Perspectives in Education

As some are raised a Catholic or an atheist or a vegetarian, I was raised an academic. The university always had about it a mystique, a cloud of mystery and veneration. Lauded in my household were the values of objectivity, critical thinking, close reading. As early as the fourth grade, my mother took me to her college Shakespeare classes, introduced me to her professors, and indulged me with lunch at the student union. I attended classes with her throughout her undergraduate study; and for years after, I’d walk through campus simply to absorb the essence of the place. Today, I am as much in love with the endeavor of higher education as I am disappointed by its outcomes.

The reformation of higher education is under way. Whether we agree or not, the vast credentialing system of universities and colleges, the importance placed upon expertise, the value of the degree and the Ph.D., the political economies that oppressthose that form the backbone of the system, the administration of learning, therights of students, and even the act of learning itself are all under scrutiny. It is a scrutiny that’s been in play for years, and has been exacerbated most recently by the advent of the MOOC (massive open online course), the corporatization of education, and the exportation of pedagogy to technologists and private entrepreneurs. Sadly, little is coming forward from this inquisition of education that’s hopeful. Academics and administrators are afraid for their careers, and students and learners of all ages are looking openly at other options (other options that enterprising speculators are at the ready to provide).

Great article on the changing face of higher education and the rise of the autonomous learner.

A very thought provoking essay in particular and an interesting site in general! 

Insights into how humour translate online.

One more step towards a better education... good job!!

How I'd love to use these ideas. However, we're so behind the times vis-a-vis technology at my school.

This article is a great collection of references that would be quite useful to instructional designers that are exploring the world of mobile game design.

If you are looking for an ipad tool for use in the clasroom check out apptutorapps here http://apptutorapps.com/

It looks like there are some great resources here!

Smithsonian always has great insights, and in this case, Infographics.

Smithsonian always has great insights, and in this case, Infographics.

If only I had a wall large enough, in our STEM video game lab, to put this info graphic on for others to view.

Handig om te bewaren

MOOC sources - for those who are interested.

In 2011, the respective roles of higher education institutions and students worldwide were brought into question by the rise of the massive open online course (MOOC). MOOCs are defined by signature characteristics that include: lectures formatted as short videos combined with formative quizzes; automated assessment and/or peer and self–assessment and an online forum for peer support and discussion. Although not specifically designed to optimise learning, claims have been made that MOOCs are based on sound pedagogical foundations that are at the very least comparable with courses offered by universities in face–to–face mode. To validate this, we examined the literature for empirical evidence substantiating such claims. Although empirical evidence directly related to MOOCs was difficult to find, the evidence suggests that there is no reason to believe that MOOCs are any less effective a learning experience than their face–to–face counterparts. Indeed, in some aspects, they may actually improve learning outcomes.

If you are interested in what could be a good workflow and set of tools to use to curate content on your own WordPress blog, Nathan Weller has a must-read article for you.

In it, he dissects and explains the tools he uses to curate content on WordPress, from how he aggregates and browses RSS feeds, to how he filters, edits and actually curates the content of each post.

Interestingly his focus is on quality, not on having his site populated by lots of "somewhat relevant" content pulled in automatically by one of the many "content marketing"-oriented curation tools available today.

I think you will find several interesting ideas that you may have not considered on how to approach your curation workflow, let alone checking the several insightful comments at the end.

Lost of valuable information, resources, examples and advice. 8/10

Full article: https://managewp.com/wordpress-content-curation

Working on our first WP site...integrating a blog, publish newsletter w/MailChimp...thanks for the info! Learn learn learn!

It is my view that one of the most significant statements made by George Siemens is this one: "As knowledge continues to grow and evolve, access to what is needed is more important than what the learner currently possesses." 

The role of teaching (and learning) then needs to shift in several ways to support this. How do we support students in selecting, discerning, organising this information and critically reflecting on it? How do we support students in creating new ways of evidencing their learning? How do we encourage students to create content themselves that adds to this growing and evolving abundance of information and knowledge generation?

"The Network is the Learning"....another of George Siemens' statements that resonates so well with me.

Connectivism is the integration of principles explored by chaos, network, and complexity and self-organization theories.

In a knowledge economy, the flow of information is the equivalent of the oil pipe in an industrial economy…

The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe. Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today. A real challenge for any learning theory is to actuate known knowledge at the point of application. When knowledge, however, is needed, but not known, the ability to plug into sources to meet the requirements becomes a vital skill. As knowledge continues to grow and evolve, access to what is needed is more important than what the learner currently possesses.