Cluster and Focus -> Surviving week 4 of a MOOC @ Dave’s Educational Blog
Had a quite excellent weekend of meetings with George Siemens, Sandy McAuley and Bonnie Stewart regarding our research on MOOCs. We’ve rewritten a good deal of the stuff from the video I released a few weeks ago about how to be successful in a MOOC based on some of the feedback we’ve gotten, some discussions I’ve had with people in the different elluminate sessions and the results of our narrative enquiry. We have four broad steps for success in a MOOC… but as we’re already a few weeks in, I’m going to focus on steps 3 and step 4. Introduction The distributed nature of a MOOC offers a variety of challenges to the participant. We’ve noticed, MOOC after MOOC that weeks 3 and 4 are the most difficult for students. There are two main questions surface over and over again throughout this course. What am I supposed to do now? Followed closely by the second most common concern How am I suppose to keep track of all the things that are going on in the course?
Moving at the Speed of Creativity » Blog Archive » Podcast142: Rethinking Teaching: How Online Learning Can and Should Completely Alter Your View of Education (Roger C. Schank)
<div class="greet_block wpgb_cornered"><div class="greet_text"><div class="greet_image"><a href=" rel="nofollow"><img src=" alt="WP Greet Box icon"/></a></div>Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to <a href=" rel="nofollow"><strong>subscribe to the RSS feed</strong></a> for updates on this topic.<div style="clear:both"></div></div></div> This podcast features a recording of the keynote address by Roger C. Subscribe to “Moving at the Speed of Creativity” weekly podcasts! Receive an email alert whenever a new Speed of Creativity podcast is published! Technorati Tags: schoolreform, site2007, education Check out Wesley's new ebook, "Mapping Media to the Common Core: Volume I." (2013) It's $15! If you're trying to listen to a podcast episode and it's not working, check this status page. On this day..
What is learning
Design for adult learning Ideally, the design of a course should allow students to customize the experience to meet their goals and complement their personal learning styles. Leonard and DeLacey draw two observations from an Adult Learning Workshop [*] held at Harvard Business School that are useful to keep in mind when designing enhanced, blended or fully-online courses: students who already know the power of a classroom experience will not easily abandon that model for something new; because humans have "certain, predictable preferences and capabilities in learning," some principles of learning span different academic methods. They offer seven simple, yet valuable ideas that should be incorporated into the design of online courses: Learning is a social activity: group activities and communities aid in the effectiveness of the learning experience because of the basic nature of human beings as social creatures. [*] Leonard, D. and DeLacey, B. Factors to consider Teaching styles
Cluster and Focus
Jan05_05
Editor’s Note: When we focus on the mechanics of goal setting, instructional design, production, implementation, and evaluation, we should not overlook an important aspect of human learning and development – creativity. It is important to involve the learner in the process of discovery and make his own interpretation of what is learned. This paper explores ways to stimulate creativity in an online learning environment. Stephanie A. Key Words: creativity, brain-based learning, learning, online, theory, creative ideas/techniques, adult learning Introduction “It is easy to consider the essential role of creativity in bringing joy and meaning to the human condition – without creativity we have no art, no literature, no science, no innovation, no problem solving, no progress.” – Starko, 1995, p. vii. Creative people are in high demand in today’s world (Stevens and Burley, 1999). Are there strategies, techniques or methods that can encourage student creativity in online courses? Novelty Conclusion
Connectivism A learning Theory for the Digial Age
Editor’s Note: This is a milestone article that deserves careful study. Connectivism should not be con fused with constructivism. George Siemens advances a theory of learning that is consistent with the needs of the twenty first century. His theory takes into account trends in learning, the use of technology and networks, and the diminishing half-life of knowledge. It combines relevant elements of many learning theories, social structures, and technology to create a powerful theoretical construct for learning in the digital age. George Siemens Introduction Behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism are the three broad learning theories most often utilized in the creation of instructional environments. Learners as little as forty years ago would complete the required schooling and enter a career that would often last a lifetime. “One of the most persuasive factors is the shrinking half-life of knowledge. Some significant trends in learning: Background An Alternative Theory Connectivism
Situating Constructionism
By Seymour Papert and Idit Harel The following essay is the first chapter in Seymour Papert and Idit Harel's book Constructionism (Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1991). It is easy enough to formulate simple catchy versions of the idea of constructionism; for example, thinking of it as "learning-by-making." One purpose of this introductory chapter is to orient the reader toward using the diversity in the volume to elaborate--to construct--a sense of constructionism much richer and more multifaceted, and very much deeper in its implications, than could be conveyed by any such formula. My little play on the words construct and constructionism already hints at two of these multiple facets--one seemingly "serious" and one seemingly "playful." They are not the only ones who are so predisposed. It does not follow from this that you and I would be precluded from constructing an understanding about constructionism in case you happened not to be in any of the "predisposed groups" I have mentioned.
Pedagogy and Space: Empirical Research on New Learning Environments (EDUCAUSE Quarterly
Key Takeaways In the new technology-enhanced learning spaces at the University of Minnesota, students outperformed final grade expectations relative to their ACT scores. When instructors adapted their pedagogical approach to the new space by intentionally incorporating more active, student-centered teaching techniques, student learning improved. Students and faculty had positive perceptions of the new learning environments but also had to adjust to the unusual classrooms. In a previous EDUCAUSE Quarterly article,1 we reported the results of quasi-experimental research on the University of Minnesota's new, technology-enhanced learning spaces called Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs). Here, we report on the next phase of learning-spaces research at the University of Minnesota (UMN), which had two components. Two specific research questions guided this phase of our research: Methodology and Methods Learning Environments Examined Figure 1. Figure 2. Figure 3. Figure 4. Data Collection Methods
