals can assemble a virtual toolbox from an ever-growing list of free, and often open-source, technologies to aid in aggregating, organizing, and publishing information online.
  • To create a personal web for learning, it is first necessary to explore what personal web technologies are, where to find them, and how to use them.
  • Social bookmarking and research tools allow users to save web pages, articles, and other media (usually to an online storage location) and organize them in personally meaningful ways.
  • n general, the length and full-featured capabilities of blogging offer learners the opportunity to explore topics in depth and reflect, while the speed and simplicity of micro-blogging lends itself more towards posing questions and collaborative brainstorming (King, 2009).
  • esides enriching and enlivening a post, these tools make it possible for an individual to publish artifacts that are ill-served by text-only displays.
  • Micro-blogs, such as Twitter (twitter.com), allow users to post short messages from their computer or mobile phone.
  • Users can also 'follow' other members to receive a stream of their posts.
  • asily "ask and answer questions, learn from experts, share resources, and react to events on the fly"
  • ndividuals who follow multiple blogs and/or regularly visit news or media sites may find juggling the disparate streams of information overwhelming. For this reason, it can be helpful to subscribe to these streams (or “feeds”) by using an aggregator.
  • Metagators, also called portals or start pages, can aggregate feeds, social networks, and widgets to create a central, personalized location for an individual's Internet usage
  • Netvibes and iGoogle
  • Widgets are small, adaptable, programmable, web-based gadgets that can be embedded into a variety of sites or used on mobile phones or desktops (
  • Due to the fact that they are user-created, there is no exact definition of a PLE (PLE, n.d.). In general, a PLE is the sum of websites and technologies that an individual makes use of to learn.
  • PLEs may range in complexity from a single blog to an inter-connected web of social bookmarking tools, personal publishing platforms, search engines, social networks, aggregators, etc.
  • http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/wiki/index.php?title=Ple
  • Once an individual creates a PLE or PLN, there is no need to sit in front of a computer to access it. The majority of PWTs have mobile-friendly versions available, allowing individuals to take their learning to go.
  • Instead of limiting learning to traditional environments, mobile versions of PWTs give learners more options on where and when to learn.
  • However, there is a catch: PWTs may clash with traditional, linear, teacher-centered instruction (see Figure 2)
  • Learners who use PWTs must learn to question sources, verify information, compare and contrast various perspectives and become more independent
  • need to focus on building critical media and information literacy skills, so that students can effectively navigate the online maze and avoid being fooled by false or misleading information.
  • students have already experimented with a personal web technology, such as social networking, but, "few of them are being taught how to leverage its potential and benefit from the deep learning that can ensue"
  • In higher education, PWTs could be of great use for researching, developing PLNs, and creating online portfolios.
  • An undergraduate student who uses a research tool such as Zotero will graduate with a searchable, organized collection of annotated resources that could be valuable in the workplace or in future academic undertakings.
  • As the individual becomes increasingly connected to their PLN, they may become increasingly disconnected to those who are physically around them, such as family and friends
  • Using PWTs to incessantly check for new articles, status updates, and activity may become a drain on one’s attention and productivity
  • Valuable or innovative ideas put forth by lesser-known individuals can easily become lost in the noise.
  • ndividuals who wish to learn from their personal network must strive to create a diverse PLN populated with voices that may dissent, challenge, or provoke. Otherwise, the PLN cannot foster critical and creative thinking,
  • anything they publish on the Internet may be found by supervisors, peers, teachers, a
  • uture hiring managers (Harris, 2007)
Chris Aitken

Connectivism: Learning theory of the future or vestige of the past? | Kop | The Interna... - 0 views

  • it replaces older theories that have become inferior, and the new theory builds on older theories without discarding them, because new developments have occurred which the older theories no longer explain.
  • what are the grounds for this measure
  • If connectivism is to build on older theories, how is the integration of the old and new theories to be conducted?
  • ...14 more annotations...
  • Since information is constantly changing, its validity and accuracy may change over time, depending on the discovery of new contributions pertaining to a subject.
  • The wide range of approaches and learning paths that are available to redesign curricula cause friction for educators and instructional designers who are required to deliver course materials in accordance with learning outcomes prescribed and mandated by educational institutions.
  • In connectivism, the starting point for learning occurs when knowledge is actuated through the process of a learner connecting to and feeding information into a learning community.
  • a learning community is described as a node, which is always part of a larger network.
  • Nodes may be of varying size and strength, depending on the concentration of information and the number of individuals who are navigating through a particular node (Downes, 2008).
  • educators in higher learning institutions have been forced to adapt their teaching approaches without a clear roadmap for attending to students’ various needs.
  • he ability to make decisions on the basis of information that has been acquired is considered integral to the learning process.
  • Learning is considered a “. . . knowledge creation process . . . not only knowledge consumption.”
  • One’s personal learning network is formed on the basis of how one’s connection to learning communities are organized by a learner
  • The connectivist metaphor is particularly timely, since the navigation of the Internet and the means by which information is dispersed on the Internet now provides a reference point for Siemens’ assertions.
  • In Theories of Developmental Psychology, Miller (1993) distinguishes between “theory” and “developmental theory,” and identifies the vast deficit that can exist between the two.
  • n general, an emerging theory should fall within the domain of scientific research, use scientific methods, and be based on previously conducted studies.  It should be logically constructed and verifiable through testing.
  • Developmental theories are fertile testing grounds for ideas, which, in turn, may lead to empirical research that can then validate – or disprove – formal hypotheses posited within the framework of the scientific method.
  • How does connectivism fulfil these tasks?
anonymous

Moving Beyond Technology -- Campus Technology - 1 views

  •  
    "Most Significant Metatrends for the Next 10 Years 1. The world of work is increasingly global and increasingly collaborative. 2. People expect to work, learn, socialize, and play whenever and wherever they want to. 3. The internet is becoming a global mobile network--and already is at its edges. 4. The technologies we use are increasingly cloud-based and delivered over utility networks, facilitating the rapid growth of online videos and rich media. 5. Openness--concepts like open content, open data, and open resources, along with notions of transparency and easy access to data and information--is moving from a trend to a value for much of the world. 6. Legal notions of ownership and privacy lag behind the practices common in society. 7. Real challenges of access, efficiency, and scale are redefining what we mean by quality and success. 8. The internet is constantly challenging us to rethink learning and education, while refining our notion of literacy. 9. There is a rise in informal learning as individual needs are redefining schools, universities, and training. 10. Business models across the education ecosystem are changing. Excerpts of the 10 top metatrends identified in A Communiqué from the Horizon Project Retreat, January 2012, an NMC Horizon Project publication under Creative Commons attribution license. "
Connie Gross

Here Are Ten Rules to Create Engaging Elearning » The Rapid eLearning Blog - 0 views

  •  
    I like the point about designing engaging activities using problem - solving: "Instead of a series of click-and-read screens, give the learner a problem to solve. Then provide all of the information that you would normally have pushed by creating access to additional, just-in-time resources. As the learner attempts to solve the problem, she'll pull the information she needs." Perhaps this is how we should be using Articulate Engage - to present problems with potential solutions... Food for thought!
anonymous

First impressions count for managers - The Globe and Mail - 0 views

  •  
    "It found that more structured on-boarding tactics made employees happier and more confident, and more likely to believe they fit both the job and organization. In turn, those who went through a structured program were significantly more likely to feel engaged and loyal to their employer than those that didn't the researchers estimate "In most organizations, they think of the on-boarding process as primarily imparting information, which is necessary, but that's not enough," Prof. Gruman said. Additionally they need to create opportunities for employees to quickly develop a social network, establish where to get information and support, provide work that's engaging enough to make them feel they are making a contribution and feedback that they are valued, the researchers found."
Chris Aitken

A pedagogy of abundance or a pedagogy to support human beings? Participant support on m... - 0 views

  • This paper examines how emergent technologies could influence the design of learning environments. It will pay particular attention to the roles of educators and learners in creating networked learning experiences on massive open online courses (MOOCs). The research shows that it is possible to move from a pedagogy of abundance to a pedagogy that supports human beings in their learning through the active creation of resources and learning places by both learners and course facilitators.
  • Emergent technologies provide different models and structures to support learning. They disrupt the notion that learning should be controlled by educators and educational institutions as information and “knowledgeable others” are readily available on online networks through the press of a button for anyone interested in expanding his or her horizon.
  • Of course this puts the responsibility for information gathering, the validation of resources, and the learning process in the hands of learners themselves,
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • To manage this vast network of resources effectively requires learners to be autonomous in their learning and to have advanced analytic and synthesis skills to distill relevant information from the “noisy” network. Moreover, a high level of competency and interest in using a vast array of tools is required to do so effectively.
  • Barnett (2002)
  • pedagogy for human beings.
Connie Gross

Here's What You Need to Know About Informal Learning » The Rapid eLearning Blog - 0 views

  •  
    You have to read this one - it's a pretty good prank! Happy April Fools
Tyler Wall

Competencies Required for Digital Curation: An Analysis of Job Advertisements | Kim | I... - 0 views

shared by Tyler Wall on 27 Jun 13 - No Cached
  •  
    These skills and competencies for digital curators include seven areas: 1) Communication and interpersonal competency: This competency is required for clear and effective communication with a variety of audiences, including users, creators, managers, researchers and collaborators. 2) Curating and preserving content competency: This competency is required to understand and carry out a range of activities as defined in the digital curation lifecycle model, including the creation, acquisition, management, representation, access, organization, transformation and preservation of digital content. 3) Curation technologies competency: This competency is required to identify, use, and develop tools and applications to support digital curation activities. The context of this competency is the information technology infrastructure, including the tools and applications deployed to support digital curation. 4) Environmental scanning competency: This competency is required to identify and use resources to stay current and on the leading edge regarding trends, technologies and practices that affect professional work and capabilities within the field of digital curation. 5) Management, planning and evaluation competency: This competency is required for planning, coordinating, implementing, and assessing programs, projects and services related to digital curation. 6) Services competency: This competency is required to identify, understand and build services to respond to a community's and/or institution's digital curation needs. 7) Systems, models and modeling competency: This competency is required for high-level, abstract thinking about and critical analysis of complex systems, workflows and conceptual models related to digital curation.                                                                      Robin Good
Kathy Schwarz

Managing SMEs #1 - Understanding ISD & SME Tensions in eLearning & mLearning Instructio... - 0 views

"You can't design a course with them, and you don't have good content without them." In too many organizations, this statement sums up the relationship with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). In order ...

education

started by Kathy Schwarz on 19 Apr 12 no follow-up yet
anonymous

A Syllabus Tip: Embed Big Questions | Faculty Focus - 0 views

  •  
    "After you create your syllabus, go back to and take a closer look at your learning outcomes for the course. As you read through the outcomes, write a discussion question related to each outcome. For example, suppose you teach a political science course and one of your learning outcomes is, "Students will be able to discuss current issues in political science informed by popular media and scholarly evidence." Now take that learning outcome and write a discussion question. "
anonymous

The metatrends influencing education technology | Academica Group Inc. - 0 views

  •  
    "At a recent retreat to mark the tenth anniversary of the New Media Consortium's Horizon Project, which produces an annual report on technology trends affecting higher education, participants identified 28 important metatrends. The 10 most significant are: the world of work is increasingly global and increasingly collaborative; people expect to work, learn, socialize, and play whenever and wherever they want to; the Internet is becoming a global mobile network -- and already is at its edges; the technologies we use are increasingly cloud-based and delivered over utility networks, facilitating the rapid growth of online videos and rich media; openness is moving from a trend to a value for much of the world; legal notions of ownership and privacy lag behind the practices common in society; real challenges of access, efficiency, and scale are redefining what we mean by quality and success; the Internet is consta ntly challenging us to rethink learning and education, while refining our notion of literacy; there is a rise in informal learning as individual needs are redefining schools, universities, and training; and business models across the education ecosystem are changing"
anonymous

CT Forum Conference -- Campus Technology Events - 0 views

  •  
    "Explore the conference program: * Keynote Speakers * Monday Seminar Intensives * Track 1: Digital Tools and Instructional Designs * Track 2: Technology Infrastructure and Mobile Learning * Track 3: Information Technology Leadership and Institutional Intelligence * Track 4: Industry Directions"
  •  
    Looks like a very relevant conference - bad timing around Refresh Conference
Christie Robertson

Diigo Tutorial - 2 views

  •  
    I was working with some instructors on including a widget in their Angel courses that would update a list of the articles they are bookmarking.  Found a way to do this using Diigo through this informational slide show.  Lots of different tidbits on how to use all the tools Diigo can offer.
  •  
    Again, another great idea. I'd love to try this out in my classes. So, please let me know asap so I can give it a try. Thanks! Connie
anonymous

Adoption of E-Book Readers among College Students: A Survey | EDUCAUSE - 0 views

  •  
    "Author Nancy Foasberg, looks into the use of E-Readers on a college campus. This article was published in the September 2011 issue of Information Technology and Libraries. To learn whether e-book readers have become widely popular among college students, this study surveys students at one large, urban, four-year public college. The survey asked whether the students owned e-book readers and if so, how often they used them and for what purposes. Thus far, uptake is slow; a very small proportion of students use e-readers. These students use them primarily for leisure reading and continue to rely on print for much of their reading. Students reported that price is the greatest barrier to e-reader adoption and had little interest in borrowing e-reader compatible e-books from the library. "
anonymous

MOOCs, Large Courses Open to All, Topple Campus Walls - NYTimes.com - 1 views

  •  
    "Welcome to the brave new world of Massive Open Online Courses - known as MOOCs - a tool for democratizing higher education. While the vast potential of free online courses has excited theoretical interest for decades, in the past few months hundreds of thousands of motivated students around the world who lack access to elite universities have been embracing them as a path toward sophisticated skills and high-paying jobs, without paying tuition or collecting a college degree. And in what some see as a threat to traditional institutions, several of these courses now come with an informal credential (though that, in most cases, will not be free). "
  •  
    Can you imagine 160,000 students registered in a course?
  •  
    See also http://www.tonybates.ca/2012/03/06/discussion-of-moocs-more-links-and-questions/ for more info on MOOCs. This link notes the completion rates for some courses.
tmason43

Universal Design for Learning - The ACCESS Project - Colorado State University - 1 views

  •  
    This resource from Colorado state provides easy access to information on how to make components of your course accessible using UDL.  
anonymous

Mobile Computing 5-Day Sprint-Summary | EDUCAUSE - 0 views

  •  
    "This brief summarizes the main themes from the EDUCAUSE Mobile Computing 5-Day Sprint, held April 25-29, 2011. This learning experience brought together presenters and hundreds of participants, who exchanged ideas and information via webinars, online conversations, Twitter, and blog posts. The central message from the event are that mobile computing has enormous potential; that it requires IT departments to embrace new roles; that many of the best practices for computing generally apply equally to mobile computing; and that attention must be paid to issues including infrastructure and security in order to support an effective mobile computing program."
anonymous

EdNET Insight | Textbook Rental: Web-Rejuvenation Rocks Post-Secondary Market - 0 views

  •  
    "The Rental Phenomenon In the past two years, the post-secondary textbook rental market has exploded. Driven by the outcry over book prices, federal legislation, readily available pricing information on the Internet, and sophisticated web-based rental management platforms, old and new competitors are disrupting the $10 billion college textbook business. Book rental isn't really a new phenomenon-a few college stores have been renting books since the Civil War. The National Association of College Stores (NACS) proclaimed fall 2010 as the "Year of the Rental." Players include long-timers like Follett and Budgetext, institutional stores and fast-growing start-ups. BookRenter, started in 2008, netted $40 million from investors in a funding round this past February. Chegg, started in 2007, has raised $200+ million in venture capital and attracted senior management from Yahoo and Netflix. The same drivers are growing trade in used books, eBooks, and online instructional content. Rental is also driving new business models for sourcing and distributing educational materials that may carry the industry forward into digital. Having book inventory isn't necessarily required-at least one high-flying firm, BookRenter, exists mainly as an online marketplace. Read on to see how this change in distribution is impacting the higher education market. Next month we'll look at what all this means for K-12."
anonymous

News: Generational Knowledge - Inside Higher Ed - 0 views

  •  
    "For the Millennial perspective, the ICPL members enlisted the closest college students at hand: their kids. Alongside Mitrano and Schaff, John King, the vice provost for strategy at the University of Michigan's School of Information, appeared with his son, Matthew, a spring graduate of Eastern Michigan University. Cynthia Golden, the director of instructional development and distance education at the University of Pittsburgh, brought her daughter, Hannah Somers, a rising sophomore at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The discussion focused mainly on Facebook. The younger panelists copped to being ignorant of how the data they volunteered might be used and who might end up seeing their postings when they first joined Facebook during high school. They reported having since wised up and availed themselves of Facebook's ever-changing privacy settings, but acknowledged that many of their peers are not so careful."
1 - 20 of 35 Next ›
Showing 20 items per page