Daniel S. Christian: Home of the Learning Ecosystems blog

Higher Education-Related Recommendations

As of 6/16/10
For faculty members	Work to change your role to that of a guide, a mentor, a facilitator -- and an expert when needed. Try to make some room at the table by moving towards team-created and delivered content. Why do this? In order to: Lighten your work load and to make your life more manageable Work to return to what you longed to do in the first place -- to study a particular domain of knowledge and move it along Work with the provost offices and administrations to move the system towards using teams of specialists to create and deliver the content. The bar has risen too high and too quickly for any one individual to do it all anymore. This task of trying to do it all by yourself is proving to be insurmountable. Help the system move towards the use of more hybrid-based learning environments. Put yourself in your student's shoes -- not just for your course, but for all of their courses. Whose back is the monkey on in terms of trying to figure out such things as: where the syllabus is, where the assignments are kept, how the assignments are to be submitted, or under which heading an article might be stored, etc. Strive for consistency and ease-of-use. *In terms of using technologies, you don't* have to be the expert. It's ok to admit that you are learning right along with the students. That's to be expected (and should be encouraged) these days. But you must look for ways to integrate those technologies that your students enjoy using -- whether you know much about them or not. Look for examples of how such technologies are being used to achieve the same learning goals/objectives that you have in your class(es). Know, too, that the instructional technologists can't keep up and can't be experts in all things tech-related. So approach these tech-specialists with confidence, but also with humility. Invite students or others to team-teach certain assignments or topics. If you decide to put something online, you have now created a user interface. If you don't have the training in user interface design, seek out some relevant resources to help you design the optimal user interface. For your students' sake, practice consistency where ever possible. Consider the use of digital storytelling (resources here and here) whereby students create and present their content/media. Use tools that students can continue to use after graduating from college. Be willing to change and to try new ways of doing things.** This is especially true with mobile computing and the ability to deliver educational materials in a mobile fashion.
For curriculum developers and instructional designers	Keep a pulse check on technologies ...to see which ones might be promising for you and/or your team to implement. This is especially true with mobile computing and the ability to deliver educational materials in a mobile fashion. *Deliver the same* content in as many different formats as you can possibly afford to do -- i.e. audio, video, text, graphics, animations, simulations. Give students more control -- free up the navigation, allow pausing/rewinding/fast-forwarding/skipping ahead or going back. Help instructional design theories and practices to continue to develop** in this 21st century. Use tools that students can continue to use after graduating from college. Be willing to change and to try new ways of doing things.
For the provost offices	Help your faculty members change their role to that of a guide, a mentor, a facilitator -- and an expert when needed. See if some of the hats that have been allocated to faculty can be worn by others. Example hats are those in the graphic immediately below. Support the development and delivery of 21st century types of curriculum, programs, and degrees, such as a New Media Studies Program (examples include Full Sail University, The Multimedia Studies Program at San Francisco State University, DMAC and many others out there). Encourage the development of more interdisciplinary programs and/or assignments, while using real-world, practical assignments that can be used for students' e-portfolios. Break up the roles of researchers and teachers -- both are full-time jobs. Don't use researchers to teach unless they have proven the skills to be successful in both arenas. Be willing to change and to try new ways of doing things. This is especially true with mobile computing and the ability to deliver educational materials in a mobile fashion. Use tools that students can continue to use after graduating from college. Move towards team-created and delivered content, including such roles as:
For instructional technologists	Try to integrate technologies that are relevant throughout K-12, secondary, post-secondary, and corporate worlds. Some examples (as of 2010) include: email, word processing, spreadsheets, presentation software, web-based videoconferencing, and content management systems. Allow the use of technologies that students can contribute to when they are in college, but that are still available to them after they graduate. That could mean moving more towards the Google Apps of the world, or allowing alumni access to your systems for as long as they are alive. Help integrate web-based collaboration tools into the classrooms -- such as wikis and blogs. Help integrate web-based videoconferencing tools into the classrooms. Keep a pulse check on whether you should be contributing to iTunes U, YouTube Edu or some other delivery mechanism / open courseware initiative. Look at how you can create engaging, interactive, participatory, hybrid-based learning environments. See my vision of a future smart classroom -- here and here -- as an illustration of what I'm talking about. In doing so, try to enable class to flow uninterrupted -- allowing students to queue up their media and display/play it for the class without having to break the flow of the class. Try to move the technology into the background -- make it transparent and extremely easy-to-use (remembering that "easy is hard"). Use tools that students can continue to use after graduating from college. Be willing to change and to try new ways of doing things. Keep these trends on your radar: The forthcoming Walmart of Education Developing your own learning ecosystems Rising student expectations & power Keeping students engaged & motivated The move towards using more teams of specialists to create educational content Learning Agents, 1:1 computing, Personalized Learning Environments (PLE's), Customized learning Building your global network Mobile learning Global learning Lifelong learning Participatory learning; students more in control of their learning Digital storytelling Cloud computing / software as a service The extent to which Google's applications and offerings will make their way into the classroom The all-encompassing communications & computing device; convergence Open/collaborative teaching & learning The move towards developing consortiums & pooling resources Nanotechnology Cross-disciplinary assignments & learning Multimedia -- providing students with the same content but in 4-5 different ways; let them select what works for them Educational games/serious games Social networking/ learning -- Web 2.0-related items; including the growth of blogs, wikis, Twitter, other Multi-touch interfaces -- especially within Smart Classrooms The semantic, real-time web Virtual worlds / 3D The developing WebOS Legislation requiring students take at least one 100%-online class to graduate (first from high school, then from college) The move towards Voice-Over-IP (VOIP)-based applications & services, often bundled in with technologies such as instant messaging, presence, desktop sharing, whiteboarding, and audio/video conferencing Whether Learning / Course Management Systems continue to be integral or not Whether Moodle and other open-source systems will continue to gain market share Whether accreditation will be relevant in the future and/or if the accreditation bodies have to change significantly
For IT Departments	Allow wireless access throughout the campus Build large communications-related pipes -- as the amount of multimedia-related data continues to increase. Use tools that students can continue to use after graduating from college. Be willing to change and to try new ways of doing things. This is especially true with mobile computing and the ability to deliver educational materials in a mobile fashion.
For the governments	Funding Fund the creation of engaging, professionally-done, team-created, multimedia-based, interactive content and leverage the power of the Internet to make these educational materials freely available throughout your nation and even the world Support the efforts of those institutions who are trying to bring positive innovation to education. Reward such institutions with the funding necessary to create models/examples of best practices. Be willing to change and to try new ways of doing things, for example:
For administrators and boards	Capital campaigns When you do a capital campaign, you need to start thinking about setting $1-$5 million aside for the creation of highly-engaging, professionally-done, interactive, multimedia-based content. Don't just think physical...think virtual. Such content should be aimed at your larger 100/intro-level courses, in order to get the largest ROI possible. Support the development and delivery of 21st century types of curriculum, programs, and degrees, such as a New Media Studies Program (examples include Full Sail University, The Multimedia Studies Program at San Francisco State University, DMAC and many others out there). Break up the roles of researchers and teachers -- both are full-time jobs. Don't use researchers to teach unless they have proven the skills to be successful in both arenas. Be willing to change and to try new ways of doing things. Be aware of the trends that are occurring and have some plans in place to address them in the case that these trends continue. For example, what are your plans to deal with the ever-increasing amount of freely available education courses and content available on the web? Do not underestimate the disruptive impact of technology. You may not have grown up with it -- and I didn't either. But let's not underestimate what changes are happening already because of the various communication and information technologies that are constantly being introduced or enhanced. You need only to look at what has occurred in the last decade to other industries such as the music industry, the video-distribution business, newspapers, travel, publishers, and bookstores to see how massive the changes have been, due to the Internet. Find ways to increase revenue while considerably lowering the costs of your tuition. This might mean introducing different modes/methods of providing your educational materials. Be open to experimenting with new business models. Below are some examples:
For foundations	Support the efforts of those institutions who are trying to bring positive innovation to education. Reward such institutions with the funding necessary to create models/examples of best practices. Make more money available to colleges and universities who are trying to integrate a variety of technologies into the classroom in order to create more interactive, engaging, participatory learning environments. Be willing to change and to try new ways of doing things.

K-12 Related Recommendations

As of 5/1/10
For teachers	Change your role to that of a guide, a mentor, a facilitator -- and an expert when needed. *In terms of using technologies, you don't* have to be the expert. It's ok to admit that you are learning right along with the students. That's to be expected (and should be encouraged) these days. But you must look for ways to integrate those technologies that your students enjoy using -- whether you know much about them or not. Look for examples of how such technologies are being used to achieve the same learning goals/objectives that you have in your class(es). Know, too, that the instructional technologists can't keep up and can't be experts in all things tech-related. So approach these tech-specialists with confidence, but also with humility. Invite students or others to team-teach certain assignments or topics. If you are using a course management system, put yourself in your student's shoes -- not just for your course, but for all of their courses. Whose back is the monkey on in terms of trying to figure out such things as: where the syllabus is, where the assignments are kept, how the assignments are to be submitted, or under which heading an article might be stored, etc. Strive for consistency and ease-of-use. Consider the use of digital storytelling (resources here and here) whereby students create and present their content/media. Be good to the instructional designers and instructional technologists that you know.** You'll need them more and more in order to engage your students. Be willing to change and to try new ways of doing things. This is especially true with mobile computing and the ability to deliver educational materials in a mobile fashion.
For curriculum developers and instructional designers	Keep a pulse check on technologies ...to see which ones might be promising for your school (district) to implement. *Deliver the same* content in as many different formats as you can possibly afford to do -- i.e. audio, video, text, graphics, animations, simulations. Give students more control -- free up the navigation, allow pausing/rewinding/fast-forwarding/skipping ahead or going back. Help instructional design theories and practices to continue to develop** in this 21st century Be willing to change and to try new ways of doing things. This is especially true with mobile computing and the ability to deliver educational materials in a mobile fashion.
For instructional technologists	Try to integrate technologies that are relevant throughout K-12, secondary, post-secondary, and corporate worlds. Some examples (as of 2010) include: email, word processing, spreadsheets, presentation software, web-based videoconferencing, and content management systems. Help integrate web-based collaboration tools into the classrooms -- such as wikis and blogs. Help integrate web-based videoconferencing tools into the classrooms (see Videoconferencing Out on a Lim) Use such technologies for guest speakers, virtual field trips, bringing in guest speakers, and for recording/showing the world what you are working on. Look at how you can create engaging, interactive, participatory, hybrid-based learning environments. See my vision of a future smart classroom -- here and here -- as an illustration of what I'm talking about. In doing so, try to enable class to flow uninterrupted -- allowing students to queue up their media and display/play it for the class without having to break the flow of the class. Try to move the technology into the background -- make it transparent and extremely easy-to-use (remembering that "easy is hard") Be willing to change and to try new ways of doing things. Keep these trends on your radar: Developing your own learning ecosystems Rising student expectations & power Keeping students engaged & motivated The move towards using more teams of specialists to create educational content Learning Agents, 1:1 computing, Personalized Learning Environments (PLE's), Customized learning Mobile learning Global learning Participatory learning; students more in control of their learning Digital storytelling Cloud computing / software as a service The extent to which Google's applications and offerings will make their way into the classroom The all-encompassing communications & computing device; convergence Open/collaborative teaching & learning The move towards developing consortiums & pooling resources Nanotechnology Cross-disciplinary assignments & learning Multimedia -- providing students with the same content but in 4-5 different ways; let them select what works for them Educational games/serious games Social networking/ learning -- Web 2.0-related items; including the growth of blogs, wikis, Twitter, other Multi-touch interfaces -- especially within Smart Classrooms The semantic, real-time web Virtual worlds / 3D The developing WebOS Legislation requiring students take at least one 100%-online class to graduate (first from high school, then from college) The move towards Voice-Over-IP (VOIP)-based applications & services, often bundled in with technologies such as instant messaging, presence, desktop sharing, whiteboarding, and audio/video conferencing Whether Learning / Course Management Systems continue to be integral or not Whether Moodle and other open-source systems will continue to gain market share
For IT Departments	Allow wireless access throughout the campus Build large communications-related pipes -- as the amount of multimedia-related data continues to increase. Be willing to change and to try new ways of doing things. This is especially true with mobile computing and the ability to deliver educational materials in a mobile fashion.
For the governments	Funding Fund the creation of engaging, professionally-done, team-created, multimedia-based, interactive content and leverage the power of the Internet to make these educational materials freely available throughout your nation and even the world Support the efforts of those institutions who are trying to bring positive innovation to education. Reward such institutions with the funding necessary to create models/examples of best practices. Be willing to change and to try new ways of doing things.
For administrators and school boards	Allow students to pursue their passions. Find out ways to deliver courses that your students want (use the Internet and online-based materials/services to offer the courses that you don't have the resources to provide). Their passions can drive their learning in other areas -- areas that perhaps you want them to focus on. Move towards making it policy that ALL students must take at least one 100%-online course. Michigan was the first state to institute this policy and others are beginning to follow this example. Strongly support the efforts of teachers who are trying to be innovative -- via reduced teaching assignments, $$, enhanced facilities or software/hardware, etc.
For foundations	Support the efforts of those institutions who are trying to bring positive innovation to education. Reward such institutions with the funding necessary to create models/examples of best practices.