A year or two I bought Don Tapscott's book and associated audiobook, "Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything." I loved it! People I lent the audiobook to loved it as well. It brought back memories of my "Electronic Collaborators" book from 1998. The year before that in 1997, Don wrote, "Growing Up Digital" which drew wide acclaim. Now more than a decade later, he has come out with a superb follow-up, "Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing the World" published by McGraw-Hill (2009).
This is a stellar book. It encompasses many areas--education and learning, business/management, politics, parenting, technology, community and global volunteerism, and simply growing up with all the new and exciting information and technology that surrounds us. It is simultaneously a snapshot of today and an insightful look at where we are going as individuals, families, companies, communities, and a species.
If you want to relate to your children better, get a copy of this book. If you want to understand your workplace or learning environment better, read this book. If you want to hold out hope for our planet, flip through at least the final chapters of this book.
If you did not have the time or energy to read a single newspaper, magazine, or journal article related to technology and change this year and want to catch up, then get this book and read it when you have time (hopefully very soon). Don Tapcott has done the reading for you and will make sense of the current trends; especially as they relate to the Net Generation. With two kids of my own in the Net Gen (with coincidentally the same names as Don's kids), I definitely can relate to each chapter. Volunteerism, especially among my daughter and her friends (Chapter 10)...it is exactly as he states it. Politics and the Obama factor this year (Chapter 9)--presto, my son, Alex, a college junior, was all over that. Living near home longer (Chapter 8)...my kids returned from college last week (including Alex who was studying abroad in Seville, Spain this fall and has no plans to relocate from here anytime soon). Yes, Don Tapscott is right, a more democratic family decision making style will build strong ties. N-Fluence networks and purchasing behaviors (Chapter 7)...my daughter, Nicki, and her boyfriend, Corbin, scoped out a new MacBook online and gathered all the details they wanted a few days back, including much information from their friends in Facebook, and then went into Best Buy and she helped him purchase it.
Rethinking talent and the management of young people in firms (Chapter 6)...my son and I have chatted about this issue this many times. He wants the flexible times and challenging and engaging work which Don discusses in many sections of his book. Anyone in a management position in business today should be reading at the very least Chapters 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7.
Rethinking education (Chapter 5)--well, as a university professor in educational psychology and instructional technology (distance learning) this is what I teach and write about so it struck a chord. I have written a book, in fact, that extends Thomas Friedman's World is Flat book to education (in press for June, 2009). Hence, I not only agree with his perspective in Chapter 5, I can relate to the reading and synthesizing Don had to engage in to write such a book. It is not easy to do such a book and stay sane. It is clear that he has a great research and support team at nGenera who help him tremendously and for which he should be proud to have built.
I already have recommended Don's book to my family, friends, graduate students, and work colleagues. In fact, I bought a few copies for close friends who ran the E-Learn conference with me in Las Vegas last month. They were surprised and most appreciative. I think Don was even surprised when I told him since he may not have realized that his book was even out at the time.
There is so much good stuff packed in every chapter of Grown Up Digital, it was difficult for me to read it front to back. I read this book as follows: Intro, then back matter, Chapter 1, then back matter again, Chapter 2, Notes and Biblio again, Chapter 11, Chapter 10, Chapter 9, Chapter 8, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5 on rethinking education (of course of most interest to me), Chapter 7, and finally Chapter 6. I saved two of the longest chapters for last (which I likely starred almost as much content, if not more, than my favorite one, Chapter 5).
I have 100’s of starred points. Pages that stick out include pp. 34-37 (the 8 Net Generation Norms), 58-64 (stuff on how this generation lives with technology), 104-105 (how life on the Internet may be impacting your brain), 140-142 (learning must become more personalized!), 154-162 (the current talent shortage and what the Net Generation wants), 165-167 (work should be fun not just menial tasks), 173-178 (do more than recruit--build relationships, engage, and foster collaboration when at work), 208-213 (enlist consumer (and employee) support and passion when building products--prosumers), 258-264 (participatory and interactive government and marketspace), 279-287 (good people helping the world; activism), etc. I tried not to mark the book too much but as I progressed into it I could not help myself. It is that good. Sorta reminds me of my reading of his Wikinomics book last year, though that book I listened to first and then read parts that I wanted to revisit. I cannot wait for Grown Up Digital to come out in audio so I can buy a copy and then listen to it (the reverse of what I did with Wikinomics).
This book is packed with content and, yet, as Don notes in the introduction, he had to delete a ton of stuff. Nevertheless, I see many familiar names who also appear in my upcoming "The World is Open" book—Chris Dede, J. S. Brown, Michael Wesch, Marc Prensky, Barry Joseph, Nicholas Carr, Henry Jenkins, Seymour Papert, and Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis (both of whom also appear in Thomas Friedman’s World is Flat book). I also appreciated his comments about Just-In-Time-Teaching, Butler University (where I have a daughter enrolled as a freshman), the Big Learning Picture Company (co-founded by my friend, Dr. Dennis Littky), and the new sharing generation (perhaps see my article, Sharing...the Journey). You will have to read it and find out why.
And I starred and underlined his comments about motivation of today’s youth on p. 160 and many other places—the need for meaningful learning, challenge, variety, choice, flexibility, etc. Given high school drop-out rates, not just in Detroit and Indianapolis (as pointed out by Time and Oprah), motivating young adults is perhaps the most important thing in education today. Don's book should start the conversation going here! Let's hope. Enjoy the book!
Saturday, 27 December 2008
Friday, 19 December 2008
10 Tests Phases or Requirements for Online Instructors: Do U Qualify?
Last night, my friend, Dr. Lori Teng in Taiwan sent an email with a series of questions to Professor Ron Owston at York University in Toronto as well as myself. Ron had just been in Taiwan and perhaps had some useful insights for her. Lori wanted to know if there was a mandated governing board or accreditation body in the USA or Canada for e-learning. She also wanted to know if it perhaps differed by state, province, or region. In addition, Lori asked if there were any regulations related to required instructor time for teaching online or typical preparation commitment. These were great questions so I decided to post them as well as my naive response. I just hope Lori will not mind.
I thought about her questions for a minute or 2 and then responded and told her that here in the USA we rely on things like NCATE accreditation. But that is all that I know about. No other regulations. But what do I know?
Then I remembered that there were other rules and regulations in place. And I found a list of what she was looking for. Seems there are 10 requirements or test phases related to e-learning accredidation; at least here in the USA. See below.
1. Phase 1 test. Instructors must put in 100 hours per week and 1,500 hours during an online course. There is a very simple qualifying test here—-potential online instructors are placed in a testing room and asked to try to stay awake for 3 straight days. Toothpicks, Super Glue, coffee, Jolt, Mountain Dew, Fixx, and Red Bull are all freely provided. Those who can stay awake are allowed to venture to Phase 2 of the testing. Those who simultaneously use all the supplied items found in the room can skip Phase 2 and move right to Phase 3.
2. Phase 2 test. Instructors must be able to supply feedback on every student post; those who can type over 120 words a minute pass this requirement as do those who use a more "hunt and peck" typing system but do not need sleep or any professional or personal relationships. Those passing this test can proceed to Phase 3.
3. Phase 3 test. Instructors must take a personality test. If they score high enough on the patience subscale to put up with silly administrator tests like this one as well as the upcoming lack of support from such administrators, then they pass this phase and quickly move on to Phase 4.
4. Phase 4 test. In Phase 4, hopeful online instructors are asked to send 150 sample student emails in a 2 hour sit down test and are required to respond to all of them with tact, flexibility, and detailed explanations that have no hint of confusion. Those with the stamina to complete Phase 4 testing move on to Phase 5.
5. Phase 5 test. Potential instructors are given a class roster of 300-400 names for one online course section and asked if they are willing to take additional students or not. Those who do not flinch are given a second course roster with more than 5,000 names. Still no complaints? Ok you can move on to Phase 6.
6. Phase 6 test. Potential online instructors are sent a list of 20 typical online student excuses for late or uncompleted work (e.g., global warming protest rallies got in the way; I was using the wrong type of computer; my RAM was in a jam; password does not work; forgot I signed up for this course; had to go to grandmother’s for apple pie; etc.) and asked how they would deal with it. If successful, it is on to Phase 7.
7. Phase 7 test. Potential instructors must sign up and take an online course (or part of such a course) and display sufficient skill in being obnoxious, condescending, and angry while simultaneously showing their naiveté whenever possible to frustrate the instructor. Only the really obnoxious and seemingly naive are allowed to proceed to Phase 8.
8. Phase 8 test. Potential instructors are given the mobile phone numbers, Skype names, Facebook accounts, Ning affiliations, Skype addresses, and MSN handles of 100 expert online instructors and are asked to contact all of them within a 24 hour span seeking solutions to special problems that they might encounter when teaching online (all problems are provided by the test administrator). In order to pass this phase, they must receive answers for all of them using each form of technology. Anyone left remotely sane after Phase 8 is immediately sent to Phase 9.
9. Phase 9 test. At this point, an NCATE accreditation agent must interview all remaining online instructor hopefuls for an extremely grueling 5 hour time period about their supposed online skills and experiences. While it is quite doubtful anyone is left at this point, those still remaining and wanting to be an online instructor can push on to Phase 10.
10. Phase 10 test. Online instructors cannot be named “Ron” or “Lori” for some reason. And that may be good news for all the “Ron’s” and “Lori’s” of the world as well as their families.
Ok, that is the 10 steps or test phases that I was told about. If you have heard of additional ones, please let me know.
I thought about her questions for a minute or 2 and then responded and told her that here in the USA we rely on things like NCATE accreditation. But that is all that I know about. No other regulations. But what do I know?
Then I remembered that there were other rules and regulations in place. And I found a list of what she was looking for. Seems there are 10 requirements or test phases related to e-learning accredidation; at least here in the USA. See below.
1. Phase 1 test. Instructors must put in 100 hours per week and 1,500 hours during an online course. There is a very simple qualifying test here—-potential online instructors are placed in a testing room and asked to try to stay awake for 3 straight days. Toothpicks, Super Glue, coffee, Jolt, Mountain Dew, Fixx, and Red Bull are all freely provided. Those who can stay awake are allowed to venture to Phase 2 of the testing. Those who simultaneously use all the supplied items found in the room can skip Phase 2 and move right to Phase 3.
2. Phase 2 test. Instructors must be able to supply feedback on every student post; those who can type over 120 words a minute pass this requirement as do those who use a more "hunt and peck" typing system but do not need sleep or any professional or personal relationships. Those passing this test can proceed to Phase 3.
3. Phase 3 test. Instructors must take a personality test. If they score high enough on the patience subscale to put up with silly administrator tests like this one as well as the upcoming lack of support from such administrators, then they pass this phase and quickly move on to Phase 4.
4. Phase 4 test. In Phase 4, hopeful online instructors are asked to send 150 sample student emails in a 2 hour sit down test and are required to respond to all of them with tact, flexibility, and detailed explanations that have no hint of confusion. Those with the stamina to complete Phase 4 testing move on to Phase 5.
5. Phase 5 test. Potential instructors are given a class roster of 300-400 names for one online course section and asked if they are willing to take additional students or not. Those who do not flinch are given a second course roster with more than 5,000 names. Still no complaints? Ok you can move on to Phase 6.
6. Phase 6 test. Potential online instructors are sent a list of 20 typical online student excuses for late or uncompleted work (e.g., global warming protest rallies got in the way; I was using the wrong type of computer; my RAM was in a jam; password does not work; forgot I signed up for this course; had to go to grandmother’s for apple pie; etc.) and asked how they would deal with it. If successful, it is on to Phase 7.
7. Phase 7 test. Potential instructors must sign up and take an online course (or part of such a course) and display sufficient skill in being obnoxious, condescending, and angry while simultaneously showing their naiveté whenever possible to frustrate the instructor. Only the really obnoxious and seemingly naive are allowed to proceed to Phase 8.
8. Phase 8 test. Potential instructors are given the mobile phone numbers, Skype names, Facebook accounts, Ning affiliations, Skype addresses, and MSN handles of 100 expert online instructors and are asked to contact all of them within a 24 hour span seeking solutions to special problems that they might encounter when teaching online (all problems are provided by the test administrator). In order to pass this phase, they must receive answers for all of them using each form of technology. Anyone left remotely sane after Phase 8 is immediately sent to Phase 9.
9. Phase 9 test. At this point, an NCATE accreditation agent must interview all remaining online instructor hopefuls for an extremely grueling 5 hour time period about their supposed online skills and experiences. While it is quite doubtful anyone is left at this point, those still remaining and wanting to be an online instructor can push on to Phase 10.
10. Phase 10 test. Online instructors cannot be named “Ron” or “Lori” for some reason. And that may be good news for all the “Ron’s” and “Lori’s” of the world as well as their families.
Ok, that is the 10 steps or test phases that I was told about. If you have heard of additional ones, please let me know.
Friday, 5 December 2008
Free Webinar: Matching Online Assessments to Online Pedagogies: Choices, Challenges, and Concerns
As I may have mentioned…
Wiley Publishing has me doing a free Webinar on Monday on matching online assessment to online pedagogy. Information is attached and below. Already 145 people signed up; I heard that normally they have about 25-30 people, so this topic must be popular. I think assessment is boring (but I am a former accountant so I do not like assessment much). Anyway, I will get extremely excited about assessment for a day and present for 45 minutes followed by 15 minutes of questioning. Of course, the pedagogical parts of my talk WILL be quite captivating stuff!
You will not see me, just hear me and see my slides. You need nothing installed on your machine but Flash (this is on most computers now). A picture of the interface is below. Anyone can sign up and attend for free if you are a high school, community college, or university instructor.
Just look for my session on Monday, December 8th, 2008 at 2 pm EST (New York Time):
Main Page: http://he-cda.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-106078.html (click on education)
Education related: http://www.wiley.com/college/wfn/seminars/disclandEducation.html (click on my session)
My Talk: http://www.wiley.com/college/wfn/seminars/semland280.html?Education (use this one!)
Matching Online Assessments to Online Pedagogies: Choices, Challenges, and Concerns
Presenter: Curt Bonk, Indiana University
Online teaching can be quite hectic and, at times, extremely frustrating. The frustration mounts when the time required for student grading and feedback seems never ending. Adding to the pressures, those new to online teaching must deal with many challenges not encountered in face-to-face settings. Assessment seems the last thing on one’s mind when scrambling to design and then deliver a new online course. Part of the dilemma is determining how to fairly and expediently assess student learning when attempting innovative and risky pedagogical techniques. This presentation will offer dozens of pedagogical techniques and discuss online assessment options that one might select for each of them. A series of tips and guidelines will be offered for saving time in online assessment while providing valued task feedback and interactive and engaging courses overall.
Monday, 08 December 2008 at 2:00 pm Eastern Time - Duration 1 hour
They are using Adobe Connect Pro (formerly Breeze) for this (sample interface below). You will get a link to go to on Monday after signing up and a couple of reminders. The interface is below. Now I just have to prep it. I have no clue what I am going to do. Smile.
Perhaps I will see some of you online on Monday (Tuesday if you are in Asia). If I seem pretty bad, please pipe in and help. Smile! Just kidding. If I am bad, click exit and send me a nasty email. Double smile!
Wiley Publishing has me doing a free Webinar on Monday on matching online assessment to online pedagogy. Information is attached and below. Already 145 people signed up; I heard that normally they have about 25-30 people, so this topic must be popular. I think assessment is boring (but I am a former accountant so I do not like assessment much). Anyway, I will get extremely excited about assessment for a day and present for 45 minutes followed by 15 minutes of questioning. Of course, the pedagogical parts of my talk WILL be quite captivating stuff!
You will not see me, just hear me and see my slides. You need nothing installed on your machine but Flash (this is on most computers now). A picture of the interface is below. Anyone can sign up and attend for free if you are a high school, community college, or university instructor.
Just look for my session on Monday, December 8th, 2008 at 2 pm EST (New York Time):
Main Page: http://he-cda.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-106078.html (click on education)
Education related: http://www.wiley.com/college/wfn/seminars/disclandEducation.html (click on my session)
My Talk: http://www.wiley.com/college/wfn/seminars/semland280.html?Education (use this one!)
Matching Online Assessments to Online Pedagogies: Choices, Challenges, and Concerns
Presenter: Curt Bonk, Indiana University
Online teaching can be quite hectic and, at times, extremely frustrating. The frustration mounts when the time required for student grading and feedback seems never ending. Adding to the pressures, those new to online teaching must deal with many challenges not encountered in face-to-face settings. Assessment seems the last thing on one’s mind when scrambling to design and then deliver a new online course. Part of the dilemma is determining how to fairly and expediently assess student learning when attempting innovative and risky pedagogical techniques. This presentation will offer dozens of pedagogical techniques and discuss online assessment options that one might select for each of them. A series of tips and guidelines will be offered for saving time in online assessment while providing valued task feedback and interactive and engaging courses overall.
Monday, 08 December 2008 at 2:00 pm Eastern Time - Duration 1 hour
They are using Adobe Connect Pro (formerly Breeze) for this (sample interface below). You will get a link to go to on Monday after signing up and a couple of reminders. The interface is below. Now I just have to prep it. I have no clue what I am going to do. Smile.
Perhaps I will see some of you online on Monday (Tuesday if you are in Asia). If I seem pretty bad, please pipe in and help. Smile! Just kidding. If I am bad, click exit and send me a nasty email. Double smile!
Thursday, 27 November 2008
An Interview with Dr. Roy Pea: E-Learn 2008 Keynote Speaker
Ok, I am back from a very successful E-Learn 2008 Conference in Las Vegas. I actually got home a few days ago, but it has taken a little while to catch my breath. We set attendance records with more than 1,000 attendees. We had a highly engaging and rewarding preconference symposium on e-learning in Asia with 12 participants from 12 countries. We will turn that into a special journal issue on e-learning in Asia during the next few months and perhaps a print on demand book. We also had many excellent keynote and invited addresses. What a week it was!
If you unfortunately missed the conference, one of the fantastic keynote speakers at the E-Learn 2008 Conference last week in Las Vegas was Dr. Roy Pea from Stanford University. I have been a fan of Roy's work for more than two decades now. Roy is currently Professor of Education and the Learning Sciences at Stanford. He is also Director of the Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning. The title is his keynote address was, "Learning in a Networked World: Trends and Opportunities in the Future of Technology for Learning Environments and Education."
Roy has a couple of relevant websites:
1. Info from Stanford on Roy Pea.
2. Roy's Personal Homepage.
3. Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning.
4. Learning Sciences and Technology Design Program at Stanford.
Dr. Mimi Miyoung Lee from the University of Houston, one of the program chairs with me, had a chance to interview him via email before he spoke. Mimi used much of this information in her introduction of him. Their questions and answers are below. Enjoy.
Interview with Roy Pea, E-Learn 2008 Keynote Speaker
Mimi Question #1: When was the first time you used a computer?
Roy: 1977 - When I wrote my dissertation while on a long-term visit at Rockefeller University from Oxford (where I collected my dissertation data), before my postdoc there. I worked inside a psychologist's sound-proof booth where a computer keyboard and terminal was used for psycholinguistic experiments - it was linked to a PDP-11 also used to run infancy studies and collect HeartRate data. I did not see any of my writing as print until a special rented interface to an IBM Selectric typewriter printed out the 400 or so final pages!
Mimi Question #2: Do you ever purposeful try to stay away from technology? If yes, what do you do? (e.g., technology free weekends)
Roy: Perennial gardening.
Mimi Question #3: Can you name a couple of unique ways that technology has affected your personal or professional life in a positive way? (e.g., online Flickr account, mobile learning, etc.)
Roy: Social networks via distributed grants and centers over the years (e.g., my CoVis Project from 1991-1997; the Center for Innovative Learning Technologies from 1996-2002; the LIFE Center now, 2004-ongoing).
Mimi Question #4: If you had to look back and pick a year or event, when did your career in learning technologies take off and why?
Roy: Studying elementary school children learning Logo programming and whether it was influencing their planning and problem solving skills - at Bank Street College, where we created the first national center devoted to children and technology (1981). It was the huge crowd at an AERA in 1983 where I presented this work along with other studies of children and computing from my colleagues that I knew there was interest in such programs of empirical study and theory development (geez, now 25 years ago!)
Mimi Question #5: What is one thing happening in the world of e-learning that too few people know about?
Roy: Elastic cloud computing.
Mimi Question #6: What project(s) are you currently working on that has you most excited and why?
Roy: The LIFE Center (NSF Science of Learning Center), which I co-lead with many exciting colleagues in cognitive science, developmental psychology, anthropology, communication, neurosciences (http://life-slc.org). We are working on foundational advances for theories of learning across informal and formal environments and toward design principles to guide developments of learning environments, including technology-enabled ones. I also have a new mobile technologies science learning project with Marcelo Milrad in Sweden I'm enthused about but only now starting up.
Mimi Question #7: Do you have any important publications on the horizon?
Roy: (1) Working on a new book on learning that is intensely interdisciplinary and integrative during this sabbatical year; and (2) A journal article in development with doctoral students Robb Lindgren and Sarah Lewis on how first-person perspective video is more physiologically arousing and leads to greater conceptual learning than third-person perspective video.
Mimi Question #8: What is the most interesting place you have ever presented and why?
Roy: The Mayor of Barcelona in Spain once hosted an international symposium on computers, school and society (1987) with interdisciplinary participants from many countries and simultaneous translation. It took place over 2-3 days in the grand and centuries-old city governmental palace (with gold-gilded ceilings and exquisite paintings and tapestries). Invited participants were given a substantial and surprise honorarium in cash, under the pillow of the best hotel! The major dinner banquet had huge silver bowls filled with lobsters, shrimp and other gifts of the sea. The conversations were stellar as well.
Mimi Question #9: Tell us one thing people do not know about you.
Roy: I grew up in Detroit as a Motown kid with all that implies.
Mimi Question #10: What are your hobbies?
Roy: Intense English perennial gardening. I love cooking and serving many different cuisines (see picture to the left of my daughter Elle with summer pesto and sweet grape tomatoes). Mountain hiking with wife and colleague Brigid. Beachcombing. Ocean fishing. Broadly based music appreciation.
Mimi Question #11: Can you send any photos, pictures, visuals, etc. (with captions) that illustrate any of your answers that we can use in your introduction?
Roy: See below.
Ok, everyone, please come to E-Learn 2009 in Vancouver next year! It will be October 26-30, 2009. The views will be spectacular just like those above that Roy sent us. See ya there!
If you unfortunately missed the conference, one of the fantastic keynote speakers at the E-Learn 2008 Conference last week in Las Vegas was Dr. Roy Pea from Stanford University. I have been a fan of Roy's work for more than two decades now. Roy is currently Professor of Education and the Learning Sciences at Stanford. He is also Director of the Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning. The title is his keynote address was, "Learning in a Networked World: Trends and Opportunities in the Future of Technology for Learning Environments and Education."
Roy has a couple of relevant websites:
1. Info from Stanford on Roy Pea.
2. Roy's Personal Homepage.
3. Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning.
4. Learning Sciences and Technology Design Program at Stanford.
Dr. Mimi Miyoung Lee from the University of Houston, one of the program chairs with me, had a chance to interview him via email before he spoke. Mimi used much of this information in her introduction of him. Their questions and answers are below. Enjoy.
Interview with Roy Pea, E-Learn 2008 Keynote Speaker
Mimi Question #1: When was the first time you used a computer?
Roy: 1977 - When I wrote my dissertation while on a long-term visit at Rockefeller University from Oxford (where I collected my dissertation data), before my postdoc there. I worked inside a psychologist's sound-proof booth where a computer keyboard and terminal was used for psycholinguistic experiments - it was linked to a PDP-11 also used to run infancy studies and collect HeartRate data. I did not see any of my writing as print until a special rented interface to an IBM Selectric typewriter printed out the 400 or so final pages!
Mimi Question #2: Do you ever purposeful try to stay away from technology? If yes, what do you do? (e.g., technology free weekends)
Roy: Perennial gardening.
Mimi Question #3: Can you name a couple of unique ways that technology has affected your personal or professional life in a positive way? (e.g., online Flickr account, mobile learning, etc.)
Roy: Social networks via distributed grants and centers over the years (e.g., my CoVis Project from 1991-1997; the Center for Innovative Learning Technologies from 1996-2002; the LIFE Center now, 2004-ongoing).
Mimi Question #4: If you had to look back and pick a year or event, when did your career in learning technologies take off and why?
Roy: Studying elementary school children learning Logo programming and whether it was influencing their planning and problem solving skills - at Bank Street College, where we created the first national center devoted to children and technology (1981). It was the huge crowd at an AERA in 1983 where I presented this work along with other studies of children and computing from my colleagues that I knew there was interest in such programs of empirical study and theory development (geez, now 25 years ago!)
Mimi Question #5: What is one thing happening in the world of e-learning that too few people know about?
Roy: Elastic cloud computing.
Mimi Question #6: What project(s) are you currently working on that has you most excited and why?
Roy: The LIFE Center (NSF Science of Learning Center), which I co-lead with many exciting colleagues in cognitive science, developmental psychology, anthropology, communication, neurosciences (http://life-slc.org). We are working on foundational advances for theories of learning across informal and formal environments and toward design principles to guide developments of learning environments, including technology-enabled ones. I also have a new mobile technologies science learning project with Marcelo Milrad in Sweden I'm enthused about but only now starting up.
Mimi Question #7: Do you have any important publications on the horizon?
Roy: (1) Working on a new book on learning that is intensely interdisciplinary and integrative during this sabbatical year; and (2) A journal article in development with doctoral students Robb Lindgren and Sarah Lewis on how first-person perspective video is more physiologically arousing and leads to greater conceptual learning than third-person perspective video.
Mimi Question #8: What is the most interesting place you have ever presented and why?
Roy: The Mayor of Barcelona in Spain once hosted an international symposium on computers, school and society (1987) with interdisciplinary participants from many countries and simultaneous translation. It took place over 2-3 days in the grand and centuries-old city governmental palace (with gold-gilded ceilings and exquisite paintings and tapestries). Invited participants were given a substantial and surprise honorarium in cash, under the pillow of the best hotel! The major dinner banquet had huge silver bowls filled with lobsters, shrimp and other gifts of the sea. The conversations were stellar as well.
Mimi Question #9: Tell us one thing people do not know about you.
Roy: I grew up in Detroit as a Motown kid with all that implies.
Mimi Question #10: What are your hobbies?
Roy: Intense English perennial gardening. I love cooking and serving many different cuisines (see picture to the left of my daughter Elle with summer pesto and sweet grape tomatoes). Mountain hiking with wife and colleague Brigid. Beachcombing. Ocean fishing. Broadly based music appreciation. Mimi Question #11: Can you send any photos, pictures, visuals, etc. (with captions) that illustrate any of your answers that we can use in your introduction?
Roy: See below.
Ok, everyone, please come to E-Learn 2009 in Vancouver next year! It will be October 26-30, 2009. The views will be spectacular just like those above that Roy sent us. See ya there!
Friday, 14 November 2008
An Interview with Dr. Ellen Wagner: E-Learn 2008 Keynote Speaker
I am about ready to fly out to Las Vegas to help run the E-Learn 2008 Conference as one of the Program Chairs. Before going, let me post an interview I did this past week with Dr. Ellen Wagner who is one of the keynote speakers of the conference.
Before I get to the interview, let me also note that the E-Learn Conference now has a blog wherein we will document key conference activities. The program co-chairs (Dr. Tom Reynolds from National University, Dr. Mimi Miyoung Lee from the University of Houston, and myself) as well as invited and keynote speakers will be posting there. Check it out now and again next week during the conference which runs from November 17 to 21, 2008. This will be a great time. You can still sign up! We will setting an all-time attendance record for E-Learn.
An Interview with Dr. Ellen Wagner
Principal Analyst, Sonoma Partners LLP, USA
Keynote at the E-Learn Conference in Las Vegas, November, 2008
Information on her keynote: http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/speakers/wagner2.htm
Information on all keynote and invited speakers is here:
http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/speakers/
Biographical Information on Dr. Ellen Wagner:
Ellen Wagner is an independent learning industry analyst, strategist and solutions architect. Formerly the Director of worldwide elearning solutions for Adobe Systems, she had previously served as Senior Director of worldwide education solutions for Macromedia. Prior to that, she was chief learning officer for Viviance new education AG, an online elearning product and services provider. She also served as chief learning officer and vice president of consulting services with Informania, Inc. Ellen is a former tenured professor and chair of the educational technology program at the University of Northern Colorado, and project director with the WCET, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.
Ok, it is now time for the interview questions and her responses.
Curt: Q1. When was the first time you used a computer?
Ellen: 1974. A dumb terminal linked to a mainframe. I think sort of like what thin clients are like these days.
Curt: Q2. Do you ever purposeful try to stay away from technology? If yes, what do you do? (e.g., technology free weekends).
Ellen: It’s not that I stay away from technology – it’s almost impossible to do that anymore. Besides, I like my phone and my iPod, I take photos for fun and can lose hours while working on printing the images so that they are just right. But I do consciously avoid doing technology-mediated work on the weekend. Weekends are for engaging in the rest of my life.
Curt: Q3. Can you name a couple of unique ways that technology has affected your personal or professional life in a positive way? (e.g., online Flickr account, mobile learning, etc.)
Ellen: Well, sure - technology has provided me with a career! Actually, I suppose it was really a legal decision related to technology that paved the way for the long strange trip that I have been on these many years, rather than technology, per se. I got my Ph.D. 15 days before the Modification of Final Judgment (MFJ) went into effect back in 1984. The MFJ was the legal decision that broke up the AT&T monopoly. That was the event that provided the level playing field for new technology companies to enter into the data communications industries, which is what helped pave the way for innovations in computing, in telephony, in wireless communications, in broadband services, cable TV, and even the Internet. So my professional activities really started at a time when all of us had a shot at exploring this brave new world, exploring all kinds of new ways of engaging with each other that we’d never even thought about before. I actually had been hired for my first professional job at Mountain Bell a couple of weeks before the MFJ went into effect – I got laid off before I even started. I ended up taking an academic position at the institution where I had been working while I had been finishing my dissertation. Ended up staying there for 11 years before I moved to California to catch a ride on the next tech wave when the Internet privatized in 1995.
Only talking about 1984 really IS ancient history, I was probably even more affected by the Internet privatization in 1995, since that IS what kicked my career in high gear. People forget that you couldn’t get an email address unless you were doing bona fide research, or working on a government project. And of course, 2001, the year of the dot.com crash, after which I realized how important it is for learning professionals to understand the business environments in which we work. It also provided the catalyst for taking a look at the new social media that have now turned into “Web 2.0”.
Curt: Q4. If you had to look back and pick a year or event, when did your career in learning technologies take off and why?
Ellen: 1984 was a very very big year. I’ve already mentioned the Modification of Final Judgment, which opened the doors for the data communications and (micro) computer industries to really take off. January 1984 was the month that the Macintosh computer was introduced, which was a completely different way of dealing with personal computing than any of us had ever seen or even imagined before. If you want to get a sense of what a big deal it was, take a look at the video of Steve Jobs as he announces the anticipated release of the Macintosh computer, and how Apple computer was literally going to revolutionize the world. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSiQA6KKyJo
Also that year was the Cable Act of 1984, which gave cable providers a measure of parity with broadcasters from which the broadcast industry has never recovered. And of course that was the year that I started my tenure-track academic career at the University of Northern Colorado – when I magically transformed from a student to a professor.
But there have been so many other big events that have given me opportunities to morph and change and evolve. In 1994 I became an entrepreneur and small business owner –a huge learning curve for me. In 2000, I became the chief learning officer of an elearning company with offices in Europe and North America when my company was acquired. That was a wild experience. 2002 was the year I joined the solutions marketing team at Macromedia and found myself working as a senior director of education solutions at one of the most innovative technology companies of our industry. And here we are in 2008, as I take off on a whole new adventure as an industry analyst. I suspect that the best is yet to be.
Curt Q5: What is one thing happening in the world of e-learning that too few people know about?
Ellen: Most people involved in elearning have no idea that most of the world doesn’t have a clue what we are talking about. This is true even inside a company like Adobe, with products like Flash and Photoshop and Dreamweaver and Captivate that are de facto standards for creating interactive digital content for learning. I fear that sometimes the self-evident value of using technology to extend the walls of the classroom, or to create immersive experiences in virtual spaces, makes us less rigorous about ensuring that our elearning solutions are more than flashy displays of technological prowess. Until we can show that we are having a fundamental positive impact on how our enterprises are administered and how services are provided to our stakeholders, I fear that elearning will continue to live just outside the mainstream mission of most of our institutions and enterprises.
Curt Q6: What project(s) are you currently working on that has you most excited and why? Do you have any important publications on the horizon?
Ellen: Well, I collaborated on a report and wrote two articles on mobile learning. Right now I am working on a 3D web paper, as well as a couple of industry intelligence reports that my company will publish in the spring for our clients. Not sure how important they are going to be from a research perspective – I stopped worrying about publishing for promotion and tenure for years and years now, so my writing isn’t intended to provide any new theoretical insight or to demonstrate the tenability of a particular hypothesis. But I certainly hope they will be influential from a business intelligence perspective.
One of the things that has been very troubling to me is the degree to which people outside of the field of elearning do not take elearning very seriously. And the reason they don’t is that elearning does not tend to be viewed as a strategic investment that makes a difference to the health and well-being of an enterprise. They don’t understand that elearning isn’t just an interactive online course that lives inside an LMS. People also don’t seem to understand that elearning isn’t a product, but that it is a professional practice that leverages technology in the service of teaching, learning, and performance support.
In my world view, elearning is so much more than the tools used to produce the content that enable the experiences through which learning takes place. And so, right now my writing is focused on exploring and articulating the value proposition that elearning can bring to individuals and enterprises. And so now you have a better idea of why I am so focused these days on “minding the gaps” between the epistemological frameworks that so often end up becoming knowledge silos.
Curt Q7: What is the most interesting place you have ever presented and why?
Ellen: Why, the ELEARN conference in 2004, of course! I do remember that the conference was quite good, and I was comfortable with the presentation I gave. But what made the event the most memorable for me was that I arrived in Washington DC for the conference the morning after the last Presidential election. There were lots of people who had voted for the guy who won who were doing high–fives on the people movers at Dulles. As someone who had voted for the other guy, it was very depressing. Will be interested to see how things are at this year’s ELEARN, just a little more than two weeks after this year’s Presidential election.
Curt Q8: Tell us one thing people do not know about you.
Ellen: It’s a secret...I’m really 5’3” and blonde. Just kidding.
Curt Q9: What are your hobbies?
Ellen: I am a manic gardener. One of the great things about where I live in California is that the climate is great for growing just about anything you can think of. This year I had 20 different varieties of tomatoes, 8 kinds of peppers, watermelons, honeydews, and cantaloupes, six varieties of cukes, peas, beans, zukes, eggplants, tomatillos, onions. We also have fruit trees – apples, pears, figs, lemons, oranges, limes, avocados, plums. Just enough to be able to walk around the yard just about any time of the year and find something to munch on. I grow so darn much stuff I’ve have to learn how to can and preserve and roast and freeze and dry the food that I grow so it won’t go to waste. One of my software executive friends who is a fellow food preserver has created a blog about our adventures in canning called “Can you Preserve.” I do often end up taking boxes of produce down to San Francisco for my friends who live in the “fog belt” and can’t grow their own.
Curt Q11: Can you send any photos, pictures, visuals, etc. (with captions) that illustrate any of your answers that we can use in your introduction?
Ellen: Pictures will be coming in separate emails. See above and below.
Before I get to the interview, let me also note that the E-Learn Conference now has a blog wherein we will document key conference activities. The program co-chairs (Dr. Tom Reynolds from National University, Dr. Mimi Miyoung Lee from the University of Houston, and myself) as well as invited and keynote speakers will be posting there. Check it out now and again next week during the conference which runs from November 17 to 21, 2008. This will be a great time. You can still sign up! We will setting an all-time attendance record for E-Learn.
An Interview with Dr. Ellen Wagner
Principal Analyst, Sonoma Partners LLP, USA
Keynote at the E-Learn Conference in Las Vegas, November, 2008
Information on her keynote: http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/speakers/wagner2.htm
Information on all keynote and invited speakers is here:
http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/speakers/
Biographical Information on Dr. Ellen Wagner:
Ellen Wagner is an independent learning industry analyst, strategist and solutions architect. Formerly the Director of worldwide elearning solutions for Adobe Systems, she had previously served as Senior Director of worldwide education solutions for Macromedia. Prior to that, she was chief learning officer for Viviance new education AG, an online elearning product and services provider. She also served as chief learning officer and vice president of consulting services with Informania, Inc. Ellen is a former tenured professor and chair of the educational technology program at the University of Northern Colorado, and project director with the WCET, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.
Ok, it is now time for the interview questions and her responses.
Curt: Q1. When was the first time you used a computer?
Ellen: 1974. A dumb terminal linked to a mainframe. I think sort of like what thin clients are like these days.
Curt: Q2. Do you ever purposeful try to stay away from technology? If yes, what do you do? (e.g., technology free weekends).
Ellen: It’s not that I stay away from technology – it’s almost impossible to do that anymore. Besides, I like my phone and my iPod, I take photos for fun and can lose hours while working on printing the images so that they are just right. But I do consciously avoid doing technology-mediated work on the weekend. Weekends are for engaging in the rest of my life.
Curt: Q3. Can you name a couple of unique ways that technology has affected your personal or professional life in a positive way? (e.g., online Flickr account, mobile learning, etc.)
Ellen: Well, sure - technology has provided me with a career! Actually, I suppose it was really a legal decision related to technology that paved the way for the long strange trip that I have been on these many years, rather than technology, per se. I got my Ph.D. 15 days before the Modification of Final Judgment (MFJ) went into effect back in 1984. The MFJ was the legal decision that broke up the AT&T monopoly. That was the event that provided the level playing field for new technology companies to enter into the data communications industries, which is what helped pave the way for innovations in computing, in telephony, in wireless communications, in broadband services, cable TV, and even the Internet. So my professional activities really started at a time when all of us had a shot at exploring this brave new world, exploring all kinds of new ways of engaging with each other that we’d never even thought about before. I actually had been hired for my first professional job at Mountain Bell a couple of weeks before the MFJ went into effect – I got laid off before I even started. I ended up taking an academic position at the institution where I had been working while I had been finishing my dissertation. Ended up staying there for 11 years before I moved to California to catch a ride on the next tech wave when the Internet privatized in 1995.
Only talking about 1984 really IS ancient history, I was probably even more affected by the Internet privatization in 1995, since that IS what kicked my career in high gear. People forget that you couldn’t get an email address unless you were doing bona fide research, or working on a government project. And of course, 2001, the year of the dot.com crash, after which I realized how important it is for learning professionals to understand the business environments in which we work. It also provided the catalyst for taking a look at the new social media that have now turned into “Web 2.0”.
Curt: Q4. If you had to look back and pick a year or event, when did your career in learning technologies take off and why?
Ellen: 1984 was a very very big year. I’ve already mentioned the Modification of Final Judgment, which opened the doors for the data communications and (micro) computer industries to really take off. January 1984 was the month that the Macintosh computer was introduced, which was a completely different way of dealing with personal computing than any of us had ever seen or even imagined before. If you want to get a sense of what a big deal it was, take a look at the video of Steve Jobs as he announces the anticipated release of the Macintosh computer, and how Apple computer was literally going to revolutionize the world. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSiQA6KKyJo
Also that year was the Cable Act of 1984, which gave cable providers a measure of parity with broadcasters from which the broadcast industry has never recovered. And of course that was the year that I started my tenure-track academic career at the University of Northern Colorado – when I magically transformed from a student to a professor.
But there have been so many other big events that have given me opportunities to morph and change and evolve. In 1994 I became an entrepreneur and small business owner –a huge learning curve for me. In 2000, I became the chief learning officer of an elearning company with offices in Europe and North America when my company was acquired. That was a wild experience. 2002 was the year I joined the solutions marketing team at Macromedia and found myself working as a senior director of education solutions at one of the most innovative technology companies of our industry. And here we are in 2008, as I take off on a whole new adventure as an industry analyst. I suspect that the best is yet to be.
Curt Q5: What is one thing happening in the world of e-learning that too few people know about?
Ellen: Most people involved in elearning have no idea that most of the world doesn’t have a clue what we are talking about. This is true even inside a company like Adobe, with products like Flash and Photoshop and Dreamweaver and Captivate that are de facto standards for creating interactive digital content for learning. I fear that sometimes the self-evident value of using technology to extend the walls of the classroom, or to create immersive experiences in virtual spaces, makes us less rigorous about ensuring that our elearning solutions are more than flashy displays of technological prowess. Until we can show that we are having a fundamental positive impact on how our enterprises are administered and how services are provided to our stakeholders, I fear that elearning will continue to live just outside the mainstream mission of most of our institutions and enterprises.
Curt Q6: What project(s) are you currently working on that has you most excited and why? Do you have any important publications on the horizon?
Ellen: Well, I collaborated on a report and wrote two articles on mobile learning. Right now I am working on a 3D web paper, as well as a couple of industry intelligence reports that my company will publish in the spring for our clients. Not sure how important they are going to be from a research perspective – I stopped worrying about publishing for promotion and tenure for years and years now, so my writing isn’t intended to provide any new theoretical insight or to demonstrate the tenability of a particular hypothesis. But I certainly hope they will be influential from a business intelligence perspective.
One of the things that has been very troubling to me is the degree to which people outside of the field of elearning do not take elearning very seriously. And the reason they don’t is that elearning does not tend to be viewed as a strategic investment that makes a difference to the health and well-being of an enterprise. They don’t understand that elearning isn’t just an interactive online course that lives inside an LMS. People also don’t seem to understand that elearning isn’t a product, but that it is a professional practice that leverages technology in the service of teaching, learning, and performance support.
In my world view, elearning is so much more than the tools used to produce the content that enable the experiences through which learning takes place. And so, right now my writing is focused on exploring and articulating the value proposition that elearning can bring to individuals and enterprises. And so now you have a better idea of why I am so focused these days on “minding the gaps” between the epistemological frameworks that so often end up becoming knowledge silos.
Curt Q7: What is the most interesting place you have ever presented and why?
Ellen: Why, the ELEARN conference in 2004, of course! I do remember that the conference was quite good, and I was comfortable with the presentation I gave. But what made the event the most memorable for me was that I arrived in Washington DC for the conference the morning after the last Presidential election. There were lots of people who had voted for the guy who won who were doing high–fives on the people movers at Dulles. As someone who had voted for the other guy, it was very depressing. Will be interested to see how things are at this year’s ELEARN, just a little more than two weeks after this year’s Presidential election.
Curt Q8: Tell us one thing people do not know about you.
Ellen: It’s a secret...I’m really 5’3” and blonde. Just kidding.
Curt Q9: What are your hobbies?
Ellen: I am a manic gardener. One of the great things about where I live in California is that the climate is great for growing just about anything you can think of. This year I had 20 different varieties of tomatoes, 8 kinds of peppers, watermelons, honeydews, and cantaloupes, six varieties of cukes, peas, beans, zukes, eggplants, tomatillos, onions. We also have fruit trees – apples, pears, figs, lemons, oranges, limes, avocados, plums. Just enough to be able to walk around the yard just about any time of the year and find something to munch on. I grow so darn much stuff I’ve have to learn how to can and preserve and roast and freeze and dry the food that I grow so it won’t go to waste. One of my software executive friends who is a fellow food preserver has created a blog about our adventures in canning called “Can you Preserve.” I do often end up taking boxes of produce down to San Francisco for my friends who live in the “fog belt” and can’t grow their own.
Curt Q11: Can you send any photos, pictures, visuals, etc. (with captions) that illustrate any of your answers that we can use in your introduction?
Ellen: Pictures will be coming in separate emails. See above and below.
Friday, 31 October 2008
A Halloween Treat: Another Free Online Conference + Lots of Paid Ones
Of course, once you post a couple of free online conferences, more immediately appear. Here is one that Nellie Deustch just informed me of. It is called Connecting Online 2009 and will be held February 6-8, 2009. Looks they are using Ning to coordinate this. I will be presenting my "World is Open" talk sometime during it. You might participate in it as well.
And today my good friend, Gilly Salmon from the University of Leicester in the UK, informed me of the Learning Futures Festival 2009, November 11-December 19, 2008. This is part of her Beyond Distance Research Alliance. While this one is not free, it is still worth noting since they will have many synchronous events during the coming couple of months prior to their live conference in Leceister in January. The face-to-face event is Thursday January 9th, 2009 in Leicester. I have presented at their conference in January 2006 and January 2007 and know it is quite an engaging and interesting event. Gilly is always filled with creative ideas and activities.
Gilly also sent me a note about the World Future 2009 Conference in Chicago July 17-19, 2009. This looks cool.
Oh by the way, next week, I am doing a preconference workshop at the Sloan-C ALN (Asynchronous Learning Networks) Conference in Orlando on Wednesday November 5th. This workshop will include info on blended learning activities and models as well as dozens of activities related to both my R2D2 model for online learning and my TEC-VARIETY model for online motivation and retention. More importantly, the following day, I will be the plenary speaker. I will present on my upcoming World is Open book. I think they said some 1,300 people were already signed up for it.
Also in Orlando next week is the annual AECT (Association for Educational Curriculum and Technology) Conference. AECT is extremely popular with my graduate students. I plan to pop in there. It is the conference for my department and field at the present time. Attendance has dropped, however, during the past decade or two as other conferences have emerged. Of course this past week, the Educause Conference was held in Orlando as was Elliott Masie's Learn 2008 Conference. Is Orlando the destination for everyone in October and November?
At the end of the week, I will keynote the Illinois School Library Media Association (ISLMA) Conference in Arlington Heights on the north side of Chicago. The keynote will be my old Perfect E-storm talk, recently updated and enhanced. The following day, I will speak on digital literacy.
Remember November 17-21 is the E-Learn Conference in Las Vegas! This is the best one of all! Attendance records already set. You can add to that!
That is it for the conference scene for now. I am sure this will be both tiring and fun. It is exhausting just thinking about. Anyway, enjoy the show! Perhaps I will see you at one of these events. And please say hi if you see me. Even if it is just in the airport going through stupid pet tricks in security lines. Smile!
And Happy Halloween everyone! Oh, if you have not seen "Zombies in Plain English" from Lee Lefever at Common Craft, now is your chance. You can go to the Common Craft website or YouTube. This is a year old. I sure hope they post a new one this year!
And today my good friend, Gilly Salmon from the University of Leicester in the UK, informed me of the Learning Futures Festival 2009, November 11-December 19, 2008. This is part of her Beyond Distance Research Alliance. While this one is not free, it is still worth noting since they will have many synchronous events during the coming couple of months prior to their live conference in Leceister in January. The face-to-face event is Thursday January 9th, 2009 in Leicester. I have presented at their conference in January 2006 and January 2007 and know it is quite an engaging and interesting event. Gilly is always filled with creative ideas and activities.
Gilly also sent me a note about the World Future 2009 Conference in Chicago July 17-19, 2009. This looks cool.
Oh by the way, next week, I am doing a preconference workshop at the Sloan-C ALN (Asynchronous Learning Networks) Conference in Orlando on Wednesday November 5th. This workshop will include info on blended learning activities and models as well as dozens of activities related to both my R2D2 model for online learning and my TEC-VARIETY model for online motivation and retention. More importantly, the following day, I will be the plenary speaker. I will present on my upcoming World is Open book. I think they said some 1,300 people were already signed up for it.
Also in Orlando next week is the annual AECT (Association for Educational Curriculum and Technology) Conference. AECT is extremely popular with my graduate students. I plan to pop in there. It is the conference for my department and field at the present time. Attendance has dropped, however, during the past decade or two as other conferences have emerged. Of course this past week, the Educause Conference was held in Orlando as was Elliott Masie's Learn 2008 Conference. Is Orlando the destination for everyone in October and November?
At the end of the week, I will keynote the Illinois School Library Media Association (ISLMA) Conference in Arlington Heights on the north side of Chicago. The keynote will be my old Perfect E-storm talk, recently updated and enhanced. The following day, I will speak on digital literacy.
Remember November 17-21 is the E-Learn Conference in Las Vegas! This is the best one of all! Attendance records already set. You can add to that!
That is it for the conference scene for now. I am sure this will be both tiring and fun. It is exhausting just thinking about. Anyway, enjoy the show! Perhaps I will see you at one of these events. And please say hi if you see me. Even if it is just in the airport going through stupid pet tricks in security lines. Smile!
And Happy Halloween everyone! Oh, if you have not seen "Zombies in Plain English" from Lee Lefever at Common Craft, now is your chance. You can go to the Common Craft website or YouTube. This is a year old. I sure hope they post a new one this year!
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Can We Say FREE Online Conferences and Learning Events?
Hey there. Many free online events coming up in November. I must let you know about them.
1. If you are not attending E-Learn, you might attend this conference for free which my friends Jay Cross and George Siemens are running: Corporate Learning Trends and Innovations 2008, November 17-21, 2008, http://www.learntrends.com/. It is FREE!!!!!!!!!! Funny, George is an invited speaker at E-Learn in Las Vegas at the same time. With online conferences, you can do more than one conference at a time.
2. And the week before, you might attend this US-China virtual symposium on November 11-13: http://tel.coas.drexel.edu/conference/demo/index.html. This is being run by Drexel University. It is FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3. GLOBAL E-COLLABORATION ONLINE PANELS: A WEBINAR SERIES
SPONSORED BY IGI GLOBAL AND ELLUMINATE EVENTS. Per the editor, Janet Salmons (http://www.vision2lead.com), “Online collaboration is transforming the way we work together. Whether partnering across organizations or teaming within organizations, people collaborate online to accomplish shared goals. To gain new understandings of these changes, researchers are exploring new collaborative practices and their impacts. The forthcoming IGI publication, a Handbook of Research on Electronic Collaboration and Organizational Synergy, presents a diverse collection of these studies.” There will be 3 free Elluminate events moderated by the book editors, Janet Salmons, and Lynn Wilson, will moderate the panels. After the events, the archives will be online at http://www.elluminate.com/recorded_events_request.jsp. For more on the Handbook of Research on Electronic Collaboration and Organizational Synergy, coming soon from IGI Global, see: http://www.igi-global.com/reference/details.asp?id=8003 or go to Janet’s blog: Site- http://www.vision2lead.com.
a. October 29: 3 PM EST. ELECTRONIC COLLABORATION WITHIN AND ACROSS ORGANIZATIONS Register at: https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/event/description?instance_id=13285 Niki Lambropoulos , London South Bank University, UK ; Panagiotis Kampylis,University of Jyväskylä, Finland; Sofia Papadimitriou, Teacher, Athens Ingo Frost, Pumacy Technologies AG, Germany
b. November 6: 4 PM EST. STUDYING ELECTRONIC COLLABORATION: RESEARCH, THEORIES AND METHODS. Register at: https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/event/description?instance_id=13286; Frances Deepwell and Virginia King, Coventry University, United Kingdom; Kenneth Strang, Central Queensland University, Australia; Sandra Chrystal, Marshall School of Business University of Southern California, USA
c. November 12: 3 PM EST, INTERNATIONAL, CROSS-CULTURAL ELECTRONIC COLLABORATION, Register at: https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/event/description?instance_id=13288; Andre L. Araujo, College of William & Mary, USA; Tine Köhler, George Mason University, USA; Kathy Lynch, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia; Aleksej Heinze, Salford University, England and Elsje Scott, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Finally, there is a technology conference for school leaders this week (October 28-30) in Seattle. NSBA's T+L Conference. http://www.iqinnovations.org/educational-technology/ and http://www.nsba.org/t+l/About/. Teresa Berry asked that I mention it so I am. This one is not free or online, however. You have to be there.
Anyway, it seems much choice in your learning pursuits at the end of October and throughout November. It is good to have options. It is even better when those options involve nontraditional forms of learning. We all learn. Jay, Janet, George, the folks from Drexel, and others are making is available to you. They are pushing education ahead in the 21st century. Learn from them! Yes, learn from them for FREE!!!!!!!!! The world needs more such events and people.
Remember to come to E-Learn in Las Vegas November 17-21 (see http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/). See you there!
I forgot to mention that submissions for ED-MEDIA 2009 in Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii is June 22-26, 2009. It is a sister conference to E-Learn and also run by the wonderful people at AACE. Your proposals are due December 19th. That is coming up!
1. If you are not attending E-Learn, you might attend this conference for free which my friends Jay Cross and George Siemens are running: Corporate Learning Trends and Innovations 2008, November 17-21, 2008, http://www.learntrends.com/. It is FREE!!!!!!!!!! Funny, George is an invited speaker at E-Learn in Las Vegas at the same time. With online conferences, you can do more than one conference at a time.
2. And the week before, you might attend this US-China virtual symposium on November 11-13: http://tel.coas.drexel.edu/conference/demo/index.html. This is being run by Drexel University. It is FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3. GLOBAL E-COLLABORATION ONLINE PANELS: A WEBINAR SERIES
SPONSORED BY IGI GLOBAL AND ELLUMINATE EVENTS. Per the editor, Janet Salmons (http://www.vision2lead.com), “Online collaboration is transforming the way we work together. Whether partnering across organizations or teaming within organizations, people collaborate online to accomplish shared goals. To gain new understandings of these changes, researchers are exploring new collaborative practices and their impacts. The forthcoming IGI publication, a Handbook of Research on Electronic Collaboration and Organizational Synergy, presents a diverse collection of these studies.” There will be 3 free Elluminate events moderated by the book editors, Janet Salmons, and Lynn Wilson, will moderate the panels. After the events, the archives will be online at http://www.elluminate.com/recorded_events_request.jsp. For more on the Handbook of Research on Electronic Collaboration and Organizational Synergy, coming soon from IGI Global, see: http://www.igi-global.com/reference/details.asp?id=8003 or go to Janet’s blog: Site- http://www.vision2lead.com.
a. October 29: 3 PM EST. ELECTRONIC COLLABORATION WITHIN AND ACROSS ORGANIZATIONS Register at: https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/event/description?instance_id=13285 Niki Lambropoulos , London South Bank University, UK ; Panagiotis Kampylis,University of Jyväskylä, Finland; Sofia Papadimitriou, Teacher, Athens Ingo Frost, Pumacy Technologies AG, Germany
b. November 6: 4 PM EST. STUDYING ELECTRONIC COLLABORATION: RESEARCH, THEORIES AND METHODS. Register at: https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/event/description?instance_id=13286; Frances Deepwell and Virginia King, Coventry University, United Kingdom; Kenneth Strang, Central Queensland University, Australia; Sandra Chrystal, Marshall School of Business University of Southern California, USA
c. November 12: 3 PM EST, INTERNATIONAL, CROSS-CULTURAL ELECTRONIC COLLABORATION, Register at: https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/event/description?instance_id=13288; Andre L. Araujo, College of William & Mary, USA; Tine Köhler, George Mason University, USA; Kathy Lynch, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia; Aleksej Heinze, Salford University, England and Elsje Scott, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Finally, there is a technology conference for school leaders this week (October 28-30) in Seattle. NSBA's T+L Conference. http://www.iqinnovations.org/educational-technology/ and http://www.nsba.org/t+l/About/. Teresa Berry asked that I mention it so I am. This one is not free or online, however. You have to be there.
Anyway, it seems much choice in your learning pursuits at the end of October and throughout November. It is good to have options. It is even better when those options involve nontraditional forms of learning. We all learn. Jay, Janet, George, the folks from Drexel, and others are making is available to you. They are pushing education ahead in the 21st century. Learn from them! Yes, learn from them for FREE!!!!!!!!! The world needs more such events and people.
Remember to come to E-Learn in Las Vegas November 17-21 (see http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/). See you there!
I forgot to mention that submissions for ED-MEDIA 2009 in Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii is June 22-26, 2009. It is a sister conference to E-Learn and also run by the wonderful people at AACE. Your proposals are due December 19th. That is coming up!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)