A year or two I bought Don Tapscott's book and associated audiobook, "Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything." I loved it! People I lent the audiobook to loved it as well. It brought back memories of my "Electronic Collaborators" book from 1998. The year before that in 1997, Don wrote, "Growing Up Digital" which drew wide acclaim. Now more than a decade later, he has come out with a superb follow-up, "Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing the World" published by McGraw-Hill (2009).
This is a stellar book. It encompasses many areas--education and learning, business/management, politics, parenting, technology, community and global volunteerism, and simply growing up with all the new and exciting information and technology that surrounds us. It is simultaneously a snapshot of today and an insightful look at where we are going as individuals, families, companies, communities, and a species.
If you want to relate to your children better, get a copy of this book. If you want to understand your workplace or learning environment better, read this book. If you want to hold out hope for our planet, flip through at least the final chapters of this book.
If you did not have the time or energy to read a single newspaper, magazine, or journal article related to technology and change this year and want to catch up, then get this book and read it when you have time (hopefully very soon). Don Tapcott has done the reading for you and will make sense of the current trends; especially as they relate to the Net Generation. With two kids of my own in the Net Gen (with coincidentally the same names as Don's kids), I definitely can relate to each chapter. Volunteerism, especially among my daughter and her friends (Chapter 10)...it is exactly as he states it. Politics and the Obama factor this year (Chapter 9)--presto, my son, Alex, a college junior, was all over that. Living near home longer (Chapter 8)...my kids returned from college last week (including Alex who was studying abroad in Seville, Spain this fall and has no plans to relocate from here anytime soon). Yes, Don Tapscott is right, a more democratic family decision making style will build strong ties. N-Fluence networks and purchasing behaviors (Chapter 7)...my daughter, Nicki, and her boyfriend, Corbin, scoped out a new MacBook online and gathered all the details they wanted a few days back, including much information from their friends in Facebook, and then went into Best Buy and she helped him purchase it.
Rethinking talent and the management of young people in firms (Chapter 6)...my son and I have chatted about this issue this many times. He wants the flexible times and challenging and engaging work which Don discusses in many sections of his book. Anyone in a management position in business today should be reading at the very least Chapters 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7.
Rethinking education (Chapter 5)--well, as a university professor in educational psychology and instructional technology (distance learning) this is what I teach and write about so it struck a chord. I have written a book, in fact, that extends Thomas Friedman's World is Flat book to education (in press for June, 2009). Hence, I not only agree with his perspective in Chapter 5, I can relate to the reading and synthesizing Don had to engage in to write such a book. It is not easy to do such a book and stay sane. It is clear that he has a great research and support team at nGenera who help him tremendously and for which he should be proud to have built.
I already have recommended Don's book to my family, friends, graduate students, and work colleagues. In fact, I bought a few copies for close friends who ran the E-Learn conference with me in Las Vegas last month. They were surprised and most appreciative. I think Don was even surprised when I told him since he may not have realized that his book was even out at the time.
There is so much good stuff packed in every chapter of Grown Up Digital, it was difficult for me to read it front to back. I read this book as follows: Intro, then back matter, Chapter 1, then back matter again, Chapter 2, Notes and Biblio again, Chapter 11, Chapter 10, Chapter 9, Chapter 8, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5 on rethinking education (of course of most interest to me), Chapter 7, and finally Chapter 6. I saved two of the longest chapters for last (which I likely starred almost as much content, if not more, than my favorite one, Chapter 5).
I have 100’s of starred points. Pages that stick out include pp. 34-37 (the 8 Net Generation Norms), 58-64 (stuff on how this generation lives with technology), 104-105 (how life on the Internet may be impacting your brain), 140-142 (learning must become more personalized!), 154-162 (the current talent shortage and what the Net Generation wants), 165-167 (work should be fun not just menial tasks), 173-178 (do more than recruit--build relationships, engage, and foster collaboration when at work), 208-213 (enlist consumer (and employee) support and passion when building products--prosumers), 258-264 (participatory and interactive government and marketspace), 279-287 (good people helping the world; activism), etc. I tried not to mark the book too much but as I progressed into it I could not help myself. It is that good. Sorta reminds me of my reading of his Wikinomics book last year, though that book I listened to first and then read parts that I wanted to revisit. I cannot wait for Grown Up Digital to come out in audio so I can buy a copy and then listen to it (the reverse of what I did with Wikinomics).
This book is packed with content and, yet, as Don notes in the introduction, he had to delete a ton of stuff. Nevertheless, I see many familiar names who also appear in my upcoming "The World is Open" book—Chris Dede, J. S. Brown, Michael Wesch, Marc Prensky, Barry Joseph, Nicholas Carr, Henry Jenkins, Seymour Papert, and Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis (both of whom also appear in Thomas Friedman’s World is Flat book). I also appreciated his comments about Just-In-Time-Teaching, Butler University (where I have a daughter enrolled as a freshman), the Big Learning Picture Company (co-founded by my friend, Dr. Dennis Littky), and the new sharing generation (perhaps see my article, Sharing...the Journey). You will have to read it and find out why.
And I starred and underlined his comments about motivation of today’s youth on p. 160 and many other places—the need for meaningful learning, challenge, variety, choice, flexibility, etc. Given high school drop-out rates, not just in Detroit and Indianapolis (as pointed out by Time and Oprah), motivating young adults is perhaps the most important thing in education today. Don's book should start the conversation going here! Let's hope. Enjoy the book!
Saturday 27 December 2008
Friday 19 December 2008
10 Tests Phases or Requirements for Online Instructors: Do U Qualify?
Last night, my friend, Dr. Lori Teng in Taiwan sent an email with a series of questions to Professor Ron Owston at York University in Toronto as well as myself. Ron had just been in Taiwan and perhaps had some useful insights for her. Lori wanted to know if there was a mandated governing board or accreditation body in the USA or Canada for e-learning. She also wanted to know if it perhaps differed by state, province, or region. In addition, Lori asked if there were any regulations related to required instructor time for teaching online or typical preparation commitment. These were great questions so I decided to post them as well as my naive response. I just hope Lori will not mind.
I thought about her questions for a minute or 2 and then responded and told her that here in the USA we rely on things like NCATE accreditation. But that is all that I know about. No other regulations. But what do I know?
Then I remembered that there were other rules and regulations in place. And I found a list of what she was looking for. Seems there are 10 requirements or test phases related to e-learning accredidation; at least here in the USA. See below.
1. Phase 1 test. Instructors must put in 100 hours per week and 1,500 hours during an online course. There is a very simple qualifying test here—-potential online instructors are placed in a testing room and asked to try to stay awake for 3 straight days. Toothpicks, Super Glue, coffee, Jolt, Mountain Dew, Fixx, and Red Bull are all freely provided. Those who can stay awake are allowed to venture to Phase 2 of the testing. Those who simultaneously use all the supplied items found in the room can skip Phase 2 and move right to Phase 3.
2. Phase 2 test. Instructors must be able to supply feedback on every student post; those who can type over 120 words a minute pass this requirement as do those who use a more "hunt and peck" typing system but do not need sleep or any professional or personal relationships. Those passing this test can proceed to Phase 3.
3. Phase 3 test. Instructors must take a personality test. If they score high enough on the patience subscale to put up with silly administrator tests like this one as well as the upcoming lack of support from such administrators, then they pass this phase and quickly move on to Phase 4.
4. Phase 4 test. In Phase 4, hopeful online instructors are asked to send 150 sample student emails in a 2 hour sit down test and are required to respond to all of them with tact, flexibility, and detailed explanations that have no hint of confusion. Those with the stamina to complete Phase 4 testing move on to Phase 5.
5. Phase 5 test. Potential instructors are given a class roster of 300-400 names for one online course section and asked if they are willing to take additional students or not. Those who do not flinch are given a second course roster with more than 5,000 names. Still no complaints? Ok you can move on to Phase 6.
6. Phase 6 test. Potential online instructors are sent a list of 20 typical online student excuses for late or uncompleted work (e.g., global warming protest rallies got in the way; I was using the wrong type of computer; my RAM was in a jam; password does not work; forgot I signed up for this course; had to go to grandmother’s for apple pie; etc.) and asked how they would deal with it. If successful, it is on to Phase 7.
7. Phase 7 test. Potential instructors must sign up and take an online course (or part of such a course) and display sufficient skill in being obnoxious, condescending, and angry while simultaneously showing their naiveté whenever possible to frustrate the instructor. Only the really obnoxious and seemingly naive are allowed to proceed to Phase 8.
8. Phase 8 test. Potential instructors are given the mobile phone numbers, Skype names, Facebook accounts, Ning affiliations, Skype addresses, and MSN handles of 100 expert online instructors and are asked to contact all of them within a 24 hour span seeking solutions to special problems that they might encounter when teaching online (all problems are provided by the test administrator). In order to pass this phase, they must receive answers for all of them using each form of technology. Anyone left remotely sane after Phase 8 is immediately sent to Phase 9.
9. Phase 9 test. At this point, an NCATE accreditation agent must interview all remaining online instructor hopefuls for an extremely grueling 5 hour time period about their supposed online skills and experiences. While it is quite doubtful anyone is left at this point, those still remaining and wanting to be an online instructor can push on to Phase 10.
10. Phase 10 test. Online instructors cannot be named “Ron” or “Lori” for some reason. And that may be good news for all the “Ron’s” and “Lori’s” of the world as well as their families.
Ok, that is the 10 steps or test phases that I was told about. If you have heard of additional ones, please let me know.
I thought about her questions for a minute or 2 and then responded and told her that here in the USA we rely on things like NCATE accreditation. But that is all that I know about. No other regulations. But what do I know?
Then I remembered that there were other rules and regulations in place. And I found a list of what she was looking for. Seems there are 10 requirements or test phases related to e-learning accredidation; at least here in the USA. See below.
1. Phase 1 test. Instructors must put in 100 hours per week and 1,500 hours during an online course. There is a very simple qualifying test here—-potential online instructors are placed in a testing room and asked to try to stay awake for 3 straight days. Toothpicks, Super Glue, coffee, Jolt, Mountain Dew, Fixx, and Red Bull are all freely provided. Those who can stay awake are allowed to venture to Phase 2 of the testing. Those who simultaneously use all the supplied items found in the room can skip Phase 2 and move right to Phase 3.
2. Phase 2 test. Instructors must be able to supply feedback on every student post; those who can type over 120 words a minute pass this requirement as do those who use a more "hunt and peck" typing system but do not need sleep or any professional or personal relationships. Those passing this test can proceed to Phase 3.
3. Phase 3 test. Instructors must take a personality test. If they score high enough on the patience subscale to put up with silly administrator tests like this one as well as the upcoming lack of support from such administrators, then they pass this phase and quickly move on to Phase 4.
4. Phase 4 test. In Phase 4, hopeful online instructors are asked to send 150 sample student emails in a 2 hour sit down test and are required to respond to all of them with tact, flexibility, and detailed explanations that have no hint of confusion. Those with the stamina to complete Phase 4 testing move on to Phase 5.
5. Phase 5 test. Potential instructors are given a class roster of 300-400 names for one online course section and asked if they are willing to take additional students or not. Those who do not flinch are given a second course roster with more than 5,000 names. Still no complaints? Ok you can move on to Phase 6.
6. Phase 6 test. Potential online instructors are sent a list of 20 typical online student excuses for late or uncompleted work (e.g., global warming protest rallies got in the way; I was using the wrong type of computer; my RAM was in a jam; password does not work; forgot I signed up for this course; had to go to grandmother’s for apple pie; etc.) and asked how they would deal with it. If successful, it is on to Phase 7.
7. Phase 7 test. Potential instructors must sign up and take an online course (or part of such a course) and display sufficient skill in being obnoxious, condescending, and angry while simultaneously showing their naiveté whenever possible to frustrate the instructor. Only the really obnoxious and seemingly naive are allowed to proceed to Phase 8.
8. Phase 8 test. Potential instructors are given the mobile phone numbers, Skype names, Facebook accounts, Ning affiliations, Skype addresses, and MSN handles of 100 expert online instructors and are asked to contact all of them within a 24 hour span seeking solutions to special problems that they might encounter when teaching online (all problems are provided by the test administrator). In order to pass this phase, they must receive answers for all of them using each form of technology. Anyone left remotely sane after Phase 8 is immediately sent to Phase 9.
9. Phase 9 test. At this point, an NCATE accreditation agent must interview all remaining online instructor hopefuls for an extremely grueling 5 hour time period about their supposed online skills and experiences. While it is quite doubtful anyone is left at this point, those still remaining and wanting to be an online instructor can push on to Phase 10.
10. Phase 10 test. Online instructors cannot be named “Ron” or “Lori” for some reason. And that may be good news for all the “Ron’s” and “Lori’s” of the world as well as their families.
Ok, that is the 10 steps or test phases that I was told about. If you have heard of additional ones, please let me know.
Friday 5 December 2008
Free Webinar: Matching Online Assessments to Online Pedagogies: Choices, Challenges, and Concerns
As I may have mentioned…
Wiley Publishing has me doing a free Webinar on Monday on matching online assessment to online pedagogy. Information is attached and below. Already 145 people signed up; I heard that normally they have about 25-30 people, so this topic must be popular. I think assessment is boring (but I am a former accountant so I do not like assessment much). Anyway, I will get extremely excited about assessment for a day and present for 45 minutes followed by 15 minutes of questioning. Of course, the pedagogical parts of my talk WILL be quite captivating stuff!
You will not see me, just hear me and see my slides. You need nothing installed on your machine but Flash (this is on most computers now). A picture of the interface is below. Anyone can sign up and attend for free if you are a high school, community college, or university instructor.
Just look for my session on Monday, December 8th, 2008 at 2 pm EST (New York Time):
Main Page: http://he-cda.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-106078.html (click on education)
Education related: http://www.wiley.com/college/wfn/seminars/disclandEducation.html (click on my session)
My Talk: http://www.wiley.com/college/wfn/seminars/semland280.html?Education (use this one!)
Matching Online Assessments to Online Pedagogies: Choices, Challenges, and Concerns
Presenter: Curt Bonk, Indiana University
Online teaching can be quite hectic and, at times, extremely frustrating. The frustration mounts when the time required for student grading and feedback seems never ending. Adding to the pressures, those new to online teaching must deal with many challenges not encountered in face-to-face settings. Assessment seems the last thing on one’s mind when scrambling to design and then deliver a new online course. Part of the dilemma is determining how to fairly and expediently assess student learning when attempting innovative and risky pedagogical techniques. This presentation will offer dozens of pedagogical techniques and discuss online assessment options that one might select for each of them. A series of tips and guidelines will be offered for saving time in online assessment while providing valued task feedback and interactive and engaging courses overall.
Monday, 08 December 2008 at 2:00 pm Eastern Time - Duration 1 hour
They are using Adobe Connect Pro (formerly Breeze) for this (sample interface below). You will get a link to go to on Monday after signing up and a couple of reminders. The interface is below. Now I just have to prep it. I have no clue what I am going to do. Smile.
Perhaps I will see some of you online on Monday (Tuesday if you are in Asia). If I seem pretty bad, please pipe in and help. Smile! Just kidding. If I am bad, click exit and send me a nasty email. Double smile!
Wiley Publishing has me doing a free Webinar on Monday on matching online assessment to online pedagogy. Information is attached and below. Already 145 people signed up; I heard that normally they have about 25-30 people, so this topic must be popular. I think assessment is boring (but I am a former accountant so I do not like assessment much). Anyway, I will get extremely excited about assessment for a day and present for 45 minutes followed by 15 minutes of questioning. Of course, the pedagogical parts of my talk WILL be quite captivating stuff!
You will not see me, just hear me and see my slides. You need nothing installed on your machine but Flash (this is on most computers now). A picture of the interface is below. Anyone can sign up and attend for free if you are a high school, community college, or university instructor.
Just look for my session on Monday, December 8th, 2008 at 2 pm EST (New York Time):
Main Page: http://he-cda.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-106078.html (click on education)
Education related: http://www.wiley.com/college/wfn/seminars/disclandEducation.html (click on my session)
My Talk: http://www.wiley.com/college/wfn/seminars/semland280.html?Education (use this one!)
Matching Online Assessments to Online Pedagogies: Choices, Challenges, and Concerns
Presenter: Curt Bonk, Indiana University
Online teaching can be quite hectic and, at times, extremely frustrating. The frustration mounts when the time required for student grading and feedback seems never ending. Adding to the pressures, those new to online teaching must deal with many challenges not encountered in face-to-face settings. Assessment seems the last thing on one’s mind when scrambling to design and then deliver a new online course. Part of the dilemma is determining how to fairly and expediently assess student learning when attempting innovative and risky pedagogical techniques. This presentation will offer dozens of pedagogical techniques and discuss online assessment options that one might select for each of them. A series of tips and guidelines will be offered for saving time in online assessment while providing valued task feedback and interactive and engaging courses overall.
Monday, 08 December 2008 at 2:00 pm Eastern Time - Duration 1 hour
They are using Adobe Connect Pro (formerly Breeze) for this (sample interface below). You will get a link to go to on Monday after signing up and a couple of reminders. The interface is below. Now I just have to prep it. I have no clue what I am going to do. Smile.
Perhaps I will see some of you online on Monday (Tuesday if you are in Asia). If I seem pretty bad, please pipe in and help. Smile! Just kidding. If I am bad, click exit and send me a nasty email. Double smile!
Thursday 27 November 2008
An Interview with Dr. Roy Pea: E-Learn 2008 Keynote Speaker
Ok, I am back from a very successful E-Learn 2008 Conference in Las Vegas. I actually got home a few days ago, but it has taken a little while to catch my breath. We set attendance records with more than 1,000 attendees. We had a highly engaging and rewarding preconference symposium on e-learning in Asia with 12 participants from 12 countries. We will turn that into a special journal issue on e-learning in Asia during the next few months and perhaps a print on demand book. We also had many excellent keynote and invited addresses. What a week it was!
If you unfortunately missed the conference, one of the fantastic keynote speakers at the E-Learn 2008 Conference last week in Las Vegas was Dr. Roy Pea from Stanford University. I have been a fan of Roy's work for more than two decades now. Roy is currently Professor of Education and the Learning Sciences at Stanford. He is also Director of the Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning. The title is his keynote address was, "Learning in a Networked World: Trends and Opportunities in the Future of Technology for Learning Environments and Education."
Roy has a couple of relevant websites:
1. Info from Stanford on Roy Pea.
2. Roy's Personal Homepage.
3. Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning.
4. Learning Sciences and Technology Design Program at Stanford.
Dr. Mimi Miyoung Lee from the University of Houston, one of the program chairs with me, had a chance to interview him via email before he spoke. Mimi used much of this information in her introduction of him. Their questions and answers are below. Enjoy.
Interview with Roy Pea, E-Learn 2008 Keynote Speaker
Mimi Question #1: When was the first time you used a computer?
Roy: 1977 - When I wrote my dissertation while on a long-term visit at Rockefeller University from Oxford (where I collected my dissertation data), before my postdoc there. I worked inside a psychologist's sound-proof booth where a computer keyboard and terminal was used for psycholinguistic experiments - it was linked to a PDP-11 also used to run infancy studies and collect HeartRate data. I did not see any of my writing as print until a special rented interface to an IBM Selectric typewriter printed out the 400 or so final pages!
Mimi Question #2: Do you ever purposeful try to stay away from technology? If yes, what do you do? (e.g., technology free weekends)
Roy: Perennial gardening.
Mimi Question #3: Can you name a couple of unique ways that technology has affected your personal or professional life in a positive way? (e.g., online Flickr account, mobile learning, etc.)
Roy: Social networks via distributed grants and centers over the years (e.g., my CoVis Project from 1991-1997; the Center for Innovative Learning Technologies from 1996-2002; the LIFE Center now, 2004-ongoing).
Mimi Question #4: If you had to look back and pick a year or event, when did your career in learning technologies take off and why?
Roy: Studying elementary school children learning Logo programming and whether it was influencing their planning and problem solving skills - at Bank Street College, where we created the first national center devoted to children and technology (1981). It was the huge crowd at an AERA in 1983 where I presented this work along with other studies of children and computing from my colleagues that I knew there was interest in such programs of empirical study and theory development (geez, now 25 years ago!)
Mimi Question #5: What is one thing happening in the world of e-learning that too few people know about?
Roy: Elastic cloud computing.
Mimi Question #6: What project(s) are you currently working on that has you most excited and why?
Roy: The LIFE Center (NSF Science of Learning Center), which I co-lead with many exciting colleagues in cognitive science, developmental psychology, anthropology, communication, neurosciences (http://life-slc.org). We are working on foundational advances for theories of learning across informal and formal environments and toward design principles to guide developments of learning environments, including technology-enabled ones. I also have a new mobile technologies science learning project with Marcelo Milrad in Sweden I'm enthused about but only now starting up.
Mimi Question #7: Do you have any important publications on the horizon?
Roy: (1) Working on a new book on learning that is intensely interdisciplinary and integrative during this sabbatical year; and (2) A journal article in development with doctoral students Robb Lindgren and Sarah Lewis on how first-person perspective video is more physiologically arousing and leads to greater conceptual learning than third-person perspective video.
Mimi Question #8: What is the most interesting place you have ever presented and why?
Roy: The Mayor of Barcelona in Spain once hosted an international symposium on computers, school and society (1987) with interdisciplinary participants from many countries and simultaneous translation. It took place over 2-3 days in the grand and centuries-old city governmental palace (with gold-gilded ceilings and exquisite paintings and tapestries). Invited participants were given a substantial and surprise honorarium in cash, under the pillow of the best hotel! The major dinner banquet had huge silver bowls filled with lobsters, shrimp and other gifts of the sea. The conversations were stellar as well.
Mimi Question #9: Tell us one thing people do not know about you.
Roy: I grew up in Detroit as a Motown kid with all that implies.
Mimi Question #10: What are your hobbies?
Roy: Intense English perennial gardening. I love cooking and serving many different cuisines (see picture to the left of my daughter Elle with summer pesto and sweet grape tomatoes). Mountain hiking with wife and colleague Brigid. Beachcombing. Ocean fishing. Broadly based music appreciation.
Mimi Question #11: Can you send any photos, pictures, visuals, etc. (with captions) that illustrate any of your answers that we can use in your introduction?
Roy: See below.
Ok, everyone, please come to E-Learn 2009 in Vancouver next year! It will be October 26-30, 2009. The views will be spectacular just like those above that Roy sent us. See ya there!
If you unfortunately missed the conference, one of the fantastic keynote speakers at the E-Learn 2008 Conference last week in Las Vegas was Dr. Roy Pea from Stanford University. I have been a fan of Roy's work for more than two decades now. Roy is currently Professor of Education and the Learning Sciences at Stanford. He is also Director of the Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning. The title is his keynote address was, "Learning in a Networked World: Trends and Opportunities in the Future of Technology for Learning Environments and Education."
Roy has a couple of relevant websites:
1. Info from Stanford on Roy Pea.
2. Roy's Personal Homepage.
3. Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning.
4. Learning Sciences and Technology Design Program at Stanford.
Dr. Mimi Miyoung Lee from the University of Houston, one of the program chairs with me, had a chance to interview him via email before he spoke. Mimi used much of this information in her introduction of him. Their questions and answers are below. Enjoy.
Interview with Roy Pea, E-Learn 2008 Keynote Speaker
Mimi Question #1: When was the first time you used a computer?
Roy: 1977 - When I wrote my dissertation while on a long-term visit at Rockefeller University from Oxford (where I collected my dissertation data), before my postdoc there. I worked inside a psychologist's sound-proof booth where a computer keyboard and terminal was used for psycholinguistic experiments - it was linked to a PDP-11 also used to run infancy studies and collect HeartRate data. I did not see any of my writing as print until a special rented interface to an IBM Selectric typewriter printed out the 400 or so final pages!
Mimi Question #2: Do you ever purposeful try to stay away from technology? If yes, what do you do? (e.g., technology free weekends)
Roy: Perennial gardening.
Mimi Question #3: Can you name a couple of unique ways that technology has affected your personal or professional life in a positive way? (e.g., online Flickr account, mobile learning, etc.)
Roy: Social networks via distributed grants and centers over the years (e.g., my CoVis Project from 1991-1997; the Center for Innovative Learning Technologies from 1996-2002; the LIFE Center now, 2004-ongoing).
Mimi Question #4: If you had to look back and pick a year or event, when did your career in learning technologies take off and why?
Roy: Studying elementary school children learning Logo programming and whether it was influencing their planning and problem solving skills - at Bank Street College, where we created the first national center devoted to children and technology (1981). It was the huge crowd at an AERA in 1983 where I presented this work along with other studies of children and computing from my colleagues that I knew there was interest in such programs of empirical study and theory development (geez, now 25 years ago!)
Mimi Question #5: What is one thing happening in the world of e-learning that too few people know about?
Roy: Elastic cloud computing.
Mimi Question #6: What project(s) are you currently working on that has you most excited and why?
Roy: The LIFE Center (NSF Science of Learning Center), which I co-lead with many exciting colleagues in cognitive science, developmental psychology, anthropology, communication, neurosciences (http://life-slc.org). We are working on foundational advances for theories of learning across informal and formal environments and toward design principles to guide developments of learning environments, including technology-enabled ones. I also have a new mobile technologies science learning project with Marcelo Milrad in Sweden I'm enthused about but only now starting up.
Mimi Question #7: Do you have any important publications on the horizon?
Roy: (1) Working on a new book on learning that is intensely interdisciplinary and integrative during this sabbatical year; and (2) A journal article in development with doctoral students Robb Lindgren and Sarah Lewis on how first-person perspective video is more physiologically arousing and leads to greater conceptual learning than third-person perspective video.
Mimi Question #8: What is the most interesting place you have ever presented and why?
Roy: The Mayor of Barcelona in Spain once hosted an international symposium on computers, school and society (1987) with interdisciplinary participants from many countries and simultaneous translation. It took place over 2-3 days in the grand and centuries-old city governmental palace (with gold-gilded ceilings and exquisite paintings and tapestries). Invited participants were given a substantial and surprise honorarium in cash, under the pillow of the best hotel! The major dinner banquet had huge silver bowls filled with lobsters, shrimp and other gifts of the sea. The conversations were stellar as well.
Mimi Question #9: Tell us one thing people do not know about you.
Roy: I grew up in Detroit as a Motown kid with all that implies.
Mimi Question #10: What are your hobbies?
Roy: Intense English perennial gardening. I love cooking and serving many different cuisines (see picture to the left of my daughter Elle with summer pesto and sweet grape tomatoes). Mountain hiking with wife and colleague Brigid. Beachcombing. Ocean fishing. Broadly based music appreciation. Mimi Question #11: Can you send any photos, pictures, visuals, etc. (with captions) that illustrate any of your answers that we can use in your introduction?
Roy: See below.
Ok, everyone, please come to E-Learn 2009 in Vancouver next year! It will be October 26-30, 2009. The views will be spectacular just like those above that Roy sent us. See ya there!
Friday 14 November 2008
An Interview with Dr. Ellen Wagner: E-Learn 2008 Keynote Speaker
I am about ready to fly out to Las Vegas to help run the E-Learn 2008 Conference as one of the Program Chairs. Before going, let me post an interview I did this past week with Dr. Ellen Wagner who is one of the keynote speakers of the conference.
Before I get to the interview, let me also note that the E-Learn Conference now has a blog wherein we will document key conference activities. The program co-chairs (Dr. Tom Reynolds from National University, Dr. Mimi Miyoung Lee from the University of Houston, and myself) as well as invited and keynote speakers will be posting there. Check it out now and again next week during the conference which runs from November 17 to 21, 2008. This will be a great time. You can still sign up! We will setting an all-time attendance record for E-Learn.
An Interview with Dr. Ellen Wagner
Principal Analyst, Sonoma Partners LLP, USA
Keynote at the E-Learn Conference in Las Vegas, November, 2008
Information on her keynote: http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/speakers/wagner2.htm
Information on all keynote and invited speakers is here:
http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/speakers/
Biographical Information on Dr. Ellen Wagner:
Ellen Wagner is an independent learning industry analyst, strategist and solutions architect. Formerly the Director of worldwide elearning solutions for Adobe Systems, she had previously served as Senior Director of worldwide education solutions for Macromedia. Prior to that, she was chief learning officer for Viviance new education AG, an online elearning product and services provider. She also served as chief learning officer and vice president of consulting services with Informania, Inc. Ellen is a former tenured professor and chair of the educational technology program at the University of Northern Colorado, and project director with the WCET, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.
Ok, it is now time for the interview questions and her responses.
Curt: Q1. When was the first time you used a computer?
Ellen: 1974. A dumb terminal linked to a mainframe. I think sort of like what thin clients are like these days.
Curt: Q2. Do you ever purposeful try to stay away from technology? If yes, what do you do? (e.g., technology free weekends).
Ellen: It’s not that I stay away from technology – it’s almost impossible to do that anymore. Besides, I like my phone and my iPod, I take photos for fun and can lose hours while working on printing the images so that they are just right. But I do consciously avoid doing technology-mediated work on the weekend. Weekends are for engaging in the rest of my life.
Curt: Q3. Can you name a couple of unique ways that technology has affected your personal or professional life in a positive way? (e.g., online Flickr account, mobile learning, etc.)
Ellen: Well, sure - technology has provided me with a career! Actually, I suppose it was really a legal decision related to technology that paved the way for the long strange trip that I have been on these many years, rather than technology, per se. I got my Ph.D. 15 days before the Modification of Final Judgment (MFJ) went into effect back in 1984. The MFJ was the legal decision that broke up the AT&T monopoly. That was the event that provided the level playing field for new technology companies to enter into the data communications industries, which is what helped pave the way for innovations in computing, in telephony, in wireless communications, in broadband services, cable TV, and even the Internet. So my professional activities really started at a time when all of us had a shot at exploring this brave new world, exploring all kinds of new ways of engaging with each other that we’d never even thought about before. I actually had been hired for my first professional job at Mountain Bell a couple of weeks before the MFJ went into effect – I got laid off before I even started. I ended up taking an academic position at the institution where I had been working while I had been finishing my dissertation. Ended up staying there for 11 years before I moved to California to catch a ride on the next tech wave when the Internet privatized in 1995.
Only talking about 1984 really IS ancient history, I was probably even more affected by the Internet privatization in 1995, since that IS what kicked my career in high gear. People forget that you couldn’t get an email address unless you were doing bona fide research, or working on a government project. And of course, 2001, the year of the dot.com crash, after which I realized how important it is for learning professionals to understand the business environments in which we work. It also provided the catalyst for taking a look at the new social media that have now turned into “Web 2.0”.
Curt: Q4. If you had to look back and pick a year or event, when did your career in learning technologies take off and why?
Ellen: 1984 was a very very big year. I’ve already mentioned the Modification of Final Judgment, which opened the doors for the data communications and (micro) computer industries to really take off. January 1984 was the month that the Macintosh computer was introduced, which was a completely different way of dealing with personal computing than any of us had ever seen or even imagined before. If you want to get a sense of what a big deal it was, take a look at the video of Steve Jobs as he announces the anticipated release of the Macintosh computer, and how Apple computer was literally going to revolutionize the world. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSiQA6KKyJo
Also that year was the Cable Act of 1984, which gave cable providers a measure of parity with broadcasters from which the broadcast industry has never recovered. And of course that was the year that I started my tenure-track academic career at the University of Northern Colorado – when I magically transformed from a student to a professor.
But there have been so many other big events that have given me opportunities to morph and change and evolve. In 1994 I became an entrepreneur and small business owner –a huge learning curve for me. In 2000, I became the chief learning officer of an elearning company with offices in Europe and North America when my company was acquired. That was a wild experience. 2002 was the year I joined the solutions marketing team at Macromedia and found myself working as a senior director of education solutions at one of the most innovative technology companies of our industry. And here we are in 2008, as I take off on a whole new adventure as an industry analyst. I suspect that the best is yet to be.
Curt Q5: What is one thing happening in the world of e-learning that too few people know about?
Ellen: Most people involved in elearning have no idea that most of the world doesn’t have a clue what we are talking about. This is true even inside a company like Adobe, with products like Flash and Photoshop and Dreamweaver and Captivate that are de facto standards for creating interactive digital content for learning. I fear that sometimes the self-evident value of using technology to extend the walls of the classroom, or to create immersive experiences in virtual spaces, makes us less rigorous about ensuring that our elearning solutions are more than flashy displays of technological prowess. Until we can show that we are having a fundamental positive impact on how our enterprises are administered and how services are provided to our stakeholders, I fear that elearning will continue to live just outside the mainstream mission of most of our institutions and enterprises.
Curt Q6: What project(s) are you currently working on that has you most excited and why? Do you have any important publications on the horizon?
Ellen: Well, I collaborated on a report and wrote two articles on mobile learning. Right now I am working on a 3D web paper, as well as a couple of industry intelligence reports that my company will publish in the spring for our clients. Not sure how important they are going to be from a research perspective – I stopped worrying about publishing for promotion and tenure for years and years now, so my writing isn’t intended to provide any new theoretical insight or to demonstrate the tenability of a particular hypothesis. But I certainly hope they will be influential from a business intelligence perspective.
One of the things that has been very troubling to me is the degree to which people outside of the field of elearning do not take elearning very seriously. And the reason they don’t is that elearning does not tend to be viewed as a strategic investment that makes a difference to the health and well-being of an enterprise. They don’t understand that elearning isn’t just an interactive online course that lives inside an LMS. People also don’t seem to understand that elearning isn’t a product, but that it is a professional practice that leverages technology in the service of teaching, learning, and performance support.
In my world view, elearning is so much more than the tools used to produce the content that enable the experiences through which learning takes place. And so, right now my writing is focused on exploring and articulating the value proposition that elearning can bring to individuals and enterprises. And so now you have a better idea of why I am so focused these days on “minding the gaps” between the epistemological frameworks that so often end up becoming knowledge silos.
Curt Q7: What is the most interesting place you have ever presented and why?
Ellen: Why, the ELEARN conference in 2004, of course! I do remember that the conference was quite good, and I was comfortable with the presentation I gave. But what made the event the most memorable for me was that I arrived in Washington DC for the conference the morning after the last Presidential election. There were lots of people who had voted for the guy who won who were doing high–fives on the people movers at Dulles. As someone who had voted for the other guy, it was very depressing. Will be interested to see how things are at this year’s ELEARN, just a little more than two weeks after this year’s Presidential election.
Curt Q8: Tell us one thing people do not know about you.
Ellen: It’s a secret...I’m really 5’3” and blonde. Just kidding.
Curt Q9: What are your hobbies?
Ellen: I am a manic gardener. One of the great things about where I live in California is that the climate is great for growing just about anything you can think of. This year I had 20 different varieties of tomatoes, 8 kinds of peppers, watermelons, honeydews, and cantaloupes, six varieties of cukes, peas, beans, zukes, eggplants, tomatillos, onions. We also have fruit trees – apples, pears, figs, lemons, oranges, limes, avocados, plums. Just enough to be able to walk around the yard just about any time of the year and find something to munch on. I grow so darn much stuff I’ve have to learn how to can and preserve and roast and freeze and dry the food that I grow so it won’t go to waste. One of my software executive friends who is a fellow food preserver has created a blog about our adventures in canning called “Can you Preserve.” I do often end up taking boxes of produce down to San Francisco for my friends who live in the “fog belt” and can’t grow their own.
Curt Q11: Can you send any photos, pictures, visuals, etc. (with captions) that illustrate any of your answers that we can use in your introduction?
Ellen: Pictures will be coming in separate emails. See above and below.
Before I get to the interview, let me also note that the E-Learn Conference now has a blog wherein we will document key conference activities. The program co-chairs (Dr. Tom Reynolds from National University, Dr. Mimi Miyoung Lee from the University of Houston, and myself) as well as invited and keynote speakers will be posting there. Check it out now and again next week during the conference which runs from November 17 to 21, 2008. This will be a great time. You can still sign up! We will setting an all-time attendance record for E-Learn.
An Interview with Dr. Ellen Wagner
Principal Analyst, Sonoma Partners LLP, USA
Keynote at the E-Learn Conference in Las Vegas, November, 2008
Information on her keynote: http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/speakers/wagner2.htm
Information on all keynote and invited speakers is here:
http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/speakers/
Biographical Information on Dr. Ellen Wagner:
Ellen Wagner is an independent learning industry analyst, strategist and solutions architect. Formerly the Director of worldwide elearning solutions for Adobe Systems, she had previously served as Senior Director of worldwide education solutions for Macromedia. Prior to that, she was chief learning officer for Viviance new education AG, an online elearning product and services provider. She also served as chief learning officer and vice president of consulting services with Informania, Inc. Ellen is a former tenured professor and chair of the educational technology program at the University of Northern Colorado, and project director with the WCET, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.
Ok, it is now time for the interview questions and her responses.
Curt: Q1. When was the first time you used a computer?
Ellen: 1974. A dumb terminal linked to a mainframe. I think sort of like what thin clients are like these days.
Curt: Q2. Do you ever purposeful try to stay away from technology? If yes, what do you do? (e.g., technology free weekends).
Ellen: It’s not that I stay away from technology – it’s almost impossible to do that anymore. Besides, I like my phone and my iPod, I take photos for fun and can lose hours while working on printing the images so that they are just right. But I do consciously avoid doing technology-mediated work on the weekend. Weekends are for engaging in the rest of my life.
Curt: Q3. Can you name a couple of unique ways that technology has affected your personal or professional life in a positive way? (e.g., online Flickr account, mobile learning, etc.)
Ellen: Well, sure - technology has provided me with a career! Actually, I suppose it was really a legal decision related to technology that paved the way for the long strange trip that I have been on these many years, rather than technology, per se. I got my Ph.D. 15 days before the Modification of Final Judgment (MFJ) went into effect back in 1984. The MFJ was the legal decision that broke up the AT&T monopoly. That was the event that provided the level playing field for new technology companies to enter into the data communications industries, which is what helped pave the way for innovations in computing, in telephony, in wireless communications, in broadband services, cable TV, and even the Internet. So my professional activities really started at a time when all of us had a shot at exploring this brave new world, exploring all kinds of new ways of engaging with each other that we’d never even thought about before. I actually had been hired for my first professional job at Mountain Bell a couple of weeks before the MFJ went into effect – I got laid off before I even started. I ended up taking an academic position at the institution where I had been working while I had been finishing my dissertation. Ended up staying there for 11 years before I moved to California to catch a ride on the next tech wave when the Internet privatized in 1995.
Only talking about 1984 really IS ancient history, I was probably even more affected by the Internet privatization in 1995, since that IS what kicked my career in high gear. People forget that you couldn’t get an email address unless you were doing bona fide research, or working on a government project. And of course, 2001, the year of the dot.com crash, after which I realized how important it is for learning professionals to understand the business environments in which we work. It also provided the catalyst for taking a look at the new social media that have now turned into “Web 2.0”.
Curt: Q4. If you had to look back and pick a year or event, when did your career in learning technologies take off and why?
Ellen: 1984 was a very very big year. I’ve already mentioned the Modification of Final Judgment, which opened the doors for the data communications and (micro) computer industries to really take off. January 1984 was the month that the Macintosh computer was introduced, which was a completely different way of dealing with personal computing than any of us had ever seen or even imagined before. If you want to get a sense of what a big deal it was, take a look at the video of Steve Jobs as he announces the anticipated release of the Macintosh computer, and how Apple computer was literally going to revolutionize the world. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSiQA6KKyJo
Also that year was the Cable Act of 1984, which gave cable providers a measure of parity with broadcasters from which the broadcast industry has never recovered. And of course that was the year that I started my tenure-track academic career at the University of Northern Colorado – when I magically transformed from a student to a professor.
But there have been so many other big events that have given me opportunities to morph and change and evolve. In 1994 I became an entrepreneur and small business owner –a huge learning curve for me. In 2000, I became the chief learning officer of an elearning company with offices in Europe and North America when my company was acquired. That was a wild experience. 2002 was the year I joined the solutions marketing team at Macromedia and found myself working as a senior director of education solutions at one of the most innovative technology companies of our industry. And here we are in 2008, as I take off on a whole new adventure as an industry analyst. I suspect that the best is yet to be.
Curt Q5: What is one thing happening in the world of e-learning that too few people know about?
Ellen: Most people involved in elearning have no idea that most of the world doesn’t have a clue what we are talking about. This is true even inside a company like Adobe, with products like Flash and Photoshop and Dreamweaver and Captivate that are de facto standards for creating interactive digital content for learning. I fear that sometimes the self-evident value of using technology to extend the walls of the classroom, or to create immersive experiences in virtual spaces, makes us less rigorous about ensuring that our elearning solutions are more than flashy displays of technological prowess. Until we can show that we are having a fundamental positive impact on how our enterprises are administered and how services are provided to our stakeholders, I fear that elearning will continue to live just outside the mainstream mission of most of our institutions and enterprises.
Curt Q6: What project(s) are you currently working on that has you most excited and why? Do you have any important publications on the horizon?
Ellen: Well, I collaborated on a report and wrote two articles on mobile learning. Right now I am working on a 3D web paper, as well as a couple of industry intelligence reports that my company will publish in the spring for our clients. Not sure how important they are going to be from a research perspective – I stopped worrying about publishing for promotion and tenure for years and years now, so my writing isn’t intended to provide any new theoretical insight or to demonstrate the tenability of a particular hypothesis. But I certainly hope they will be influential from a business intelligence perspective.
One of the things that has been very troubling to me is the degree to which people outside of the field of elearning do not take elearning very seriously. And the reason they don’t is that elearning does not tend to be viewed as a strategic investment that makes a difference to the health and well-being of an enterprise. They don’t understand that elearning isn’t just an interactive online course that lives inside an LMS. People also don’t seem to understand that elearning isn’t a product, but that it is a professional practice that leverages technology in the service of teaching, learning, and performance support.
In my world view, elearning is so much more than the tools used to produce the content that enable the experiences through which learning takes place. And so, right now my writing is focused on exploring and articulating the value proposition that elearning can bring to individuals and enterprises. And so now you have a better idea of why I am so focused these days on “minding the gaps” between the epistemological frameworks that so often end up becoming knowledge silos.
Curt Q7: What is the most interesting place you have ever presented and why?
Ellen: Why, the ELEARN conference in 2004, of course! I do remember that the conference was quite good, and I was comfortable with the presentation I gave. But what made the event the most memorable for me was that I arrived in Washington DC for the conference the morning after the last Presidential election. There were lots of people who had voted for the guy who won who were doing high–fives on the people movers at Dulles. As someone who had voted for the other guy, it was very depressing. Will be interested to see how things are at this year’s ELEARN, just a little more than two weeks after this year’s Presidential election.
Curt Q8: Tell us one thing people do not know about you.
Ellen: It’s a secret...I’m really 5’3” and blonde. Just kidding.
Curt Q9: What are your hobbies?
Ellen: I am a manic gardener. One of the great things about where I live in California is that the climate is great for growing just about anything you can think of. This year I had 20 different varieties of tomatoes, 8 kinds of peppers, watermelons, honeydews, and cantaloupes, six varieties of cukes, peas, beans, zukes, eggplants, tomatillos, onions. We also have fruit trees – apples, pears, figs, lemons, oranges, limes, avocados, plums. Just enough to be able to walk around the yard just about any time of the year and find something to munch on. I grow so darn much stuff I’ve have to learn how to can and preserve and roast and freeze and dry the food that I grow so it won’t go to waste. One of my software executive friends who is a fellow food preserver has created a blog about our adventures in canning called “Can you Preserve.” I do often end up taking boxes of produce down to San Francisco for my friends who live in the “fog belt” and can’t grow their own.
Curt Q11: Can you send any photos, pictures, visuals, etc. (with captions) that illustrate any of your answers that we can use in your introduction?
Ellen: Pictures will be coming in separate emails. See above and below.
Friday 31 October 2008
A Halloween Treat: Another Free Online Conference + Lots of Paid Ones
Of course, once you post a couple of free online conferences, more immediately appear. Here is one that Nellie Deustch just informed me of. It is called Connecting Online 2009 and will be held February 6-8, 2009. Looks they are using Ning to coordinate this. I will be presenting my "World is Open" talk sometime during it. You might participate in it as well.
And today my good friend, Gilly Salmon from the University of Leicester in the UK, informed me of the Learning Futures Festival 2009, November 11-December 19, 2008. This is part of her Beyond Distance Research Alliance. While this one is not free, it is still worth noting since they will have many synchronous events during the coming couple of months prior to their live conference in Leceister in January. The face-to-face event is Thursday January 9th, 2009 in Leicester. I have presented at their conference in January 2006 and January 2007 and know it is quite an engaging and interesting event. Gilly is always filled with creative ideas and activities.
Gilly also sent me a note about the World Future 2009 Conference in Chicago July 17-19, 2009. This looks cool.
Oh by the way, next week, I am doing a preconference workshop at the Sloan-C ALN (Asynchronous Learning Networks) Conference in Orlando on Wednesday November 5th. This workshop will include info on blended learning activities and models as well as dozens of activities related to both my R2D2 model for online learning and my TEC-VARIETY model for online motivation and retention. More importantly, the following day, I will be the plenary speaker. I will present on my upcoming World is Open book. I think they said some 1,300 people were already signed up for it.
Also in Orlando next week is the annual AECT (Association for Educational Curriculum and Technology) Conference. AECT is extremely popular with my graduate students. I plan to pop in there. It is the conference for my department and field at the present time. Attendance has dropped, however, during the past decade or two as other conferences have emerged. Of course this past week, the Educause Conference was held in Orlando as was Elliott Masie's Learn 2008 Conference. Is Orlando the destination for everyone in October and November?
At the end of the week, I will keynote the Illinois School Library Media Association (ISLMA) Conference in Arlington Heights on the north side of Chicago. The keynote will be my old Perfect E-storm talk, recently updated and enhanced. The following day, I will speak on digital literacy.
Remember November 17-21 is the E-Learn Conference in Las Vegas! This is the best one of all! Attendance records already set. You can add to that!
That is it for the conference scene for now. I am sure this will be both tiring and fun. It is exhausting just thinking about. Anyway, enjoy the show! Perhaps I will see you at one of these events. And please say hi if you see me. Even if it is just in the airport going through stupid pet tricks in security lines. Smile!
And Happy Halloween everyone! Oh, if you have not seen "Zombies in Plain English" from Lee Lefever at Common Craft, now is your chance. You can go to the Common Craft website or YouTube. This is a year old. I sure hope they post a new one this year!
And today my good friend, Gilly Salmon from the University of Leicester in the UK, informed me of the Learning Futures Festival 2009, November 11-December 19, 2008. This is part of her Beyond Distance Research Alliance. While this one is not free, it is still worth noting since they will have many synchronous events during the coming couple of months prior to their live conference in Leceister in January. The face-to-face event is Thursday January 9th, 2009 in Leicester. I have presented at their conference in January 2006 and January 2007 and know it is quite an engaging and interesting event. Gilly is always filled with creative ideas and activities.
Gilly also sent me a note about the World Future 2009 Conference in Chicago July 17-19, 2009. This looks cool.
Oh by the way, next week, I am doing a preconference workshop at the Sloan-C ALN (Asynchronous Learning Networks) Conference in Orlando on Wednesday November 5th. This workshop will include info on blended learning activities and models as well as dozens of activities related to both my R2D2 model for online learning and my TEC-VARIETY model for online motivation and retention. More importantly, the following day, I will be the plenary speaker. I will present on my upcoming World is Open book. I think they said some 1,300 people were already signed up for it.
Also in Orlando next week is the annual AECT (Association for Educational Curriculum and Technology) Conference. AECT is extremely popular with my graduate students. I plan to pop in there. It is the conference for my department and field at the present time. Attendance has dropped, however, during the past decade or two as other conferences have emerged. Of course this past week, the Educause Conference was held in Orlando as was Elliott Masie's Learn 2008 Conference. Is Orlando the destination for everyone in October and November?
At the end of the week, I will keynote the Illinois School Library Media Association (ISLMA) Conference in Arlington Heights on the north side of Chicago. The keynote will be my old Perfect E-storm talk, recently updated and enhanced. The following day, I will speak on digital literacy.
Remember November 17-21 is the E-Learn Conference in Las Vegas! This is the best one of all! Attendance records already set. You can add to that!
That is it for the conference scene for now. I am sure this will be both tiring and fun. It is exhausting just thinking about. Anyway, enjoy the show! Perhaps I will see you at one of these events. And please say hi if you see me. Even if it is just in the airport going through stupid pet tricks in security lines. Smile!
And Happy Halloween everyone! Oh, if you have not seen "Zombies in Plain English" from Lee Lefever at Common Craft, now is your chance. You can go to the Common Craft website or YouTube. This is a year old. I sure hope they post a new one this year!
Tuesday 28 October 2008
Can We Say FREE Online Conferences and Learning Events?
Hey there. Many free online events coming up in November. I must let you know about them.
1. If you are not attending E-Learn, you might attend this conference for free which my friends Jay Cross and George Siemens are running: Corporate Learning Trends and Innovations 2008, November 17-21, 2008, http://www.learntrends.com/. It is FREE!!!!!!!!!! Funny, George is an invited speaker at E-Learn in Las Vegas at the same time. With online conferences, you can do more than one conference at a time.
2. And the week before, you might attend this US-China virtual symposium on November 11-13: http://tel.coas.drexel.edu/conference/demo/index.html. This is being run by Drexel University. It is FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3. GLOBAL E-COLLABORATION ONLINE PANELS: A WEBINAR SERIES
SPONSORED BY IGI GLOBAL AND ELLUMINATE EVENTS. Per the editor, Janet Salmons (http://www.vision2lead.com), “Online collaboration is transforming the way we work together. Whether partnering across organizations or teaming within organizations, people collaborate online to accomplish shared goals. To gain new understandings of these changes, researchers are exploring new collaborative practices and their impacts. The forthcoming IGI publication, a Handbook of Research on Electronic Collaboration and Organizational Synergy, presents a diverse collection of these studies.” There will be 3 free Elluminate events moderated by the book editors, Janet Salmons, and Lynn Wilson, will moderate the panels. After the events, the archives will be online at http://www.elluminate.com/recorded_events_request.jsp. For more on the Handbook of Research on Electronic Collaboration and Organizational Synergy, coming soon from IGI Global, see: http://www.igi-global.com/reference/details.asp?id=8003 or go to Janet’s blog: Site- http://www.vision2lead.com.
a. October 29: 3 PM EST. ELECTRONIC COLLABORATION WITHIN AND ACROSS ORGANIZATIONS Register at: https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/event/description?instance_id=13285 Niki Lambropoulos , London South Bank University, UK ; Panagiotis Kampylis,University of Jyväskylä, Finland; Sofia Papadimitriou, Teacher, Athens Ingo Frost, Pumacy Technologies AG, Germany
b. November 6: 4 PM EST. STUDYING ELECTRONIC COLLABORATION: RESEARCH, THEORIES AND METHODS. Register at: https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/event/description?instance_id=13286; Frances Deepwell and Virginia King, Coventry University, United Kingdom; Kenneth Strang, Central Queensland University, Australia; Sandra Chrystal, Marshall School of Business University of Southern California, USA
c. November 12: 3 PM EST, INTERNATIONAL, CROSS-CULTURAL ELECTRONIC COLLABORATION, Register at: https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/event/description?instance_id=13288; Andre L. Araujo, College of William & Mary, USA; Tine Köhler, George Mason University, USA; Kathy Lynch, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia; Aleksej Heinze, Salford University, England and Elsje Scott, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Finally, there is a technology conference for school leaders this week (October 28-30) in Seattle. NSBA's T+L Conference. http://www.iqinnovations.org/educational-technology/ and http://www.nsba.org/t+l/About/. Teresa Berry asked that I mention it so I am. This one is not free or online, however. You have to be there.
Anyway, it seems much choice in your learning pursuits at the end of October and throughout November. It is good to have options. It is even better when those options involve nontraditional forms of learning. We all learn. Jay, Janet, George, the folks from Drexel, and others are making is available to you. They are pushing education ahead in the 21st century. Learn from them! Yes, learn from them for FREE!!!!!!!!! The world needs more such events and people.
Remember to come to E-Learn in Las Vegas November 17-21 (see http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/). See you there!
I forgot to mention that submissions for ED-MEDIA 2009 in Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii is June 22-26, 2009. It is a sister conference to E-Learn and also run by the wonderful people at AACE. Your proposals are due December 19th. That is coming up!
1. If you are not attending E-Learn, you might attend this conference for free which my friends Jay Cross and George Siemens are running: Corporate Learning Trends and Innovations 2008, November 17-21, 2008, http://www.learntrends.com/. It is FREE!!!!!!!!!! Funny, George is an invited speaker at E-Learn in Las Vegas at the same time. With online conferences, you can do more than one conference at a time.
2. And the week before, you might attend this US-China virtual symposium on November 11-13: http://tel.coas.drexel.edu/conference/demo/index.html. This is being run by Drexel University. It is FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3. GLOBAL E-COLLABORATION ONLINE PANELS: A WEBINAR SERIES
SPONSORED BY IGI GLOBAL AND ELLUMINATE EVENTS. Per the editor, Janet Salmons (http://www.vision2lead.com), “Online collaboration is transforming the way we work together. Whether partnering across organizations or teaming within organizations, people collaborate online to accomplish shared goals. To gain new understandings of these changes, researchers are exploring new collaborative practices and their impacts. The forthcoming IGI publication, a Handbook of Research on Electronic Collaboration and Organizational Synergy, presents a diverse collection of these studies.” There will be 3 free Elluminate events moderated by the book editors, Janet Salmons, and Lynn Wilson, will moderate the panels. After the events, the archives will be online at http://www.elluminate.com/recorded_events_request.jsp. For more on the Handbook of Research on Electronic Collaboration and Organizational Synergy, coming soon from IGI Global, see: http://www.igi-global.com/reference/details.asp?id=8003 or go to Janet’s blog: Site- http://www.vision2lead.com.
a. October 29: 3 PM EST. ELECTRONIC COLLABORATION WITHIN AND ACROSS ORGANIZATIONS Register at: https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/event/description?instance_id=13285 Niki Lambropoulos , London South Bank University, UK ; Panagiotis Kampylis,University of Jyväskylä, Finland; Sofia Papadimitriou, Teacher, Athens Ingo Frost, Pumacy Technologies AG, Germany
b. November 6: 4 PM EST. STUDYING ELECTRONIC COLLABORATION: RESEARCH, THEORIES AND METHODS. Register at: https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/event/description?instance_id=13286; Frances Deepwell and Virginia King, Coventry University, United Kingdom; Kenneth Strang, Central Queensland University, Australia; Sandra Chrystal, Marshall School of Business University of Southern California, USA
c. November 12: 3 PM EST, INTERNATIONAL, CROSS-CULTURAL ELECTRONIC COLLABORATION, Register at: https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/event/description?instance_id=13288; Andre L. Araujo, College of William & Mary, USA; Tine Köhler, George Mason University, USA; Kathy Lynch, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia; Aleksej Heinze, Salford University, England and Elsje Scott, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Finally, there is a technology conference for school leaders this week (October 28-30) in Seattle. NSBA's T+L Conference. http://www.iqinnovations.org/educational-technology/ and http://www.nsba.org/t+l/About/. Teresa Berry asked that I mention it so I am. This one is not free or online, however. You have to be there.
Anyway, it seems much choice in your learning pursuits at the end of October and throughout November. It is good to have options. It is even better when those options involve nontraditional forms of learning. We all learn. Jay, Janet, George, the folks from Drexel, and others are making is available to you. They are pushing education ahead in the 21st century. Learn from them! Yes, learn from them for FREE!!!!!!!!! The world needs more such events and people.
Remember to come to E-Learn in Las Vegas November 17-21 (see http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/). See you there!
I forgot to mention that submissions for ED-MEDIA 2009 in Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii is June 22-26, 2009. It is a sister conference to E-Learn and also run by the wonderful people at AACE. Your proposals are due December 19th. That is coming up!
Monday 27 October 2008
E-Learn Conference Speaker Tidbits: Come to Vegas Next Month!
I am program co-chair for the E-Learn Conference in Las Vegas November 17-21. This is coming up fast! I am helping run a preconference symposium for on e-learning in Asia with 12 speakers from 12 different countries. This should be cool! See below an email we sent out last week which has some interesting details about the conference keynote and invited speakers.
Dear Colleagues:
E-Learn 2008: http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn
Keynote/Invited Speakers: http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/speakers
You are invited to the most unique e-learning conference ever held. This promises to be one of the most interesting and engaging conferences you could ever attend. Not surprisingly, the E-Learn Conference has already surpassed its record for registrants!
10 Facts about E-Learn Keynote/Invited Speakers;
Attend E-Learn and Learn More from These Speakers
This Speaker:
1. Led the efforts to create an internationally known online repository called Connexions that is used by millions of people each year. In 2006, he gave a talk on open source learning at famous TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) Conference in Monterey, California just prior to singer Peter Gabriel. Come get “Connexted.”
2. Is developing innovative learning applications for the iPhone. For more than two decades, he has been one of the most engaging and entertaining presenters on the planet. Come hear his invited talk with his colleague from Texas that promises to start the E-Learn Conference off with a bang and be disruptive to K-20 education as we know it!
3. Taught her entire class last fall in YouTube; come hear the results!
4. Developed a new learning theory called 'Connectivism' and is now teaching a class on it with 2,000 participants, only a few of whom are actually enrolled in the course.
5. Helped start the field of learning objects and is on the advisory of the Peer 2 Peer University announced today in the Chronicle of Higher Education. This invited presenter is also the world’s first Chief Openness Officer (COO) at Flat World Knowledge.
6. Created a popular podcast show for learning Mandarin that is currently listened to by more than 300,000 people per month. Not only is he the voice of ChinesePod, but he also has started similar podcasts for teaching English, Spanish, Italian, and French. The invited talk from this Irishman from Shanghai is certain to be quite fascinating!
7. Became famous a few years ago after translating Lord of Rings to Chinese. He then used his royalties to translate MIT courses to traditional and simplified Chinese. This month, he is on the cover of a Taiwanese magazine as a symbol of the current generation. He will tell about his vision for the future of open education and edutainment.
8. Authored several online learning books and is an internationally known consultant with IBM Global Services.
9. Will be speaking to us from a sailboat off the coast of Central America. Yes, at E-Learn, we plan to make some waves this year!
10. Co-authored the 2000 National Academy Press volume How People Learn and is now Director of the Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning which has just received an NSF grant on mobile learning.
E-Learning in Asia Preconference Symposium:
http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/symposium2008.htm
-------------------------------------------------
To add to the conference experience, the E-Learn 2008 Program Chairs would like to invite you to the E-Learning in Asia Symposium that has been added to the already excellent program.
Monday, November 17th; 8:30 am-4:45 pm with a special reception: 5-6 pm
This 1-day, preconference Symposium will feature 12 invited speakers from 12 different countries giving their perspectives and insight into the E-Learning environment, trends, and opportunities. E-learning is exploding in Asia. This is your chance to learn from those who have been developing, delivering, and researching new online programs there. Meet them all and hear their stories, challenges, opportunities, and adventures firsthand. It promises to be a highly interactive and informative event!
Included in the symposium will be a continental breakfast, beverage breaks, lunch, and a reception following the event. Cost: $165.
If you already have registered for E-Learn 2008, you may add this one day Symposium by contacting Tracy Jacobs (business@aace.org). She can add the event to your existing registration. Or until Nov. 3, you still can register online for the Conference and Symposium at: http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/registration
Best regards,
Curtis J. Bonk, Mimi Miyoung Lee, and Tom Reynolds
E-Learn 2008 Program Chairs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To be added to the mailing list for this conference, link
to http://www.aace.org/info.htm
If you already have registered for E-Learn 2008, you may add this one day Symposium by contacting Tracy Jacobs (business@aace.org).
Contact:
AACE--Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education
P.O. Box 1545
Chesapeake, Virginia 23327 USA
Phone: 757-366-5606 * Fax: 703-997-8760
E-mail: conf@aace.org * http://www.AACE.org
Dear Colleagues:
E-Learn 2008: http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn
Keynote/Invited Speakers: http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/speakers
You are invited to the most unique e-learning conference ever held. This promises to be one of the most interesting and engaging conferences you could ever attend. Not surprisingly, the E-Learn Conference has already surpassed its record for registrants!
10 Facts about E-Learn Keynote/Invited Speakers;
Attend E-Learn and Learn More from These Speakers
This Speaker:
1. Led the efforts to create an internationally known online repository called Connexions that is used by millions of people each year. In 2006, he gave a talk on open source learning at famous TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) Conference in Monterey, California just prior to singer Peter Gabriel. Come get “Connexted.”
2. Is developing innovative learning applications for the iPhone. For more than two decades, he has been one of the most engaging and entertaining presenters on the planet. Come hear his invited talk with his colleague from Texas that promises to start the E-Learn Conference off with a bang and be disruptive to K-20 education as we know it!
3. Taught her entire class last fall in YouTube; come hear the results!
4. Developed a new learning theory called 'Connectivism' and is now teaching a class on it with 2,000 participants, only a few of whom are actually enrolled in the course.
5. Helped start the field of learning objects and is on the advisory of the Peer 2 Peer University announced today in the Chronicle of Higher Education. This invited presenter is also the world’s first Chief Openness Officer (COO) at Flat World Knowledge.
6. Created a popular podcast show for learning Mandarin that is currently listened to by more than 300,000 people per month. Not only is he the voice of ChinesePod, but he also has started similar podcasts for teaching English, Spanish, Italian, and French. The invited talk from this Irishman from Shanghai is certain to be quite fascinating!
7. Became famous a few years ago after translating Lord of Rings to Chinese. He then used his royalties to translate MIT courses to traditional and simplified Chinese. This month, he is on the cover of a Taiwanese magazine as a symbol of the current generation. He will tell about his vision for the future of open education and edutainment.
8. Authored several online learning books and is an internationally known consultant with IBM Global Services.
9. Will be speaking to us from a sailboat off the coast of Central America. Yes, at E-Learn, we plan to make some waves this year!
10. Co-authored the 2000 National Academy Press volume How People Learn and is now Director of the Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning which has just received an NSF grant on mobile learning.
E-Learning in Asia Preconference Symposium:
http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/symposium2008.htm
-------------------------------------------------
To add to the conference experience, the E-Learn 2008 Program Chairs would like to invite you to the E-Learning in Asia Symposium that has been added to the already excellent program.
Monday, November 17th; 8:30 am-4:45 pm with a special reception: 5-6 pm
This 1-day, preconference Symposium will feature 12 invited speakers from 12 different countries giving their perspectives and insight into the E-Learning environment, trends, and opportunities. E-learning is exploding in Asia. This is your chance to learn from those who have been developing, delivering, and researching new online programs there. Meet them all and hear their stories, challenges, opportunities, and adventures firsthand. It promises to be a highly interactive and informative event!
Included in the symposium will be a continental breakfast, beverage breaks, lunch, and a reception following the event. Cost: $165.
If you already have registered for E-Learn 2008, you may add this one day Symposium by contacting Tracy Jacobs (business@aace.org). She can add the event to your existing registration. Or until Nov. 3, you still can register online for the Conference and Symposium at: http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/registration
Best regards,
Curtis J. Bonk, Mimi Miyoung Lee, and Tom Reynolds
E-Learn 2008 Program Chairs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To be added to the mailing list for this conference, link
to http://www.aace.org/info.htm
If you already have registered for E-Learn 2008, you may add this one day Symposium by contacting Tracy Jacobs (business@aace.org).
Contact:
AACE--Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education
P.O. Box 1545
Chesapeake, Virginia 23327 USA
Phone: 757-366-5606 * Fax: 703-997-8760
E-mail: conf@aace.org * http://www.AACE.org
New Report from Apple and the Economist on the Future of Higher Education and How Technology will Reshape It
Breaking news! Every day there is new stuff.
This new report will be a good link to my World is Open book which will be published by Jossey Bass/Wily in June. I am now building an associated website and companion e-book. This new report is coming out from Economist Magazine and Apple Computer today (based on responses from nearly 300 corporate CIOs and technology leaders)--these execs will hopefully be interested in my book; especially those reading Friedman's "World is Flat book. The thrust is how technology is reshaping higher education in the next 5 or so years.
The Report: http://www.nmc.org/pdf/Future-of-Higher-Ed-(NMC).pdf
The Associated Press Release: http://www.nmc.org/pdf/NMC-Economist-Study-PR.pdf
Of course, we all know this. Still I think it is important enough to share. They are not telling us anything new. There are questions on tool use, online learning, technology training, and technology affecting degree offerings. See below for more details.
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2008 4:08 PM
To: Bonk, Curtis Jay
Subject: Report on technology & higher education
FYI.............
Today the NMC is releasing a new white paper, produced in conjunction with the
Economist Magazine and in collaboration with Apple, Inc. The paper, entitled
"The Future of Higher Education: How Technology will Shape Learning" reports
the results of a study of nearly 300 CIOs and technology leaders inside and
outside of education.
The report, being released today at a special CIO Roundtable hosted by Apple in
conjunction with Apple, is free-of-charge, and is being released with a
Creative Commons Attribution license and may be freely copied in its 32-page
entirety.
The study was designed to uncover perceptions among these leaders specifically
related to the use of technology in higher education worldwide in the coming
years.
The effort, designed by the NMC and conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit
in July and August 2008, included responses from 289 participants: 189 responses
came from higher education and 100 came from companies. The US accounted for
slightly over one-half (154) of all respondents, with the remainder distributed
through Europe (69), Asia-Pacific (43) and the rest of the world (23).
Additionally12 telephone interviews were held with a mix of university chief
information officers and leaders in the private sector.
NMC Platinum Partner, Apple, Inc, plans a series of these CIO Roundtables to
further discuss the implications of the report and to expand awareness of its
findings in the field.
To download the report, visit
http://www.nmc.org/pdf/Future-of-Higher-Ed-(NMC).pdf (32 pp, 1.4 Mb, PDF)
To view the official press release, see
http://www.nmc.org/pdf/NMC-Economist-Study-PR.pdf (2 pp, 272 K, PDF)
Please join me in thanking the Economist Magazine and Apple, Inc. for their
roles in this collaboration. Hope you find the report useful!
Larry Johnson
Chief Executive Officer
This new report will be a good link to my World is Open book which will be published by Jossey Bass/Wily in June. I am now building an associated website and companion e-book. This new report is coming out from Economist Magazine and Apple Computer today (based on responses from nearly 300 corporate CIOs and technology leaders)--these execs will hopefully be interested in my book; especially those reading Friedman's "World is Flat book. The thrust is how technology is reshaping higher education in the next 5 or so years.
The Report: http://www.nmc.org/pdf/Future-of-Higher-Ed-(NMC).pdf
The Associated Press Release: http://www.nmc.org/pdf/NMC-Economist-Study-PR.pdf
Of course, we all know this. Still I think it is important enough to share. They are not telling us anything new. There are questions on tool use, online learning, technology training, and technology affecting degree offerings. See below for more details.
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2008 4:08 PM
To: Bonk, Curtis Jay
Subject: Report on technology & higher education
FYI.............
Today the NMC is releasing a new white paper, produced in conjunction with the
Economist Magazine and in collaboration with Apple, Inc. The paper, entitled
"The Future of Higher Education: How Technology will Shape Learning" reports
the results of a study of nearly 300 CIOs and technology leaders inside and
outside of education.
The report, being released today at a special CIO Roundtable hosted by Apple in
conjunction with Apple, is free-of-charge, and is being released with a
Creative Commons Attribution license and may be freely copied in its 32-page
entirety.
The study was designed to uncover perceptions among these leaders specifically
related to the use of technology in higher education worldwide in the coming
years.
The effort, designed by the NMC and conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit
in July and August 2008, included responses from 289 participants: 189 responses
came from higher education and 100 came from companies. The US accounted for
slightly over one-half (154) of all respondents, with the remainder distributed
through Europe (69), Asia-Pacific (43) and the rest of the world (23).
Additionally12 telephone interviews were held with a mix of university chief
information officers and leaders in the private sector.
NMC Platinum Partner, Apple, Inc, plans a series of these CIO Roundtables to
further discuss the implications of the report and to expand awareness of its
findings in the field.
To download the report, visit
http://www.nmc.org/pdf/Future-of-Higher-Ed-(NMC).pdf (32 pp, 1.4 Mb, PDF)
To view the official press release, see
http://www.nmc.org/pdf/NMC-Economist-Study-PR.pdf (2 pp, 272 K, PDF)
Please join me in thanking the Economist Magazine and Apple, Inc. for their
roles in this collaboration. Hope you find the report useful!
Larry Johnson
Chief Executive Officer
Saturday 4 October 2008
Another book that's "Opening Up Education" some more
In my prior post, I mentioned that I have a book in press for next June or July with the main title of "The World is Open." I am aware that there is an edited book from MIT Press that covers similar topics to my book though is more academic in nature than my book. It is also focused more on open courseware, open educational resources, and open source software which are just 3 of the 10 trends of my book.
I met the editors of this book back in late March 2007 during a conference at Rice University that the Hewlett Foundation had sponsored for the grantees of the strand related to open educational resources. At the time, it seemed the editors were chatting about their book and I was having a beer listening to some of the interesting conversation. I was sitting next to them at the hotel pub and I asked them what they were talking about. They told me about their book project and I told them about my mine. The people sitting next to me were: Toru Iiyoshi who is Senior Scholar and Director of the Knowledge Media Lab at the Carnegie Foundation and M. S. Vijay Kumar who is Senior Associate Dean and Director of the Office of Educational Innovation and Technology at MIT.
What I found out was that they were hard at work on editing a groundbreaking book related to open education while I had been thinking about an edited book myself that extended Thomas Friedman's World is Flat book to education. In fact, I had a proposal in review for such an edited book of people who were heroes, gurus, and revolutionaries of the shared Internet. However, earlier that month in Tampa, Florida I met with a small book publisher who had a recent book out called "The World is Flat?" He convinced me to write the book myself and not do an edited book. So I did. I spent a year in near seclusion without any TV, international travel, beer, friends, etc. and I wrote it up.
It is now fully a year and one-half later. Funny, 18 months later and their book is out and mine is now in review. Still, I think back in March 2007 they were already collecting chapters and I had yet to start writing (that would come 3 months later). And my book may become 2 books--a hardcover one with Jossey Bass/Wiley and a free e-book. The tentative full title is: "The World Is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education." Yes, we have entered a revolution in learning.
The title of their new book is:
“Opening Up Education: The Collective Advancement of Education through Open Technology, Open Content, and Open Knowledge."
It is both a free e-book (available as a PDF) as well as available in hardcover.
A few of the contributors to this book include:
1. Richard Baraniuk, Professor and Founder of Connexions at Rice University.
2. Trent Batson, Communications Strategist in MIT's Office of Educational Innovation and Technology and Editor of Campus Technology.
3. John Seely Brown, Chief of Confusion.
4. Tom Carey, Professor of Management Sciences in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo and Program Director of the MERLOT ELIXR program.
5. James Dalziel Director of the LAMS Foundation and Professor of Learning Technology and Director of the Macquarie E-Learning Centre Of Excellence (MELCOE) at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.
6. Bernadine Chuck Fong, president emerita of Foothill College and a visiting scholar at Stanford University.
7. Gerard Hanley, Executive Director of MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching) and Senior Director for Academic Technology Services for the California State University.
8. Diana Laurillard Chair of Learning with Digital Technologies in the School of Mathematics, Science and Technology from the London Knowledge Lab in the UK,
Marilyn Lombardi.
9. Phil Long, Associate Director, Office of Educational Innovation & Technology
Office of the Dean for Undergraduate Education at MIT.
10. Anne Margulies, Executive Director, OpenCourseWare at MIT.
11. Diana Oblinger the President and CEO of EDUCAUSE.
12. Marshall Smith the Program Director for the Education Program at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
13. Candace Thille, director of the Open Learning Initiative (OLI) at Carnegie Mellon University.
14. David Wiley, Associate Professor from BYU and, Chief Openness Officer (COO) of Flat World Knowledge.
These are just 14 of the authors; there are many more! It is quite an impressive group of people. It is so impressive that this week the Chronicle of Higher Education posted an article (dated October 17th) from John Seely Brown. This article is basically the foreword to the “Opening Up Education" book. Bravo! Note that it is dated for mid October and is already out.
You can read more about this book at the MIT Press Website. MIT Press has a description of the book. In addition, you can download the entire book or sample chapters.
There are at least a dozen (12) ways to explore this book. You can:
1. Download and explore individual chapters.
2. Download the entire book.
3. Read the whole document as iPaper in Scribd. (Note: this book is now listed in "What's hot right now" in Scribd.
4. Read about the copyright licensing at Creative Commons.
5. Read the abstract at Educause.
6. Read the MIT Press log.
7. Print or read an 18 page Executive Summary.
8. Read "Open Education News" from MIT.
9. You can also buy the book from Amazon for $16.47 (down from $24.95 list).
10. Also highly interesting and becoming increasingly common these days, the book editors and John Seely Brown had an online discussion about this book on October 2, 2008, which you can watch.
11. There is another site wherein you can hear the above discussion as well as from some of the authors about their respective chapters. There is even a YouTube video of at least one of these author presentations. I see many more are also posted, including an interesting one from John Seely Brown and another from my friend, David Wiley from BYU.
12. Finally, you can get involved with the authors and anyone else about the book.
Look at all these venues for distributing and marketing your book and its associated ideas. Amazing! And this is just the tip of the iceberg of what is possible. We have entered a new age of being a scholar, author, and participate in higher education. This week Thursday I will be presenting a keynote talk on new ideas for digital scholarship at a regional conference on "Advances in Teaching and Learning" the University of Texas Medical Center in Houston.
Clearly MIT Press has done a great job getting word out about this book and offering options. The book authors and editors undoubtedly played a huge role in this. That is not too surprising since they believe in a more free and open educational world where everyone can learn. They have truly opened up education with their book.
My "The World is Open" (TWIO) book with Jossey Bass/Wiley will likely have a hardcover version and, unlike other books, there will be a companion e-book. Other than a summary chart or two, no content will be duplicated between the two. Each will stand on their own. TWIO will be a tradebook and hopefully easily found at your local bookstores. For those who cannot afford the book such as those in developing countries as well as those who want to share the essence of it with friends, family, and colleagues, I plan to post the companion e-book and myriad resources, references, Weblinks, etc., later to the WorldisOpen.com website. I will start blogging huge sections of it sometime in March I think. Till then, I recommend the "Opening Up Education" book. May the world be forever open to education!
I met the editors of this book back in late March 2007 during a conference at Rice University that the Hewlett Foundation had sponsored for the grantees of the strand related to open educational resources. At the time, it seemed the editors were chatting about their book and I was having a beer listening to some of the interesting conversation. I was sitting next to them at the hotel pub and I asked them what they were talking about. They told me about their book project and I told them about my mine. The people sitting next to me were: Toru Iiyoshi who is Senior Scholar and Director of the Knowledge Media Lab at the Carnegie Foundation and M. S. Vijay Kumar who is Senior Associate Dean and Director of the Office of Educational Innovation and Technology at MIT.
What I found out was that they were hard at work on editing a groundbreaking book related to open education while I had been thinking about an edited book myself that extended Thomas Friedman's World is Flat book to education. In fact, I had a proposal in review for such an edited book of people who were heroes, gurus, and revolutionaries of the shared Internet. However, earlier that month in Tampa, Florida I met with a small book publisher who had a recent book out called "The World is Flat?" He convinced me to write the book myself and not do an edited book. So I did. I spent a year in near seclusion without any TV, international travel, beer, friends, etc. and I wrote it up.
It is now fully a year and one-half later. Funny, 18 months later and their book is out and mine is now in review. Still, I think back in March 2007 they were already collecting chapters and I had yet to start writing (that would come 3 months later). And my book may become 2 books--a hardcover one with Jossey Bass/Wiley and a free e-book. The tentative full title is: "The World Is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education." Yes, we have entered a revolution in learning.
The title of their new book is:
“Opening Up Education: The Collective Advancement of Education through Open Technology, Open Content, and Open Knowledge."
It is both a free e-book (available as a PDF) as well as available in hardcover.
A few of the contributors to this book include:
1. Richard Baraniuk, Professor and Founder of Connexions at Rice University.
2. Trent Batson, Communications Strategist in MIT's Office of Educational Innovation and Technology and Editor of Campus Technology.
3. John Seely Brown, Chief of Confusion.
4. Tom Carey, Professor of Management Sciences in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo and Program Director of the MERLOT ELIXR program.
5. James Dalziel Director of the LAMS Foundation and Professor of Learning Technology and Director of the Macquarie E-Learning Centre Of Excellence (MELCOE) at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.
6. Bernadine Chuck Fong, president emerita of Foothill College and a visiting scholar at Stanford University.
7. Gerard Hanley, Executive Director of MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching) and Senior Director for Academic Technology Services for the California State University.
8. Diana Laurillard Chair of Learning with Digital Technologies in the School of Mathematics, Science and Technology from the London Knowledge Lab in the UK,
Marilyn Lombardi.
9. Phil Long, Associate Director, Office of Educational Innovation & Technology
Office of the Dean for Undergraduate Education at MIT.
10. Anne Margulies, Executive Director, OpenCourseWare at MIT.
11. Diana Oblinger the President and CEO of EDUCAUSE.
12. Marshall Smith the Program Director for the Education Program at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
13. Candace Thille, director of the Open Learning Initiative (OLI) at Carnegie Mellon University.
14. David Wiley, Associate Professor from BYU and, Chief Openness Officer (COO) of Flat World Knowledge.
These are just 14 of the authors; there are many more! It is quite an impressive group of people. It is so impressive that this week the Chronicle of Higher Education posted an article (dated October 17th) from John Seely Brown. This article is basically the foreword to the “Opening Up Education" book. Bravo! Note that it is dated for mid October and is already out.
You can read more about this book at the MIT Press Website. MIT Press has a description of the book. In addition, you can download the entire book or sample chapters.
There are at least a dozen (12) ways to explore this book. You can:
1. Download and explore individual chapters.
2. Download the entire book.
3. Read the whole document as iPaper in Scribd. (Note: this book is now listed in "What's hot right now" in Scribd.
4. Read about the copyright licensing at Creative Commons.
5. Read the abstract at Educause.
6. Read the MIT Press log.
7. Print or read an 18 page Executive Summary.
8. Read "Open Education News" from MIT.
9. You can also buy the book from Amazon for $16.47 (down from $24.95 list).
10. Also highly interesting and becoming increasingly common these days, the book editors and John Seely Brown had an online discussion about this book on October 2, 2008, which you can watch.
11. There is another site wherein you can hear the above discussion as well as from some of the authors about their respective chapters. There is even a YouTube video of at least one of these author presentations. I see many more are also posted, including an interesting one from John Seely Brown and another from my friend, David Wiley from BYU.
12. Finally, you can get involved with the authors and anyone else about the book.
Look at all these venues for distributing and marketing your book and its associated ideas. Amazing! And this is just the tip of the iceberg of what is possible. We have entered a new age of being a scholar, author, and participate in higher education. This week Thursday I will be presenting a keynote talk on new ideas for digital scholarship at a regional conference on "Advances in Teaching and Learning" the University of Texas Medical Center in Houston.
Clearly MIT Press has done a great job getting word out about this book and offering options. The book authors and editors undoubtedly played a huge role in this. That is not too surprising since they believe in a more free and open educational world where everyone can learn. They have truly opened up education with their book.
My "The World is Open" (TWIO) book with Jossey Bass/Wiley will likely have a hardcover version and, unlike other books, there will be a companion e-book. Other than a summary chart or two, no content will be duplicated between the two. Each will stand on their own. TWIO will be a tradebook and hopefully easily found at your local bookstores. For those who cannot afford the book such as those in developing countries as well as those who want to share the essence of it with friends, family, and colleagues, I plan to post the companion e-book and myriad resources, references, Weblinks, etc., later to the WorldisOpen.com website. I will start blogging huge sections of it sometime in March I think. Till then, I recommend the "Opening Up Education" book. May the world be forever open to education!
Thursday 2 October 2008
"The World is Open" Keynote and Web 2.0 Panel in Wonderful Wisconsin: Now WE-ALL-LEARN!!!
Good news! I finally have a link to the World is Open talk I did at the Wisconsin Distance Teaching and Learning Conference in early August. This relates to the book I finished writing this past summer and that I spent a year writing. This book will hopefully be published by Jossey Bass/Wiley next June or July. I wrote too much (some 270,000 words) so I had to carefully remove some 108,000 words. The working title of this new book is: "The World Is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education." That could change between now and June. The main idea for the book is based on my ten trend model called WE-ALL-LEARN. If you watch the talk, you will learn that WE-ALL-LEARN stands for.
The 100,000+ words of removed text will be smoothed over and perhaps made into a free e-book companion or extension of the main book next year. So, if we can do that, the World is REALLY Open. I intend for it to parallel the printed book and maybe have some reflection or retreat questions embedded in it. I am working on that now. I will also blog on it before the book comes out. At a later date, I will begin posting this to my new website: WorldisOpen.com (stay tuned--nothing there yet).
The Wisconsin conference people estimate that perhaps 850 came to the keynote. My sister, brother-in-law, and nephew were there as were many friends. It is always great to present in Madison since the University of Wisconsin is my alma mater. During the keynote, I had people holding up signs that spelled "NOW WE ALL LEARN" during the start of each of the 10 learning technology trends which I highlighted. Paul Kim, mentioned below, was among the sign bearers. Each of 4 sections got a different word to yell out. The loudest 2 sections got a million dollars for each person in their section. It was fun to do. Again, below is the keynote talk if you want to try to experience it. Unfortunately, you only see me. You sorta had to be there to feel the impact.
1. Wisconsin DL Conference main site
2. My keynote description and link to presentation.
3. Direct link to talk.
4. My slides from my "The World is Open: Now WE-ALL-LEARN with Web Technology" talk and a version of the talk from the Pulse pen of James Moore.
Technology trends opening access to education worldwide: Now, we all can learn!
Speaker: Curt Bonk, PhD, Indiana University
Talk Description: According to Thomas Friedman's book, The World is Flat, worldwide economic trends are flattening. In education, however, opportunities for learning are actually expanding through a myriad of emerging distance technologies. From online content in the form of e-books, podcasts, streamed videos, and satellite maps to participatory environments such as social networking, wikis, and alternate reality worlds, technology-based learning continues to open new learning pathways. At the same time, more instructors are sharing their course materials and teaching ideas globally, thereby expanding learning opportunities and resources. And the software used to deliver such online learning contents and experiences is increasingly available as open source.
Naturally, many questions surround such systems, sites, and resources. For example, how can instructors and learners in developed and developing countries take advantage of these trends? For what purpose will people share? How can these trends converge to address individual learner's needs worldwide?
Curt Bonk will address these issues while enticing participants to think of implications for their organizations, countries, and regions of the world as well as for themselves as leaders and learners.
My friend, George Siemens, from the University of Manitoba also had a keynote (see description of it).
Direct lonk to talk: Connectivism: A Vision for Education
Keynote speaker: George Siemens
Talk Description: Information creation, dissemination, and sharing increasingly occur in distributed networks. For decades, educators have sought ways to increase learners' control over their own learning. Social media, such as blogs, virtual worlds, wikis, bookmarking, and networking, create a shift from a centralized to a distributed learning model. However, learner autonomy is not without consequence. What is the role of the instructor in a distributed learning model? How are authority and trust created?
Hierarchies of content, dialogue, and authority are being transformed into learning networks. As these foundational elements of education change, the very model of education itself needs to be reconsidered. What does it mean to learn and to be educated in a digital, global world? How should institutions, educators, and administrators react?
George Siemens will explore the effects of changed learner relationships with each other, with content, with educational institutions, and with a global society. He will present a vision of education that blends the rapidly changing needs of today's learners with the established challenge of education as a transformative agent in society.
In addition to the keynotes, George and I were on a conference panel related to the Web 2.0 which sorta ended the conference.
Forum 3 - The world of Web 2.0 in distance education
Friday, August 8th
"Online learning environments have been changing quickly over the past few years. The Web has shifted from a passive medium to an interactive one in which content is created, shared, remixed, repurposed, and passed along. Learners are playing a more active role in their experience moving content creation and models of teaching to a new level. This forum will discuss the latest innovations, models, and best practices for utilizing Web 2.0 applications in distance teaching and learning."
Part 1: “This part of the forum will concentrate on the many approaches for creating community and increasing social learning utilizing technologies such as wikis and blogs, podcasting, mobile computing, social bookmarking, and personal learning environments.”
Moderator: Pam Scheibel, Clinical Professor, School of Nursing, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Panelists:• Michael Simonson, Program Professor, Instructional Technology and Distance Education, Nova Southeastern University
• Marilyn Lombardi, Director, the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) Center, Duke University
• Paul Kim, Chief Technology Officer, Stanford University School of Education
Direct Link to Part 1 with my friend Paul Kim from Stanford (See his section 25 minutes in to 53 minutes). Paul is loaded with cool mobile, virtual, and interactive Web 2.0 stuff. And his talk is packed with both research data and stories of companies he is working with out in the Silicon Valley.
Part 2: “Panelists in the second part of this forum will discuss writing, publishing, and scholarly pursuit through the use of Web 2.0 tools such as creative commons, electronic publication, and open educational resources.”
Moderator: Pam Scheibel, Clinical Professor, School of Nursing, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Panelists:
• George Siemens, Associate Director of Research and Development, University of Manitoba
• Curt Bonk, Professor, Instructional Systems Technology, Indiana University
Direct link to Part 2 with George and I is here.
The charge of our panel mainly concerned ideas related to digital scholarship. I have spent the past few days extending that talk into more elaborated and refined presentation for a conference at the University of Texas (UT) Medical Center next week Thursday October 9th ("Time Not Wasted: Digital Scholarship in the Web 2.0"). Thanks to George Siemens for all his marvelous ideas that assisted me in this presentation.
Enjoy the Web 2.0 forum and the keynotes! Paul Kim shows some amazing stuff as do the others--Michael Simonson, Marilyn Lombardi, etc. Again, the Web 2.0 forum is here. There were two other panels and a third keynote--all have videostreamed talks at this site. You might check them out.
If you happen to watch my keynote, let me know what you think of the WE-ALL-LEARN model (you can send email to cjbonk@indiana.edu). More on this to come in later posts.
The 100,000+ words of removed text will be smoothed over and perhaps made into a free e-book companion or extension of the main book next year. So, if we can do that, the World is REALLY Open. I intend for it to parallel the printed book and maybe have some reflection or retreat questions embedded in it. I am working on that now. I will also blog on it before the book comes out. At a later date, I will begin posting this to my new website: WorldisOpen.com (stay tuned--nothing there yet).
The Wisconsin conference people estimate that perhaps 850 came to the keynote. My sister, brother-in-law, and nephew were there as were many friends. It is always great to present in Madison since the University of Wisconsin is my alma mater. During the keynote, I had people holding up signs that spelled "NOW WE ALL LEARN" during the start of each of the 10 learning technology trends which I highlighted. Paul Kim, mentioned below, was among the sign bearers. Each of 4 sections got a different word to yell out. The loudest 2 sections got a million dollars for each person in their section. It was fun to do. Again, below is the keynote talk if you want to try to experience it. Unfortunately, you only see me. You sorta had to be there to feel the impact.
1. Wisconsin DL Conference main site
2. My keynote description and link to presentation.
3. Direct link to talk.
4. My slides from my "The World is Open: Now WE-ALL-LEARN with Web Technology" talk and a version of the talk from the Pulse pen of James Moore.
Technology trends opening access to education worldwide: Now, we all can learn!
Speaker: Curt Bonk, PhD, Indiana University
Talk Description: According to Thomas Friedman's book, The World is Flat, worldwide economic trends are flattening. In education, however, opportunities for learning are actually expanding through a myriad of emerging distance technologies. From online content in the form of e-books, podcasts, streamed videos, and satellite maps to participatory environments such as social networking, wikis, and alternate reality worlds, technology-based learning continues to open new learning pathways. At the same time, more instructors are sharing their course materials and teaching ideas globally, thereby expanding learning opportunities and resources. And the software used to deliver such online learning contents and experiences is increasingly available as open source.
Naturally, many questions surround such systems, sites, and resources. For example, how can instructors and learners in developed and developing countries take advantage of these trends? For what purpose will people share? How can these trends converge to address individual learner's needs worldwide?
Curt Bonk will address these issues while enticing participants to think of implications for their organizations, countries, and regions of the world as well as for themselves as leaders and learners.
My friend, George Siemens, from the University of Manitoba also had a keynote (see description of it).
Direct lonk to talk: Connectivism: A Vision for Education
Keynote speaker: George Siemens
Talk Description: Information creation, dissemination, and sharing increasingly occur in distributed networks. For decades, educators have sought ways to increase learners' control over their own learning. Social media, such as blogs, virtual worlds, wikis, bookmarking, and networking, create a shift from a centralized to a distributed learning model. However, learner autonomy is not without consequence. What is the role of the instructor in a distributed learning model? How are authority and trust created?
Hierarchies of content, dialogue, and authority are being transformed into learning networks. As these foundational elements of education change, the very model of education itself needs to be reconsidered. What does it mean to learn and to be educated in a digital, global world? How should institutions, educators, and administrators react?
George Siemens will explore the effects of changed learner relationships with each other, with content, with educational institutions, and with a global society. He will present a vision of education that blends the rapidly changing needs of today's learners with the established challenge of education as a transformative agent in society.
In addition to the keynotes, George and I were on a conference panel related to the Web 2.0 which sorta ended the conference.
Forum 3 - The world of Web 2.0 in distance education
Friday, August 8th
"Online learning environments have been changing quickly over the past few years. The Web has shifted from a passive medium to an interactive one in which content is created, shared, remixed, repurposed, and passed along. Learners are playing a more active role in their experience moving content creation and models of teaching to a new level. This forum will discuss the latest innovations, models, and best practices for utilizing Web 2.0 applications in distance teaching and learning."
Part 1: “This part of the forum will concentrate on the many approaches for creating community and increasing social learning utilizing technologies such as wikis and blogs, podcasting, mobile computing, social bookmarking, and personal learning environments.”
Moderator: Pam Scheibel, Clinical Professor, School of Nursing, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Panelists:• Michael Simonson, Program Professor, Instructional Technology and Distance Education, Nova Southeastern University
• Marilyn Lombardi, Director, the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) Center, Duke University
• Paul Kim, Chief Technology Officer, Stanford University School of Education
Direct Link to Part 1 with my friend Paul Kim from Stanford (See his section 25 minutes in to 53 minutes). Paul is loaded with cool mobile, virtual, and interactive Web 2.0 stuff. And his talk is packed with both research data and stories of companies he is working with out in the Silicon Valley.
Part 2: “Panelists in the second part of this forum will discuss writing, publishing, and scholarly pursuit through the use of Web 2.0 tools such as creative commons, electronic publication, and open educational resources.”
Moderator: Pam Scheibel, Clinical Professor, School of Nursing, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Panelists:
• George Siemens, Associate Director of Research and Development, University of Manitoba
• Curt Bonk, Professor, Instructional Systems Technology, Indiana University
Direct link to Part 2 with George and I is here.
The charge of our panel mainly concerned ideas related to digital scholarship. I have spent the past few days extending that talk into more elaborated and refined presentation for a conference at the University of Texas (UT) Medical Center next week Thursday October 9th ("Time Not Wasted: Digital Scholarship in the Web 2.0"). Thanks to George Siemens for all his marvelous ideas that assisted me in this presentation.
Enjoy the Web 2.0 forum and the keynotes! Paul Kim shows some amazing stuff as do the others--Michael Simonson, Marilyn Lombardi, etc. Again, the Web 2.0 forum is here. There were two other panels and a third keynote--all have videostreamed talks at this site. You might check them out.
If you happen to watch my keynote, let me know what you think of the WE-ALL-LEARN model (you can send email to cjbonk@indiana.edu). More on this to come in later posts.
Friday 12 September 2008
The Price of an 8 Pack of Learning Theory Lectures? Nothing! Just a Lot of Bonk!
I tried something unique this past week for my P540 Learning and Cognition in Education class (i.e., a learning theories class) and posted 8 lectures for it since I am teaching it online. Yes, talking head stuff and not interactive--there were no students with me in the room. I did not bring my normal array of props either (just a few). Still, the content may be of use for some who read this blog.
Five of these video lectures have picture in picture and the other 3 rotate between me and the slides. The room I used here at Indiana University (Room 2140 of the School of Education) has been recently remodeled with a Hi-Def camera, a new computer, and a large screen monitor so I thought I would test it out. The technology support people at IU were quite great as well in helping me set this up and edit it all the same day. IU is a leader in technology support. We have a wonderful campus and infrastructure!
To add a touch of variety, I wore a different shirt (purple, green, red, blue, black, white, etc.) and Jerry Garcia tie in each one to make them look like I filmed them on different days. However, I did these on just 2 days (Friday September 5th and Wednesday the 10th). Most of them are roughly 45 minutes long. I think they came out pretty good considering I had no direct help in the room with me and no audience. Though one of them I had to start over as I had the microphone muted. Fortunately, I found out only 10 minutes in.
Cost of these educational videos = zero, nada, nothing. These are available without a password—so any instructor teaching a course on learning theories or instructional design can use them if he or she wishes. I think that these are all I will do. They are a set.
All 8 lectures I recorded during the past week can be found at the following URL and are also listed below (they cover Weeks 1-8 or 9 of my course; the remaining weeks I do other things so there will be no more lectures or so I think): http://mypage.iu.edu/~cjbonk/September102008.html
All my online lectures, podcasts, talks, and other resource material from this week and prior years related to this course are here: http://mypage.iu.edu/~cjbonk/streamed.html#p
See below for list of eight talks I did this week. They are not slick or anything but they could be a nice course supplement. I am just sharing--I think Open Educational Resources (OER) is one of the trends that will be a key part of educational reform. Feedback can be sent to me (Curt Bonk, Professor, Indiana University) at cjbonk@indiana.edu. If you sleep through them, it is ok; at least you will get some needed rest.
=======================
P540 Week 1:
Recorded September 5, 2008 (30 minutes)
Introduction to Theories of Learning and Instruction and brief info on the course/syllabus
Archive URL: mms://wms.indiana.edu/ip/istream/EDUC-P_540_8832_20080905_4.wmv
P540 Week 2:
Recorded September 5, 2008 (45 minutes)
Behaviorism (Ivan Pavlov, John Watson, and B. F. Skinner with some associated information on with Hermann Ebbinghaus and Edward Thorndike)
Archive URL: mms://wms.indiana.edu/ip/istream/EDUC-P_540_8832_20080905_1.wmv
P540 Week 3:
Recorded September 5, 2008 (45 minutes)
Social Cognitive Theory and Self-Efficacy from Albert Bandura
Archive URL: mms://wms.indiana.edu/ip/istream/EDUC-P_540_8832_20080905_2.wmv
P540 Week 4:
Recorded September 10, 2008 (73 minutes)
Cognitive Information Processing (CIP)
Archive URL: mms://wms.indiana.edu/ip/istream/EDUC-P_540_8832_20080910_4.wmv
P540 Week 5:
Recorded September 10, 2008 (46 minutes)
Motivation and Self-Regulated Learning
Archive URL: mms://wms.indiana.edu/ip/istream/EDUC-P_540_8832_20080910_1.wmv
P540 Week 6:
Recorded September 10, 2008 (42 minutes)
Meaningful Learning and Schema Theory
Archive URL: mms://wms.indiana.edu/ip/istream/EDUC-P_540_8832_20080910_2.wmv
P540 Week 7:
Recorded September 5, 2008 (45 minutes)
Constructivism to Instructivism: Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, Jerome Bruner, and Robert Gagne (as well a practice test of 30+ items comparing cognitive constructivism (i.e., Piaget) and social constructivism (i.e., Lev Vygotksy)
Archive URL: mms://wms.indiana.edu/ip/istream/EDUC-P_540_8832_20080905_3.wmv
P540 Weeks 8-9:
Recorded September 10, 2008 (41 minutes)
Constructivism, Social Constructivism, Learner-Centered Instruction, and PBL
Archive URL: mms://wms.indiana.edu/ip/istream/EDUC-P_540_8832_20080910_3.wmv
In addition to these video lectures, as I stated in my previous blog post, I am using many YouTube videos and other shared online videos for this class. This is the way in which courses will be taught in the future--blending ones own lectures with content found online. Enjoy!
Five of these video lectures have picture in picture and the other 3 rotate between me and the slides. The room I used here at Indiana University (Room 2140 of the School of Education) has been recently remodeled with a Hi-Def camera, a new computer, and a large screen monitor so I thought I would test it out. The technology support people at IU were quite great as well in helping me set this up and edit it all the same day. IU is a leader in technology support. We have a wonderful campus and infrastructure!
To add a touch of variety, I wore a different shirt (purple, green, red, blue, black, white, etc.) and Jerry Garcia tie in each one to make them look like I filmed them on different days. However, I did these on just 2 days (Friday September 5th and Wednesday the 10th). Most of them are roughly 45 minutes long. I think they came out pretty good considering I had no direct help in the room with me and no audience. Though one of them I had to start over as I had the microphone muted. Fortunately, I found out only 10 minutes in.
Cost of these educational videos = zero, nada, nothing. These are available without a password—so any instructor teaching a course on learning theories or instructional design can use them if he or she wishes. I think that these are all I will do. They are a set.
All 8 lectures I recorded during the past week can be found at the following URL and are also listed below (they cover Weeks 1-8 or 9 of my course; the remaining weeks I do other things so there will be no more lectures or so I think): http://mypage.iu.edu/~cjbonk/September102008.html
All my online lectures, podcasts, talks, and other resource material from this week and prior years related to this course are here: http://mypage.iu.edu/~cjbonk/streamed.html#p
See below for list of eight talks I did this week. They are not slick or anything but they could be a nice course supplement. I am just sharing--I think Open Educational Resources (OER) is one of the trends that will be a key part of educational reform. Feedback can be sent to me (Curt Bonk, Professor, Indiana University) at cjbonk@indiana.edu. If you sleep through them, it is ok; at least you will get some needed rest.
=======================
P540 Week 1:
Recorded September 5, 2008 (30 minutes)
Introduction to Theories of Learning and Instruction and brief info on the course/syllabus
Archive URL: mms://wms.indiana.edu/ip/istream/EDUC-P_540_8832_20080905_4.wmv
P540 Week 2:
Recorded September 5, 2008 (45 minutes)
Behaviorism (Ivan Pavlov, John Watson, and B. F. Skinner with some associated information on with Hermann Ebbinghaus and Edward Thorndike)
Archive URL: mms://wms.indiana.edu/ip/istream/EDUC-P_540_8832_20080905_1.wmv
P540 Week 3:
Recorded September 5, 2008 (45 minutes)
Social Cognitive Theory and Self-Efficacy from Albert Bandura
Archive URL: mms://wms.indiana.edu/ip/istream/EDUC-P_540_8832_20080905_2.wmv
P540 Week 4:
Recorded September 10, 2008 (73 minutes)
Cognitive Information Processing (CIP)
Archive URL: mms://wms.indiana.edu/ip/istream/EDUC-P_540_8832_20080910_4.wmv
P540 Week 5:
Recorded September 10, 2008 (46 minutes)
Motivation and Self-Regulated Learning
Archive URL: mms://wms.indiana.edu/ip/istream/EDUC-P_540_8832_20080910_1.wmv
P540 Week 6:
Recorded September 10, 2008 (42 minutes)
Meaningful Learning and Schema Theory
Archive URL: mms://wms.indiana.edu/ip/istream/EDUC-P_540_8832_20080910_2.wmv
P540 Week 7:
Recorded September 5, 2008 (45 minutes)
Constructivism to Instructivism: Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, Jerome Bruner, and Robert Gagne (as well a practice test of 30+ items comparing cognitive constructivism (i.e., Piaget) and social constructivism (i.e., Lev Vygotksy)
Archive URL: mms://wms.indiana.edu/ip/istream/EDUC-P_540_8832_20080905_3.wmv
P540 Weeks 8-9:
Recorded September 10, 2008 (41 minutes)
Constructivism, Social Constructivism, Learner-Centered Instruction, and PBL
Archive URL: mms://wms.indiana.edu/ip/istream/EDUC-P_540_8832_20080910_3.wmv
In addition to these video lectures, as I stated in my previous blog post, I am using many YouTube videos and other shared online videos for this class. This is the way in which courses will be taught in the future--blending ones own lectures with content found online. Enjoy!
Saturday 6 September 2008
Fall 2008 Course Syllabi, Learning Theory, YouTube, Wikibooks, and the Web 2.0
Sorry that it has been more than a month since my last post. I have been working on many journal articles and book chapters as well as a couple of new course syllabi.
P540 Syllabus on Learning Theories: I have a new syllabus for my P540 course on Learning Theories and Instructional Design.
YouTube Addendum to P540 Syllabus: I also have an addendum to that syllabus which has a list of YouTube and other online videos which parallel each week of the semester. Feel free to use this list. If you do, please let me know how you use it and what happened when you did. Also note that I wrote an article on the use of YouTube in instruction for the AERA conference in New York last March which is available online. I will try to publish it later this year. Let me know what you think of it.
Webstreamed Lectures for Learning Theories: And I have some new Webstreamed lectures on behavioral, cognitive, constructivist, and social constructivist theory posted which I did on Friday September 5, 2008. I plan to do 4 more such video lectures this coming Friday. And when I do, I promise to wear a different shirt and tie for each one. Smile!
Wikibook for Learning Theories: This class will continue to work on a wikibook I started last year on "The Practice of Learning Theories" or the POLT. You are welcome to expand any chapter in it or add new ones.
R685 Syllabus on the Web 2.0: I use many Web 2.0 activities in that class. However, a better place to learn about the Web 2.0 is my R685 course on "The Web 2.0 and Participatory E-Learning." Every article in that course is found freely available online. The syllabus is now 30 pages so that is a lot of articles! There are also links to open access journals and a couple of open access e-books.
Wikibook for the Web 2.0: This class will continue to work on a Wikibook on "The Web 2.0 and Emerging Learning Technologies" or the WELT which I started last year with colleagues from universities in Malaysia, Taiwan, China, and the USA. You (or your students) are welcome to extend or edit it. Please let me know how you like it and what you did.
Enjoy these resources.
P540 Syllabus on Learning Theories: I have a new syllabus for my P540 course on Learning Theories and Instructional Design.
YouTube Addendum to P540 Syllabus: I also have an addendum to that syllabus which has a list of YouTube and other online videos which parallel each week of the semester. Feel free to use this list. If you do, please let me know how you use it and what happened when you did. Also note that I wrote an article on the use of YouTube in instruction for the AERA conference in New York last March which is available online. I will try to publish it later this year. Let me know what you think of it.
Webstreamed Lectures for Learning Theories: And I have some new Webstreamed lectures on behavioral, cognitive, constructivist, and social constructivist theory posted which I did on Friday September 5, 2008. I plan to do 4 more such video lectures this coming Friday. And when I do, I promise to wear a different shirt and tie for each one. Smile!
Wikibook for Learning Theories: This class will continue to work on a wikibook I started last year on "The Practice of Learning Theories" or the POLT. You are welcome to expand any chapter in it or add new ones.
R685 Syllabus on the Web 2.0: I use many Web 2.0 activities in that class. However, a better place to learn about the Web 2.0 is my R685 course on "The Web 2.0 and Participatory E-Learning." Every article in that course is found freely available online. The syllabus is now 30 pages so that is a lot of articles! There are also links to open access journals and a couple of open access e-books.
Wikibook for the Web 2.0: This class will continue to work on a Wikibook on "The Web 2.0 and Emerging Learning Technologies" or the WELT which I started last year with colleagues from universities in Malaysia, Taiwan, China, and the USA. You (or your students) are welcome to extend or edit it. Please let me know how you like it and what you did.
Enjoy these resources.
Thursday 31 July 2008
Time for Twenty-Four Terrific Tenure Tips for New Faculty Members: Ideas For Fostering Freedom
My department hired two new faculty members who have now both arrived on campus. Both are great! They sat down with me on Monday and asked my advice on getting tenure here. Since we did not finish the conversation, I created a list of ideas. It is below. Perhaps it will help you as well. Not all of it will apply.
You might skip them all since I was originally denied tenure and had to fight for it. I may not be the best role model. Once tenured, however, my productivity took off. This happened, in part, since I no longer had to sit through the endless and quite boring teacher education reform committees which never interested me (I was an corporate controller and CPA--interested in nontraditional learning, open, and flexible learning; anything but traditional learning and traditional schools and traditional teacher education). I found myself in distance education.
Give me anything that is not eyeball to eyeball or ear-pan to ear-pan and I am happy as a clam. With my research on distance learning taking off since tenure back in 1997, I now have 210 publications and have give over 850 talks. I think I had maybe 20 publications and 100 talks prior to 1997--you do the math since then. Same person I was when I was denied tenure. Same skin. Same smile. Same concern for students and heavy involvement in student mentoring.
The difference has been freedom. Freedom to explore. Freedom to say no to ideas and people that do not fit mine. Freedom to help people who need it. Freedom to suggest things to others to help they succeed when they do not see something that I think is quite obvious. Freedom to create unique partnerships and collaborations. Freedom to send to a journal you are not sure about. Freedom to write a book or an e-book. Etc. But why do we contort our bodies for a decade to get through graduate school and then get tenure for such freedom? If personal freedom to learn, live, and grow is that goal, do not delay! Go for it right now!
Anyway, once tenured, you reassume control over your life which perhaps you did not have for 4 years in graduate school and the six years of the tenure process. Do people realize how much of their lives they are giving up? That is a bloody decade and for many people it is two decades. How can one get out of this cycle of paying homage to everyone else? If you use some of the ideas below, I think you will be assuming more control and personal self-directedness over your life.
Many of these points below relate to time. Life is time. Time is life. Why do we go through routines that the media, our colleagues, our students, our family, and our friends expect of us? We should try to take control over our time. It is our own personal time. Once you do that, you enter a state of flow and your productivity will skyrocket. There is a ton of time for you to do whatever you want. Trust me.
Two dozen things to do on path to tenure and give you more control over your time amd personal freedom:
1. Teach in Bulk: I mean, if you can, teach back-to-back courses or one day a week courses. Free up days to write, rewrite, and reflect. Or perhaps teach some courses online and some face-to-face. I once taught 2 sections of undergrad educational psychology courses on Tuesdays and Thursdays back-to-back. I also once taught a graduate course at 4-6:45 pm on Wednesdays and another from 7-10 pm that same day. My two course load was all completed on Wednesdays, thereby giving me 5 days per week to write (1 day was spent prepping my 2 courses). I work every day if you cannot tell.
2. Avoid Summer Teaching or Teach Summer Intensive Courses: Do not teach all summer and avoid any summer teaching if you can. Save summer for writing and some vacationing. Three week summer classes are the best. Or even 1 week or no weeks. If you teach all summer your first six years as a new professor, your odds for getting tenure are significantly reduced. Simply put, look around you; chances are that your competition is not.
3. Get Vita Line Items: Say yes to many things that are low time that add to vita. Short time, high payoff items are best, especially those involving fun.
4. Avoid Big Things: Say no to most things that are long in nature and only add 1-2 lines to your vita. Unless you are principle investigator or it is your main interest area. If you are in charge, then sure.
5. Service Protection: Get protection from chair from too many service committees. Find out what are the norms and expectations and ask your chair if how many you need to be on. If you are on 2 or 3 service committees and that is the expectation, you can say that your chair told you to say no to anymore. This limits feelings of guilt.
6. Doctoral Committee Commitments: Once you are on the average number of dissertations, post a note on your door number of doctoral committees you are on and that you are not taking anymore. That way, if a student sends you an email to request you to be on a doctoral committee, you can say, well, if you read my door, you can see that I an not taking anymore. It is not you saying no, but the note on your door. This also limits guilt and you are telling the truth--you are not taking anymore (or at least not this day).
7. Schedule Student Meetings Back-to-Back: Have student meetings back to back. If you have 1 meeting, make others wrapped around it. Sometimes I double book appointments so as to speed everything up (not that often--perhaps 1-2 times a year when things get crazy). When another student is waiting, the one in my office gets to the point faster. (Actually, as bad as this sounds, I am the one who likes to dilly dally and socialize, so this keeps me on task too.)
8. Teach at Off Peak Times: I like to teach late at night at 4 or 7 pm or on early mornings or weekends. I love teaching Saturday mornings. You get access to all equipment and resources in the building and it is quiet and informal. It is also a chance to do whatever you want to do. The building is yours! It is like that built the place just for you and your class. It is quite uplifting. Makes your soul come alive! You also avoid disruptions and meetings that were not previously planned for.
9. Publication Goal Chart: Have a goal chart and reflect on progress. Have specific things to do on that chart and mark them off as you accomplish them. This is the most important point of my list of 24 items. Have goals and project into the future. And revise and monitor them as needed! You should have at a minimum the kernel of 4 or 5 articles on this goal chart. It should like at least a 2 year plan or looking out 24 months. I would actually recommend thinking 3-5 years into the future.
10. Goal Chart Mentoring: Discuss physical goal chart with a mentor. This will help keep you on task. It will also give you someone to share your successes and rejections with. Mentors are very important in getting to tenure and in life.
11. Clear Schedule in Bulk: Clear days or weeks from schedule to write and only write. And then write and write and write. Smile.
12. Writing Tips: Read the writing tips in my blog. I have 4 such blog posts.
a. Ten Quick Writing Tips: http://travelinedman.blogspot.com/2008/01/10-quick-writing-tips-in-academic-world.html
b. 20-30 Writing Tips: http://travelinedman.blogspot.com/2007/01/quick-20-academic-writing-tips.html
c. 3 P's of Professorship: http://travelinedman.blogspot.com/2007/08/3-ps-of-publishing-professorship-keep.html
d. 3 P's of Professional Writing: http://travelinedman.blogspot.com/2007/08/3-ps-of-professional-writers-purpose.html
13. Avoid Raising Hand or Volunteering to Chair a Committee: Do not volunteer to be a chair on a committee ever. When asked, just say when you signed up for this committee, it was with the agreement that you would not chair it. Do not go looking for more work that is not recognized prior to tenure.
14. Department Service: At the department level, work on service committees that matter—search committees, new student entrance committees, etc. These types of committees provide the people who you will work with in the future. Hence, they are extremely important ones to your own success. Travel or awards committees can also be fun and worthwhile without killing you.
15. School/College Level Service: At the college or school level, sign up for committees that usually have modest time requirements like student appeals or ethics committee, invited speaker or lectures and seminars committee (limited meetings and you meet cool and important people), and outstanding dissertation or awards committee. Committee on teaching are also worth the time investments. Avoid faculty council committees (political and a sure waste of time and effort--keep in mind that this is my opinion; many faculty love this one)> Also avoid promotion and tenure committees (political) and budget committees (boring! I know, I am an accountant. Higher education accountants, however, take boring to the extreme).
16. University Service: One word--avoid. Unless you like the topic a lot and it is great exposure for you, just say no. Of course, you might sign up for one to get to meet faculty from other departments and units or to work with your favorite friends. Just do not go overboard. If a form comes and you can sign not to be included in the annual voting for a particular faculty committee, then sign away. Why have your enemies vote you on silly committees that waste your time?
17. Grants of Other People: Do not get on another person’s grant (unless small role with high payoff; need to get your role specified in writing—-never just an oral agreement, though I an a hypocrite here…smile). This is one area that I have always seen problems. Weigh summer money and release time from grants of other people against commitments and time away from personal publishing.
18. Writing Environment or Setting: Find a place to write that you like. This is a no brainer and everyone will tell you this.
19. Signage for Visitors: If bothered too much, place a sign on your door about your availability. I have an open door policy at my office so I work for home a lot where I can get much done. Other people prefer their work offices. If you do, try to close the door at times. At home, I have a wondrous view of the woods and a creek at the bottom. Deer walking behind when I work on my deck. I can write a ton. Find your setting (see pt #19 above).
20. Get Help and Thank Help: You cannot do everything by yourself. Get people to give feedback on papers and thank them in acknowledgements. Have a couple of friends who are good editors will go a long way in your success. I just found 2 people here in Bloomington who are currently helping me with a book. Find those people, but be sure to pay them and thank them as well as help them out when they need it.
21. Journal Selection Process: Look for journals to publish in. Target your papers. Think or plan ahead. If you are in educational technology, see my technology journal list at: http://www.trainingshare.com/resources/distance_ed_journals_and_online_learning_books.htm
22. Conference Jumping: Do not go from conference to conference. Try to publish your papers prior to going (after accepted) or right after the conference. If you go from conference to conference, you will never get many things published. I am speaking from experience. Friends need you at conferences, but each conference equates to 2-3 weeks—one week to get ready, one week to be there, and a week to recover. Keep this 3 week rule in mind every time you consider a conference. It is more like 3 weeks of time for an assistant professor. For tenured professors like me, it is more like 1 week since I no longer have to write papers for each conference and can come and go as needed. That being said, I still do conference papers. I do not want to sound like a slug.
23. Annual Publishing Goals or Quotas: Publish on average 3 good articles per year. That is the goal. If you get 2 much of the time and 3 the rest, be happy. My personal quotas are much higher but you need to set yours somewhere and simply get started.
24. Research Strands: Create 2-4 strands of your research. Do not just have 1 strand to your research as some might advise you to do. One strand may never be accepted for publication and so then what do you do? Diversify somewhat.
These are just 24 of my ideas. I could give you 24 more if needed. Get ideas for 4-5 people and synthesize across them. Ok, remember this is about YOUR time. Below is a joke about the time commitments prior to tenure.
Ten Simple Steps to Tenure (this is meant as a joke--smile):
Step #1: Avoid department meetings;
Step #2: Avoid school or college meetings;
Step #3: Avoid university functions and meetings;
Step #4: Avoid mandated meetings;
Step #5: Avoid book publishers, book buyers (though sometimes getting cash for books is nice), and avoid anyone stopping by just to chat.
Step #6: Avoid retreats and other such silliness;
Step #7: Avoid committee meetings;
Step #8: Avoid students;
Step #9: Avoid life;
Step #10: Review other 9 steps each week.
Much of this I say in jest. Still, it is just a way to remind yourself that your time matters and is costly.
What about friends and family? Never forget them. They are the most important. Meet them during conferences or take with you. My kids have been with me to conferences and presentations in Finland, Australia, and Hawaii. That was fun! In addition, my friends meet me at almost all of my conferences. That is also great!
So now you have two dozen ideas to help you get tenure (should you want it). If all else fails, here is a job posting list I recently created (smile this is meant as a joke):
http://www.trainingshare.com/resources/Job-search-Educational-Technology-and-Instructional-Technology.htm
Good luck.
You might skip them all since I was originally denied tenure and had to fight for it. I may not be the best role model. Once tenured, however, my productivity took off. This happened, in part, since I no longer had to sit through the endless and quite boring teacher education reform committees which never interested me (I was an corporate controller and CPA--interested in nontraditional learning, open, and flexible learning; anything but traditional learning and traditional schools and traditional teacher education). I found myself in distance education.
Give me anything that is not eyeball to eyeball or ear-pan to ear-pan and I am happy as a clam. With my research on distance learning taking off since tenure back in 1997, I now have 210 publications and have give over 850 talks. I think I had maybe 20 publications and 100 talks prior to 1997--you do the math since then. Same person I was when I was denied tenure. Same skin. Same smile. Same concern for students and heavy involvement in student mentoring.
The difference has been freedom. Freedom to explore. Freedom to say no to ideas and people that do not fit mine. Freedom to help people who need it. Freedom to suggest things to others to help they succeed when they do not see something that I think is quite obvious. Freedom to create unique partnerships and collaborations. Freedom to send to a journal you are not sure about. Freedom to write a book or an e-book. Etc. But why do we contort our bodies for a decade to get through graduate school and then get tenure for such freedom? If personal freedom to learn, live, and grow is that goal, do not delay! Go for it right now!
Anyway, once tenured, you reassume control over your life which perhaps you did not have for 4 years in graduate school and the six years of the tenure process. Do people realize how much of their lives they are giving up? That is a bloody decade and for many people it is two decades. How can one get out of this cycle of paying homage to everyone else? If you use some of the ideas below, I think you will be assuming more control and personal self-directedness over your life.
Many of these points below relate to time. Life is time. Time is life. Why do we go through routines that the media, our colleagues, our students, our family, and our friends expect of us? We should try to take control over our time. It is our own personal time. Once you do that, you enter a state of flow and your productivity will skyrocket. There is a ton of time for you to do whatever you want. Trust me.
Two dozen things to do on path to tenure and give you more control over your time amd personal freedom:
1. Teach in Bulk: I mean, if you can, teach back-to-back courses or one day a week courses. Free up days to write, rewrite, and reflect. Or perhaps teach some courses online and some face-to-face. I once taught 2 sections of undergrad educational psychology courses on Tuesdays and Thursdays back-to-back. I also once taught a graduate course at 4-6:45 pm on Wednesdays and another from 7-10 pm that same day. My two course load was all completed on Wednesdays, thereby giving me 5 days per week to write (1 day was spent prepping my 2 courses). I work every day if you cannot tell.
2. Avoid Summer Teaching or Teach Summer Intensive Courses: Do not teach all summer and avoid any summer teaching if you can. Save summer for writing and some vacationing. Three week summer classes are the best. Or even 1 week or no weeks. If you teach all summer your first six years as a new professor, your odds for getting tenure are significantly reduced. Simply put, look around you; chances are that your competition is not.
3. Get Vita Line Items: Say yes to many things that are low time that add to vita. Short time, high payoff items are best, especially those involving fun.
4. Avoid Big Things: Say no to most things that are long in nature and only add 1-2 lines to your vita. Unless you are principle investigator or it is your main interest area. If you are in charge, then sure.
5. Service Protection: Get protection from chair from too many service committees. Find out what are the norms and expectations and ask your chair if how many you need to be on. If you are on 2 or 3 service committees and that is the expectation, you can say that your chair told you to say no to anymore. This limits feelings of guilt.
6. Doctoral Committee Commitments: Once you are on the average number of dissertations, post a note on your door number of doctoral committees you are on and that you are not taking anymore. That way, if a student sends you an email to request you to be on a doctoral committee, you can say, well, if you read my door, you can see that I an not taking anymore. It is not you saying no, but the note on your door. This also limits guilt and you are telling the truth--you are not taking anymore (or at least not this day).
7. Schedule Student Meetings Back-to-Back: Have student meetings back to back. If you have 1 meeting, make others wrapped around it. Sometimes I double book appointments so as to speed everything up (not that often--perhaps 1-2 times a year when things get crazy). When another student is waiting, the one in my office gets to the point faster. (Actually, as bad as this sounds, I am the one who likes to dilly dally and socialize, so this keeps me on task too.)
8. Teach at Off Peak Times: I like to teach late at night at 4 or 7 pm or on early mornings or weekends. I love teaching Saturday mornings. You get access to all equipment and resources in the building and it is quiet and informal. It is also a chance to do whatever you want to do. The building is yours! It is like that built the place just for you and your class. It is quite uplifting. Makes your soul come alive! You also avoid disruptions and meetings that were not previously planned for.
9. Publication Goal Chart: Have a goal chart and reflect on progress. Have specific things to do on that chart and mark them off as you accomplish them. This is the most important point of my list of 24 items. Have goals and project into the future. And revise and monitor them as needed! You should have at a minimum the kernel of 4 or 5 articles on this goal chart. It should like at least a 2 year plan or looking out 24 months. I would actually recommend thinking 3-5 years into the future.
10. Goal Chart Mentoring: Discuss physical goal chart with a mentor. This will help keep you on task. It will also give you someone to share your successes and rejections with. Mentors are very important in getting to tenure and in life.
11. Clear Schedule in Bulk: Clear days or weeks from schedule to write and only write. And then write and write and write. Smile.
12. Writing Tips: Read the writing tips in my blog. I have 4 such blog posts.
a. Ten Quick Writing Tips: http://travelinedman.blogspot.com/2008/01/10-quick-writing-tips-in-academic-world.html
b. 20-30 Writing Tips: http://travelinedman.blogspot.com/2007/01/quick-20-academic-writing-tips.html
c. 3 P's of Professorship: http://travelinedman.blogspot.com/2007/08/3-ps-of-publishing-professorship-keep.html
d. 3 P's of Professional Writing: http://travelinedman.blogspot.com/2007/08/3-ps-of-professional-writers-purpose.html
13. Avoid Raising Hand or Volunteering to Chair a Committee: Do not volunteer to be a chair on a committee ever. When asked, just say when you signed up for this committee, it was with the agreement that you would not chair it. Do not go looking for more work that is not recognized prior to tenure.
14. Department Service: At the department level, work on service committees that matter—search committees, new student entrance committees, etc. These types of committees provide the people who you will work with in the future. Hence, they are extremely important ones to your own success. Travel or awards committees can also be fun and worthwhile without killing you.
15. School/College Level Service: At the college or school level, sign up for committees that usually have modest time requirements like student appeals or ethics committee, invited speaker or lectures and seminars committee (limited meetings and you meet cool and important people), and outstanding dissertation or awards committee. Committee on teaching are also worth the time investments. Avoid faculty council committees (political and a sure waste of time and effort--keep in mind that this is my opinion; many faculty love this one)> Also avoid promotion and tenure committees (political) and budget committees (boring! I know, I am an accountant. Higher education accountants, however, take boring to the extreme).
16. University Service: One word--avoid. Unless you like the topic a lot and it is great exposure for you, just say no. Of course, you might sign up for one to get to meet faculty from other departments and units or to work with your favorite friends. Just do not go overboard. If a form comes and you can sign not to be included in the annual voting for a particular faculty committee, then sign away. Why have your enemies vote you on silly committees that waste your time?
17. Grants of Other People: Do not get on another person’s grant (unless small role with high payoff; need to get your role specified in writing—-never just an oral agreement, though I an a hypocrite here…smile). This is one area that I have always seen problems. Weigh summer money and release time from grants of other people against commitments and time away from personal publishing.
18. Writing Environment or Setting: Find a place to write that you like. This is a no brainer and everyone will tell you this.
19. Signage for Visitors: If bothered too much, place a sign on your door about your availability. I have an open door policy at my office so I work for home a lot where I can get much done. Other people prefer their work offices. If you do, try to close the door at times. At home, I have a wondrous view of the woods and a creek at the bottom. Deer walking behind when I work on my deck. I can write a ton. Find your setting (see pt #19 above).
20. Get Help and Thank Help: You cannot do everything by yourself. Get people to give feedback on papers and thank them in acknowledgements. Have a couple of friends who are good editors will go a long way in your success. I just found 2 people here in Bloomington who are currently helping me with a book. Find those people, but be sure to pay them and thank them as well as help them out when they need it.
21. Journal Selection Process: Look for journals to publish in. Target your papers. Think or plan ahead. If you are in educational technology, see my technology journal list at: http://www.trainingshare.com/resources/distance_ed_journals_and_online_learning_books.htm
22. Conference Jumping: Do not go from conference to conference. Try to publish your papers prior to going (after accepted) or right after the conference. If you go from conference to conference, you will never get many things published. I am speaking from experience. Friends need you at conferences, but each conference equates to 2-3 weeks—one week to get ready, one week to be there, and a week to recover. Keep this 3 week rule in mind every time you consider a conference. It is more like 3 weeks of time for an assistant professor. For tenured professors like me, it is more like 1 week since I no longer have to write papers for each conference and can come and go as needed. That being said, I still do conference papers. I do not want to sound like a slug.
23. Annual Publishing Goals or Quotas: Publish on average 3 good articles per year. That is the goal. If you get 2 much of the time and 3 the rest, be happy. My personal quotas are much higher but you need to set yours somewhere and simply get started.
24. Research Strands: Create 2-4 strands of your research. Do not just have 1 strand to your research as some might advise you to do. One strand may never be accepted for publication and so then what do you do? Diversify somewhat.
These are just 24 of my ideas. I could give you 24 more if needed. Get ideas for 4-5 people and synthesize across them. Ok, remember this is about YOUR time. Below is a joke about the time commitments prior to tenure.
Ten Simple Steps to Tenure (this is meant as a joke--smile):
Step #1: Avoid department meetings;
Step #2: Avoid school or college meetings;
Step #3: Avoid university functions and meetings;
Step #4: Avoid mandated meetings;
Step #5: Avoid book publishers, book buyers (though sometimes getting cash for books is nice), and avoid anyone stopping by just to chat.
Step #6: Avoid retreats and other such silliness;
Step #7: Avoid committee meetings;
Step #8: Avoid students;
Step #9: Avoid life;
Step #10: Review other 9 steps each week.
Much of this I say in jest. Still, it is just a way to remind yourself that your time matters and is costly.
What about friends and family? Never forget them. They are the most important. Meet them during conferences or take with you. My kids have been with me to conferences and presentations in Finland, Australia, and Hawaii. That was fun! In addition, my friends meet me at almost all of my conferences. That is also great!
So now you have two dozen ideas to help you get tenure (should you want it). If all else fails, here is a job posting list I recently created (smile this is meant as a joke):
http://www.trainingshare.com/resources/Job-search-Educational-Technology-and-Instructional-Technology.htm
Good luck.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)