Lanterns of Learning & Technology

Peek into the future of learning

2008-10-05T15:38:00.003-04:00

I came across an intriguing post today on Brent Schlenker's blog, Corporate elearning Strategies and Development. His post, Tonchidot - Tagging the world - Extreme Mobile Learning, shows a video of a new device being developed that is something like a very sophisticated iPhone. You carry the camera, called a Sekei, around and point it at something in your surroundings that interests you. The device instantly pulls up informational tags on the selected item that you can read to learn more about it. The video gives examples of being in front of a restaurant and pulling up reviews or being in a museum and learning more about an exhibit.

The video is presented by a very enthusiastic and engaging speaker, which speaks to the power of human communication to promote ideas, even in the midst of amazing technology.

The motto for the Sekei Camera, "Look up, Don't Look Down," is great reminder to be open to new experiences and ways of viewing the world.

The implications of this technology for constructivist learning are quite mind boggling. It would enable people to constantly learn as they move through the world. The downside could be that while learners constantly absorb new information, they have ever less time to analyze and reflect on what they are learning. The rising flood of information gives a compelling argument that instructors must teach learners how to learn, not just to master a set body of content.

The video also references Akihabara, the technology district in Japan (the Sekei Camera is being developed by a Japanese camera named Tonchidot). It's a shopping district where you can find all the latest cutting edge technologies. I'd never heard of Akihabara before this video, but it sure looks intriguing. A field trip here would provoke endless ideas about how Web 2.0 technologies could be used in learning.

What is the learning value of blogs?

2008-09-28T15:56:00.005-04:00

Link to photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/piscesdreamer/2370582536/

The eLearning Guild produced a great series of articles in September about the role web 2.0 applications can play in today's training and education programs. I just finished What is e-Learning 2.0? by Brent Schlenker. (An e-learning Guild membership may be necessary to view this article - it's free to join at the Associate Level). I was particularly interested in his discussion about the learning value of blogs. He proposes that blog posts follow these steps:

1) Rip - learners borrow from others. They gather new ideas from articles, blogs, websites... and then reflect on those ideas.

2) Mix - learners take the new ideas they have discovered and add their own interpretations and applications.

3) Feed - learners publish their posts for others to read. A key value of blogs is they allow writers to link back to the original blog, article, or website that inspired their posts. This allows future readers to explore the learning paths they followed.

The cycle begins anew as others read the learners' posts and incorporate their ideas into new blog posts. I would add a fourth element, response, to Brent Schlenker's cycle. When learners read responses from others on their blogs, it provides a powerful feedback tool, helping refine and clarify their ideas. Receiving responses from others can also be a powerful motivation for learners, knowing that their ideas impact others and have enough value to readers that they are inspired to respond.

Brent Schlenker also makes a great point in his article that blogs provide the additional benefit of enabling learners to respond to an idea not only through text, as a discussion forum does, but also to incorporate other multimedia tools (images, sound, video). By incorporating many channels, blogs provide the ability to address multiple learning styles.

The process of blogging closely aligns with the tenets of Constructivist instruction. Learners, guided by their own interests & learning needs, choose which blogs and websites to read and reflect on. The process of writing a blog requires the learner to reflect on their learning and the blog posts give the instructor an observable exhibit to assess.

Perhaps one of the greatest benefits to blogging is that it can act as a counterweight to the tidal wave of information available on the web. Like many others, I frequently fall into the habit of reading many blogs and websites without stopping to reflect on what I'm reading, make connections to what I know, and then consider new implications (all key components of the learning process). In their best form, reading and writing blogs can hopefully help all of us to become better reflective thinkers.

SlideShare - Constructing Knowledge with Presentations

2008-09-24T20:52:00.003-04:00

Link for SlideShare image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/edublogger/2570075252/

Several blogs I have read in recent weeks referenced presentations on SlideShare. After visiting the site, I've been thinking about how it could be used for constructivist learning. One of the learning benefits frequently cited for Web 2.0 Applications is that they enable learners to go through a cycle of absorbing new information, reflecting on it, publishing their reflections, and then receiving feedback from other people viewing their published work.

SlideShare provides an easy forum for learners to create a presentation on a given topic and then publish their presentation for others to view. For example, students could create presentations about a Shakespeare play they are reading and share their presentations with other class members. A constructivist instructor would only need to give minimal guidance to get students creating their presentations.

In a corporate setting, SlideShare has lots of potential for training classes on communication and presentation skills. An instructor using a constructivist format could encourage participants to search SlideShare for good/poor examples of a particular aspect of communication. The learners could use the examples they find to discuss the qualities of effective communication.

Google Earth: Opening a World of Possiblities

2008-09-19T20:22:00.004-04:00

Photo from: http://veimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/2429/globe_east_540.jpg

I discovered Google Earth this week and have been thinking the past couple of days about all the ways you could use this technology with learners. The main focus of the application is to allow people to enter a location from any part of the earth and to pull up photographs of that location. Not surprisingly, some areas have many more detailed photographs than others.

Constructivist uses immediately come to mind for the social sciences. Learners studying a particular country or location could use Google Earth to pull up photographs. Students could also use Google Earth to help them learn the 50 states and capitals, something we used to do solely through rote memorization. An instructor could also encourage students to learn navigational skills, map reading, and directions with Google Earth. One activity might be to have students create search activities for other to find a location on Google Earth. (As a avid lover of maps and geography, I'm sad that at some point students may no longer learn map reading as GPS systems become more widespread). Students learning about weather could use Google Earth to examine areas affected by natural disasters such as hurricanes or monsoons. Students learning history and especially military history could find key historical locations on Google Earth and reflect on how the geography affected the course of events.

How Google Earth could be used with adult learners is perhaps at first less obvious, but some imaginative thinking produces a few possibilities. Google Earth could provide variety to a standard ice breaker activity. People could share pictures of where they grew up or a favorite place they've visited. An instructor helping participants learn about a target client group or competitor could encourage participants to explore the client/competitor's surroundings through Google Earth. For example, individuals in a retail business learning about opening new store locations might use Google Earth to examine targeted locations.

In addition to the mapping and photography functionality, Google Earth hosts threaded discussions on a wide variety of topics. Students exploring particular topics could search for relevant blogs to read or start their own.

Google Earth also provides a resource page for educators to get started, providing suggestions and useful links.

Channeling Twitter for Constructivist Learning

2008-09-09T17:40:00.000-04:00

The first Web 2.0 tool I decided to explore for use in Constructivist style instruction is Twitter. There have been several postings on Twitter in the instructional design blogs that I follow, which have helped change my initial perception of Twitter as a tool solely for social interaction. I haven't yet taken the plunge to join Twitter; mostly because I'm already feeling information overload with the RSS feeds I follow.

A couple of ideas I've come across on using Twitter for learning and both seem to be in the Constructivist style. The first one really taps into the thoughts of informal learning, which I've learned a lot about through Jay Cross's blog, Learning Blog (my very abbreviated sense of informal learning is that people learn more through everyday conversations and their social networks than they do through the formal structure of classrooms). The basic idea is that an individual comes across something they don't know how to solve, for example an error message that appears on an software application. They post a message on Twitter asking if anyone has come across that particular error message & knows how to solve it. Someone else then posts a response explaining how to solve that error message. Companies could use Twitter or something similar to help their employees build knowledge as they need it. I'm not sure if I read this idea on Jay Cross's blog or another one so I can't provide a link for it.

A second suggestion was to use Twitter to learn a new language. Learners in a Twitter group could send each other messages with a short phrase in the language they are trying to learn. The other members of the group then work to translate that phrase. This idea could be modified for other subjects beside foreign languages. Students studying history, for example, could post messages with particular events or dates that other individuals would elaborate on.

I came across a great song on Twitter on Jane Hart's blog, Jane's E-learning Pick of the Day. It's called, "You're no one if you're not on Twitter!" composed and sung by Ben Walker. On Ben Walker's site, The 50 Days/90 Songs Challenge you can hear him singing the song and view the lyrics. If like me, you're struggling to adapt to all the new Web 2.0 Technologies, the song will bring a smile to your face.

Constructivism Musings

2008-09-09T17:33:00.000-04:00

As part of my graduate program in instructional design, I'm beginning a class on Constructivism. One of the assignments for this class is to post blog entries that reflect on class topics. I'm thrilled this is one of the assignments as I started this blog last year, but then never got into the habit of posting regularly. I've read that most habits take at least one month of regular practice to form, so I'm hoping the discipline of this class will encourage me to take up the blog addiction.

Like most corporations, my company is exploring how Web 2.0 technologies can enhance our current training programs. In the spirit of these explorations, I thought I'd use the first entries to muse how various Web 2.0 technologies could be used in Constructivist style instruction.

Web Site Usability

2007-12-30T19:22:00.000-05:00

I'm planning to do some reading on web site design, hoping especially to learn about GUI principles. I'm sure many of the principles that go into good web site design also apply to designing successful e-learning programs.
I just finished reading Steve Krug's Don't Make Me Think. He's a consultant for groups looking to improve the usability of their websites.

Ideas that struck me while reading:
1. Web sites should be self-evident - users can figure out their purpose & how to use them without thinking too hard. This leaves more mental energy available to complete the task the web site is designed for.

2. Users should not have a lot of questions about the design/formatting of the website - it should serve as the delivery mechanism, not the focus of attention. (Eliminate unnecessary "mental chatter").

3. People design websites w/ the belief that users will carefully read through all the information on the page before making a decision about what to do next. In reality, users rapidly scan the page & quickly make a decision about what to do next.
- Krug gives great analogy of drivers reading a billboard going 60 mph
- people used to scanning newspapers, magazines for items that interest them
- users don't make the "optimal" selection when navigating a web site, they make a "sufficient" choice that allows them to keep going
- back button is most frequently used button in browsers, no penalty for choosing incorrectly.

4. Once people find something that works on the site, they keep using it, even if it's not the best solution.

5. Designing "billboard style"
a. Create clear visual hierarchy
- more important items are more prominent (size, bold, location)
- everything should not be given equal weight - slows user down, must scan for key words
b. Use conventions - reduces amount of work users must exert to navigate site
c. Break up pages into defined areas
- newspapers use"nesting" in layouts - content fits under headlines to show what goes w/ what

6. Make yourself cut out needless words & then cut even more words out. Designers tend to err towards giving too much content on a page rather than too little.
- important especially when giving instructions on how to use site tools

7. Tabs are a great navigation tool because people intuitively understand how to use them, like tabs on a notebook.

8. Section 508 of 1988 Amendments to Rehabilitation Act - specifies accessibility standards for information technology that vendors wanting to do business w/ US government must meet.
Discussed Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) - something I need to learn more about.

Websites given as resources:
www.useit.com - Jakob Nielsen
www.sensible.com - Steve Krug
http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl
http://www.webword.com/
http://www.usabilityviews.com/

Books Krug recommended that seem useful:
1. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web - Louis Rosenfeld & Peter Morville
2. Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions Gary Klein, MIT
3. Homepage Usability:50 Websites Deconstructed - Jakob Nielsen
4. Web Application Design Handbook - Susan Fowler & Victor Stanwick
5. Practice of Creativity: Manual for Dynamic Group Problem Solving- George Prince
(out of print) - Synectics method?

Lighting the Lamp

2007-12-30T19:16:00.000-05:00

I'm beginning this blog to record and reflect on my study of how technology can be used to support the learning process.