Aaron Carpenter's blog

E Learning has much to offer the world: The ability to learn and teach from all over the globe to an equally diverse group of students cannot be overlooked. Current technology and ones yet to be created have made it easier for everyone to exchange ideas in a quick and seamless fashion. In our coursework we rely heavily upon Wiki-based teaching tools.

However efficient it all may be, there is still something missing: spontaneity. This is the one area that is sorely lacking. With most of the conversations being asynchronous in nature it is all too easy for the learners to take a much longer look at an issue than they would be able to in a classroom.  Instead of simply and quickly voicing an opinion we have made it a point to double check what we were going to say with Wikipedia first. We are no longer trusting our minds and gut instinct: instead we trust Google and other sources before we dare to speak.

We are surrounded by more information than we know what to do with. The total quantity of it is staggering, and if we rely upon it for everything instead of trusting our minds we will reach a point where we will no longer be capable of making decisions. If we end up micromanaging every decision from large to small we will slow down progress instead of speeding it up.

So how can we solve this problem as learning designers? How can we design course curriculums to regain that instant insightfulness that is lacking? How can we inject a much-needed dose of spontaneity into the online discussion? These are the questions we need to ask now while E Learning is still in its infancy.

During the Elluminate session a wonderful phrase was brought up: Cognitive Offloading. It basically means we no longer bother remembering things that can be easily found in another source. As Eric brought up, you use this every day and don’t even realize it. Own a cell phone? How many of those phone numbers do you know by heart?

If your childhood was anything like mine there was only one phone in the house and there was a list taped to the wall with the most likely numbers that we would use. After a while I didn’t even need to look at the list. I had all the important ones memorized. But now that’s all gone. I have the ability now to retain a total of 6 phone numbers and I couldn’t be more pleased.

Why would I be happy with a lack of memory? For one, I no longer feel that my mind is going to waste with things that are not really worth remembering. I can spend my brain space more frugally, and use it to remember long dialogue sequences from Monty Python instead.

So how can we use this phenomenon about the brain in Learning Design? It will allow us to focus on the Why, and not the steps needed for the How. We can use technology efficiently so we can think about the bigger picture. And isn’t that the point of education?

We have thankfully come to realize that the Sage on the Stage is not always the best way to actually create real learning where the information is actually internalized well enough that the guiding principles can be applied to different situations. The article “Smart People or Smart Contexts” explains this concept. It challenges the old way of teaching and suggests a different approach, one that allows interaction with the environment.

Activity Theory is really quite simple: people learn best when they do the activity. It follows the old adage of “Give someone a fish and they eat for a day. Teach them how to fish and they eat for a lifetime.” I’ve noticed this phenomenon first hand as an instructor in VCT 1030. Every time I take control of the mouse and show them how to solve their problem I invariably get called back for help in short order. What I thought was the faster and more efficient way of teaching was actually quite detrimental: I had to be more patient and explain the whole process again so the student can actually learn and internalize the steps needed to solve the issue at hand.

There is a part in Rachel Barnes’ presentation that states, “Students need to learn information in the context in which they are used” and I couldn’t agree more. I feel that more personal stories related to the issue at hand are quite beneficial in teaching the Why behind the decisions. Simply telling someone that they need to do something in a certain manner without supplying the necessary context of the Why does nothing to reinforce the lesson.

I got to thinking the other day where lots of my data is actually located and the truth of the matter is I don’t have a clue. I’m old enough to remember those massive floppy drives that ran the programs on those slate gray ancient Macs and it was understood that the programs existed on those disks. It was a tactile and physical sensation. One could hold it in their hands and feel the power.

Nowadays we scatter our data to the winds and put it all in the hands of strangers and for some reason it doesn’t really bother us at all. Have a Flickr account? Gmail? Bought space on a server? It’s all the same, really. The funny thing is years ago people would have laughed at your stupidity if you recommended storing your files on someone else’s computer in God-knows-where and roll their eyes, thinking your head was in the clouds.

And it is. Living in the “cloud” is all the rage these days. Despite the fact that hard drives are ubiquitous and completely affordable we can’t be bothered to keep all of it on our machines.  In this age of always-on Internet there’s no real harm in it, as we’ll always have access.

There is a shift here in culture that will make it difficult for digital immigrants to accept and that is that data is no longer bound by your own personal hardware constraints. If you grew up with no computer or started using one later in life you probably felt that the memory card in your hand was like a piece of film and it took some explaining that you really could reuse it. Of course, that is no longer the case.

Cloud computing is here to stay. The convenience factor cannot be overlooked, as being able to access your files from anywhere you have an internet connection and a browser is a powerful tool.

Part of the problem in today’s digital age is that there is almost too much information out there for us to be able to absorb. The challenge lies in being able to filter and distill down the information that is pertinent to our long-term learning growth. The way we can do that is to create a learning network. This network, to borrow a term in the reading, is a connection of nodes. Each node represents people or information sources that are trusted by the user. The nodes are beneficial as they provide the filtering ability we need to separate what we need to learn from all the digital noise that is pestering us for attention.

As a learning design student it is of premier importance that we choose the proper tools to best maximize our learning potential. Choosing these tools requires research and there is not one size fits all approach.  Each person has their own learning style and they need to choose the tools that best fit. For instance, if one were primarily a visual learner then sources that include video (ex: Youtube) would be wisely chosen.

Another point is to select a variety of different learning tools. If the user only selects one type of tool (ex: RSS feeds) they can miss out on knowledge that can only be available via another source. Granted, there is some crossover and services such as Twitter can be a great way to keep abreast of a variety of topics and types, but it’s never safe to put all yours eggs in one basket.

This was the first week that our class met in Second Life for a class session. I have to say it was an interesting time to say the least and quite a bit more frustrating than just using Elluminate. I put together a few random things that came to mind while using it for our class session.

Pros

Anyone can use it (free)

Distance learning is a no brainer

No real time constraints to speak of

Those with disabilities are on a level playing field

Graphical interface lends itself to more interaction and exploration

No real language barrier (translators available)

Cons

Slow loading

High speed Internet needed

Graphics leave much to be desired

Slight learning curve

Can be confusing to do basic things such as sitting that are easy in real life

Dangerous to use as only classroom for young students (no social skills)

I think that in 15 years we’ll look back at 2^nd Life and laugh. We’ll point our fingers and compare it to Pong (remember that?), which looks hopelessly crude given what we currently have. I don’t see virtual worlds going anywhere but up as the technology improves and it becomes easier to move and manipulate objects. This will only help to increase the user base.

I do wonder about the long-term social ramifications for virtual worlds. Yes, there might be virtual museums and airplanes to fly, but nothing right now can substitute for smelling the brackish air while on a boat or the feel of wind on your cheeks while driving a motorcycle. Until 2^nd Life improves to the point of being the holodeck made famous on Star Trek it is a sorry representation of what we currently have out in the real world.

I have a confession to make: I am still in love with paper. Yes, it sounds like utter sacrilege for a student in a technology field that has its specialty in online learning to still like writing things out longhand but it’s hard to wean myself off the habit. Like an addict looking for their next fix, you’ll have to pry my bagassé notebooks and fountain pens out of my cold, dead hands. There is a certain pleasure in writing, a tactile experience that is lost when working on a computer. The feeling of satisfaction of a well-written page with no smears or mistakes can be a point of pride.

But we are now heading into the new era, a time of cell phones, iPads, and Skype, where writing is becoming even more irrelevant. It will be a time where students may or may not be taught cursive in schools, a skill that will be considered anachronistic behavior in another generation. Despite all this, I don’t see this as a zero sum game. I think it is now a time for a new term, Blended Writing.

It’s simple: Computers are great, but there are some things that paper and pen just do better. When it comes to taking notes on anything more than text they are horrible. I recently watched a student try to take notes on a diagram in a photo class and the amount of time she took on her laptop was huge compared to her classmates using the old methods. There are improvements to be made, and when they occur then I’ll think about cutting the paper habit.

In the meantime, I’m still trying to move more of my materials over to the digital realm. I love having articles in pdf’s that I can annotate although it’s slower than using a pen. For collaboration it’s invaluable to be able to send files back and forth. Someday we’ll have the perfect device that will allow us to touch our data, move it at will, and mark it as we see fit as easily as we did the old way. Until that day comes, I’ll just have to keep on Writing. Blendedly.

6820 elearning Here is a powerpoint document for everyone that breaks down the Week 2 readings on the Philosophies related to education from Heather Kanuka. Please review the information and answer the discussion questions at the end of the document.

This week was my first opportunity to use the Elluminate collaborative learning online software in my Digital Learning Theory class, and I have to say that I was impressed. Despite everyone living in different cities and the wide variety of computer equipment that I imagine was being used the session went off with little in the way of technical problems. I would classify most of the problems as beginner user error.

As a source of collaborative learning Elluminate has untold numbers of possibilities and I can see software such as this transforming the teaching world. The main stumbling block is not the software or necessarily the hardware. It is the Internet connection. A stable and solid one is required, and I have to wonder what a session would be like on an older computer on a 56k modem. I can just imagine a student living in a rural area with slow and unstable Internet trying to take part in a class and falling behind. It seems a bit jumpy for me on cable Internet when the instructor was screen sharing and just using audio.

Ideally there would be broadband for all but that is not the case. It’s quite the dichotomy; those who already have broadband do not see the need to expand services, mainly because they already have it, thus leaving those who are not so fortunate behind. I believe this is a shortsighted viewpoint. Broadband and the Internet are rapidly becoming the one of the most important public utilities for our nation and the future of it, and we cannot let a sizable portion of the country to fall behind technologically just because we think it might increase our rates in the immediate future. It has reached the point that the first place our government and companies point to for assistance is their website. It doesn’t matter if it’s tech support for a printer or signing up for unemployment, it’s all there on the web and if they don’t have to talk to you they won’t.

By denying broadband you are in effect denying citizens their right to a public utility. Let’s play fair and work for the good of all, not just the lucky chosen few.

DNA From the Beginning (Type: Simulation, Format: Shockwave)
I looked at the DNA From the Beginning simulation, which is created in Shockwave. It is a set of 41 tutorials in three different categories, Classical Genetics, Molecules of Genetics, and Genetic Organization and Control. There are 6 distinct categories that Merlot has come up with to evaluate learning modules such as this:

Ease of Use– I found it quite easy to navigate the module. The categories and each corresponding chapter are posted on the right so jumping around to parts of interest is easy. Each chapter has a series of links that take the user to shorts talks by scientists, biographies, problems, and short animation sequences.

Cognitive Load– subject matter is challenging and informative. I liked the fact that they state it is for general education college students and I think the material reflects that.

Knowledge Space and Information Presentation– Information is easily found, but as mentioned below there is no discernable search function. The same system of displaying data is used throughout the module and makes it consistent.

Media Integration– Short videos play without a problem, and the animation sequences are good at explaining the concepts. Video quality is rather low and amateurish. Quite often the person being interviewed is a mile away in the frame and looking out of the frame, and a lapel microphone is not consistently used, making it more difficult to hear.

Aesthetics– Good enough for what it needs to do. The simple white background makes the necessary buttons stand out well, and despite all the information there is not much visual clutter.

Overall Functionality– The site loads quickly and there is little to no waiting involved. There were the occasional text formatting errors, but nothing severe. There is no way that I could find to search for a specific area of interest. That would be quite helpful for students who need to find a certain topic and are not sure exactly where it is.

MecMovies (Type: Tutorial, Format: Flash)

Ease of Use– This flash document is comprised of 15 chapters, an Appendix, and an Assignments section. One can easily jump from one to another and the loading time is very short. I think a bit more thought could go into the submenus, as it seems to be inconsistent. Clicking on Ch. 8 for example pulls up sections 8.3 as the first one, leaving me wondering what happened to 8.1 and 8.2. I was a bit confused with the layout sometimes as they often put different sections in the same window.

Cognitive Load– Lots of information is presented and seems quite challenging. I liked that they specify that is for College General Education. I’m not certain if this program is designed to be walked through with an instructor or for self-learning.

Knowledge Space and Information Presentation– The creator seems to have spent quite a bit of time on trying to make a dry subject fun. I found myself slightly overwhelmed with all the data that they put in each window. I think some of it would be more usable if broken up in separate windows.

Media Integration– This flash-based program often uses the word movies to describe some of the diagrams, but they don’t really move. Seems a bit of a misnomer to me.

Aesthetics– I found it a little busy and cluttered without enough color separation between the buttons and the rest of the content. On the smaller windows it is easy to lose track of where the play buttons and others are located. I think a white background would help make the buttons stand out more and thus be easier to locate and use.

Overall Functionality– Similar to DNA From the Beginning, there is a lack of search function. Information in the sidebar seems cluttered, as does the general interface. It is not readily apparent where the user should look first when on a new page, which can lead to confusion.
Neuroscience for Kids (Type: Collection, Format: HTML/text)

Ease of Use– Site is easy to navigate and much of the information is readily available without having to use multiple clicks. I think it’s the easiest to use of the three modules, although I wish they had incorporated a NEXT button to move to the next part in a series.

Cognitive Load– Lots of information is presented and it seems quite challenging overall, though they walk you through it all.

Knowledge Space and Information Presentation– Information is simply laid out and all you have to do is scroll down the page. As mentioned above it would be nice if there were a NEXT button and a BACK button so the user can more easily navigate.

Media Integration– I liked the “Hear It” buttons that take you to a link to hear proper pronunciation of difficult science terms.  Going to these makes you have to use the Back button in the browser. It would be nice to see these embedded in the page. In an attempt to make science fun, they include a variety of games to play.

Aesthetics– A very simple design, uses lots of clip-art and smells of 1996. Yes, it could use a refresh but the information is still applicable to today’s world.

Overall Functionality– Site has a Search function and a Site Map. Finding information is quite easy, although I would move the Search button to the bottom and have the actual content near the top. I am not entirely sure who this module is aimed at. They say the primary audience is College General Education, but I found some lesson plans for teachers on there as well, something that would not be needed for students.  They also call it Neuroscience for Kids, but aim it at the college level. I think they could stand to rename the program.