Posts Tagged ‘learning’
Blended learning series
Posted on: November 20, 2012
In a previous entry, I mentioned how CeL was starting a blended learning series of professional development for teacher educators.
This is the title slide of the first of that series.
Tomorrow I am sharing what I do not usually do (lecture) and how I tried to blend it with more progressive strategies (backchannel, get/give feedback during a lecture).
After my “advertisement” (the WHY), the rest of CeL will show participants HOW to use Web 2.0 or Blackboard tools to try the strategies out.
Next week, CeL will show examples of blended learning strategies in NIE’s collaborative classrooms.
Opening up for a tagline
Posted on: November 19, 2012
The theme for our e-Fiesta on 30 Jan 2013 is Open Learning.
We needed a tagline or slogan for it so we opened a Google Doc up to our department to get some ideas.
We received lots of ideas over just a few days, and after some cross pollination, we came up with “Say open sesame to open learning”. Catchy, no?
If we did not open this process, we might not have had our slogan to quickly and creatively!
Open education matters 3
Posted on: November 7, 2012
Video source
This was the second-placed video in the contest promoting open learning.
The recurring critiques of the current closed schooling system are:
- it is costly (and becoming more so)
- information within the system gets old or irrelevant quickly
The benefits of using open educational resources (OER) are that they:
- are media-rich and more up-to-date
- offer opportunities to collaborate with other like-minded teachers and learners
- provide learners with greater choice
- can be more fun and engaging
Open education matters
Posted on: November 5, 2012
The theme for next year’s e-Fiesta will be Open Learning. Why? It is one of CeL’s missions to promote it.
Why promote open learning? Watch the video for clues.
Many thanks to our newest member of the CeL team and instructional designer, Rachel (@rachelhtan), for finding this video.
Knowing something is obsolete?
Posted on: October 27, 2012
This is the trailer by Ericsson of their video on the future of learning.
At the end of the trailer, Sugata Mitra, who is always good for a sound bite, makes this provocative statement:
Knowing something is probably an obsolete idea. You don’t actually need to know anything. You can find out at the point when you need to know.
It is a great teaser for the actual video.
What happens in a mobile minute?
Posted on: October 26, 2012
I wish I had found this video by Ericsson earlier. I would have incorporated it in our MobiLearnAsia presentation yesterday.
So much happens in a mobile minute.
More notably so much happens in realms outside schooling and training.
What are we waiting for? We need to do so much more least because we need to appear as a significant blip in videos like this.
We need to do so much more in mobile learning mostly because:
- it is a disruptive element (it will challenge mindsets and practice)
- more learners have mobile phones than they have computers (it increases our reach and their access)
- it provides opportunities for learning in context, not just in classrooms
There are many other reasons for mobile learning. They are but a critical search away from your mobile device!
Source
If you listen to and laugh with Eddie Obeng, you might agree that the world seems to be changing at a rate that is sometimes difficult to understand.
Rules and principles that we learnt and now follow do not seem to be valid any more. Or as Obeng said more articulately in this TED video:
We spend our time responding rationally to a world which we understand and recognize, but which no longer exists.
I took two things away after watching and reflecting on this TED talk:
- We run the risk of allowing the pace of change to overtake the pace of learning.
- We learn and innovate by failing in smart ways.
Teach to learn
Posted on: October 16, 2012
I was looking for a suitable image to include in my briefing for a special course I am conducting over two weeks.
In setting expectations, I wanted my audience of trainers to expect to learn by teaching. I used my favourite CC image search tool and found this:
It is a long-exposure photograph of a flashlight writing. The photographer captured both the original “Teach” from the torch and the reflection “Learn” in the puddle.
One might appreciate the technical creativity of the photo.
I focus on interpreting the photo. The best way to learn is to teach. It may not be obvious, but if you reflect on this, you will realize this to be true!
Taking fun seriously
Posted on: October 13, 2012
Here are nine reasons for dropping traditional online courses for games. Not so-called educational games, mind you. Just games, period.
- Games provide real choice
- Games are customized to the learner
- There is no next page button
- Games lock learners into their zone of proximal development
- Games encourage productive forms of failure
- Games immerse learners in context
- Games create active problem-solvers
- Games promote mastery with fun
What the L?
Posted on: October 12, 2012
It is Friday. Time for something light.
The semester I declare war on giving talks is the semester I am invited to give the most number of talks.
In addition to two conference presentations, a couple of consulting gigs, a handful of professional development and pro bono sessions, I have also volunteered to share Leading by Listening and Learning over Lunch.
Here is the title slide.
