Derek E. Baird :: Barking Robot

1:1 Computing: Theory into Practice

CNET News' Ina Fried traveled to Campinas, Brazil, to explore the Bradesco Foundation school, home to one of Latin America's largest one-to-one computing projects.

Related Resources

• 10 Things to do with a Laptop
• Believe in your Students
• Laptop Learning Community

DOE Study: 71% of Districts to Expand eLearning Programs

The results of a joint survey conducted by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and U.S. Department of Education (DOE) were released earlier this month and provide more insight into the totally wired world of Gen Y students'.

The survey, "Technology-Based Distance Education Courses for Public Elementary and Secondary School Students: 2004-05, provides policymakers, researchers, and educators with data about web-based education courses in public elementary and secondary schools nationwide.

The data for this report was compared to data gathered in the 2002-2003 report and used as a baseline against the 2004-2005 findings. You can read the full report by clicking here.

Among the key findings:

• 37% of public school districts and 10 % of all public schools nationwide had students enrolled in technology-based distance education courses during 2004-2005;

• 26% of school districts that existed in both 2002-2003 and 2004-2005 had students enrolled in technology-based distance education in both school years;

• The number of enrollments in technology-based distance education courses increased from an estimated 317,070 enrollments in 2002-2003 to 506,950 in 2004-2005; 61% of technology-based distance education enrollments at the high school level;

• 71% of districts with students enrolled in technology-based distance education courses in 2004-2005 planned to expand their distance education courses in the future.

The success of any distance learning program is contingent on the ability of the instructors to utilize a blended approach of face-to-face with social technologies in order to foster social support, provide technical support, and design courses which allow students to explore and develop their intrinsic learning goals.

As online learning continues to expand and new instructors deepen their understanding of the online learning environment they will be able to focus on students learning and supporting their needs in this environment.

In the end, successful web-based learning comes when instructors and designers recognize first the importance of cultivating relationships, and then carefully balance the symbiotic relationship between social technologies, community, and constructivist learning as a means to provide avenues of opportunity for students to achieve their full potential.

Related Resources

• Report on Technology, Learning & Gen Y
• Fisher & Baird: Social Media & Online Course Design
• Education, Innovation & The Future of Learning
• MashUp Edu: A New Digital Pedagogy

Across the Universe: Microsoft & WorldWide Telescope

Earlier this week Microsoft Research Labs released "WorldWide Telescope (WWT) -- a technology that combines feeds from satellites and telescopes all over the world and the heavens, and builds a comprehensive view of our universe (via)."

You can get a peek at the WorldWide Telescope in this video demo from TED. You can download WWT here and get busy touring the starry, starry skies above us. This is a great digital astronomy resource for science teachers and students alike and one that will get them engaged in science.

Related Resources

• WorldWide Telescope
• Watch Kids React to WWT
• What is WWT?
• WWT Tour

AoIR 8.0: Let's Play!

AoIR 8.0: "The annual conference of the Association of Internet Researchers is one of the premier opportunities for scholars and researchers of all things Internet, as well as related new media technologies and practices.

It is a forum to meet, present research, network and share ideas in a cooperative, multidisciplinary environment. Let's Play, the 8th annual Internet Research meeting, will be held this October in Vancouver, Canada. ." (via)

Related Links

• AoIR 8.0 > Upcoming
• AoIR 8.0 > Facebook
• Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies
• AoIR Guide on Ethical Online Research
• Flickr > tag> "AoIR"

Social Media + Gen Y Learning

The use of current and emerging social media technology is clearly moving us in the education community closer towards Tim Berners-Lee’s ideal of using the web as "an information space through which people can communicate…by sharing their knowledge in a pool.”

In this world of increased web-based social interaction, meeting the unique needs of Gen Y learning styles is the bottom line.  In the 21 Century classroom, the ‘always on,’ student will control the how, what, and when a task is completed.

Gen Y students expect interactive, engaging content and course material that motivates them to learn through challenging pedagogy, conceptual review, and learning style adaptation. This approach offers Gen Y learners flexible, self-paced, customizable content available on-demand (via RSS feeds or Pipes).

Interactive and engaging content motivates students to learn through the course materials and apply them according to their own intrinsic needs and learning goals.

However, educators should be careful not to use social networking for the sake of using social media, rather they should keep in mind how the use of any type of technology element can support student learning--individually and as a collective group.

Social media engages the user in the content and allows them to be included as an active participant as they construct a learning landscape rooted in social interaction, knowledge exchange, and optimum cognitive development with their peers.

Gen Y + Multiple Intelligences

The following list illustrates how online learning styles (in this case Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences), and social software technologies can work together to support Gen Y learning styles, and foster community in the online and blended classroom.

Over the next couple weeks, I'll be showing what types of social media support each of the different Multiple Intelligences outlined by Howard Gardner. I'll also list specific social media tools that support each MI type.

MI ATTRIBUTE

• Verbal-Linguistic > To do with words, spoken or written. People in this area are generally good at writing, oration, and learning from lectures.

SOCIAL MEDIA + VERBAL-LINGUISTIC

• Wiki
• Podcasting
• Virtual Learning Environments (VLE)
• RSS/ATOM
• eMail

SOCIAL MEDIA + VERBAL-LINGUISTIC

Weblog/Self Publishing Tools

• Blogger
• Vox
• Yahoo! 360

Wiki Tools

• Wikipedia
• Wikimapedia
• PBWiki

Podcasting/Audio Tools

• Odeo
• iPodder
• YackPack
• Evoca

Virtual Learning Environments (VLE)

• Boddington.org
• Moodle
• Tapped-In

RSS/ATOM Tools

• Bloglines
• FeedBurner
• My Yahoo!
• Google Reader
• Yahoo! Pipes

Moodle + YackPack = MoodlePack

Today I received fantastic news from Timothy Takemoto about a new YackPack group he started especially for the Moodle community:

"Thank you very much indeed Derek for bringing our attention to this tool. I have created a Moodlers yackpack so that Moodlers can test YackPack more easily. All you have to do is click on the link... Please click on the link to join: Launch and join Moodlers YackPack."

Come join us and learn all the ways you can use YackPack in Moodle...And thanks to Tim for starting the MoodlePack!

Web Resources

• YackPack
• YackLearning

2006 Online Educa Berlin

Nicolas Chaunu, Chief Project Manager at eMob, reports that the 12th Annual 2006 Online Educa Berlin Conference will focus on the ways social media (edutainment, wikis, blogs, podcasting) can support student learning:

En effet, la prochaine édition de Online Educa Berlin est déjà
annoncée et le programme de cette année semble tout spécialement alléchant :

• Serious Games
• Apprentissage informel
• Wikis, blogs, blikis (tiens, je le connaissais pas celui-là), podcasting dans un contexte d’apprentissage.
• Evaluation de la performance (via)

Online Educa Berlin is one of the largest and most important international e-learning conferences in the world, attracting e-learning and online education professionals from both the public and private sectors.

The 2006 Online Educa Berlin Conference provides participants with an unique opportunity to network with collegues from around the globe, and is another reminder that this is an exciting time to be involved in the rapidly evolving world of e-learning.

Merci Nicolas and eMob!

Links

• Online Educa Berlin
• eMob+Online Educa Berlin

Online Instructional Design

Applying Learning Theories to Online Instructional Design
Peter J. Patsula, Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul, South Korea

The following tutorial consists of five learning modules. Each module describes a learning theory and how that learning theory can be applied to improving online teaching and training materials.

Each module features:

• a description of a well known learning theory;
• a practical example of how the theory and related strategies can be applied to a particular instructional objective or web-design problem; and
• a list of related pedagogical and web-design strategies as researched in the literature.

YackPack: Social by Design

YackPack founder B.J. Fogg recently announced that San Jose's Tech Museum of Innovation will be utilizing YackPack as an educational tool in an upcoming exhibit on communication and innovation.

Here's an excerpt from his blog post:

"Now for the educational part . . . The kids will yack with other people inside their circle: a researcher, an inventor, and an engineer. We want the kids to see a pattern to innovation: Problem --> Invention --> Action.

At some point, the kids will listen to a message from a researcher, talking about finding a problem -- something that needs fixing. The kids will then (in theory), yack back to the researcher. Next, the kids will listen to an inventor talk about dreaming up solutions, and the kids yack back. Finally, the kids listen to an engineer talk about making things real."

At first glance, this seems like a pretty straightforward activity. But a closer look yields an example of how students benefit when learning activity takes place in a situated, authentic, and socially collaborative environment.

Let’s break down the key elements of this activity.

Social by Design: Situated Learning & Cognitive Apprenticeship

The situated learning theory argues that learning and knowledge acquisition takes place only when situated in a social and authentic context.

Ultimately this process –known as legitimate peripheral participation—moves the newcomer deeper into a community of practice leading them closer to acquiring the knowledge and skills required to be an expert.

Cognitive apprenticeship is an instructional design and learning theory wherein the instructor, through socialization, models the skill or task at hand for the student. Students may also receive guidance from their peers.

The role of the teacher is to help novices clear cognitive roadblocks by providing them with the resources needed to develop a better understanding of the topic. This process is called scaffolding.

Some of the most common cognitive roadblocks include: difficulty grasping theoretical concepts, unfamiliar terminology, or information presented in an abstract context.

In an effort to guide students around these roadblocks, an instructor would provide a scaffold consisting of resources, information broken into manageable chunks, or placed in a contextual framework.

The cognitive apprenticeship process requires students to take an active role in their own learning, creates a student-centered learning approach, and allows students to be a co-participant in their learning.

Ultimately the student becomes an expert who no longer needs the scaffolding. In turn, they will have a better understanding of potential roadblocks and are now equipped to guide others through the process.

Putting it All Together

In the YackPack museum activity, students will form a community of practice consisting of their peers, and several experts. Based on their existing knowledge, students will identify an issue and then Yack with the experts (and peers) on ways to solve the problem.

Since the students have been to the Tech Museum of Innovation the topic will be authentic and situated in a contextual framework. Moreover, the experts will be available to create scaffolding and clear cognitive roadblocks related to the topic.

Get Yacking!

Why not use YackPack and try something similar in your own classroom?

After a field trip to a local museum, arboretum, historical monument, or zoo break students into groups and have them reflect on their experience. Have them write down (or blog!) some questions or issues related to their field trip.

Then create a YackPack and invite an “expert” to answer the student’s questions. The “expert” can be someone from the education department at the museum, or a professor from a local university.

Or take a virtual tour of a museum located on the other side of the world! Combine the virtual tour with a group project, foreign language skills, or other skill set, and then invite an expert (see above!) to join your class in a YackPack discussion.

These YackPack-based learning activities provide students with opportunities to collaborate with their peers, learn from experts, use technology in a constructivist manner, and utilize information set in an authentic context.

So, what are you waiting for? Get Yacking!

Web Resources

• YackPack
• YackLearning
• Tech Museum of Innovation: Teacher Resources
• Learning Theory: Situated Learning
• Community of Practice (pdf)
• Online Field Trip Resources
• International Virtual Museum Directory

Designing for Online Learning Communities

Online learning communities: Investigating a design framework
Chris Brook and Ron Oliver, Edith Cowan University 
Australian Journal of Educational Technology (AJET),2003, 19(2), 139-160.

Abstract

"This paper reports the development of a design framework intended to support and guide online instructors in the development of a learning community.

The study was guided by an investigation of contemporary literature focused on the community construct, online learning community development and the collaborative construction of knowledge and the practices of experienced professionals working in the field.

The intended outcome is a design framework that may be useful in guiding instructors in the development of said communities."

Note: This is a very good article about online community design. I'm a big fan of AJET. It always has a very consistent, comprehensive, and progressive breadth of articles on eLearning, online community, social media, and other learning related topics!

Bookmark it! Read it! Enjoy!

Academic Research on Tagging

The Structure of Collaborative Tagging Systems (pdf)
Scott A. Golder, Bernardo A. Huberman

In this paper Golder and Huberman, researchers at the Information Dynamics Lab at HP Labs, analyze tagging patterns, user behaviors, and the public structure of tagging systems.

Scott Golder also has a pdf available of his Tag Tuesday presentation, Personal Meaning and Public Structure in Tagging Systems, which is available by clicking here.

*****

A Cognitive Analysis of Tagging (html)
Rashmi Sinha, Ph.D

In this weblog essay Dr. Sinha, a cognitive psychologist by profession, outlines her hypothesis on the cognitive process that takes place when users tag an item, and how tagging differs from categorization.

Viva Papert! And Kyle too...

I’m fascinated by the different and innovative ways people tweak and tinker with technology to meet their needs. Recently I posted an idea to blend Flickr + BlinkList to create an online tutorial.

Then just last week the My Web 2 blog posted an excellent “real life” example of a student utilizing his blog and online photo software to create an on-demand presentation about social bookmarking for his classmates. Great job Kyle!

Dr. Seymour Papert, co-founder of the Artificial Intelligence Lab at MIT, stresses the importance of bricolage (tinkering) as a pathway to creating concrete knowledge. Bricolage is a French word which (loosely translated) can be taken to mean "trial-and-error," learning by poking around, trying this or that until you eventually figure it out.

According to Dr. Papert this is one of the best ways to approach learning on the computer and very significantly, widens the range of opportunities to engage as a bricoleur. “If you do something wrong," he states, " the sky won't fall, you won't get shot. Just try again...Soon you will come to enjoy this process, becoming a true bricoleur.”

So (and here's the big tie in) when thinking about integrating technology into your curriculum, you must allow yourselves (and your students) space and time to experiment with new technologies, and web tools in an authentic context. It's during this process of 'tinkering' that learners will be able to 'construct' new knowledge.

Moreover, utilizing web-based tools not only provides students with an opportunity to design their own learning experience through self-directed projects, but also allows them to work in a collaborative matter in an authentic context, using the technology as a tool to facilitate and support their own learning!

Tres cool, no?

Digital Culture & Learning in a Digital Age

"Rethinking how today's kids that grow up digital learn, think, work, communicate and socialize. Understanding today's digital kids is of growing importance, not only to educators, but also to human resource departments, strategists, and marketing folks.

Understanding the social practices and constructivist ecologies being created around open source and massively multiplayer games will provide a glimpse into new kinds of innovation ecologies and some of the ways that meaning is created for these kids -- ages 10 to 40.

Perhaps our generation focused on information, but these kids focus on meaning -- how does information take on meaning?" - John Seely Brown

Read more of John Seeley Brown's thoughts on learning in the digital age on his website. You can also view his presentation: The Social Life of Information in the Digital Age and Kids that Grow Up Digital ; view paper or video (Quicktime).

Blog to School

mgsOnline: The website of Musselburgh Grammar School, was the first British school to use public weblogs, where pupils could write posts and expect comments from their friends, teachers or anyone on the planet who wanted to have their say. They were used principally for international exchanges of work and ideas between pupils.

edublogs: Ewan McIntosh shows how blogs and podcasts aren't just a gimmick: they can be used to provide powerful learning in Scottish schools.

Blogbinders: A self-publishing tool that allows students to transform their weblogs into book format on demand.

RAMBLE (Remote Authoring of Mobile Blogs for Learning Environments) has been investigating the use of weblogs as a reflective authoring activity in an educational context.

Yahoo! 360: One of the key benefits of Yahoo! 360, in terms of educational blogging, is that it provides the user with the ability to manage who can view their personal information based, in part, on user-defined criteria. In other words, the user controls who has access to any and all parts of the content on their blog.

Now open for public beta, Yahoo! 360, features integration with several Yahoo! products including: Flickr, My Web 2.0 (via RSS Feeds), and a recently added feature allows users to blog via Yahoo! Messenger.