penrose's blog

If anyone is familiar with the ISD (ADDIE) model of instructional design or has had experience in this area, you will relate to my question. The question is, when do faculty take over FULL responsibility for courses that have been developed? I only ask, because it seems that in higher education that assistance breeds dependency. When a skilled instructional designer provides assistance, it seems they are held captive as long as the course is being offered.

Why do most faculty want to treat every online course like a book writing assignment?
Why do most faculty despise course packs?
Why do most faculty refuse to admit that all teaching is hybrid (both synchronous and asynchronous)?
Why do most faculty neglect the importance of innovations in the social experiences of students?
Why do most faculty hold on to archaic methods of teaching?

All this is leading to the conclusion that a model of instructional design is needed which produces locally grown instruction that is both fixed and flexible. The fixed content is what all departmental faculty will agree needs to be taught. The flexible instruction is that which is uniquely contributed by the faculty (course co-author). I have had experience in my institution of developing online courses that eventually were available for adaptation by other division faculty, with only minimum time investment. Can this be done in any other setting?

David

References:
Bleed, R. (2005). Overcoming the Biggest Barrier to Student Success. Campus Technology. 18(10).
http://www.campus-technology.com/article.asp?id=11107

Mitrano, T. (2005). The Internet, the Pope, and the iPod. Campus Technology. 18(10).
http://www.campus-technology.com/article.asp?id=11189

Shimabukuro, J. (2005). Freedom and Empowerment: An Essay on the Next Step for Education and Technology. Innovate. 1(5)
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=63

Wijekumar, K. (2005). Creating Effective Web-Based Learning Environments: Relevant Research and Practice. Innovate. 1(5)
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=26

After reading James Shimabukuro's Freedom and Empowerment: An Essay on the Next Step for Education and Technology, I realized that we are in dire need of some changes in the way education needs to be delivered. I was especially impressed with the notion that the learning environment needs to be more connected to the community than are the current brick-and-mortar bastions of learning. Imagine learning centers much like the famous Barnes and Nobel book stores. People of all ages congregate to read, socialize and snack.

Unlike the structured environments of the traditional classroom, these learning 'hot' spots provide a wealth of experience in-vivo. I have always thought that libraries with unlimited resources were the best place for just in time teaching, because the learner is allowed to find answers whenever they have questions. Is this why surfing is so popular? When it comes to learning, is it ok to be tangential? In order to fully educate our citizenry, does it take a village?

I would like some cafe latte with that Neitzsche please.

David

Reference:
Shimabukuro, J. (2005). Freedom and Empowerment: An Essay on the Next Step for Education and Technology. Innovate, 1(5).
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=63

The conversations around the water cooler increasingly include a discussion of academic gaming. It would seem that simulated words, with their complexities and intricacies, would be time consuming to create. Is there any software that provides for the most rapid development? How are these games distributed? Is there a site for educational simulations? Where are all of the IGD (instructional game designers)?

David

Earlier in the week I helped a professor setup an account at blogger.com and audioblogger.com, so that students in a Public Health class could learn to podcast. Within a short time, the professor had created a welcome podcast. This technology takes advantage of email and a POT (plain old telephone) line to create quality postings (text/audio) to a blog.

I would like to hear about other examples of educational uses of audioblogging. Is this being done in other countries, other languages, or other settings?

David

Podcast for Tuesday - June 14, 2005

Another day, another technological breakthrough.
I am still amazed at the news that CVS is going offer, by the end of this month, a One-Use-Only video camera that can record upto 20 minutes of video/audio. Combine this with the news of JVC discussing the release of a camera with a 20-30 gigabyte hard drive. NO MORE TAPE? the CVS Disposable will cost under $30 while the JVC unit will cost closer to $1000. That is some price difference.

The point is not to promote one product over another, but to illustrate where we are heading with technology ... imaging technology ... which reminds me, I heard a term this past weekend that was new to me ... podimaging, the use of iPods by physicians to store and then share medical images. Now that is a good use of technology.

Im sitting here and letting my imagination run wild. One fact continues to plague me though ... the human eye can only really distinguish differences upto about 72 dots per inch? Is this true? ... the human hand still has four fingers (digits) and one thumb? Is this true? ... If this stuff gets any more compact, we will need homing devices or sound making devices that, once activated with a clap, will activate so that we can find them. WOW ... this is beginning to feel like de ja vu!

Why doesn't someone make a camera that can fold up and unfold. I am not impressed with size, but if this stuff (that is my technical term for technology devices) gets any smaller it will be more ergonomically impractical. Is this true? Yeeeees.

Perhaps the fact that this amazing technology is just so much more affordable today than it was 10 or 15 years ago. Us older people can remember paying $400 for a VHS recorder ... now, Wal-Mart announces that it will stop selling VHS tapes in their stores. So, in 2005, VHS has gone the way of the 8 track tape. Instead we are obsessed with iPods, MCDs, Sirrus, digital EVERYTHING, and DVRs.

I think it is time to turn off the computer and relax, take some deep breaths and remember that when I wake up in the morning, things will have changed ... the world will be a more chaotic and yet technologically captivated place.

Till next time.
David

I wish I had authored this blog posting but I didn't. The credit for this one goes to Jason Fried. In this post he talks about how we find a little thing called "productivity" in our "alone zone." Here is a teaser from his positng.

Getting in the zone takes time which is why interruption is your enemy. It's like REM sleep - you don't just go to REM sleep, you go to sleep first and you make you way towards REM. Any interruptions force you to start over. REM is where the real sleep magic happens. The alone time zone is where the real productivity happens.

David

Cite this blog entry:
Fried, Jason. (2005, June 14). Getting Real: The alone time zone. Messages posted to http://37signals.com.

I hope that you are considering the world of podcasting, but I especially hope that you are beginning to learn about the world of screencasting. Using programs like RoboDemo (now called Captivate), TurboDemo, or Camtasia, you will create actual narrated demonstrations for users to watch and listen.

Especially important is the idea of creating RLO (reusable learning objects). It is the idea of RLO and repositories like the one at rice.edu that offers great promise for our community of practice.

Imagine that I develop a screencast with script and original program file. In my case, I actually embed the script into the Captivate document and zip my files so that any of my interested colleagues can add their narration. The good news is that an SME (subject matter expert) and ID (instructional designer) have already refined the presentation and content. The better news? Using orinatl Captivate files, anyone can customize it with their voice.

Screencasting, podcasting, vodcasting ... what is next?

David

You have heard of Merlot, but have you heard about Connexions? Here is a snippet of text taken directly from their website …

I am truly suprised how many times each day that I explain, to friends and family and colleagues, the term podcasting. This term is not the only neologism that has crept into our vocabulary. Technology and portable audio/video players has produced a couple of other terms, perhaps many of my educause blog have never heard. For your convenience I have included them here for your personal edification.
podcasting
vodcasting
autocasting
audioblogging
screencasting
videocasting
podcatching
Making this RANT interactive, if you would like to explain any of these terms, how about you providing a definition as a comment. Otherwise, how about a white paper written and distributed at Apple.com
[ click here ]

David