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Lisa Neal Gualtieri, Editor-in-Chief
From the perspective of a teacher, trainer (or instructional designer for that matter) what's your reaction to the iPad?
Does it make you curious about anything (e.g., "I wonder how students will...")?
How can you envision it helping you educate?
Do you worry about any downsides of this technology pervading your learners?
Comment below, please!
It's surprising there are so many: 1,762 fake institutions worldwide with another 1,545 filed as "suspicious" according to Verifile. The US has the most - 810 - and the UK comes in second with 271.
One can only imagine the number of bogus degrees produced!
I will admit to be fascinated by prominent people buying online degrees, in much the same way others follow the latest romances of stars. In Degrees by Mail: Look what you can buy for only $499!!! I wrote about the US$499.00 purchase of an online degree by someone who should have known better and didn't even seemingly need the degree. In The Stripper and the Bogus Online Degree I wrote about "A former stripper, known professionally as Princess Cheyenne, [who] was found guilty of 19 of 25 counts 'of fraud and larceny for posing as a licensed psychologist for seven years and treating clients'" because her degree was not legitimate.
Moral here: if it sounds too good to be true it probably is - and it may be worth the effort of checking credentials before you hire or do business with anyone.
I was part of an AACE executive board discussion, in which Saul Carliner said,
One of my favorites is Roger Schank's prediction for 2010 in eLearn Magazine: "Bye bye phone," predicting the demise of mobile learning citing the difficulty of reading a phone or even an iPod screen. Others are touting the same technology.
Curt Bonk immediately responded:
I thought Roger Schank's prediction was the most ridiculous. He is not thinking outside the box - bendable and fold-out screens and electronically projected ones. Samsung is working on that. Mobile devices tomorrow are not what we see today. But bold predictions like Roger's would get people to chat and interact.
And Saul came back:
My point. I said it was my favorite - but I didn't say why or that I agreed with him. :)
Interestingly, the only comments that critiqued the Predictions for 2010 were about Roger's prediction. One said,
How can you say its going to go away from the phone, especially with the iPhone and Android-based phones that allow for simulations and interactivity that couldn't be done before?Maybe it is just my age group (under 30), but I find that I'm constant using my iPhone for on-demand learning, whether it be to Google something, access a video tutorial (like Lynda.com), get my RSS feeds, etc... I think mLearning is just in its infancy and we will continue to see it grow.
Just my $0.02. Cheers!
Another person commented,
Dr. Schank - I have followed you and your career for years and I have immensely benefited from your body of knowledge. I am curious, however, about your bye, bye phone prediction for 2010. While I agree in someways (yet not in others) that a full blown training program may not best be delivered via mobile features or applications, I strongly feel that mobile devices hold incredible promise for learning and will only increase in the future. The traditional training paradigm of larger/longer scale design for learning has been engaged in a renaissance for sometime - in saying this I am thinking of re-useable learning objects, simulations, storytelling, game theory, virtual worlds, etc - major premises that can enable a strong mobile learning platform, paradigm, and adaptation.One of the greatest benefits I see of mobile devices (and I hope there will be many) is the push of learning information as needed or the pull of information as wanted - not to mention the simultaneous usage of features on today's equipment (think AT&T and Apple''s ability to talk and use apps at the same time). The connectedness to corporate systems/innovative design approaches and the creative implications of the larger learning outcome(s) to a mobile event is what will make this either a smooth learning experience or a disastrous one. I'm a bit more optimistic.
I can't help but also think about how opinion was similar about CBT/WBT to what now is "eLearning" - once upon a time.
Is it time for a rebuttal from Roger?
I asked on Twitter yesterday, "What term do you use most? Learning 2.0, Blending Learning, Social Learning, Informal Learning, eLearning ... something else?"
The responses, I hoped, would illuminate not only which words people use most, but also what practices or pedagogical philosophies are behind their instruction. Here's the feedback:
antoesp: elearning (2.0) & blended learning: anyway it is always necessary what you are talking about...vale24: I think I'm in "blended learning" category for when I use ICT with F2F groups in/outside class, otherwise it's Online learning
_KirstenT: blended learning at Leeds - like most other UK higher education institutions
nhatipoglu: eLearning actually
minutebio: Informal Learning
arepeejee: eLearning & Technology Enhanced Learning
hopkinsdavid: Usually 'eLearning', but 'blended' making a big comeback in recent months
campusdirect: e-learning... with the hyphen
denniscallahan: It's all "Learning"
What terms do you use, and what does it say about your teaching or instruction -- or environment, or learners, or level of technology adoption (add a comment below)?
My 11 year old daughter and I recently discussed the impact of comma placement, pauses, and intonation on meaning. Hence I was immediately attracted to the title, "Free yourself from oppression by technology", because it can be parsed 2 ways. I started reading the article from New Scientist by Yair Amichai-Hamburger just to see which it was and found insights on self-determination theory that are very relevant to e-learning.
The article concludes, "I believe that autonomy, competence, relatedness and critical thinking are the best ways to establish a balanced approach to technology, and so enhance our well-being." The same statement could be made about successful students, online or otherwise. Read the article for a fascinating discussion that might make you - horrors - shut off some of your devices and stop coveting the latest smart phone entry on the market.
An open-call competition that will provide $2 million to innovators of digital media and learning is nearing its January 15, 2010 deadline to apply.
The competition seeks designers, inventors, entrepreneurs, researchers, and others to build digital experiences (“learning labs of the 21st century”) that will help young people interact, share, build, tinker, and explore in new and innovative ways.
All the details to apply can be found at www.dmlcompetition.net
Two types of awards are available: Learning Lab Designer awards and Game Changer awards. Learning Lab Designer awards, which will range from $30,000 to $200,000, are for learning environments and digital media-based experiences that allow young people to grapple with social challenges through activities based on the social nature, contexts, and ideas of science, technology, engineering.
Game Changers awards, which range from $5,000 to $50,000, are for creative levels designed with either LittleBigPlanet or Spore Galactic Adventures that offer young people engaging game play experiences and that incorporate and leverage principles of science, technology, engineering and math for learning.
Each category will include several Best in Class awards selected by expert judges, as well as a People’s Choice Award selected by the general public. The online application system will open on January 7 and will include three rounds of submissions, with public comment at each stage. In February 2010, a special competition will be opened up to youth from ages 12-17.
The competition is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, in collaboration with the University of California-Irvine, Duke University and the virtual network HASTAC.
The 2010 Competition winners will join an existing community of 36 awardees from 2007 and 2008, including a video blogging project for young women in Mumbai, India; a cutting-edge mobile phone application that lets children conduct digital wildlife spotting and share that information with friends; a project that leverages low-cost laptops to help indigenous children in Chiapas, Mexico learn by producing and sharing their own media creations; and an online platform for 200 classrooms around the world that allows young people to monitor, analyze, and share information about the declining global fish population.
Do you have an interesting story to share relating to technology-enabled education in emerging countries, or as it applies to university education... or life-long learning?
The Fifth International Conference of MIT Learning International Networks Consortium (LINC), which will take place May 23-26, 2010, has announced a call for papers on these topics.
The deadline to submit is February 1, 2010.
LINC organizers are seeking papers that address novel and challenging ideas, and report on real applications with concrete results.
For the 2010 conference, LINC is especially interested in submissions that demonstrate the leadership role of universities in reaching down to secondary schools and reaching up to life-long learners, with the goal of bringing technology-enabled education to learners of all ages.
Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:
- Innovations in educational technology
- New media for instruction
- Virtual universities
- E-learning in emerging nations
- New pedagogical models facilitated by technology
- Open Education Resources (OER)
- Universities and lifelong learning
- Universities and STEM education for high school students (science, technology, engineering, math)
- Web 2.0 and Social Software.
Further information is available on LINC's website.
