This week is National Distance Learning Week. According to the USDLA,
Currently, over 3.5 million college students are taking online course and/or earning online college degrees. At the secondary school level, over 700,000 high school students are taking one or more courses online, and nearly 40 states have established state-wide or state-lead virtual schools. Michigan became the first state in 2007 to require high school students take at least one online course for graduation.
And that’s just in the US!
Celebrate by enrolling in an online seminar or by reading some of the newest articles in eLearn Magazine.
Last night’s #lrnchat seemed to have even more participants than previous ones, including the one described in eLearn Magazinee by Dave Ferguson and Christy Pettit. It felt more like a cocktail party – with a mention of drinks even. But no hors d’oeuvres or dancing.
Since I missed most of it (other demands: bedtime stories and the like), I turned to a participant who did not seem to miss a tweet, Clark Quinn, who summarized:
The topic was organizational equivalents of the ePortfolio use in the academic world. The range of knowledge about ePortfolios surprised me; many people seemed unfamiliar with the concept. On the other hand, that made it a great learning occasion, which is a frequent occurrence.
There are always new people, it seems, and it seems they take a bit to get up to speed, then start pitching in. Most seem to get it, though I suspect a few get overwhelmed by the flow.
The topic really got me thinking about what would constitute the components of an ePortfolio, and I considered things like independent task performance, work-based task performance (both always with a reflective component on the thinking underlying the choice of approach), 360 perspective on performance.
Jay Cross noted that it’s about your network, indicating that part of your portfolio might be who you know. I took that in a separate direction, thinking about having people indicate who they respect in the area, who’s theories they follow, etc.
Realize that many other conversational threads are often going at one time!
As always, people crack jokes left and right, too, sometimes topic related, sometimes deliberately misinterpreting a statement. Jay’s comment led to a subsequent crack: “Sorry, dude, your social network is not the caliber we’re looking for in this position.”
All in all, rapid fire learning and fun with a lively and aware crew.
Thanks, Clark, and also thank you to the people who said hi to me. No one wants to be a wallflower.
Anyone agree – chat is such a blase term – #lrnparty next Thursday?
An advantage to the classroom, for me, if that I focus on the teacher. When someone isn’t a good teacher, certainly my mind wanders, but it’s usually to what skills need improving. There are limits to what can be done appropriately in a classroom besides being attentive. Enter e-learning: does it encourage multitasking because students are on their computers, which is where they already spend time playing games, reading email, etc? In Paying Attention to Attention, Michael Feldstein and I wrote, “Multitasking is not only common – many practice it with pride.” I know from my own experience how easy it is to be distracted by other demands on my attention.
A Boston Globe article, Multi-tangle, points out that working memory is limited and that everything we do, even the things that seem automatic (with the exception of what we can do in our sleep like breathing), tax the brain. The article goes on to point out that multitasking is becoming part of our culture; which brings me back to my question: does e-learning create a culture of multitasking?
I find it fascinating to see who is reading eLearn Magazine. Our readers from July-September 2009 came from 176 countries and territories, the top ten being United States, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada, India, Philippines, Germany, Spain, Malaysia, and Taiwan.
It is even more interesting to hear from them about how they found us and what they like. Linda Urban wrote:
Once again, I followed a link in an interesting sounding tweet related to online learning and found myself at an article in eLearn Magazine. This time, it’s Mitigating Conflict in Online Student Teams, by Richard Dool, with some good solid suggestions based on experience working with teams. One last week I really enjoyed was Michelle Everson’s article, 10 Things I’ve Learned About Teaching Online. And then there was the great experience of using the #lrnchat twitter meet-up, recounted by Dave Ferguson and Christy Petit, which opened up a whole new learning mode for me.
I continue to be delighted by the depth and breadth of knowledge that I find at eLearn Magazine. Thanks so much to those of you who gather and present this information – as well as to all the contributors!
Thanks so much, Linda, for letting us know what you’ve been reading and enjoying.
I have been interested in the Kindle ever since Mark Notess wrote about it. As a book lover whose first job in high school was in the Brookline Public Library, I was unable to imagine the joys of curling up with a Kindle. Disclosure: I have never even held one, although I have seen some of the competing products. And my uncle told me that he got one for my cousin, Eileen, who loves it.
Okay, so maybe I am on the fence about using a Kindle for casual reading. What about for education?
The Boston Globe reported on the use of Kindles by 200 college students given free ones by Amazon.com. They found that “some students miss the decidedly low-tech conveniences of paper: highlighting, flagging pages with sticky notes, and scribbling in the margins.” Students reportedly did not like the small keyboard and took fewer notes. They missed page numbers. It was hard to read on a dark early morning bus ride. Etc.
Pluses: the weight.
I wonder if a different design is needed to support students, and, if so, would the same one work for online students as those on campus or on the job?