How do you manage information? — from elearnspace by George Siemens
“Knowledge-making is the process of integration, of seeking coherence between what we know and what we encounter, and performing some action. My information management system is diagrammed below…”
3 Conversion Lessons for Future Ed — from edReformer by Douglas Crets
There are three things that need to be accomplished if you are to have your own learning system and certification system on the web that allows for the migration of personal data, content, and “swarms” of learners that may descend on learning objects or embedded curriculum in the Internet.
The needs of society are driving the nano revolution — from nanomagazine.co.uk via Steve Knode
Nanotechnology applications are increasing across all industry sectors, strongly driven by societal needs. Medicine is usually the first use that springs to mind, with nanotechnology being widely researched for a variety of applications. On this note, faster and simpler diagnostic techniques for breast cancer feature in this issue. Organ regeneration is of constant interest, and the concept of inkjet printing to print cells in three dimensions as the basis for blood vessel synthesis is also explored.
From the “We All Work in a Wired, Wired World” section here
Inform students that nearly all jobs have a high tech component, from clocking in on an electronic time card system, to being operating a PDA, to using a barcode scanner, more and more work increasingly includes technology. Put two columns on the board, then ask students to list jobs not normally associated with high tech. Put their responses in the first column. Next, ask students to name how each low tech job might still require high tech skills. Put their answers in the second column. For example, waitresses may need to use computers and PDAs to key in orders, scan credit cards, and tabulate bills. Assist the class to realize that almost all jobs require tech skills because we are increasingly living in a high tech world.
From Moodle Monthly — Joseph Thibault
Nixty offers open source higher ed — from hackcollege.com
Last week saw the launch of a new eLearning site named Nixty. The site’s concept is simple: educators can upload course materials to the website, to be accessed by users. The site provides a way for unconnected students and educators to reach each other, as well as some helpful tools (including an online gradebook). Public courses, accessible to all users, can be uploaded and managed for free. Private courses, in which teachers can manage enrollment, will cost teachers $4.99 per month for three courses, or $9.99 a month for nine courses. Teachers will be able to charge students whatever additional money they want, of which Nixty will get a 20% cut.
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Do I see issues with this? Sure I do. But that doesn’t mean it can be stopped. My point in publishing this is to say, “Look out!” Major disruption is on the way. We have no idea where all this is heading, but you can bet on one thing — those who are willing to change are in a better position to thrive then those who cling to the status quo — which is dangerous:
It’s getting tougher to know if someone actually said something or not…with Photoshop, ways of tricking email systems, and other digital means — how can you know?
Example:
Apple PR Claims Steve Jobs “Relax” E-Mail is a Fake
…it turns out that AppleInsider is reporting that a similar e-mail exchange was shopped to them only two days earlier by a man in Virginia. Yes, you read that correctly: The guy wanted to get paid “an unspecified amount of money” for his e-mail exchange.
Michigan towns attempt to replicate Kalamazoo Promise program despite money limitations — Kalamazoo Gazette by Julie Mack
KALAMAZOO, MI — Lack of wealthy donors shouldn’t stop communities from replicating The Kalamazoo Promise, speakers said Wednesday at the opening session of PromiseNet 2010, a three-day national conference in Kalamazoo.
Consider Baldwin, a community of 11,000 people about an 80-minute drive north of Grand Rapids.
It took several years of organizing and fund-raising, but the 23 students in Baldwin High School’s Class of 2010 are all guaranteed scholarships worth $20,000 over four years.
Sifting through archives of open online course material soon could become easier: A new public beta version of a web-based college course library aims to help students and faculty find open curriculum content with a search function designed to narrow their hunt for video and audio lectures.
Einztein, a nonprofit organization based in Santa Monica, Calif., launched the beta version of its library with more than 2,000 complete online courses grouped into more than 30 categories, according to a May 25 announcement.
Should you use a wiki for teaching (and which one?) — from Matthew Allen
Yes, we use wikis in our teaching, in two ways. First, some of the students naturally set up wikis to work on collaborative projects or similar without us telling them to – we leave that up to them! They also use other technologies, such as Ning and similar networking sites/services and, of course, simpler forms of communication and collaboration. Wikis perhaps are suited only to some kinds of people for this task?
Second, we run a unit of study in which students are required to author their first assignment in a wiki – but not collaboratively (they look at others, but don’t edit). Then, their second main assignment – a group report – must be online and while we provided an alternative publishing space (openzine.com) they didn’t like it and so all, I think, ended up using a wiki. This year (semester 2) we will require them to use a wiki.
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So, in short, you can and in some cases should use wikis in teaching. I think the most important affordances of wikis are as follows.
From DSC:
I guess I’m in a reflective mood again this morning. After reading and reflecting on Clive’s posting, I ran across Tony Bates’ posting, “Do we need academic journals any more?”
I found myself nodding or saying “Yes! — Amen to that!” several times. For example, Tony mentions:
However, its late publication, the length of the journal, and its traditional format all make me wonder if such journals are useful anymore. (This one is also incredibly boring, like most of the others). I get the feeling that the primary stakeholders in journals these days are not the readers but the authors, who need publication for tenure and promotion. Do they really expect anyone other than reviewers to read this stuff?”
…I don’t have the time to sit down and read – or even – skim – a complete issue of a whole academic journal, and I’m not even working full-time. Maybe that’s my loss, but surely in this day and age we can find better ways of disseminating useful information that has a sound academic base, without trivializing it.
There is still a need for a ‘full’ article that’s been properly peer reviewed, especially if it is presenting original data or research, but why not have a ‘rolling’ publication of articles when ready, using abstracts with links to the full article, RSS feeds and Twitter notices, with opportunities for online comments and discussion of the articles? Shouldn’t journals about e-learning be walking the talk, instead of existing in a pre-digital age? (Long live blogs.)
From DSC:
Academia needs to be relevant, up-to-date, and responsive. We can not cling to the status quo. We must prepare students to learn how to learn. We need to help them be willing and prepared to change (with an eye towards discernment in which changes to make — which involves critical thinking, research skills, synthesizing skills, cross-disciplinary thinking, and problem-solving skills).
