Sorry no blog postings for a while. Been a rough semester, first of travel, and now of trying to complete an NSF grant.
One shiny moment occurred today. A special issue of the Congressional Record Quarterly (CRQ) came out today (Note: You may need a subscription to view it...sorry about that). The issue is devoted to technology in the K-12 schools and higher education. It is titled "Digital Education." The issue looks great; in fact, many people and projects from the "Extreme Learning" arena that I am researching are mentioned in it. For example, Aaron Doering from the University of Minnesota who has helped found Earthducation and Polar Husky. There is Paul Kim from Stanford who founded Seeds for Empowerment (he is quoted on page 1008). My son, Alex Bonk, is currently working with Paul on his Seeds for Empowerment project.
Congressional Quarterly Researcher (CQR) homepage; Entire issue: CRQ,
Digital Education (Note: It will be listed at the homepage only until the night of December 8, 2011), December 2, 2011 • Volume 21, Issue 42, Can technology replace classroom teachers?, By Marcia Clemmitt
There are many other superstars in this issue. James Gee from Arizona State University of Arizona is asked about the skills learned from game-based learning on pages 1004 and 1005. Paul Resta from UT Austin is also interviewed on page 1005. He mentions the inadequate teacher training that often surrounds technology purchases in schools. Gee, Resta, Kim, Doering. Wow.
But wait, there is more! After Paul Kim (p. 1008) mentions how live teachers might support student technology needs when and where needed online, Chris Dede from Harvard is asked about the benefits of interactive games like "River City" which he helped develop. After that, my friend Barry Fishman from the U of Michigan comments on his goals in studying the motivational principles of games. A few pages later (p. 1014), Fishman is back to discuss the educational benefits of mobile apps. The following paragraph signals the return of Aaron Doering and his ideas about adventure learning and student-generated knowledge from these adventures. Also on page 1014, my friend Christine Greenhow from the University of Maryland discusses the benefits of social networking. And there are many more learning technology experts quoted in this issue.
It is great to see so many of my friends and colleagues whom I highly respect quoted in this issue. Their work is an inspiration to me. Therefore, it was an honor to be asked to author the Pro side of the op ed piece that CRQ people gave me on the technology spending debate in schools. The exact debate is: "Should schools incorporate as much digital technology as they can afford." My response and the entire issue is freely available for a week or until the night of December 8th, 2011.
= = = = = = = =
Pro and Con. Note: I wrote 538 words. My article, however, had to be reduced to 400 words. My original longer version is below. See what you think.
Congressional Quarterly Researcher (CQ) Researcher, op-ed on Computers in K-12 education.
Position of Advocate: Should schools incorporate as much digital technology as finances allow?, p. 1117
Curt Bonk, Indiana University (2011, December 2, p. 1017). Op Ed (Pro side--expanded version--a shorter 400 word version appeared in CQR) (Note: Paul Thomas from Furman University has the con side.)
We have entered a unique moment in history. Learning technologies have far outstripped learning theory. There is a ceaseless churning out of digital technologies for schools and teachers to consider. At the same time, budgets are being slashed. What to do? This is no time to ban, control, restrict, limit, or passively ignore possible uses of technology in teaching and learning. Instead, it should be an age filled with heavy doses of learning technology experimentation and creative initiatives.
School administrators, educational experts, teachers, and other stakeholders should map out reasonable scenarios on technology use and learning outcomes. With proper planning, foresight, discussion, and evaluation, there is much that technology dollars can afford, even for the smallest or most impoverished school or district.
A couple of years ago, I authored the book, “The World Is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education.” In it, I detailed many free and openly available resources for learning. With careful planning of one’s technology dollar, technologies such as laptops, tablet computers such as the iPad, or other hardware can be acquired with a wide range of free tools and applications for learning basic mathematics, spelling, grammar, or scientific concepts. Not content? Why, then, perhaps you might have students explore learning portals containing the great works of Shakespeare, Darwin, Einstein, Jane Austin, Jane Goodall, the Dalai Lama, and most major historical figures and leaders one can name from the past few millennia. And such contents are often created by NASA, the U.S. Federal Government, the Smithsonian, National Geographic, the United Nations, MIT, Berkeley, the British Library, UNESCO, and many other reputable and expert-reviewed sources.
Learners can collect data with online survey tools, manipulate and analyze it with spreadsheet and statistical applications, and report it with various presentation and communication tools. Critical thinking, problem solving, and synthesis are all skills that can be enhanced using digital technologies. Why not extend your budgets toward such ends? Thoughtful integration of technology necessitates that we push to the edges of all perceived limitations; this includes pedagogical limitations, access limitations, time limitations, complexity limitations, and cost limitations. Learners today can spend their entire middle and high school years learning with free resources. Now top it off with hardware, software, and administrative costs that situate students in authentic contexts analyzing real world data and interacting with their global peers about the results of their investigations. If this requires a cheap $20 membership in some service that fosters such expert advice or interaction, that is $20 well spent.
Digital technologies offer so much hope today. Students can be inspired by mentors and role models from all corners of the Earth. Feedback on one’s ideas can be received in the early morning hours or late at night. E-books can be loaded into mobile devices that can represent events through simulations, animations, videos, and hyperlinked text.
Effective learning requires an environment be designed for multiple paths to success. In the twenty-first century digital technologies—social networking, e-books, shared online video, mobile applications, virtual worlds, collaborative tools, etc.—enhance the learning opportunities for untold millions of learners. The maximization of technologies in the learning space, in effect, provides a distinct advantage for learning. Now is the time to move ahead, not retrench or retrace.
= = = = = = = = = = = = =
Hope you enjoyed it. What is you opinion? Should schools use as much digital technology as they can afford? I think the operational word here is "use" not "afford." But that would need to be a longer argument.
Of course, I wish I had the space to write twice as much. With that, I could have embedded a few more specific examples. Reminder: the entire CQR special issue will only be listed on the homepage until December 8th, 2011 and may require a subscription by your university or organization to be able to view it. The Pro-Con debate I was in may end up available later on as there is a portal to all previous Pro-Con debates in CQR.
Enjoy the weekend and the football games; especially my alma mater Wisconsin Badgers vs. Mich State.
Friday 2 December 2011
Saturday 15 October 2011
The “Explainer” Explains His Creative Process: A Close-Up Discussion with Michael Wesch
Visit to Kansas State and Interview of Michael Wesch:
I wrote about Michael Wesch from Kansas State University in my World is Open book. He became known for several YouTube videos on the digital generation that went viral during the past few years. And that has brought a ton of attention to the anthropology program at Kansas State as well as to Michael who is now an associate professor of Cultural Anthropology. Michael’s Digital Enthography blog is also high read and referenced and his channel in YouTube is watched by millions.
Several of his more popular videos are listed below.
1. Web 2.0…The Machine is Us/ing Us; 11,477,707 views, posted January 31, 2007.
2. A Vision of Students Today, 4,424,863 views, posted October 12, 2007.
3. The Visions of Students Today 2011 Remix One (Trailer), 19,713 views, posted January 26, 2011.
4. An anthropological introduction to YouTube, 1,715,085 views, posted July 26, 2008, the Library of Congress, recorded June 23rd, 2008.
5. Rethinking Education, 33,145 views, posted January 24, 2011 (Note: this is the one I perhaps like the most since there are many Web 2.0 stars in this one. Watch it and see who you recognize.).
Now Back to My Story...
Michael and I had a chance to sit down and reflect when I was at K-State back on October 4th to 6th. I was in town to keynote the 6th annual Axio Learning Community Conference at the K-State University Alumni Center. It was a lovely place in which to present. I had a great time at the conference as well as dinner afterward with David Young (my host) and several others.
As you can see from the pics below, K-State is a lovely place.
I was honored to have Michael Wesch attend my talks; especially since he is on sabbatical this year. Michael is a fantastic person. As a result, seems everyone in Manhattan knows him, from 4 year old kids we walk by on the streets to emeritous faculty members on campus.
After my talks were over on the 5th, Michael and I walked to the house he just purchased and is in the process of remodeling as well as building bike trails in the back. It certainly is a lovely place to live...both his house and Manhattan. Michael has some wonderful plans for that house and yard.
Shortly after I got back from Kansas, questions starting pouring into my head that I wanted to ask Michael. It was impossible to get back on a plane and pop over to Manhattan and ask him, so I sent him a few questions about living in Manhattan, Kansas State, but more importantly, I wanted to know about his creative process. Amazingly, Michael found a few spare moments of time as he was headed out the door for perhaps his top invited talk ever, the Future of State Universities Conference in Dallas. Other speakers included Tony Blair, Clayton Christenson, John Howard (the former prime minister of Australia), Salman Khan, Arne Duncan, Martha Kanter, etc., and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush was a moderator. Wow.
Nevertheless, he found some time. Thanks Michael! You are one excellent human being. As you will see, Michael Wesch's answers to my six interview questions provide a fascinating glimpse into the creative process of a perpetually innovative scholar and highly engaging and thoughtful individual. Read on.
The “Explainer” Explains His Creative Process: A Close-Up Discussion with Michael Wesch
Curt Question #1. Hey Mike. You are known for your unique videos that explain new media in education and how education might better address the youth culture. Seems every time I turn around you are producing something fascinating for me to watch, read, or listen to. Can you describe your creative process? What might be some takeaway principles, environmental conditions, or environment components of becoming such a highly creative person?
Michael responds: My creative process begins by trying to quiet all the "should" voices rattling through my head. We all have people (and perhaps more importantly, large and menacing social, bureaucratic, and economic structures) telling us that we Should do this or that, that this is the way things Should be done, that real professors Should do X, Y, and Z, etc. It is an ongoing battle to silence those Shoulds. The Shoulds hold most of the keys to traditional tenure & promotion. They put food on the table. And they have ways to make us feel good when we do as we Should.
But in an environment of constant change, the Shoulds are almost always wrong. This is where you might expect me to rehash that old cliche that we have to silence the Shoulds, listen to our own hearts, get in touch with our core and lead from within - but that's not how I work. I do almost completely the opposite. The only voice that is more distracting than the Shoulds is my Self - so it has to be silenced too. And so I'm left just trying to listen to the world as it is, and listen for what it needs. This is a long process that is really more like a life practice. I just spend hour after hour gathering information, thinking about it, processing it, thinking about it again, questioning my earlier ideas, looking for my taken-for-granted assumptions and trying to challenge those, and on and on for years until there is a breakthrough moment.
People often ask me how long it took me to create “The Machine is Us/ing Us,” which is probably my best-known work. It's hard to answer that question. The actual labor of putting the video together took about 3 days and no more than15 hours of actual work time, but the idea itself came to me even faster - in an immeasurable micro-second.
The entire vision was just there for me one morning and I immediately set out to turn that vision into a reality. But another way of answering that is to say it took over one year (actually, close to 2 years), because that's how long I had been thinking about (and desperately struggling to write about) the core ideas that are expressed in that video. My mom overheard me answering this question to somebody once and she interrupted saying, "Mike, you were working on that your whole life" - which is really more true than any answer I ever had. It is the culmination of decades of work. Things I was doing over 20 years ago when I was 12 are directly relevant to the work.
We're all that way, and that's the real beauty of the creative process. Whatever you create, will in some way, be the culmination of a lifetime of creativity and exploration, and therefore unique and something only you could say in the way in which you have said it.
Curt Question #2. How do you know when an idea might work or when one of your video ideas might go viral? Are there any key steps or aspects to a project that others can learn from?
Michael responds: A great academic video starts with a keen observation. From there it is a matter of relaying that observation by using a pacing that underlines the central emotion and feel you are trying to create, moving the story along with "economy," which is to say you must never tell too much or too little to tell the story. You have to master the subtle art of rhythm, in which every clip and transition matches the emotional & musical rhythm of the piece. The pacing and rhythm help to create a rich texture, and all of this must resonate with profound authenticity - as something more real than real because it reconnects us with the real that we are constantly letting slip right past us in our everyday lives. In this way, video does not really have to make a logical "point" in the manner of an academic paper. Instead it allows us to show the world to others in a new way. My most successful works go on to be used by others to make very different, often contradictory points, which is fine with me. My purpose is to create an artifact that focuses or refocuses important conversations.
Curt Question #3. Perhaps there is a link between exercise and creativity. Apparently, you love riding your bike. Do you jump on a bike to purposely reflect on a new idea or is it your chance to get away and veg out? Have any of your video ideas been designed in your head while riding your bike? By the way, how many bikes do you have? How long are your routes?
Michael responds: I love biking, but it is really just a small part of my larger interest in livable, engaged, participatory communities. The energy I apply in my classrooms trying to create inspiring authentic connections I carry over into my everyday life, and part of that is using a bike to get around town. The beauty of biking is not just that you get exercise, it is that you feel more connected to the world and people around you. You are not encapsulated in your car, so you save and say "hi" to people around you. You stop for more conversations. Ride your bike enough and you no longer just feel more connected, you *are* more connected. I live more-or-less car-free in my day-to-day life. I have a wide range of bikes to help me achieve this, including a snow bike, a basic commuter, and my favorite - a Dutch "long john" cargo bike. The cargo bike is a true car-replacement, with tons of storage space to carry 2 kids, groceries, and more. Our town is no more than 5 miles across at its widest point, and most destinations are within 2 miles, so there is really no reason to drive a car under most circumstances.
Curt Question #4. Your Library of Congress talk is a must see for those interested in new media and the potential impact of shared online video and other participatory learning technologies in higher education and other educational sectors. I find the data in it phenomenal and your presentation style highly engaging. How long did it take you to create that talk? Do such talks evolve or fade away after so much time?
Michael responds: There is about 2 years of research behind that talk, most of which took place in an upper-level Digital Ethnography class at K-State. We worked closely together as a class, and in the end each of the fifteen students submitted a 5 minute clip summarizing their piece of the overall research. I then took those 15 clips and edited them into the videos you see during that talk. Some of it is my own original material, and some of it is taken directly from student projects.
That process took me about 6 weeks to complete. I have been asked to give that same talk a few times since then, so I have kept it updated with new materials and a few new insights.
Curt Question #5. You mentioned to me earlier this week that you have always found computer programming interesting and fairly easy for you. When did you first begin to dabble with computers? How has this evolved?
Michael responds: My first computer was a Tandy PC-8 that I received for Christmas when I was 11 years old. It was really just a fancy calculator, but it understood BASIC. I started hacking away immediately. Like any programmer will tell you, there is a magical moment when you setup a list of commands for a machine and it miraculously performs those commands for you. I was hooked, but I was pretty limited by the little16 digit display. I eventually managed to create a little pixilated superman character that could fly across the screen and crash into a wall on the other side. That was enough to inspire my parents to buy me a much larger Tandy with a keyboard and 4-color screen the next year, and I was off and running. In graduate school I started playing around with HTML, JavaScript, and other web-authoring languages, always looking for new ways that we could present and share our ideas.
When I started the work and research on The Machine is Us/ing Us, I had in mind a simple paper explaining to other scholars why Web 2.0 matters. Writing about Web 2.0 was frustrating though. I knew I would have to *show* them, and the idea for that video was born.
Curt Question #6. In what ways does Kansas State support someone like you (i.e., an associate professor of cultural anthropology and digital ethnography) to get to this national stage related to teaching and learning with technology and the creation of active learning environments or "anti-teaching" as you call it?
Michael responds: While Kansas State has provided plenty of support for my work, I think it is more important to note what they have *not done,* which is get in the way. Nobody has ever said "you can't do that" to me, which has really surprised me considering some of the things I have done. For example, when I published "A Vision of Students Today," which shows some of the worst of K-State (large out-of-date classrooms and disengaged students trudging through an Intro class), I expected some reprimanding. But even after the Chronicle of Higher Education ran it with the headline, "K-State Students report reading less than half of what they are assigned," I still received nothing but praise and encouragement. I imagine some schools would have asked me to pull it off YouTube after that, but it stayed, and went viral. The video garnered over 4 million views, was featured on ABCnews.com, and we became the center of a national debate on college education. We benefited greatly throughout all of this, and have been able to generate some exciting positive momentum towards reforms that are already in place just a few years later.
[Note: here are some pics I took 2 weeks ago when visiting K-State and the classroom Michael taught in and used for his video]
[Note also that there are also new classroom spaces being built at K-State like this one.]
Michael Continues...Kansas State has a long record of big successes, with more national Professor of the Year award winners than any other research university in the US, and our students have received more of the big-name scholarships in the past 25 years (Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, etc.) than any other state university. Overall, we rank 6th, amidst the Ivy League schools. It is a remarkable accomplishment for an "out of the way" place like this, but I think it may be precisely because we are out of the way, we stay out of each others' way, and yet also provide a sense of community where people feel inspired to find their way.
Curt Question #7. (Note: All creative people need nurturance and support for their ideas. Having just visited Michael at Kansas State, I could see that K-State is a highly supportive environment and one that would be easy to settle into and work. KSU and Manhattan are a lot like IU and Bloomington here in Indiana. I heard Manhattan is expecting huge growth during the coming decade. I wanted to know what it was like to work there.)
So I asked him, “You have become an international celebrity in what previously might have been considered a remote part of the world. Why might someone getting their Ph.D. today place the Manhattan's and Bloomington's of the world high on their list instead of San Francisco and Boston?”
Michael responds: I like living in a smallish town because it gives me a constant sense of connection and significance. By "significance" I don't mean that I feel like "a big fish in a little pond." Rather, I feel like everybody's a big fish here. We all matter. I think of Manhattan, Kansas as a "heads up" town, a town where you walk with your head up and greet everybody you meet. You do this because there is a good chance you know the people you see, and if you don't, there's a good chance somebody you know knows them, and that you will meet them later. In contrast, there is that other Manhattan in New York, which tends to be a "head down" town - a place where people tend to keep their head down and dart off to their next appointment. I have some good friends in that other Manhattan, like Daniel Latorre, that are trying to change this through better public spaces, but there is nothing like the feel of a town like Manhattan, Kansas, where everybody matters.
Being a little bit off the map is also liberating. I feel a bit more free to do my own thing and explore the world in my own way.
= = = = = = = = = = = = =
I hope you enjoyed the interview with Michael Wesch. During my brief stay in Manhattan, I saw many of the things Michael mentioned. I visited the classroom “A Vision of Students Today.” I also saw everyone in town greet Michael as a personal friend. He is fun, creative, unique, and inspiring. Now perhaps we know a bit more about the Explainer!
I hope to see some of you at E-Learn in Hawaii during the coming week.
I wrote about Michael Wesch from Kansas State University in my World is Open book. He became known for several YouTube videos on the digital generation that went viral during the past few years. And that has brought a ton of attention to the anthropology program at Kansas State as well as to Michael who is now an associate professor of Cultural Anthropology. Michael’s Digital Enthography blog is also high read and referenced and his channel in YouTube is watched by millions.
Several of his more popular videos are listed below.
1. Web 2.0…The Machine is Us/ing Us; 11,477,707 views, posted January 31, 2007.
2. A Vision of Students Today, 4,424,863 views, posted October 12, 2007.
3. The Visions of Students Today 2011 Remix One (Trailer), 19,713 views, posted January 26, 2011.
4. An anthropological introduction to YouTube, 1,715,085 views, posted July 26, 2008, the Library of Congress, recorded June 23rd, 2008.
5. Rethinking Education, 33,145 views, posted January 24, 2011 (Note: this is the one I perhaps like the most since there are many Web 2.0 stars in this one. Watch it and see who you recognize.).
Now Back to My Story...
Michael and I had a chance to sit down and reflect when I was at K-State back on October 4th to 6th. I was in town to keynote the 6th annual Axio Learning Community Conference at the K-State University Alumni Center. It was a lovely place in which to present. I had a great time at the conference as well as dinner afterward with David Young (my host) and several others.
As you can see from the pics below, K-State is a lovely place.
I was honored to have Michael Wesch attend my talks; especially since he is on sabbatical this year. Michael is a fantastic person. As a result, seems everyone in Manhattan knows him, from 4 year old kids we walk by on the streets to emeritous faculty members on campus.
After my talks were over on the 5th, Michael and I walked to the house he just purchased and is in the process of remodeling as well as building bike trails in the back. It certainly is a lovely place to live...both his house and Manhattan. Michael has some wonderful plans for that house and yard.
Shortly after I got back from Kansas, questions starting pouring into my head that I wanted to ask Michael. It was impossible to get back on a plane and pop over to Manhattan and ask him, so I sent him a few questions about living in Manhattan, Kansas State, but more importantly, I wanted to know about his creative process. Amazingly, Michael found a few spare moments of time as he was headed out the door for perhaps his top invited talk ever, the Future of State Universities Conference in Dallas. Other speakers included Tony Blair, Clayton Christenson, John Howard (the former prime minister of Australia), Salman Khan, Arne Duncan, Martha Kanter, etc., and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush was a moderator. Wow.
Nevertheless, he found some time. Thanks Michael! You are one excellent human being. As you will see, Michael Wesch's answers to my six interview questions provide a fascinating glimpse into the creative process of a perpetually innovative scholar and highly engaging and thoughtful individual. Read on.
The “Explainer” Explains His Creative Process: A Close-Up Discussion with Michael Wesch
Curt Question #1. Hey Mike. You are known for your unique videos that explain new media in education and how education might better address the youth culture. Seems every time I turn around you are producing something fascinating for me to watch, read, or listen to. Can you describe your creative process? What might be some takeaway principles, environmental conditions, or environment components of becoming such a highly creative person?
Michael responds: My creative process begins by trying to quiet all the "should" voices rattling through my head. We all have people (and perhaps more importantly, large and menacing social, bureaucratic, and economic structures) telling us that we Should do this or that, that this is the way things Should be done, that real professors Should do X, Y, and Z, etc. It is an ongoing battle to silence those Shoulds. The Shoulds hold most of the keys to traditional tenure & promotion. They put food on the table. And they have ways to make us feel good when we do as we Should.
But in an environment of constant change, the Shoulds are almost always wrong. This is where you might expect me to rehash that old cliche that we have to silence the Shoulds, listen to our own hearts, get in touch with our core and lead from within - but that's not how I work. I do almost completely the opposite. The only voice that is more distracting than the Shoulds is my Self - so it has to be silenced too. And so I'm left just trying to listen to the world as it is, and listen for what it needs. This is a long process that is really more like a life practice. I just spend hour after hour gathering information, thinking about it, processing it, thinking about it again, questioning my earlier ideas, looking for my taken-for-granted assumptions and trying to challenge those, and on and on for years until there is a breakthrough moment.
People often ask me how long it took me to create “The Machine is Us/ing Us,” which is probably my best-known work. It's hard to answer that question. The actual labor of putting the video together took about 3 days and no more than15 hours of actual work time, but the idea itself came to me even faster - in an immeasurable micro-second.
The entire vision was just there for me one morning and I immediately set out to turn that vision into a reality. But another way of answering that is to say it took over one year (actually, close to 2 years), because that's how long I had been thinking about (and desperately struggling to write about) the core ideas that are expressed in that video. My mom overheard me answering this question to somebody once and she interrupted saying, "Mike, you were working on that your whole life" - which is really more true than any answer I ever had. It is the culmination of decades of work. Things I was doing over 20 years ago when I was 12 are directly relevant to the work.
We're all that way, and that's the real beauty of the creative process. Whatever you create, will in some way, be the culmination of a lifetime of creativity and exploration, and therefore unique and something only you could say in the way in which you have said it.
Curt Question #2. How do you know when an idea might work or when one of your video ideas might go viral? Are there any key steps or aspects to a project that others can learn from?
Michael responds: A great academic video starts with a keen observation. From there it is a matter of relaying that observation by using a pacing that underlines the central emotion and feel you are trying to create, moving the story along with "economy," which is to say you must never tell too much or too little to tell the story. You have to master the subtle art of rhythm, in which every clip and transition matches the emotional & musical rhythm of the piece. The pacing and rhythm help to create a rich texture, and all of this must resonate with profound authenticity - as something more real than real because it reconnects us with the real that we are constantly letting slip right past us in our everyday lives. In this way, video does not really have to make a logical "point" in the manner of an academic paper. Instead it allows us to show the world to others in a new way. My most successful works go on to be used by others to make very different, often contradictory points, which is fine with me. My purpose is to create an artifact that focuses or refocuses important conversations.
Curt Question #3. Perhaps there is a link between exercise and creativity. Apparently, you love riding your bike. Do you jump on a bike to purposely reflect on a new idea or is it your chance to get away and veg out? Have any of your video ideas been designed in your head while riding your bike? By the way, how many bikes do you have? How long are your routes?
Michael responds: I love biking, but it is really just a small part of my larger interest in livable, engaged, participatory communities. The energy I apply in my classrooms trying to create inspiring authentic connections I carry over into my everyday life, and part of that is using a bike to get around town. The beauty of biking is not just that you get exercise, it is that you feel more connected to the world and people around you. You are not encapsulated in your car, so you save and say "hi" to people around you. You stop for more conversations. Ride your bike enough and you no longer just feel more connected, you *are* more connected. I live more-or-less car-free in my day-to-day life. I have a wide range of bikes to help me achieve this, including a snow bike, a basic commuter, and my favorite - a Dutch "long john" cargo bike. The cargo bike is a true car-replacement, with tons of storage space to carry 2 kids, groceries, and more. Our town is no more than 5 miles across at its widest point, and most destinations are within 2 miles, so there is really no reason to drive a car under most circumstances.
Curt Question #4. Your Library of Congress talk is a must see for those interested in new media and the potential impact of shared online video and other participatory learning technologies in higher education and other educational sectors. I find the data in it phenomenal and your presentation style highly engaging. How long did it take you to create that talk? Do such talks evolve or fade away after so much time?
Michael responds: There is about 2 years of research behind that talk, most of which took place in an upper-level Digital Ethnography class at K-State. We worked closely together as a class, and in the end each of the fifteen students submitted a 5 minute clip summarizing their piece of the overall research. I then took those 15 clips and edited them into the videos you see during that talk. Some of it is my own original material, and some of it is taken directly from student projects.
That process took me about 6 weeks to complete. I have been asked to give that same talk a few times since then, so I have kept it updated with new materials and a few new insights.
Curt Question #5. You mentioned to me earlier this week that you have always found computer programming interesting and fairly easy for you. When did you first begin to dabble with computers? How has this evolved?
Michael responds: My first computer was a Tandy PC-8 that I received for Christmas when I was 11 years old. It was really just a fancy calculator, but it understood BASIC. I started hacking away immediately. Like any programmer will tell you, there is a magical moment when you setup a list of commands for a machine and it miraculously performs those commands for you. I was hooked, but I was pretty limited by the little16 digit display. I eventually managed to create a little pixilated superman character that could fly across the screen and crash into a wall on the other side. That was enough to inspire my parents to buy me a much larger Tandy with a keyboard and 4-color screen the next year, and I was off and running. In graduate school I started playing around with HTML, JavaScript, and other web-authoring languages, always looking for new ways that we could present and share our ideas.
When I started the work and research on The Machine is Us/ing Us, I had in mind a simple paper explaining to other scholars why Web 2.0 matters. Writing about Web 2.0 was frustrating though. I knew I would have to *show* them, and the idea for that video was born.
Curt Question #6. In what ways does Kansas State support someone like you (i.e., an associate professor of cultural anthropology and digital ethnography) to get to this national stage related to teaching and learning with technology and the creation of active learning environments or "anti-teaching" as you call it?
Michael responds: While Kansas State has provided plenty of support for my work, I think it is more important to note what they have *not done,* which is get in the way. Nobody has ever said "you can't do that" to me, which has really surprised me considering some of the things I have done. For example, when I published "A Vision of Students Today," which shows some of the worst of K-State (large out-of-date classrooms and disengaged students trudging through an Intro class), I expected some reprimanding. But even after the Chronicle of Higher Education ran it with the headline, "K-State Students report reading less than half of what they are assigned," I still received nothing but praise and encouragement. I imagine some schools would have asked me to pull it off YouTube after that, but it stayed, and went viral. The video garnered over 4 million views, was featured on ABCnews.com, and we became the center of a national debate on college education. We benefited greatly throughout all of this, and have been able to generate some exciting positive momentum towards reforms that are already in place just a few years later.
[Note: here are some pics I took 2 weeks ago when visiting K-State and the classroom Michael taught in and used for his video]
[Note also that there are also new classroom spaces being built at K-State like this one.]
Michael Continues...Kansas State has a long record of big successes, with more national Professor of the Year award winners than any other research university in the US, and our students have received more of the big-name scholarships in the past 25 years (Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, etc.) than any other state university. Overall, we rank 6th, amidst the Ivy League schools. It is a remarkable accomplishment for an "out of the way" place like this, but I think it may be precisely because we are out of the way, we stay out of each others' way, and yet also provide a sense of community where people feel inspired to find their way.
Curt Question #7. (Note: All creative people need nurturance and support for their ideas. Having just visited Michael at Kansas State, I could see that K-State is a highly supportive environment and one that would be easy to settle into and work. KSU and Manhattan are a lot like IU and Bloomington here in Indiana. I heard Manhattan is expecting huge growth during the coming decade. I wanted to know what it was like to work there.)
So I asked him, “You have become an international celebrity in what previously might have been considered a remote part of the world. Why might someone getting their Ph.D. today place the Manhattan's and Bloomington's of the world high on their list instead of San Francisco and Boston?”
Michael responds: I like living in a smallish town because it gives me a constant sense of connection and significance. By "significance" I don't mean that I feel like "a big fish in a little pond." Rather, I feel like everybody's a big fish here. We all matter. I think of Manhattan, Kansas as a "heads up" town, a town where you walk with your head up and greet everybody you meet. You do this because there is a good chance you know the people you see, and if you don't, there's a good chance somebody you know knows them, and that you will meet them later. In contrast, there is that other Manhattan in New York, which tends to be a "head down" town - a place where people tend to keep their head down and dart off to their next appointment. I have some good friends in that other Manhattan, like Daniel Latorre, that are trying to change this through better public spaces, but there is nothing like the feel of a town like Manhattan, Kansas, where everybody matters.
Being a little bit off the map is also liberating. I feel a bit more free to do my own thing and explore the world in my own way.
= = = = = = = = = = = = =
I hope you enjoyed the interview with Michael Wesch. During my brief stay in Manhattan, I saw many of the things Michael mentioned. I visited the classroom “A Vision of Students Today.” I also saw everyone in town greet Michael as a personal friend. He is fun, creative, unique, and inspiring. Now perhaps we know a bit more about the Explainer!
I hope to see some of you at E-Learn in Hawaii during the coming week.
Wednesday 12 October 2011
Interview with Amy Burvall and Herb Mahelona: A bit of history of "History for Music Lovers"
An Interview with Amy Burvall and Herb Mahelona (History for Music Lovers):
Last month, Amy Burvall and Herb Mahelona were announced as invited speakers at the E-Learn 2011 conference in Hawaii next week. I was excited since I had read about them in the Washington Post and many other places. Yesterday I got even more excited when they agreed to keynote the conference next Wednesday morning (as a late replacement for someone else).
Who are Amy Burvall and Herb Mahelona you ask? They are some of the most innovative people I have ever encountered. And I will get to meet them in 6 days. Among his many skills, Herb is choir director choir at the Kamehameha Schools Hawaii Campus. Amy is known as a leader in educational technology professional development programs at both St. Andrew's Priory (where she taught for 8 years) and Le Jardin Academy International Baccalaureate School. Amy also teachers Theory of Knowledge and World History at Le Jardin Academy. There conference talk is titled "TechnoTroubadours and Teacherpreneurs" (see their bios). Their talk is very impressive as I got a glimpse and so can you. See their prezi presentation with embedded videos. It will be great to have K-12 teachers keynote E-Learn 2011. Fortunately, they are located in Hawaii, though Herb must fly in from the big island.
Amy and Herb are known from their musical creativity with their History for Music Lovers channel in YouTube. Superfantastic stuff. I am amazed by their historical song parodies. I really like their version of Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" as a way to remember the Trojan War. Another one I sing along with at least once a week is Mansa Musa (i.e., "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" by Culture Club). When you land on the History for Music Lovers homepage, you see highly creative song about the history of India, "The Mahabharata" (i.e., "Abracadabra" by the Steve Miller Band). Nearly 600,000 people have seen Amy sing about The French Revolution to "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga. I find it hard not to cry when listening to some of their oldie songs such as the Battle of Agincourt ("As Tears Go By" by Marianne Faithful).
Check their channel out; there are dozens of songs to listen to and learn world history. If someone ever asks you were e-learning can make an impact, well, this is a prime example--mashing up history and music and making it open source for kids all over the planet to listen to and learn from. How cool is that? Very cool! If only my high school such teachers. Perhaps we soon will be turning kids on to not only history but geography, biology, etc., with music.
The lyrics are highly inventive and catchy. I read somewhere that Amy has songs pop into her head when driving home from school and just has to write them down. I understand that since I sometimes experience that when on a plane or a train. Unfortunately, I cannot play music like they can. If Amy and Herb ever go on tour, I think I could listen to them all afternoon and evening at a summerfest stage in Milwaukee. They are highly talented and fun. I think we are going to get spoiled next week and want them at every e-learning conference.
Ok, I need to introduce them next week at the conference so I decided to interview them via email. With permission, below are their responses to this interview. I list Amy first since she was the one I corresponded with.
Curt Question #1. Do you see yourself in the e-learning field when you create a video?
Amy (and Herb): I think at first, not particularly. But certainly after we started posting to You-Tube and responding to fans (mostly teachers, students, and history buffs) and doing various interviews in the field, we did. There is definitely more pressure now as we work on new projects, but we still try to keep it fun and light-hearted, drawing from our own passions instead of catering to others. We’ve certainly learned a LOT about e-learning on our journey!
Curt Question #2. Did you expect to be celebrities in the e-learning space? What is this like?
Amy (and Herb): Haha no way! It’s surreal. I heard from a friend, for example, who was in a coffee shop in Oregon and heard some college kids singing our “Renaissance Man” song [i.e., "Blister in the Sun" by the Violent Femmes]. One fan wrote he was in a museum in Washington and they were playing some of our tunes in the gift shop! And when my students travel they always tell me they meet other kids who know about us. So bizarre. But what is most boggling is that it’s very rare that someone lets you know when they’ve written a blog post or article about you. We sort of have to google ourselves sometimes. And even more crazy was when I discovered one of our lyrics (fleas on rats) was an actual Twitter hashtag!
Curt Question #3. Which 2 music history videos that you created are your favorites and why?
Amy (and Herb): I really love the look and sound of “Elizabeth I”, to the Zombies’ “She’s not There”. And musically, my favorite is “Canterbury Tales”- plus nothing beats that Middle English rap segment. The way I envision “Guernica”, which is in production, might turn out to be my ultimate favorite. For Herb, I know he is most proud of “Joan of Arc”, because we also tried to parody the original White Stripes video…it took quite a lot of time and effort on his part to edit. As far as lyrics go, I think Herb’s lyrics were genius in “Chinese Dynasties” [i.e., "Mambo #5" by Lou Bega] and “Viva Roma #5” [i.e., "Vogue" by Madonna]…I prefer sticking to really specific topics, but he has a gift for synthesizing the broad topics.
Curt Question #4. What is the process like in creating a new video? Any interesting technology challenge that comes to mind?
Amy (and Herb): The biggest challenge for us is time…and now, geography, since we live on different islands. When either of us is inspired to pen lyrics, we do so, because that surge of creativity doesn’t happen all the time. I can go for months without writing a single line and then spew out 6 songs in weekend. Herb then creates the music, and we schedule a time to record. To me, recording is the most fun, and it really doesn’t take that long (maybe a half an hour for 1 song). He mixes/produces the tracks when he gets the time and then we brainstorm what the video should look like. I can never praise storyboarding enough! When we are ready to film I gather all the costume and make-up pieces and props and we head for a green screen. Herb uses a high def. camera and Adobe Premiere and After FX software. When my students make videos, they use Garageband and iMovie. The editing is the most time-consuming, but the more Herb uses the programs the better he gets. I always want to do crazy things that we probably need a Hollywood studio for, but Herb seems to make them happen. He is also a master at Flash animation, an some of our favorites (Henry VIII, Crete, Renaissance Man) are done completely in Flash.
Curt Question #5. What are your hobbies and interests?
Amy (and Herb): Herb is a classical musician at heart and plays for the Kamuela Philharmonic Orchestra, the University of Hawaii symphony, and the Kona Music Society. He teaches cello and piano privately, and is an experienced arranger and composer, who has even written 3 operas performed by the Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus. He enjoys hiking and has been involved in Boy Scout leadership.
Amy is obsessed with anything relating to design – graphic design, interior design, fashion design, etc. – and typically is involved in some related project. Her creative outlets are singing, writing, and photography, but more recently her attention has been on the use and implications of online curation, personal branding, and social media in education. She is often called to train peers in tech integration, and enjoys presenting on the topic. More recently, her interests have drawn her to the “Gutenberg Parenthesis” theory and the work of media philosophers Marshall McLuhan, Thomas Pettitt, and Alejandro Piscitelli, as well as the “EduPunk” movement.
= = = = = = = = = = =
Hope you enjoyed the interview. I also hope to see many of you at the conference next week. If you see me, tap me on the shoulder and say hi. See also the blog post below for the E-learn Preconference Summit at the University of Hawaii next Monday afternoon. The program was just announced and it will be worth it.
Last month, Amy Burvall and Herb Mahelona were announced as invited speakers at the E-Learn 2011 conference in Hawaii next week. I was excited since I had read about them in the Washington Post and many other places. Yesterday I got even more excited when they agreed to keynote the conference next Wednesday morning (as a late replacement for someone else).
Who are Amy Burvall and Herb Mahelona you ask? They are some of the most innovative people I have ever encountered. And I will get to meet them in 6 days. Among his many skills, Herb is choir director choir at the Kamehameha Schools Hawaii Campus. Amy is known as a leader in educational technology professional development programs at both St. Andrew's Priory (where she taught for 8 years) and Le Jardin Academy International Baccalaureate School. Amy also teachers Theory of Knowledge and World History at Le Jardin Academy. There conference talk is titled "TechnoTroubadours and Teacherpreneurs" (see their bios). Their talk is very impressive as I got a glimpse and so can you. See their prezi presentation with embedded videos. It will be great to have K-12 teachers keynote E-Learn 2011. Fortunately, they are located in Hawaii, though Herb must fly in from the big island.
Amy and Herb are known from their musical creativity with their History for Music Lovers channel in YouTube. Superfantastic stuff. I am amazed by their historical song parodies. I really like their version of Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" as a way to remember the Trojan War. Another one I sing along with at least once a week is Mansa Musa (i.e., "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" by Culture Club). When you land on the History for Music Lovers homepage, you see highly creative song about the history of India, "The Mahabharata" (i.e., "Abracadabra" by the Steve Miller Band). Nearly 600,000 people have seen Amy sing about The French Revolution to "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga. I find it hard not to cry when listening to some of their oldie songs such as the Battle of Agincourt ("As Tears Go By" by Marianne Faithful).
Check their channel out; there are dozens of songs to listen to and learn world history. If someone ever asks you were e-learning can make an impact, well, this is a prime example--mashing up history and music and making it open source for kids all over the planet to listen to and learn from. How cool is that? Very cool! If only my high school such teachers. Perhaps we soon will be turning kids on to not only history but geography, biology, etc., with music.
The lyrics are highly inventive and catchy. I read somewhere that Amy has songs pop into her head when driving home from school and just has to write them down. I understand that since I sometimes experience that when on a plane or a train. Unfortunately, I cannot play music like they can. If Amy and Herb ever go on tour, I think I could listen to them all afternoon and evening at a summerfest stage in Milwaukee. They are highly talented and fun. I think we are going to get spoiled next week and want them at every e-learning conference.
Ok, I need to introduce them next week at the conference so I decided to interview them via email. With permission, below are their responses to this interview. I list Amy first since she was the one I corresponded with.
Curt Question #1. Do you see yourself in the e-learning field when you create a video?
Amy (and Herb): I think at first, not particularly. But certainly after we started posting to You-Tube and responding to fans (mostly teachers, students, and history buffs) and doing various interviews in the field, we did. There is definitely more pressure now as we work on new projects, but we still try to keep it fun and light-hearted, drawing from our own passions instead of catering to others. We’ve certainly learned a LOT about e-learning on our journey!
Curt Question #2. Did you expect to be celebrities in the e-learning space? What is this like?
Amy (and Herb): Haha no way! It’s surreal. I heard from a friend, for example, who was in a coffee shop in Oregon and heard some college kids singing our “Renaissance Man” song [i.e., "Blister in the Sun" by the Violent Femmes]. One fan wrote he was in a museum in Washington and they were playing some of our tunes in the gift shop! And when my students travel they always tell me they meet other kids who know about us. So bizarre. But what is most boggling is that it’s very rare that someone lets you know when they’ve written a blog post or article about you. We sort of have to google ourselves sometimes. And even more crazy was when I discovered one of our lyrics (fleas on rats) was an actual Twitter hashtag!
Curt Question #3. Which 2 music history videos that you created are your favorites and why?
Amy (and Herb): I really love the look and sound of “Elizabeth I”, to the Zombies’ “She’s not There”. And musically, my favorite is “Canterbury Tales”- plus nothing beats that Middle English rap segment. The way I envision “Guernica”, which is in production, might turn out to be my ultimate favorite. For Herb, I know he is most proud of “Joan of Arc”, because we also tried to parody the original White Stripes video…it took quite a lot of time and effort on his part to edit. As far as lyrics go, I think Herb’s lyrics were genius in “Chinese Dynasties” [i.e., "Mambo #5" by Lou Bega] and “Viva Roma #5” [i.e., "Vogue" by Madonna]…I prefer sticking to really specific topics, but he has a gift for synthesizing the broad topics.
Curt Question #4. What is the process like in creating a new video? Any interesting technology challenge that comes to mind?
Amy (and Herb): The biggest challenge for us is time…and now, geography, since we live on different islands. When either of us is inspired to pen lyrics, we do so, because that surge of creativity doesn’t happen all the time. I can go for months without writing a single line and then spew out 6 songs in weekend. Herb then creates the music, and we schedule a time to record. To me, recording is the most fun, and it really doesn’t take that long (maybe a half an hour for 1 song). He mixes/produces the tracks when he gets the time and then we brainstorm what the video should look like. I can never praise storyboarding enough! When we are ready to film I gather all the costume and make-up pieces and props and we head for a green screen. Herb uses a high def. camera and Adobe Premiere and After FX software. When my students make videos, they use Garageband and iMovie. The editing is the most time-consuming, but the more Herb uses the programs the better he gets. I always want to do crazy things that we probably need a Hollywood studio for, but Herb seems to make them happen. He is also a master at Flash animation, an some of our favorites (Henry VIII, Crete, Renaissance Man) are done completely in Flash.
Curt Question #5. What are your hobbies and interests?
Amy (and Herb): Herb is a classical musician at heart and plays for the Kamuela Philharmonic Orchestra, the University of Hawaii symphony, and the Kona Music Society. He teaches cello and piano privately, and is an experienced arranger and composer, who has even written 3 operas performed by the Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus. He enjoys hiking and has been involved in Boy Scout leadership.
Amy is obsessed with anything relating to design – graphic design, interior design, fashion design, etc. – and typically is involved in some related project. Her creative outlets are singing, writing, and photography, but more recently her attention has been on the use and implications of online curation, personal branding, and social media in education. She is often called to train peers in tech integration, and enjoys presenting on the topic. More recently, her interests have drawn her to the “Gutenberg Parenthesis” theory and the work of media philosophers Marshall McLuhan, Thomas Pettitt, and Alejandro Piscitelli, as well as the “EduPunk” movement.
= = = = = = = = = = =
Hope you enjoyed the interview. I also hope to see many of you at the conference next week. If you see me, tap me on the shoulder and say hi. See also the blog post below for the E-learn Preconference Summit at the University of Hawaii next Monday afternoon. The program was just announced and it will be worth it.
Saturday 24 September 2011
The E-Learn Preconference Summit at the University of Hawaii at Manoa
The following is not an "unconference" but a "preconference"...more info below.
“The E-Learn Preconference Summit at the University of Hawaii at Manoa”
It is............Free!!!
Date: Monday October 17, 2011
Time: 1 to 5 pm
(with an optional lunch at 11:00 am and potluck pizza dinner at 5:30 pm )
RSVP (and sign up to present): http://tinyurl.com/Elearn-Summit
Are you attending the E-Learn 2011 conference in Honolulu next month? Those arriving early to E-Learn might be interested presenting their innovative research and development efforts in a highly interactive and informal environment (perhaps expanding on ideas or topics that they will later present at the conference). They might also present a totally different project or initiative (perhaps you have an experimental or pilot project that just got funded or a new technology tool that you have developed). Perhaps you have designed a new instructional model or online learning framework. There will be four sessions and four presenters per session. Each presentation will be 9-10 minutes long. A discussant will end each session.
You need not be a presenter to attend this preconference session, Many of you might want to simply listen to the ideas of others and engage in some intense discussions. Still others might want to bring their graduate students to a highly informative and more intimate preconference session. If so, welcome to the E-Learn Preconference Summit at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Your role: sit, observer, share, present, discuss, or whatever you would like.
If you would like to make a short 9-10 minute presentation of your research or development efforts or just plan to attend without presenting, please complete this form: http://tinyurl.com/Elearn-Summit by 5 pm EST on Friday October 7th. All you need is a paragraph or two and a title, of course. Accepted proposals and a final schedule will be announced on Tuesday October 11th.
See below for event coordinators, location, and schedule. Feel free to forward this to interested colleagues, students, and other guests coming to the conference. We hope to see you there. Taxis can be taken from the Sheraton Waikiki to the Willows or the University of Hawaii. Groups might meet in the hotel lobby 30 minutes prior to the event and share a ride.
Event Coordinators and Contact Info:
Curtis Ho, University of Hawaii at Manoa, curtis at hawaii.edu
Peter Leong, University of Hawaii at Manoa, peterleo at hawaii.edu
Tom Reynolds, National University, treynold at nu.edu
Curt Bonk, Indiana University, cjbonk at indiana.edu
Location:
University of Hawaii at Manoa
1776 University Avenue
College Collaboration Center, Wist Hall 135
Honolulu, HI 96822
(upper left corner on this map, http://manoa.hawaii.edu/campusmap/uhmmap.pdf)
Lunch:
The Willows
901 Hausten Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96826
http://willowshawaii.com/
Enticement: Pics of the restaurant
Note: Cost for buffet lunch is $19.95 plus tax and 15% gratuity (so about $24 should do it). Comes with coffee or tea but drinks are extra.
Tentative Program and Schedule:
11:00 Lunch at the Willows
12:45-1:00 Meet and greet and set up
1:00-1:05 Welcome from Curtis, Peter, Tom, and Curt
1:05-1:50 Session #1 (9-10 minutes for each presenter and brief 4-5 minute discussant at the end of each session)
1:50-1:55 Curt and Curtis lead in brief audience stretching and reflection/interaction activity
1:55-2:40 Session #2
2:40-2:50 Audience questions for first 2 session participants
2:50-3:05 Break and refreshments for 15 minutes (coffee and tea)
3:05-3:50 Session #3
3:50-3:55 Tom and Peter lead audience in brief reflection/interaction activity
3:55-4:40 Session #4 Most Innovative Paper/Idea/Topic Session
4:40-4:50 Audience questions and reflections for sessions #3 and #4
4:50-5:00 Quick comments and reflections from all the presenters, discussants, and hosts
5:30 Potluck Pizza ($5 contributions from those who stay for it)
Final Note: A presentation from Dr. Tom Reeves, University of Georgia, will take place after the potluck pizza. This is free to attend as well.
Second Final Note: Check out the keynote and invited speakers for E-Learn. Among them are Herb Mahelona and Amy Burvall who will give a talk, TechnoTroubadours and Teacherpreneurs, based on their "History for Music Lovers" channel. If you have not seen any of their fascinating history music videos, check them out. Want to hear about the Trojan War song to Soft Cell's "Tained Love" anyone? How about "The Canterbury Tales" to the Mamas and the Papas "California Dreamin?" Ok, then, how about "Elizabeth I" to the Zombies classic "She's Not There"? Seeking something more current, well then, there most viewed music video is "The French Revolution" sung to Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance." There are many more I can recommend. And many topics--Joan of Arc, Napolean, Martin Luther, the Vikings, Julius Caesar, Shakespeare, King Arthur, and so on.
Check em out. Or better yet, come to the E-Learn Conference October 18-21. Better yet, come to the preconference summit on October 17th at the University of Hawaii. It will be highly informative and engaging. The entire week will be a blast.
Third Final Note: By the way, the Sheraton Waikiki is most lovely. And that is where the conference is being held. When E-Learn was last there in October 2006, it was rocked by back-to-back earthquakes like 6.9 and 6.6. The entire building swayed. But it still was a fabulous venure. Some presentation rooms have a view of the ocean as you walk in and out. Gorgeous. I once gave an all-day workshop there (think it was 2003) and I had 100 people in the morning but only 50 for the afternoon. I wondered why. Then, when we took a break I stood at the doorway to my workshop and leaned over and saw 50 people from the morning session waving up from the hotel pool sipping Mai Tai's. This could be you!
“The E-Learn Preconference Summit at the University of Hawaii at Manoa”
It is............Free!!!
Date: Monday October 17, 2011
Time: 1 to 5 pm
(with an optional lunch at 11:00 am and potluck pizza dinner at 5:30 pm )
RSVP (and sign up to present): http://tinyurl.com/Elearn-Summit
Are you attending the E-Learn 2011 conference in Honolulu next month? Those arriving early to E-Learn might be interested presenting their innovative research and development efforts in a highly interactive and informal environment (perhaps expanding on ideas or topics that they will later present at the conference). They might also present a totally different project or initiative (perhaps you have an experimental or pilot project that just got funded or a new technology tool that you have developed). Perhaps you have designed a new instructional model or online learning framework. There will be four sessions and four presenters per session. Each presentation will be 9-10 minutes long. A discussant will end each session.
You need not be a presenter to attend this preconference session, Many of you might want to simply listen to the ideas of others and engage in some intense discussions. Still others might want to bring their graduate students to a highly informative and more intimate preconference session. If so, welcome to the E-Learn Preconference Summit at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Your role: sit, observer, share, present, discuss, or whatever you would like.
If you would like to make a short 9-10 minute presentation of your research or development efforts or just plan to attend without presenting, please complete this form: http://tinyurl.com/Elearn-Summit by 5 pm EST on Friday October 7th. All you need is a paragraph or two and a title, of course. Accepted proposals and a final schedule will be announced on Tuesday October 11th.
See below for event coordinators, location, and schedule. Feel free to forward this to interested colleagues, students, and other guests coming to the conference. We hope to see you there. Taxis can be taken from the Sheraton Waikiki to the Willows or the University of Hawaii. Groups might meet in the hotel lobby 30 minutes prior to the event and share a ride.
Event Coordinators and Contact Info:
Curtis Ho, University of Hawaii at Manoa, curtis at hawaii.edu
Peter Leong, University of Hawaii at Manoa, peterleo at hawaii.edu
Tom Reynolds, National University, treynold at nu.edu
Curt Bonk, Indiana University, cjbonk at indiana.edu
Location:
University of Hawaii at Manoa
1776 University Avenue
College Collaboration Center, Wist Hall 135
Honolulu, HI 96822
(upper left corner on this map, http://manoa.hawaii.edu/campusmap/uhmmap.pdf)
Lunch:
The Willows
901 Hausten Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96826
http://willowshawaii.com/
Enticement: Pics of the restaurant
Note: Cost for buffet lunch is $19.95 plus tax and 15% gratuity (so about $24 should do it). Comes with coffee or tea but drinks are extra.
Tentative Program and Schedule:
11:00 Lunch at the Willows
12:45-1:00 Meet and greet and set up
1:00-1:05 Welcome from Curtis, Peter, Tom, and Curt
1:05-1:50 Session #1 (9-10 minutes for each presenter and brief 4-5 minute discussant at the end of each session)
1:50-1:55 Curt and Curtis lead in brief audience stretching and reflection/interaction activity
1:55-2:40 Session #2
2:40-2:50 Audience questions for first 2 session participants
2:50-3:05 Break and refreshments for 15 minutes (coffee and tea)
3:05-3:50 Session #3
3:50-3:55 Tom and Peter lead audience in brief reflection/interaction activity
3:55-4:40 Session #4 Most Innovative Paper/Idea/Topic Session
4:40-4:50 Audience questions and reflections for sessions #3 and #4
4:50-5:00 Quick comments and reflections from all the presenters, discussants, and hosts
5:30 Potluck Pizza ($5 contributions from those who stay for it)
Final Note: A presentation from Dr. Tom Reeves, University of Georgia, will take place after the potluck pizza. This is free to attend as well.
Second Final Note: Check out the keynote and invited speakers for E-Learn. Among them are Herb Mahelona and Amy Burvall who will give a talk, TechnoTroubadours and Teacherpreneurs, based on their "History for Music Lovers" channel. If you have not seen any of their fascinating history music videos, check them out. Want to hear about the Trojan War song to Soft Cell's "Tained Love" anyone? How about "The Canterbury Tales" to the Mamas and the Papas "California Dreamin?" Ok, then, how about "Elizabeth I" to the Zombies classic "She's Not There"? Seeking something more current, well then, there most viewed music video is "The French Revolution" sung to Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance." There are many more I can recommend. And many topics--Joan of Arc, Napolean, Martin Luther, the Vikings, Julius Caesar, Shakespeare, King Arthur, and so on.
Check em out. Or better yet, come to the E-Learn Conference October 18-21. Better yet, come to the preconference summit on October 17th at the University of Hawaii. It will be highly informative and engaging. The entire week will be a blast.
Third Final Note: By the way, the Sheraton Waikiki is most lovely. And that is where the conference is being held. When E-Learn was last there in October 2006, it was rocked by back-to-back earthquakes like 6.9 and 6.6. The entire building swayed. But it still was a fabulous venure. Some presentation rooms have a view of the ocean as you walk in and out. Gorgeous. I once gave an all-day workshop there (think it was 2003) and I had 100 people in the morning but only 50 for the afternoon. I wondered why. Then, when we took a break I stood at the doorway to my workshop and leaned over and saw 50 people from the morning session waving up from the hotel pool sipping Mai Tai's. This could be you!
Saturday 17 September 2011
The World is Open in "Simplified" China
The World is Open in China:
I am still recovering from jet lag from the Korea trip. This is especially apparent at the end of the week. Of course, it is doubly difficult to be gone at the start of the semester and there is much catching up to do now. However, yesterday, I got some excellent news that I have been waiting on for months. Here it is...announcing ta da da daaa...The simplified Chinese version of The World is Open book is out. It is already sold out on Amazon China. Cool. And sold out on other sites as well.
I like the cover a lot (more than the original here in the USA, in fact, though the USA one is improved in the paperback version which just came out with blue lettering). The Chinese publisher picked the book cover that I preferred. And they are using 6 Amazon-like sites to sell the book. You can check out their book cover selection at one of the first 3 links below. You can also order the book if you so choose. I guess it costs roughly $6 US dollars.
Online bookstore sites for World Is Open book in Chinese:
1. 300 buy
2. Dangdang
3. Amazon China
4. 99 Read
5. Beifa Book
6. China-Pub
Here's Johnny:
The translator was Dr. Jiao Jianli from South China Normal University in Guangzhou. Dr. Jiao (also known as "Johnny") is famous for his blog on educational technology. He is a Professor of Educational Technology and Director of Future Education Research Centre. In addition, he is Deputy Dean of School of Information Technology in Education at South China Normal University. Sounds like a great person to work for or with. Dr. Jiao had a team of graduate students help with the translation efforts. I spoke to them a couple of years ago from a Webcam in my basement office in mid July. It was quite fun. For a few months in the early part of this year and late last year I was responding to questions about the book on a daily basis. Some of my American humor and English terminology was apparently quite difficult to translate. But it is done now.
The publisher is East China Normal University which apparently is known in the field of educational technology. Apparently, it is more prestigious to have a university publisher in China than it is in the USA.
My former student, Dr. Subude at California State at Monterey Bay taught a course with Dr. Jiao this summer at Beijing Normal University (see pics of Subude teaching it and their students). Subude told me that “Dr. Jiao is a highly productive professor and his blog has many followers in China. He is certainly playing a leading role in Educational Technology in China. I highly appreciated the opportunity to work with him and learned a lot during our collaboration.”
The Godfather?
A number of my former students are sending me emails today telling me what the promotional materials are saying. Interesting...first, they say that my name translates well in Chinese. "Bonk" definitely does not translate well in the UK or Australia. Smile. But it does in China. They also menton that the book has already sold out in Amazon China. That is certainly wonderful news.
Next, I was also told that the promo materials refer to me as "The Godfather of Educational Technology." Or Godfather of Instructional Technology. I find this hard to believe since I doubt I could even pass the qualifying exam in my own department or any educational technology department or program for that matter. But if I am considered the Godfather, I want to meet the Godmother sometime. My students better watch out since Monday night I am coming to class dressed as Al Pacino or Marlon Brando. Back to listening to the Who on my iPod and the Quadrophenia song comes on: "The Punk And The Godfather." Ta da da daaa...ta da da daaa...ta da da da.
Anyway, I hope some people can explore the Chinese version of the World is Open book and let me know how well my jokes translate. Soon the Arabic version should be out; in fact, it might already be out. I am checking. More soon.
I am still recovering from jet lag from the Korea trip. This is especially apparent at the end of the week. Of course, it is doubly difficult to be gone at the start of the semester and there is much catching up to do now. However, yesterday, I got some excellent news that I have been waiting on for months. Here it is...announcing ta da da daaa...The simplified Chinese version of The World is Open book is out. It is already sold out on Amazon China. Cool. And sold out on other sites as well.
I like the cover a lot (more than the original here in the USA, in fact, though the USA one is improved in the paperback version which just came out with blue lettering). The Chinese publisher picked the book cover that I preferred. And they are using 6 Amazon-like sites to sell the book. You can check out their book cover selection at one of the first 3 links below. You can also order the book if you so choose. I guess it costs roughly $6 US dollars.
Online bookstore sites for World Is Open book in Chinese:
1. 300 buy
2. Dangdang
3. Amazon China
4. 99 Read
5. Beifa Book
6. China-Pub
Here's Johnny:
The translator was Dr. Jiao Jianli from South China Normal University in Guangzhou. Dr. Jiao (also known as "Johnny") is famous for his blog on educational technology. He is a Professor of Educational Technology and Director of Future Education Research Centre. In addition, he is Deputy Dean of School of Information Technology in Education at South China Normal University. Sounds like a great person to work for or with. Dr. Jiao had a team of graduate students help with the translation efforts. I spoke to them a couple of years ago from a Webcam in my basement office in mid July. It was quite fun. For a few months in the early part of this year and late last year I was responding to questions about the book on a daily basis. Some of my American humor and English terminology was apparently quite difficult to translate. But it is done now.
The publisher is East China Normal University which apparently is known in the field of educational technology. Apparently, it is more prestigious to have a university publisher in China than it is in the USA.
My former student, Dr. Subude at California State at Monterey Bay taught a course with Dr. Jiao this summer at Beijing Normal University (see pics of Subude teaching it and their students). Subude told me that “Dr. Jiao is a highly productive professor and his blog has many followers in China. He is certainly playing a leading role in Educational Technology in China. I highly appreciated the opportunity to work with him and learned a lot during our collaboration.”
The Godfather?
A number of my former students are sending me emails today telling me what the promotional materials are saying. Interesting...first, they say that my name translates well in Chinese. "Bonk" definitely does not translate well in the UK or Australia. Smile. But it does in China. They also menton that the book has already sold out in Amazon China. That is certainly wonderful news.
Next, I was also told that the promo materials refer to me as "The Godfather of Educational Technology." Or Godfather of Instructional Technology. I find this hard to believe since I doubt I could even pass the qualifying exam in my own department or any educational technology department or program for that matter. But if I am considered the Godfather, I want to meet the Godmother sometime. My students better watch out since Monday night I am coming to class dressed as Al Pacino or Marlon Brando. Back to listening to the Who on my iPod and the Quadrophenia song comes on: "The Punk And The Godfather." Ta da da daaa...ta da da daaa...ta da da da.
Anyway, I hope some people can explore the Chinese version of the World is Open book and let me know how well my jokes translate. Soon the Arabic version should be out; in fact, it might already be out. I am checking. More soon.
Friday 16 September 2011
Finding Soul in Seoul...E-learning Week and Beyond
World is Open in Korea:
I am back from 10 wonderful days in Seoul. First I had to arrive and the wonderful Incheon airport is so relaxing compared to Atlanta, Newark, LAX, Riyadh, Chicago, and other airports I have flown through this year. Detroit was also fabulous. So quiet and peaceful there. I recommend it to everyone. My former student, Dr. KJ Kim, picked me up. She was the last one to see me (and for me to get a picture with) when I departed two years ago when she dropped me off at the airport. KJ is the top person I have published with. We have nearly 30 publications together if you count conference proceedings....it may be over 30. Not sure. She is an excellent writer and determined researcher. Later in the week she had to go to a conference in Taiwan so she volunteered to pick me up.
First Stop...Kyung Hee University:
As indicated in my previous post, during my time in Korea, I had a chance to speak at Hanyang University, Ewha Womens University, Kyung Hee University, and Sungkyunkwan (SKKU) University. First was Kyung Hee University...after fighting intense Friday afternoon traffic (and I mean intense), we arrived just a tad late. Kyung Hee is well worth the wait as it is one the most beautiful universities in Seoul and perhaps the world. Unfortunately, I usually speak in one of the first two buildings on campus and do not get to see much...especially, when we arrive late like that evening.
It was great to see so many former students and friends at Kyung Hee. Makes the 24 hours of traveling well worth it. And then come the gifts including a 600+ gig harddrive from one of Inae's students, Hyunmi Kim. She had come to my talk 2 years previously with a gift. And it is not just any harddrive; this one can fit in your shirt pocket. Cool. In addition, the cover is exquisite with an ancient Korean scene. The mother of pearl business card case from Inae and her Kyung Hee students is also most lovely.
Below are a few pictures from Kyung Hee University on Friday September 2nd. I gave a talk there just 2-3 hours after getting on my plane. Yikes! My former student, Dr. Inae Kang, is there. She is an expert in problem-based learning, constructivism, carnival pedagogy, and museum education. Always a delight to stop in there and see Inae and her students. Inae had a lovely dinner provided to all of us. I gave one short talk on wikis in elementary school and then we all sat down and ate. Next, I gave a longer talk on the use of shared online video to transform education. Inae brought up a good point about the examples that I used were not transformative enough. She is always pushing me to think and that is good, even when just arriving from a 14 hour flight.
Ewha Womens University:
Ewha has a fascinating new entrance built by an architect from France (see below...3rd picture includes many alumni of my program in Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University--Munghee Ju Kang, Young-Soo Kim, Jaesam Chung, etc.). My IST department has a partnership with Ewha so I try to speak there every time that I visit Seoul. This was the third time I spoke there or so I think (2002, 2009, and 2011). The first time I went there, my driver from Sejong University (Mooyoung) thanked me profusely for allowing to drive me there. I asked why and he said that the women at Ewha were extremely pretty and males like him were normally not allowed on campus. I smiled and found out later that he was right.
SKKU...More than 6 Centuries Old:
On Thursday morning, it was on to Sungkyunkwan (SKKU) University. This university if the oldest in Seoul, dating back to 1398. It is a private university and used by Samsung. As the pictures indicate, centuries ago, it was for Korean royalty and the wealthy. I gave two talks at SKKU, both more on the pedagogy side of the fence. All my talks in Korea can be downloaded as color PDF files from my archived talks in TrainingShare.com.
Last Speaking Stop...Hanyang!
Hanyang and, its partner, Hanyang Cyber University was my final presentation (7th of the week). It was my 4th time presenting on that campus I think (twice in 2002, once in 2009, and now 2011). I guess they know my name pretty well by now at Hanyang and Hanyang Cyber U. My delightful friend, Dr. Yeonwook Im, arranged this. She has a chapter in my Handbook of Blended Learning back in 2006.
I was honored to have the Vice President of Hanyang Cyber university sitting in the front row for my talk. He even held up his hands during my talk to indicate that the world was open for learning in Korea.
The Conference:
I also spoke at E-Learning week at COEX in Seoul and was on a general panel related to the future of education and technology in the 2nd last session of the conference. Saw some good friends from the USA there like Barry Fishman and Elliot Soloway from the University of Michigan and Cathie Norris from the University of North Texas. Also there is Mohamed Alley from Athabasca University; a mobile learning expert.
I have been a fan of Elliot Soloway's work since reading about him in AI (Artifical Intelligence) Magazine back in the mid 1980s and then seeing him speak at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference a few years later. He is quite the presenter. He knows how to use facial gestures, tone, images, and new data to captivate his audiences. He used to do these solo, but now Cathie Norris joins him for a dynamic duo on most trips. They make a great presentation team. I sometimes wish I had a partner to present with.
During the 10 days in Seoul I also saw many former students and visiting scholars of mine as well as friends from graduate school long ago at the University of Wisconsin. I counted 26 people from Korea who I saw during the week who were friends, former students, or colleagues.
The conference was good. I met people not only from the USA and Korea but also from the Philippines, Russia, Finland, and Malaysia. There were many high ranking government people in attendance for the opening ceremony and ribbon cutting. I got there just as it started. The E-Learning Week conference people wanted to be sure I was there for it though I did not get to cut the ribbon (see below).
Picture with Barry Fishman (he got his master's from my department just before I started) and Kyungmee Lee (she got a fellowship last year from IU but went to the University of Toronto instead).
Picture after my invited (20 minute) talk:
From Soul to Seoul (the view):
I stayed on the 26th floor of the Intercontinental at COEX. There was artwork on display in front of COEX related to environmental awareness. I took a few pictures of it. After 10-15 minutes of this, I handed my camera to my student, Jeong-eun Oh, to take a picture of me and she accidentally dropped and broke my Canon Elph pocket camera. Ten minutes later, she bought me a new one inside COEX. How convenient...though I pleaded with her not to. It is very nice. Gone is my red one but now I have a black one. Same camera just a newer model. It was dying anyway and I told her so. I think every time I need a new camera from now on, I will go to Korea and give her my camera and accidently drop it before she can get reach out for it.
Lovely view of the Han River from my room. See view below. This picture does not do justice to it.
Each day I did a couple of early morning miles on the treadmill while listening to the best of the Who on my iPad. Then a quick shower and review of my presentation before a 5 minute breakfast with a wonderful view of a famous Buddhist temple (more pictures of this temple are provided later). Once again, see below (not my best picture of the trip...I have hundreds better. Scroll down for more).
I went to Catholic for grades 3 to 8 so I have been conditioned to eat fast and get out on the playground. Then I was typically wisked away for a talk somewhere north of the Han River. One day, however, I went to the demiliterized zone (DMZ) with Dr. Meeyong Kim and her family. Meeyong was supposed to be my visiting scholar this year but the Korean government would not approve her visa. She teaches elementary school in Daejeon which is about an hour by train south of Seoul.
The DMZ:
The DMZ was quite fascinating. Standing on the North Korea side of the bargaining table. Wow. Cool. We were told when we could take pictures and when we could not. At one observation stop, we could see a couple of North Korean towns and even make our people walking in town or riding bikes. The world seemed open in North Korea, if only for that brief moment. I did walk down to part of the 3rd tunnel which was uncovered a couple of decades back. Interesting and I managed to walk inside for a bit despite my claustrophia. The world was not open there.
Museums of Seoul:
I also got to three museums when in Seoul--The National Museum of Korea, the Kimchi Museum, and Ewha Womens University Museum. All were great explorations and informative. The Kimchi Museum took Barry Fishman and I about 15 or 20 minutes to tour. It is located inside of COEX--the area where the conference was held. So much kimchi!
The national musuem is always a delight. Okhwa Lee (an old friend from grad school days) and I saw some old scrolls (books) documenting kings and queens from Korea from the 18th century which the French government had recently returned.
A Floating Island?
We also visiting a place called the "floating island" that is being built on the Han River. It is akin to the Opera House in Sydney (to learn more, watch this video). We could get inside but there are no shops completed yet. Soon I envisioned many people gathered there to relax with a cup of coffee or tea. Looks like this will be a huge cultural draw and tourist meeting point in the very near future. My next trip to Seoul, I will certainly visit it.
Downtown Seoul...Nanta and the Cheonggyecheon Stream:
I did not just visit museums in my spare time. Last Thursday September 8th I saw a show called Nanta . Nanta is a show involving kitchen utensils and cooking akin to Blue Man Group but without the blue body paint. I guess, for me, it is best to describe it as an Asian spin-off of Blue Man Group. However, Nanta has its own spin offs throughout Asia including Bangkok, Thailand. There are many acts and performances throughout the 90 minute show.
Strolling the Cheonggyecheon:
After the Nanta show, I had a stroll down the Cheonggyecheon Stream. Cheonggyecheon used to be covered by a roadway system but the former mayor of Seoul, Myung-bak Lee (who now is President of Korea) decided to beautify Seoul. He uncovered about 8.4 kilometers of it at a cost of $900 million dollars. The funny thing is that it flows in the opposite direction of the original stream.
I walked down the Cheonggyecheon with my doctoral student, Jeong-eun Oh. Jeong-eun recently got married (June, 2011) and was starting to work on her dissertation proposal. I always like running down or walking that stream. When I was in Korea two years ago, my hotel (the President Hotel) was near very there.
Check out the pictures below. My camera sometimes takes great pictures at dusk. I think this was one of those times.
Octoberfest for Alumni Gathering:
Elliot Soloway and Cathie Norris joined a group of current and former students and visiting scholars of my department on Friday night September 9th. We met at Octoberfest near Gangnam station. Gangnam is a very happening part of Seoul and not too far from my hotel (just 2 stops on the subway). This is the 3rd time I have organized an IU alumni type of event in Seoul for my IST department and 2nd time at Octoberfest. This time it was a smaller group due to the fact that Korean Thanksgiving was starting that weekend.
The Bar Scene in Seoul:
Then it was time for another Korean ritual...going to another bar for shots and other assorted drinks. Just walking the streets at night with a group can be most fun in Seoul. There are so many pubs in Seoul and especially around places like Gangnam to choose from.
The Open Air Pubs of Seoul:
After Octoberfest, Daniel Craig (IST doc student working in Seoul), Hosang Cheon (former IU master's student in Telecom who designed all my Websites 10 years ago)), and I visited an open air pub and where we grilled and than eat some clams, muscles, scallops, and other assorted seafood. It was a very interesting late night ritual there in Seoul. The beer still tasted quite good at the time. By soon it got pretty late and it was time to head back to my hotel (3 am?).
Bongeunsa...a Zen Buddhist Temple:
Across from my hotel was a marvelous place called Bongeunsa. Bongeunsa is a Buddhist temple in the Gangnam-gu area of Seoul which is near Samseong station and COEX. According to Wikimapia, "Bongeunsa was founded in 794 and was reconstructed in 1498 becoming the main temple of the Korean Seon (Zen) sect of Buddhism from 1551 through 1936. A fire in 1939 destroyed most of the buildings, and other parts of the temple were destroyed during the Korean War." I love both religious sites and historical sites, so this was quite special to me.
My colleague from graduate school days, Dr. Okhwa Lee, lives near there. She stopped by the day before I left Seoul and I finally got a chance to meander through (though I had visited the place 2 years ago). Each day and night I would look at it but it took me 8 days to finally walk across the street. Okhwa and I had a relaxing stroll through the woods behind it and later found a chance to meditate inside it. The juxtaposion between the city-scape of Seoul and the calm and peacefulness of Bongeunsa is something one remembers for a lifetime.
The Final Night and Day...
One last view from my hotel room at night is below. It was so lovely that I often never closed the curtains. The hotel desk people told me I had one of the best rooms at the Intercontinental. That is saying a lot since it is a lovely hotel. Cost me a big extra but worth it I think.
Final Morning:
Yes, it is Sunday morning September 11th...Time to head back to Indiana. Oops, not yet. My student Jeong-eun Oh shows up with her new husband.
Korean people are so tall compared to us little Americans.
Who else might show up? Well, it is Dr. SuJin Son. SuJin is a former student of Inae Kang's who was assigned to me back in 2002 to be my driver when I first visited Seoul. Since that time, she has gotten her master's in educational technology at Kyung Hee and then her Ph.D. at the University of Illinois. We published 2-3 things on blended learning in corporate settings in Korea and knowledge management and intellectual capital stuff. She is still my driver...driving me back to the airport. But first a stop in Isadong for shopping.
Then it is on to Isadong. Another popular tourist as well as local destination on a Saturday morning. I get many small gifts there. Yes, they can all fit in my overstuffed suitcase. Thank goodness. Now I do not have to check any bags.
GPS comes in very handy in Seoul, though sometimes it sends you down streets that are quite narrow as I found out earlier in the week. Many of the main streets are 4 or 5 lanes wide. Amazing! SuJin relies on GPS a lot as do most of the people who drive me from place-to-place. The only time there is no GPS was when I had taxi drivers (all men). This time GPS takes us from Isadong (north of the Han River) to Building 63 (south of the Han River). Given it is Thanksgiving weekend in Korea, many people are out of town already and it is fairly clear sailing from one place to another. Everything is a relatively quick 20 or 30 minute drive. Of course, if you jump into a crazy taxicab driver in Seoul, like Okhwa Lee and I did the day before, everything is a 5 or 10 minute drive and you hold your breath the entire way. Smile.
GPS takes us to my final lunch in Korea for this trip. We take the elevator up to the 58th floor of Building 63; the tallest building in Seoul. This is a skyscraper. The restaurant was called something like "In the Clouds" and we were in the clouds for sure. A couple of pictures of the Han River.
Back to the Incheon airport for another flight home.
Boarding for home...Time to board the plane and who do I see but Santa Claus. No, it is Elliot Soloway from Michigan. Of course, he got business class all the way. I tried to sit with him, but was conveniently sent back to economy or should I say economy comfort.
Final Thoughts...So many old friends and former students and colleagues are in Korea. I count nearly 100 now. It was difficult to say goodbye to them all. But I will return. Just when is uncertain and that is why I stayed a tad longer than normal this time. I hope it is soon but you never know.
How often do you get to see two great friends from graduate school in a distant country? Not often enough! Below are Okhwa Lee and Miheon Jo who I met at the University of Wisconsin a quarter century ago. Hard to believe. We were all highly precocious elementary students when we started. Ha ha. I think it is appropriate that I end with that pic. Right? Right!
Anyway, Korea was grand! Too much fun I think. Wish my father who fought in the Korean War could have come with me as well as my son Alex who was adopted from Seoul when he was 21 months old. Alex is now 23 and approaching 24 next month. My father passed away back on July 27, 1995 when the Korean War Memorial just happened to be opened.
I still remember the pictures my dad brought home from the war (mostly from Busan). I have a few at home with me now thanks to my mother's insistence. It all looks so different now. And I remember a night while in graduate school back in 1988 I think for those of us wishing to adopt from Korea. The speaker had just returned from Seoul with some lovely slides in a slide projector. There was no PowerPoint, Blogger (or blogs), wikis, OER portals for sharing, Facebook, or Picasa back in the late 1980s and much less when my father returned from the war. Still they just as effective pictures.
Thanks everyone for the great time in Seoul. I found a piece of my soul that was missing.
I am back from 10 wonderful days in Seoul. First I had to arrive and the wonderful Incheon airport is so relaxing compared to Atlanta, Newark, LAX, Riyadh, Chicago, and other airports I have flown through this year. Detroit was also fabulous. So quiet and peaceful there. I recommend it to everyone. My former student, Dr. KJ Kim, picked me up. She was the last one to see me (and for me to get a picture with) when I departed two years ago when she dropped me off at the airport. KJ is the top person I have published with. We have nearly 30 publications together if you count conference proceedings....it may be over 30. Not sure. She is an excellent writer and determined researcher. Later in the week she had to go to a conference in Taiwan so she volunteered to pick me up.
First Stop...Kyung Hee University:
As indicated in my previous post, during my time in Korea, I had a chance to speak at Hanyang University, Ewha Womens University, Kyung Hee University, and Sungkyunkwan (SKKU) University. First was Kyung Hee University...after fighting intense Friday afternoon traffic (and I mean intense), we arrived just a tad late. Kyung Hee is well worth the wait as it is one the most beautiful universities in Seoul and perhaps the world. Unfortunately, I usually speak in one of the first two buildings on campus and do not get to see much...especially, when we arrive late like that evening.
It was great to see so many former students and friends at Kyung Hee. Makes the 24 hours of traveling well worth it. And then come the gifts including a 600+ gig harddrive from one of Inae's students, Hyunmi Kim. She had come to my talk 2 years previously with a gift. And it is not just any harddrive; this one can fit in your shirt pocket. Cool. In addition, the cover is exquisite with an ancient Korean scene. The mother of pearl business card case from Inae and her Kyung Hee students is also most lovely.
Below are a few pictures from Kyung Hee University on Friday September 2nd. I gave a talk there just 2-3 hours after getting on my plane. Yikes! My former student, Dr. Inae Kang, is there. She is an expert in problem-based learning, constructivism, carnival pedagogy, and museum education. Always a delight to stop in there and see Inae and her students. Inae had a lovely dinner provided to all of us. I gave one short talk on wikis in elementary school and then we all sat down and ate. Next, I gave a longer talk on the use of shared online video to transform education. Inae brought up a good point about the examples that I used were not transformative enough. She is always pushing me to think and that is good, even when just arriving from a 14 hour flight.
Ewha Womens University:
Ewha has a fascinating new entrance built by an architect from France (see below...3rd picture includes many alumni of my program in Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University--Munghee Ju Kang, Young-Soo Kim, Jaesam Chung, etc.). My IST department has a partnership with Ewha so I try to speak there every time that I visit Seoul. This was the third time I spoke there or so I think (2002, 2009, and 2011). The first time I went there, my driver from Sejong University (Mooyoung) thanked me profusely for allowing to drive me there. I asked why and he said that the women at Ewha were extremely pretty and males like him were normally not allowed on campus. I smiled and found out later that he was right.
SKKU...More than 6 Centuries Old:
On Thursday morning, it was on to Sungkyunkwan (SKKU) University. This university if the oldest in Seoul, dating back to 1398. It is a private university and used by Samsung. As the pictures indicate, centuries ago, it was for Korean royalty and the wealthy. I gave two talks at SKKU, both more on the pedagogy side of the fence. All my talks in Korea can be downloaded as color PDF files from my archived talks in TrainingShare.com.
Last Speaking Stop...Hanyang!
Hanyang and, its partner, Hanyang Cyber University was my final presentation (7th of the week). It was my 4th time presenting on that campus I think (twice in 2002, once in 2009, and now 2011). I guess they know my name pretty well by now at Hanyang and Hanyang Cyber U. My delightful friend, Dr. Yeonwook Im, arranged this. She has a chapter in my Handbook of Blended Learning back in 2006.
I was honored to have the Vice President of Hanyang Cyber university sitting in the front row for my talk. He even held up his hands during my talk to indicate that the world was open for learning in Korea.
The Conference:
I also spoke at E-Learning week at COEX in Seoul and was on a general panel related to the future of education and technology in the 2nd last session of the conference. Saw some good friends from the USA there like Barry Fishman and Elliot Soloway from the University of Michigan and Cathie Norris from the University of North Texas. Also there is Mohamed Alley from Athabasca University; a mobile learning expert.
I have been a fan of Elliot Soloway's work since reading about him in AI (Artifical Intelligence) Magazine back in the mid 1980s and then seeing him speak at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference a few years later. He is quite the presenter. He knows how to use facial gestures, tone, images, and new data to captivate his audiences. He used to do these solo, but now Cathie Norris joins him for a dynamic duo on most trips. They make a great presentation team. I sometimes wish I had a partner to present with.
During the 10 days in Seoul I also saw many former students and visiting scholars of mine as well as friends from graduate school long ago at the University of Wisconsin. I counted 26 people from Korea who I saw during the week who were friends, former students, or colleagues.
The conference was good. I met people not only from the USA and Korea but also from the Philippines, Russia, Finland, and Malaysia. There were many high ranking government people in attendance for the opening ceremony and ribbon cutting. I got there just as it started. The E-Learning Week conference people wanted to be sure I was there for it though I did not get to cut the ribbon (see below).
Picture with Barry Fishman (he got his master's from my department just before I started) and Kyungmee Lee (she got a fellowship last year from IU but went to the University of Toronto instead).
Picture after my invited (20 minute) talk:
From Soul to Seoul (the view):
I stayed on the 26th floor of the Intercontinental at COEX. There was artwork on display in front of COEX related to environmental awareness. I took a few pictures of it. After 10-15 minutes of this, I handed my camera to my student, Jeong-eun Oh, to take a picture of me and she accidentally dropped and broke my Canon Elph pocket camera. Ten minutes later, she bought me a new one inside COEX. How convenient...though I pleaded with her not to. It is very nice. Gone is my red one but now I have a black one. Same camera just a newer model. It was dying anyway and I told her so. I think every time I need a new camera from now on, I will go to Korea and give her my camera and accidently drop it before she can get reach out for it.
Lovely view of the Han River from my room. See view below. This picture does not do justice to it.
Each day I did a couple of early morning miles on the treadmill while listening to the best of the Who on my iPad. Then a quick shower and review of my presentation before a 5 minute breakfast with a wonderful view of a famous Buddhist temple (more pictures of this temple are provided later). Once again, see below (not my best picture of the trip...I have hundreds better. Scroll down for more).
I went to Catholic for grades 3 to 8 so I have been conditioned to eat fast and get out on the playground. Then I was typically wisked away for a talk somewhere north of the Han River. One day, however, I went to the demiliterized zone (DMZ) with Dr. Meeyong Kim and her family. Meeyong was supposed to be my visiting scholar this year but the Korean government would not approve her visa. She teaches elementary school in Daejeon which is about an hour by train south of Seoul.
The DMZ:
The DMZ was quite fascinating. Standing on the North Korea side of the bargaining table. Wow. Cool. We were told when we could take pictures and when we could not. At one observation stop, we could see a couple of North Korean towns and even make our people walking in town or riding bikes. The world seemed open in North Korea, if only for that brief moment. I did walk down to part of the 3rd tunnel which was uncovered a couple of decades back. Interesting and I managed to walk inside for a bit despite my claustrophia. The world was not open there.
Museums of Seoul:
I also got to three museums when in Seoul--The National Museum of Korea, the Kimchi Museum, and Ewha Womens University Museum. All were great explorations and informative. The Kimchi Museum took Barry Fishman and I about 15 or 20 minutes to tour. It is located inside of COEX--the area where the conference was held. So much kimchi!
The national musuem is always a delight. Okhwa Lee (an old friend from grad school days) and I saw some old scrolls (books) documenting kings and queens from Korea from the 18th century which the French government had recently returned.
A Floating Island?
We also visiting a place called the "floating island" that is being built on the Han River. It is akin to the Opera House in Sydney (to learn more, watch this video). We could get inside but there are no shops completed yet. Soon I envisioned many people gathered there to relax with a cup of coffee or tea. Looks like this will be a huge cultural draw and tourist meeting point in the very near future. My next trip to Seoul, I will certainly visit it.
Downtown Seoul...Nanta and the Cheonggyecheon Stream:
I did not just visit museums in my spare time. Last Thursday September 8th I saw a show called Nanta . Nanta is a show involving kitchen utensils and cooking akin to Blue Man Group but without the blue body paint. I guess, for me, it is best to describe it as an Asian spin-off of Blue Man Group. However, Nanta has its own spin offs throughout Asia including Bangkok, Thailand. There are many acts and performances throughout the 90 minute show.
Strolling the Cheonggyecheon:
After the Nanta show, I had a stroll down the Cheonggyecheon Stream. Cheonggyecheon used to be covered by a roadway system but the former mayor of Seoul, Myung-bak Lee (who now is President of Korea) decided to beautify Seoul. He uncovered about 8.4 kilometers of it at a cost of $900 million dollars. The funny thing is that it flows in the opposite direction of the original stream.
I walked down the Cheonggyecheon with my doctoral student, Jeong-eun Oh. Jeong-eun recently got married (June, 2011) and was starting to work on her dissertation proposal. I always like running down or walking that stream. When I was in Korea two years ago, my hotel (the President Hotel) was near very there.
Check out the pictures below. My camera sometimes takes great pictures at dusk. I think this was one of those times.
Octoberfest for Alumni Gathering:
Elliot Soloway and Cathie Norris joined a group of current and former students and visiting scholars of my department on Friday night September 9th. We met at Octoberfest near Gangnam station. Gangnam is a very happening part of Seoul and not too far from my hotel (just 2 stops on the subway). This is the 3rd time I have organized an IU alumni type of event in Seoul for my IST department and 2nd time at Octoberfest. This time it was a smaller group due to the fact that Korean Thanksgiving was starting that weekend.
The Bar Scene in Seoul:
Then it was time for another Korean ritual...going to another bar for shots and other assorted drinks. Just walking the streets at night with a group can be most fun in Seoul. There are so many pubs in Seoul and especially around places like Gangnam to choose from.
The Open Air Pubs of Seoul:
After Octoberfest, Daniel Craig (IST doc student working in Seoul), Hosang Cheon (former IU master's student in Telecom who designed all my Websites 10 years ago)), and I visited an open air pub and where we grilled and than eat some clams, muscles, scallops, and other assorted seafood. It was a very interesting late night ritual there in Seoul. The beer still tasted quite good at the time. By soon it got pretty late and it was time to head back to my hotel (3 am?).
Bongeunsa...a Zen Buddhist Temple:
Across from my hotel was a marvelous place called Bongeunsa. Bongeunsa is a Buddhist temple in the Gangnam-gu area of Seoul which is near Samseong station and COEX. According to Wikimapia, "Bongeunsa was founded in 794 and was reconstructed in 1498 becoming the main temple of the Korean Seon (Zen) sect of Buddhism from 1551 through 1936. A fire in 1939 destroyed most of the buildings, and other parts of the temple were destroyed during the Korean War." I love both religious sites and historical sites, so this was quite special to me.
My colleague from graduate school days, Dr. Okhwa Lee, lives near there. She stopped by the day before I left Seoul and I finally got a chance to meander through (though I had visited the place 2 years ago). Each day and night I would look at it but it took me 8 days to finally walk across the street. Okhwa and I had a relaxing stroll through the woods behind it and later found a chance to meditate inside it. The juxtaposion between the city-scape of Seoul and the calm and peacefulness of Bongeunsa is something one remembers for a lifetime.
The Final Night and Day...
One last view from my hotel room at night is below. It was so lovely that I often never closed the curtains. The hotel desk people told me I had one of the best rooms at the Intercontinental. That is saying a lot since it is a lovely hotel. Cost me a big extra but worth it I think.
Final Morning:
Yes, it is Sunday morning September 11th...Time to head back to Indiana. Oops, not yet. My student Jeong-eun Oh shows up with her new husband.
Korean people are so tall compared to us little Americans.
Who else might show up? Well, it is Dr. SuJin Son. SuJin is a former student of Inae Kang's who was assigned to me back in 2002 to be my driver when I first visited Seoul. Since that time, she has gotten her master's in educational technology at Kyung Hee and then her Ph.D. at the University of Illinois. We published 2-3 things on blended learning in corporate settings in Korea and knowledge management and intellectual capital stuff. She is still my driver...driving me back to the airport. But first a stop in Isadong for shopping.
Then it is on to Isadong. Another popular tourist as well as local destination on a Saturday morning. I get many small gifts there. Yes, they can all fit in my overstuffed suitcase. Thank goodness. Now I do not have to check any bags.
GPS comes in very handy in Seoul, though sometimes it sends you down streets that are quite narrow as I found out earlier in the week. Many of the main streets are 4 or 5 lanes wide. Amazing! SuJin relies on GPS a lot as do most of the people who drive me from place-to-place. The only time there is no GPS was when I had taxi drivers (all men). This time GPS takes us from Isadong (north of the Han River) to Building 63 (south of the Han River). Given it is Thanksgiving weekend in Korea, many people are out of town already and it is fairly clear sailing from one place to another. Everything is a relatively quick 20 or 30 minute drive. Of course, if you jump into a crazy taxicab driver in Seoul, like Okhwa Lee and I did the day before, everything is a 5 or 10 minute drive and you hold your breath the entire way. Smile.
GPS takes us to my final lunch in Korea for this trip. We take the elevator up to the 58th floor of Building 63; the tallest building in Seoul. This is a skyscraper. The restaurant was called something like "In the Clouds" and we were in the clouds for sure. A couple of pictures of the Han River.
Back to the Incheon airport for another flight home.
Boarding for home...Time to board the plane and who do I see but Santa Claus. No, it is Elliot Soloway from Michigan. Of course, he got business class all the way. I tried to sit with him, but was conveniently sent back to economy or should I say economy comfort.
Final Thoughts...So many old friends and former students and colleagues are in Korea. I count nearly 100 now. It was difficult to say goodbye to them all. But I will return. Just when is uncertain and that is why I stayed a tad longer than normal this time. I hope it is soon but you never know.
How often do you get to see two great friends from graduate school in a distant country? Not often enough! Below are Okhwa Lee and Miheon Jo who I met at the University of Wisconsin a quarter century ago. Hard to believe. We were all highly precocious elementary students when we started. Ha ha. I think it is appropriate that I end with that pic. Right? Right!
Anyway, Korea was grand! Too much fun I think. Wish my father who fought in the Korean War could have come with me as well as my son Alex who was adopted from Seoul when he was 21 months old. Alex is now 23 and approaching 24 next month. My father passed away back on July 27, 1995 when the Korean War Memorial just happened to be opened.
I still remember the pictures my dad brought home from the war (mostly from Busan). I have a few at home with me now thanks to my mother's insistence. It all looks so different now. And I remember a night while in graduate school back in 1988 I think for those of us wishing to adopt from Korea. The speaker had just returned from Seoul with some lovely slides in a slide projector. There was no PowerPoint, Blogger (or blogs), wikis, OER portals for sharing, Facebook, or Picasa back in the late 1980s and much less when my father returned from the war. Still they just as effective pictures.
Thanks everyone for the great time in Seoul. I found a piece of my soul that was missing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)