Category: Learning Community

Collaboration, Higher Education, Learning Community, Learning Technologies, Professional Development

Course Exploration Continues… (Day 2)

Laura Pasquini

Today was the second half of Exploring the Future of Courses: From Courses to Dis/Course web conference.  There great things to hear & learn about from the 3 sessions:

It is great to engage with others who share the same passion and interest in the EdTech community. Although there was some great exchange today, I did leave the online conference with many questions and thoughts to ponder. After digesting the wealth of information & presentations I will be sure to share more thoughts.

Many thanks to:

  • Martin Weller, George Siemens, and Grainne Conole for initiating the web conference
  • All the presenters who shared their experiences & knowledge
  • And of course, the many participants who contributed to a myriad of discussions & posts

For more follow up discussions check out the Disc09 Moodle.

Learning Community, Learning Technologies, Professional Development

Exploring the Future of Courses

Laura Pasquini

Exploring the Future of Courses: From Course to Dis/Course is a short, online (FREE) conference May 14 & 15, 2009. Anyone is able to join in the session presentations & discussions that delve into the topic of online learning and course content that is shared in Elluminate & in Moodle.

Current course models of development, creation and sharing is in question for our learners. Many challenges and changes to digital technologies will impact how to best design course content.

Today’s presentations included:

Most of the sessions discussed how educators are managing the challenges new technology presents and its effect on current course models, data-driven material and learner needs in a digital.

For those of you who could not attend today, be sure to join in online tomorrow OR catch up with the conversation online. If are not able to tune in live, be sure to follow along in Twitter, Delicious or blogs with the hash tag – #disc09

[The sessions in Elluminate will be recorded and archived shortly.]

Great question posed by George Siemens, towards the end of his presentation, to further ponder:

“What is the vital currency of education in a world where the information cycle is no longer controllable?”


Higher Education, Learning Community

A Vision of Students Today.

Laura Pasquini

Here is an archived clip I was reminded of today about the current state of our learners.  Although this video past posted back in 2007, I think that the “vision” or purpose of the message still holds true as we support technology & learning.

This video is brought to you by Kansas State University, who has a working group led by Dr. Michael Wesch.  This group is dedicated to exploring and extending the possibilities of digital ethnography.  You can follow along at Media Cultures or @mwesch.

Learning Community, Micro-Blogs

Teaching with Twitter

Laura Pasquini

Some college students may be introduced to instructors & courses that ENCOURAGE micro blogging with Twitter.

Twitter is becoming a fast buzz in both media and celebrity circles, however, I think that more teachers are beginning to realize the power this social media tool for learning.

Here are a few benefits for professors who experiment with Twitter as a teaching tool:

  • source of news
  • opinions of peers
  • gain knowledge from experts
  • live & archived tweeting in class
  • capture lecture content
  • add depth to lecture material
  • build a learning community inside & beyond the classroom

For those faculty/instructors who might consider tweeting in class, I might recommend that you start up your own Twitter account and play with it. Also, be sure to read up about strategies &tools that to optimize learning with Twitter.

I personally like TweetDeck (an Adobe Air-based app) to organize & categorize my tweets. I can clearly see my messages, replies and content areas I am interested in at a quick glance.  Some categories I use for tweets include Higher Ed, Web Tools, Career Research, T.O., Students, etc.

Are YOU tweeting with your students? If so, please share!

K-12, Learning Community, Learning Technologies

Social Networks Are for the Kids.

Laura Pasquini

Silly adults. Social networks are for kids (too)!

Although my interests lie in technology use in higher education, I stumbled upon an interesting article, Child-friendly social networking tools, in the eSchool News.

Many child-friendly applications have been created for students in the K-12 realm, which include various security and privacy features to keep educators at ease.  These arenas allow schools to develop online learning communities within their classroom, schools and/or school districts.

compkid

The article describes more specifics about the following tools:

I think an introduction to these types of technologies in school at an early age is excellent. This provides  a great classroom model and hands-on experience for the instruction with various tools, i.e. wikis, blogs, and more! Students learn to design, create, share and interact with their peers online for learning.

Most students in higher education are VERY aware of social networking tools.  The only issue is that many college students would not think to utilize these online technologies to support learning and academic success (unless their current faculty is ‘hip’ to the technology jive).   To best support academic learning in the later years, instructors need to use these online resources during formative, educational years.