interdisciplinary

Should we put students more in charge of creating the content? I think so!

On 01/22/2013, in active learning, project-based learning, student-related, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
I’ve been pondering the question…”Should we put students more in charge of selecting and/or creating the content?” And I’m thinking, absolutely. We may be surprised at the results. They’ll own their learning more when they have more choice, more control over what they are working on. Give them real-world problems to solve. Enlist multiple disciplines (writing, art, music, computer science, engineering, mathematics, business skills, etc.). Active, project-based learning. Enlist web-based collaboration and teams — take on a project with a classroom 1/2 way around the world.

Some relevant items:

College students develop apps to help kids with algebra — from USAToday.com
7th graders publish their own textbook — from learninginhand.com by Tony Vincent
Students running a VC Fund? The University Venture Fund Says “Yes” — from Forbes.com by Cheryl Conner
Students spearhead digital badge movement — from blog.makewav.es

Tagged with: active learning • collaboration • cross-disciplinary assignments • interdisciplinary • project-based learning • real-world assignments • student-related • web-based collaboration

Business and Economics majors, please meet your Philosophy, Religion, Political Science majors in Room 10…and here’s what you need to discuss.

On 11/13/2012, in business, corporate / business world, Daniel S. Christian, economics, hearts -- matters of the heart, ideas, leadership, legislatures / government / legal, political science, real-world assignments, relationships, religion, society, student-related, United States, by Daniel Christian

To students studying Business, Economics, Religion, Political Science, and Philosophy:

Please consider — and research/define where necessary — the following items occurring in the United States today.

The fiscal cliff.
The U.S. debt limit.
Federal spending vs. revenue.
Printing money and it’s potential impact on inflation.
Recent election results.
A global economy; global competition.
The place/role of money.
Race against the machine; also see this posting.
Matthew 6:19-34.

Then, please discuss/answer the following questions:

What makes our debt risky? On a national level? On the money and banking level? On a personal level?
What are your thoughts about the following items:
- Why are billionaires dumping stocks?
- Aftershock — the book by Wiedemer, Wiedemer, & Spitzer
What implications do you see in these items? Will they be impacting you and/or your future?
- Are there political ramifications for this?
- Are there spiritual ramifications for this?
Could the U.S. be heading for trouble? If you say yes, what support do you have for this assertion? If you say no, what do you support your argument with?
Do you think we are a divided nation? What support do you have for this perspective?
What characteristics of leadership would you most like to see at this point in time?
After reading Matthew 6:19-34:

If you, personally, lost everything you had, what would that do to you emotionally? Physically? Spiritually? That is, if our savings completely dried up, what would life be like for us as a society? What would that do to our hearts? To our perspectives/worldviews/priorities? How we choose to spend our time? What would it do to our view of God? To our view of ourselves?

Some other resources to consider:

CBO warns of fiscal cliff risk — from CNN Money by Jeanne Sahadi
What’s in the fiscal cliff? — from CNN Money by Jeanne Sahadi
The Fiscal Cliff: Absolutely everything you could possibly need to know, in one FAQ — from washingtonpost.com by Suzy Khimm, Ezra Klein, Dylan Matthews and Brad Plumer (on November 27, 2012 at 9:00 am)
Post-election calm? Nope. What you need to know about the fiscal cliff — from inc.com by Robb Mandelbaum
Officials in Washington wasted no time in setting themselves heading straight toward the precipice. What does the “fiscal cliff” mean for your business?

Tagged with: business • Daniel S. Christian • economics/business • hearts -- matters of the heart • ideas • interdisciplinary • leadership • legislation • philosophy • political science • real-world assignments • relationships • religion • student-related • United States

Student run help desks — a good example of “real-world” learning, problem solving, critical thinking

On 10/19/2012, in active learning, project-based learning, real-world assignments, staying relevant, student-related, by Daniel Christian

How student help desks support mobile devices — from centerdigitaled.com by Tanya Roscorla

Excerpt:

The help desk staff members each have a title, role and responsibilities. They solve problems for students and staff in-person, but they also update a blog with videos that address common issues they see.

Also see:

Why learning should be messy — from blogs.kqed.org by Nikhil Goyal
Excerpt:
“Today’s problems — from global poverty to climate change to the obesity epidemic — are more interconnected and intertwined than ever before and they can’t possibly be solved in the academic or research ‘silos’ of the twentieth century,” writes Frank Moss, the former head of the M.I.T. Media Lab. Schools cannot just simply add a “creativity hour” and call it a day.

Tagged with: active learning • cross-disciplinary assignments • interdisciplinary • project-based learning • real-world assignments • staying relevant

How making stuff makes science more appealing to kids [PBS]

On 07/01/2011, in engineering, ideas, K-12 related, motivation, science, STEAM-related, teachers, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

(My thanks to Mr. Joseph Bywerwalter for this resource)

Tagged with: engineering • ideas • interdisciplinary • K-12 • motivation • science • STEM • teachers • teaching & learning

A hugely powerful vision: A potent addition to our learning ecosystems of the future

On 04/09/2011, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, change, colleges, convergence, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, distance education, e-books, e-readers, education, education reform, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, global / globalization, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, immersion, informal learning, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, interface design, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning agents, learning ecosystem, learning spaces, lifelong learning, marketplaces, mobile learning, mobile technologies, multi-touch, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, pace of change, personalized/customized learning, platforms, play, podcasting, professional development, reinvent, RSS, simulations, smart classrooms, social learning / networks, social media, society, storytelling, strategy, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, surviving, tablets, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, technology (general), telecommunications, telepresence, television, transmedia, trends, ubiquitous learning, universities, user experience (UX), using teams, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, webinars, by Daniel Christian

Daniel Christian:
A Vision of Our Future Learning Ecosystems

In the near future, as the computer, the television, the telephone (and more) continues to converge, we will most likely enjoy even more powerful capabilities to conveniently create and share our content as well as participate in a global learning ecosystem — whether that be from within our homes and/or from within our schools, colleges, universities and businesses throughout the world.

We will be teachers and students at the same time — even within the same hour — with online-based learning exchanges taking place all over the virtual and physical world. Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) — in the form of online-based tutors, instructors, teachers, and professors — will be available on demand. Even more powerful/accurate/helpful learning engines will be involved behind the scenes in delivering up personalized, customized learning — available 24x7x365. Cloud-based learner profiles may enter the equation as well.

The chances for creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship that are coming will be mind-blowing! What employers will be looking for — and where they can look for it — may change as well.

What we know today as the “television” will most likely play a significant role in this learning ecosystem of the future. But it won’t be like the TV we’ve come to know. It will be much more interactive and will be aware of who is using it — and what that person is interested in learning about. Technologies/applications like Apple’s AirPlay will become more standard, allowing a person to move from device to device without missing a beat. Transmedia storytellers will thrive in this environment!

Much of the professionally done content will be created by teams of specialists, including the publishers of educational content, and the in-house teams of specialists within colleges, universities, and corporations around the globe. Perhaps consortiums of colleges/universities will each contribute some of the content — more readily accepting previous coursework that was delivered via their consortium’s membership.

An additional thought regarding higher education and K-12 and their Smart Classrooms/Spaces:
For input devices…
The “chalkboards” of the future may be transparent, or they may be on top of a drawing board-sized table or they may be tablet-based. But whatever form they take and whatever is displayed upon them, the ability to annotate will be there; with the resulting graphics saved and instantly distributed. (Eventually, we may get to voice-controlled Smart Classrooms, but we have a ways to go in that area…)

Below are some of the graphics that capture a bit of what I’m seeing in my mind…and in our futures.

Alternatively available as a PowerPoint Presentation (audio forthcoming in a future version)

— from Daniel S. Christian | April 2011

See also:

Hunch brings predictions to Internet TV — from ReadWriteWeb.com by Mike Melanson
Group video calling comes to iPhone & Android in Fring beta test – from Mashable.com by Jennifer Van Grove
State of the Art Tutoring is Going Online — from chatam.patch.com by K.F. Rogers (originally saw at Ray Schroeder’s blog)
Storytelling: Video games’ next killer app — from CNN.com by Scott Steinberg
YouTube finally launches live streaming portal to select partners — from ReadWriteWeb.com by Marshall Kirkpatrick
The art of immersion, digital storytelling and transmedia — from Six Pixels of Separation
Reversing course, U. of California to borrow millions for online classes — from The Chronicle by Josh Keller
Non-stop Learning Futures conference spans three time zones to mirror demands of 24/7 global society — from 24dash.com
Call for presentations: Online learning, teaching, and research in the new media ecology — from Ray Schroeder and the Sloan Consortium
…It is clear that we are in the midst of rapid and ongoing changes in the way that we communicate and represent ideas and these changes have profound consequence for how we know, learn, think, and teach in higher education and beyond. The dizzying pace of change is highlighted by the fact that even the relatively new conventions of online education associated with asynchronous learning networks are being challenged by emerging means of access, such as mobile and cloud computing, new forms of communication, such as video streaming and instant messaging, as well as the innovative modes of participation represented in social media.