21st Century Learning: 9 Principles for Implementation: The Big Shift
9 principles for implementing transformational change in education, changing the culture to support 21st century learning. Principles include "People before Things (or test scores)" and "As the Individual Grows so Will the Collective Wisdom of the Community"
The Connected Classroom: DIG-ging diigo...
Long, detailed post about getting started with Diigo with all the things the author likes about Diigo over delicious. She says the networking is the biggest benefit; you know who is part of your network and can easily contact them and share. She also likes the ability to share with groups and Twitter.
Wikinomics » Blog Archive » Wiki collaboration leads to happiness
Great visual showing how much simpler collaborating on documents with a wiki is than emailing attachments back and forth. Based on a report of collaboration within the US intelligence community (hence the logo for the wiki side of the table).
Cool Cat Teacher Blog: The Five Phases of Flattening a Classroom
Vicki Davis explains that classrooms can't jump immediately to being fully connected--you have to take steps to build the community and teach the safe behaviors. In 5 phases, Vicki goes from the "intra-connected classroom" to a classroom with many-to-many connections and student management.
Top News - Analysis: How multimedia can improve learning
Research on how effective use of multimedia can improve learning outcomes. Based on research by Mayer, Moreno, Clark, & others. Much of this is in e-Learning and the Science of Instruction, but some of these principles, especially on interactivity, aren't included in that book. (Quotes from page 4)
Direct Manipulation Principle: As the complexity of the materials increases, the impact of direct manipulation (animation, pacing) of the learning materials on the transfer of knowledge also increases.
However, when the average student is engaged in higher-order thinking using multimedia in interactive situations, on average, that student's percentage ranking on higher-order or transfer skills increases by 32 percentile points over what the student would have accomplished with traditional learning.
eLearn: Ten Web 2.0 Things You Can Do in Ten Minutes to Be a More Successful E-learning Professional
List from Stephen Downes of quick activities. Although the title says "e-learning professionals" many of these would be applicable to anyone interested in some quick ongoing professional development
The Bamboo Project Blog: Dump Your Resume--Build a Reputation Instead
Even perfect resumes won't always get interviews, according to a recent small-scale experiment. So what do you do instead? Build your reputation online, create an identity for yourself, and develop your online portfolio.
21st Century Learning: We Got Your Back
Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach starts with how Skype is a disruptive technology, explaining conversations with Al Upton (miniLegends' teacher). She transitions into what it means to be a teacher leader in the 21st century and mentions research on the long-term learning benefits of innovative teaching.
These are the roles of a 21st Century educator: Teacher as leader, Teacher as writer, Teachers as 21st Century literacy activist.
Analysis of Problem-Solving-Based Online Asynchronous Discussion Pattern (PDF)
Research on using online discussions for student problem solving. The study found that problem solving discussions were more helpful for students than typical single topic discussions, but instructors can use strategies to guide discussion and encourage more depth.
The Internet? Bah! | Newsweek.com
<p>Visionaries see a future of telecommuting workers, interactive libraries and multimedia classrooms. They speak of electronic town meetings and virtual communities. Commerce and business will shift from offices and malls to networks and modems. And the freedom of digital networks will make government more democratic.</p><!--AD BEGIN--><div class="ad">
<div class="mediumRectangle"></div></div><!--AD END--><p>Baloney. Do our computer pundits lack all common sense? The truth in no online database will replace your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM can take the place of a competent teacher and no computer network will change the way government works.</p>
Weblogg-ed » URGENT: 21st Century Skills for Educators (and Others) First
Which leads to the second question which is how in god’s name can we talk seriously about 21st Century skills for kids if we’re not talking 21st Century skills for educators first? The more I listened, the less I heard in terms of how we make the teaching profession as a whole even capable of teaching these “skills” to kids.
Connectivism Blog Pedagogy First? Whatever.
George Siemens argues that rather than starting with pedagogy for making instructional decisions, we should start with context. He recommends choosing the technology first, then the pedagogy to match, partly because "sound pedagogy" is an ambiguous target.
Pedagogy should not even be a consideration during the planning stages of technology use. Harsh statement? Perhaps, but it's a reality. Few Utopian situations exist where our decisions on how to teach can be based exclusively on pedagogy. Resources, expertise, technology, needs (of learners, educators, society), and funds impact what we choose to do. In a world: context. The mix of multiple, mutually influencing factors determine what we types of technology we select.
I mean, really, where did we think all of this was going to go?
George Siemens further explores the idea of a world without courses in 3 areas: 1. Content
- Conversations and Connections
- Reputation and Accreditations This would be a real revolution in learning and education, and it's intriguing to imagine the possibilities even if it is (as Siemens admits) very speculative.