Self Organized Learning Environment « What Ed Said Summer holidays are over in Hyderabad and yesterday was my first Skype session in some time, with the kids at Madina Creative School SOLE – Self Organised Learning Environment. There were about a dozen 10 year olds, half of whom were familiar from the earlier experimental sessions before the summer and the rest were new faces. I blogged here and here and here about my earlier experiences and what I’d learned from them. This time I went in unprepared and with no expectations. I wasn’t even sure whether there would be kids online since it’s their first week back at school. Fortunately there was power and a connection and sound and video. These are kids with limited English and no exposure to people of other cultures in other countries. Calling each child by name and speaking to each one individually makes a huge difference, for a start. They said they would bring scissors and paper next time so I can show them how to make them too. I know I get as much out of it as the kids do. Like this:
Self-Organized Learning Environments and University Students’ Use of Social Software Editor’s Note: Mark Hopkin’s vision of a teacher on one end of the log and a student at the other has been transformed into an electronic (virtual) log. This paper take it a step further and morphs to a student on each end of the log! Self-Organized Learning Environments and University Students’ Use of Social Software:A Systems Theoretical Perspective Christian Dalsgaard, Helle Mathiasen Denmark Abstract The paper will argue that new possibilities of digital media, especially social software, have a potential regarding development of self-organized learning environments and facilitating self-governed activities. Keywords: social software, self-organized learning and communication environments, digital media, learning, IT, project work, self-governed activities, sociological systems theory Introduction Use of social software in support of learning is a new and still relatively unexplored phenomenon. Social Software This is further supported by social bookmarking tools. Empirical study Findings
The Three Johns The Three Johns were a post-punk/indie rock band formed in 1981 in Leeds originally consisting of The Mekons co-founder, Jon Langford (guitar) as well as John Hyatt (vocals) and Phillip "John" Brennan (bass), augmented by a drum machine.[1] History[edit] The band initially formed just before the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer, and their first gig was to be part of 'Funk The Wedding' event, but they were refused permission to play because they were drunk.[1] They signed to CNT Records in 1982, which Langford jointly founded, releasing two singles and an EP for the label, including a re-working of the Mekons' "English White Boy Engineer", which attacked hypocritical attitudes towards South Africa and apartheid, the band being labelled as left-wing rockers.[1] The band explained "We're not a socialist band. The mid-1980s saw the band regularly in the UK Indie Chart with singles such as "A.W.O.L Discography[edit] Chart placings shown are from the UK Indie Chart.[5] Singles[edit]
Prof Sugata Mitra’s Experiments: “Hole-in-the-Wall” to SOLE Self Organized Learning Environment. | From Classrooms to Learning Ecologies – Mapping new Spaces of Learning Dr. Sugata Mitra, physicist, cognitive researcher and pedagogue is certainly one of the most intelligent and original thinkers I have come across. In fact, many years ago, when he was doing his post-doc in Vienna, I had the pleasure of getting lessons from him on calculus! Now professor at the University of Newcastle, it’s indeed great to see him today speak at TED Lectures, at the UN General Assembly, CNN etc…. I have been sending links about his stories to friends saying: “I know this guy”. Dr. The story started with Mitra’s digging a hole in a wall which separated his office from an area of neighbouring ‘slums’, inserting a computer with its screen and touchpad turned towards the slums, and attaching a high speed internet to it. The experimental setting popularly known as the ‘Hole-in-the-Wall’ later became the inspirational story for the oscar winning movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. SOLE – Self Organised Learning Environment Here are some links: Same video on TED. Like this:
Review of The Education Technology Show 2011 - e-learningcentre.co.uk Education Technology Show 2011 Let us hope that this is the first of many events put together across the regions of the UK, designed to bring together school educationalists and the e-learning industry (and indeed other learning companies) together to meet, be inspired and share and celebrate success. Held in Leeds, the Education Technology show 2011 succeeded in bringing over 300 teachers and learning professionals together with 25 or so vendors. However this was much more than just an exhibition, this was an event to attend to listen and learn as well as see the latest in e-learning and learning technologies, and it was the opening key note address from Professor Sugata Mitra that commenced an interesting and informative day. Professor Mitra is well known for his work, having his own entry in Wikipedia and profile on Ted.com, and you can see his speech at Education Technology Show 2011 as well. Mitra’s reasoning is sound.
ALT-C 2011: Thriving in a colder and more challenging climate Thriving in a colder and more challenging climate The 18th international conference of the Association for Learning Technology was held at the University of Leeds, UK, 6-8 September 2011. Keynote and Invited Speaker videos are available on ALT's not-for-profit YouTube Channel. In 2011, education systems throughout the world are attempting to do more, better, and often with less. As the political, economic, social, agency and technological landscapes change, it is tempting for people in the learning technology community simply to "go on with vigour, hoping for the best"*. But this would be to miss a major opportunity. Innovation is strongly stimulated by crises and pressures of all kinds. Time, the social tide, the expectations of learners, and economic pressure at organisational level will themselves be a driving force for innovation. Major Conference Sponsors The Trustees of ALT are grateful to the following organisations for their generous support for the 2011 conference. Timeline
Barefoot In the head A few year ago, I was a bit curious about how well learners can evaluate each other. I designed a small experiment to find out. It goes like this: Take a group of learners, say 15 in number, in a classroom. In other words, you have conducted an examination without making a question paper and without having to mark a pile of answer books. I tried this for three years in the course I teach on Educational Technology for M.Ed. In the meanwhile, I thought you might like to try....
In Defense of Lecture July 27, 2010 at 3:11 pm Lectures have a black eye on college campuses today. We’re told that they are useless, and that they are ineffective with out “explicit constructionism.” We’re told to use active learning techniques in lecture, like clickers. I’m realizing that there’s nothing wrong with lecture itself, and that the psychology results tell us that lectures should be a highly efficient form of learning. I just served on a Psychology Masters thesis committee. Passive: Where students simply read a text on ecology drawn from a Sophomore-level textbook.Active: Where students either (a) highlighted text of interest or (b) copy-pasted key sections into “Notes.”Constructive: Where students either (a) created self-explanations of the text or (b) created questions about the text. He had a test on the content immediately after the training, and another a week later. The problem is that Georgia Tech students (the subjects in the study) are darn smart and well-practiced learners. Like this: