Social Networking In Plain English

Here is another great video from Common Craft - "Social Networking in Plain English" - if you have ever thought about getting involved with social networking or one of the social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn),but aren't sure what it is all about, then this video is for you:

Life After Death By PowerPoint

There has been a lot written in the blogosphere and elsewhere about PowerPoint - useful tool, horrible crutch, destroyer of education as we know it - you choose.

We have all sat through those presentations that we "affectionately" call "Death By PowerPoint" - slide 22, slide 23..., slide 45, slide 46 - make it STOP!!

This is a hilarious video from Don McMillan - it is a look at what NOT to do with PowerPoint. Follow his lead and you should be able to get your point across in your presentation without any serious casualties or fatalities...

Life After Death by PowerPoint

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So You Want To Know About Blogging...

Got this from Randommind - it's from the Fischbowl, an amazing educational blog created by Karl Fisch and the staff at Arapahoe High School in Littleton, Colorado. You may also know him as the creator of "Did You Know" ( a "refreshed" version of Did You Know - "Did you Know 2.0" is now available, from the Fischbowl blog, YouTube, and Google Video).

This video is students and teachers talking about blogging and what they do with it, how they learn by blogging, and what they get out of blogging. It's essential viewing for anyone who wants to blog or is thinking about using blogs as an educational tool or is thinking of adding them to their learning environments. It is crammed with ideas and innovations on how to use blogs as learning tools.



Thanks again to randommind for sharing this with me, and to the Fischbowl for the creation of this amazing video. It's what blogging can be as an educational tool...

Trends and Impacts of E-Learning 2.0

This is a video of Stephen Downes giving a presentation to the International Conference on Open Courseware and eLearning in Taipei, Taiwan, June 13, 2007. He has perhaps the best and simplest explanations of Web 2.0 and social networking that I have heard in a long time.



He also relates Web 2.0 and learning and the development of e-learning applications. His idea of learning "where you need it" is very appealing to me - it is learner-centred, and owned by the learner - it's all about engaged learners. Telephones as learning tools and mobile learning - cool..

I highly recommend this video as must see for anyone interested in learning, e-learning, and Web 2.0...

STLHE 2007 - Presentations and Handouts

If you are interested in looking at any of the STLHE 2007 conference proceedings, many of them are available at the STLHE Conference 2007 - Conference Handouts Web page. This page is being added to regularly. It's a great resource for adult educators and a one-stop site for seeing the presentations and workshops from STLHE 2007.

Take a look!!

Goodbye Textbooks - Hello Open Source Learning

This video is of Richard Baraniuk, an engineering professor and founder of Connexions, an Open Source environment for collaboratively developing, freely sharing, and rapidly publishing scholarly content on the Web (from the Connexions Web site). It is a very cool approach to creating and sharing learning resources and environments. The video is one of the many amazing videos from Ted.com, another incredible site. Check it out.



I am in the process of looking at "liberating" my courses from textbooks, and replacing them with the more immediate resources of the Web, Web 2.0 and tools like connexions.

Take a look at the video, and let me know what you think. Am I on the right track? Are textbooks an obsolete form of information sharing, particularly with today's "Millennials". Who should be creating and delivering content - learners or me? How should that content be delivered? As you can see - more questions than answers...

STLHE 2007 - A Few Days On...

It's been a few days since the end of STLHE 2007, and I'm back in Nova Scotia (not quite home yet though - I'm in Truro co-facilitating a CCEDP course). Other than a 45 minute delay because of a severe thunderstorm in Edmonton (you can see the clouds behind the airplane), it was an uneventful, but long trip back to the East Coast. Lots of time to start the contemplation and reflection on the mass of information received at STLHE 2007.

First, the most amazing part of STLHE 2007 was the people - an incredible, talented group (over 500 all told) of scholars, teachers, mentors, and facilitators all passionate about teaching and learning. the networking opportunities, the lunch time round tables and the hallway discussions betweens sessions and over coffee were a great way to hear what people had to say. I'm still digesting what I heard and learned, and determining what I can apply to my own practice.

I heard several common threads at STLHE 2007:

• A need to move from "teaching/lecturing" to facilitation
• A need to engage and connect with the Millennial generation (through the use of innovation, Web 2.0, and social software, among others)
• The use of portfolio learning, PBL, and service learning to improve the learning environments and experiences of today's post-secondary learner
• A lot of talk about learner-centred education

I look at these discussion threads (and there were many more), and one thing immediately comes to mind - we are doing good (maybe great) things at NSCC - many of us are already there on the threads above, certainly with our use of portfolio learning, PBL, learning (as opposed to learner)-centred education, and facilitation. many of us are also looking at implementing Web 2.0 tools and social software as a way to engage our learners, but there is a lot more that we can do.

All in all STLHE 2007 was an amazing experience - I can think of nothing better than going again next year to see where we are...

STLHE 2007 - A Few Quick Parting Thoughts

The formal conference is now over, but now begins the digestion and reflection of the last few days. It has been a jammed packed, intensive, transformational experience and I am so glad to have been a part of it. I'm sure I will will realize just how much I have learned in a few days or week, but for now I just wanted to get down a few points:

• We are doing good things at NSCC - we stack up well against all of the universities and colleges that were here and in fact are ahead of many in areas like learning-centredness, facilitation, and portfolio learning
• The teaching and learning community in Canada is very open, collaborative, sharing, and down to Earth. I have never seen so many academics relaxed and enjoying themselves
• The level of scholarship in Canada is high, and NSCC is right up there
• I am doing far more right things in my classrooms than wrong things
• Web 2.0 and social networking are having a profound effect on post-secondary teaching and learning and will cause a fundamental paradigm shift as institutions adapt to serving the Millennials
• I cannot recommend coming to STLHE highly enough - if you are an adult educator, you must attend
• I would love to come back to a future STLHE, as a presenter showing off some of the things that we are doing at NSCC (that's my shameless plug for a return trip to STLHE)

All week here at the University of Alberta we have been serenaded by raucous flocks of jays, so I thought it appropriate to give the jays the last word...

STLHE 2007 - Conference Day Three - An Introduction To The Concept And Practice Of Community Service Learning

This presentation was given by Cheryl Rose for the University of Guelph and the Canadian Association For Community Service Learning. a small audience of only 5 people, so this presentation was more of a chat than a formal presentation.

There is a long history of service learning in Canada, the USA, UK, South Africa, and China (among others).

Eyler and Giles in their book "Where is the Learning in Service Learning", define service learning as:

"Form of experiential education where learning occurs through a cycle of action and reflection as students work with others through a process of applying what they are learning to community problems and at the same time reflecting upon their experience as they seek to achieve real objectives for the community and deeper understanding and skills for themselves"

Key elements from the definition:

• Experiential education - cycles of action and reflection
• Working with others - partnerships and collaborations
• Community problems - assets, issues, questions

Objectives for the community/benefits to learners - intentionally reciprocal in nature

The association Web site has lots of great material. This was a good presentation in that it exposed me to the scale of service learning in Canada. Service learning is not a new concept, it has been around a long time and there is a large body of knowledge around it. This will hold me and others at NSCC in good stead as we incorporate service learning into our programmes. Some essential resources for faculty, staff, and learners.

STLHE 2007 - Getaway Day

It's the last day of STLHE 2007 (last morning actually) and I'm heading to the airport around noon for the trek back to Halifax. It's been an amazing experience being here, and hard to believe that it's only been three days. I've met some amazing people, heard some fantastic presentations (including my first Nobel laureate), had some suspicions confirmed, and had a bunch of new ones raised.

I cannot recommend STLHE highly enough - if you are involved in post-secondary education, you MUST attend this conference. The open, friendly atmosphere and the intense focus on teaching and learning and how to make them better is palpable, and invigorating - I am all charged up and full of ideas - a truly transformational experience.

I'll be blogging some final thoughts on STLHE 2007 in a few days once I've had an opportunity to do my own reflecting, but for now let me start the day with another great Edmonton sunrise:

STLHE 2007 - Conference Day Two - Enhancing Student Learning Through Project Portfolios

This presentation was given by Andre Oberle from the University of Scranton. he is a professor of German and has been using project portfolios for some time. This was the last presentation of the day on a Friday and the room was full to overflowing, indicating to me a high level of interest in the use of portfolios.

He gave a great presentation explaining portfolios, their creation, use, pros and cons, and gave several exampled or rubrics and tools that can be used to create and manage portfolios.

Andre recommended to the audience that they start slowly, using project portfolios for individual projects/assignments, then moving on to course/programme portfolios. I actually like his idea of small portfolios for individual pieces of work - they could quite easily become building blocks for larger programme-based portfolios.

When creating project portfolios, he gets learners to include all of their reserach, drafts, feedback, comments, and any other artifacts they have collected in their portfolios. I really like this idea - really helps with academic integrity issues if all sources, drafts etc. are included in the portfolio.

Portfolios are a great way to measure the achievement of learning outcomes and they also reinforce the need for critical self-reflection - answering the "why" question.

A great way to end the day on a high note. I am going to think about how I might implement project portfolios in my courses as smaller, more manageable portfolio "chunks" for my learners as a way of helping them build their larger, all encompassing programme portfolios. Hmmm...

STLHE 2007 - Conference Day Two - The Changing UK Education Environment And Its Impact Upon Student Learning Behaviours

This presentation was given by Robert J. Williams from the University of Plymouth. I attended this presentation as I wanted to get some idea of the issues facing post-secondary institutions in the UK.

Ther have been some major changes to the UK post-secondary scene in the past few years due to government initiatives:

• Funding is now based on numbers
• There is an increased intake into higher education
• Student fees and loans (tuition fees are new to UK university and colleges in the past year or so)
• Quality audits/student perception surveys
• Personal development
• widening participation (government aim for 50% of eligible learners to attend higher education. Rate in Canada is approximately 24%)
• Credits accumulation/transfer
• Foundation degrees from feeder institutions

Now seeing more diverse learners with larger classes. More learners with disabilities.

mandated creation of MLEs, managed learning environments - uploading of lectures, notes, assignments etc.

Observations:

1. There is now a greater diversity of ability/interest/motivation amongst learners
2. Reduced ability to concentrate
3. Reduced self-confidence
4. reduced inclination to participate in class
5. Poorer lecture attendance, particularly in morning lectures
6. Reduced ability to organize teams for team projects

Learners are becoming more strategic in their approach to learning (this ties back to Selinda berg's presentation - education as a product). they are better organized, deciding on whether to attend or use the online MLE resources. there is a distinct attitude of "mark harvesting" vs. "thirst for knowledge"

The question posed was should this strategic approach to learning be encouraged? many learners are using MLEs as distance learning courses, which is not what they were intended for, resulting in higher levels of absenteeism, but this is what learners want - the ability to be strategic about their learning - when, where, and how they will learn.

Much of this change has come about due to work committments in order to fund what was once a free education (fees are now about 6000 pounds/year).

A good glimpse into the state of higher education in the UK - they are having many of the same problems we are. The big question is though - do we accept learner's strategic, product-based approach to learning and accommodate it,or do we continue to put up barriers to learning? If we really believe in Education Without Boundaries the answer to that question should be simple...

STLHE 2007 - Conference Day Two - Conflicting Cultures: Promoting Academic Integrity To The Millennial Generation

This presentation was given by Selinda A. Berg, a librarian from the University of Western Ontario.

There is a need to understand the culture that Millennials live in and it is different from the academic culture. Selinda handed out a sheet listing 15 different Web 2.0 and other online tools and technologies. Two questions were asked - how many of them have you heard of and how many do you use. I had heard of all of them and I use 10 of them (YES - I am an uber-geek - and proud of it!). many in the room had not heard of most of the names on the list.

So what does that mean? Some of these tools have given Millennials a false sense of consequence. For example:

• YouTube - severe copyright issues - but the message being sent is that there is a small consequence/repercussions for violators uploading videos and other copyrighted material
• FanFiction - ideas are free, there is no consequence or repercussion (except to the original authors who are warned by their legal counsel to stay away from the site so as not to inadvertently steal fans' ideas).
  
• MusicMashup - rip, mix, burn - again little consequence or repercussion. Even professional musicians are doing it.
  

Basically the attitude is if it can be digitized, it can be distributed as Millennials are pushing information out onto the Web, they are not just consuming it (a la Web 1.0).

Traits of Millennials:

1. Sense of privilege
2. Atmosphere of consumerism
3. Desire for customization, personalization, and choice
4. Very social with a committment to the power of collaboration
5. Goal oriented
6. Complete immersion in technology

Millennials are product oriented consumers, this includes their attitude towards education, just another product.

Strategies:

1. Clearly define standards of scholarship
2. Separate the social environment from the scholarship, academia, and professional worlds
3. maintain academic standards when engaging in a social environment with the Millennial generation
4. Consequences:
1. Unlike FanFiction - ideas are owned by authors
2. Unlike YouTube - you are not allowed to republish and redistribute
3. Unlike Music Mashup - you cannot mix and match
4. Unlike the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bob Dylan - you cannot cut and paste
5. Use authentic assessments

I had hoped to hear at this presentation (other than the confirmation that yes, I am a geek) some changes in attitude towards the way information is moved and shared in the Web 2.0, social networking online world we live in today. This didn't happen. There were some good strategies mentioned, but they were to get Millennials to "toe the current line". My own opinion is that the way we look at information ownership and how we handle that ownership and rights to it has to fundamentally change. For example, there was no mention made of Creative Commons licensing, yet several people in the audience were talking about it amongst themselves.

An interesting presentation, but the debate continues...

STLHE 2007 - Conference Day Two - Lunch Round Table Discussion - Coping With College Online Teaching

This lunch time round table discussion was hosted by Claudi Caruana from the University of Maryland/University College. We talked about online learning (OLL) at universities and colleges.

We discussed the various tools available to us for OLL, including LMS systems like Moodle, TLM, WebCT and so on. Most of those around the table with OLL experience seemed to prefer Moodle.

Some of the other issues that were raised were:

• Handling of proctered tests - what processes were used to control them - mailing paper tests, opening and closing Web-based tests and so on
• Facilitator preparation for OLL - at the University of Maryland all online instructors get six weeks of training that has to be refreshed.
• use of web 2.0 tools in OLL- behind or in front of the firewall?
• How each of used LMSs (I'm personally not a big fan of LMSs, but they appear to have their place in OLL, particularly in the areas of testing, grading, and monitoring of learner performance)
• The use of Elluminate and/or Wimba as an OLL tool. The consensus was that Wimba was the better tool for many institutions simply because the per seat cost of Elluminate was too high
  

All in all a stimulating conversation, and one that has me thinking about exatly what the art of the possible is with OLL...

More Clouds - What Can I Say

What can i say - another picture that I just like. The clouds here in Edmonton are amazing. see for yourself:

STLHE 2007 - Conference Day Two - Knowleges Exchange in the SCoPE Online Community

This presentation was given by Elizabeth Wallace from Simon Fraser University, the home of SCoPE, the Simon Fraser Community of Practices in Education. For me this was the best presentation I attended so far in the conference - Elizabeth was enthusiastic and engaging, getting all of us involved in the discussion. She is an amazing facilitator.

her premise (which makes a lot of sense to me) is that there are a lot of knowledges, not one knowledge - think about knowledges in the plural - learners, faculty, everyone brings a knowledge to the table. This is a conceptual framework or paradigm shift (June's use).

Her blog at knowledgesexchange.wordpress.com is a great place to start looking at knowledges:

• Knowledges are pluralistic
• Knowledges exchange is an alternative approach to the industrial age model of teaching and learning
• The process of knowledges exchange is based on mutual respect
• In an education system that embraces knowledges exchange, learners are evaluated on how efficiently they facilitate the exchange with others, not on personal achievement

Scope is a knowledge exchange.

This presentation made a lot of sense to me because it is really what I do - I exchange knowledge with peers. learners, and complete strangers - it is how I work and how I think...

STLHE 2007 - Conference Day Two - How To Connect With Millennials Or Generation Y

This presentation was given by Linda Szekely from the University of Alberta. The thrust of the presentation was how to best connect with Millennials, the generation that currently makes up the majority of post-secondary learners. the current generations are:

1. The seniors (veterans) - born between 1922 and 1943
2. The baby boomers - born between 1944 and 1960
3. Generation X - born between 1960 and 1980
4. Generation Y (Millennials) - born between 1980 and 2000

There are many differences/conflicts between the generations. Millennials are the most child-centric generation and are technologically savvy.

For example here are some stats on Facebook:

• 18th in world Web sites
• Number 1 for photos in USA
• Toronto is the largest Facebook network - 600,000
• second most in thing with undergrads tied with beer and sex
• losing inly to the iPod

Millennials are keen on achievement, pressured to the point of cheating, life comes before work, and they are significant users of technology.

Proven practices with Millennials:

• Feedback
• More time to process and analyze
• Longer orientation to foster sense of safety and belonging
• Reward rather than punish to inspire, not isolate

An interesting questionnaire was handed out - 30 questions, each with three answers. The questionnaire was scored with each question being put into one of three categories:

1. Baby Boomers
2. Generation X
3. Millennials

I scored my questionnaire and the results were:

1. Baby Boomers - 4
   
2. Generation X - 11
   
3. Millennials - 15

This despite being a baby boomer (by birth anyway). these result may explain a lot to some people, but i attribute my attitudes to the fact that I am immersed in new technologies and spend most of my time with Millennials. Something had to rub off eventually...

STLHE 2007 - Conference Day Two - Creating Learner-Centred Curriculum In Higher Education - Faculty Perspectives

This presentation was done by Martha Cleveland-Innes of Athabasca University and Claudia Emes of the University of Calgary. They presented their findings on a study looking at curriculum redesign, moving from "planning For Teaching" to "Designing For Learning", a move towards PBL. It takes the responsibility/work from faculty serving up information to learners finding solutions.

Principles for Curriculum redesign:

1. Explicit and accessible documentation of required outcomes
2. Explicit and continuous reference to documented evidence of students experience
3. Choices regarding pathways to master skills and knowledge (learner driven)
4. Curriculum Delivery will be flexible and offer choices
5. Clarity of role expectations and required behaviours
6. Role adjustment for faculty - content expert and supporter of learner. Create deep, independent, self-managed learners

This is a learner-centred approach - the learners is at the centre of the curriculum development process

Study Findings:

1. Issues in the move to learner-centredness
1. clarifying expectations
2. institutional support
3. setting objectives
4. finding resources
5. moving online
6. realizing outcomes
7. lecture vs. seminar
2. New learner role requirements
1. deep, independent, self-managed learner
2. higher expectations
3. improved initiation
4. periodic check points
   
5. reflective learning
6. new responsibility

This presentation reinforced for me many of the things that we are currently doing at NSCC with regards to curriculum development - I believe that we are definitely on the right path...

STLHE 2007 - Fort Edmonton and the Banquet

The STLHE 2007 banquet was held in the Blatchford Field Air hangar at Fort Edmonton Park. Fort Edmonton Park is a living history park that traces the growth and development of Edmonton through four historical periods represented by: The Fort, 1885 Street, 1905 Street and 1920 Street.



The tour of Fort Edmonton park started with a train ride and then we were dropped off at the banquet site. The banquet itself was quite well done, with a great menu and lots of socializing. the highlight of the night was the presentation of 3M National Teaching Fellows Awards to this year's recipients.
Here is a look at the menu and the 2007 3M National Teaching Fellows










A great evening of socializing, fun, and great food (for more pictures check out my Flickr site).

STLHE 2007 - Conference Day One - Educational Blogging - Applications and Challenges

This session was conducted by Zuochen Zhang from the University of Windsor. His presentation was mostly about the use of blogs by younger learners (K-12), but had some application for post-secondary use.

There was lack of understanding in the audience of what blogs are. Zhang recommended that blogs could be used for assignments to get you out beyond the box of traditional assignments.

He also recommended to not overdo blogs - don't get students to blog if everyone is getting them to blog - coordinate the process.

This short 30 minute presentation confirmed that what I am doing with blogs and what I plan on doing with blogs is on track...