Perhaps Our Kids Really Are Smarter Than We Were: Technology and E-Learning
Topic: Learning Theory
downloadable mp3 file / podcast

I had an interesting conversation with my son about e-learning and social networking. He described the way the Internet makes one think and behave differently. I have to admit that I was just sort of nodding in agreement, when he started to describe how and why adolescents of today do not feel the need to succumb to peer pressure when it comes to experimenting with drugs.

“We’re smarter than your generation, Mom,” he said. “We’ve moved beyond that. We evolved.”

I have to say I disagree with him that teens are not affected by peer pressure. I see peer pressure as a part of social learning and group conditioning, both from a behavioral standpoint and a cognitive one.

Nevertheless, my son’s rationale made me pause for a moment and reflect my beliefs and attitudes about the knowledge and skills bases of today’s (and tomorrow’s) learners.

Could my son be right? Are kids today smarter than my generation when we were kids? Part of me agrees, for the following reasons:

1. Tech-savvy kids are adept at managing large amounts of data with technology. They are also used to teaching themselves how to solve problems in an interactive environment. As James Paul Gee has described in his book, What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Teaching and Learning (2004), when playing a video game, the average child learns quickly how to do effective task analysis in a “real-time” setting and to obtain the necessary information which is available on-demand in order to achieve the goal. This is a perfect example of situated, outcomes-oriented learning, and children of this generation are extremely skilled at it by age 6 or 7, depending on how long they’ve been playing video games.

for the entire post, please click here:
link to full post / blog

Great New Program: Turn Your Image Files Into a PowerPoint - Instantly!
Topic: New Technologies
Podcast

GLTImager, which I like to call the "Dog and Pony Bot," is an amazing time-saving program for anyone who has to make a presentation that includes lots of graphics. It takes your image files, and in a one-click process, populates a PowerPoint presentation.

The graphic files do not have to be the kinds you'd use on a web page (jpg or gif). GLTImager is much more flexible and can use the files that engineers, scientists, doctors, nurses, health professionals, designers, architects, accountants, strategic planners, marketing consultants use in business, education, technology, medicine, and more. This program has other powerful features as well. It can organize image files, catalogue them, and either import or extract from Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, or Powerpoint.

For a limited time, the program is available for download. Please contact info@dogandponybot.com.

The GLTImager is perfect for use with social networking groups and communities that share images such a Flickr (www.flickr.com), myspace.com, and Live Journal. (http://www.livejournal.com).

To read the entire article, please go to this site:

http://elearnqueen.blogspot.com/2006/05/great-new-program-turn-your-image.html

Inside E-learning - new articles
Topic: instructional content
downloadable mp3 file / podcast

Inspiring E-Learners to "Listen" to Each Other
This article deals with how to build community in an online course, and to make truly dynamic discussion areas where the students really get excited & are eager to post and to read each others' posts.

How Can I Tell If I've Found a Good Online Course?
This article lists several key characteristics of online courses, and discusses what makes an online course effective. This deals with instructional design as well as the technology, curriculum, and the instructional activities of a course.


When Online Is Better Than Face-to-Face Instruction
Can online ever be better than face to face? Hear Susan try to defend this one! Of course, I say "yes, online can be better than f2f," but it is possible that you won't agree with me at all. Check it out.

Scene from Koper, Slovenia, March 2006.

What is the Ideal Master's Degree for the Homeschool Parent or Facilitator?
Topic: Leadership in E-Learning
podcast // downloadable mp3 file

You might think that a master's degree in education would be perfect for the homeschool facilitator.

After working with homeschoolers who have graduated and who are taking online college courses, I would have to disagree. It has been my experience that the best students come from environments where the homeschool teacher (or better said, facilitator) has a broad background. This is most often an interdisciplinary degree, and has included study in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.

I don't want to imply that the topics and concerns of traditional education degrees are irrelevant. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. I believe that including courses in motivation, curriculum development, assessment, and cognitive psychology allows the facilitator to bring all the courses together and to create the environment that fosters deeper learning.

Here is a list of course areas I believe to be vital for an the interdisciplinary master's degree for the homeschool parent or facilitator:

Master of Arts Degree - General Course Categories / Themes

Foundations of and Topics in Humanities (3 hrs)

Foundations of and Topics in Social Sciences (3 hrs)

Foundations of and Topics in Natural Sciences (3 hrs)

Motivation and Goal-Setting (3 hrs)

Technologies of Creative Learning (3 hrs)

Writing and Research Methods - (3 hrs) - (how to use databases, online libraries; how to evaluate one's sources and information from the Internet; how to write term papers and cite sources correctly)

Philosophy of Curriculum Design (3 hrs): structured courses vs. "unlearning" or "unschooling" (here is an article on unschooling herehttp://elearnqueen.blogspot.com/2006/03/e-learning-in-2016-unschooling.html )

History and Philosophy of Education in the U.S. (3 hrs)

Basic Psychometrics (3 hrs): Structure, Design, and Function of Tests and Assessments

Current Social Problems and Issues (3 hrs)

History of Values: Philosophy, Ethics, or Religious Thought (3 hrs)

Total hours: 33 hours

I would not advocate a thesis. In this case, I believe that it is better to have the student pursue more electives which align with his or her needs. A thesis can be construed as needless torture for both student and mentor(s).

I'm not aware of any schools that offer a program shaped in this way. Excelsior College (Albany, NY)(http://www.excelsior.edu, a regionally accredited distance college, offers a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies and sufficient flexibility to be able to design and take most of the courses listed above. They, however, do require a thesis.

Ramadan Office Etiquette
Topic: Instructional Activities
Podcast / downloadable mp3 file.

Here is an idea for helping a multinational corporation promote cultural sensitivity in its worldwide offices. The assignment involves writing a memo for distribution to all employees to let them know how to conduct themselves courteously during Ramadan.

Please listen to the podcast, then visit the links:
What is Ramadan? What are the purposes of it?

Ramadan: http://www.factmonster.com/spot/ramadan1.html

Why do people fast during Ramadan? How long do they fast? What kinds of activities occur after sundown? What is "iftar"?

Randy's Travel Tips: http://www.ease.com/~randyj/rjathom3.htm

Why Muslims Fast

Ramadan on the Net: http://www.holidays.net/ramadan/story.htm

If someone invites you to "eid," what does that mean? How is Eid al-Fitr celebrated? Should I bring gifts?

About.com http://islam.about.com/od/ramadan/f/eid_fitr.htm

Ramadan Etiquette
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/kuwait-country-profile.html

Should one decorate the office for Ramadan? What are the symbols of Ramadan?

Crescent moon -- the beginning of Ramadan: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4311096.stm

For the full text, please visit the following link:article on e-learning queen.




Susan Smith Nash in Koper (photo: Andraz Gombac)

Shale Gas, e-Learning, New Modeling Programs = New Reserves
Topic: New Technologies
Podcast.

Some have called the Barnett Shale the new Austin Chalk, while others draw parallels with coalbed methane. In each case, new technologies such as petrophysical modeling programs are making what used to be an uneconomic venture a highly profitable one.

Further, the technologies can be learned at a distance. Shale gas is now being produced from the Barnett Shale and the Fayetteville Shale, while companies are starting to drill and produce gas from the Caney Shale. In other parts of the country, the Antrim and the New Albany shales are of interest.

This podcast discusses one such software program called Geologic Analysis via Maximum Likelihood System (GAMLS), which is available through Eric Geoscience.

for entire text of podcast, please click here:
(link to text of podcast).

Traumatic Re-enactment and Eating Disorders
Topic: instructional content
Podcast.

A number of researchers have explored the links between physical, verbal, and sexual abuse and what is known as traumatic re-enactment.

One researcher, Dr. Sharon Farber, finds a direct connection reenactment and bulimic and self-mutilating behaviors. The binge-purge eating disorder and self-mutilation are an attempt at self-regulation, and/or an attempt to manage or eliminate anxiety and psychological distress. Her article which reports the results can be found here:
self-mutilating behaviors
http://psychematters.com/papers/farber.htm

The bulimic behavior often is accompanied by the following:

personality disorders
dissociative disorders
post-traumatic stress disorder

In many cases, the compensatory behavior -- the bulimia or self-mutilation - were severe enough to be life-threatening.

The implications are profound. In order to understand bulimic behavior, it may be necessary to take the time to piece together what has happened, and to uncover the "triggers" that are precipitating the emotions that lead to the need to control the feelings through the behavior.

In the meantime, techniques for intervening and stopping the progress of the thoughts that lead to the negative feelings and psychological state are important. These can include cognitive approaches as well as behavioral interventions, including tactics to stop or block unwanted intrusive thoughts.

Anorexia as Traumatic Re-enactment.
Podcast.

This podcast discusses an article by Lucy Howarth, published in the European Eating Disorders Review in which the author describes a case study of an anorexic named Annemarie. In therapy, connections were made between her current behavior (self-starvation) and the abuse (verbal and physical and sexual) she suffered as a child.

Leadership and the E-Learning Organization et Arrivee!
Topic: Leadership in E-Learning
Podcast.

The book is here!!

Leadership and the e-Learning Organization



It's here!!!! I'm thrilled. Yes, it's rough, and all I have are uncorrected publisher's proofs, which make great review copies (despite the rough edges). It's a compilation of more than 50 articles, most of which appeared in earlier forms in edublogs, ejournals, and here. I have updated them and placed them in categories that correspond to elements in the e-learning organization that can be useful to everyone struggling with growth, change, and development in online and distant learning.

If you are a library, I will send you a complimentary review copy, particularly if you think you may wish to order a copy once the final version is out.

Please e-mail me if you'd like a review copy or more information.
susan at beyondutopia dot com.

Guide to Emily Hahn: Journalist, Engineer, Expert on China
Topic: Instructional Activities
Podcast

Hahn, Emily. “B.Sc.,” No Hurry to Get Home. 56-69.

In this autobiographical chapter, Hahn describes what it was like to be the first woman to be a mining engineering student at the University of Wisconsin. Hahn, who was annoyed at her family’s insistence that she go to college rather than study art, explains that, in retrospect, she should have enrolled in Letters and Science, but chose mining engineering instead. It was an unusual choice in 1924. She claims it was an accident, but after reading her work, the reader wonders if that was the case. Hahn certainly loves a challenge.

For the full text, please click here