Informal learning

[Innovate.info] April-May Issue

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 13:30:08 +0800

The April/May issue of Innovate focuses on the Net Generation, a generationthat grew up with video games, computers, and the Internet. Theexpectations, attitudes, and fluency with technology of this new generationpresent both a challenge and an opportunity for educators. In this specialissue of Innovate, guest edited by Chris Davis, we examine how educatorsand educational systems can respond to the challenge and leverage theopportunity.Kassandra Barnes, Raymond Marateo, and S. Pixy Ferris introduce the issueby describing the learning styles and preference of Net Generation learnersand the implications of these attributes for educators. (Seehttp://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=382 )The technology that shapes these students' lives can seem dangerous toadults. Mark van 't Hooft explores the issue related to online socialnetworking and online communication tools by teenagers. While the firstreaction of many parents and schools is to limit access to these tools toprotect children, van ‘t Hooft argues that children can show adultsthe use and benefits of the technology, while adults can developchildren’s understanding of the responsible use of technology. (Seehttp://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=376 )Because many higher education classrooms are a mix of students frommultiple generations, understanding the needs of all generations is key tobeing effective, especially when using technology to support learning. Tomeet this need, Paula Garcia and Jingjing Qin describe a research projectthat analyzed the differences and similarities between traditional andnon-traditional students in regards to comfort with technology andattitudes about learning. (Seehttp://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=379 )To understand the consequences of Web 2.0, Dana Wilber discusses herethnographic study of a Net Generation college student illustrating some ofthe ways that online journals and social networking sites are used bystudents and providing a window for educators to consider how these toolscan be used to support learning. (Seehttp://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=384 )Of course, technology continues to evolve in ways that shape education.John Thompson describes the transition from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 and how thisaffects learning and teaching. Where Web 1.0 provided access to massivevolumes of information, Web 2.0 provides users with the ability to becomeproducers as well as consumers of this information. This technologytransition puts pressure on education to also become more interactive andenable learners to be producers as well as consumers.(http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=393 )The impact of the Net Generation reaches beyond the classroom. HollyPeterson discusses how to engage alumni from this generation, using a casestudy of one organization’s effort to establish an online alumnicommunity. This experience can guide anyone attempting to create an onlinecommunity; the lessons learned may apply to attempts to reach currentstudents as well as alumni. (Seehttp://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=383 )Finally, in his Places to Go feature, Stephen Downes discusses Google asthe site that most reflects the spirit and characteristics of the NetGeneration. Using the Google search results for "Net Generation," Downesreflects on how the Net Generation accesses, creates, and uses information.Just as Google represents a dramatic change in managing informationcompared to traditional forms of media, the Net Generation represents achanging approach to media. (Seehttp://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=455 )We hope that you enjoy this special issue of Innovate. Please explore ourdiscussion boards, live webcasts, and other features as well. And pleaseforward this announcement to colleagues who are interested in usinginformation technology in creative ways.

21st Century Learning Initiative

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 10:31:35 +0800

Articles by Categories
Each section below contains articles that relate in some way to the changes we believe are necessary to the creation of a society of active responsible life-long learners. Some articles are on this website, while other links will take you to other sites on the web.

The Biological Roots of Learning－－－生物学角度

List of Readings and summaries for this section.
Maximizing Learning by Renate N. Caine.
Mind/Brain Learning Principles by Geoffrey and Renate Caine.
Learning How to Use the Brain by Ronald Kotulak.
Capacity, Capital and Calories by Beryl Levinger.
The New Conversation About Learning by Ted Marchese.
This is Biology by Ernst Mayr.
How Hardwired is Human Behavior? by Nigel Nicholson.
Recent Cognitive Science Developments Pose Major Educational Challenge by Robert Sylwester.
BrainConnection.com a site suggested by Robert Sylwester who writes a monthly column for BC.
The Downshifting Dilemma: A Commentary and Proposal by Robert Sylwester.
The Biological Roots of Learning. A synthesis by the 21st Century Learning Initiative.
The Implications of recent developments in neuroscience for research on teaching and learning by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore and Uta Frith of the United Kingdom.
Alas, Poor Darwin edited by Hilary Rose and Steven Rose.
Java Man by Garniss Curtis, Carl Swisher and Roger Lewin.
As We Know It: Coming to terms with an evolved mind by Marek Kohn.
Man, Beast and Zombie: What science can and cannot tell us about human nature by Kenan Malik.
Human Natures: Genes, cultures, and the human prospect by Paul R. Ehrlich.

Evolving Ideas about Learning－－－科学角度

List of Readings and summaries for this section.
Schooling to Learning by M.M.Robertson and M.M.Wansbrough (Complete .PDF)
Cognitive Apprenticeship: Making thinking visible by John Seely Brown, Allan Collins and Ann Holum.
The Unschooled Mind by Howard Gardner.
Schools for Thought by John Bruer.
Low Scores are no Disgrace by Howard Gardner.
The Educated Mind by Kieran Egan.
Teaching for Understanding by David Perkins.
What Should We Ask About Intelligence by Robert Sternberg.
Applying the Concept of Multiple Intelligence by John Welham.
Education and Mind in the Knowledge Age by Carl Bereiter.
Creativity: From Philosophy to Practice by Anne Fritz.
Expertise Goes Beyond Specialization by John Abbott.
Constructing Knowledge, Reconstructing Schooling by John Abbott and Terence Ryan.
To Be Intelligent by John Abbott.
Education and Learning to Think by Lauren Resnick.
Top Ten Mistakes in Education by Roger Schank.
Problems with Standardized Tests by Roger Schank.
Example of Natural vs. Formal Learning by Roger Schank.
Evolving Ideas about Learning. A synthesis by the 21st Century Learning Initiative.
Exploring the emotionally intelligent school: ICT and Drama as a possible model for raising the achievement of boys by Peter Rubery of the United Kingdom.
Making the Connections, and Closing the Gaps - Is it really that hard? by David Hood of New Zealand.

The New Economy's Impact on Learning－－经济学角度

List of Readings and summaries for this section.
Children, Families, Social Capital and Education in go-go Capitalism: A dispatch from America's richest county by Terry Ryan
The New Economy's Impact on Learning by Terry Ryan
Hayek and the Second-hand Dealers of Ideas by John Blundell.
The Case for a Mindshift: A Review of Popular Economic Arguments by Terence Ryan.
The Future of Success by Robert Reich.
On the Edge edited by Will Hutton and Anthony Giddens

Making Connections: The impact of information communication technologies on young people's learning－－－技术角度

List of Readings and summaries for this section.
An Interview with John Abbott by Ted Marchese.
Teachers in Technology Initiative by Jane Carlson Pickering.
What Changes in Technology and the Economy May Mean for Education Systems by Terence Ryan.
Estonian Educational Scenarios by a team of Estonian Educators.
Making Connections: The use and misuse of information communication technologies in young people's learning by Terence Ryan.
Integrating ICT and Education in Israeli for the Third Millennium by Dr. Aharon Aviram.
Distance Education on the Web by Dr. David F. Noble.
Children Tutoring Seniors at Internet Skills by Professor Edna Aphek.

Community as the Web of Learning －－社会（团体）角度

List of Readings and summaries for this section.
In Search of Community by Ernest Boyer.
A Tribe Apart by Barbara Hersch.
In Defense of Genius by Sir Ernest Hall.
Our Secondary Schools Don't Work Anymore by David Hood.
Learning for All by Ash Hartwell and Emily Vargas.
Some Principles of Educational Reconstruction by Roland Meighan.
An Illiterate's Declaration to the Literacy Preacher by Shri Daval and Chandra Soni.
Winona (MN) Gets Together to Talk Education from the Winona Daily News.
The 21st Century Learning Initiative Canadian Working Group by a coalition of Canadian educators and policymakers.
The Hammersmith and Fulham (England) Primary Headteachers' Course.
Putting Theory to Practice by Leeds Education 2000.
For the Love of Learning by the Ontario Ministry of Education.
ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education.
Trends in General Education and Core Curriculume: A Survey by W. Brock MacDonald.
"If Not Schooling, Then What?: Learning Parks of Possibilities by Shilpa, Sumi, Ajay and Parijat of India.
Bowling Alone: The collapse and revival of American community by Robert Putnam.
Culture Matters: How values shape human progress edited by Lawrence Harrison and Samuel P. Huntington.
Towards Creating a Learning Community by Colin Kay.

The Unfinished Revolution－－－未来

List of Readings and summaries for this section.
Science and the Story that We Need by Neil Postman.
Thoughts for Jakarta on "Education for What" by Terence Ryan.
Towards an Expanded Vision of Intelligence in India by Manish Jain.
Education and the Significance of Life by J. Krishnamurti.
The Basic Problems of Education in Poland by Wiktor Kulerski.
On Brain and Mind and Class by Frank Wood.
The Pacific Vision Conference by David Hood.
An Organice View of Education by Terri Bawden and Sandor Szabados
Scientific Ideas and Education in the 21st Century by Ash Hartwell.
The Chaordic Organization: Out of control and into order by Dee Hock.
Hayek and the Second-hand Dealers of Ideas by John Blundell.
Leaders, Learners and the Hero's Journey by Stephanie Pace Marshall.
Good Talk about Good Teaching by Parker Palmer.
The Violence of Our Knowledge by Parker Palmer.
Consilience Among the Great Branches of Learning by Edward O. Wilson.
A New Mind for the New Millennium, a play about the future of education as presented at the November 1999 State of the World Forum.
The Inhumanity of Government Bureaucracies by Hans Scherrer.
The Poet's Challenge to Schooling: Creative Freedom for the Human Soul by Shilpa Jain of India.

From：http://www.21learn.org/arch/articles/brown_seely.html

Ten Core Principles for Designing Effective Learning Environments

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 10:09:20 +0800

Ten Core Principles for Designing Effective Learning Environments:Insights from Brain Research and Pedagogical Theory
by Judith V. Boettcher

Core Learning Principle #1: Every Structured Learning Experience Has Four Elements with the Learner at the Center

Core Learning Principle #2: Every Learning Experience Includes the Environment in which the Learner Interacts

Core Learning Principle #3: We Shape Our Tools and Our Tools Shape Us

Core Learning Principle #4: Faculty are the Directors of the Learning Experience

Core Learning Principle #5: Learners Bring Their Own Personalized Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes to the Learning Experience

Core Learning Principle #6: Every Learner Has a Zone of Proximal Development That Defines the Space That a Learner is Ready to Develop into Useful Knowledge

Core Principle #7: Concepts are Not Words; Concepts are Organized and Intricate Knowledge Clusters

Core Learning Principle #8: All Learners Do Not Need to Learn All Course Content; All Learners Do Need to Learn the Core Concepts

Core Learning Principle #9: Different Instruction is Required for Different Learning Outcomes

Core Learning Principle #10: Everything Else Being Equal, More Time-on-Task Equals More Learning

Conclusion
Current research about how students learn is illuminating the processes involved in teaching and learning. Insights gained from this research and integrated with traditional learning principles can help guide our design of learning environments so that both teaching and learning can be more efficient and effective.
One major insight contributing to these principles is the uniqueness of each brain in its structure and its accumulated experiences. We each do experience and remember events just a little differently. This richness of perspective and worldviews is a challenge as well as a potent creative force. The combination of the uniqueness of each learner and the richness of each learner's perspective argues persuasively for more emphasis on a pedagogy that emphasizes community, culture, and ethics as well as the acquisition of knowledge, content, and skills.
Finally, our campus environments—physical and online—are the places where structured teaching and learning takes place. Just as we evaluate and redesign the teaching and learning processes between faculty and students, so too must we redesign the environments in which such processes occur, ensuring that the design and tools we select support the growth of the unique brains we are responsible for nurturing.
[Note: This paper is adapted from a presentation at the League for Innovation Conference on Information Technology, November 9, 2004. Earlier versions of these ideas have been published in articles in Campus Technology and used in faculty development workshops.]

From http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=54

全球开放式课程

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 09:33:39 +0800

入口：http://www.myoops.org/

美国将实施教改

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 09:29:29 +0800

今年开春，美国成立的[新劳动力技能委员会]来自政界、企业界和学术界的专业，在华盛顿巨星了关系下个一百年美国国力的会议－－修改美国从幼儿园到中学的课程。这将是美国百年来幅度最大的一次教改，他们的目标很清楚：减少美国的[全球文盲]（Global illiteracy）

所谓减少[全球文盲]，当然不是指识字率的提升，而是为了让美国学生未来具有在全世界移动的竞争力，因此，从四大方向提升学生能力：

1、增加认识世界文化与语言的能力

2、增加思考的弹性

3、聪明运用资讯科技的能力

4、人际关系的能力（EQ）

--摘自台湾商业周刊

最近焦点：openID & pipes

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 23:49:13 +0800

openID

不断壮大的OpenID
OpenID小型交流（上海）March 14th, 2007

pipes

Serial Web Feeds via Yahoo Pipes

未来风暴学习社群feedsky博客圈

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 10:06:16 +0800

昨天向feedsky提交了申请，今天来了邮件回复开通了。

这个博客圈主要是方便社群的成员加入，使得社群内成员的博客都能聚合在这里，其他人只需要订阅这个博客圈，即可看到所有加入的成员的博客更新信息。这比以前更进一步，我们只需要订阅一次，加入的朋友只需要提交一次加入申请，以后我们就可以通过这个“动态的链接”获得了这个社群博客更新信息。这种聚集、聚合、订阅的方式值得推广和进一步改进。
加入博客圈的方法：
1、如果你还没有为你的博客申请Feedsky，则先过去申请一个帐号。（这个feed地址还可以放到你的博客首页，供别人订阅你的博客，它的好处是如果你的换了博客，这个feed地址依然有效。另外你可以用这一个帐号，为你所有的博客开通feed订阅。）
2、进入未来风暴学习社群博客圈首页，点击»我要加入这个博客圈。

◆◆◆未来风暴学习社群介绍：
可以通过以下两个地址访问获取成员信息：
地址一（未来风暴介绍）
地址二（火柴分类整理的页面）
未来风暴学习社群QQ交流群号：8781020 未来风暴学习社群360Doc（网摘）信息聚合平台：进入
未来风暴学习社群Feedsky博客圈：进入

软件工具介绍：Izimi （图片音视频发布）

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 23:03:23 +0800

Izimi是一款轻量级的软件，不过实现的功能可能会让你大吃一惊。这款小巧的软件能把你的windows个人电脑变成一个媒体服务器，在网上发布和共享包括视频、图片、音频以及任何格式的文件，且不限大小。所有的的操作仅需点击几下鼠标就可以完成。

非常主体

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 13:54:50 +0800

学习无处不在分享、交流、共同成长乃一切快乐之源

使用google的博客

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 13:49:23 +0800

集中化的交流是Google 应用服务学校版的一个信念，它要让从社区小学到国际性大学的所有学术机构都能成为一个更有效的学习型社区。
其“集中化的交流”是指整个社区进行沟通与协作所用的统一访问节点，包括电子邮件、即时通信、日程安排和搜索等等。

这的确是很有价值和推广意义的理念，所以我决定在这边也开一个博客。
基于google服务的全球性特征，这个博客将主要跟踪国外的学习相关的研究动向。