Posts Tagged ‘Education’

 
30
Jan

Online education, self directed learning and student centered learning

by Cathy in Education, Education Technology, Future, Higher Education

2 Comments Comments

In their article in USDLA’s Distance Learning for Educators, Trainers, and Leaders Maria Puzziferro and Kaye Shelton ask questions regarding online education and distance learning that we as educators in online courses and programs should be asking ourselves as we review our courses and programs for quality.

One assumption that they question is “how do we define student or learning centered and students are in control of their own learning (pp 10).   this made me stop and think..it is easy to assume that this latest “buzz word phrase,” of the day drives the direction of online education today and education in general.  If we can say that our courses, programs and services are student or learner centered..then job done..we are meeting the needs of students.  But do we really know what this means?  does the student?  Does your educational institution or organization have a common agreement regarding what learning/student centered means and does it matter?   or are these just good PR buzz phrases?  Here are some various definitions of the terms and the institutions who use them…

We use the term “learner centered” to refer to environments that pay careful attention to the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and beliefs that learners bring to the educational setting.…Teachers who are learner centered recognize the importance of building on the conceptual and cultural knowledge that students bring with them to the classroom…. (retrieved from ..http://cndls.georgetown.edu/crossroads/vkp/resources/glossary/learnercentered.htm, January 30,2010)
Learner-centered education places the student at the center of education. It begins with understanding the educational contexts from which a student comes. It continues with the instructor evaluating the student’s progress towards learning objectives. By helping the student acquire the basic skills to learn, it ultimately provides a basis for learning throughout life. It therefore places the responsibility for learning on the student, while the instructor assumes responsibility for facilitating the student’s education. This approach strives to be individualistic, flexible, competency-based, varied in methodology and not always constrained by time or place. (retrieved from http://www.abor.asu.edu/4_special_programs/lce/afc-defined_lce.htm )

...in the learner-centered paradigm, knowledge is the combined efforts of the teacher and the students. Under the guidance of the teacher, the students synthesize the gathered information using problem solving, critical thinking, and inquiry skills.

… the learner-centered classroom instruction, greater emphasis is given on the meaningfulness of knowledge. Students acquire knowledge to address real-life issues and problems.
In the learner-centered classroom, the students are actively involved in seeking out knowledge.
in the learner-centered classroom, the importance of right answers is overshadowed by the importance of creating better questions. Thus, assessment tools vary to embrace the multiple facets of learning. Besides paper tests, there will be portfolios,  and others.

…in the learner-centered paradigm, assessment is intertwined with classroom instruction. The results of a test are used to discover learning difficulties. The functions of the assessment are to diagnose learning problems and to encourage better learning.

The perspective that couples a focus on individual learners (their heredity, experiences, perspectives, backgrounds, talents, interests, capacities, and needs) with a focus on learning (the best available knowledge about learning and how it occurs and about teaching practices that are most effective in promoting the highest levels of motivation, learning, and achievement for all learners). This dual focus then informs and drives educational decision making. The learner-centered perspective is a reflection of the twelve learner-centered psychological principles in the programs, practices, policies, and people that support learning for all. (McCombs & Whisler, 1997)

Premises of the Learner-Centered Model

  1. Learners are distinct and unique. Their distinctiveness and uniqueness must be attended to and taken into account if learners are to engage in and take responsibility for their own learning.
  2. Learners’ unique differences include their emotional states of mind, learning rates, learning styles, stages of development, abilities, talents, feelings of efficacy, and other academic and nonacademic attributes and needs. These must be taken into account if all learners are to be provided with the necessary challenges and opportunities for learning and self-development.
  3. Learning is a constructive process that occurs best when what is being learned is relevant and meaningful to the learner and when the learner is actively engaged in creating his or her own knowledge and understanding by connecting what is being learned with prior knowledge and experience.
  4. Learning occurs best in a positive environment, one that contains positive interpersonal relationships and interactions, that contains comfort and order, and in which the learner feels appreciated, acknowledged, respected, and validated.
  5. Learning is a fundamentally natural process; learners are naturally curious and basically interested in learning about and mastering their world. Although negative thoughts and feelings sometimes interfere with this natural inclination and must be dealt with, the learner does not require “fixing.”
(McCombs & Whisler, 1997)
Student-centered learning (SCL), or learner-centeredness, is a learning model that places the student (learner) in the center of the learning process. In student-centered learning, students are active participants in their learning; they learn at their own pace and use their own strategies; they are more intrinsically than extrinsically motivated; learning is more individualized than standardized. Student-centered learning develops learning-how-to-learn skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, and reflective thinking. Student-centered learning accounts for and adapts to different learning styles of students (National Center for Research on Teacher Learning. 1999).
Students are actively involved.
Emphasis is on using and communicating knowledge effectively to address enduring and emerging issues and problems in real life contexts.
Professors role is to coach and facilitate.  Professor and student evaluate learning together.
Teaching and assessing are intertwined.
Assessment is used to promote and diagnose learning.
Emphasis is on generating better questions and learning from errors.
Desired learning is accessed directly through papers, projects, performances, portfolios and the like.
Approach is compatible with interdisciplinary investigation.
Culture is cooperative, collaborative, and supportive.
Professors and students learn together.
(retrieved from http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/instruction/assessment/dictionary/learnercentered.html  01/3/10)

After reviewing the above definitions I have reached the conclusion that defining learner centered is varied and without much to ‘hang your hat on” in regards to using as a foundation for quality, student success, development of quality and measuring the effectiveness of the program or course.

The most current term that I hear bandied about is “self directed learning..” exactly what is self directed learning and what does it mean for students?

Defined as:

self-directed learning (SDL), the individual takes the initiative and the responsibility for what occurs. Individuals select, manage, and assess their own learning activities, which can be pursued at any time, in any place, through any means, at any age. (retrieved from http://www.selfdirectedlearning.com/ 01/30/10)
Be sure and read Roger Hiemstra’s article on self-directed learning which includes the following definition:

Several things are known about self-directed learning: (a) individual learners can become empowered to take increasingly more responsibility for various decisions associated with the learning endeavor; (b) self-direction is best viewed as a continuum or characteristic that exists to some degree in every person and learning situation; (c) self-direction does not necessarily mean all learning will take place in isolation from others; (d) self-directed learners appear able to transfer learning, in terms of both knowledge and study skill, from one situation to another; (e) self-directed study can involve various activities and resources, such as self-guided reading, participation in study groups, internships, electronic dialogues, and reflective writing activities; (f) effective roles for teachers in self-directed learning are possible, such as dialogue with learners, securing resources, evaluating outcomes, and promoting critical thinking; (g) some educational institutions are finding ways to support self-directed study through open-learning programs, individualized study options, non-traditional course offerings, and other innovative programs.
(retrieved from http://www-distance.syr.edu/sdlhdbk.html, 01/3/10)

Regardless of how we apply these terms, how learners learned, and how teachers teach those students who are now working their way through the public school system (elementary and secondary), virtual schools, and charter schools, will be the genesis for tranformative change in our higher education institutions.   One question that I kept returning to is how do measure success or failure when through these definitions we are seeking to put more and more of the accountability for learning on the student.  And who should be accountable in this age of “no child left behind,” standardized testing of everything and the cookie cutter approach to education that entails ..if “student centered learning” en-vogue movement of the day, especially in online education.

What is quality in online education, what should we be measuring and evaluating?

There are new paradigms in education that should be considered in evaluating the online course or program.  How does that course or program engage the students, provide them with opportunities for synthesis of the materials, critical thinking, multi “everything,” validates their learning, provides for opportunities of natural and designed collaboration, communicate across multiple modalities to multi dimensional/diversified audiences?  How do we measure how students create content that is pertinent to the outcomes of what they need to learn, how they are teaching and learning with others.    How the use of PowerPoint is applied in an online course suddenly doesn’t seem so important as we prepare students for working, accessing information, communicating, and collaborating in a fast paced global society. Finally we must ask ourselves why it is so compelling that we
“control” our students.  Why must we funnel their access to content through our ‘filters,” and why do actually think we are really exerting any control any way.

So how do we define quality and does it make sense to measure the quality in online education against that of face to face..in my opinion that is a cop out…we should stretch the boundaries of where technology can take us in online education by expanding our definition of what that means outside of the parameters of face to face education.  There is so much more that we can do with technology, increasing the amount of time that a student spend reviewing online content, researching on  their own, and multi-modalities of delivery that meets an individual student’s needs.

It has been asserted that students, who have been dissatisfied with the content in their courses have actually reviewed the content in similar open courses available on the web. they do this in order to  supplement their face to face and online courses.

So then what is the role of teachers, faculty, and administrators.  This is the disruption of education that is occurring, we don’t know, our roles are in transition.  Do students and learners need us, can the tools of technology facilitate and define what student need to learn …will technology remove the education “middle” ground of delivery in much the same way that the music industry has been disrupted, cable televisions, newspapers, and publishing.  I ponder that in order for the ideal definitions of “student centered learning” and self directed learning to be achieved the educational institutions, the teachers, and administrators have to be removed from the equation?

As an educator I acknowledge that my profession is changing, when the student or consumer defines how to validate what he or she has learned and that validation is widely accepted then our educational institutions have been disrupted.   While I am excited by change, as always ..I am apprehensive and selfishly concerned how this change will impact me.

McCombs, B. L., & Whisler, J. S. (1997). The learner-centered classroom and school: Strategies for increasing student motivation and achievement. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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21
Nov

Open Courseware, social networking, thoughts on the future of education..

by Cathy in Education, Education Technology, Free Education, Higher Education, Open Courseware, Open Education Resources

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I have some observations on open education resources, open courseware, and open access, what I think it is and what I think it is not.  Over time our online world has become well populated with “learning opportunities, objects and events,” not only do we need to filter and sort through this but also determine if we are going to validate these and if so how. In the last several months many new social networking, collaboration, and information ‘tools” have burst on the scene..and soon to follow are those of us in education who start evaluating these tools for the application to education.. I think this is a good thing, however  I also have to question if we are expending our energies appropriately.

On one side of the equation are the early adopters who are scrambling to apply new technology to their courses, introduce it to faculty or infuse its use system wide, on the other end are those who strongly feel that new tech tools, social networking, virtual worlds, and social networking really has no place in education  and is a distraction in the classroom. Open education resources or (OER) are no exception to this as well.

I have often heard the statement made…there is no evidence or research that demonstrates that any institution uses OER for development of a course much less a program.   There is also no research demonstrating whether or not individuals use OER to facilitate their informal learning and whether or not they have sought to have that learning validated.  I have yet to delve into any research so am not certain whether or not these observation are credible or not.

However I do contend that open(ness) or open source does have a demonstrable track record of success as it has its genesis in the open source software movement.  The open source software movement can be given credit for driving progress in information technology, software, and even demonstrating the power of collaboration in today’s society.  Open source started, according to sources in the late 1970′s and early 1980′s given this history and continued evolution into today I believe that it provides evidence of the direction that open education resources can take given the right conditions.

What are the elements of this “perfect storm”  (referred to also by Adler and Brown in their article Minds on Fire: Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0)  of resources and people who will make the application and use of OER to learning..many things and there may still be some ingredients missing, however I believe that some of the most essential are in place.  Open courseware sites and institutions do not grant certificates or degrees, no instructional support is provided, there may also be certain terms of use associated with the course materials.

I currently see:


Disruptive technology:  it seems that there are many freely and widely available technical tools that provide a platform for delivering content to learners, however the problem, in my opinion is the overwhelming amount of that content that is available.  In regards to the tools it seems that there is a rush to get them online and available to users, they maybe overshadowed and or ‘out-shined” by someone else’s innovation they are the first on the market.   An example of the growth in content includes the evidence provided on the OpenCourseware Consortium website which indicates collaborations with over 200 higher education institutions.    A great advantage of the technology we have today and technology of the future is that it provides us with educational content through a variety of channels via text, audio, video, live web casts, and virtual worlds.    Not only that the technology provides for multiple points or networks of communication which provides for groups to collaborate, discuss and remix content.  This is the network age, this is the age we all learn together and from eachother.

Another ingredient to this perfect storm is the availability of content on the web, there are now a plethora of sties and resources for educational content, these include:


YouTube. edu: I strongly suggest the reader to look at Youtube.edu carefully, look at the number of viewers on some of these lectures, review the comments and determine how viewers are using these lectures.  I am certain that viewers, outside of the professor’s classroom are reviewing these lectures and making them part of their personal learning network.

Open Education Resource Commons:  “Open Educational Resources are teaching and learning materials that you may freely use and reuse, without charge. OER often have a Creative Commons or GNU license that state specifically how the material may be used, reused, adapted, and shared.”  Examples of their resources include:  courses, interactive mini lessons, adaptations of existing open work, peer-reviewed electronic textbooks, K-12 resources.

Wikiversity:  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.

Connexions: 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


ccLearn: ccLearn is a division of Creative Commons dedicated to realizing the full potential of the Internet to support open learning and open educational resources.

DiscoverEd, a search prototype that provides scalable search and discovery for educational resources on the web.

FreeLearning: Here you will find FREE TO USE learning resources that you can use to supplement your own course materials or learning. Some of these are from BC-based projects while others are from Open Educational Resource projects from around the world.


Utah Open Courseware: Utah may have “lost funding” for their  open courseware project however the website is still very much alive.  The website states: Utah OpenCourseWare is a collection of educational material used in our formal campus courses, and seeks to provide people around the world with an opportunity to access high quality learning opportunities.

The Chinese Opencourseware initiative is one to watch, in fact I first learned about when I was touring educational sites in Second Life at the Educators Co-op.  I have heard claims that “no one” has gotten a degree or even completed a course using open courseware…my guess is they don’t know what is going on in Asia or India with the use of open courseware.

FETP Open Courseware: From the website: students may use FETP’s materials to guide independent study. Course syllabi, lecture notes, reading lists and problem sets used in many one-year mid-career program and executive education courses are already available online and over time FETP OpenCourseWare will include all Fulbright School materials (subject to copyright law).

Japan OpenCourseware

John Hopkins Open Courseware:  J ohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s OPENCOURSEWARE (OCW) project provides access to content of the School’s most popular courses.

Notre Dame OCW: Notre Dame OCW is a free and open educational resource for faculty, students, and self-learners throughout the world.



Private industry is also getting involved in the opencourseware initiative as well as indicated by the Novell Opencourseware site. They state that: OpenCourseWare is a collection of educational materials developed by Novell Training Services for authorized courses and other customer training purposes. By making these materials available to the public, we hope to extend to all people worldwide the opportunity to access these high quality learning materials.

BBC Online Courses: These online modules and guides are free for you to use. They were originally designed for BBC staff and in publishing them here we have not made many editorial changes to them.



Podcasts for education:

The Education Podcast Network is an effort to bring together into one place, the wide range of podcast programming that may be helpful to teachers looking for content to teach with and about, and to explore issues of teaching and learning in the 21st century.


Learning in Hand: Students and teachers from all over the world are learning from audio and video programs on desktop computers, laptops, iPods, Pocket PCs, Palm handhelds, and other devices.

Apple and education podcasts

Education podcasts: Education podcasts from universities, colleges, students, teachers — everyone who uses podcasting to learn and to teach others. We’re all life-long learners, aren’t we? Even some of the littlest ones in k-12 schools are podcasting. Be transported back to your elementary days…if only this technology were available then.

A good resource on educational podcasts is here at Shambles.net.

Education World (from their website) has compiled the Web’s latest and greatest podcasting resources to help you get started with this exciting and doable technology. Included: How-to articles, lesson ideas, free and fee-based software download sites, and much more!

Social networking is another part of the perfect storm and the technology that underlies this rising tide of “connectedness,” (yes I am in George Siemens and Stephen Downes Open Course on Connectiveness).  There is, of course, Twitter, Facebook, and Ning, there are also efforts by learning management systems to better incorporate networking tools into their systems.  However can an educators use tools such as Ning, Elgg, Twine, and .. well there are so many tools out there now I overwhelmed at the moment.

I am a member of several Ning Communities and still trying to figure that out.   Ning  allows the user to join social networks which provides memberships to communities that have similar interests, etc., Elgg seems to be similar to Ning but you can host it on your own website.  I hope to have an Elgg site eventually in order to test it for delivery of course materials.    From their website:

Ning is a platform for creating your own social network. Our passion is putting new social networks in the hands of anyone with a good idea. With Ning, your social network can be for anything and anyone. You start by naming your social network and choosing a combination of features (photos, videos, forums, events, etc.) from an ever-growing list of options. You can then customize your social network’s appearance and launch it! People who join your social network will automatically have a customizable profile page and will be able to message and friend each other.

Elgg is an open source product which “comes with advanced user management and administration, social networking, cross-site tagging, powerful access control lists, internationalisation support, multiple view support (eg cell phones, iPhone), an advanced templating engine, a widget framework and more.

I used Twine for  a while to collect content..I think it has great potential. I understand it is currently undergoing some major revisions, I can’t wait to see what they do next. According to their website Twine allows you to:

Collect content. Join a twine on any subject or start your own to track your interests. Twine organizes your content by topic, so you can keep track of it and share it with anyone you want.

Share interests. The Twine community is interested in the same things you are. Find people who are passionate about your interests. Join conversations. Learn something new. Share things you find with relevant communities.

Get custom recommendations. The more you use Twine, the smarter it gets. Fill out your profile to discover new info and interests through Twine’s personalized recommendation

Why do I think that we are or are not expending our current energies appropriately because not doing anything and think that education and students will be what it was 10, 5 or even a year ago is deceiving ourselves.  Education is now going down the path of being irrevocably and forever changed.  Someone will find an acceptable way to measure that learners who “self learn” are achieving the appropriate learning outcomes, of providing learners with the appropriate content that they need to learn, networked learning will be the norm.  It doesn’t mean the end of colleges and universities …they will look much the same way in 10 years as they do now..the experience of college will always be a vital part of our culture and our society ..but how the classroom looks and how students access content may be very different than it is right now.

So are we in the “eye of a perfect’ storm with all  these factors in  place which also includes many that I have not covered such as education experts such as Curtis Bonk, George Siemens, Stephen Downes, John Seely Brown and many others advocating for open courses, understanding the technology that it takes to make this vision happen as well as advocates for social networking.  In addition to this the credibility given to University of the People via its receiving support from the United Nations and Peer to Peer.  In addition to this we are seeing a push for education on a scale, globally that we have never before seen, an economy that can no longer support the expense of traditional education, a coming tide of retirements by faculty and administrators from educational institutions, and a universal realization that education IS lifelong if one is to keep current with trends in his/her occupation.





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10
Oct

Imagilearning and the Slemester Experience

by Cathy in Education Technology, Higher Education, Second Life

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When I first came into Second Life I was totally lost, I am not a “gamer” and didn’t have a clue what to expect from participation in a three dimensional virtual world.  Now I know enough to know that my Second Life “rez day” is August 1, 2008.  Looking back I laugh, I am not sure but I think it took me a month just to get off orientation island in Second Life, wandering around some darkened city streets, and falling into a “water way” about 20 times while at a live music event.  It wasn’t until I was motivated to look around and evaluate Second Life as a platform for education and learning through my job that I took an active interest in Second Life.  At that point I mad a few investments in my learning about virtual worlds like buying a few books such as Second Life for Dummies, Second Life Grid, and a variety of blogs, research and articles.  In addition to this I joined the active and informative Second Life Educators List Serve and the Second Life Education Roundtable.  In addition to this I quickly learned that there were free classes in Second Life and participating in the Virtual World’s Best Practices in Education as a volunteer.  And while all of these activities were good they did not give me the level of breadth and depth that I was seeking in learning about virtual worlds in general and Second LIfe Specifically.

Because of my first experiences I am excited to write about  John Jamison, Imagilearning and my SLemester Experience colleagues.  It seems like just yesterday that I signed up for the SLemester, but in so many ways, in the rapidly evolving landscape of social networking, virtual worlds, and technology it seems ages ago.  Being a part of Imagilearning and connecting with John has really helped me better understand Second Life.   Before I knew about Imagilearning and the SLemester Experience I learned about John Jamison through his dissertation which I downloaded for review in my quest to learn more about the use of Second Life as a platform for learning and education.

John Jamison is an educator, innovator and researcher in the design, use and application of Second Life for education, training and business. His dissertation, published in 2008, makes John a pioneer in the field of research in virtual worlds.  To date, much that has been done is still based upon assumptions, speculations and little solid research and observations.  John’s dissertation, “Education in a Strange Land, The Experience of Traditional Education When Immersed in Virtual Environment of Second Life,” identified four themes;  social interactivity, environmental adjustment, learning curve and personal reason. I also came to gain more insight about John’s level of knowledge and professionalism by his input and participation on the SLED list serve and this is how I learned about the SLemester Experience.  When John posted that he was starting up the next session of the SLemester I decided, without hesitation,  to join up.  Since that time, May 2009, I have learned a great deal, had the opportunity to engage with others who share an interest in Second Life, and become fully immersed with them in this environment.

By the time I started in the Slemester program I knew a little about several different things in Second Life: shopping (of course!), buying and selling land, setting up groups, communication, terraforming, building, navigation I didn’t know how to do any of it very well..and there are always better ways of doing things in Second Life and John is the “go to guy” for this type of knowledge.  Through my participation in the SLEmester I learned about these skills as well as the inner workings and history of Second Life, through Johnm  a long time Second Life resident. In addition to this I have had the opportunity to engage in a dialogue with colleagues from all over the world because of my participation in the SLemester Experience.   These discussions take us in many directions from talking about books, the future of education and social networking, media as well as challenges faced by virtual worlds in a global environment.   It goes without saying that I signed up for SLEmester II without thinking twice!  I couldn’t wait for it to get started. However even more meaningful than that is the enduring connection that I now have with John Jamison and Imagilearning, his support on a research project I am working on in education and the future of education in Second Life.

But John Jamison’s Imagilearning is much more than the SLemester Experience. According to the Imagilearning website the mission of  this enterprise is:

this Mission of ImagiLearning, Inc. is: “To create the future of learning”. It is our belief that the greatest resource we have for adapting to change is our ability to learn. We are committed to supporting learners, whoever and wherever they may be.

The Vision of ImagiLearning, Inc. is to create and serve a community of learners…business people, educators and others…by providing resources and support to help our community members understand and adapt to the changes we all face with an emerging digital culture.

In addition to the SLEmester Experience sessions one and two John also provides several consulting opportunities in education and training not just in the virtual environment but techniques and knowledge on creating environments in which learning occurs for the student.  Further information regarding Imagilearning can also be found  on this Ning Site:  http://futureoflearning.ning.com/, engage in a dialogue with other colleagues in order to learn about the best practices of teaching and learning in virtual worlds.  John has a cadre of Second Life, social  networking, business and education experts to draw upon to consult and meet your training needs.

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20
Sep

How do we define Second Life ..is it important to education?

by Cathy in Education, Education Technology, Second Life, Web 2.0

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As I  have considered the use of Second Life (SL) as a platform or ‘content delivery” medium I came to the realization that we cannot really  determine the potential  or effectiveness of Second Life for learning/education until we can define what SL is and what it does.   How we define Second Life will prove to be the foundation upon which  education approaches the virutal world.  The institution should understand the potential of  Second Life as a framework for their campus activities, to enhance student learning, improve the quality of distance education delivery, and provide a venue upon which the instructor can delivery their knowledge and course content with confidence knowing that students are achieving the established learning outcomes for the course.

The definitions of what Second Life is varies depending on who is identifying it Linden Labs defines Second Life as a place to connect, shop, work, love, explore, be different, ..further definitions are that it is “a online 3D virtual world imagined and designed by you. From the moment you enter Second Life, you’ll discover a universe brimming with people and possibilities…” Other definitions are as varied as the sites where I found them such as WiseGeek, “Second Life is a three-dimensional virtual community created entirely by its membership. Members assume an identity and take up residence in Second Life, creating a customized avatar or personage to represent themselves. The avatar moves about in the virtual world using mouse control and intuitive keyboard buttons.”

A richer definition comes from the Diplomacy Island website regarding their current roll out of a Second Life presence:   “Second Life ( SL) is an Internet-based virtual world …. The users, or Residents, interact with each other through mobile avatars, providing an advanced level of social network services. They can explore, meet other Residents, socialize, participate in educational and social activities both individually and in groups, and create and trade virtual property and services with one another.”

The author of the Second Life Grid, Kimberly Rufer-Bach defines Second Life as:  ” a platform that provide users the ability to create public or secure 3D online virtual spaces or to visit and use spaces created by others. Stated in his book that Good projects for the grid are imemersive, interactive, and social.  SL offers 3D Graphics, the option to communicate via text or voice, customer immersive environments (which can be developed inexpensively and quickly) pre-exising content,a community of educators and Residents, streaming media, and the ability to log in from anywhere to interact with people far away. ”

From Ultraviolit the definition is: that Second Life is  100% end user driven, and participation is required in everything from designing and building the world to exploring and interacting with it. Second Life represents a view of a true virtual participation economy, one that is global, 24×7, and is useful for everything from real world business to user built gaming to fantasy role play and everything in between.

From PC Magazine Encyclopedia:  A virtual world on the Internet from Linden Research, Inc., San Francisco, CA (www.lindenlab.com), in which “residents” create an identity, meet people, buy land and build their own environment or purchase an existing one. It is a “massively mult-player online role playing game” (MMORPG), but one that offers users total freedom to create and interact as if they were living another life. Playing the game requires a client download for Windows, Mac or Linux.

From Virtual Worlds Review the definition is that “Second Life is a highly imaginative, creative environment…  the (creative nature) conveys the idea that this is more of a rich, complex online experience

The editors of the Journal of Virtual World Research presented that “Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) such as Second Life®, OpenSim and Active Worlds (http://www.activeworlds.com/) offer new collaboration and immersed teaching and learning opportunities…”

From his article Jace Hargis from his article in the Turkish Journal of Distance Education defines Second Life (SL) is a three dimensional virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents, which has become a trend with the Web 2.0 electronic social approach. Other social mechanism include collaboration tools…with further observations that… the potential for community building, networking, socialization, and life-long learning become evident.

Daniel Terdiman States in his book The Entrepreneur’s guide to Second Life, that “Second Life has many of the characteristics of the real world…it is still just virtual reality.  It’s really just ones and zeroes. It’s stored on servers, its representations of people are often rudimentary, and even its economic activity is conducted in a make believe currency….”

Common themes are apparent in these..creative, 3D, social, collaborative, is immersive..allows for creating through building, scripting,etc…it allows for networking, interacting with others  As a designer plans a virtual presence for a college or university in SL these are all things that should be taken in to consideration.  Once the site is in place then activities should be planned around these activities.

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4
Sep

Discussion on Curtis Bonk’s The World is Open a look at Resources

by Cathy in Education, Education Technology, Free Education, Higher Education, Open Courseware, Open Education Resources

2 Comments Comments

The World is Open How Technology is Revolutionizing Education  By Curtis Bonk

(Some font problems still learning WordPress)


Books such as Bonk’s nudge education towards change, perhaps nudge is not the right word, but if education moves a nudge it’s a huge leap.  Education maybe open but it’s definitely not flat..there are tall peaks and low valleys..the peaks being new initiatives such as the University of the People, Peer 2 Peer and, of course MIT.   What Bonk has done is to take a systems view of these initiatives.  Each of these, viewed individually may not seem so disruptive on its own.  Taken as whole these initiatives are rapidly changing traditional education.

This blog is written in order on conceptualize the following:  We All Learn

W:      Web Searching in the World of EBooks
E:       E-Learning and blended learning
A:       Availability of open source and free software
L:       Leveraged resources open courseware
L:       Learning object repositories and portals
L:       Learner participation in open information communities
e:       Electronic collaboration
A:       Alternative Reality Learning
R:      Real time Mobility and Portability
N:      Networks of personalized learning

What follows is a short list of resources which I found on the web that I felt related to each of Bonk’s key points.  I was excited to find some semantic resources for one or two of these.  One that I did not include here is Twine which I discussed in an earlier post.

Web Searching in the world of eBooks

Access Text Networking:

The AccessText Network facilitates and supports the national delivery of alternative electronic textbooks to higher education institutions for students with documented disabilities.

AccessText provides these textbooks by leveraging an online database powered by Intuit QuickBase® and incorporating publisher-provided information on thousands of textbook titles.

Open Textbook Initiative

Open Text Book is a registry of textbooks (and related materials) which are open — that is free for anyone to use, reuse and redistribute. It is run by the Open Knowledge Foundation.

Connexions

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

Examples of Affordable, Free and Open Textbooks

This page contains a vetted list of affordable, online educational resources that might be used in place of an expensive, commercial textbook.  The focus of this list is usability; each resource was recommended by at least one professor who has assigned it.  For links to other more extensive collections and repositories, see our links section.

Make Textbooks Affordable Organization

eLearning and Blended Learning


There are a variety of eLearning resource, free,open and with paid subscriptions on the Internet.

Blended Learning: This page provides links to some resources on blended learning – that is a learning solution created through a mixture of face-to-face and online learning delivered through a mix of media.

Bonk referred to Notschool.net

eLearning according to Wikipedia may be defined as: a term which is commonly used, but does not have a common definition. Most frequently it seems to be used for web-based distance education, with no face-to-face interaction. However, also much broader definitions are common. For example, it may include all types of technology enhanced learning (TEL), where technology is used to support the learning process.

There are resources available such as eLearning Guild for professionals in the field of eLearning design.

ELearn Magazine

Availability of Open Source and Open Software

Open Source: Open source is a development method for software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process. The promise of open source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in.

Leveraged resources open courseware

John Hopkins OpenCourseWare Initiative:      Project provides access to content of the School’s most popular courses. As challenges to the world’s health escalate daily, the School feels a moral imperative to provide equal and open access to information and knowledge about the obstacles to the public’s health and their potential solutions.

The most current development in this area is folksemantic semantic website that pushes your education interests and needs to you.   According to the website for the Center for Open and Sustainable Learning Folksemantic is:

“a project to create tools that increase the impact of open education resources by helping people find, filter, collaborate around, and remix them. As part of the project, work is underway to integrate the OCW Finder, OER Recommender, and Luvfoo. Plans are to improve these tools and add collaboration, personalized recommendation, widgets, and publishing features. COSL is holding an online meeting on March 26 to describe the Folksementic project and solicit input.”

Learning Objects repository and portals

Flexible Learning Toolboxes (Toolboxes) are high quality, cost effective interactive e-learning and assessment resources featuring scenarios, images and activities. They are designed for use by training providers, industry and business and support online delivery of recognised training packages for the vocational  education and training sector.

Learning Objects, Learning Activities: LOLA is an exchange for facilitating the sharing of high-quality learning objects. It contains materials for use across the curriculum, with a particular focus on modules for Information Literacy

Museums: an exhaustive list of museums on the web

Learning Participation in Open Information Communities

Students/learners creating learning objects such as YouTube videos, flickr, and scribd docs.  These types of sites seem to proliferate on the web.


Electronic Collaboration

According to the Business Dictionary this is the: Process of monitoring, critiquing, and cooperating in a project or program by using internet, emails, groupware, etc.

Alternative Reality Learning:

Innovative learning games: alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive experience that uses the real world as a platform to tell a story that may be affected by participants’ ideas or actions”Alternate reality games leverage social technologies to some degree or another for game designers (known as puppetmasters) to provide information to participants, and for participants to communicate with leash other during the process of the game. ARGs are sometimes described as the first narrative art form native to the Internet, because their storytelling relies on the two main activities conducted there: searching for information, and sharing information.”

Virtual reality education website


Real time Mobility Learning and Portability

Define as fromWikipedia: Mobile learning is: Any sort of learning that happens when the learner is not at a fixed, predetermined location, or learning that happens when the learner takes advantage of the learning opportunities offered by mobile technologies.

Mobile learning institute: Nokia, a world leader in mobile communications, and the Pearson Foundation sponsor the Mobile Learning Institute, which delivers engaging, personalized, project-based learning right to classrooms and community centers across the United States

Networks of Personalized Learning

Personalized Learning Space

This space is for folks interested in the idea of making learning (online, blended, or hybrid) more personalized. This includes not only learning design and instruction, but also the tools and technologies that can be used to make learning more personal.

Refer back to Folksemantic

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29
Aug

Flocks, Twines, and Aardvarks —- Oh My!

by Cathy in Education, Education Technology, Semantic Web

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This blog posting started as an overview on the use of Twine as a content manager  for education however it evolved into something else entirely.    Twine is defined as a semantic web or web 3.0 tool, given that I started a bit of web search to identify a definition of those terms.

We have had the industrial age, the information age,  and what some have dubbed as the knowledge age..I propose that what we are now entering is the first phase of the Social Everything Age…I just received in the mail a book entitled Socioeconomics, by  Erik Qualman Social Media, Social Networking, Social Learning—-on and on!  Or perhaps we are entering the Semantic Age which is difficult to define as I am not sure that a singular definition of Semantic has been identified yet..but perhaps that isn’t important various definitions of Semantic are as follows:

Semantics is the study of meaning.

Semantics: is of or relating to meaning, especially meaning in language

Further searches  on the term Semantic Web lead me to this:

Semantic Web is an evolving development of the World Wide Web in which the semantics of information and services on the web is defined, making it possible for the web to understand and satisfy the requests of    people and machines to use the web content

For more in-depth reading on the Semantic Web I suggest reviewing A Semantic Web Primer by Grigoris Antoniou, Frank Van Harmelen available in Google Books.

I started this post with a single purpose of writing about Twine.  I am using Twine as a social bookmarking tool, but have engaged in discussions with others which lead me to the conclusion that they found it to be much more.  In the process of using it as a social bookmarking tool I started to join Twines, add items and interact with others. However the single purpose of focusing this posting on Twine lead me on a safari.  I entitle this a safari because In the process of discovering Twine I also discovered Flock and AardvarK!

While I was thinking and planning this post on Twine I was reading about Semantic Tools from a feed in Google Reader and was reading about a Semantic Web tool called Aardvark. I signed up for Aardvark and based upon my personal interests I was quickly connected to a network of people who shared similar interests as me.  Because was researching for this post on Twine I asked my network if they had any experience in using or applying Twine for education purposes, I swiftly receive a response back via Instant Messenger (which is also integrated with Aardvark as an option when you sign up).  That response/dialogue is as follows:

Jordan:
I’ve been Using it since the beginning, and it’s a great resource to aggregate pages of interest for a group or team; you can all add to a twine or have the twine aggregate from keywords or many other options. It’s inherently social. I’m not sure how you would integrate it into a curriculum, but what education level are you interested in using it for?
You:
this would be at the college or university level. I thought if you could use discipline specific content from the web and put it into a twine the students could then access the content there and discuss/make comments on it..in addition current/related content could be added if seen as appropriate.
Jordan:
That seems like a perfect paradigm; as long as the guidelines for suitable content are explicitly defined there should be no problem: the comment system combine with individual aggregation of pertinent topics seems like something conducive to focused topical learning.

This dialogue occurred late on a Friday night, now I am excited to see what kind of discussion I could get going on a higher traffic date and time.  I did find Jordan’s responses very helpful.  One can’t help but be astounded that you can have this sort of exchange by firing a shot in the dark on an obscure topic almost instantaneously.

In the process of doing all of this I also came across Flock…One glance at the website and I realized this was a tool that I could use…in my attempt at defining this I will just say it’s a “web browser for your social networking sites.”  I will work more on defining the application of Flock on the future but I am excited by it.

Twine was first rolled out in October 2007 as a semantic bookmarking tool by Radar Networks. There were many press announcement heralding this roll out, however by March 2008 writers in Read, Write Press were already expressing disappoint in the tool.

From a June 1 article in Fast Company by Dan Macsai about Twine I learned that:

Founder Nova Spivak…stated that Twine is:  “Digg … on Ritalin.” Twine’s unique visitors have grown more than 40% each month since its October 2008 debut, topping 80% in February 2009 — more than 1 million                                                uniques.”

“Based upon the article and my experience in using Twine it works like this:

You can join or establish your own threads, or “twines,” centered around specific ideas (“social media”), people (“Barack Obama”), and events

Users fill them with content found around the Web.

The site then tracks the articles they add and the topics they follow, and assembles an interest-based personality profile.

Based on what Twine learns about you and the  users in your shared Twine…, it sends you news and friend recommendations

Example of the Twine Digest:

50 Social News Websites You Can Use « SEO-INRA’s Blog
Bookmark added by at 11:01 AM CDT
There are a great deal of social news sites on the Internet, sometimes too many. Most of them are dormant and are no longer active, largely because they were poorly marketed and hence, never had an active community of users in the first place.

Why Adults Have Fed Twitter’s Growth – Bits Blog – NYTimes.com
Bookmark added by at 05:34 PM CDT
But one big reason for the disparity is simple: When Twitter became popular, teenagers already had their favorite Web sites for communicating, so they were not interested in a new one. The people who discovered Twitter were adults who were new to social networking.

Eco-friendly Human-based Energy Production
Bookmark added by  at 06:01 AM CDT
As we are squeezing every bit of our lives to save on energy, some radical ideas pop-up, asking why don’t we produce energy from our everyday deeds . Watching my two kids in the playground, I thought about the opportunity cost of the energy their crazy games could produce. It was a funny idea, …

Memristor minds: The future of artificial intelligence – tech – 08 July 2009 – New Scientist

Bookmark added by  at 05:55 PM CDT   EVER had the feeling something is missing? If so, you’re in good company. Dmitri Mendeleev did in 1869 when he noticed                         four   gaps in his periodic table . They turned out to be the undiscovered elements scandium, gallium, technetium and germanium. Paul Dirac did in 1929

As you review this posting I want you to be aware that these are things that I put together in a matter of a few hours, reviewed, had a dialogue with individuals and all at my “fingertips..”  I am sure you have had similar experiences, however I am of the generation or background that is amazed by having all of this at hand.

Ultimately this started as a quest to determine the application of Twine to education..I can see that  Twne maybe used for adding content to courses, collabortion and communcation by students a well as bringing experts into the discussion.  I am sure I will be writing more on Twine in the future.

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