Information is central to strategic planning, not only does the planning committee need to take into account those documents which are historical i.e.) longitudinal data on enrollments, budgets, and trended student data the committee should also gather information which provides a basis for making projections and information on the history of the institution. .

The evidence gathered is determined by the unique characteristics of the institution, the external and internal environment needs, the unique characteristics of the stakeholders and their needs.  Information should be gathered that provides the team and the institution with a “systems view” of its operations.  This holistic view is at the heart of the strategic planning process, it is this view that identifies, educates and informs the stakeholders of the institution. The committee needs to identify what sort of data is needed about the health of the institution. The strategic plan is not so much about the document that the team has in hand at the end but the process of arriving at the document. Part of this process is taking an in depth look at these artifacts, discussing them and determining their place in strategic planning.

At the heart of the strategic planning process is to seek the answers to the following questions:

• • Where are we now?
  • Where do we want to go?
  • How do we get there?

In order to address these questions and implement a strategic planning process what must an organization do ?

According to the Office of State Personnel the strategic planning process  is composed of common elements, as listed below:

• Mission , vision and values
• Organizational goals
• Strategies to accomplish the goals
• Action plans to implement the strategies
• Organizational alignment, such as budgeting and human resources
• Project management during implementation
• Periodic monitoring and reporting   (retrieved from http://www.performancesolutions.nc.gov/strategicPlanning/index.aspx)

The Alliance for nonprofit management states that if an institution is ready to begin strategic planning (it) must perform five tasks to pave the way for an organized process:

• identify specific issues or choices that the planning process should address
• clarify roles (who does what in the process)
• create a Planning Committee
• develop an organizational profile
• identify the information that must be collected to help make sound decisions….

This information allows for the development of a data base of quality information that can be used to make decisions; and a list of critical issues which demand a response from the organization – the most important issues the organization needs to deal with.

Evidence is also gathered via conversations.  These conversations maybe one on one, focus groups or institution wide discussions regarding the state of the college.  These discussions should be as inclusive as possible including all stakeholders from board members, students, advisory board members, and other constituent community members.  This evidence can be driven by findings of surveys, questionnaires, budget discussions, and focus groups. Staying on top of technological changes that impact the learning environment is also paramount to effective strategic planning. Knowing who your competitors are, conducting benchmark comparisons, and seeking out information for best practices are part and parcel of effective strategic planning.   Finally a review of grant reports, outcomes and measurements may also provide valuable information regarding the services of the college.

Applying business processes to an academic institution may be beneficial especially in today’s rapidly changing fiscal environment where revenues to the institution are based upon taxes paid by consumers i.e.) citizens of a state.
:

Critically examine each strategy statement by reference to activities and actions in key functional areas covering such matters as:

• How has the company been managed?
• How has the company been funded?
• How has the company sought to increase sales and market share?
• How have productivity/costs moved?

(retrieved from http://www.planware.org/strategicplan.htm#3 )

NPO Strategic Planning includes:

• Recruiting stakeholders, power brokers, and leadership.

• Reviewing the organization’s history and current situation.

• Reviewing and revising (or developing) the organization’s mission statement.

• Identifying the organization’s opportunities and threats.

• Identifying organizational strengths and weaknesses.

• Identifying the most critical issues arising from any of the organization’s opportunities,

threats, strengths, and weaknesses.

• Setting goals to remove weaknesses, blunt threats, and seizing opportunities.

• Brainstorming, evaluating, and selecting strategies to empower leaders.

• Critiquing and reviewing the plan.

• Revising goals, and re-implementing goals, as appropriate.   (retrieved from http://www.cairf.org/research/bpstrategic.pdf)

Applied Strategic Planning includes:

• Identifying consultants and key internal players.

• Garnering CEO support, identifying stakeholders, and setting planning goals.

• Scanning organizational values, philosophy, and culture.

• (Re)defining the organization’s mission statement.

• Identifying new futures and new venture opportunities.

• Auditing threats, opportunities, strengths, and weaknesses.

• Identifying critical gaps between where the organization is and its future.

• Selecting strategies to expand or retrench as a means to close performance gaps.

• Implementing the strategies to acquire or divest.

• Monitoring actions, updating conditions, and restarting the cycle.

Gathering evidence and information regarding the current status of the institution is essential in addressing the above questions.   This evidence includes past strategic plans, student demographics, demographics information on  faculty and staff, advisory board information, governance information.  Any information gathered such as self study reports at the program level to the institutional level on accreditation.  Individual department self studies, program review information, and departmental surveys.   In addition to this committee minutes should be gathered and reviewed and reported to the planning committee.  Master plans, past strategic plans,  and facility plans should also be considered in the strategic planning process.

More specific lists of evidence which I have gathered from various websites, articles and other research are as follows:

The list below is not specific to higher education but provides a detailed overview of documents and information:

• Company culture
• Company image
• Organizational structure
• Key staff
• Access to natural resources
• Position on the experience curve
• Operational efficiency
• Operational capacity
• Brand awareness
• Market share
• Financial resources
• Exclusive contracts
• Patents and trade secrets

The key is to translate this to the academic environment.  This may include staffing plans, an institutional climate survey, a survey of the community (prospective students, high schools,  community needs assessment, advisory boards) in order to determine image, staffing plans, access the resources necessary for programs, history, comparator information, inventory of resources, budget reviews, and an analysis of what makes us special are all possible components of information necessary for effective strategic planning.

The evidence as well as the process should be inclusive to ensure a systems wide perspective of the institution.  Tacoma Community College provided an overview of their inclusive process, framed within Appreciative Inquiry, to develop their strategic plan.  (Cynthia Heelan, & Pamela Transue. (2005). College-wide Planning That Works. Community College Journal, 75(6), 8-9.  Retrieved September 5, 2010, from Research Library. (Document ID: 857716391).  The key points from this article are that:

1.  The process should be inclusive
2.  Appreciate inquiry is a process that seeks out what is the best in people,                 institutions, communities.

What is appreciative inquiry and can this process be used at your institution for strategic planning?  According to the website for Appreciative Inquiry Commons AI is “ about the co-evolutionary search for the best in people, their organizations, and the relevant world around them. In its broadest focus, it involves systematic discovery of what gives “life” to a living system when it is most alive, most effective, and most constructively capable in economic, ecological, and human terms. AI involves, in a central way, the art and practice of asking questions that strengthen a system’s capacity to apprehend, anticipate, and heighten positive potential. “

According to Sue Hammond the AI Process requires that you participants participate in a process of discussing what works in a system.   The inquiry requires that data be examined for commong themes.  (retrieved from http://www.thinbook.com/docs/doc-whatisai.pdf).

The Corporation for Positive Change states that understanding the positive core of an institution will drive more positive change in an organization.  They identify the positive core as the essential nature of the organization at its best – people’s collective wisdom about the organization’s tangible and intangible strengths, capabilities, resources, potentials and assets.

If one uses the appreciative inquiry process should a SWOT analysis be applied and if so..perhaps you would like to know what a SWOT analysis is…

Simply put SWOT analysis is the STRENGTH,WEAKNESS, OPPORTUNITIES, and THREATS of an institution.  The Strengths and Weaknesses is the evaluation of the internal environment of an institution, and the Opportunities and Threats is the evaluations of the external environment of an institution.

Further information on SWOT for an academic environment retrieved from the SWOT website for  Idaho State University are as follows:

The four aspects of the SWOT analysis have been defined in a number of ways, but for our purposes the following explanations seem useful:

• • Strengths – attributes of the unit/department/college/university that likely will be helpful to and have a positive effect on the achievement of the desired end state (the object of the analyses as defined above). Strategies to capitalize on these strengths can be developed.
  • Weaknesses – attributes of the unit/department/college/university that likely will have a negative effect on achievement of the desired end state. Strategies to minimize the effects of these weaknesses can be developed.
  • Opportunities – conditions external to the unit/department/college/university that likely will have a positive effect on achievement of the desired end state. Strategies to exploit these opportunities can then be identified.
  • Threats – conditions external to the unit/department/college/university that likely will have a negative effect on achievement of the desired end state. Strategies to defend against these threats can be identified.

There is a plethora of resources available on the web on Strategic Planning below is a list of websites:

Quick MBA Website in general and Specific to Strategic Planning

Carter McNamara’s Site on strategic planning

Carter McNamara’s Site on Appreciative Inquiry

Alliance for nonprofit management : Strategic Planning

What Makes a Good Leader site:  Strategic Planning

Office of State Personnel:  Strategic Planning

Mindtools: Planning, etc.

I have been reviewing how best to strategic plan for higher education.  I have been involved in this process before at different places where I worked and planning is usually just second nature, an expectation if you will if you work as a manager, which I have for the last 15 years or so of my career.

First I would like to address, with little or authority or expertise to back this up, what is a strategic plan?  Well I went to the best authority on this subject that I know..Google.   And here is a bit of my findings from that search:

• Strategic planning is an organization’s process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. Various business analysis techniques can be used in strategic planning, including SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats ), PEST analysis (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological), STEER analysis (Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Ecological, and Regulatory factors), and EPISTEL (Environment, Political, Informatic, Social, Technological, Economic and Legal).  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_plan
• A comprehensive plan for accomplishment in relation to stated goals and objectives. Ideally, the plan should cover multiple years; include targets for expected accomplishments; and propose specific performance measures used to evaluate progress towards those targets.
• www.pewcenteronthestates.org/template_page.aspx
• A forward-looking plan that aims to map out the means to achieve longer-term goals and to plan a response to unforeseen problems and opportunities.
• www.mvp.cfee.org/en/glossary.html
• A road map that outlines the long-term goals of an organization or program and details how these will be achieved by adopting specific strategies, approaches and methodologies. www.compass-malawi.com/cglossary.htm
• Strategic plan – A document used by an organization to align its organization and budget structure with organizational priorities, missions, and objectives. According to requirements of GPRA, a strategic plan should include a mission statement, a description of the agency’s long-term goals and objectives, and strategies or means the agency plans to use to achieve these general goals and objectives. The strategic plan may also identify external factors that could affect achievement of long-term goals. [GAO] Strategic planning is a systematic method used by an organization to anticipate and adapt to expected changes. The IRM portion of strategic planning sets broad direction and goals for managing information and supporting delivery of services to customers and the public and identifies the major IRM activities to be undertaken to accomplish the desired agency mission and goals. [GAO] www.ichnet.org/glossary.htm

Strategic planning is not an individual process but a collaborative process, if not done collaboratively, taking into account the different voices of an organization’s constituents then what is the point? The essence of strategic planning it to ensure that all stakeholders of an institution are heard, their needs taken into account, weakness of the institution are considered and addressed, and that the institution is progressive and innovative.   In addition to this resources and resource needs of the institution are also considered in developing the strategies, how the institution will get where it needs to be, to ensure a solid foundation for success.

In these times of fast paced change it is still  essential to have a strategic planning process that provides for input, efficient and effective outputs, and as a communication tool to stakeholders regarding the activities of the institution.  It is also a tool of communication that provides for input on the direction that the institution is travelling ..is it truly on the right course?

Other reasons for strategic planning from others:

5 reasons for its use:

1. Forces a look into the future and therefore provides an opportunity to influence the future, or assume a proactive posture.
2. Provides better awareness of needs and of the facilities related issues and environment.
3. Helps define the overall mission of the organization and focuses on the objectives.
4. Provides a sense of direction, continuity, and effective staffing and leadership.
5. Plugs everyone into the system and provides standards of accountability for people, programs, and allocated resources.  (retrieved from http://www.fpm.iastate.edu/worldclass/strategic_planning.asp )

All strategic planning deals with at least one of three key questions:

1. “What do we do?”
2. “For whom do we do it?”
3. “How do we excel?”  (retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_plan )

Such a (strategic) plan will help you to:

1. Take advantage of your company’s strengths.
2. Eliminate or reduce your company’s weaknesses.
3. Capitalize on opportunities and emerging trends.
4. Take defensive steps to reduce threats facing your business.
5. Bring together all your company’s resources, and direct them toward specific goals in areas such as sales growth, profit, productivity and service.
6. Prioritize and document all the goals your company wants to accomplish over the next three to five years.
7. Allocate resources and assign responsibilities.  (retrieved from http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/pub_mp21.pdf)

Strategic planning enables you to answer the following questions:

1. Who are we?
2. What capacity do we have/what can we do?
3. What problems are we addressing?
4. What difference do we want to make?
5. Which critical issues must we respond to?
6. Where should we allocate our resources?/what should our priorities be?
7. Only once these questions are answered, is it possible to answer the following:
8. What should our immediate objective be? (See the section on Immediate Objectives)
9. How should we organise ourselves to achieve this objective? (See the section on
10. Internal Implications)
11. Who will do what when?  (retrieved from http://www.civicus.org/new/media/Strategic%20Planning.pdf)

Information gathering is essential to strategic planning.  This may include archival data, the history of the institution, the budget, surveys, needs analysis, and surveys are part of the information needed to design a strategic plan.   Pre-work needs to occur prior to the strategic planning process taking place.  This means having a steering committee that determines who should be involved in the process, how the planning process will take place, and the timeline for the strategic planning process.

Strategic planning is information gathering built upon artifacts of the organization.   It is based upon these documents, budgets, conversations, and surveys that the teams is able to develop a sound analysis of the current status of the organization.    I will post the next part on the details of what to review in your strategic planning initiative.

It’s human nature perhaps to start taking things for granted, not dig below the surface and really start to understand how we can really use things to our advantage..such is the case for Twitter.  I tweet..lots of  things that interest me and I hope interest others.  I also tweet things I do ..particularly in Second Life but other areas of my life too.   I will probably tweet this blog too.

“Tweeting” is a form of microbloggin which is defined by Grosseck and Holutescu, (retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/2286799/Can-we-use-Twitter-for-educational-activities) as a Web2.0 technology, and a new form of blogging that let the users publish online brief text updates, usually less then 140-200 characters, sometimes images too.

Wikipedia provides the following defnition of microblogging:  is a passive broadcast medium in the form of blogging. A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically much smaller, in both actual size and aggregate file size. A microblog entry could consist of nothing but a short sentence fragment, an image or embedded video.

As with traditional blogging, microbloggers post about topics ranging from the simple, such as “what I’m doing right now,” to the thematic, such as “sports cars.” Commercial microblogs also exist, to promote websites, services and/or products, and to promote collaboration within an organisation.

I have been tweeting religiously for over a year now and plan to do so for at least another six months or for as long as I believe Twitter serves a purpose for me professionally and personally. Twitter has served as the means through which I have created an online persona and identity and I feel it has served that purpose very well.

As I am going to continue to maintain this blog with a focus on certain tools that i use and I have applied the use of Twitter it seemed the logical choice for this posting.  Given that I decided to do some background research to see how others are applying the use of Twitter as educators and perhaps even contrast or compare that to how I use Twitter for information sharing.

My search brought up the blog of Alan Lew, dated 2007. So I checked on Alan to see if he was still using Twitter and he is, in fact, still communicating via Twitter.

I have summarized Alan’s suggestions for using Twitter:

1.  Communicating with students regarding homework, content, and summarizing meetings and conferences.
2.  Communication via a mobile phone
3.  Digital Reference services

Moving on in my search I next found Carol Cooper-Taylor’s 2008 blog with 50 ideas on using twitter.    I reviewed her blog and summarize her observations here:

Sharing links, be human, respond to others, highlight student activities, communicate with and encourage others in your institution to use Twitter to communicate, tweet in moderation, use twitter for instant meet ups, use twitter for facilitating a “backchannel” discussion in the classroom, and bring great minds together!

Ron Jones, in September of 2008, published the following in SearchEngine Watch magazine:

Using twitter to increase the discussion outside the classroom regarding the subject taught..(issue of the day/week?)
Other:  Instant feedback.

• Track a conference or seminar.
• Follow a professional or famous person.
• Public notepad.
• Writing assignments.
• Grammar.
• Maximizing the teachable moment.

The following researchers; Kerstin Borau Carsten Ullrich, Jinjin Feng, and Ruimin Shen, detail how twitter can be used in language learning to faciliate learning English.    In their article they noted that.. “ twitter was selected because it provides the Chinese students the opportunity to
practice the target language as well as their communicative and cultural competence.”

They identify microblogging as tools (that)  enable users to post short messages that are distributed within their community. Users can post messages from their mobile devices, a Web page, from Instant Messengers and desktop clients. The same channels are used for receiving messages.

They found the following three advantages of using Twitter in their classroom :

• First, Twitter is easily accessibly from almost everywhere, so the students can practice at any time by sending and receiving messages either on the computer or the mobile phone. They can also decide how much time they spend reading and writing these messages. This is an essential feature for busy students.
• Second, Twitter is suitable for any level of English because in writing the messages, the students can chose a topic and grammatical structure fitting their level.
• Third, the use of Twitter as an online learning community can help to integrate students in the community who could not attend classroom.

In my research for this blog I found this wiki on Twitter… Twitter Fan Wiki. Which provides a warehouse for a variety of uses of Twitter and how to use Twitter.

In this  2007 article by Tseng, Song, Java and Finin the term microblogging is defined as  a new form of communication in which users can describe their current status in short posts distributed by instant messages, mobile phones, email or the Web.

In the August 16, 2010 US New and Report article the following uses of Twitter were identified:

1.      Using Twitter to post and answer questions during a lecture.
2.    Build networks in the professional world

3.    Develop marketing plans for businesses as a class project.

4.    Tweeting during commencement graduation and other events

5.    A way of connecting with other students in spite of off campus obligations

6.    A way of faculty connecting with other faculty on best practices in teaching

7.    “Digital faculty lounge” for connecting with other faculty

Together we are are just better, we learn from each other and we can bounce ideas off each other, as pointed out in Laura Walker’s 2009 blog on twitter.   This process allows users to reflect upon and improve their practice in the classroom.    Twitter can, and does for me at least, serve as my newspaper and new alert feed.  I check updates on my Twitter stream daily, this is how I learned of the Gulf Oil Spill and other national events.

Academ Hack’s blog from January 23rd, 2008 identifies the following academic uses for Twitter:

Facilitating classroom chatter that may or may not be subject related,  creating a sense of classroom community, understanding the global community, tracking a word, tracking a conference, following a professional, teaching grammar, rule based writing, maximizing a teachable moment, public notepad and writing assignments.

The online daily mewsmagaizine, Inside Higher Ed, has published 73 articles, blogs, etc., on Twitter, the most recent on August 19,2010, which relates to cell phone use.   This article presents a new initiative in which a university provided the following:

Georgia Gwinnett College employed when it decided to offer its more than 300 full- and part-time faculty members cell phones and encouraged them to respond to any calls or texts from students within 24 hours
Is this not great or what?  Gwinnett is taking a great leap off the cliff into the future ….hopefully not an initiative ahead of it’s time !!  I am including this here because Microblogging and smart phones go hand in hand!

On July 26, 2010 Business Week published an article on MBA schools and Twitter. With increased use of Twitter and Facebook schools are adding courses on Social Media at a record pace.    Twitter is being used by many companies for marketing, and special offers, one of my favorites to follow is Dell.

As I was doing research for this blog I came across Rachel Rueben’s The Use of Social Media in Higher Education for Marketing and Communications: A Guide for Professionals in Higher
Education at the following link: http://files.meetup.com/1491352/social-media-in-higher-education.pdf

In her guide she conveys that higher education is using Twitter as follows:

Of the 42 responders reporting to have an official Twitter account for their college, 50% of them say it is updated by their marketing/communications/public relations office. 50% use it to communicate with current students, and the other half use it to reach out to alumni. The majority update their status 1-4 times/week.

On May 20,2010, Hend Suliman Al-Khalifa, conveyed the following uses of Twitter in an eLearn Feature Article. (the results are based upon a Faculty Focus survey of 1900 academics)

• collaboration (between colleagues, in group meetings)
• communication
  • between teacher and student, student and student, teacher and parents
  • as a conference backchannel
  • for job posting
  • to circulate department news
• tools
  • as a personal learning environment/personal learning network
  • as a virtual office
  • to post assignments
  • for language learning
  • for class participation
  • to track attendance
  • to stay abreast of current issues in a given field

In May of 2010 Pearson released the details of their survey on the use of Social Media in education and the findings are as follows:

• Most faculty respondents (59%) have more than one social network account; nearly 25 percent have accounts on four or more social networks.

More findings can be found on the Pearson website. An article in the May 4,  2010 of Inside Higher Education summarizes the findings of this survey.   In a nutshell though we can speculate that professors and students are not quite the luddites that they appear to be, that there is a purpose for  twitter and other social networking tools in the classroom and in higher education.

The articles notes that:   In the open-ended portions of the survey, a substantial number of professors said they do not currently use social media tools but expect they will in the near future — meaning that by next year, the rate of usage will probably be even higher…. What this means to me is that if the utility of tools such as Twitter provide a convenience in communicating with students, assist them to meet the learning outcomes, and connecting with the faculty it will be implemented!  If Twitter provides a means of effectively conducting administrative tasks such as keeping attendance it will be effectively applied by faculty and used by students.

Introduction

Low residency Master of Fine Arts (MFA) programs which rely upon online courses can integrate social media such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, open courseware, videos, and micro-blogging such as Twitter to provide an avenue for communication, networking and collaboration to enhance the educational experience of the student. This chapter focuses on the use of social media in an MFA specializing in creative writing. Also included is a discussion of open courseware in this presentation.   A Master of Fine Arts program has several essential elements which are unique to the program but are practices which are inherent in the design of  new technologies.  These are:

Social Media Defined

Social media tools lend themselves very well to the collaborative and interactive nature that underpins the essence of an MFA program in creative writing.   These tools may also be referred to as Web 2.0.  While this chapter focuses on the MFA in creative writing these observations can be transferred to apply to any specialized focus of the MFA.   Social media facilitate one or more of the following:  communication, collaboration, education and entertainment, (Safko and Brake, 2009, pp7).  Safko, Brake and Levinson  list the following a social media:  blogs, wikis, aggregated news sites, Twitter, Facebook, podcasting, virtual worlds, YouTube and photo-sharing sites.    Doering, Beach and O’Brien,  noted that the use of Web. 2.0 tools “led students to perceive English as constituted by understanding and producing texts through interactive Web 2.0 tools. The students learned to embed the use of these tools within inquiry-based activities as active participants in their university courses.” (2010, pp 60).

An all encompassing definition of these concepts (i.e. social media, social networking and even virtual worlds) is the following of social worlds:

More specific definitions of social media are as follows:

Social media, according to Kitchin and Dodge, that is supported by the Internet includes e-mail, mailing lists, listservs, bulletin boards, chat rooms, multi-user domains (MUDs), virtual worlds, and game spaces; and, as with maps of real-world spatial domains. (Kitchin & Dodge, 2007) Others not included by the authors are blogs, wikis, microblogging services,  photo blogging services, video and podcasting.

In the Social Media Bible Tactics, Tools and Strategies for  Business Success Safko and Brake define social media as “activities, practices, and behaviors among communities of people who gather online to share information, knowledge, and opinions using conversational media.  Conversational media are Web-based application that make it possible to create and easily transmit content in the form of words, pictures, videos, and audio,” (Safko and Brake, 2009, pp 6).

Levinson in New New Media refers to social media by stating that “new new media are primarily social in that their main purpose is in connecting people, (Levinson, 2009, pp10).   Qualman (2009,pp 7) explained social media this way, “With the excess of information on the Web people require a tool to make sense of it all.  Social media is that mechanism.”

Learning theories

Social media underpins social learning, as well as the theory of constructionism.

Jane Hart notes the five applications of social media for social learning as follows:

1. Formal Structured Learning
2. Personal Directed Learning
3. Group Directed Learning
4. Intra-Organisational Learning
5. Accidental & Serendipitous Learning  ((Hart, n.d., retrieved 4/09/2010)

Constructionist:  where learning occurs through the development of a product and Co-constructionist groups of learners complete a series of goal related tasks to produce an artifact

Many Web-sites provide a wealth of information on a variety of social media tools such as the popular Mashable which is the world’s largest blog focused exclusively on Web 2.0 and Social Media news, (“Books & Writing – The Twitter List Directory – Mashable” 2010, retrieved 4/2/2010).

In education the integration of social media facilitates the social learning model that is inherent in MFA programs.  Learners are engaged in learning from others, these “others” include other students, visiting authors, faculty and others engaged in the field of writing and publishing.  Social media tools facilitate this by providing opportunities for peer reviews, faculty reviews of student’s work, and engage in dialogue with noted authors.   It is certain that these opportunities can occur if the student is enrolled in a residential program, however in a low residency or online program social media can provide a means to provide the student with similar opportunities.

Synchronous and asynchronous video and audio applications

Students and faculty can work together using a variety of technologies which will enhance this experience using voice, webcams, and text interaction.  Elluminate, Wiggio, and Skype are all examples of programs which provides these services.

Elluminate is a service which provides web, audio, video, and social networking solutions

optimized for teaching, learning, and collaboration.  Elluminate is a tool which is popular with large educational institutions; however what if an institution does not have the budget in place to cover the licensing fees?  Wiggio provides the user with a platform to share and edit files, manage a group calendar, poll your group, post links, set up conference calls, chat online and send mass text, voice and email messages to your group members. (Wiggio – Makes It Easy to Work in Groups, 4/12/2010)

Skype with its easily downloadable software provides for a means of sending free Skype-to- Skype calls, instant message, web cam, screen share and the ability to call mobile and landlines. Group conference calls can also be set up using Skype services. The benefit of Skype is that it is accessible to everyone and the software download is free. However to call cell phones and ‘land- lines’ there is a fee.

Podcasting is a popular way for writers to share their writing, practice reading their work and present lectures.  Podcasting involves the process of capturing an audio/video event and delivering that event to an audience of subscribers, but in more recent times, a huge number
of those multimedia gems are available free of charge from an ever-growing number
of providers. While the term podcasting is a combination of iPod and broadcasting, contemporary technophiles don’t necessarily use either one. (Lucking and Wighting, 2009, pp 65) Further research in the use of podcasts demonstrates that images can be embedded within a podcast. Students can create podcasts in which they discuss their artwork, or the work of others, providing a further networking benefit.  (Buffington, 2010, pp 15) Buffington also found that using podcasts to present on artwork may well be a way to let the medium be the message.

Videos can easily be found on Youtube, and ITunesU  and these sites are familiar to most for presenting videos, commenting on videos, and creating a library of videos. Further research also  has also identified the British Broadcast Company (BBC) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) as sites that provide author interviews and dialogue.    The BBC maintains a wealth of web based information in the form of videos, live webcasts,  and podcast interviews with authors. (“BBC – Scotland Learning – Authors Live,” n.d.) The BBC site also hosts the World Book Club invites the globe’s great authors to discuss their best known novel. This monthly programme, presented by Harriett Gilbert, includes questions by World Service listeners. (“BBC – Podcasts – World Book Club,” n.d.)  The PBS  provides video resources including interviews of “some of history’s greatest writers as they explore eternal human themes in comedies, tragedies and dramas,available directly from the website,” (“Arts & Literature | PBS Video,” n.d., 3/12/2010).  

Another great site to gain access to writers and their writing and thoughts on writing is Writers FM.”Writers FM is an online radio station created by writers, for writers — streaming LIVE 24/7.It broadcasts author interviews, writing prompts, upbeat music and mini mysteries throughout the day,” (“Writers FM — Writers Radio — Download Podcasts,” n.d., retrieved 3/12/2010).  Writer Unboxed is a site that provides a venue for author interviews and bills itself as being about the craft and business of genre fiction.(Writer Unboxed about the craft and genre of fiction, n.d.)

Blogs, Wikis  and Twitter

Web logs or Blogs are web-based applications that make it possible to create a running online
commentary on literally any subject.  Blog authors, or bloggers, will post links to current online articles that they or others have written, along with editorial comments and reflections. Visitors to blogs are invited to post their own comments about entries, and those postings can then be read by new visitors and a dialogue begins.(Lucking and Wighting, pp 65). Blogs may be defined as interactive websites in which the  readers interact, discuss and comment on the presentation of the author.  The writer of the blog is also involved in the dialogue by responding to the comments.

Ozkam, 2010,  identifies that blogs can be used by groups.  He illustrates this as follows; group blogs are composed of individuals who have common purposes and interest. In such blogs, the individuals can share new and original ideas related to the aims of the group. In web based education, blogs on education may be an advantage for the learners to get socialized.

Wikis are another platform for facilitating online collaboration between students.  In his research Malaga found that they help students learn about an important information technology trend. Second, using a Wiki allows the instructor to provide continuous early feedback. Third, Wikis can help student groups communicate and develop their “paper” more effectively, (Malaga, 2010, pp 53).  Alleypedia is another site for writers built on the  Wiki platform,  that provides a reference aid on all book and music publishers of the related writersalley classifieds website.  The founders later added  a  substantive, wiki-based encylopedia online which is purely devoted to addressing the needs of the English-language music and publishing industry and those parties seeking to work with or in the industry. (“Alleypedia:About – Alleypedia,” n.d., retrieved 3/12/2010).

Twitter the popular microblogging service provides many opportunities to follow published authors even participate in a short, 140 character per message dialogue with them. Lists of authors on Twitter can be found on Mashable the popular social media website.   Mashable, lists over 811 lists for Twitter devoted to books and writing. Examples of these include:

Jane Friedman’s:      Best Tweets for Writers
Starling Poets:        Poets and Writers
New York Times:      Book Reviews, Book Reviewers, Book-news, Book Publishers
(“Books & Writing – The Twitter List Directory – Mashable” 2010)

Understanding literature and being able to demonstrate this through a literature review is critical to the MFA.  Universities provide students with suggested reading lists within the student’s genre and many also suggest that students select a different genre to broaden his/her perspective.  Reading lists include many classics in literature as well as opportunities to read and critique current literature.

Social media provides a variety of ways in which customizable reading lists can enhance the creative writing student’s experience and broaden his/her view of available readings in the chosen course of study.  Sites are available for students to review suggested books by other students and other individuals outside of their programs.   These sites provide the means to categorize the books, discuss them, and provide critiques of these works.

Examples of these sites are:

Bookspot which  is a “free resource center that simplifies the search for the best book-related content on the Web. Featured sites are hand-selected by BookSpot.com editors and organized into intuitive categories, such as bestseller lists, genres, book reviews, electronic texts, book news and more,” (“About Book Spot.com,” n.d.,  4/3/2010).

The Book Explorer: is completely generated and maintained by information from users of the site,  (The Book Explorer : Book Recommendations, retrieved 4/12/2010).

A major resource that is available on the Web is the Internet Public Library (ipl2) is “a public service organization and a learning/teaching environment. To date, thousands of students and volunteer library and information science professionals have been involved in answering reference questions for our Ask an ipl2 Librarian service and in designing, building, creating and maintaining the ipl2′s collections. It is through the efforts of these students and volunteers that the ipl2 continues to thrive to this day,” (“About ipl2,” n.d., 4/15/2010).

Information on authors is easily available on the Web today. One such site is the LitLink site which provides “biographies and carefully chosen, annotated links for over 700 authors, LitLinks provides guidance to the best research resources on the Web,” (“LitLinks”, retrieved 4/12/2010).

Shelfari is a site which, “introduces readers to our global community of book lovers and encourages them to share their literary inclinations and passions with peers, friends, and total strangers (for now). Shelfari is a gathering place for authors, aspiring authors, publishers, and readers, and has many tools and features to help these groups connect with each other in a fun and engaging way,”  (“The Site for Books & Readers – Shelfari,” n.d., retrieved 4/26/2010)

Open Courseware

Open Courseware, or OCW, is a term applied to course materials in a virtual learning environment created by universities and shared freely with the world via the Internet. (“OpenCourseWare – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,” n.d.)

(Implementing Open Courseware: Executive Summary, 2004, pp 3)

OCW is used for publicly available materials that are either a part of, or a complete course from an educational institution such as a university or college.  (“Commonwealth of Learning – Open Courseware and OERs,” n.d.)

Several universities provide open courses in writing and English these include MIT, Open University, The College of Dupage, Yale, Connexions, Capilano University, the University of Utah, Notre Dame and the University of Washington.    These course materials may be available in podcasts, text based, and videos.  Many of these are available via YouTube.edu, ItunesU, and sites on the web such as Academic Earth.  WikiUniversity is a “Wikimedia Foundation project devoted to learning resources, learning projects, and research for use in all levels, types, and styles of education from pre-school to university, including professional training and informal learning. We invite teachers, students, and researchers to join us in creating open educational resources and collaborative learning communities,” (Wikiversity, n.d., 3/20/2010).

Social networking

Facebook can be used by MFA programs in a variety of ways.  It can be used as a platform to organize groups, facilitate communication and develop communities of writers.

According to various sources Facebook is:

Facebook: Facebook is a social networking website — a gathering spot, to connect with your friends and with your friends friends. Facebook allows you to make new connections who share a common interest, expanding your personal network. (“Glossary for visitors and the general public | NCCommunities,” n.d.,  3/17/2010).

According to the same site and Wikipedia social networking is a web-based service
that provides ways for users to interact, such as file sharing, blogging, and discussion groups, to build communities of people who have common interests. (“Glossary for visitors and the general publi) | NCCommunities,” n.d.) and (“Facebook – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,” n.d., 3/17/2010).

And according to the sight What is Social Networking? The answer is: the grouping of individuals into specific groups, like small rural communities or a neighborhood subdivision.  Or this definition from Wikipedia: A social network is a social structure made of individuals (or organizations) called “nodes,” which are tied (connected) by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige. (“Social network – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,” n.d., 3/17/2010).

Facebook provides a venue for many writers groups including one for the Virtual Writers Inc. , most of these groups provide an opportunity to present a profile which identifies if the group is a good fit for you.

The Writers, Authors and Poets group on Facebook has the following mission:

There are also groups associated with certain genres of fiction such as:

There are also many published author sites on Facebook..check them out and see if your favorite author is listed on there..I found Stephen King!

As you can see there are plenty of resources for writers on Facebook, and if you do a search you will find even more this is by no means a comprehensive list.

Other Social Media/networking sites:

Ning:According to  Ettzevoglou and  McBride in their 2009 article on Ning and Writing to Learn “Ning offers many of the same features present on other, more popular social networking sites, such as personal profile pages, chat capabilities, and the ability to connect with other members,” (2009,)  In their conclusion they also found that “Ning provides an environment in which our students can learn how to express themselves in writing and how to share their thoughts with others from all over the world.” (Ettzevoglou & McBride, 2009)  At the time of writing this Ning announced they were going to a pay for service site so if you are looking for a free site you may want to consider Buddy Press, which states it is a free Social Networking and open source program, (Buddy Press, n.d. retrieved 4/19/2010).

Colleges and University provide websites to support,inform and provide assistance to writers who wish to improve their writing.  Example of these include The University of Illinois Center for Writing, which includes a grammar handbook, citation styles information, ESL resources, and writing tips.

Writer’s Workshop

The Writer’s Studio  is a program that offers a series of workshops either face to face or online.  There is a fee associated with their online classes, they have also archived their podcasts online, there is also a fee associated for these as well.  However these are valuable resources which maybe worth accessing.  (The Writer’s Studio, n.d., 4/10/2010)/

The Elizabeth Ayres Center for Creative Writing:  offers Writing the Wave, the online writing course with a difference, for writers who want to make a difference in our world. Writing the Wave is a creative writing program of multi-genre, online writing workshops suitable for beginning writers and intermediate writers,  (Elizabeth Ayres Center for Creative Writing. n.d., retireved 4/10/2010).

Critters is an on-line workshop/critique group for serious writers of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. You get your work critiqued in exchange for critiquing the work of others, both of which are invaluable ways to improve your writing. (Critters Workshop, n.d., retrieved 4/1/2010).

Writer’s Digest, has for many years provided online instruction and writing workshops to those who wish to learn about and improve their craft.  They recently named their program the Writers Digest University stating that …”ere you’ll find all of our available online education, as well as up-to-date lecture supplements and creative exercises to help you reach your writing goals,” (Writer’s Digest University, n.d., retrieved 4/15/2010).

The writer’s group for Once Written, “which has a three-part mission. The site spotlights exciting new voices in the world of fiction, it helps entry-level writers get unstuck, and it provides a community where new authors can learn how to promote themselves and their books, (Once Written, n.d., retrieved 4/12/2010).

Internet Writing Workshop we believe writers should be able to have their works critiqued, regardless of their ability to pay. We understand because our staff of volunteers are themselves writers, some of whom are already published, and others of whom wish to be. (“The IWW FAQ,” n.d., retrieved 4/12/2010).

Concept and Mind Maps

Concept/mind maps can be used in collaboration with others.  They can be used for brainstorming, connecting ideas, illustrate historic events, and character development. They can also be used to graphically illustrate a plot and time-line of a work of fiction.   Some of the following mind mapping programs presented may require a fee to use the software or website, this is in not an endorsement of those sites but an overview of what they offer, the user needs to determine what tools will work the best for their unique needs.

A concept map is a diagram showing the relationships among concepts. They are graphical tools for organizing and representing knowledge.  Concepts, usually represented as boxes or circles, are connected with labeled arrows in a downward-branching hierarchical structure.

(“Concept Mapping,” n.d. 3/26/2010)

A concept map is a special form of a web diagram for exploring knowledge and gathering and sharing information.  ((The Graphic Organizer, 3/26/2010)

Concept mapping is a general method that can be used to help any individual or group to describe their ideas about some topic in a pictorial form. …concept mapping is a structured process, focused on a topic or construct of interest, involving input from one or more participants, that produces an interpretable pictorial view (concept map) of their ideas and concepts and how these are interrelated. (“Concept Mapping,” n.d., 3/26/2010)

Mind Mapping is:  a graphical way to represent ideas and concepts. It is a visual thinking tool that helps structuring information, helping you to better analyze, comprehend, synthesize, recall and generate new ideas.   ((“What is Mind Mapping? (and How to Get Started Immediately),” n.d. ,retrieved 3/26/2010)

Mind Mapping:  a powerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlock the potential of the brain. It harnesses the full range of cortical skills – word, image, number, logic, rhythm, colour and spatial awareness – in a single, uniquely powerful manner. In so doing, it gives you the freedom to roam the infinite expanses of your brain.  ((“Buzan Centre Australia : Mind Mapping allows you to improve and accelerate your learning and thinking skills,” n.d. retrieved 3/26/2010)

A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea. Mind maps are used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing.  (“Mind map – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,” n.d. retrieved 3/26/2010)

Concept mapping and mind mapping can be used to illustrate connections via a graphical illustration, facilitate collaboration, brainstorming, idea generation, and time-lines.

The Wisemap Program is include here because of it’s potential application as a collaboration or for group use:

Users will be able to create and read their mind maps from everywhere whenever it’s needed. Once you have your mind map created the features that distinguish WiseMapping appears: Embed it in your own web page, blog or post, “Wise it” linking documents to it, “Share it” to anyone in the world. To do all this we have a powerful yet simple and intuitive editor to build the maps and lots of features (and upcoming ones) that will help you use WiseMapping. (“WiseMapping | Visual Thinking Evolution,” n.d., retrieved, 3/27/2010).

DropMind: provide the following powerful uses and integration with Google applications.

• Simultaneous collaboration
  Working on the same map at the same time
• Project management integration
  Import project data and task info from Basecamp
• Google integration
  Google Docs, Google Contacts and Google Search
• In-house solution
  Setup easily deployed on customers own serve   (DropMind, n.d. retrieved 4/4/2010)

Virtual Worlds

Bainbridge, 2010, in Online Worlds: Convergence of the Real and the Virtual, (pp10), defines virtual worlds as persistent online computer generated environments where people can interact, whether for work or play, in a manner comparable to the real world.  The fourth edition of the Blue Book of Virtual Worlds a Consumer Guide to Virtual Worlds (Blue Book) which was published by the Association of Virtual Worlds (2008, pp 10) defines virtual worlds as follows: a virtual world is a computer-based simulated environment, says Wikipedia. Remember the book The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis? These kids opened the wardrobe and found themselves in a whole other world called Narnia. Well, you could think of a computer as a 21st century  “wardrobe” and virtual worlds as the “Narnia’s” of today.

The editors of the Blue Book also include MMORPG or massively multiplayer online role play games  games which have some, but not all, of the classic characteristics such as quests. In this book any virtual world with some of these characteristics is referred to as an MMORPG.  Second Life is not defined as an MMORPG but is referred to as a Multi-User Virtual Environment or MUVE. (The Blue Book: A Consumers Guide to Virtual Worlds, 2008, pp 10). An example of a MUVE is Second Life, the 3D MUVE is an immersive 3D virtual space where people, entering the space via avatars, meet and interact with one another and learn in the multi-user environment in real time, (Qian, pp 24).

Second Life still demonstrates popularity and growth due to it’s flexibility, visibility and user created content.  Even though they are many virtual worlds such as World of Warcraft, Eve, and Activity worlds (for a complete list review the Blue Book). This section will focus on the activities available in Second Life.  

Second Life provides a variety of tools for social networking including communication tools, group/community tools, avatar profiles, events listings, and a contacts/friends feature.  Opportunities to participate in writing activities, network with other writers and participate in literary events such as this:   “we will have a live streaming of Dr. Jeremy Loving, distinguished lecture in English, as he discusses the life and humor of Mark Twain.  You might even catch a glimpse of Mark in the audience!  Location: Texas A&M University, Second Life Campus. Streaming begins at 5:30pm:  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Aggieland/89/161/26.” ((“Mark Twain presentation in second Life,” n.d., retrieved 4/13/2010).

Writers groups abound in Second Life and seem to cover every author’s needs from aspiring writers to seasoned ones.  The Learning Experience holds a writers symposium every Monday night where writers gather to read and get feedback on their work.  Second Life is also a platform for authors to present their work either through voice, to sell it as a book, or even to create an experiential back drop via a creative build or through role play.

Second Life works very well for role play activities.  Role play provides a creative outlet for, not only gamers, but also those who wish to apply their creative writing skills to developing a scenario with others that maybe history based, literature or with a contemporary theme based upon popular movies or TV shows such as Dr. Who, Twilight, or vampire themes.

Role-playing refers to the changing of one’s behavior to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the Oxford English Dictionary defines role-playing as “the changing of one’s behavior to fulfill a social role”,^[1] the term is used more loosely in three senses:

• To refer to the playing of roles generally such as in a theater, or educational setting;
• To refer to a wide range of games including computer role-playing games, play-by-mail games and more;
• To refer specifically to role-playing games.

From Instructional Strategies Online, (2010, retrieved 4/15/2010):

What is Role Playing?

In role playing, students act out characters in a predefined “situation”.

What Is Its Purpose?

Role playing allows students to take risk-free positions by acting out characters in hypothetical situations. It can help them understand the range of concerns, values, and positions held by other people. Role playing is an enlightening and interesting way to help students see a problem from another perspective.

Role plays can be guided or free.

Guided role plays:
Students follow instructions for simple dialogues:

Free role plays:
Students have instructions for the situation, but they develop the dialogue in their own way.

In Krysia M. Yardley-Matwiejczuk’s book Role Play From Theory to Practice (2007, pp 1), Role Play is defined as a term for describing a wide range of activities by involving participants in “as-if,”  or “simulated” actions and circumstances…In brief role-play or simulation techniques are a way of deliberately constructing an approximation of aspects of a real-life episode or experience, but under controlled conditions where much of the episode is is initiated….”

The benefits of using Second Life is that is relatively free for some role play activities and somewhat affordable if you are to buy an island to create your own role play scenarios.  Some examples of role play in Second Life are: medieval, World War II, TombStone (old west), Victorian Era, Armageddon themes, vampire themed and Gorean.  However the true benefit of role play in Second Life is being able to create your own role play, develop characters, and interact with others.  

Conclusion:

Web 2.0 tools are being  developed, used and integrated into the curriculum to enhance student learning and the experience of a student in an online learning environment.   These tools can be used to provide connections and communication student to student, student to faculty as well as improve the student’s interaction with the course content.

Use of these tools can better engage the student in his or her learning, boost retention, and increase dialogue and engagement with his/her faculty or mentors. Use of tools such as podcasts, blogs, and concept mapping can contribute to the student’s creativity    and production of written work. Gaining feedback from other writers via networking tools can increase the student’s confidence and writing skill.

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It’s one of those days when I am inspired by everything and have little or no organization or thought to what I am going to write about..but keeping up with this blog is a must on my list of things to do so I entitled this WEB Everything.  This post is a free flowing stream of consciousness about some different tools and sites I use across the web for a variety of different things.

When I thought about how to or what to write for this post I immediately turned to “Feed My App,” which is “a Web 2.0 Directory with the best and latest web 2.0 sites, daily updated. We classify web apps by tagging them and creating a brief description for each one listed.”

In all honesty I don’t get to spend enough time reviewing these tools however there are some here that I do use routinely.  This site categorizes the sites based upon tags.  The tag cloud is listed on the page.  In my review of the site I found the tag cloud which lists everything from A (accounting) to W (wiki).

I clicked on “Knowledge” in the tag cloud and found WebMD.  WebMDis a site I go to when I have an unexplained ache or pain this is where I go to get information.  Happy to say I am not spending too much time there but I do appreciate it’s information and accessibility.

I am intrigued by Wolfram Alpha.  I have used it a little and it is listed in the FeedMyApp directory under knowledge.   The goals of Wolfram Alpha are:

• Long-term goal is to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone.
• We aim to collect and curate all objective data; implement every known model, method, and algorithm; and make it possible to compute whatever can be computed about anything.
• Our goal is to build on the achievements of science and other systematizations of             knowledge to provide a single source that can be relied on by everyone for definitive        answers to factual queries.
• Our goal is to accept completely free-form input, and to serve as a knowledge engine that generates powerful results and presents them with maximum clarity.
• Wolfram|Alpha is an ambitious, long-term intellectual endeavor that we intend will deliver

Another of my favorite sites is Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus. Visual Thesaurus is a powerful tool used to illustrate the relationships between words and much more.   From the website it states that: Visual Thesaurus is an interactive dictionary and thesaurus which creates word maps that blossom with meanings and branch to related words. Its innovative display encourages exploration and learning.

Another exciting website that educators in particular need to review isScitable. Scitable is a free science library and personal learning tool brought to you by Nature Publishing Group, the world’s leading publisher of science. Scitable currently concentrates on genetics, the study of evolution, variation, and the rich complexity of living organisms.

Scitable is an open source/content website for scientist to present and share content.  Scitable labels itself as a collaborative learning space for science.  I am not a scientist nor do I teach in this discipline but it will be interesting to see how this seemingly well organized and presented site evolves.  If you are a science educator this is definitely as site to watch and get involved in as it provides a social networking format as well.

I have used Twine in the past..it is now Evri.  The website for Evristates that finds the latest news on your favorite topics so you can sit back and get informed.  I used Twine as a social networking tool or newfeed tool to connect with others who had similar interests.  Ultimately Evri seems to be a social bookmarking site.

There are 252 bookmarking sites, but what are they really?  According to Wikipedia social bookmarking is  a method for Internet users to share, organize, search, and manage bookmarksfile sharing, the of web resources. Unlike resources themselves aren’t shared, merely bookmarks that reference them.

Writing this blog post has given me the motivation to investigate blogging sites.  some may claim that blogging is “dead” and some do. However being somewhat new to blogging I think it is essential. I like writing and writing blogs. It has truly allowed me an avenue for professional growth. If you blog for others and not yourself first then perhaps blogging is dead.

I used a WordPress theme to create this blog and recently opened up a word press blog at wordpress.org to create a free blog for a venture, Steampunk Adventures,that I have going with a team in Second Life ™.  I also use Blogger which is connected to my Google Account at cathylanderson.blogspot.com.

WordPressboasts over 237,000 bloggers.  It is a large resources for bloggers, writers, and educators who which to access a collaborative tool for writing, gathering comments and generating discussion.

According to Wikipedia Technorati is a site which is an Internet search engine for searching blogs. By June 2008, Technorati was indexing 112.8 million blogs and over 250 million pieces of tagged social media. The name Technorati is a blend of the words technology and literati, which invokes the notion of technological intelligence or intellectualism.

If you wish you may also create video blogs.  Sites such as Vodspot provide a medium to present your videos. According to the Vodspot Blog: a… “new publishing platform for your Vodpod videos collection. It lets you turn your Vodpod collection into your own video site (we’ll host it for you) , and that you can use to create a video section of your site or blog or just to have your own little video world in cyberspace.”

FeedmyApp lists 214 blog sites.  There is bound to be one that will meet your needs if you aren’t overwhelmed by the review of all these sites.

In addition to creating, storing and sharing videos online there are also many ways to create, share and store audio files online.  One interesting site is BlogRadio. This site provides services for:

1. Subscribe to your favorite blogs using the BlogRadio Desktop Manager Tool

2. We’ll convert the text of the blog to an audio file (with a natural voice) for you.

3. To listen to your blogs, just start up the Desktop Manager and start listening!

Listen voice is an interesting sites which promotes their voice notes for many areas. Of special interest to educators maybe the group feature of this site. For groups there is a collaborative learning effort, whereby different members of study group can pick a topic each and record and share voice notes on it with each other would save time for everybody. Also, teachers can use our platform and record their lectures easily by just putting the Bluetooth earpiece and share with their students or other groups on a paid/ non-paid basis.  ListenVoice is a social learning platform, which enables its users to record voice notes using their phones. Users can access these voice notes from their computer, smartphones and download to their mp3 players. They can share notes with others using Facebook, Twitter, Email etc.

The voice notes are recorded via a  phone call, it is not noted whether or not this is a toll free call to Listen Voice.  For a basic free account one gets 5 minutes of recorded time using voice.  For a subscription at 19.95, the price at this time, the user gets to record a maximum of 2 hours of voice notes per call.

Blogamp is a site which promotes itself as audiocasting for the masses. Blogamp has been around for a while this information from their website indicates that:it was designed to deliver on-demand audio via a variety of web-based flash player widgets just before podcasting was established, back when audioblogging was the term used. Blogamp audio files maybe embedded to your website or blog.

Another site that maintains it’s currency and grows in recognition is Connexions.  Connexions is an environment for collaboratively developing, freely sharing, and rapidly publishing scholarly content on the Web. … All content is free to use and reuse under the Creative Commons “attribution” license.   Connexions is a site which allows members to copy and reuse educational content as well as create your own content to share with others.

Connexions is a key player in the open content movement for education.  This is one of many sites, based upon the concept of social networking, that allows for the presentation of and reuse of educational resources.

Another site that I am professionally interested in is that of Moodle. As an educator I believe it is essential to stay current with the most recent trends in learning management systems. As Moodle is open source new innovations are continously evolving in the use of this LMS.   Due to the recent economic downturn more and more educators are seeking more economic solutions in their learning management systems.  As an example of this the South Carolina Department of Education recently adopted Moodle as a solution.

Another tool that i use for scheduling meetings with individuals outside of my organzation is Doodle. Doodle is... an online scheduling tool, Doodle takes the pain out of finding the right date and time for a group of people to meet and makes scheduling virtually effortless. The basic service is a free online coordination tool which requires neither registration nor software installation.

If you haven’t checked out YouTube…then I have to ask..why haven’t you? and been a bit judgmental about that.  YouTube is the video archive of who we are currently as people.  It shows what we do to have fun, make music, present information, and demonstrate how to do things. YouTube is just cool.

Do you want to incorporate videos into your course site but just don’t have the time?  Then Snag Films may have just the resource for you.  Interested in a serial killer?  Midwifery? former President Nixon? Egypt?   This site has a film for you. Be aware that this site is supported by “commercials” just like “real TV.”

Photosharing sites are popular with my favorite being Flickr..well it’s the one I use.  It has been my experience that as a user of some of these sites you “just end up using one,” without any real analysis or comparison of these sites.  One thing I do like about Flickr is picnik it is a photo editing site that can be used to do some basic photo edits for pictures uploaded to Flickr.  There are 470 Web 2.0 photo apps listed on FeedMyApp.   I use Twit Pic for photo sharing on the Twitter..it is the one that my cell phone defaults to, and when I am goofing around with photos and Twitter..well it’s the one I use.

In doing research for this blog I have found some sites I need to check out such as PhotoFunia. This site does the following as an online photo editing tool that gives you a fun filled experience.
You upload any photo and just wait to see the magic. Our proprietary technology automatically
identifies the face in the photo and let’s you add cool photo effects and create funny face photo
montages.

Dumpr is another site that allows the user to upload photos from his/her computer and apply affects to the picture.

Snipshot is a pay for service sitewhich allows for many photo editing services. These services include:

• Edit RAW files online
• Apply special effects
• Make portraits faster with face detection
• No download necessary—100% browser based, no plug-ins required
• One-click import from any web site with our bookmarklet
• Save as GIF, JPG, PDF, or PNG
• One-click enhance improves most images
• Basic editing tools like crop, rotate, resize
• Basic image adjustments like contrast, brightness, saturation, sharpness and hue
• Unlimited undo and redo (Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Y, or ⌘Z and ⌘Y on your Mac)
• Nondestructive editing—we always work from the original
• Edit big pictures—up to 10 MB, or 25 megapixels (5000×5000 pixels)
• Import PDF

Splashup, a webbased photo editing tool is one I will be checking out frequently.  This site provides photo sharing, layer and blend modes, filters, layer effects, brushes and text editing.

I also found a site I was not previously aware of but will definitely book mark for further review and that is Seed from AOL.   From the About site it states that Seed: Join this network of amazing talent, and reach one of the web’s largest monthly audiences. SEED is the place for you to be seen, to be heard, to get credit and to get paid.

Triond is another site worthy of further exploration for writers as it provides: a complete publishing service that enables users to easily publish quality content of any type, in any media format. We publish your work on a network of niche websites so you reach a wider audience, gain more recognition and earn more revenue.

Open Education Resources, Open Knowledge, Open Textbooks, Open Access, Open Source, Open Courseware,  these are all terms that define the revolution in how we access information, who has access, and what we access.  This revolution was driving by the technology that underpins the Internet and provides ubiquitous access to the world’s knowledge, information and resources.

I have spent that last couple of months discovering reports, websites, and journals that focus on “open” in the area of knowledge, education and information.  It was no surprise to me when the New Media Consortium cited Open Courseware as a short term trend in their 2010 Horizons report.   I have written about openness in previous blogs so I hope this posting does not prove redundant.

The history of providing information and access to information to the people has been well chronicled from the printing press forward.  Providing access to university course materials, academic lectures, learning objects and public domain materials via the web is, in my opinion another key milestone in our history.  The benefit is that giving the gift of knowledge to the world will allow for improvement in our lives, work and the world.  The mind of many is greater than the mind of one as other review, discuss and build upon our knowledge.

Providing access to courses via the MITs, Yale, Princeton, and others provides us all with a better perspective of what is excellent teaching, access to their courses to adopt (with proper credit of course) to improve ours. Access to this courseware has contributed to online institutions such as the University of the People and Peer to Peer University.

The purpose of open”ness” is not to give away the “work” of creating the open resources, but to provide open access to the knowledge base that is foundational to the creation of resources that improve learning, knowledge, and data. The analytical process of reviewing, synthesizing and presenting for discussion the work should not be free and should in some fashion be compensated by individuals and/or institutions.

Some of the reports, papers and research on open courseware I have found include:

• New Media Consortium 2010 Horizon Report
• Open Learn Research Report 2006-2008 William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
• Giving Knowledge for Free–Centre for Research and Innovation
• Open Educational Resources–Conversations in Cyberspace–Unesco
• International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning
• Open Educational Resources in Sub Sahara Africa–Examining Network Driven Models within the context of African Development
• Open Educational Practice and resources –OLCOS Roadmap 2012
• A Review of the Open Educational Resources Movement:   Achievement Challenges and New Opportunities February 2007
• Good Intentions Improving the evidence base in support of sharing learning materials
• Open Access in France. A State of the Art Report. 2010 report
• Report of the Working Group on Open Access and Open Educational Resources

Each of the “open” terms I listed above have varying definitions some of these are as follows:

Open Access is concerned with making digital content available free of charge
without restriction [Public Library of Science, 2006]

OAI is a new paradigm in scholarly publishing. It aims to promote models that ensure free and unrestricted access to scholarly & research journals, (retrieved from http://www.openj-gate.com/Footer/About.aspx)

Another offshoot of the openness movement is Open Knowledge: any content, information or data that people are free to use, re-use and redistribute — without any legal, technological or social restriction. We detail exactly what openness entails in the Open Knowledge Definition. The main principles are:

1. Free and open access to the material
2. Freedom to redistribute the material
3. Freedom to reuse the material
4. No restriction of the above based on who someone is (e.g. their nationality) or their field of endeavour (e.g. commercial or non-commercial)

Open education resources:  can be defined as free and open digital publications of high quality materials organized as courses that include lectures, related reading materials, snapshots of discussions, assignments, evaluations, etc. Access to these resources radically breaks down the barriers to quality education and allows everyone to access course material that is prepared and evaluated by expert.  (retrieved from http://www.knowledgecommission.gov.in/downloads/documents/wg_open_course.pdf)

Open Source:describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product’s source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology. Subsequently, a new, three-word phrase “open source software” was born to describe the environment that the new copyright, licensing, domain, and consumer issues created.

Southern Europe Open Access to Science Information

Journals:

Directory of Open Access Journals We define open access journals as journals that use a funding model that does not charge readers or their institutions for access. From the BOAI definition [1] of “open access” we take the right of users to “read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles” as mandatory for a journal to be included in the directory.

Revues.org is a portal of journals in the humanities and social open to journals wishing to publish online the full text. Revues.org is a complete e-publishing platform and built a space dedicated to the promotion of research, open access publishing tens of thousands of scientific papers.

Open J Gate:  is an electronic gateway to global journal literature in open access domain. Launched in 2006, Open J-Gate is the contribution of Informatics (India) Ltd to promote OAI. Open J-Gate provides seamless access to millions of journal articles available online. Open J-Gate is also a database of journal literature, indexed from 6787 open access journals, with links to full text at Publisher sites.

The Open Education Journal is an Open Access online journal which publishes original research articles, reviews and short articles in all areas of education research and on contemporary education issues and learning, including special education.

I will not attempt to enumerate the many institutions which offer opencourseware. There are many sites which do this much better than I could.  For example the blogThe .Edu Toolbox aims to be your one stop tool shop for all the resources you need to create the blueprint and build an impressive foundation in learning.

The OpenCourseWare Consortium is a free and open digital publication of high quality educational materials, organized as courses. The OpenCourseWare Consortium is a collaboration of more than 200 higher education institutions and associated organizations from around the world creating a broad and deep body of open educational content using a shared model.

Connexions is: a place to view and share educational material made of small knowledge chunks called modules that can be organized as courses, books, reports, etc. Anyone may view or contribute:

• authors create and collaborate
• instructors rapidly build and share custom collections
• learners find and explore content

The International Institute of Managment IIM;

The IIM Open Courseware (OCW) experiment project provides free access to some of IIM’s most popular educational materials.  The IIM’s OCW:

• Does not require that participants register
• Does not provide access to IIM faculty
• Does not grant degrees or certificates
• Allow free use to all, as long as you provide copyright reference to “International Institute of Management www.iim-edu.org ” with and active hyperlink (for online use)

Of course there are those colleges and universities known for providing opencourseware such as MIT, Yale, Tufts, John Hopkins, as well as companies such as Novell.

Over the last several years the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation have invested heavily in Open Educational Resources.  They stated that their intent was to catalyze universal access to and use of high-quality academic content on a global scale.

Lori Goetsh wrote in March 2010 that “open-access” repositories – that is,  (are) sites where scholarship and research are made freely available over the Internet. She went on to state that, “Open access helps achieve the fundamental mission of the academy – to disseminate knowledge…” (Goetsch, 2010, Change Magazine).

Is “openness” a disruptive innovation as put forth by Terry Anderson and Bridgette McConkey in the 2009 article Development of Disruptive Open Access Journals in The Canadian Journal of Higher Education.  Essentially the answer to that is yes.  Providing prevalent access to learning objects, course materials, and an understanding of how courses are designed (making education open and not a closed process).   Opening scholarly journals provides the authors with widespread access to their research allowing for a diverse review of their work, increased collaboration and further opportunities for collaborative research.  All of this allows for further innovations, innovations which will improve how we live, what we know, and how we work together…used appropriately ‘openness” and transparency improves our world, our lives, and the lives of future generations.

Several reports or plans related to higher education, education technology, and online learning have been released in the last several months that indicate changes in how students learn, how they access their learning materials, and how that content is delivered.  In addition to this I will also give an overview of Millenials from the Pew Research Center.

In January 2010 the Sloan Consortium released their report on online education.  This report indicates that online experienced a growth of 17% in the last year.  Students in online classes comprise 25% of all students enrolled in higher education today, or 4.6 million students.    This 29 pages report found on the Sloan Consortium website presented the following information:

The issue of retention in online is also addressed in this report.   The question “Is retention in online harder than in  traditional face to face courses?”  This was administered via a survey of Chief Academic Officers which indicated that most were neutral on the question.  However those who agree outnumber of those who disagree.  Specifics on why this perception exists were not asked or provided.

Another report which was released by the US Department of Education is the:  Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies.  I previously blogged on this report however what this report indicates is that online learning, can,  under certain conditions,  provide better learning experiences to students.

Another study with trends to watch in distance education is theK-12 Online Learning reportfrom the Sloan Consortium. this 37 page report, based upon a survey administered to over 10,000 school districts, with a5/4% return of valid surveys,  published in January 2009 indicates that:

Most significant in regards to this report is the growth in online education which is illustrated by:

Regulators Can Help Advance / Slow Mobile Internet Evolution.

Can Facebook be used to provide content, a place for group communication and interaction for academic courses and programs…well all signs indicate a solid yes to this question.  As I have a Facebook page I decided to review sites that are relevant to certain discipline areas.    The aim of this blog is to identify sites where academics have illustrated how they use Facebook and to point you to those sites that are relevant to certain discipline areas.

I would like to hear comments from you.  Does Facebook have an application in education and if so how?  And if you are using it how are you using it?

What tools does Facebook have in place to manage classes, groups, and networking?

Facebook can deliver content in the form of photos, videos, documents that have been scanned to jpg’s, and notes:

For example a search of Facebook for “Calculus” yields:

The Calculuswebsite which is a fan site for students in Calculus and collaboration in problem solving, etc., in that area.    As recent as yesterday, March 20,2010 as I write this blog I noticed that there is a detailed response to a student’s request for help solving a problem.

Another Calculussite states:  This page is based on Mr. Morris’ Calculus 1 class at Las Positas College; however, those not in the class may find the content useful too.  This site provides flashcards based upon up coming exams that students can use as study aids.

There are professional websites such as the English Teachers Site. This club is designed as a place for English teachers to share resources and discuss teaching strategies with colleagues near and far. Share with your fellow English teachers any lesson plans, activities, must-teach novels, useful websites, videos, or books for any grade level… we’d love to hear about it! So please, post away!…

Or this site: English teachers put more thought into a novelthan the actual author did.

Computer Science Student Group: The importance of CS has never been greater. We’re discovering ways to build just about everything out of small, simple mechanisms glued together with software, so no matter what you do, CS tends to be inside. And the scope of this new CS is amazing: We’re at the center of the action in biology, nanotechnology, particle physics. If society is ever going to slash medical costs, CS will play the key role. I see CS as a sort of universal science. We’re beginning to pervade everything.

Mathematics the Language of the Sciences: group is intended for people who enjoy solving and/or contemplating mathematical, physical, engineering problems, and who enjoy going beyond and study the philosophical assumptions, foundations, and implications of mathematics.  If you’re a mathematics, computer science, statistics, actuarial science, engineering major or you just love Mathematics, if you love to inquire about the philosophy of mathematics, or if you have any question in the field of Mathematics, then this is the group for you.

Health Informatics: This group joins interested people in Health Informatics, Medical Informatics, Healthcare IT, HIT – Health Information Technology, HIM – Health Information Management, HIS – Health Information Systems, Hospital Information Systems, CDSS – Clinical Decision Support Systems, EHR – Electronic Health Records, EMR – Electronic Medical Records, PACS – Picture Archiving and Communication Systems, DICOM – Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine, and many other related sciences and topics.

There are sites such as the 100 ways to use Facebook in the Classroom The Facebook Classroom: 25 Facebook Apps That Are Perfect for Online Education, or  this facebook site.

Application are available in Facebook such as the courses application which will allow  you to:

Courses

Display your courses on your profile for college or high school, find classmates, manage your schedule and assignments, create discussions, post notes, and form exclusive study groups. Welcome to Courses on Facebook.   You can use your Facebook course site as a “live syllabus” which will allow you to post assignments, communicate deadlines, deliver content, especially real time news feeds,  and facilitate discussions.

There is also a Files application which allows you to upload documents, photos, videos and pull informatin from your profile.

Is there an application in Pedagogy that Facebook lends itself to?  If so what is that?

Of course there is the relatively new and as yet evolving theory of connectivism:  a learning theory for the digital age,” has been developed by George Siemens and Stephen Downes based on their analysis of the limitations of behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism to explain the effect technology has had on how we live, how we communicate, and how we learn.^[1] Donald G. Perrin, Executive Editor of the International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning says the theory “combines relevant elements of many learning theories, social structures, and technology to create a powerful theoretical construct for learning in the digital age.”^{[1]  (  Retrieved from Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connectivism_%28learning_theory%29, Connectivism a learning theory for the digital age http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm, wikiveristy)}

Social Learning theory:  that focuses on the learning that occurs within a social context. It considers that people learn from one another, including such concepts as observational learning, imitation, and modeling.

Social Learning Theory; Bandura emphasizes the importance of observing and modeling the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others. Bandura (1977) states: “Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do. Fortunately, most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action.” (p22). Social learning theory explains human behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral, an environmental influences. The component processes underlying observational learning are: (1) Attention, including modeled events (distinctiveness, affective valence, complexity, prevalence, functional value) and observer characteristics (sensory capacities, arousal level, perceptual set, past reinforcement), (2) Retention, including symbolic coding, cognitive organization, symbolic rehearsal, motor rehearsal), (3) Motor Reproduction, including physical capabilities, self-observation of reproduction, accuracy of feedback, and (4) Motivation, including external, vicarious and self reinforcement.  (retrieved from http://tip.psychology.org/bandura.html, 3/23/2010)

Action Learning: is an educational process whereby the participant studies their own actions and experience in order to improve performance. This concept is close to learning-by-doing and teaching through examples and repetitions.  Action learning is done in conjunction with others, in small groups called action learning sets or two-in, two-out team. It is proposed as particularly suitable for adults, as it enables each person to reflect on and review the action they have taken and the learning points arising. This should then guide future action and improve performance.  (retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_learning, 3/23/2010)

Action Learning: is a process of inquiry, beginning with the experience of not knowing ‘what to do next’, and finding that answers are not available through current expertise. When expertise fails to provide an answer, collaborative inquiry with fellow learners who are undergoing the same questioning experience is always available. To be effective, this partnership in learning needs to be both supportive and at the same time challenging, deeply caring yet questioning. Such partnerships actually create themselves when different people with different ideas engage whole-heartedly with each other to resolve each others’ problems.  (retrieved from What’s Action Learning 3/23/2010)

The use of Facebook and the potential of it is yet to be explored and documented fully as illustrated in this study by Schroeder and Greenbowe  who stated that “at the very least, the data suggest that students will use Facebook as an alternate mode of communication, particularly when deadlines approach. The results of this study may best be viewed as a case study, showing that for this specific group of students, Facebook proved to be a good medium for communication in the sense that students would use it.” (retrieved online http://gator.uhd.edu/~williams/AT/ChemOfFB.htm 3/23/2010)   Harris noted that the “growing influence demonstrates that the utilization of SNS can expand the dialogue outside of the classroom or campus, build better communication channels with students and may be valuable as a supplemental recruitment tool in higher education…” (Retrieved from   http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0WMX/is_18_25/ai_n30956801/, 3/23/2010)  Heiberger and Harper illustrate the application of Facebook and benefits to the students as:  Facebook gives them opportunities to learn about and self select into programs and services beneficial to them…. Facebook can help students simplify and prioritize their choices, manage their time wisely, and be aware of the wide variety of options available to them on campus…”  (retrieved from http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/sites/cyber.law.harvard.edu/files/Chapter%202%20-%20Facebook%20and%20Student%20Engagement.pdf  3/23/2010)

In conclusion it is evident that the use of Facebook may prove to be beneficial to students as a source of information, tutoring and collaboration as illustrated by the Calculus sites provided, it may serve as a discussion networking site for professional development, and even a connection for future employment opportunities as demonstrated by the Computer Science sites.

There are a variety of communication, content and networking tools available through Facebook such as the files and courses application, and are worth exploring.

When I set out writing this blog it was not my intent that I ponder on what the singularity is, how great Google is or any of the other initiaitives occuring in technology that are impacting our lives, this is just sort of happening.  I am not an expert in any of these areas, this blog is just a reflection on how I feel about these things, how I think they could be connected and what the future may hold.  Given that, I think the future is now, in some aspects the singularity may be happening somewhere right now only it’s so small and so isolated that we are not seeing it on a global scale.  Google does have  vast stores of information and knowledge and will continue to grow…this is one genie we can’t put back in the bottle folks ..and trying to keep up is next to nearly impossible.

Take Google street view for example..oh you aren’t familair with that one?  Well “google” it then and see what it’s all about.   Here is how Google describes it: when you’ve zoomed all the way in you find yourself virtually standing on the street….and indeed you do and all of sudden real life is now blended with virtual life.   The most concise way to describe this is to say Google is giving you ‘street level imagery” of an address you input, your journey and your destination. Thee are some entertaining videos on how this is done on this Google site. If you want to know if Google is visiting your neighborhood you can find out by visiting this site.

In the last blog I wrote about Google gathering all the knowledge of the world ..you may scoff, but is that so far fetched?  And all that knowledge is going into an array of interconnected computers or servers…and ala “Twilight Zone” for your consideration .. that knowledge maybe somewhat loosely joined now but what will the future hold when it’s interconnected, when it double loops, and when it thinks.

We look at what we do individually on the web without thinking about how that ripples out and intertwines with what others are doing on the web…I have recently uploaded almost 20,000 non duplicated pictures and other artifacts to Flickr.  Some of these are digital photos that I have taken, others are scans of amateur photography I have collected over the years, and scans of paper ephemera.  Ultimately though within that collection of images are the patterns of human existence, nature, and artistic creations of life on this earth that can be processed and interpreted via artificial intelligence.    Have you ever uploaded photos to Google photo albums, have you noticed how picasa seeks out faces of people and tags them?

Ok so what do I know about artificial intelligence…well what do any of us know about this obscure concept that is seemingly a very science fiction like term.   You can find an article on artificial intelligence here on Wikipedia.  However what I find is not exaclty what I think the future will be like…”is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. Textbooks define the field as “the study and design of intelligent agents,”^[1] where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chances of success.^[2] John McCarthy, who coined the term in 1956,^[3] defines it as “the science and engineering of making intelligent machines.”^[4]“   Why is “intelligence’ artificial if it is that of machines?  And what is intelligence anyway?   And in the spirit of not taking Wikipedia as first source here are more definitions of artificial intelligence:

A May 23, 2009 article in The New York Times by Joh Markhoff describes Artificial Intellgence this way…”Artificial intelligence is already used to automate and replace some human functions with computer-driven machines. These machines can see and hear, respond to questions, learn, draw inferences and solve problems. But for the Singulatarians, A.I. refers to machines that will be both self-aware and superhuman in their intelligence, and capable of designing better computers and robots faster than humans can today.”

The basic artificial intelligence website presents the following:  “It is the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs. It is related to the similar task of using computers to understand human intelligence, but AI does not have to confine itself to methods that are biologically observable.
and addresses this question;

Q. Yes, but what is intelligence?

A. Intelligence is the computational part of the ability to achieve goals in the world. Varying kinds and degrees of intelligence occur in people, many animals and some machines.
Well back ts artificial intelligence site ..’Kurzweil finesses the issue of runaway AI by proposing a pathway where machine intelligence is patterned after human brains, so that they would have our morals and values built in…”  Hall also speculates that the possibility of computer based intelligent machine being better equipped to make better decisions than humans is near.

I have long been a fan of Kevin Kelly, I have included his blog as a resources here…it is interesting. He gives an excellent explanation of the Singularity here at this site. So you have to read Kurzweil and Kelly..and then speculate..what if the singularity is here already in some respects?  What if artificial intelligence already exists?  It is just disaggregated?

As an educator am I going to wake up some morning and find that teaching and learning in the way we do it now has been disrupted  in such a way that I as learner flip on my machine and find that what I “need to know’ has been provided to me based upon information I have provided in my profile which includes information on my career/job, my education and my experience?  My learning happens daily, inobtrusiviely, is individualized and the resources are ubiquitous.  Or is this happening already in such a manner that I am not really aware, that it is information I requested via Google Alerts, my social networks, and Google Reader?

Resources for further review:  Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research, Artificial Intelligence Depot , Science Daily; Artificial Intelligence News, Kevin Kelly’s website,Ray Kurzweil’s Artificial Intelligence Website

I have been reading Ray Kurzweil’s The Singularity is Near When Humans Transcend Biology, and maybe I should say…TRYING to read this book!  What follows are some of my random notes and observation on this book and the concepts, theories presented by Kurzweil, those things which I found significant from my reading of Kurzweil.   Fundamentally this is a fascinating book that is based upon science FACT…everyday that I get up I read something about an advancement in technology that demonstrates that why Ray Kurzweil presents in The Singularity is happening all around us everyday.

We are more dependent upon our technology for our day to day routines than we were 10 years ago … one may even ask if you can live in this world today without some sort of dependence upon technology..and the answer to that would be … no. Even without reading Kurzweil’s book, watching the videos, or reading articles about singularity what he presents is truly evident in today’s society.

So what is the Singularity. Kurzweil defines this as a future period during which the pace of technological change will be so rapid and the impact so deep that our lives will be irreversibly transformed. (pp 7)  Kurzweil sets the date for the singularity, representing a profound and disruptive transformation in human capability as 2045.

In my perspective what is happening now, and what provides a foundation for Kurzweil’s singularity are the concepts behind artificial intelligence.  I am not a student of artificial intelligence, it is somewhat of a “murky” concept for me.  A web search indicates that artificial intelligence is..AI) is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science which aims to create it. Textbooks define the field as “the study and design of intelligent agents,”^[ where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions which maximize its chances of success.John McCarthy, who coined the term in 1956, defines it as “the science and engineering of making intelligent machines.” (retrieved from  wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence)

Advancements in the field of research of artificial intelligence and brain research will tie the concepts together and provide machines, computers specifically, the ability to do “pattern recognition” which is what are brains are outstanding at doing.

Kurzweil identifies several things that our brains differ from computers  .. a quick summary of these are:

Kurzweil describes Moore’s Law, or the exponential growth of technology.  It is important to note that this exponential growth of technology does not extend itself just to computers, but extends it self to many areas such as development of alternative energy and capturing, for example solar energy.  This theory also extends itself to biology and the field of medicine, extending our life spans, almost everything that impacts our lives…is going to be impacted by this exponential growth of technology.

As Kurzweil describes it..we humans view growth as linear..however that is not the case, growth is exponential.  This is defined as:  “intuitive linear” view of technological progress rather than the “historical exponential view.” To express this another way, it is not the case that we will experience a hundred years of progress in the twenty-first century; rather we will witness on the order of twenty thousand years of progress (at today’s rate of progress, that is). (retrieved from Kurzweilai.net  http://www.kurzweilai.net/articles/art0134.html?printable=1)

What seems to underpin much of what Kurzweil presents is the law of accelerating returns.  The Law of Accelerating returns is defined as:

We can organize these observations into what I call the law of accelerating returns as follows:

• Evolution applies positive feedback in that the more capable methods resulting from one stage of evolutionary progress are used to create the next stage. As a result, the
• rate of progress of an evolutionary process increases exponentially over time. Over time, the “order” of the information embedded in the evolutionary process (i.e., the measure of how well the information fits a purpose, which in evolution is survival) increases.
• A correlate of the above observation is that the “returns” of an evolutionary process (e.g., the speed, cost-effectiveness, or overall “power” of a process) increase exponentially over time.
• In another positive feedback loop, as a particular evolutionary process (e.g., computation) becomes more effective (e.g., cost effective), greater resources are deployed toward the further progress of that process. This results in a second level of exponential growth (i.e., the rate of exponential growth itself grows exponentially).
• Biological evolution is one such evolutionary process.
• Technological evolution is another such evolutionary process. Indeed, the emergence of the first technology creating species resulted in the new evolutionary process of technology. Therefore, technological evolution is an outgrowth of–and a continuation of–biological evolution.
• A specific paradigm (a method or approach to solving a problem, e.g., shrinking transistors on an integrated circuit as an approach to making more powerful computers) provides exponential growth until the method exhausts its potential. When this happens, a paradigm shift (i.e., a fundamental change in the approach) occurs, which enables exponential growth to continue.  (retreived from http://www.kurzweilai.net/articles/art0134.html?printable=1)

Kurzweil proposes that we can, in my words, reprogram our cells..reprogram our biological “computers” to increase our longevity..can we live forever?  An article from The Futurist magazine...presents more on Kurzweil’s theories and launches a trailer on a movie on Kurzweil The Transcendent Man.   As this article conveys..what makes Kurzweil’s paradigm on The Law of Accelerating Returns and Moore’s Law is that it is based on tracking history of technical change back to the dawn of man.    In other words (my observations) our learning from one technical change to the next has been exponential since the dawn of our history.

So if change is happening as Kurzweil presents..why don’t we notice it, why isn’t more significant..because these changes are somewhat imperceptible to us for the most part.  If it has some significant impact on our jobs, disrupt our routine, or is a technology that we could fix ourselves one day and had to call in a specialist the next… I contend that these changes are not easily identifiable.

There is more so much more to this book…I could never hope to cover it in one blog..my observations are superficial.  What is important or significant to me may be different for another reader.  In the back of my mind remains the thought of how this would impact education and learning….of course Kurzweil’s Moore’s Law and Law of Accelerating Returns will certainly require increased cause and support for the “lifelong learning movement,” support for movement such as Micheal Trout’s “Learn anything, anytime anywhere..”  as well as his Eduit or eSingularity.

Resources on Kurzweil:

Kurzweilai.net

Inteview of Kruzweil by Dag Spicer at the Computer History Museum

This google video of Kurzweil’s presentation at Stanford.

Google Book:  The Singularity is Near when Humans Transcend Biology

The book is available on Amazon.