Learning in the 21st Century

After reading the article and creating a 'mind map' for Learning in the21st Century, I did not find any new or significantly noteworthy concepts in the article.

We already know that technology will enable the classroom of 'the future'. I believe it will be more of a financial constraint to keep technology current in schools. Budget cuts people! As schools become populated with teachers fresh from college, I think we will see a natural infusion of technology in the classroom.

The subjects haven't really changed over the years- Trigonometry, English Lit, Biology, French, Phys Ed...still there! I believe educators have a grasp on how to execute these courses today.

Based on the article, the 'electives' that are offered today will become a new focus and factor for success for the 21st Century Learner. It is in these courses where educators will need to become more proficient in order to teach the 21st Century Learner.

Web design, Journalism, Yearbook, Leadership, CAD, Drama, Ceramics. Electives in many schools, allow students to tap into the right brain. The under appreciated side. It's the side with the brilliant ideas.

In the upcoming weeks we are going to cover The Whole New Mind. I've skimmed it a bit and am excited to learn 'why right brainers will rule the future'. I'm a right brainer...And I want to rule the world!

Bloggin Bout Blogs (Say it 3 times Fast)

I have to admit that I am very new to this blog thing. So when we were asked to create a learning journal online, I was a bit hesitant. After all this reflection is personal isn't it? Why would I want to have my classmates read my thoughts and then comment on them? I didn't get it.

Fast forward to 5 weeks into the semester and I've got this blog, and more importantly, I've created a personal blog. The blogging experience is addicting (much like the rest of the Web 2.0 technology). Throughout the week, I look for topics, videos, and the like to post on my blog. I've directed my friends to it over the past weeks. Unfortunately, instead of posting a comment, they send me email (I guess I can be thankful that they don't call me!).

During our discussion this week, we brainstormed on what kind of blogs are out there and their characteristics. Personal blogs. Political blogs. Commercial blogs. Scholastic blogs. Food blogs. How-to blogs. The list goes on! Everyone has voice. Blogs let it be 'heard'.

When I left corporate America last year, I told my colleagues to be on the lookout for a blog chronicling my adventures in graduate school. This is my 2nd semester. Better late than never.

Mosaic News

Today I had a chance to review Nick Floro's What does Web 2.0 Mean to Education? Lots of innovative technology covered in a mere 65 minutes. Of particular note was the Marmushi Newsmap site.



If you didn't get a chance to explore this site from Marumushi, check it out. News stories appear in a mosaic on the screen. The news feed is from Google news. The stories are color coded by topic; older stories appear in darker shades so you can easily determine the age of the story. Each tile in the mosaic is a hyper link to a story on a news site. It is really quite nifty.

Of similar note was the term "mash-up". For me, a "mash-up" represents the new term for music mixes. Djs are taking elements from 2 or more songs and melding them together to create some really awesome music. Floro describes a 'mash-up' as "bits of information from several sites to create a new application." Very cool!

Graham Glass' EDU 2.0

I have to say all this Web 2.0 technology is becoming a blur! Do I write it in my blog? My wiki? Or my twitter? Maybe I should take pictures of everything I do during the week related to class and post it to my Flickr account. Oh wait I need to sign up for one (check out my wiki for more on Flickr and its features). Or maybe I will use GarageBand to create a reflection Podcast and post it on my blog for people to download?

Graham Glass visited our class this week and spoke about "An Ideal Education System" and what he has termed EDU 2.0. The overall concepts surrounding this system included:

• Self paced and adaptive learning environment
• Curriculum covers a wide variety of topics
• Students can delve deeply as necessary
• System is available to everyone, rich or poor

While the concept is novel, there is nothing genuinely new. Kim noted that Graham has a strong foundation in all the technology to drive the concept, however, still needs ground his solution in learning theory.

As I think about my 3rd grade curriculum, it possessed all of the characteristics Graham outlined. It was a class of about 24 students comprised of 2nd and 3rd graders in a public school (system available to everyone). We were broken up into different learning pods each with a specific theme- math, english, current events, art and games, etc. (curriculum covers a wide variety of topics). Each day we had rotations and went to different pods to learn the subject matter on our own and turn in assignments each night for review (self-paced/deep diving).

Definitely a unique classroom environment and curriculum for its time. While there was no such thing as a computer...we did have our share of film strips, cassette players, and phonographs!

830 Reviews 2.0 Tech in 170 on 2/12

Yesterday we reviewed our wikis in class. We also learned that there my be a technical glitch with the NetVibes site preventing us from publishing a link to the class site. In the interim, we need to link our wikis to our blogs.

Yu-Fen wondered how to add a comment to a wiki. I have learned that a discussion thread can be used on the wiki for this. To learn more about the discussion thread functionality on Wetpaint, click here.

We had a brief introduction and demo of Elluminate- a web meeting/collaboration tool. Kim indicated that we will try this technology out during the semester. Having used similar tools at work, these tools can be very effective for teaching and collaborating in a virtual space.

A few suggestions for the moderator to make the experience positive for all:

• Sign up for a meeting window that is 15 minutes prior to the start time- so participants have a chance to log in ahead of time
• Enable collaboration tools as appropriate during the session
• Be conscious of the chat windows as questions or comments regularly appear while in session
  
• Ask for feedback (questions/comments) often- it can be challenging to present when you cannot see your participants' faces
• Use a conference call (if possible) for the voice component- some participants may not have a mic
  

For our last hour, we had 2 former students (Yolanda and ?) present their final projects from last semester. Yolanda presented her Podcast program for her 5th grade students. The other presenter was a discussion surrounding a mindmap for Web2.o and how she uses Google and gmail to communicate with her students.

Learning in the Digital Age

In the article, Learning in the Digital Age, John Seely writes, “Learning is a remarkably social process.” I would agree that all of us have had some learning experience outside of the traditional classroom environment. Be it learning to make a traditional Chinese New Year dish that our grandmothers made or just reviewing material covered in class with a classmate. These learning instances are very social in nature. They tap into the knowledge of the individual teaching us not just information being shared. Meaning, their experiences add context to the information creating their knowledge they share with us.

The article outlines several learning solutions utilizing technology as an enabler for new learning strategies. In many of these models, the technology does not replace the need for personal human interaction; rather it supplements or replaces some of the in-class time.

The digital age has also brought about a new phenomenon, “edutainment” (the article calls this “infotainment”. Surfing the web is not just leisure activity, but also an educational activity. When we surf the web, we seek information and in the process learn as well.

For the digital native, technology “is not a tool as much as way of life.” Thus, their expectations for their learning environment will also need to incorporate technology. Today, we have only started to embrace technology in the classroom. We still have a long way to go to meet the needs and expectations of the new students in the digital age.

Wiki...Who Knew?

This week continued our discussion of Web 2.0 and Connectivism. 2 former 830 students presented the wikis they designed last semester. While I have had exposure to Wikipedia and various E-books, it wasn't until we viewed these examples that I gained a better understanding of the power of the wiki. Collaboration on a wiki was a no brainer. What was most interesting to me was the ability to use it for an LMS.

Today, I created my wiki site for this course using Wetpaint. The functionality on this tool is very user friendly. I originally had my mind set on using a blog to capture my thoughts for the course. However, after setting up a template in Wetpaint and discovering it's functionality, I just may be switching over.

This initial wiki authoring experience has enabled me to start thinking about a wiki enabled solution for the Lowell High School Forensic Society. My initial discussion with the coach has sparked a lot of interest and enthusiasm. I believe I may have found my topic for my 830 final project. Woo! Hoo!

Connecting the Dots- Connectivism (Week 2)

Today, information is readily available at our fingertips. It’s not unusual for us to ‘google’ something only to find us heading to Wikipedia first. When did we all agree that the web was going to be the subject matter expert for everything we didn’t know? And for that matter, when did we start trusting strangers on the web to help us with a problem? How do we know they aren’t misleading us?

We all have opinions and experiences that we share with one another. In the past, we would share our thoughts with our family, friends and acquaintances. Today, more and more individuals are sharing their thoughts via blogs, wikis and forums on the web. Their knowledge is now being shared with unknown faces from all over; Creating a unique and personal learning experience for everyone.

As an information seeker (a.k.a. ‘learner’) I find solace when I can find a forum addressing an issue I’m experiencing and am just too lazy to look for the answers in the online manual or manufacturer’s web site. It seems they always have the solutions when I need it (‘now’) and where I need it (at my fingertips)

I believe that with technology being so accessible in our homes and offices (even our pockets), we become very impatient with people when we talk to them. When was the last time you called customer support for an issue? Like the rest of us, you probably exhausted yourself on the web before looking up the phone number- on the web- and called.

Today’s learner, no matter what generation, who is comfortable with a computer and the web, will look for information using new technology when they can. Today’s learner is active and eager. They want their answers when they want it and how they want it. Think ordering at Burger King, “Have it your way.”

The Web 2.0 technologies are enabling the new Learner to tap into others, many times strangers we will never meet but for the web. It is this ability to connect with one another in various channels that makes the next wave of learning exciting and challenging for the Instructional Designer. We will face new challenges to create and deliver materials in ways that will take advantage of the technology and benefit the new learner.