If you’re a frequent participant in online professional networking communities these points should hopefully be obvious. But online communities start to become more widely used in workplace settings, and more newbies come into the mix, reminders to play nice are never out of place.
In Using Learning Environments as a Metaphor for Educational Change Martin Weller presents an interesting case. Current learning/course management systems are a transitional step, but need to start moving aside in favor of tools much more open, decentralized and student-driven. There in no need to perpetuate the metaphor of the classroom in the move on-line, and in fact doing so can have the effect of stifling innovation (software sedimentation) in the creation of new learning tools.
Summer is passing too fast, and my reading list is growing too quickly. Two recent additions to the list, Doug Rushkoff’s Open Source Economy, and right at the top of the list, Curtis Bonk’s The World is Open: How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education. I looked over Bonk’s introduction and I think this is going to be a must-read for anyone interested in where our education system is heading. In fact I’m thinking of organizing a virtual discussion group/book reading group around it — anyone interested? With the start of the school year upon us now is probably not the time to start something like this, so I’m targeting late September/early October.
I posed a question to my LinkedIn group last week:
I am an researching a project and wondered if anyone is using an e-book reader in a teaching or learning application?
A Brigham Young online course about online teaching is to be taught through a role-playing game this coming spring. And the class is open to guests as well. It is a really interesting idea, and a very interactive way to bring the educational experience to a wider audience.
Randall Rode's online home for thoughts, notes, and experiments with a wide range of technology topics. Visit the about page for info on my recent projects and professional background. I welcome your comments!
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