TravelinEdMan

There's a whole lot of MOOC'en going on! (or: "The Multimedia MOOC")

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Tue, 08 May 2012 06:58:00 +0000

There's a whole lot of MOOC'en going on!

Seems much is happening in the MOOC (i.e., Massive Open Online Course) world and in open education in general. The field is brimming with VC announcements and partnerships. As these appear, there are juicy debates about what the field is and what it should enable people to do. Of course, some of the debate is coming from those who have had a MOOC-like experience in the past and have concerns about how it is being portrayed today.

Suffice to say, that the field, whatever its name, is hot. Sizzle. Sizzle. Zap. Zap. If you don't watch out, you're gonna get your fingers burned (or so says the Alan Parsons Project a long time ago). Much about open education has been in the news the past week or two, including the announcement of edX. "MIT and Harvard have committed to a combined $60 million ($30 million each) in institutional support, grants and philanthropy to launch the collaboration." Did I hear $60 million? Yes, I did. Of course, edX comes after all the fanfare of other ventures like Udacity, Coursera, etc.

What is interesting or different here from previous news announcements and press releases is that the goal is not just delivery of online courses to the masses or the joint coordination of technologies to offer these online events. In addition to that, MIT and Harvard people also want to conduct research on human learning and the benefits, impact, and delivery methods of online instruction as well. Such "new" research directions and added attention definitely bodes well for those of us in instructional technology, distance learning, educational psychology, and learning sciences; especially those of us in the online learning trenches for the past couple of decades. Perhaps someone will actually read through some of it.

The Multimedia MOOC: Part 1 (News from Cyberspace)
So much to read, watch, and listen to since this month began. Yikes! As I stated in my previous blog post, it is getting extremely difficult to stay abreast of every news item, blog post, or seemingly major announcement. But attempt to keep up, we must.

There are many ways to try to keep up. I list a few of them below. You might notice that in parallel with the edX research focus, they address many senses or ways to learn. Let's start with the obvious area of text on the Web.

#1. Read: First, for those who relish text, there is plenty of that as well. There are articles in Huffington Post, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and the NY Times all covering the same event. The Washington Post's article on this story on May 2nd was titled "Harvard, MIT announce new partnership that will offer free online classes." They all pretty much say the same thing--there is a transformation happening in higher education today from all this online and open education material. I am not sure that is the case, or that it is so sudden. However, it is wonderful to see the awareness of open education rise among the general populace.

As the days pass by, op-ed pieces like one by David Brooks in the NY Times appear, The Campus Tsunami. And of course, there is debate about all the press; especially such op-ed pieces. Just read Joshua Kim's response in Inside Higher Education, "David Brooks Confuses MOOCs with Online Learning" which appeared yesterday morning. A few hours later, Wired magazine was commenting about the importance of the research componet in the edX announcement in a blog post, "Harvard-MIT’s edX Brings Research Focus to Cloud Ed." And the comments sections of each article add fuel to the virtual debate and conversation.

#2. Watch: For visual learners, well, there are many YouTube and other videos of this announcement, both long (37:35) and short (2:23). Engaget offers both text and that same short video (MIT and Harvard announce edX web education platform, make online learning cheap and easy, by Michael Gorman, May 2, 2012).

#3. Listen: For those who prefer to earbud learning, there is a piece in NPR on "All Tech Considered" from May 2, 2012: Explosion In Free Online Classes May Change Course Of Higher Education. (Note: In a small update to my original blog post, on May 10, 2012, Inside Higher Education posted an article, "MOOCs and Machines" by Steve Kolowich. Steve also conducted an interesting and informative interview with Candace Thille, director of the Open Learning Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University and a leading advocate of intelligent teaching software. This interview is now available in a 19:49 minute podcast about "massive open online courses, data, and what we may soon know about how students learn.")

#4 Reflect: Article after article after article to skim or read more diligently. Video after video to watch and share with friends. Now mix in the NPR tidbit and other podcasts or blog posts and you have a corpus of knowledge and ideas that is bound to start people discussing, debating, and generally conversing. And debate and converse they are. This is a true multimedia type of experience--so much text, so much video, and an array of audio commentary, interviews, and speeches. If Harvard or MIT officials really wanted to study human learning, they might start measuring the recall from their various announcements and press releases.

As I told my dean, Dr. Gerardo Gonzalez, this afternoon, "Everyone seems to be weighing in on this. If we are simply reifying the lecture on a more massive scale and giving it the blessing of both MIT and Harvard presidents as well as Stanford, well then, we may be in for a protracted debate. On the other hand, billions of people have no educational option at present. So the comparison of what we offer now to our present select set of graduate and undergraduate students may be an ill-conceived comparison, or, at least, a highly limited one."

Then I added, "For some, a MOOC, and open educational resources of many types, will be the first sign of access to education. For others, it will be a unique chance for professional development in one’s limited schedule. For still others, it will be an opportunity to experience a global community of co-learners. And yet for others, they will use these contents as a means to find new interests, hobbies, and careers. They might go to college after sampling these educational materials. Too many people are focused on the past and on what is happening today. They do not realize yet that we are in the learning century; and, hence, the types and forms of learning are being extended as well as transformed. Most focus on the transformation part and not on the extension part. I prefer to start with a focus on new opportunities and ways to extend learning in unique ways and to enable the billions of people on this planet who previously did not have access to education a chance to learn."

Dean Gonzalez here in the IU School of Education informed me University Business is offering a discount on their UB Tech 2012 conference at the Mirage in Las Vegas next month (Note: This conference used to be called "EduComm"). More specifically, a discount of $200 will be given to anyone who enters their online competition, "Will edX Improve Higher Education?" They are collecting responses to one question (300 words max) on or before May 11th. They also note that: "One grand prize winner will be selected from all responses to win free airfare to UBTech 2012 (up to a $400 value) and 3 nights lodging at the Mirage in Las Vegas." I think you all should enter! Why not...?

So, they ask: "What’s your opinion? Do you believe edX will truly improve education for everyone?" Do you agree that "Everything we know about higher education is being changed by technology?" If you have an opinion, you might give it a stab at it. The Mirage is fabulous. Great pools of cool water and plenty of sun outside to escape any gambling inclinations inside. More importantly, the Beatles Love show is still playing (now celebrating its 5 year anniversary). It's my favorite Vegas show. And UB Tech 2012 looks to have some great speakers, including Temple Grandin who "has been the subject of numerous profiles, books, magazines and radio and television specials." See above link and read why she is so famous and popular. I can also recommend this conference since I keynoted it two years ago when at the Mirage and had a grand time in a lovely corner suite. EduComm (i.e., UB Tech) people know how to run a conference packed with information as well as entertainment.

The Multimedia MOOC: Part 2 (My Personal Contribution)
As I started reflecting on the events for the past week or 2, I realized that I have been contributing to the Multimedia Mooc monster. No, not just with with my 54 page monster emerging learning technologies syllabus, but with various interviews and videos. There are articles to read, videos to watch, and audio files to listen to.

#1 Read. For instance, I told my dean that there are many benefits to all this open education stuff. In fact, back in 2009, I wrote an article for eLearn Magazine with 30 reasons why it is an interesting and important trend, "The World is Open for a Reason: Make that 30 Reasons!." (see also PDF of that article). Among the 30 are 10 reasons why colleges and universities would get involved in open education; 10 reasons why instructors or instructional designers would; and 10 reasons why students or potential learners would use it.

I also informed Dean Gonzalez about the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) that I am doing for Blackboard/CourseSites people now. I thought he might like to know why I am still very much in teaching mode despite our spring term grades being turned in yesterday. And I am not just teaching a few students hanging around for the summer. Nope. This course, "Instructional Ideas and Technology Tools for Online Success," now has over 3,600 enrolled. Dean Gonzalez is Catholic and I think he is saying a prayer for me the next time he goes over to St. Paul's. I hope so anyway given that over 500 people attended the first of five synchronous sessions last week Wednesday. We will have 4 more synchronous sessions during the month of May, each at 4 pm to 6 pm EST. This week, we talk about addressing learning diversity and learner preferences or styles. My Read, Reflect, Display, and Do (R2D2) model is among the focal points for that discussion. There will be dozens of examples shared.

#2 Watch: If interested, anyone can still register for the MOOC. If not sure, perhaps watch my video introduction to the MOOC. Still not sure? Why then, perhaps enroll and watch session #1 from last week in Blackboard Collaborate/Elluminate and see if anything is interesting. That session addressed online motivation and retention with my TEC-VARIETY model. Need more incentive? Well, if you enroll, you will find three free chapters from my upcoming book on online motivation and retention in the MOOC with 30 ideas or activities for online motivation and retention. There are no requirements. Your learning, your interactions, your selection of resources, and your attendance is totally up to you.

#3 Listen (or read): Many people might be wondering what a MOOC really is. Others might wonder why I agreed to do this one. Well, you can listen to an interview, “Audio/Massive Open Online Courses: Taking Learning to a New Level” that I gave a few days ago to Amrit Ahluwalia who is a writer for The Evolllution. If you want the condensed version of that phone interview, you can simply read the 2 page article that Amrit generated from it or flip through The Evolllution.

#4. Reflect: Seems much is happening in this space. Many people are contributing to it. To understand my perspective on MOOCs, you might listen to the longer audio file above or read the shorter article (see link above). You might scroll further up and watch the video introduction I did to help you gain some insights into the MOOC I am doing with Blackboard/CourseSites people. in contrast to some MOOCs that might be aimed at understanding a particular theory or technology trend, this one is more of a professional development experience in how to teach online. You might also read my article with 30 reasons for the emergence of this open education movement. In fact, as I recommended to Dean Gonzalez, you might use some or all of these 30 reasons as a starting point or as talking points for conversations about online courses and programs or strategic planning meetings for this world of openness and sharing. Or perhaps take a look at the free stuff we have posted at my World is Open book Website.

So much happening all over the world. Multimedia can help us learn--text to read, videos to watch, and audio files to listen to. Seems a few short years ago, this was definitely not the norm. But today with bandwidth widening, storage capacity going up while storage costs plummet, and accessibility increasing, there are many learners demanding such multimedia access. Some want animations, some simulations, some audio with their text, and others just want to see it in video format.

We can also access content when hiking, when on a boat, when out on polar ice, or when simply walking down the street or running the Rails for Trails here in lovely Bloomington, Indiana. You can get content when flying above the earth at 30,000+ feet. For instance, you might check out the May issue of Delta Sky Miles Magazine.

Special Issue: The Virtual Classroom: What’s new—and what’s next—in the brave new world of online higher education and corporate training.

Article: "Learning Revolution: The gurus of online higher education make the case for distance learning and weigh on where it’s headed, "by Steve Calechman. (single page view).

I was fortunate to be interviewed for it (see page 101). There were a slew of my colleagues and friends are in this article as well. These e-learning gurus or heavyweights include: Larry Ragan from the Penn State World Campus, Chris Dede from Harvard, Margaret Riel from Pepperdine University, Mark Milliron from Western Governors University (WGU) Texas, Joel Hartmann from the University of Central Florida, and many others. Many of these people have contributed to the online learning world for a decade or two or even longer. To have us all assembled in one issue sure is cool to see. Equally cool is that they included a picture of each of us. It is certainly great to reconnect with all these thoughtful and warm people, even if just in print or in a cyberspace article.

Unlike the MOOC stuff above, there is just text to read--though in both virtual and physical formats. Someday soon, such articles will have QR codes for an augmented reality experience. Taking your iPod, iPhone, Droid, or some other mobile device, you might hover above one of our pics and get an audio file to listen to or a video or animation to watch. Such technology already exists and is finding increasing applications in educational settings. For instance Craig Kapp from NYU often showcases augmented reality with children's books with his company ZooBurst (video). You might also look at the Aurasma Demo for the learning possibilties. Those interested in museum learning, might watch this piece from the BBC last week, "Top Gear presenter James May meets his virtual self."

Anyway, it was great to see Delta becoming aware of the importance and impact of online learning. If you look at the ads on the side, they are not losing any money on this one. After a dozen or so not so great experiences flying Delta and United last year (including times when they could not find the runway), I can now finally say, "Thanks Delta Airlines!"

Unfortunately, I am not flying in May. Please let me know if you see the article when in the air. Happy readings, listenings, and watchings. As you do, you will see that "There's a whole lot of MOOC'en going on!" Yes, there's a whole lot of open ed going on...The world is truly becoming open for learning.

Open-access articles on the "Digital Campus" about open access

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Wed, 02 May 2012 06:31:00 +0000

Are you interested in open education and alternative learning routes? Are you concerned about the regimentation of schools and academic programs? I know that I am. I always have been. I never really liked traditional schools and schooling. Fortunately, emerging learning technologies often provide options for learning. Audiotapes, TV, satellite, radio, CDs, etc. As many people know by now, TV and correspondence courses saved my sanity back when I was a highly bored corporate controller and CPA back in the early to mid 1980s. And today the Web is saving countless lives.

However, it is getting harder and harder to keep up with the news in learning technology and open education. I am not sure how anyone can be an expert in online learning or open education. What is interesting is that today this is a hot topic and front page news. Back in 1984, it was not. And now with venture capital pouring in, this space will be expanding even more. More open access articles will be published about open access. And finance people (I used to be one) and marketing people will begin to take center stage. Is it, "exit stage right" for academics and researchers...? I think not. There is so much to research here. My team is asking many open educational resource (OER) questions.

But each day there is something pressing to read from Education Week, the NY Times, the Washington Post, the USA Today, Time, eSchool News or eCampus News, Chief Learning Officer, Wired, or the Chronicle of Higher Education. Well, now there is a special issue in the Chronicle of Higher Education on the Digital Campus. This issue came out online on April 29, 2012 and the paper edition was in my mailbox this afternoon. The articles within it are definitely emphasizing this wave of open education. The world is open for learning as we all know by now. Don't agree? Read on. And on and on and on. There are so many examples today of how one can learn online in extreme and not so extreme ways. As the previous link indicates, my research is now in extreme learning.

There is one article by Katherine Mangan in this special edition that immediately caught my attention. It gives anyone reading it a sense of wonder about where, when, and how learning can occur. The title is "Open Education's Wide World of Possibilities" (Note: you may need a password for this article now. Earlier today, you did not. If you cannot access it from the link above, try here (Note: this is an alternative link from the Chronicle of HE) or try here instead (for a blogger post of the article)). Three sources for this article? Well, actually, I found about 20. This is just another example of the open learning world.

When reading this intriguing article, you will "discover" that learning can now take place from Tibet while herding yaks, from the northern tip of Canada while collecting scientific data, from soup kitchens and orphanages in Mongolia, and so on. Dentists in rural parts of Afghanistan are upgrading their skills from shared online videos from the School of Dentistry at the University of Michigan. College kids are passing classes in which they were initially "floundering" after finding open educational resources which helped them learn. Former accountants (like me) are teaching science and winning awards after "plowing through" online lectures and Khan Academy materials. MITx, Udacity, iTunes U, Peer 2 Peer University, Saylor.org, and many other resources are springing up to change the learning possibilities for the people of this planet.

These are exciting times indeed. How do the different open-access courses compare? What do you get? Videotaped lectures? Guest experts? Access to the instructor? Online study groups to learn with?Asynchronous discussions? Syllabi? Audio files? You can read more about what is offered in different free online courses in a chart comparing their content. That article is called: Open-Access Courses: How They Compare.

What exciting times these are! I wrote about some of this in a newsletter piece for the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) Online Newsletter back in October 2009 (The Wide Open Learning World: Sea, Land, and Ice Views) as well as in my World is Open book. Today anyone can learn anything from anyone else at any time.

You can read about John Boyer's fascinating class at Virginia Tech with more than 2,600 students. The course is in geography and is called "World Regions." Read this one and you will hear about a professor who is truly loved by his students. He goes all out to help his students learn. And learn they do. Boyer brings in guest experts from around the world. And he uses many types of free and open access technologies like Ustream, Facebook, Twitter, shared online videos, and Skype to help them learn. In effect, Boyer is a role model for this open educational world that we are now in. The article is called "Supersizing the College Classroom: How One Instructor Teaches 2,670 Students."

Speaking of which, my MOOC for Blackboard that starts later today at 4 pm EST (and is every Wednesday in the month of May at that time) now has over 3,200 people in it. Wow. Hope you can join in. The course will remain open for registration during the month of May. No worries if you sign up late.

Here are a couple of other articles in the special issue (or from that day) that might be of interest:
1. The Imperfect Art of Designing Online Courses, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Dan Berrett, April 29, 2012.

2. Social Networks for Academics Proliferate, Despite Some Doubts, Chronicle of Higher Education, Katherine Mangan, April 29, 2012.

There are many more articles in this special issue. That is enough for now. You can find them from the first link in this blog post.

When you are done browsing and reading them, you might consider signing up for the MOOC. Hope to see some of you in the Blackboard/CourseSites MOOC or beyond. We will try to address all this confusion with a couple of simple frameworks or models for making sense of it. That is the hope anyway. And perhaps the ideas discussed or presented in it can help a life or 2 (or more). Fingers crossed

Video Intro for Upcoming MOOC and IU Press on the Event

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 06:46:00 +0000

With 2,800 people already signed up for the Blackboard MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) that starts this Wednesday at 4 pm EST, I was asked to do a video intro (see below). It is a little over 12 minutes long. It was the longest of the 5 or 6 takes we made last week Thursday afternoon. I try to explain the upcoming events in the MOOC. We will meet every Wednesday in May at the same time.
Video Intro to Blackboard/CourseSites MOOC. Dr. Curt Bonk: Instructional Ideas and Technology Tools for Online Success, 12:25, April 27, 2012.

I had a ton of support from people in the Instructional Consulting (IC) office within the School of Education at IU. Thanks Peter. Thanks Karen. Thank Eulho. Thanks Miguel. Thanks everyone.

The registration for the MOOC will remain open during the course.

As I said, IU has been highly supportive. Last week, there is a university press release (IU School of Education professor Bonk to deliver free online course on online teaching) as well as an article in the student newspaper (the Indiana Daily Student or IDS; i.e.,

"IU Professor to offer online teaching course"). And my instructional systems technology (IST) department had a short online news story as well (i.e., Open Web Course Launching in May, April 26, 2012).

This is the largest class I have ever done. There might be more people enrolled in this one class than all my combined classes during my 23 years of teaching in higher education since my doctorate. It will be a fun experiment. My blog post from April 19th has most of the relevant information in it.

I look forward to meeting some of you in a couple of days. And, of course, I definitely cannot wait to see a few old friends and former students around the planet. The focus of this MOOC will be pedagogy or instructional strategies for teaching online, though it will also include much information on emerging learning technologies. Time for bed.

Here's My Spin on "Chronicle Spring"

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 17:25:00 +0000

Chronicle Spring: Anyone out there flipping through the online or "wired" version of the Chronicle of Higher Education lately? It is filled with advice columns each week (and sometimes daily). The weekly paper version is too. Articles can be found on completing dissertations, writing and modifying resumes, applying for jobs, job interviewing techniques, midcareer mentoring, when and how to give notice that one is leaving for another place, departing or retiring from academic life, and so on. There is so much advice out there, my head is spinning.

The past 6 or 7 weeks have given us all ample stuff to read about life as an academic in between grading papers, serving on committees, and conducting research. Given that we had "Arab Spring" last year (see this interactive timeline of Arab spring from the Guardian), I think we should name the spring of 2012, "Chronicle Spring." There sure is a plethora of career advice and mentoring articles coming from the online Chronicle of Higher Education the past month or two to support that notion. Listed below are a few such articles; most of these are from the past couple of weeks, but all are less than two months old.

Ten Sample "Chronicle Spring" Articles:
1. My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Dissertation, April 8, 2012, Rachel Herrmann, The Chronicle of Higher Education.

(Note: The essence of the above article--get done! Few people write dissertations that change the world. As I said, get done! I tell my students the same thing. Sure, 1 or 2 doc students in 10 (at most...more like 1 in 20 or 1 in 100) will come up with a fantastic new model, theory, instrument, research method, etc. But the vast majority will not. Most of them, however, will provide useful insights into some topic area and nudge their chosen field ahead a bit, but their work will not be of the earth-shattering variety that is reported in Time, Nature, or Washington Post.)

2. Midcareer Mentoring, Part 1, March 19, 2012, Female Science Professor, The Chronicle of Higher Education.

3. Midcareer Mentoring, Part 2, April 16, 2012, Female Science Professor, The Chronicle of Higher Education.

(Note: During the past week or two, I have shared the above two articles on "midcareer mentoring" with many friends and colleagues who recently obtained tenure and many of them quickly returned notes of thanks. Apparently, this article about strikes a chord with people as they think about whether it is time to leave their current institution or organization or perhaps to stay and perhaps retool with a sabbatical.)

4. Why I Tossed Your Résumé, April 17, 2012, Brent Miller, The Chronicle of Higher Education.

(Note: This article has some quick comments on why your resume may be tossed from the pile of applications into the nearest bin as well as an insight or two or how to get one's resume/CV noticed and perhaps get the job. It is personally funny and touching in parts since I have experienced many of the things mentioned when on search committees in the past.)

5. Graduate Schools Need to Improve Career Counseling, Report Says, April 19, 2012, By Stacey Patton, The Chronicle of Higher Education.

(Note: According to this article, "the number of jobs requiring a master's degree will increase by 22 percent over the next eight years, and the number of jobs requiring a doctorate or professional degree will increase by 20 percent." However, there is limited career counseling for graduate students about their respective job options. This lack of help on career pathways and options could be a reason that these advice and mentoring articles in the Chronicle of Higher Education are so popular today.)

6. The End of the Affair (about the pain of turning down a job offer), April 18, 2012, George David Clark, The Chronicle of Higher Education.

(Note: This is a short article that has also struck a chord with friends of mine who had difficulty accepting one offer over another.)

7. You Will Not Reject Me. I Will Reject Me, April 17, 2012, Allison M. Vaillancourt, The Chronicle of Highe Education.

(Note: The essence of this one is that many brilliant people lack the personal confidence to apply for jobs for which they are interested and are highly qualified. Very sad I think. As such, it is an important article to quickly skim through and reflect upon. Is that you?)

8. A Few Thoughts on a Graceful Exit, April 20, 2012, Gene C. Fant Jr., The Chronicle of Higher Education.

(Note: Clearly, you should be fair to those around you when you have a job offer that you are likely taking or indeed have taken. If you have hired the movers and scheduled a pick-up time for your furniture and put your house on the market, you better tell someone you are leaving and need to be replaced on the fall or spring teaching schedule.)

9. Work-Life Balance Is Out of Reach for Many Male and Female Scientists, March 8, 2012, By Audrey Williams June, The Chronicle of Higher Education.

(Note: this article uses a recent survey data report to foster a discussion of better ways to foster a work-life balance; especially in STEM fields. According to this survey of over 4,200 scientists and researchers around the planet, 48 percent of women were not pleased with the way work and personal life mesh, whereas that drops to 39 percent for men. Both figures are way too high.)

10. In the midst of all of these advice articles, of course, there are discussions about salaries. And there are charts and tables to lend support to such discussions. For instance:

Professors Seek to Reframe Salary Debate, April 8, 2012, by Audrey Williams June, The Chronicle of Higher Education. Along with that article is an interactive Table of salaries and detailed data on the different colleges profiled.

(Note: Definitely worth playing with the interactive data chart. It is eye opening to see where my university ranks when compared to other places around the USA.)

Ten Causes of Chronicle Spring:
Had enough of all these articles? Me too. I have enjoyed each one but my brain is going a tad mushy with all the advice, recommendations, and data points. I think there are many reasons for the increase in all the advice and guidance columns and increasing need for career mentoring. Here are ten such reasons (as you can see, I do like the number 10).

1. Spring, Spring, Spring: It is springtime and people are getting interviews for new positions and pondering whether to leave their current institution or organization or not. In addition, spring is a time for renewal and reflection. Summer is around the corner, and if you do not teach at that time, it can be a time for much writing productivity and advancement of one's research. These advisory types of articles can help one plan for summer.

2. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs: The job market is clearly picking up. Seems nearly all my current and former students on the job market are getting interviews and some of them have multiple job offers. That was not the case a year or two ago. Part of the reason is retirements. Of course, all is not rosy for those getting positions today since, at many institutions, the faculty replacement policy is 1 person being hired for every 2 or 3 retirements. As such, mentoring and advice is needed on whether to take such a position.

In my current discipline, instructional and educational technology, things are really heating up. The Chronicle of Higher Education, in fact, has been documenting some of the current explosion in venture capital for learning technology companies (see list of start-ups at the bottom of this article on Piazza; there are others as well; 3 Start-Up Announcements From the Education Innovation Summit and Online-Education Start-Up Teams With Top-Ranked Universities to Offer Free Courses). As you pan through such articles, it is clear that there are many job opportunities out there for those who want to work outside of academia.

In addition, nearly all college and university campuses and government agencies now need instructional design and distance or e-learning learning support for their online and blended courses. Those seeking a job in instructional technology, educational technology, or e-learning on a college campus or in a government, corporate, or military setting (or even in a school district), might see the jobs portal from my department (Instructional Systems Technology (IST)) at Indiana University or my personal portal of over 30 job Website portals. And there's always the jobs database from the Chronicle of Higher Education to peruse through.

3. Mistakes, Mistakes, Mistakes: Because we are coming out of a recession, no one wants to make a mistake and pick the wrong place to move to or make a bad decision of any kind. At the same time, most people do not want to wait too long to make a move. It is a nerve-wracking situation for many. They need advice and mentoring.

4. Information, Information, Information: So many articles to read and learn from in order to stay abreast of what is happening today. So much to consider in terms of one's career. How can anyone keep track of it all? I know lately I have seen a surge of people seeking advice about their careers, whether they be graduate students, assistant professors, or associate professors. Some want advice on writing their resumes or CVs. Others want to know about interview questions that they might be asked (see my blog post on that). And others want to know whether they should focus their careers in a couple specific areas; and if so, how. That is just a small sample of the questions I am getting the past few weeks.

5. Flow, Flow, Flow: Some people are seeking happiness and flow. They want to have a richer, better, and more meaningful life. And they seek out advice columns and personal mentoring for such. It is hard to balance a career and family life; especially, after surviving a system with so many hoops and hurdles like getting a master's degree or a(n) Ed.D. or Ph.D. We are conditioned to be working all the time and to be competing with others around us (either implicitly or explicitly). Stop! Stop! Stop! I recommend people enjoy the journey and help as many people around them as they can. There is something to be said for going with the flow. There is something to be said for having a high quality of life. Just focus on your own flow state and ignore the stuff happening around you (or don't focus on flow...just exist within it). Do that, and all will be well.

6. Models, Mentors, Maintaining Meaningful Relationships: Many graduate students and faculty members lack a personal mentor, coach, or guide around them who cares about their personal growth and is willing to devote significant amounts of time to help them reach their full potential. Such meaningful relationships take time to build, nurture, and maintain. Open access articles found online can be a short-term solution. But, we certainly need both.

7. Who Knew? Too New!: Many of the people I talk to are new to all of this stuff. Some have never interviewed for an academic position before. Others are in their first academic post and it is going so-so or perhaps it is highly frustrating. Still others are doing great and love their job and institution but want to excel at an even higher level or nonetheless want to explore options. All want to read these articles found in Chronicle Spring.

8. Options, Options, Options: Part of the reason for the spike in these mentoring and advice as well as the rising number of career related inquiries that people like myself are getting lately is that there more options for someone graduating today that there were 23 years ago when I graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. One area where those options are particularly obvious is in teaching. Today, one can teach online fulltime or part-time. One can teach blended. And you can alternate between online, blended, and face-to-face teaching. Such online teaching opportunities will only increase in the coming decades.

9. The Digital Scholar: As part of the movement to online environments for teaching and learning, the Web also offers many news ways to be a scholar or should I say, to be a digital scholar. You can also build a career with your podcasted interviews, wiki-generated books, blog postings, open access research articles and conference papers, Twitter posts, and Webcasted lectures. As I mentioned in my blog post a few days ago (A Close Up Look at an Upcoming May MOOC), during the month of May, I will be doing a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for CourseSites people who are part of Blackboard. In just a little over a week, over 1,000 people have expressed interest in this course. Keep in mind that the official sign up is not until tomorrow. A MOOC was never part of my teaching or career plans when I graduated from Wisconsin back in 1989. Those teaching in a MOOC or open teaching type of situation are clearly going to require extensive advice and a bit of handholding. And so will their department chairs and deans.

10. Preparation and Confidence: If you know your colleagues and others in your field are reading these advice columns, then there is a feeling that you must as well. Reading as much as you can and discussing with others your perspectives and insights from these articles will help one feel better mentally about the current situation or possible places to apply or target. The more you are prepared, the better you will be. Four years ago, I blog posted about the types of questions one might be asked at an face-to-face, phone, or Skype interview as well as the types of questions that the interviewee might ask (it had 30 of each; Bonk's 30-30 Rule: Questions for Higher Education Faculty Job Interviews). I also wrote a series of blog posts with writing tips (a particularly popular one was on Writing Tips for Starting an Academic Career).

Final Thoughts: There are assorted other reasons for this rise in the need for career mentoring, advice, and support. Nearly everyone seeks a high quality of life. Nearly everyone I know in academia seeks to perform at the highest level possible. Nearly everyone has questions about their next move as well as their long term personal and professional life plans. Getting advice from online articles (such as the 10 from Chronicle Spring posted above) or from a personal coach or mentor can help one find a potential path to success. What will be your path? What will you be reading during the final month or two of spring and on into the summer? And who will you be talking to about what you read or heard about?

Enjoy spring 2012--i.e., "Chronicle Spring." As part of it, I hope to see some of you at the May MOOC. I will try to show what is now possible in this open educational world. The world is now wide open for learning, teaching, mentoring, coaching, etc. Eventually, we might call this Massive Open Online Mentoring (MOOM). I hope to see that day.

Barack Obama Visits Bloomington--Links to Open Learning World

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 21:41:00 +0000

Sorry...I was fixing my blog this afternoon and this post from late April 2008 got reissued by mistake. It said draft and so I said publish. You can ignore it. Sorry about that. I almost deleted it. But I think it is still relevant four years later. Some of this was written but never used) for my World is Open book a couple of years ago.

The World is Open to Politicians
It is the last day of April 2008. I have just returned home from attending a speech from Senator Barack Obama at Assembly Hall at IU. His speech ended a mere 20 short minutes ago but feels so long ago now. Seems every politician and their immediate family is showing up in cornfields of Indiana these days. I heard Bill Clinton give one of his patented stellar speeches in the same room a few weeks earlier on behalf of his wife and her election bid. Hillary Clinton spoke in there just five days before her opponent and daughter, Chelsea Clinton, was here exactly one month before her mother on March 25th. They have all paraded before us one-by-one. Why? Well, the democratic nomination remains up for grabs and Indiana is one of the key remaining states yet to vote. Our turn is May 6th. And the two democratic candidates each firmly believe that they will be the one who wins in November and brings us some positive change.

Obama gave a thoughtful, humorous, and highly engaging speech for more than an hour tonight in our basketball stadium, which, in effect, is hallowed ground. An exhilarating level of energy was felt for two full hours before he arrived. And the room was packed with what I guess was more than 10,000 people. Much more than Bill Clinton drew. As I alluded to, Obama is running on a platform of change and the continual chanting of “Yes, we can.” When addressing the issue of why he is running at what some consider a young age of 46, he referenced Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1964 book, “Why We Can’t Wait,” and said “we cannot wait and that is why I am running right now for president.” When it came to education, what he said was telling. Obama detailed many social, political, and economic problems facing us and a few gut wrenching stories of those he has visited in Indiana who lacked jobs or health insurance. He then argued that it is an excellent educational system on which our future depends. Education underlies any economic might.

I am a former accountant and corporate controller so I have had one foot firmly planted in the business world. However, what I have come to realize is that there is no chance for innovation and creativity, cooperative teamwork, insightful problem solving, and intense competition for the best products without high quality education. Obama had it right. He explicitly stated that the U.S. needed high standards to be able to compete with the kids growing up today in China, India, and other countries. When Thomas Friedman discusses the 10 flatteners of the world, these are mainly economic ones. We need to open the world of education before we can think about flattening the world economically including the normal corporate hierarchies.

Like Bill Clinton said 16 years before, Obama was fighting and struggling for a better life for young people. It gave him a purpose. But the learning avenues today are much different than they were in 1992 when Clinton first ran for the White House. While he did not mention the Web of Learning once during his talk, Obama did argue for the need for increased broadband access. With access kids today can quickly obtain information from online dictionaries, thesauruses, and encyclopedias. They can also find a wealth of resources in online portals with information wars, species of animals, chemistry experiments, diseases, and famous poets. You name it, there is likely free educational content on it. They might also listen to an expert discuss a topic of interest in a podcast or online audio file. Expert comments and ideas can also be found in a blog posting. At the same time, online video lectures or Webcasts might be available from other experts presenting additional information or different viewpoints. There might also be free online books or documents from these experts that were posted to the Web. And the accumulated knowledge from these learning quests might be posted to a class wiki project site.

Young children are not the only ones impacted by open educational resources and other online tools and resources. Take adults voting in this education. Their learning vehicles are much different from 1992 when we elected Bill Clinton to the White House for the first time. Back then people like me had to rely on newspaper and magazine articles as well as books to find out about the candidates. Powerful stuff indeed, but today there are so many more options. I can now write an email to someone from the Obama campaign with my questions or perhaps Obama himself and get a quick reply from his hotel room laptop or mobile device. I can watch online videos of Barack Obama giving similar speeches in other cities and perhaps see how his ideas shifted during the long months of this campaign. I might download articles he has authored or reviews of his two books. Or I might browse his early life and career, personal life, educational background, presidential campaign, and books in his Wikipedia page. When done, I can scan the Web for PDF documents of his work or podcasts that I might listen to from his supporters and detractors. I can even read blog posts related to his ideas. And if the Web is down that day, I can simply read his books.

I am just scratching the surface. My point is that the educational system of a decade or two ago was much different from what we have today. Today we can no longer look at school buildings or physical locations as places for improving learning. Today much of our learning is online and it is open and free. The world is much more open, not just a bit flatter. Will anyone recognize it? Will anyone do anything about it?

A Close Up Look at an Upcoming May MOOC

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 03:58:00 +0000

Wow. Seems this week is filled with news of online education start-ups and the beginnings of universities that offer massive open online classes (MOOCs). Here are three such articles from the past two days alone.

1. Online-Education Start-Up Teams With Top-Ranked Universities to Offer Free Courses, by Nick DeSantis, Chronicle of Higher Education, April 18, 2012.

2. Online Education Venture Lures Cash Infusion and Deals With 5 Top Universities, by John Markoff, NY Times, April 18, 2012.

3. MIT and others launch a tech education revolution: Four programs deliver traditional -- and nontraditional -- education options for techies, by Patrick Thibodeau, Computerworld, April 19, 2012.

With all the announcements lately about open education and free online courses, I thought I should do one too. Well, actually, I was asked to do one and I had to think it over for a few weeks before saying "yes." Such decisions are never easy; especially, given the two books projects I intend to complete this summer.

Well anyway, here is the news. CourseSites from Blackboard is having me teach a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in May to thousands of online instructors around the world. It will last 4-5 weeks in May.

This course will be free and open to anyone with Web access. Who doesn't want free professional development? Feel free to share with friends, colleagues, students, administrators, etc. Those who attend will get badges of completion. See below for details.

Blackboard Note related to the event: According to Blackboard, "As a free resource for individual educators, CourseSites has removed a common barrier of access to teaching and learning technology. First, all CourseSites instructors can now choose to make courses available for open enrollment. We believe this will opens up a new realm of Open Education possibilities and opportunities. Second, we are proud to launch our Open Course Series: Empowering Learning through Community with our first open course on “Instructional Ideas and Technology Tools for Online Success” led by Dr. Curtis Bonk and the CourseSites team. We invite you to try this new feature and join us for our first open course."

Per Blackboard: Announcing a Free, Open Course With Dr. Curtis Bonk

Course Title: Instructional Ideas and Technology Tools for Online Success

Link to the landing page: Interest Form

Blog Announcement: Empowering You Through Openness and Choice

CourseSites Blog

MOOC Host: CourseSites (from Blackboard) announces a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)

Audience: Thousands of Blackboard, CourseSites, and other online and blended learning instructors around the world. Again, feel free to share this information with anyone.

Course Description: Motivating students and creating community within blended and online learning environments is crucial to academic achievement and success. This open course will provide both theoretical concepts and practical tools for instructors to improve motivation, retention, and engagement within blended and online courses.

Enrollment: Open Enrollment begins Monday April 23, 2012. Please fill out the interest form to learn more.

Course Duration: April 30th to June 4th (A total of 5 weeks). In actuality, the five sessions will take place each Wednesday at 4 pm EST in May. See below.

Course Objectives:
• Identify and apply relevant motivational strategies and instructional techniques
• Construct thinking skill options for different types of learners and subjects
• Design and share innovative thinking skill activities as well as unique cooperative learning
• Map and apply instructional models and ideas to online learning tools

Scheduled Sessions: Wednesday May 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30 at 4 pm EST (see below)
1. Motivation and retention online (TEC-VARIETY model): Wednesday May 2nd; 4 PM EST (Hour #1 Bonk Presents; Hour #2 Q&A)

2. Addressing Diversity and Learning Styles (R2D2 model): Wednesday May 9th; 4 PM EST (Hour #1 Bonk Presents; Hour #2 Q&A)

3. 50 Hyper-Engaging Ideas: Critical, Creative, Cooperative : Wednesday May 16th; 4 PM EST (Hour #1 Bonk Presents; Hour #2 Q&A)

4. Question and Answer (Q&A) Session: Wednesday May 23th; 4 PM EST (Up to two hours of Q&A)

5. Blackboard/CourseSites Overview: Wednesday May 30th; 4 pm EST

Twitter Note: The Twitter hashtag will be: #bonkopen

About Dr. Curtis Bonk:
Curt Bonk is Professor of Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University and President of CourseShare. Drawing on his background as a corporate controller, CPA, educational psychologist, and instructional technologist, Bonk offers unique insights into the intersection of business, education, psychology, and technology. A well-known authority on emerging technologies for learning, Bonk reflects on his speaking experiences around the world in his popular blog, TravelinEdMan. He has coauthored several widely used technology books, including The World is Open, Empowering Online Learning, The Handbook of Blended Learning, and Electronic Collaborators.

Final Thoughts: This experience will build on my previous efforts to make learning open and free to the extent possible. For instance, I have already created a set of 27 free videos on how to teach online. Second, I teach a course on the open learning world. In fact, my tentative fall 2012 syllabus is already posted (yes, I have my fall 2012 syllabus already drafted...and it is open to the world...all 55+ pages of it). Third, last summer, I helped Ray Schroeder from the University of Illinois at Springfield with his MOOC on Online Learning Today and Tomorrow. In fact, I interviewed my good friend Ray on the MOOC experience in an earlier blog post back in July. Those are but a few examples.

Finally, I should note that I will be speaking at the Blackboard World Conference in New Orleans on Wednesday July 11th. The MOOC in May (or May MOOC) will hopefully lead to a great event in July (where people signing up for the MOOC can meet face-to-face and chat about various topics). Hope to see you there in New Orleans or online in May at the MOOC or both. If you come to my session in New Orleans or online at the MOOC, please say hello.

Meeting Arnie Duncan at SXSWedu in Austin while attending the SITE Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 22:17:00 +0000

Below are some unedited notes from Arnie Duncan's special talk at the SWSEedu conference today. I am hopping on a plane here in Austin and will edit and refine them if and when I get home (we are delayed in Austin (1 hour). I later was delayed another 5-6 hours in Memphis and got home at 4 am).

I was at the SITE conference in Austin this week. In particular, I was at SITE to run a special 2 hour symposium on Tuesday March 6th with Dr. Mimi Miyoung Lee from the University of Houston. The title of the symposium was: "Emerging Technologies for Informal Learning: Transforming Traditional Education from the Inside and the Outside." Hour #1 was on "Mobile Learning, Gaming, and Digital Books" and Hour #2 was on "Nontraditional, Adventure, and Extreme Learning." I spoke in the second part on my new research area of Extreme Learning. It went very well. My good friend, Paul Kim from Stanford and Seeds for Empowerment, gave an exceptionally great performance in Hour #1. So did everyone else.

Symposium on “Emerging Technologies for Informal Learning: Transforming Education from the Inside and the Outside”

SITE Symposium Presenters:

Hour #1: Mobile Learning, Gaming, and Digital Books , (Session Chair, Joan Hughes, University of Texas at Austin)
1. Scott Warren, University of North Texas.
2. Priya Nihalani and Michael Mayrath, GetYa Learn On (GYLO), LLC.
3. Paul Kim, Stanford University.
4. Ke Zhang, Wayne State University.

Hour #2: Nontraditional, Adventure, and Extreme Learning. (Session Chair, Paul Resta, University of Texas at Austin)
5. George Veletsianos (homepage), University of Texas at Austin and Brant Miller and Justin Hougham from the U of Idaho.
6. Curt Bonk and Justin Whiting Indiana University.
7. Ana-Paula Correia, Iowa State University.
8. Mimi Miyoung Lee, University of Houston, Discussant.

However, today (Thursday the 8th) I had to leave SITE in the morning since I had to take the place of Paul Resta from UT Austin at the SXSWedu conference. I was a panelist at a session on disruptive education (“Where is the Disruption: Panel of Experts Discuss.” After my talk, Jane McGonigal talked about gaming. Michael Mayrath from GYLO (Get Ya Learn On) invited me to be on the panel with him. Dr. Paul Resta from UT Austin was supposed to be on it but he had to help run the SITE conference (see pictures with Michael below).

And then we all went over to Arnie Duncan’s invited talk. Note are below.

After the talk, Arnie Duncan went across the street to the Hilton. I got a couple of pictures of him on the way.

He went to a private room on the 2nd floor to meet with people from the Austin Chamber of Commerce. Thanks to a friend, I got to meet Arnie Duncan at this private meeting. Standing behind me was Karen Cator, a former Apple executive who is director of educational technology for the United States Department of Education. I had seen Karen at the NSF Cyberlearning Summit in DC back in January at National Geographic. Fortunately, she recognized me.

I guess I stuck out since I had a one day temporary badge (their badge printing machine was not working when I checked in). I also kinda stuck out since I was taking his picture as he spoke and I was not from the Chamber of Commerce in Austin. Still, before I knew it, I got to ask him a question about open education (I asked about the $2 billion OER initiative at the high school and community college levels that was announced back in June 2009). It was around that time that some folks standing behind me were wondering who I was (secret service?). Smile. Karen Cator recognized me and I got to stay. Arnie Duncan, in fact, answered the question--new developments are coming in the next week or two. A picture from the intimate session is below.

Though I did not realize it at the time, standing next to me was Geordi LaForge (i.e., actor LeVar Burton) from Star Trek Next Generation. He was also Kunta Kinte from Roots (back when he was around 20) and the host and executive producer of Reading Rainbow. Very cool. On the other side of me, were some venture capitalists and other high ranking Austin officials. In addition, I met a well known VP at PBS. His name is Rob Lippincott, Senior Vice President of Education for PBS. He was really interesting. Here is a picture with him and my friends Michael Mayrath and Priya Nihalani from GetYaLearnOn (GYLO). GYLO is pushing ahead in the digital book and mobile learning space.

Here are my quick unedited notes from Arnie Duncan's Keynote at the SXSWedu conference in Austin. I should point out that this conference had 3,000 people this year in just its 2nd year (Year #1 last year had 1,000 people). That is some huge growth.

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Arnie Duncan's Speech at SXSWedu:

These are my notes (the exact transcript from the U.S. Department of Education can be found at ED.gov from the U.S. Department of Education: The New Platform for Learning; March 8, 2012).

Per Arnie Duncan: I should tell you that my wife and kids laughed when he got asked to speak at a technology conference. I am known as a dinosaur in terms of technology (at least in the past I was). But, at least to some degree, that has changed. I have had to change. No doubt about it, technology is a game changer in education.

Technology offers many things including greater personalization of learning. It also eliminates geographic barriers to knowledge. It replaces the bubble test. Technology is the new platform for learning. And technology competency is not an option any longer. Progressive educators are using technology in bold ways to change educational possibilities. Take, for example, Marks Edwards, Superintendent, from Mooresville, South Carolina (as an aside, see this NY Times article; it may require a password; here is a PBS news story and interview as well as video that does not require a password--very interesting).

Duncan continues...He gave students in grades 4-12 a laptop. It increased readings, retention, and math test scores. Mark’s teachers are roaming conductors. The teachers (and the technology) can challenge student 1 on 1. Cost not prohibitive. It only costs a dollar or so a day to do this in terms of their technology costs per students. They are not spending more than other districts; instead, they are spending smarter.

Here are some more successes. The Open High School in Utah--they are adopting all digital content and no physical textbooks which are quite expensive. The Florida Virtual School—they have close to 100,000 students attending virtual schools. Then there is Idaho which is making huge strides in offering online classes to all students (see Idaho Digital Learning--as an aside, I spoke at their online conference last summer). I should also mention Joplin, Missouri (see March 7, 2012 article in Edudemic); this includes $500,000 donated by the UAE by the way. After the tornado tradegy, students came back to school and got their own laptop. Finally, at the School of One in NY which I visited, all students have technology and are engaged in their own learning.

In terms of initiatives at the federal level, in 2010, we issued a comprehensive technology plan (National Education Technology Plan 2010; more info here). Some 47 states have adopted. With this plan, there is hope to tailor information to student needs as well as parents and teachers. Using technology, students (and teachers) can become more productive. I need to mention Karen Cator who is on my team in the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education. Karen can you stand up. Please give her a round of applause.

The list of panels at this conference is evidence of change—-thhere are sessions on interactive art, game design for STEM, etc. I see one session on "Supersizing the classroom" with some 3,000 students and beyond. I do not recommend such supersizing in most educational settings. But it can definitely change college introductory courses. Clearly, there is tremendous creativity here. While education moves slowly, the world is changing.

There is much potential with these changes. Keep in mind that K-12 ed is a $650 billion industry. And higher education is over a 1 trillion industry. As a result, there are loads of decisions about what and how to teach that we will face in the coming years.

Khan Academy is offering hope for kids and changing how they learn. Sal Khan is creating opportunities for kids to learn when and where they want.

In addition to the Khan Academy, there are many great partnerships emerging that are pushing states to be more friendly in the use of technology in education. Former Governors, Bob Wise from West Virginia and Jeb Bush from Florida, involved in that.

The Obama Administration has done much including $4 billion in Race to the Top monies. In addition, much attention is now placed on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). There is also the Recovery Act and a push to increase broadband access. Of course, we are trying to close the digital divide. Targeting low income opportunities to connect to the Web.

In higher education, we have done much. For instance, Pell Grants have gone from 6 million to 9 million in 3 years. And, as we all know, community colleges are bursting at the seams with more and more students. Some community colleges have 12,000 students on their campus in a single day (I think that is the number he said).

All told, educational technology can provide educational equity and level the playing field. It definitely gives a boost to students with disabilities. Technology helps teacher leaders in tough schools. We must continue to de-privatize education (I really do not know what he meant by that). (A pic is below).

Technology can individualize teacher training programs. Technology can help in many aspects of education. Assessment is behind everything—but education lags behind in this area (i.e., assessment). Technology must make learning interactive, effective, engaging, and fun. More that the classroom mimic the real world, the more engaged kids will be in learning.

Superintendent Edwards talks about the engagement and creativity—with one click you can go beyond your classroom and community. It challenges kids to think critically. College kids can access open access books and articles to reduce costs. All the curricula that they are trying to create are open source and open access.
Sal Khan has 2,700 video and 190 million downloads since he started and it is free. MIT, Yake, Tufts, and others are doing this. China, India, Brazil, etc. American entrepreneurs need to lead the change. I am here today to plead with you to support technology to change education.

We must educate our way to a better economy. We need both teachers AND computers. Great technology can transform the lives of many people. Next week, much cutting edge music will be here in Austin. People coming will have cell phones, iPads, mobile devices, etc., and will share their work in countless ways. People are sharing and recording in countless ways. So many ways that the sharing of music happens today. Still technology cannot write “Born to Run” or “Let it Be.” Technology is a critical tool to learn and to teach.

We must educate our way to a stronger economy. Technology tells us so much about ourselves and others. Yet, we come to Austin since there is no substitute for FTF interaction. The future of American education includes access to technology. But a great teacher is still needed to inspire us and help us. Teachers take your products from the drawing board to the classroom. Our kids are waiting for it and wanting it to happen now.

Thank you so much and I am happy to take your questions.

(Note: The above text is not a direct quote or perfect transcript as I added my interpretation and transitions as well as linkages to associated Web resources and articles. Nevertheless, it is pretty close to what he actually stated.

Again, if you want the exact transcript, see ED.gov from the U.S. Department of Education: The New Platform for Learning; March 8, 2012.)

Question and Answer from the audience at SXSWedu...

Person #1. What about college costs: Working on ways to reduce costs.

Per Arnie Duncan: This past year, 40 states reduced funding to higher education. Our priorities are out of whack. Universities must try to maintain costs or reduce costs. In budget proposal, there is $5 billion of incentivize states. There are real challenges on the higher education side. We need a college scorecard—for actual costs. Both states and universities must step up.

Person 2. What is the role of for-profit gaming companies and video companies in education?

Per Arnie Duncan: I believe that both for-profit and non profit organizations are very important; especially for STEM. (Note: this was a very weak answer. There were no creative ideas offered about how the for-profit industry could work with different educational sectors...I wanted to hear more about potential joint research and development, awards and recognitions, incentives, partnerships, proposals, etc. Nothing. Just, ya, "I believe that both are important.")

Person #3. Teacher satisfaction and morale is low. What to do?

Per Arnie Duncan: The Recovery Act saved hundreds of thousands of jobs. The status of the teaching profession has been beaten down. Technology cannot do it by itself. Teachers are way underpaid. I think that we need to double the salary. We lose too much talent. As a country, our values must change. The vast majority of teachers are high performing. In Korea, they treat teachers as Nation Builders. That is how they are viewed in Korea. I would like teachers in the USA to be treated more like that.

Person #4. In terms of building connectivity, in all of your travels to other ministries and departments outside of the USA, what would you like to see here?

Per Arnie Duncan: The jobs go to where the knowledge workers are. We have the 2nd education summit coming up. In Singapore, 90 percent of people are not allowed into teaching. They screen out the lower performers. And they compensate teachers better. There is a high bar to entry. More support and respect. And better compensation. Such an approach will change the country here. Talent matters. We need to attract great talent. That talent will transform this country.

Person #5. What about the “Learn to Earn” act. Tell me about it…?

Per Arnie Duncan: I am a huge fan of entrepreneurship. Not just theoretical and book learning. We must encourage it. Gives relevancy in the community. (Again, not much of an answer here. So, for more on the Learn and Earn Act, see this article in a Policy Forum Blog. This blog post from Lynn Miller Associates is even better; apparently, the goal is "implement high quality entrepreneurship programs in communities all across the country.")

Person #6. I am a public high school teacher in Texas. Thanks for your words of wisdom. I would like to know how you can account for the cognitive dissonance between No Child Left Behind and what kids need in the real world.

Per Arnie Duncan: Are you from Texas? I am going to meet with your governor (Rick Perry of Texas) to talk to him about a waiver for NCLB. There are 11 states with such a waiver already. (Some laughs, snickers, and applause.)

Person #7. Mass communication student who works in the non-profit sector. I no longer have subsidized loans. I used to have them but then I was suddenly cut off. What gives? I was given no notice. What can I do?

Per Arnie Duncan: I would like help you. See my people here and ask them to check into it...and I assure you that they will. (Again, more snickers and faint applause.)

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

It was great to meet him:

The end. More soon when I land. Well, my plane did not land until 7 hours after it was supposed to. I got home to Bloomington at 4 am and had to drive up the following day to keynote the Midwest Scholars Conference in Indianapolis which was run by Indiana Wesleyan University.

Ok, I have updated this blog post 3 days later (Sunday March 11, 2012). Hope it is improved. Time for a run.

Pushing Off for the Philippines: Presentations, Papers, and People, and

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 12:06:00 +0000

I am sitting in the Indianapolis Airport. I am on my way to the Philippines for the first time. Tried to get here a couple hours early to catch an earlier flight to Atlanta but they cannot change my flight. Ug. Got economy comfort for most of the floght except from Altanta or Narita, Japan. That will be a long haul cramped up like a sardine.

As per usual on such flights, I will have the fun and lovely experience of grading papers from my R546 class on instructional strategies. This is a Saturday class from 8 am to 1 pm that I teach each spring for 8 weeks. Yesterday, we met twice in order for me to go. Super ug! But we made it through. I had the Indiana Teacher of the Year, Stacy McCormack, present during the 2nd session, She is a real dynamo. And she is a role model for my students as she illustrates how creativity + hard work can land you a trip to the White House and a photo-op with President Obama. Stacy teaches chemistry and physics, both of which are critical areas targeted by the federal governnment. No textbooks or boring lectures for Stacy. Nope, she believes in highly active and interactive lab experiences.

Anyway, as I said, I am heading to a conference in the Philippines. You can always get my current (and previous news and travels off my homepage. I will give a plenary talk on Thursday at 1st International Conference on Open and Distance Learning. The theme is creating spaces and opportunities. They expect about 300 people. Color PDFs of my talks (including a 3-part masterclass on Wednesday) as well as my plenary session are posted to my archived talks in TrainingShare.com. You will also find my new paper on Extreme Learning there. I wrote this in a day...think it came out ok (stole much from a recent NSF grant proposal; actually from sections that we had to delete due to page length limitations). Extreme Learning is my new research focus (see team and mission and such).

Please send me a note if you will be in Manila for the conference this week Wednesday to Friday. It shoud be great.

I will also do talks at 2 universities south of Manila (Feb 21 and Feb 28). I'll be back on the 29th. Color PDFs of my 8 talks can be found at my archived talks in TrainingShare.com as well. I will speak at the University of Batangas . After it, I will get a couple of days at Boracay Beach. Boracay beach is ranked top 10 in the world). My speaking will end at the University of the Philippines Open University on Tuesday February 28th. And then I fly back on the 29th.

My friend Dr. Melinda (Mel) Bandalaria from the UPOU is arranging it all. Sweet. She is so great. Back in 2008, she was among a group of about a dozen people who helped me run a symposium on e-learning in Asia at the E-Learn conference. Those presentations later became articles in a special issue of the International Journal of E-Learning and then a print-on-demand book with AACE. It will be fanstic to catch up with Mel and meet many new friends in the Philippines. I know my friend Dr. Kumiko Aoki from the Open U of Japan will be there as I just got an email from her.

I will update this blog from the Philippines. When I return, I will attend the annual IST conference in my department at IU March 2nd and then the SITE conference in Austin, Texas March 6-8th (see our special back-to-back symposium in Austin on emerging learning technologies that Mimi Lee from the U of Houston and I are arranging there). Finally, I will keynote a conference for Indiana Wesleyan on March 9-10 in Indianapolis. Wow.

Time to board for Atlanta.

Cracking the Whip: FEDx Videos from the NSF Cyberlearning Research Summit at National Geographic in DC

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:20:00 +0000

So, is NSF cracking the whip to better understand how to impact learning with technology? I think so...well, actually, what I detail below was a quite friendly, informative, and engaging event. Much life. Much energy. Much passion. And dozens of exciting visions of the future of learning.

What am I talking about? A couple of weeks ago (January 18, 2012), I had the extreme pleasure to present in the Grosvenor Auditorium at National Geographic during the Cyberlearning Research Summit for the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Washington, DC. This event, which was organized by people from Stanford Research Institute (SRI) and Lawrence Hall of Science along with NSF, was one of the most unique and engaging events of my life. In additon to NSF, organizations like the Gates Foundation were among the sponsors. Not surprisingly, the audience was packed with interesting people to meet.

People flew, drove, walked, ran, taxied, bused, and subway rode into the event. As a result, I got to see many friends at the event, including Tom Reeves from the University of Georgia, Roy Pea from Stanford, Sarah Haavind from Leslie University, YaTing Teng from Adobe, Michael Wenger formerly of Sun Microsystems, and I finally got to physically meet with Christine Greenhow who is now at Michigan State University (we have met in the cyberworld of conference event planning a couple of years back). Both Tom Reeves and Mike Wenger have chapters in my 2006 Handbook of Blended Learning, so it was great to introduce them to each other. In addition to the folks mentioned above, my fantastic friend, Dr. Sherry Hsi from Lawrence Hall of Science was among the main organizers. Here is a list of the organizers.

Organizers
Summit Chairs
Jeremy Roschelle, SRI International, Menlo Park
Sherry Hsi, Lawrence Hall of Science, UC Berkeley

Advisory Committee, Reviewers, & Editors
Chad Dorsey, Concord Consortium
Daniel Edelson, National Geographic Society/National Geographic Education Foundation
Judi Fusco, SRI International
Chad Lane, University of Southern California
Linda Polin, Pepperdine University
Mimi Recker, Utah State University
Patricia Schank, SRI International

As a TED-like event, we each got a short amount of time to make our points. It was NOT TED, however. Given it was for the federal government, I wanted to call these FED talks. Someone else said that they were TED-ED talks. I countered that is was like one of those special TEDx talks, so about FedEx. Ya, like FEDx, the delivery was very fast with mostly on time deliveries. And no one messed up. In the practice session the day before, there were various technology issues and hang-ups. But these were ALL taken care of (Sherry Hsi made sure of that...she cracked the whip...smile Sherry...just kidding my friend. Sherry was awesome in getting us prepared). Thanks to that practice, only one person had a video that would not play and he had a back-up plan so all was well.

There were around 24 speakers that day who each got about 10 minutes to discuss their research and vision of the future for learning with technology. There were also opening Welcoming Remarks from Danny Edelson from the National Geographic Society Janet Kolodner from the National Science Foundation, and Jeremy Roschelle from SRI International. After that, to "Set the Stage," we heard from my friend, Constance Steinkueler Squire from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (who was interviewed and quoted in the USA Today last week in an article on the benefits of video games and what the White House is currently doing in this area to promote gaming). The day ended with a closing reflection from Karen Cator from the US Department of Education. I enjoyed her quick comments and insights. I should also point out that Jeremy Rochelle acted as the host for the day and introduced each sections of talks. He too did a marvelous job.

The Cyberlearning Summit speakers were all nominated and then they had to put in a proposal. Only a few were selected (I was most lucky). Do check out the amazing speakers and their bios, the program, location, the topics, the graphics and videos of the talks, and more information exists in the About section. The also had a scrolling list of quotes from many researchers, scholars, and educators that played throughout the day.

For those like me who have a preference for visual representations of ideas, they hired a graphic facilitator to draw out our talks (here is a sample...a visual was drawm for each set of 4-5 speakers; mine is not yet posted). How cool is that! I has only happened to me once before (back in February 2011 in Saudi Arabia). The artist was Jim Nuttle. I highly recommend him.

Here is part of the description in the Cyberlearning Summit wiki:

"The Cyberlearning Research Summit was a high-profile gathering in Washington DC, featuring top quality research-based speakers who shared visions for the future of learning with emerging technologies. In the style of the TED conferences, speakers aimed to:

Discuss big ideas on at the intersection of emerging technology and research on learning;

Articulate the “transformative potential” of a direction or approach;
Communicate a sense of the broad research on this topic;

Engage, inspire, and stimulate thinking in this new program area.

Building on those visions, participants gathered as birds-of-a-feather to crystallize a sense of the unique opportunities that should be the focus of the research community now. We seek a community sense of how to couple the learning sciences with related fields of innovation to leverage new technology affordances for the deepest learning outcomes. Through the contributions of diverse participants, the summit sought to exemplify the “transformative potential” of cutting edge research and development to dramatically advance learning – and is expected to be influential in identifying promising directions for advanced R&D efforts."

There is now a YouTube Channel with these talks. My talk, "Stretching the Edges of Technology-Enhanced Teaching: From Tinkering to Tottering to Totally Extreme Learning" was just posted. This talk summarized explained the casual informal learning settings brought about by technologies such as Wikipedia as well as those deemed more extreme. See the new Extreme Learning website that my team is in the midst of designing.

I hate watching myself speak and, so, I have only watched a few seconds of my talk, but others say they like it. You can find it here. As you will see, I eventually found my way into my Indiana Jones (i.e., Indiana Curt) outfit, but did not feel comfortable enough to crack the whip during the 10 minutes (where were my friends, Aaron Doering and Charlie Miller from the University of Minnesota, when I needed them?). I did, however, get the audience to shout "WE-ALL-LEARN" a couple of times (based on my World is Open book) and jump up and down. You will have to watch to see I guess. I cannot watch it.

There are many brilliant talks from that day on mobile learning, robotics, virtual humans, cyber-civics, big data visualization, and complexity models of different kinds. One of my favorites was William (Bill) Swartout's talk, Virtual Humans for Learning. It is a definite must see! See also my old friends Elliot Soloway and Cathie Norris discuss mobile, "Yes We Can-Now: All K-12 Teachers Enacting Learn-by-Doing."

How might you use? Here are 10 quick ideas off the top of my head.
1. Create a complete course around these videos on emerging technology for learning. As part of this, you might interview 1-2 of the presenters each week.
2. You might crack the whip and assign your students to watch ALL of the videos for one week of a semester.
3. Require students to read the research of particular presenters and then watch their video or vice versa.
4. Assign your students watch each of the 5 Talk Sets for themes.
5. Have your students select their favorite presenter and write to him or her.
6. Have your students engage in a role play related to different presenters, perhaps in a class symposium session (this is what I like to do).
7. Have your students create a wiki glossary of the key points of each presenter.
8. Organize virtual discussions of 1 or more the various presentations and ask the presenter to come in and lend feedback on the points made.
9. Assign different students to blog on each session.
10. Have students reorganize the session presentations for the day in a way that makes most sense to them.

There is much you might find useful from that day.

What a totally cool day! They need to do this again. Perhaps an annual event.

Of course, when we were done, there was a free reception (and drinks) in a wonderful open rooom at National Geographic. Oh my, what a day. We got on the bus at 7:15 am and got back at 10 pm or so. When I got to my hotel, my dear friend Paul Kim from Stanford University and Seeds for Empowerment arrived for a chat. He just happened to be in town for a meeting intended to change the world (I thought I had just attended one such event but Paul's was equally world changing). As an aside, Paul and my son Alex Bonk (Jabonk Productions) go to Tanzania this week to work with teachers and students there using mobile devices. Alex will do some facilitation of the training but is mainly there for his photography and filming skills. I think if NSF does another one of these events that Paul Kim should be first on their list to present. That guy is phenomenal.

I took 4 or so pages of notes from the NSF Cyberlearning Summit. Perhaps I will blog post all of that. Is anyone interested in reading?

In the meantime, watch some of the videos from January 18th. Or do I have to crack the whip?

CQR Pro or Con?: Should schools use as much digital technology as they can afford?

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 02:47:00 +0000

Sorry no blog postings for a while. Been a rough semester, first of travel, and now of trying to complete an NSF grant.

One shiny moment occurred today. A special issue of the Congressional Record Quarterly (CRQ) came out today (Note: You may need a subscription to view it...sorry about that). The issue is devoted to technology in the K-12 schools and higher education. It is titled "Digital Education." The issue looks great; in fact, many people and projects from the "Extreme Learning" arena that I am researching are mentioned in it. For example, Aaron Doering from the University of Minnesota who has helped found Earthducation and Polar Husky. There is Paul Kim from Stanford who founded Seeds for Empowerment (he is quoted on page 1008). My son, Alex Bonk, is currently working with Paul on his Seeds for Empowerment project.

Congressional Quarterly Researcher (CQR) homepage; Entire issue: CRQ,
Digital Education (Note: It will be listed at the homepage only until the night of December 8, 2011), December 2, 2011 • Volume 21, Issue 42, Can technology replace classroom teachers?, By Marcia Clemmitt

There are many other superstars in this issue. James Gee from Arizona State University of Arizona is asked about the skills learned from game-based learning on pages 1004 and 1005. Paul Resta from UT Austin is also interviewed on page 1005. He mentions the inadequate teacher training that often surrounds technology purchases in schools. Gee, Resta, Kim, Doering. Wow.

But wait, there is more! After Paul Kim (p. 1008) mentions how live teachers might support student technology needs when and where needed online, Chris Dede from Harvard is asked about the benefits of interactive games like "River City" which he helped develop. After that, my friend Barry Fishman from the U of Michigan comments on his goals in studying the motivational principles of games. A few pages later (p. 1014), Fishman is back to discuss the educational benefits of mobile apps. The following paragraph signals the return of Aaron Doering and his ideas about adventure learning and student-generated knowledge from these adventures. Also on page 1014, my friend Christine Greenhow from the University of Maryland discusses the benefits of social networking. And there are many more learning technology experts quoted in this issue.

It is great to see so many of my friends and colleagues whom I highly respect quoted in this issue. Their work is an inspiration to me. Therefore, it was an honor to be asked to author the Pro side of the op ed piece that CRQ people gave me on the technology spending debate in schools. The exact debate is: "Should schools incorporate as much digital technology as they can afford." My response and the entire issue is freely available for a week or until the night of December 8th, 2011.

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Pro and Con. Note: I wrote 538 words. My article, however, had to be reduced to 400 words. My original longer version is below. See what you think.

Congressional Quarterly Researcher (CQ) Researcher, op-ed on Computers in K-12 education.

Position of Advocate: Should schools incorporate as much digital technology as finances allow?, p. 1117

Curt Bonk, Indiana University (2011, December 2, p. 1017). Op Ed (Pro side--expanded version--a shorter 400 word version appeared in CQR) (Note: Paul Thomas from Furman University has the con side.)

We have entered a unique moment in history. Learning technologies have far outstripped learning theory. There is a ceaseless churning out of digital technologies for schools and teachers to consider. At the same time, budgets are being slashed. What to do? This is no time to ban, control, restrict, limit, or passively ignore possible uses of technology in teaching and learning. Instead, it should be an age filled with heavy doses of learning technology experimentation and creative initiatives.

School administrators, educational experts, teachers, and other stakeholders should map out reasonable scenarios on technology use and learning outcomes. With proper planning, foresight, discussion, and evaluation, there is much that technology dollars can afford, even for the smallest or most impoverished school or district.

A couple of years ago, I authored the book, “The World Is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education.” In it, I detailed many free and openly available resources for learning. With careful planning of one’s technology dollar, technologies such as laptops, tablet computers such as the iPad, or other hardware can be acquired with a wide range of free tools and applications for learning basic mathematics, spelling, grammar, or scientific concepts. Not content? Why, then, perhaps you might have students explore learning portals containing the great works of Shakespeare, Darwin, Einstein, Jane Austin, Jane Goodall, the Dalai Lama, and most major historical figures and leaders one can name from the past few millennia. And such contents are often created by NASA, the U.S. Federal Government, the Smithsonian, National Geographic, the United Nations, MIT, Berkeley, the British Library, UNESCO, and many other reputable and expert-reviewed sources.

Learners can collect data with online survey tools, manipulate and analyze it with spreadsheet and statistical applications, and report it with various presentation and communication tools. Critical thinking, problem solving, and synthesis are all skills that can be enhanced using digital technologies. Why not extend your budgets toward such ends? Thoughtful integration of technology necessitates that we push to the edges of all perceived limitations; this includes pedagogical limitations, access limitations, time limitations, complexity limitations, and cost limitations. Learners today can spend their entire middle and high school years learning with free resources. Now top it off with hardware, software, and administrative costs that situate students in authentic contexts analyzing real world data and interacting with their global peers about the results of their investigations. If this requires a cheap $20 membership in some service that fosters such expert advice or interaction, that is $20 well spent.

Digital technologies offer so much hope today. Students can be inspired by mentors and role models from all corners of the Earth. Feedback on one’s ideas can be received in the early morning hours or late at night. E-books can be loaded into mobile devices that can represent events through simulations, animations, videos, and hyperlinked text.

Effective learning requires an environment be designed for multiple paths to success. In the twenty-first century digital technologies—social networking, e-books, shared online video, mobile applications, virtual worlds, collaborative tools, etc.—enhance the learning opportunities for untold millions of learners. The maximization of technologies in the learning space, in effect, provides a distinct advantage for learning. Now is the time to move ahead, not retrench or retrace.

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Hope you enjoyed it. What is you opinion? Should schools use as much digital technology as they can afford? I think the operational word here is "use" not "afford." But that would need to be a longer argument.

Of course, I wish I had the space to write twice as much. With that, I could have embedded a few more specific examples. Reminder: the entire CQR special issue will only be listed on the homepage until December 8th, 2011 and may require a subscription by your university or organization to be able to view it. The Pro-Con debate I was in may end up available later on as there is a portal to all previous Pro-Con debates in CQR.

Enjoy the weekend and the football games; especially my alma mater Wisconsin Badgers vs. Mich State.

The “Explainer” Explains His Creative Process: A Close-Up Discussion with Michael Wesch

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 01:01:00 +0000

Visit to Kansas State and Interview of Michael Wesch:

I wrote about Michael Wesch from Kansas State University in my World is Open book. He became known for several YouTube videos on the digital generation that went viral during the past few years. And that has brought a ton of attention to the anthropology program at Kansas State as well as to Michael who is now an associate professor of Cultural Anthropology. Michael’s Digital Enthography blog is also high read and referenced and his channel in YouTube is watched by millions.

Several of his more popular videos are listed below.

1. Web 2.0…The Machine is Us/ing Us; 11,477,707 views, posted January 31, 2007.

2. A Vision of Students Today, 4,424,863 views, posted October 12, 2007.

3. The Visions of Students Today 2011 Remix One (Trailer), 19,713 views, posted January 26, 2011.

4. An anthropological introduction to YouTube, 1,715,085 views, posted July 26, 2008, the Library of Congress, recorded June 23rd, 2008.

5. Rethinking Education, 33,145 views, posted January 24, 2011 (Note: this is the one I perhaps like the most since there are many Web 2.0 stars in this one. Watch it and see who you recognize.).

Now Back to My Story...
Michael and I had a chance to sit down and reflect when I was at K-State back on October 4th to 6th. I was in town to keynote the 6th annual Axio Learning Community Conference at the K-State University Alumni Center. It was a lovely place in which to present. I had a great time at the conference as well as dinner afterward with David Young (my host) and several others.

As you can see from the pics below, K-State is a lovely place.

I was honored to have Michael Wesch attend my talks; especially since he is on sabbatical this year. Michael is a fantastic person. As a result, seems everyone in Manhattan knows him, from 4 year old kids we walk by on the streets to emeritous faculty members on campus.

After my talks were over on the 5th, Michael and I walked to the house he just purchased and is in the process of remodeling as well as building bike trails in the back. It certainly is a lovely place to live...both his house and Manhattan. Michael has some wonderful plans for that house and yard.

Shortly after I got back from Kansas, questions starting pouring into my head that I wanted to ask Michael. It was impossible to get back on a plane and pop over to Manhattan and ask him, so I sent him a few questions about living in Manhattan, Kansas State, but more importantly, I wanted to know about his creative process. Amazingly, Michael found a few spare moments of time as he was headed out the door for perhaps his top invited talk ever, the Future of State Universities Conference in Dallas. Other speakers included Tony Blair, Clayton Christenson, John Howard (the former prime minister of Australia), Salman Khan, Arne Duncan, Martha Kanter, etc., and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush was a moderator. Wow.

Nevertheless, he found some time. Thanks Michael! You are one excellent human being. As you will see, Michael Wesch's answers to my six interview questions provide a fascinating glimpse into the creative process of a perpetually innovative scholar and highly engaging and thoughtful individual. Read on.

The “Explainer” Explains His Creative Process: A Close-Up Discussion with Michael Wesch

Curt Question #1. Hey Mike. You are known for your unique videos that explain new media in education and how education might better address the youth culture. Seems every time I turn around you are producing something fascinating for me to watch, read, or listen to. Can you describe your creative process? What might be some takeaway principles, environmental conditions, or environment components of becoming such a highly creative person?

Michael responds: My creative process begins by trying to quiet all the "should" voices rattling through my head. We all have people (and perhaps more importantly, large and menacing social, bureaucratic, and economic structures) telling us that we Should do this or that, that this is the way things Should be done, that real professors Should do X, Y, and Z, etc. It is an ongoing battle to silence those Shoulds. The Shoulds hold most of the keys to traditional tenure & promotion. They put food on the table. And they have ways to make us feel good when we do as we Should.

But in an environment of constant change, the Shoulds are almost always wrong. This is where you might expect me to rehash that old cliche that we have to silence the Shoulds, listen to our own hearts, get in touch with our core and lead from within - but that's not how I work. I do almost completely the opposite. The only voice that is more distracting than the Shoulds is my Self - so it has to be silenced too. And so I'm left just trying to listen to the world as it is, and listen for what it needs. This is a long process that is really more like a life practice. I just spend hour after hour gathering information, thinking about it, processing it, thinking about it again, questioning my earlier ideas, looking for my taken-for-granted assumptions and trying to challenge those, and on and on for years until there is a breakthrough moment.

People often ask me how long it took me to create “The Machine is Us/ing Us,” which is probably my best-known work. It's hard to answer that question. The actual labor of putting the video together took about 3 days and no more than15 hours of actual work time, but the idea itself came to me even faster - in an immeasurable micro-second.

The entire vision was just there for me one morning and I immediately set out to turn that vision into a reality. But another way of answering that is to say it took over one year (actually, close to 2 years), because that's how long I had been thinking about (and desperately struggling to write about) the core ideas that are expressed in that video. My mom overheard me answering this question to somebody once and she interrupted saying, "Mike, you were working on that your whole life" - which is really more true than any answer I ever had. It is the culmination of decades of work. Things I was doing over 20 years ago when I was 12 are directly relevant to the work.

We're all that way, and that's the real beauty of the creative process. Whatever you create, will in some way, be the culmination of a lifetime of creativity and exploration, and therefore unique and something only you could say in the way in which you have said it.

Curt Question #2. How do you know when an idea might work or when one of your video ideas might go viral? Are there any key steps or aspects to a project that others can learn from?

Michael responds: A great academic video starts with a keen observation. From there it is a matter of relaying that observation by using a pacing that underlines the central emotion and feel you are trying to create, moving the story along with "economy," which is to say you must never tell too much or too little to tell the story. You have to master the subtle art of rhythm, in which every clip and transition matches the emotional & musical rhythm of the piece. The pacing and rhythm help to create a rich texture, and all of this must resonate with profound authenticity - as something more real than real because it reconnects us with the real that we are constantly letting slip right past us in our everyday lives. In this way, video does not really have to make a logical "point" in the manner of an academic paper. Instead it allows us to show the world to others in a new way. My most successful works go on to be used by others to make very different, often contradictory points, which is fine with me. My purpose is to create an artifact that focuses or refocuses important conversations.

Curt Question #3. Perhaps there is a link between exercise and creativity. Apparently, you love riding your bike. Do you jump on a bike to purposely reflect on a new idea or is it your chance to get away and veg out? Have any of your video ideas been designed in your head while riding your bike? By the way, how many bikes do you have? How long are your routes?

Michael responds: I love biking, but it is really just a small part of my larger interest in livable, engaged, participatory communities. The energy I apply in my classrooms trying to create inspiring authentic connections I carry over into my everyday life, and part of that is using a bike to get around town. The beauty of biking is not just that you get exercise, it is that you feel more connected to the world and people around you. You are not encapsulated in your car, so you save and say "hi" to people around you. You stop for more conversations. Ride your bike enough and you no longer just feel more connected, you *are* more connected. I live more-or-less car-free in my day-to-day life. I have a wide range of bikes to help me achieve this, including a snow bike, a basic commuter, and my favorite - a Dutch "long john" cargo bike. The cargo bike is a true car-replacement, with tons of storage space to carry 2 kids, groceries, and more. Our town is no more than 5 miles across at its widest point, and most destinations are within 2 miles, so there is really no reason to drive a car under most circumstances.

Curt Question #4. Your Library of Congress talk is a must see for those interested in new media and the potential impact of shared online video and other participatory learning technologies in higher education and other educational sectors. I find the data in it phenomenal and your presentation style highly engaging. How long did it take you to create that talk? Do such talks evolve or fade away after so much time?

Michael responds: There is about 2 years of research behind that talk, most of which took place in an upper-level Digital Ethnography class at K-State. We worked closely together as a class, and in the end each of the fifteen students submitted a 5 minute clip summarizing their piece of the overall research. I then took those 15 clips and edited them into the videos you see during that talk. Some of it is my own original material, and some of it is taken directly from student projects.

That process took me about 6 weeks to complete. I have been asked to give that same talk a few times since then, so I have kept it updated with new materials and a few new insights.

Curt Question #5. You mentioned to me earlier this week that you have always found computer programming interesting and fairly easy for you. When did you first begin to dabble with computers? How has this evolved?

Michael responds: My first computer was a Tandy PC-8 that I received for Christmas when I was 11 years old. It was really just a fancy calculator, but it understood BASIC. I started hacking away immediately. Like any programmer will tell you, there is a magical moment when you setup a list of commands for a machine and it miraculously performs those commands for you. I was hooked, but I was pretty limited by the little16 digit display. I eventually managed to create a little pixilated superman character that could fly across the screen and crash into a wall on the other side. That was enough to inspire my parents to buy me a much larger Tandy with a keyboard and 4-color screen the next year, and I was off and running. In graduate school I started playing around with HTML, JavaScript, and other web-authoring languages, always looking for new ways that we could present and share our ideas.

When I started the work and research on The Machine is Us/ing Us, I had in mind a simple paper explaining to other scholars why Web 2.0 matters. Writing about Web 2.0 was frustrating though. I knew I would have to *show* them, and the idea for that video was born.

Curt Question #6. In what ways does Kansas State support someone like you (i.e., an associate professor of cultural anthropology and digital ethnography) to get to this national stage related to teaching and learning with technology and the creation of active learning environments or "anti-teaching" as you call it?

Michael responds: While Kansas State has provided plenty of support for my work, I think it is more important to note what they have *not done,* which is get in the way. Nobody has ever said "you can't do that" to me, which has really surprised me considering some of the things I have done. For example, when I published "A Vision of Students Today," which shows some of the worst of K-State (large out-of-date classrooms and disengaged students trudging through an Intro class), I expected some reprimanding. But even after the Chronicle of Higher Education ran it with the headline, "K-State Students report reading less than half of what they are assigned," I still received nothing but praise and encouragement. I imagine some schools would have asked me to pull it off YouTube after that, but it stayed, and went viral. The video garnered over 4 million views, was featured on ABCnews.com, and we became the center of a national debate on college education. We benefited greatly throughout all of this, and have been able to generate some exciting positive momentum towards reforms that are already in place just a few years later.

[Note: here are some pics I took 2 weeks ago when visiting K-State and the classroom Michael taught in and used for his video]

[Note also that there are also new classroom spaces being built at K-State like this one.]

Michael Continues...Kansas State has a long record of big successes, with more national Professor of the Year award winners than any other research university in the US, and our students have received more of the big-name scholarships in the past 25 years (Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, etc.) than any other state university. Overall, we rank 6th, amidst the Ivy League schools. It is a remarkable accomplishment for an "out of the way" place like this, but I think it may be precisely because we are out of the way, we stay out of each others' way, and yet also provide a sense of community where people feel inspired to find their way.

Curt Question #7. (Note: All creative people need nurturance and support for their ideas. Having just visited Michael at Kansas State, I could see that K-State is a highly supportive environment and one that would be easy to settle into and work. KSU and Manhattan are a lot like IU and Bloomington here in Indiana. I heard Manhattan is expecting huge growth during the coming decade. I wanted to know what it was like to work there.)

So I asked him, “You have become an international celebrity in what previously might have been considered a remote part of the world. Why might someone getting their Ph.D. today place the Manhattan's and Bloomington's of the world high on their list instead of San Francisco and Boston?”

Michael responds: I like living in a smallish town because it gives me a constant sense of connection and significance. By "significance" I don't mean that I feel like "a big fish in a little pond." Rather, I feel like everybody's a big fish here. We all matter. I think of Manhattan, Kansas as a "heads up" town, a town where you walk with your head up and greet everybody you meet. You do this because there is a good chance you know the people you see, and if you don't, there's a good chance somebody you know knows them, and that you will meet them later. In contrast, there is that other Manhattan in New York, which tends to be a "head down" town - a place where people tend to keep their head down and dart off to their next appointment. I have some good friends in that other Manhattan, like Daniel Latorre, that are trying to change this through better public spaces, but there is nothing like the feel of a town like Manhattan, Kansas, where everybody matters.

Being a little bit off the map is also liberating. I feel a bit more free to do my own thing and explore the world in my own way.

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I hope you enjoyed the interview with Michael Wesch. During my brief stay in Manhattan, I saw many of the things Michael mentioned. I visited the classroom “A Vision of Students Today.” I also saw everyone in town greet Michael as a personal friend. He is fun, creative, unique, and inspiring. Now perhaps we know a bit more about the Explainer!

I hope to see some of you at E-Learn in Hawaii during the coming week.

Interview with Amy Burvall and Herb Mahelona: A bit of history of "History for Music Lovers"

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 02:26:00 +0000

An Interview with Amy Burvall and Herb Mahelona (History for Music Lovers):

Last month, Amy Burvall and Herb Mahelona were announced as invited speakers at the E-Learn 2011 conference in Hawaii next week. I was excited since I had read about them in the Washington Post and many other places. Yesterday I got even more excited when they agreed to keynote the conference next Wednesday morning (as a late replacement for someone else).

Who are Amy Burvall and Herb Mahelona you ask? They are some of the most innovative people I have ever encountered. And I will get to meet them in 6 days. Among his many skills, Herb is choir director choir at the Kamehameha Schools Hawaii Campus. Amy is known as a leader in educational technology professional development programs at both St. Andrew's Priory (where she taught for 8 years) and Le Jardin Academy International Baccalaureate School. Amy also teachers Theory of Knowledge and World History at Le Jardin Academy. There conference talk is titled "TechnoTroubadours and Teacherpreneurs" (see their bios). Their talk is very impressive as I got a glimpse and so can you. See their prezi presentation with embedded videos. It will be great to have K-12 teachers keynote E-Learn 2011. Fortunately, they are located in Hawaii, though Herb must fly in from the big island.

Amy and Herb are known from their musical creativity with their History for Music Lovers channel in YouTube. Superfantastic stuff. I am amazed by their historical song parodies. I really like their version of Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" as a way to remember the Trojan War. Another one I sing along with at least once a week is Mansa Musa (i.e., "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" by Culture Club). When you land on the History for Music Lovers homepage, you see highly creative song about the history of India, "The Mahabharata" (i.e., "Abracadabra" by the Steve Miller Band). Nearly 600,000 people have seen Amy sing about The French Revolution to "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga. I find it hard not to cry when listening to some of their oldie songs such as the Battle of Agincourt ("As Tears Go By" by Marianne Faithful).

Check their channel out; there are dozens of songs to listen to and learn world history. If someone ever asks you were e-learning can make an impact, well, this is a prime example--mashing up history and music and making it open source for kids all over the planet to listen to and learn from. How cool is that? Very cool! If only my high school such teachers. Perhaps we soon will be turning kids on to not only history but geography, biology, etc., with music.

The lyrics are highly inventive and catchy. I read somewhere that Amy has songs pop into her head when driving home from school and just has to write them down. I understand that since I sometimes experience that when on a plane or a train. Unfortunately, I cannot play music like they can. If Amy and Herb ever go on tour, I think I could listen to them all afternoon and evening at a summerfest stage in Milwaukee. They are highly talented and fun. I think we are going to get spoiled next week and want them at every e-learning conference.

Ok, I need to introduce them next week at the conference so I decided to interview them via email. With permission, below are their responses to this interview. I list Amy first since she was the one I corresponded with.

Curt Question #1. Do you see yourself in the e-learning field when you create a video?

Amy (and Herb): I think at first, not particularly. But certainly after we started posting to You-Tube and responding to fans (mostly teachers, students, and history buffs) and doing various interviews in the field, we did. There is definitely more pressure now as we work on new projects, but we still try to keep it fun and light-hearted, drawing from our own passions instead of catering to others. We’ve certainly learned a LOT about e-learning on our journey!

Curt Question #2. Did you expect to be celebrities in the e-learning space? What is this like?

Amy (and Herb): Haha no way! It’s surreal. I heard from a friend, for example, who was in a coffee shop in Oregon and heard some college kids singing our “Renaissance Man” song [i.e., "Blister in the Sun" by the Violent Femmes]. One fan wrote he was in a museum in Washington and they were playing some of our tunes in the gift shop! And when my students travel they always tell me they meet other kids who know about us. So bizarre. But what is most boggling is that it’s very rare that someone lets you know when they’ve written a blog post or article about you. We sort of have to google ourselves sometimes. And even more crazy was when I discovered one of our lyrics (fleas on rats) was an actual Twitter hashtag!

Curt Question #3. Which 2 music history videos that you created are your favorites and why?

Amy (and Herb): I really love the look and sound of “Elizabeth I”, to the Zombies’ “She’s not There”. And musically, my favorite is “Canterbury Tales”- plus nothing beats that Middle English rap segment. The way I envision “Guernica”, which is in production, might turn out to be my ultimate favorite. For Herb, I know he is most proud of “Joan of Arc”, because we also tried to parody the original White Stripes video…it took quite a lot of time and effort on his part to edit. As far as lyrics go, I think Herb’s lyrics were genius in “Chinese Dynasties” [i.e., "Mambo #5" by Lou Bega] and “Viva Roma #5” [i.e., "Vogue" by Madonna]…I prefer sticking to really specific topics, but he has a gift for synthesizing the broad topics.

Curt Question #4. What is the process like in creating a new video? Any interesting technology challenge that comes to mind?

Amy (and Herb): The biggest challenge for us is time…and now, geography, since we live on different islands. When either of us is inspired to pen lyrics, we do so, because that surge of creativity doesn’t happen all the time. I can go for months without writing a single line and then spew out 6 songs in weekend. Herb then creates the music, and we schedule a time to record. To me, recording is the most fun, and it really doesn’t take that long (maybe a half an hour for 1 song). He mixes/produces the tracks when he gets the time and then we brainstorm what the video should look like. I can never praise storyboarding enough! When we are ready to film I gather all the costume and make-up pieces and props and we head for a green screen. Herb uses a high def. camera and Adobe Premiere and After FX software. When my students make videos, they use Garageband and iMovie. The editing is the most time-consuming, but the more Herb uses the programs the better he gets. I always want to do crazy things that we probably need a Hollywood studio for, but Herb seems to make them happen. He is also a master at Flash animation, an some of our favorites (Henry VIII, Crete, Renaissance Man) are done completely in Flash.

Curt Question #5. What are your hobbies and interests?

Amy (and Herb): Herb is a classical musician at heart and plays for the Kamuela Philharmonic Orchestra, the University of Hawaii symphony, and the Kona Music Society. He teaches cello and piano privately, and is an experienced arranger and composer, who has even written 3 operas performed by the Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus. He enjoys hiking and has been involved in Boy Scout leadership.

Amy is obsessed with anything relating to design – graphic design, interior design, fashion design, etc. – and typically is involved in some related project. Her creative outlets are singing, writing, and photography, but more recently her attention has been on the use and implications of online curation, personal branding, and social media in education. She is often called to train peers in tech integration, and enjoys presenting on the topic. More recently, her interests have drawn her to the “Gutenberg Parenthesis” theory and the work of media philosophers Marshall McLuhan, Thomas Pettitt, and Alejandro Piscitelli, as well as the “EduPunk” movement.

= = = = = = = = = = =

Hope you enjoyed the interview. I also hope to see many of you at the conference next week. If you see me, tap me on the shoulder and say hi. See also the blog post below for the E-learn Preconference Summit at the University of Hawaii next Monday afternoon. The program was just announced and it will be worth it.

The E-Learn Preconference Summit at the University of Hawaii at Manoa

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 17:41:00 +0000

The following is not an "unconference" but a "preconference"...more info below.

“The E-Learn Preconference Summit at the University of Hawaii at Manoa”
It is............Free!!!
Date: Monday October 17, 2011
Time: 1 to 5 pm
(with an optional lunch at 11:00 am and potluck pizza dinner at 5:30 pm )
RSVP (and sign up to present): http://tinyurl.com/Elearn-Summit

Are you attending the E-Learn 2011 conference in Honolulu next month? Those arriving early to E-Learn might be interested presenting their innovative research and development efforts in a highly interactive and informal environment (perhaps expanding on ideas or topics that they will later present at the conference). They might also present a totally different project or initiative (perhaps you have an experimental or pilot project that just got funded or a new technology tool that you have developed). Perhaps you have designed a new instructional model or online learning framework. There will be four sessions and four presenters per session. Each presentation will be 9-10 minutes long. A discussant will end each session.

You need not be a presenter to attend this preconference session, Many of you might want to simply listen to the ideas of others and engage in some intense discussions. Still others might want to bring their graduate students to a highly informative and more intimate preconference session. If so, welcome to the E-Learn Preconference Summit at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Your role: sit, observer, share, present, discuss, or whatever you would like.

If you would like to make a short 9-10 minute presentation of your research or development efforts or just plan to attend without presenting, please complete this form: http://tinyurl.com/Elearn-Summit by 5 pm EST on Friday October 7th. All you need is a paragraph or two and a title, of course. Accepted proposals and a final schedule will be announced on Tuesday October 11th.

See below for event coordinators, location, and schedule. Feel free to forward this to interested colleagues, students, and other guests coming to the conference. We hope to see you there. Taxis can be taken from the Sheraton Waikiki to the Willows or the University of Hawaii. Groups might meet in the hotel lobby 30 minutes prior to the event and share a ride.

Event Coordinators and Contact Info:
Curtis Ho, University of Hawaii at Manoa, curtis at hawaii.edu
Peter Leong, University of Hawaii at Manoa, peterleo at hawaii.edu
Tom Reynolds, National University, treynold at nu.edu
Curt Bonk, Indiana University, cjbonk at indiana.edu

Location:
University of Hawaii at Manoa
1776 University Avenue
College Collaboration Center, Wist Hall 135
Honolulu, HI 96822
(upper left corner on this map, http://manoa.hawaii.edu/campusmap/uhmmap.pdf)

Lunch:
The Willows
901 Hausten Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96826
http://willowshawaii.com/
Enticement: Pics of the restaurant

Note: Cost for buffet lunch is $19.95 plus tax and 15% gratuity (so about $24 should do it). Comes with coffee or tea but drinks are extra.

Tentative Program and Schedule:
11:00 Lunch at the Willows
12:45-1:00 Meet and greet and set up
1:00-1:05 Welcome from Curtis, Peter, Tom, and Curt
1:05-1:50 Session #1 (9-10 minutes for each presenter and brief 4-5 minute discussant at the end of each session)
1:50-1:55 Curt and Curtis lead in brief audience stretching and reflection/interaction activity
1:55-2:40 Session #2
2:40-2:50 Audience questions for first 2 session participants
2:50-3:05 Break and refreshments for 15 minutes (coffee and tea)
3:05-3:50 Session #3
3:50-3:55 Tom and Peter lead audience in brief reflection/interaction activity
3:55-4:40 Session #4 Most Innovative Paper/Idea/Topic Session
4:40-4:50 Audience questions and reflections for sessions #3 and #4
4:50-5:00 Quick comments and reflections from all the presenters, discussants, and hosts
5:30 Potluck Pizza ($5 contributions from those who stay for it)

Final Note: A presentation from Dr. Tom Reeves, University of Georgia, will take place after the potluck pizza. This is free to attend as well.

Second Final Note: Check out the keynote and invited speakers for E-Learn. Among them are Herb Mahelona and Amy Burvall who will give a talk, TechnoTroubadours and Teacherpreneurs, based on their "History for Music Lovers" channel. If you have not seen any of their fascinating history music videos, check them out. Want to hear about the Trojan War song to Soft Cell's "Tained Love" anyone? How about "The Canterbury Tales" to the Mamas and the Papas "California Dreamin?" Ok, then, how about "Elizabeth I" to the Zombies classic "She's Not There"? Seeking something more current, well then, there most viewed music video is "The French Revolution" sung to Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance." There are many more I can recommend. And many topics--Joan of Arc, Napolean, Martin Luther, the Vikings, Julius Caesar, Shakespeare, King Arthur, and so on.

Check em out. Or better yet, come to the E-Learn Conference October 18-21. Better yet, come to the preconference summit on October 17th at the University of Hawaii. It will be highly informative and engaging. The entire week will be a blast.

Third Final Note: By the way, the Sheraton Waikiki is most lovely. And that is where the conference is being held. When E-Learn was last there in October 2006, it was rocked by back-to-back earthquakes like 6.9 and 6.6. The entire building swayed. But it still was a fabulous venure. Some presentation rooms have a view of the ocean as you walk in and out. Gorgeous. I once gave an all-day workshop there (think it was 2003) and I had 100 people in the morning but only 50 for the afternoon. I wondered why. Then, when we took a break I stood at the doorway to my workshop and leaned over and saw 50 people from the morning session waving up from the hotel pool sipping Mai Tai's. This could be you!

The World is Open in "Simplified" China

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 22:50:00 +0000

The World is Open in China:
I am still recovering from jet lag from the Korea trip. This is especially apparent at the end of the week. Of course, it is doubly difficult to be gone at the start of the semester and there is much catching up to do now. However, yesterday, I got some excellent news that I have been waiting on for months. Here it is...announcing ta da da daaa...The simplified Chinese version of The World is Open book is out. It is already sold out on Amazon China. Cool. And sold out on other sites as well.

I like the cover a lot (more than the original here in the USA, in fact, though the USA one is improved in the paperback version which just came out with blue lettering). The Chinese publisher picked the book cover that I preferred. And they are using 6 Amazon-like sites to sell the book. You can check out their book cover selection at one of the first 3 links below. You can also order the book if you so choose. I guess it costs roughly $6 US dollars.

Online bookstore sites for World Is Open book in Chinese:
1. 300 buy

2. Dangdang

3. Amazon China

4. 99 Read

5. Beifa Book

6. China-Pub

Here's Johnny:
The translator was Dr. Jiao Jianli from South China Normal University in Guangzhou. Dr. Jiao (also known as "Johnny") is famous for his blog on educational technology. He is a Professor of Educational Technology and Director of Future Education Research Centre. In addition, he is Deputy Dean of School of Information Technology in Education at South China Normal University. Sounds like a great person to work for or with. Dr. Jiao had a team of graduate students help with the translation efforts. I spoke to them a couple of years ago from a Webcam in my basement office in mid July. It was quite fun. For a few months in the early part of this year and late last year I was responding to questions about the book on a daily basis. Some of my American humor and English terminology was apparently quite difficult to translate. But it is done now.

The publisher is East China Normal University which apparently is known in the field of educational technology. Apparently, it is more prestigious to have a university publisher in China than it is in the USA.

My former student, Dr. Subude at California State at Monterey Bay taught a course with Dr. Jiao this summer at Beijing Normal University (see pics of Subude teaching it and their students). Subude told me that “Dr. Jiao is a highly productive professor and his blog has many followers in China. He is certainly playing a leading role in Educational Technology in China. I highly appreciated the opportunity to work with him and learned a lot during our collaboration.”

The Godfather?
A number of my former students are sending me emails today telling me what the promotional materials are saying. Interesting...first, they say that my name translates well in Chinese. "Bonk" definitely does not translate well in the UK or Australia. Smile. But it does in China. They also menton that the book has already sold out in Amazon China. That is certainly wonderful news.

Next, I was also told that the promo materials refer to me as "The Godfather of Educational Technology." Or Godfather of Instructional Technology. I find this hard to believe since I doubt I could even pass the qualifying exam in my own department or any educational technology department or program for that matter. But if I am considered the Godfather, I want to meet the Godmother sometime. My students better watch out since Monday night I am coming to class dressed as Al Pacino or Marlon Brando. Back to listening to the Who on my iPod and the Quadrophenia song comes on: "The Punk And The Godfather." Ta da da daaa...ta da da daaa...ta da da da.

Anyway, I hope some people can explore the Chinese version of the World is Open book and let me know how well my jokes translate. Soon the Arabic version should be out; in fact, it might already be out. I am checking. More soon.

Finding Soul in Seoul...E-learning Week and Beyond

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 03:29:00 +0000

World is Open in Korea:
I am back from 10 wonderful days in Seoul. First I had to arrive and the wonderful Incheon airport is so relaxing compared to Atlanta, Newark, LAX, Riyadh, Chicago, and other airports I have flown through this year. Detroit was also fabulous. So quiet and peaceful there. I recommend it to everyone. My former student, Dr. KJ Kim, picked me up. She was the last one to see me (and for me to get a picture with) when I departed two years ago when she dropped me off at the airport. KJ is the top person I have published with. We have nearly 30 publications together if you count conference proceedings....it may be over 30. Not sure. She is an excellent writer and determined researcher. Later in the week she had to go to a conference in Taiwan so she volunteered to pick me up.

First Stop...Kyung Hee University:
As indicated in my previous post, during my time in Korea, I had a chance to speak at Hanyang University, Ewha Womens University, Kyung Hee University, and Sungkyunkwan (SKKU) University. First was Kyung Hee University...after fighting intense Friday afternoon traffic (and I mean intense), we arrived just a tad late. Kyung Hee is well worth the wait as it is one the most beautiful universities in Seoul and perhaps the world. Unfortunately, I usually speak in one of the first two buildings on campus and do not get to see much...especially, when we arrive late like that evening.

It was great to see so many former students and friends at Kyung Hee. Makes the 24 hours of traveling well worth it. And then come the gifts including a 600+ gig harddrive from one of Inae's students, Hyunmi Kim. She had come to my talk 2 years previously with a gift. And it is not just any harddrive; this one can fit in your shirt pocket. Cool. In addition, the cover is exquisite with an ancient Korean scene. The mother of pearl business card case from Inae and her Kyung Hee students is also most lovely.

Below are a few pictures from Kyung Hee University on Friday September 2nd. I gave a talk there just 2-3 hours after getting on my plane. Yikes! My former student, Dr. Inae Kang, is there. She is an expert in problem-based learning, constructivism, carnival pedagogy, and museum education. Always a delight to stop in there and see Inae and her students. Inae had a lovely dinner provided to all of us. I gave one short talk on wikis in elementary school and then we all sat down and ate. Next, I gave a longer talk on the use of shared online video to transform education. Inae brought up a good point about the examples that I used were not transformative enough. She is always pushing me to think and that is good, even when just arriving from a 14 hour flight.

Ewha Womens University:
Ewha has a fascinating new entrance built by an architect from France (see below...3rd picture includes many alumni of my program in Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University--Munghee Ju Kang, Young-Soo Kim, Jaesam Chung, etc.). My IST department has a partnership with Ewha so I try to speak there every time that I visit Seoul. This was the third time I spoke there or so I think (2002, 2009, and 2011). The first time I went there, my driver from Sejong University (Mooyoung) thanked me profusely for allowing to drive me there. I asked why and he said that the women at Ewha were extremely pretty and males like him were normally not allowed on campus. I smiled and found out later that he was right.

SKKU...More than 6 Centuries Old:
On Thursday morning, it was on to Sungkyunkwan (SKKU) University. This university if the oldest in Seoul, dating back to 1398. It is a private university and used by Samsung. As the pictures indicate, centuries ago, it was for Korean royalty and the wealthy. I gave two talks at SKKU, both more on the pedagogy side of the fence. All my talks in Korea can be downloaded as color PDF files from my archived talks in TrainingShare.com.

Last Speaking Stop...Hanyang!
Hanyang and, its partner, Hanyang Cyber University was my final presentation (7th of the week). It was my 4th time presenting on that campus I think (twice in 2002, once in 2009, and now 2011). I guess they know my name pretty well by now at Hanyang and Hanyang Cyber U. My delightful friend, Dr. Yeonwook Im, arranged this. She has a chapter in my Handbook of Blended Learning back in 2006.

I was honored to have the Vice President of Hanyang Cyber university sitting in the front row for my talk. He even held up his hands during my talk to indicate that the world was open for learning in Korea.

The Conference:
I also spoke at E-Learning week at COEX in Seoul and was on a general panel related to the future of education and technology in the 2nd last session of the conference. Saw some good friends from the USA there like Barry Fishman and Elliot Soloway from the University of Michigan and Cathie Norris from the University of North Texas. Also there is Mohamed Alley from Athabasca University; a mobile learning expert.

I have been a fan of Elliot Soloway's work since reading about him in AI (Artifical Intelligence) Magazine back in the mid 1980s and then seeing him speak at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference a few years later. He is quite the presenter. He knows how to use facial gestures, tone, images, and new data to captivate his audiences. He used to do these solo, but now Cathie Norris joins him for a dynamic duo on most trips. They make a great presentation team. I sometimes wish I had a partner to present with.

During the 10 days in Seoul I also saw many former students and visiting scholars of mine as well as friends from graduate school long ago at the University of Wisconsin. I counted 26 people from Korea who I saw during the week who were friends, former students, or colleagues.

The conference was good. I met people not only from the USA and Korea but also from the Philippines, Russia, Finland, and Malaysia. There were many high ranking government people in attendance for the opening ceremony and ribbon cutting. I got there just as it started. The E-Learning Week conference people wanted to be sure I was there for it though I did not get to cut the ribbon (see below).

Picture with Barry Fishman (he got his master's from my department just before I started) and Kyungmee Lee (she got a fellowship last year from IU but went to the University of Toronto instead).

Picture after my invited (20 minute) talk:

From Soul to Seoul (the view):
I stayed on the 26th floor of the Intercontinental at COEX. There was artwork on display in front of COEX related to environmental awareness. I took a few pictures of it. After 10-15 minutes of this, I handed my camera to my student, Jeong-eun Oh, to take a picture of me and she accidentally dropped and broke my Canon Elph pocket camera. Ten minutes later, she bought me a new one inside COEX. How convenient...though I pleaded with her not to. It is very nice. Gone is my red one but now I have a black one. Same camera just a newer model. It was dying anyway and I told her so. I think every time I need a new camera from now on, I will go to Korea and give her my camera and accidently drop it before she can get reach out for it.

Lovely view of the Han River from my room. See view below. This picture does not do justice to it.

Each day I did a couple of early morning miles on the treadmill while listening to the best of the Who on my iPad. Then a quick shower and review of my presentation before a 5 minute breakfast with a wonderful view of a famous Buddhist temple (more pictures of this temple are provided later). Once again, see below (not my best picture of the trip...I have hundreds better. Scroll down for more).

I went to Catholic for grades 3 to 8 so I have been conditioned to eat fast and get out on the playground. Then I was typically wisked away for a talk somewhere north of the Han River. One day, however, I went to the demiliterized zone (DMZ) with Dr. Meeyong Kim and her family. Meeyong was supposed to be my visiting scholar this year but the Korean government would not approve her visa. She teaches elementary school in Daejeon which is about an hour by train south of Seoul.

The DMZ:
The DMZ was quite fascinating. Standing on the North Korea side of the bargaining table. Wow. Cool. We were told when we could take pictures and when we could not. At one observation stop, we could see a couple of North Korean towns and even make our people walking in town or riding bikes. The world seemed open in North Korea, if only for that brief moment. I did walk down to part of the 3rd tunnel which was uncovered a couple of decades back. Interesting and I managed to walk inside for a bit despite my claustrophia. The world was not open there.

Museums of Seoul:
I also got to three museums when in Seoul--The National Museum of Korea, the Kimchi Museum, and Ewha Womens University Museum. All were great explorations and informative. The Kimchi Museum took Barry Fishman and I about 15 or 20 minutes to tour. It is located inside of COEX--the area where the conference was held. So much kimchi!

The national musuem is always a delight. Okhwa Lee (an old friend from grad school days) and I saw some old scrolls (books) documenting kings and queens from Korea from the 18th century which the French government had recently returned.

A Floating Island?
We also visiting a place called the "floating island" that is being built on the Han River. It is akin to the Opera House in Sydney (to learn more, watch this video). We could get inside but there are no shops completed yet. Soon I envisioned many people gathered there to relax with a cup of coffee or tea. Looks like this will be a huge cultural draw and tourist meeting point in the very near future. My next trip to Seoul, I will certainly visit it.

Downtown Seoul...Nanta and the Cheonggyecheon Stream:
I did not just visit museums in my spare time. Last Thursday September 8th I saw a show called Nanta . Nanta is a show involving kitchen utensils and cooking akin to Blue Man Group but without the blue body paint. I guess, for me, it is best to describe it as an Asian spin-off of Blue Man Group. However, Nanta has its own spin offs throughout Asia including Bangkok, Thailand. There are many acts and performances throughout the 90 minute show.

Strolling the Cheonggyecheon:
After the Nanta show, I had a stroll down the Cheonggyecheon Stream. Cheonggyecheon used to be covered by a roadway system but the former mayor of Seoul, Myung-bak Lee (who now is President of Korea) decided to beautify Seoul. He uncovered about 8.4 kilometers of it at a cost of $900 million dollars. The funny thing is that it flows in the opposite direction of the original stream.

I walked down the Cheonggyecheon with my doctoral student, Jeong-eun Oh. Jeong-eun recently got married (June, 2011) and was starting to work on her dissertation proposal. I always like running down or walking that stream. When I was in Korea two years ago, my hotel (the President Hotel) was near very there.

Check out the pictures below. My camera sometimes takes great pictures at dusk. I think this was one of those times.

Octoberfest for Alumni Gathering:
Elliot Soloway and Cathie Norris joined a group of current and former students and visiting scholars of my department on Friday night September 9th. We met at Octoberfest near Gangnam station. Gangnam is a very happening part of Seoul and not too far from my hotel (just 2 stops on the subway). This is the 3rd time I have organized an IU alumni type of event in Seoul for my IST department and 2nd time at Octoberfest. This time it was a smaller group due to the fact that Korean Thanksgiving was starting that weekend.

The Bar Scene in Seoul:
Then it was time for another Korean ritual...going to another bar for shots and other assorted drinks. Just walking the streets at night with a group can be most fun in Seoul. There are so many pubs in Seoul and especially around places like Gangnam to choose from.

The Open Air Pubs of Seoul:
After Octoberfest, Daniel Craig (IST doc student working in Seoul), Hosang Cheon (former IU master's student in Telecom who designed all my Websites 10 years ago)), and I visited an open air pub and where we grilled and than eat some clams, muscles, scallops, and other assorted seafood. It was a very interesting late night ritual there in Seoul. The beer still tasted quite good at the time. By soon it got pretty late and it was time to head back to my hotel (3 am?).

Bongeunsa...a Zen Buddhist Temple:
Across from my hotel was a marvelous place called Bongeunsa. Bongeunsa is a Buddhist temple in the Gangnam-gu area of Seoul which is near Samseong station and COEX. According to Wikimapia, "Bongeunsa was founded in 794 and was reconstructed in 1498 becoming the main temple of the Korean Seon (Zen) sect of Buddhism from 1551 through 1936. A fire in 1939 destroyed most of the buildings, and other parts of the temple were destroyed during the Korean War." I love both religious sites and historical sites, so this was quite special to me.

My colleague from graduate school days, Dr. Okhwa Lee, lives near there. She stopped by the day before I left Seoul and I finally got a chance to meander through (though I had visited the place 2 years ago). Each day and night I would look at it but it took me 8 days to finally walk across the street. Okhwa and I had a relaxing stroll through the woods behind it and later found a chance to meditate inside it. The juxtaposion between the city-scape of Seoul and the calm and peacefulness of Bongeunsa is something one remembers for a lifetime.

The Final Night and Day...
One last view from my hotel room at night is below. It was so lovely that I often never closed the curtains. The hotel desk people told me I had one of the best rooms at the Intercontinental. That is saying a lot since it is a lovely hotel. Cost me a big extra but worth it I think.

Final Morning:

Yes, it is Sunday morning September 11th...Time to head back to Indiana. Oops, not yet. My student Jeong-eun Oh shows up with her new husband.

Korean people are so tall compared to us little Americans.

Who else might show up? Well, it is Dr. SuJin Son. SuJin is a former student of Inae Kang's who was assigned to me back in 2002 to be my driver when I first visited Seoul. Since that time, she has gotten her master's in educational technology at Kyung Hee and then her Ph.D. at the University of Illinois. We published 2-3 things on blended learning in corporate settings in Korea and knowledge management and intellectual capital stuff. She is still my driver...driving me back to the airport. But first a stop in Isadong for shopping.

Then it is on to Isadong. Another popular tourist as well as local destination on a Saturday morning. I get many small gifts there. Yes, they can all fit in my overstuffed suitcase. Thank goodness. Now I do not have to check any bags.

GPS comes in very handy in Seoul, though sometimes it sends you down streets that are quite narrow as I found out earlier in the week. Many of the main streets are 4 or 5 lanes wide. Amazing! SuJin relies on GPS a lot as do most of the people who drive me from place-to-place. The only time there is no GPS was when I had taxi drivers (all men). This time GPS takes us from Isadong (north of the Han River) to Building 63 (south of the Han River). Given it is Thanksgiving weekend in Korea, many people are out of town already and it is fairly clear sailing from one place to another. Everything is a relatively quick 20 or 30 minute drive. Of course, if you jump into a crazy taxicab driver in Seoul, like Okhwa Lee and I did the day before, everything is a 5 or 10 minute drive and you hold your breath the entire way. Smile.

GPS takes us to my final lunch in Korea for this trip. We take the elevator up to the 58th floor of Building 63; the tallest building in Seoul. This is a skyscraper. The restaurant was called something like "In the Clouds" and we were in the clouds for sure. A couple of pictures of the Han River.

Back to the Incheon airport for another flight home.

Boarding for home...Time to board the plane and who do I see but Santa Claus. No, it is Elliot Soloway from Michigan. Of course, he got business class all the way. I tried to sit with him, but was conveniently sent back to economy or should I say economy comfort.

Final Thoughts...So many old friends and former students and colleagues are in Korea. I count nearly 100 now. It was difficult to say goodbye to them all. But I will return. Just when is uncertain and that is why I stayed a tad longer than normal this time. I hope it is soon but you never know.

How often do you get to see two great friends from graduate school in a distant country? Not often enough! Below are Okhwa Lee and Miheon Jo who I met at the University of Wisconsin a quarter century ago. Hard to believe. We were all highly precocious elementary students when we started. Ha ha. I think it is appropriate that I end with that pic. Right? Right!

Anyway, Korea was grand! Too much fun I think. Wish my father who fought in the Korean War could have come with me as well as my son Alex who was adopted from Seoul when he was 21 months old. Alex is now 23 and approaching 24 next month. My father passed away back on July 27, 1995 when the Korean War Memorial just happened to be opened.

I still remember the pictures my dad brought home from the war (mostly from Busan). I have a few at home with me now thanks to my mother's insistence. It all looks so different now. And I remember a night while in graduate school back in 1988 I think for those of us wishing to adopt from Korea. The speaker had just returned from Seoul with some lovely slides in a slide projector. There was no PowerPoint, Blogger (or blogs), wikis, OER portals for sharing, Facebook, or Picasa back in the late 1980s and much less when my father returned from the war. Still they just as effective pictures.

Thanks everyone for the great time in Seoul. I found a piece of my soul that was missing.

E-Learning Week in Korea and New World is Open Syllabus Posted

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 11:39:00 +0000

Sitting in Terminal A in the Indianapolis airport on route to Detroit and then Seoul for E-Learning week. Will speak at 4 universities in Seoul when there. Will see many friends, IU alumni, and colleagues. Should be a great experience. To get ready, I had to teach 2 weeks of classes in 1 week. Prepping 7 talks for Korea, meeting new students, teaching intensively, packing, coordinating, etc. I will be happy to jump on the plane and sleep. Color PDFs of all my talks in Korea are posted (as are all my previous ones). The conference program is also up.

If you are in Korea and want to come to any of my university talks (Kyung Hee University Friday the 2nd of Sept; Ewha Womens University Monday the 5th; Sungkyunkwan University Thursday the 8th; or Hanyang Cyber/Hanyang University Friday the 9th), just send me a note. I have spoken at all these places before except for Sungkyunkwan University. Many great friends to see at each stop. My E-learning Week talk is Tuesday the 6th late in the day and I will be on a panel the following day. On Friday the 9th at 7 pm many Indiana University alums of my program in Instructional Systems Technology as well as other friends will meet at Octoberfest at 7 pm. Should be fun. I also plan a trip to the DMZ (demilitarized zone) on Saturday the 3rd. Given my son is from Korea and my father fought in the Korean War, I have been looking forward to the DMZ for some time now. My father took many pictures in 1952-53 when he was there.

I expect to learn about many new innovations and technology projects in Korea. There is always something going on there. Many interesting speakers coming to E-Learning week. Much is crammed into my time there....arrive September 2nd and return on September 11. Yes, I will fly on 9-11-11. Ug. I flew on the first 2 anniversaries of 911 and no one was in the airport. Not sure what will happen this time. And not sure when I will get back to Korea again.

In other news, my R685 World is Open with Web Technology course on Monday nights is now a 52 page syllabus. Everything is a hot link. The course has extensive resources for mobile learning, virtual worlds, collaborative technologies, open educational resources, online education, digital books, blogging, podcasting, etc. And it starts with an exploration of many strategic plans from the world if higher education, military training, K-12 education, and workplace learning. Then it moves into current ideas about the digital learning skills one needs today. Feel free to check out the syllabus and let me know what I am missing. The world is open for you now. Explore! Excite! Engage!

An Ed Tech Quickie: Jobs, Journals, and Academic Programs

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 23:07:00 +0000

An Ed Tech Quickie: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs... by Curt Bonk, Indiana University at Bloomington, August 18, 2011.

This is a brief post for me. A best of the best type of post. A quickie.

Jobs, jobs, jobs. That is the mantra emanating from government hallways in Ottawa, London, Paris, Madrid, Athens, and elsewhere. In the United States, states like Michigan, California, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Florida, Nevada, and Mississippi are dying for postive news with over 10 percent unemployment. And North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama are right behind at 9.9 percent (see US Dept of Labor June 2011 report). Well, I am happy to report that there are jobs these days for people in the field of educational technology. Trust me on that. Some of my master's and educational specialist (Ed.S.) students have so many job offers that they are having trouble picking the right one to take. Doctoral students, well, that depends on what type of job they are willing to settle for. Tenure track faculty positions are more slim than positions in teaching and learning centers and instructional design departments.

Jobs (Portal #1): Need help finding such a job? Well, one of my most popular blog posts was my list of Websites to find jobs in the field of educational and instructional technology. I posted that one a few years back (April 4, 2008) in response to all the questions I get about locating a job in the field. Then I developed a portal for over 30 such sites including one really fantastic jobs portal from my Instructional Systems Technology department. This list or jobs portal was recently updated. Check it out.

Journals (Portal #2): In addition to questions about jobs, many want advice on where and how to publish in the field of educational and learning technology. So I created a list of journals and magazines that I thought were relevant. Many are open access, online, and free. Some are no longer in service.

Academic Programs (Portal #3): Most recently, I blogged about graduate programs in the United States in educational technology and instructional technology. This July 11, 2011 blog post was in response to all the students who ask me where they might apply for graduate school (not everyone can come to Indiana). I then created an online portal or list of programs one can get a master's or doctorate in educational technology and related disciplines. It is quite a list. There are a few undergraduate programs noted as well. I plan to update it from time-to-time.

So, if interested, you might check out these portals or lists I have created for educational technology and instructional technology related to:

1. Jobs.
2. Journals.
3. Academic programs.

I have continued to update these summary lists. If I am missing one or two, let me know. I have also written advice columns on how to get published as a graduate student or new faculty member (30+ writing tips) (January 31, 2007). In addition, I have blogged on issues related to interviewing for a faculty job (May 4, 2008). I have many other blog posts with writing advice, including a couple in August 2007 (3 p's of professional writing and the 3 p's of publishing). Hope these are helpful.

Caution: This might not be the order you should proceed. Typically, most people first find an academic program. As they proceed, they often start to publish and look for a job. Good luck. And keep Indiana University in mind.

This has been your ed tech quickie...on jobs, journals, and academic programs. Quick Curt out...

EduMOOC on the Loose: An Interview with Ray Schroeder

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 18:02:00 +0000

There's a gigantic EduMOOC on the loose. Have you seen it? No, I am not talking about the 140 pound mountain lion that traveled from the Black Hills of South Dakota all the way to Connecticut only to be run over by a car. That journey was over 1,500 miles! Earlier in the week, the USA Today reported that "The epic journey was the longest ever recorded for a mountain lion."

In contrast, the epic journey that I am talking about incubated over in my neighboring state of Illinois; also known at the "flatlands," instead of the Black Hills or the Badlands. But, like that mountain lion, it too is becoming quite enormous and a tad bit scary. And it has traveled around the world at a blistering pace. Not sure if scientists are measuring its' droppings like they did the mountain lion, but apparently "all" records are being saved, so who knows...?

What am I talking about? Well, back on June 7th, I got an email from an online learning superstar who always has all the data that I need and more. It was my good buddy Ray Schroeder from the University of Illinois at Springfield. Ray asked me to be involved as a panelist in his planned EduMOOC (MOOC = Massive Open Online Course) on "Online Learning Today...and Tomorrow." This is what he said: "I am putting together a MOOC - you know, massive open online course ... no credit, no budget, just to test the "open" water and see what this may be like. The topic is Online Learning Today, and .... Tomorrow."

"Is he crazy?"...I thought. No credits. No budget. And unlimited enrollments. Ok, I reminded myself that this is higher education in 2011. No budgets and masses of people. I know others have tried it...Stephen Downes and George Siemens up der in Oh Canada, for instance, and David Wiley at BYU as well as Tom Reeves at the University of Georgia. Both George and Stephen address issues related to MOOCs in their recent blog posts. George on research issues and Stephen provides a link to a MOOC from Australia on developing a professional e-portfolio.

But I digress. Back to my email exchange with Ray..."Sure" I told him, as long as I do not need to fly anywhere (see 12 reasons why not). Ray assured me that it would be online. And so I will be a panelist in the final week on the future of online learning (August 18th at 2 pm EST).

Since that time, I have been tracking aspects of his EduMOOC each day. Many well known people signed up as participants as well as panelists. The Google Groups discussions are being shared each day. A wiki for the MOOC has been created and maintained by the participants. On June 21, Marc Parry from the Chronicle of Higher Education even wrote an article about it, U. of Illinois at Springfield Offers New 'Massive Open Online Course.' Suffice to say, Ray's EduMOOC on "Online Learning Today...and Tomorrow" has definitely evolved and expanded. And it is linked to my interests in open education and open teaching. So today I have been sending Ray questions about it. There are now 16 of them. I asked if I could publish these in the form of an interview and he said sure. So here goes...

July 28, 2011 Interview with: Ray Schroeder, Professor Emeritus, Director of the Center for Online Learning, Research and Service (COLRS), University of Illinois Springfield

Curt Question #1: How many people have signed up? How many attend the weekly sync sessions?

Ray: We are keeping copius analytics on the streams and the Google group, wiki, Moodle, blogs, etc. But, there is too much to analyze on the fly... Two research teams - one led by Siemens/Downes and the other by Mackintosh at OERu in NZ are compiling these for case studies - as will we.

Short answer is a couple hundred live and it likes like more are bringing up the recorded versions. But we cannily count streams connected, in some cases groups or classes seem to be gathering to watch together. Much to study about MOOC.

So far 2,655 registered.

Curt Question #2: How many countries represented among the registered now?

Ray: We have 70 countries represented:

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Laos, Malaysia, Mauritius, México, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, St. Vincent/the Grenadines, Sudan, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad/Tobago, Turkey, UAE, Uganda, UK, Ukraine, Venezuela, USA, Vietnam, West Indies.

Curt Question #3: What spurred your decision to create the EduMOOC? Had you been contemplating doing it for long?

Ray: This really grew out of a keynote presentation I made earlier this year at e-Cornucopia at Oakland University. The topic was “The Open Future of Higher Ed.” In preparing for the presentation and in the interactions with those attending, it became clear to me that there is a key role for MOOCs in the future of online learning. I asked my staff if we might do a MOOC to find out more about this emerging approach. They generously agreed to help support this on top of their busy schedules.

Curt Question #4: Did you have any role models? Or mentors?

Ray: Not really. Certainly, I had read about the great work George Siemens and Stephen Downes had done with earlier MOOCs, but I had not attended any previous MOOC. I have high regard for both of them. I appreciated the YouTube videos posted by Dave Cormier. But, I entered with no direct experience with the MOOC. Some have remarked that eduMOOC is different in some ways than others, and I suppose that is why. I’ve taught at the University of Illinois for 40 years. I approached this much as I would a graduate seminar in which I create a framework, and the students take it from there.

Curt Question #5. What are the biggest challenges or hurdles you faced in creating and maintaining the EduMOOC?

Ray: The volume of users is daunting in the first week or so. Getting everyone registered and receiving the listserv is a challenge when there are more than 2,600 in the group. But, once it is running, the participants take over. We continue to populate each week’s webpage with dozens of resource links and conduct the panel discussion with knowledgeable people.

Curt Question #6: What are your observations about the EduMOOC so far?

Ray: eduMOOC has been an eye-opener for me! There are so many engaged in personal learning – mostly individuals, but also whole departments, academic cabinets, college leaders, etc. I like to say that it is “come-as-you-are and take-what-you-want.” So, they participate in the parts that make sense to them. They build networks to help them continue to develop in this field.

Curt Question #7: I am writing a book on online motivation and retention right now. Currently, I am writing a chapter about learner autonomy which includes information about the motivational aspects of choice, control, flexibility, and opportunities. How do you see an EduMOOC addressing any of these-- autonomy, choice, opportunity, control, flexibility, etc.?

Ray: Certainly, this addresses individual choice, access, and flexibility. In the end there is an awesome resource site with a rambling network of interested individuals, blogs, wikis, G+ circles, etc.

Curt Question #8: What makes such an environment (i.e., a MOOC) motivational?

Ray: The motivation mostly comes from the broad range of professional colleagues that are engaged. The enthusiasm, knowledge, interests of the individuals raises all who read/view/hear what they share on the topics.

Curt Question #9: Why might others try it?

Ray: This reaches a large number of people worldwide in a short time with “just-in-time” aspects that are not often found in traditional learning opportunities.

Curt Question #10: What is happening that you did not expect?

Ray: There is more networking. The magnitude of the response. I approach this as a massive graduate seminar – respecting the participants as I would advanced graduate students. So, in the larger sense, I set the framework, brought in some catalysts in the form of panelists such as yourself, seeded it with a couple hundred links to resources and let it go! The participants take it from there.

Curt Question #11: What types of courses does it fit best?

Ray: This would seem to be a great fit for courses and topics where there are new developments, new issues, new topics. Not that there are not new topics in “ancient Greece studies” but that one would be far different than this one.

Curt Question #12: Might it work outside of higher ed….for instance, in the world of K-12 or corporate or military training?

Ray: Yes. This is a natural for professional development/training. Our topic is of that sort – online learning today and tomorrow. A hybrid of for-credit enrollments for those who want the credit, continuing ed credit for the professions, and non-credit for the masses would seem to be a likely future for this.

Curt Question #13: What has been the reaction from your colleagues at the University of Illinois at Springfield and elsewhere around the globe?

Ray: The reaction is very positive. There has been quite a bit of positive press. It seems that most people take this as a natural evolution of presentations – from in-person to online; from small groups to massive online audiences. This is a wonderful way to reach large number of people in a field of study. In this case, it was also a bit of a meta-MOOC – that is the topic was about online learning. So, we were using online tools to conduct the MOOC. Much of the early discussion had a focus on the MOOC itself. Now, there is more of a focus on open resources and open learning opportunities. Most people realize the power of having a large group of people contributing new ideas and perspectives to the discussion.

Curt Question #14: What is next for Ray Schroeder? Any more EduMOOC activities on the horizon?

Ray: Absolutely! We are looking a launching several MOOCs that will be improved by our experiences here. One MOOC may be on the topic of an open textbook we are creating collectively among faculty members at the campuses of the University of Illinois. Combining an open online book with the MOOC should be fun. I have been asked by one of our distinguished scholars who holds the Political Science endowed Chair at UIS, Matthew Holden, to discuss the potential of doing a MOOC in his area of study. I think there are many possibilities for using MOOC to make a difference among a large group of learners worldwide.

Curt Question #15: Can you give me a link to a that video or definition explaining an EduMOOC again?

Ray: Well Wikipedia is just starting a page on MOOC.

Note: According to Wikipedia: "A Massive open online course (MOOC) is a course where the participants are distributed and course materials also are dispersed across the web. This is possible only if the course is open, and works significantly better if the course is large. The course is not a gathering, but rather a way of connecting distributed instructors and learners across a common topic or field of discourse."

But, the best resource, I think is this four-minute video by Dave Cormier

Curt Question #16: What are the main EduMOOC sites for your class Online Learning Today...and Tomorrow?

Ray: The wikispaces site that is pretty popular and was put together by participants. Here are the three main EduMOOC sites.
1. EduMOOC homepage

2. Google Groups discussions

3. Wikispaces site
the wikispaces site that is pretty popular and was put together by participants.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
(end of interview...)

I hope to see some of you there on the 18th! Here is a reminder to that final EduMOOC session (August 18 at 2 pm EST).

Wishing you well in creating your own MOOC and putting it on the loose. I love the concept of open teaching. The world is open, don't ya know. Wide open!

List of Ed Tech and Instructional Technology Related Programs in the United States

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:34:00 +0000

Educational Technology and Instructional Technology Related Programs in the United States

The Daily Email Grind...Same, Same, Same: Many people around the planet ask me about the program I teach in at Indiana University (IU). It is called "Instructional Systems Technology" (IST). The IST program has been around for like 7 decades, albeit under different names and configurations. Geez, it is nearly as old as members of the Rolling Stones. And, like the Stones, it is still playing a fine tune and a few of us go out on tour from time-to-time. Any other parallels we will leave for another blog post.

Lately, the email I get about the IST program is typically from mainland China. First, out of respect, I remind them that the Great Wall is still older than our program. Other email about the program tends to come from folks in Turkey, Taiwan, Thailand, Korea, Mongolia, Singapore, or some other place. Some of those emailing me plan to apply to my program and are seeking my advice. Others are too late and thinking about applying next year. Still others want me to recommend similar programs should they not get into the IST program at IU. A few simply want to know if I can get them tickets to an IU basketball game or Super Bowl tickets for next February.

That Little Man in my Head: I keep answering the same questions over and over and over. The little man in my head says enough is enough...do you want me to answer that question one more time? He is getting old and cranky. I feel sorry for him and so I am creating this blog post and associated Web site.

What do they ask me? Well, the first question typically incorporates many things such as procedures for applying to the program, the expectations of the entrance committee, the funding available, the research interests of the faculty, and so on. I tell them that, "everything counts when applying, not just test scores." I add that, "personally, I like reading the goal statements." Then I try to be honest and say that, "you should apply to more than one program since you might not get into your first choice. And you will have better chances for funding if you apply to several such programs." I use this line with anyone who cannot define what a "Hoosier" is.

Then many respond by asking about applying programs other than mine. They say, "well, which ones might I apply to." This is hard to answer since many are fishing--some are fishing for best climate for weather and others are fishing for best climate for funding. Some are fishing for extremely rare wild game--the best place for everything. Some "El Dorado" of educational and instructional technology programs. Such a place does not exist though I did see El Dorado, Kansas last month on my way from Emporia to the Wichita airport. So I created a list of programs. It is in alphabetic order, not in order of importance. And last week, I created a companion Website for Educational Technology and Instructional Technology programs. Check it out. These programs are also listed below. Quick, go to the link above and you and avoid reading my opening comments and stories.

Hitting the Road: There are dozens of programs to choose from. Many of my colleagues, friends, and students consider the top programs to be Florida State University, the University of Georgia, the University of Missouri, Penn State University, and several others. They are among the chief competitors to my program in IST here in Hoosierville; at least at the doctoral level. Those are excellent places to start, to be sure. I visited and spoke at every one of these campuses during the past year except for Penn State (did that one back in 1991). And I got to a bunch of other campuses as well this year; among them was Syracuse University which has been a rival of IU for decades. After speaking there a year ago as well, my brother Tom and I got a lovely campus tour from one of their faculty members.

During my 2010-2011 travels, I wanted to hear from the students and faculty on each campus what they thought were the best programs. And I wanted to experience each campus. Unfortunately, I will not provide my personal ratings in this public forum. Sorry. You will have to write to me or ask me when at a conference. I can say that I had an especially fun time at the University of Georgia (despite an ice storm on the way down) and the University of Missouri. So many wonderful students and faculty at each one. If someone is considering Ph.D. (permanent head damage...post hole digger) programs in ed tech and instructional technology and doesn't put these two on the list, they would be crazy. Florida State...well, should be on there too despite funding problems in the state of Florida lately. Faculty from FSU, Indiana, and Syracuse were among the founders of the field.

There are many more doctoral programs on the list than the 5 or 6 listed above. Some people often consider the University of Central Florida (no, not just because Disney is there...but it does not hurt; UCF has drawn many students from China during the past decade or two), Wayne State University (especially if they work at Ford or GM), the University of Texas at Austin (was there twice last year...love the music scene and food...excellent program as well..can't go wrong), Purdue University (our neighbor to the north with many K-12 and engineering education grant projects), BYU and Utah State (much interest in educational technology and technology in general in Utah), Michigan State University (which has many online programs as well), the University of Wisconsin (this is where I went...ah, Madison in the summer! Don't even think about wintertime), the University of Minnesota (which has cool people and cool projects and cold, cold bone chilling weather...I know since I gave 4 talks there in early February 2010. Adventure Learning!), the University of Hawaii (aloha to all my friends there--see you in October; many mobile learning, Web 2.0., e-portfolio, and e-learning programs at the UH), Virginia Tech (another excellent choice as long as you do not fly into Roanoke when there is low visability like I did), and Stanford University (not easy to get in but a lovely place with brilliant people. I had a nice visit there a year ago.). There are so many programs to choose from.

And there are more...many more, including NYU (if you love New York and can afford it), George Mason University (especially if you are in the DC area), the University of Oklahoma (I presented there last year--some great statues on that campus and not just of football players. Some top notch people there.), the University of Houston (I have presented there several times--great people and conversation and delicious food always...check it out!), Boise State (I hope to visit someday), and the University of North Texas (was there in late April--much happening at UNT..it is a mini-think tank). See links below for all of these programs and many more. Apologies for any that I did not specifically mention above.

Now back to my opening story...Last week, one of the email inquiries I got was from an undergraduate senior from China. She said that she could not find many programs in the field that were like the IST program at IU. The little man in my head was baffled. "How are people searching these days?," he quickly asked me. But I put him to work to get him to shut up. Soon he was exhausted retrieving all the program data for her. Of course, I felt bad for him. It was the weekend. Supposed to be his day off. We were out on my back deck listening to the birds sing. Unfortunately, it was a sultry hot July day. Soon he was totally exhausted and complained a bit. He told me to just put this info on the Web so he would not have to repeat these steps again. I promptly agreed, mainly to get him off my back (but not out of my head). I was amazed with what he found. In fact, after an hour or two, that little man in my head had found 50 doctoral programs related to educational and instructional technology! I give him a summer bonus. He is now off on a well deserved vacation.

But 50 programs? Yes, there are 50 doctoral programs listed below (and now more than 50 with suggestions for more). Over 50! Wow. And he gave me a list of 12 other master's only programs that he thought people might be interested in. These master's programs, not surprisingly, included San Francisco State University and San Diego State University, both with long running reputations as among the best in the world. Much to do in the Bay area at all times and in San Diego, every day is a chance to run and train. There is also Emporia State University which I visited a month ago--had a great time with everyone. It also has the Teacher Hall of Fame. If you are thinking of a master's, I recommend that you place all three of these places on your list to consider.

Many of these master's and doctoral programs offer online certificates and degrees as well. I do not include much about online master's and doctorates in this list yet. Perhaps later I will add those later on. For now, I do list 9 institutions that only offer online degrees--there are many more than that to pick from. Let me restate, keep in mind that dozens of the face-to-face programs also have online programs. For instance, Old Dominion University has an online Ph.D. and the IST program at IU has an online certificate and online master's...both of which are very popular. My colleagues and I are working to create an online Ed.D. at IU. Announcement to come soon, I hope. Very soon.

Also keep in mind that this area has many names: Educational Technology, Instructional Systems Technology, Instructional Psychology and Technology, Instructional Design and Technology, Learning Technologies and Design, Instructional Technology, Educational Communications and Technology, Human Performance Technology, etc. Some related areas include learning sciences and information science. Even my old field of educational psychology is highly linked and many times will house the ed tech or instructional technology program. Curriculum and instruction programs often do as well.

Prominent Residential Master’s Only Programs (many have online programs as well):

1. California State University at Monterey Bay, Information Technology and Communication Design
2. East Carolina University, Instructional Technology
3. Emporia State University, Instructional Design and Technology
4. Fort Hays State University, Instructional Technology
5. George Washington University, Educational Technology Leadership
6. San Diego State University, Educational Technology
7. San Francisco State University, Instructional Technology
8. St. Cloud State University, Information Media
9. University of Colorado at Denver, Info & Learning Tech (eLearning Design/Imp; ID & Adult Learning; and K-12 Teaching)
10. University of South Carolina, Educational Technology
11. University of Texas at El Paso, Educational Technology
12. University of Utah, Instructional Design & Educational Technology

Residential Doctoral Programs (most include a Master’s
program; many include online degree programs and certificates):

1. Arizona State University, Educational Technology (Master’s and Ph.D.)
2. Auburn University, Dept of Ed Foundations, Leadership & Tech, Master's Library/Media Tech, Ph.D.in Admin emph in Tech
3. Boise State University, Educational Technology (Master’s and Ph.D.)
4. Brigham Young University (BYU), Instructional Psychology and Technology (Master’s and Ph.D.)
5. Florida State University, Instructional Systems (within the Ed Psych and Learning Department, certificate, Master’s, and Ph.D.)
6. George Mason University, Instructional Technology Program (Master’s and Ph.D.)
7. Georgia State University, Masters in Instructional Design & Tech; Ph.D. in Instructional Tech
8. Idaho State University, Educational Leadership and Instructional Design Masters; Doctor of Education
9. Indiana University, Instructional Systems Technology (Master’s, Ed.S., Ph.D.; IU IST Programs; Research Teams; IUconnectedEd (certificate and Master’s online)
10. Iowa State University, Curric & Instruc'l Tech, Master’s in Curric & Inst'l Tech Special; and Ph.D. in Curric & Instructional Tech
11. Kent State University, Instructional Tech (Master’s); Doctorate in Ed Psych with a Concentration in Instructional Tech
12. Michigan State Univ, Ed Tech Prog Overview; Master’s info; Overseas; Various Progs;Doc prog ed psych/ed tech; Hybrid doc prog
13. Mississippi State University, Instructional Systems & Workforce Development; B.S., Masters, Ed.D., and Ph.D.
14. NYU, Educational Communication and Technology (Master’s and Ph.D.)
15. Old Dominion University, Instructional Design and Technology Program (Master’s and Ph.D.)
16. Penn State University, Instructional Systems (Master’s and Ph.D.)
17. Purdue University, Learning Design and Technology (Master’s and Ph.D.)
18. Syracuse University, Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation (Master’s and Ph.D.)
19. Teachers College, Columbia University, Instructional Technology and Media (Master’s and Ph.D)
20. Texas A&M University, Ed Tech is offered in the Dept of Ed Psych in the Learning Sciences program (Master’s and Ph.D.)
21. Texas Tech University, Instructional Technology (Master’s and Ed.D.)
22. Utah State University, Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences (Master’s and Ph.D.)
23. Virginia Tech University, Instructional Design and Technology Program (Master’s, Ed.S., Ed.D., and Ph.D.)
24. Wayne State University, Instructional Technology (Master’s, Ed.D., and Ph.D.)
25. West Virginia University, Instructional Design and Technology (Master’s and Ed.D.); IDT homepage.
26. William & Mary, Curriculum and Educational Technology (Ed.D. and Ph.D.)
27. University of Alabama, Master’s in Instructional Tech; Ph.D. is in Instructional Leadership with an concentration in Inst'l Tech
28. University of Central Florida, Educational Communications and Technology (Master’s, Ed.D., and Ph.D.)
29. University of Florida, Instructional Technology (degrees granted in Instruction and Curric with emphasis in Educ Tech)
30. University of Georgia, Learning, Design, and Technology (Master’s and Ph.D.)
31. University of Hawaii, Department of Educational Technology
32. University of Houston, Instructional Tech (Master’s); doctorate in Curric & Instruction with emphasis in Instructional Tech
33. University of Kansas, Ed Tech (Master’s); doctorate offered in Ed Leadership & Policy Studies with emphasis in Ed Tech
34. University of Minnesota, Learning Technologies (Master’s, M.Ed. and Ph.D.)
35. University of Missouri, School of Information Science and Learning Technologies or SISLT (Master’s, M.Ed., and Ph.D.)
36. University of New Mexico, Organizational Learning and Instructional Technology (Master’s and Ph.D.)
37. University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV), Ed Tech; doc in C&I with emph in Ed Tech; joint doc prog in Lrng Tech in Ed Psych
38. University of North Texas, Department of Learning Technologies (Master’s and Ph.D.)
39. University of Northern Colorado, Educational Technology (Master’s and Ph.D.)
40. University of Oklahoma, Instructional Psychology and Technology (Master’s and Ph.D.)
41. University of South Florida, Instructional Technology (Master’s, Ed.D., and Ph.D.)
42. University of Southern Mississippi, Instructional Technology (BA, Master’s, and Ph.D.) BA; Master’s and Ph.D.
43. University of Tennessee, Instructional Technology and Learning Environments and Educational Studies
44. University of Texas at Austin, Instructional Technology (Master’s and Ph.D.)
45. University of Virginia, Instructional Technology (Master’s and Ph.D.)
46. University of Wisconsin, Educational Communications and Technology (Master’s and Ph.D.)
47. University of Wyoming, Adult Learning and Instructional Technology: Main and Instructional Technology

Note: These last five lean more to Learning Sciences than ed tech, but I include them anyway due to significant overlap.
48. Indiana University, Learning Sciences, Master's and Ph.D. in Learning and Developmental Sciences
49. Northwestern University, Sch of Education and Social Policy, Master's and Ph.D. in Learning Sciences
50. Stanford University, Master’s in Learning, Design, and Technology and Ph.D. in Learning Sciences and Technology Design
51. Vanderbilt University, Learning Sciences and Learning Environment Design Specialization (Master’s and Ph.D.)
52. University of Washington, Learning Sciences (Master’s, Ed.D., and Ph.D.)

Prominent Online Only Programs

1. Capella University, Instructional Design for Online Learning (Ph.D.) as well as Training and Performance Improvement
2. Jones International University, MEd in K-12 Instructional Technology (Master’s)
3. Nova Southeastern, Instructional Technology & Distance Education (online Ph.D.)
4. Pepperdine University, Learning Technologies (online Ed.D.)
5. University of Phoenix, Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership with a Specialization in Educational Technology
6. Univ of Maryland, Univ College, 4 Distance Ed Master's Programs, Instr'l Tech, DE/E-Lrng, DE Tchg/Trng, Tech Manage
7. Walden University, Educational Technology (online Ed.D.)
8. Western Governors University, Master of Education in Learning and Technology
9. Western Michigan University, Educational Technology, Certificate and Master’s

Remember: I created a Website for Educational Technology and Instructional Technology programs. You might want to bookmark it. You might also want to tell me about programs that I have forgotten to include. My email is cjbonk at indiana.edu and curt at worldisopen dot com.

During the past few years, I have indexed many such resources including Ed Tech job listing sites and Ed Tech journals and magazines.

In effect, these three portals can help get you in an educational technology programs, then help you find a job in the field, and later get published. Start with programs I guess. You have 52 face-to-face doctoral programs and 12 face-to-face master's programs or more than 60 places to visit in the United States for a degree. If you lack travel money or need to stay home and work, many of these programs have online degrees as well. Good luck to you.

I really do hope this helps. That little man in my head needs a break.

Who wants to fly with TravelinEdMan?: A dozen consecutive examples of why not…

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 03:56:00 +0000

Who wants to fly with TravelinEdMan?: A dozen consecutive examples of why not…

Note: Before I start, I should point out that this is my longest blog post ever. It is now well over 15,000 words. As such, this blog post could be divided into 13 or 14 blog postings or stories. I still might individually post each of the 12 stories listed below. Not sure. Instead of individual posts, I believe that they work best together. No one incident, other than perhaps the first and last ones, would stop me, the so-called “TravelinEdMan,” from traveling again. But, when combined, they should make you ponder the safety and convenience (or inconvenience) of air travel. Pick the story (or stories) that you want to read...or skip this post entirely and stay sane.

Introduction to the 12 Stories/Trips Taking Place during the Past Half Year:

So who wants to fly with me sometime on a trip? It often gets quite lonely. I would love to have some company. Many people tell me that I am lucky to travel to so many wondrous places. During the past 6 and one-half months, however, I have had my share of travel adventures when in route or on my way back. In the stories below, I recap a few details from the 12 trips that took place during that time or about 2 trips per month. These are professional ones and do not include a vacation in Freeport, Bahamas just before Christmas. Those seeking additional information related to the events I flew to, can find links to them in my news off my homepage. I am going to include minimal links here so as not to distract from the stories themselves.

Sometimes people ask why I turn down a chance to speak somewhere that I have not been; especially, the cool and exotic places. During the past few years, I have turned down Cairo, Moscow, Katmandu, Bali, Tripoli (yes, Libya), Tunisia, Kuwait, Qatar, KL, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Penang, São Paulo, Santiago, Mexico City, Hong Kong, Beijing, Toronto, Rio (actually, that one was delayed), Dubai, Bogata, various locations in Turkey, and dozens of other places. Many of these places I have been to before. Most I have not. When I debate over one of these invites, friends of mine will often tell me that I really need to visit them or attend a particular conference in order to meet and to catch up on life. And still others wonder why I often charge a fee for speaking given that I am typically promoting free and open education for all (i.e., "Curt, you have a book that says that the World is Open".

Well, there are many reasons for me not to travel. And they all add up. See a few of these below.

First, there is extensive prep time for my talk or multiple talks. There are usually 2 or 3 talks to prepare for each event…and every audience is special and unique (see example descriptions). When I travel overseas to places like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Australia, Finland, or Korea, I might do a dozen or more talks in a single week to various types of audiences. Many recent audiences are mainly K-12, some are military or corporate training ones, a few are composed of government officials, and the largest portion is from higher education settings. Naturally, all want specific examples and suggestions just for them. Of course, this takes time. Each talk must be loaded up on my laptop as well as the cloud (I use Mailbigfile) so I can always access it when and where needed if my laptop is stolen. I also place them on a couple of flash memory sticks. Color PDF handouts of my talk slides are typically generated and posted to the Web at TrainingShare.com archived talks as well. As a result, a one day event can actually take a day or 2 to prepare for and a day or 2 to recover from, if not more. If overseas, it can take a full week to recover. In a word, traveling can be tiring.

Second, the content I present on is constantly changing (again, it takes much time to keep it all up-to-date). Hence, much research, creative thinking, and reflection is required. And I want to be unique each time. Sometimes that creative spark is just not there. Some ideas take a year to form. Others just come to me in my head when I jog or fly.

Third, it seems everyone wants to send me paperwork with terms which must be read, negotiated and agreed to, and eventually signed (and I truly hate paperwork…left the world of accounting because of it). Unfortunately, the amount of paperwork seems to be growing at an alarming rate in recent years. Paperwork is particularly proliferating in higher education. Everything is moving to the Web to save trees. Little concern is placed for my eyes, however. Worst of all are online forms. When the forms are online, they are created by some young computer geek, often using 8 point font, and cannot be read. Migraines!

Fourth, I must do all my scheduling of the trip which includes booking flights and hotels. Try as I might to get a speaking agency or support, I have no assistant to help. And I am picky about which flight I take and the timing of it. It often takes much deliberation and schedule coordination.

Fifth, all trips require time away from home and work. I would rather be sitting on my back deck working on a book project and listening to the birds sing but my daughter is in college and my son just finished and there are bills to pay.

Sixth, there is the packing and unpacking and trying to cram as much as I can in my carryon bag. I rarely check a bag. There is no way that I will trust an airline with it if I do not have to.

Seventh, each time I fly, I must drive an hour each way to the airport. Yes, those who know me realize that I typically listen to an audiobook when in route and, therefore, always am learning something new. Nonetheless, there is commuting time and wear and tear on my car.

Eighth, Indianapolis airport personnel subject most travelers to the full body scans and checks when going through airport security (how fun…not). Just who is checking out my x-rayed images?

Ninth, once I arrive, I must check into a hotel room. And often the assigned hotel is so-so and with paper thin walls; and so when I say that “I hear things at night,” I am not fooling. On rare occasions, I will stay at a friend’s house or apartment. Not recommended.

Tenth…then there is the actual presentation or set of presentations as well as the set-up time and testing of each one. The sound system must be working. Mic, projector, and laptop computer checks. The technology can fail you in different ways, so you must have a back-up plan and a back-up plan to the back-up plan. Props must be in place. Etc. Even after one has completed the first nine steps or concerns, one must still perform. And this performance must be at a very high level. Passion, excitement, interest, humor, information, etc., are all packed in. People in the audience must be moved or pushed to think. Of course, giving the speech or talk or workshop is the temporary high in the whole process.

And Reason #11 for not traveling every time I am invited is that, when done, my travel expenses that must be summarized and submitted in the mail. This invoicing task requires sound analysis and organizational skills, an attention to detail, and the utmost patience. Not a fun task, though having a previous life as a CPA does come in handy at times. I must then get the invoice in the mail and this requires a trip to the post office.

Of course, the twelfth reason to say no is that the government takes about half of what I charge. Often it is better to just stay home. Suffice to say, given all the points above and that I speak on average over 100 times a year, it is an easy decision to say “no” to many of the requests that come in.

Let me add Reason #13 which is the actual flight. Most often, I am booked in economy. My body cannot take too much of that—knees get sore. And, as you will see in the stories below, many of these are quite scary adventures.

On top of that (Reason #14), when flying overseas you’re stuck with airplane food; which as a vegetarian, I typically refuse to eat. Domestically, you get peanuts and pretzels. Whoopee! I tend to pack an apple, an orange or two, and many dark chocolate bars. But that food runs out. And no matter where you are heading to, when you arrive at your destination, you often must eat what is brought before you or popular in that community. And yes I do experiment with many foods. However, I have many dietary restrictions.

Ok, that’s 14 reasons to say no. There are more. Many, many more. I should also admit, however, that there are numerous traveling benefits. For instance, it is often a sanity break. And I certainly have gotten to see some great places during the past six months—Oslo and Goh (Norway), Melbourne (Australia), Williamsburg (Virginia), and New Orleans. And during the past decade there have been hundreds more places. Among my favorites are Edinburgh, Montreal (in the summer), Helsinki, London, Sydney, Seoul, Vancouver, San Francisco, Dublin, anywhere in the Rocky Mountains or New Zealand, etc.).

Since March 2010, I have been purposefully visiting competing programs to my own program in Instructional Systems Technology (IST) at Indiana University (IU). I have spoken at competitor places like the University of Oklahoma, Auburn, Stanford, Florida State, Syracuse, the University of Missouri, the University of Georgia, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Houston, the University of North Texas, and San Jose State University (which recently disbanded its educational technology program). It has been fun to meet with people from all these places and discuss their programs and research interests.

But lately, riding on a plane has been sorta a drag. I detail my last 12 consecutive examples. Note that all these flights originated from the Indianapolis International Airport, which is a fantastic airport that is less than 3 years old. The Indy airport is so convenient and easy to get around in. Small wonder it has already won many awards. Yet, still there are problems. Also note that one of these dozen trips is actually a car trip and not a flight at all. Smile.

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12 Trips, 12 Nail-biting Events:

Story/Trip #1. “Where’s the bloody Roanoke runway?” (United trip to Roanoke, VA, November 30-December 1, 201 0). My first story is of a trip to Roanoke, Virginia for an educational technology leadership conference primarily for K-12 educators and few folks from higher education. I had a short layover in Dulles airport in DC to change planes. I called my sister in Falls Church from Dulles to say hello.

Then I boarded my plane on a rainy day and we head to Roanoke, Virginia. It was raining and foggy as we approached, and, hence, extremely low visibility. We start to descend. Kept descending….and, all-of-a-sudden, the pilot pulled up abruptly. And we banked and banked and banked some more. After circling the atmosphere above for about 15 minutes, the pilot makes an announcement that he and his co-pilot knew that they were close to the runway but they just could not find it. He makes a joke that he “did not want to hit a mountain” and so he pulled up.

I do not think anyone sitting near me found it funny in the least. Thoughts flew through my head. Would he find the runway this time? Were other planes around us doing the same thing? About 5-10 minutes later, he tried it again and, yes, this time found the runway. Had I known that this was the first of a dozen straight trips with problems, I would have taken an early sabbatical or shaved my head and become a Buddhist monk. Scary one? Yes. Most definitely.

Roanoke Trip Pluses: As my readings of Buddhism tells me, for each negative, there is a positive. And there were many positives to this trip. For instance, I got to stay at a lovely historic hotel (i.e., the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center). More importantly, I was finally able to meet Professor John Burton from Virginia Tech University. John was the advisor of Dr. W. Michael Reed. Mike was my first mentor and colleague when I arrived at West Virginia University in August 1989 as a newly minted Ph.D. from Wisconsin Madison. Mike passed away two years ago. John and I toasted to him that night; perhaps not enough times. Mike Reed was one of the best individuals I have ever met on this planet. I blogged about Mike when he passed away. I found out after he died that we have a book together on computers and writing that I never knew about. How is that possible? Well, a special journal issue we did was turned into a book. How cool is that? I said goodbye to Roanoke, but I had difficulty saying goodbye to Mike once again.

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Story/Trip #2. “You have half of seat 14A.” (United trip to Fresno, January 17-19, 2011). I got some time off after Roanoke. My next trip was not until the middle of January. I was headed to Fresno, California to speak at Cal State Fresno University. The event was called the TWISTERS Conference (Teaching With Innovative Solutions in Technology to Engage and Reach Students). Early 6 am departure. Tired. First leg sat next to a lady holding a young child. She spots 2 open seats across the aisle and thankfully decides to move over and take them. It really does not matter, however. Her baby screams the entire way to Denver. The storms and sudden bumps do not help any. Some huge jolts coming into Denver. Happy to arrive.

I await the next plane and board it. Seat 14A is assigned. Unfortunately, a gigantic mountain man has 14B. I actually get half a seat. So I carefully situate my face on the window with my lovely, red University of Houston airplane pillow underneath and attempt to sleep. The bumps are back. And they are quite chilling on a regional plane going over the Rocky Mountains. But it is stunning when you see all the mountains snow packed down below.

A hour or two later and it gets cloudy. A white blanket it seems. I can spot the mountain peaks of Yosemite area jotting through the clouds. A few moments later, the pilot dives through the clouds for the runway. I kept thinking back to Roanoke. I sure hope he knows where he is going. Please don’t hit a mountain. Ok. Made it.

Way home, I have seat 12A. I think I got the mountain man’s wife next to me. Squished with half a seat again to Denver. I make some attempts to sleep and ignore being crushed. And then there is the final leg…of course, I am seated next to a hippie grandfather holding his young grandson on his lap. I waited for the screaming but none came. Thank goodness. But I would like to get back to having a normal seat on a plane. Is this possible? Squished, ear drums pounding, and stomach churning through the bumps is not exactly what I had in mind.

Fresno Trip Pluses: I had a lovely dinner with my former student, Dr. Bosung Kim, who now works at Cal State Fresno. The stress of the travel and severe migraines, however, caused me to get sick that evening upon my return to my hotel to prepare my talks for the following day. Gone was that fabulous dinner that I had with Bosung. My head was pounding. Time for a shower? Yes. Felt fabulous the following morning and both my talks went well or so I think (see interview in their University Journal on my shared online video talk in the morning). Met some great people at Fresno State throughout the day.

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Story/Trip #3. “Sorry, folks, we need to de-ice the jet bridge from the plane.” (Delta trip to Atlanta and Athens, GA, February 2-4, 2011). Trip to Atlanta to speak at the University of Georgia (UGA) and DeVry University. Ice storm hits the mid-section of the United States. I think it is called the Ground Hog Day Blizzard of 2011 (January 31-Febraury 2, 2011; Ground Hog Day was February 2nd). After monitoring the weather all day Monday and Tuesday, I decide not to drive in the snow and ice that has hit the Midwest. I am told that my flight to Atlanta on Wednesday February 2nd is initially cancelled and then a few hours later, it is back on; someone made a mistake.

So, I order a limo pick-up at my house and make it to the Indianapolis airport on time. But the airport is deserted. The only people I spot in the main section of the airport are a Channel 13 cameraman and floor sweeper. All the planes I see outside are being de-iced. I spot mine—it gets a full 2 hours of de-icing while parked at the gate. Two bloody hours in preparation for departure. Some storm.

Other passengers show up. And we wait. Then there is an announcement. After two hours of de-icing, we will need to wait another 45 minutes to an hour as the engines have ice in them. They need to be inspected. After that inspection, there is another 30 minute wait. I am giving constant updates to my friends at the University of Georgia where I am supposed to speak late that afternoon. Finally, we board. I will perhaps make it in time. Nope. The plane is stuck to the jet bridge and the wheels are stuck to the ground. The grounds people could not de-ice that part since the smell (and perhaps the fluid) would get into the concourse. So we wait. Finally, we are unstuck. (Has this happened before to anyone reading this post?)

Now we must head to the de-icing area for one more bit of de-icing since flakes of snow had fallen in the meantime. It is also a final precaution. Few planes fly out that day but we are among them. I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

As noted below, I got to Atlanta too late to speak at UGA but in time for a tour of campus, dinner, and a few round of drinks with a group of faculty and graduate students from educational technology and learning sciences. Fantastic people at UGA. They even rescheduled my talk for the following morning with a blue screen background and streamed it across campus. What fun!

Georgia Trip Pluses: Got to see the University of Georgia (UGA) for the first time. I had heard much about it. It is indeed very picturesque. In addition, I had a nice long chat with my former master’s student, Eun-jung Oh. Eun-jung patiently waited to pick me up at the airport. As an aside, a few weeks after this, she defended her dissertation. She is now Dr. Oh.

Equally great, I had dinner Wednesday night with Eun-jung and her husband was paid by my good friend, Professor Tom Reeves. Tom had to leave for DC just before I got there. After dinner, I had a lovely moment to toast to the engagement of long-time friend Eunbae Lee. Eunbae is the sister-in-law of my student, Yeol Huh. Her sister, Dabae Lee, is Yeol’s wife. Both are students in my program back in Bloomington. She will be getting married on Saturday July 23rd in Seoul. It is coming up!

On Thursday, I was able to visit the famous Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development. Torrance Center director, Dr. Bonnie Cramond, was available for a great chat. My master’s thesis utilized the Torrance Tests for Creative Thinking and my former advisor at UW-Madison, Dr. Gary Davis, has book called “Creativity is Forever” which I still use in my classes. Gary always talked about the Paul Torrance and what his work meant for the field. Gary’s book covers all forms of creativity assessment, by the way. Suffice to say, this was a special pilgrimage.

Next up was lunch at a popular Athens restaurant with10-12 UGA people. After lunch, Eunbee took me back to Atlanta so I could speak on Friday at a special training event for DeVry University faculty. Another former student of mine, Dr. Jung Won Hur from Auburn University, took me to dinner when in Atlanta. It is great to have so many former students taking care of me when I travel.

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Story/Trip #4. Part A. “An hour with Sir Tim Berners-Lee, weather I like it or not.” (Continental and Lufthansa trip to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, February 20-25, 2011). After all the positive experiences of not driving to the airport last time, I once again decide to take a limo and arrive well before my intended flight. I have more than two hours before my flight is to leave. There are problems, however. Weather and other issues have my plane (incoming from Newark) behind schedule. There is an earlier flight about to leave. Can I get on it? No. Instead, I am told that there is plenty of time padded into the schedule. So I wait and wait and wait.

I keep reminding myself that if I am too late for my flight, I would miss getting a chance to hear Sir Tim Berners-Lee speak. He is scheduled to open the conference. Sir Tim was the Day One keynote speaker. Jimmy Wales from Wikipedia/the Wikimedia Foundation was Day Two. I was scheduled to be Day Three. My plane, which, as I stated, was coming from Newark, was delayed several times due to weather in the New York area. However, just as I was glancing again at my watch, an announcement was made that it was finally departing Newark airspace.

So much of a time delay had occurred, however, that the Continental flight scheduled to fly to Newark after my flight was now set to leave earlier. I tried to get on it but was told that it was fully booked. The agent tried and tried but to no avail. She then calculated the time remaining in flight, time to unboard that plane and reboard, and then fly back to Newark. After that, she said that I should make it. Well, my flight finally arrived and I took a mad dash to the bathroom and when I returned I could not find my glasses. My plane was boarding. Final call. Where were they? I shook all my bags and no glasses. I cannot be in Saudi Arabia for the next 4-5 days without my glasses. I ran back to the bathroom, and, as I was doing so, my glasses magically dropped from my leather coat to the floor. Back to boarding.

Our pilot flew in record time to Newark. It went extremely fast. Unfortunately, the ground crew for Continental who had to retrieve all the gate checked bags were not so swift. They took their time. And still more time. A full 15 minutes went by. Got my bags and ran with someone else also heading for an international flight. I had a first class ticket costing mucho dinero ($$$$) and was told that the plane would wait for me. I thought we still had over 30 minutes so I stopped for a bottle of water. All-of-a-sudden, I hear last call for my flight. So I ran to the gate.

The gate agent for Lufthansa needed my Visa information for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (or KSA as they call it). She had trouble finding the right page since it was my fifth such trip there in a little over 4 years. Many one-time visit Visas to Saudi Arabia in there. Frantic calls were made back and forth between her and flight attendants on board who told her that they were going to close the doors and not let me on if she could not find my Visa number and enter it into their system. Finally, she and I found it and I was the last one to board. Whew!

Saudi Trip Pluses: Of course, listening to Sir Tim Berners Lee speak at the conference was the highlight of the week for me and most likely for the year or even this decade. I took copious notes and have been meaning to blog on it. Better still, was getting to meet him personally and sit next to him on the bus for a full hour on the way to dinner for an authentic Saudi Arabian meal. It was marvelous. We chatted about the Web, our jogging routines, Saudi Arabia, academia, and other interests and hobbies. Well, it definitely was a delight. After getting off the bus, I got a couple of pictures with him.

The following day, I got to meet Jimmy Wales from Wikipedia/the Wikimedia Foundation during lunch. I feel most fortunate that I got a few pictures with him as well. During our brief chat, I shared information about my research on wikis and wikibooks (some of which the Wikimedia Foundation had sponsored). His talk that morning was fabulous just like Sir Tim’s the day before. I need to blog on it someday as well. I am slow. Jimmy had jumped in a plane to attend the conference a few hours after his wife gave birth to their new baby daughter. I am quite certain that he was quite tired but he did not show it when he presented nor when conversing with countless people after his talk and at lunch. I, for one, found him highly engaging and embedded with an optimistic spirit.

When in Riyadh, I also saw my old friends Daniel Tan from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, Ron Oliver from Edith Cowan University in Perth (Australia), Mauri Collins (now working in Saudi), and John Hedberg from Macquarie University in Sydney. And I finally met Mohamed Ally from Athabasca University in Canada, among others. Mohamed is known for his work on mobile learning. On the last day of the conference, John Hedberg and I were taken out for an original Saudi lunch meal. Exquisite…!

Additional Saudi Conference Pluses: This conference was the 2nd International Conference of e-Learning and Distance Learning (eLi 2011) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. As is the custom, females are in a separate room from the males. They had someone using sign language for the hundreds of hearing impaired or deaf women in the other room. In addition, graphic facilitators from Image Think were brought in to sketch out the keynote and invited talks. Andrew Federman was on the men’s side and Nora Herting on the women’s side. They were awesome. Three huge screens filled the men’s side so at times a person drawing your talk was shown above your head as you spoke while a signer was in another window and perhaps sections of the audience or yourself was shown in the third window. (You can see some of their drawings from the conference, in fact, including those they created from the talks of Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Jimmy Wales, Ron Oliver, John Hedberg, mine, etc..)

I was informed that there were over 2,700 people for Day One of the conference when Sir Tim spoke. Keep in mind that the conference planners had expected less than half of that (perhaps 1,000-1,200). While 400-500 chairs were available in the women’s room, there were actually twice that many females who showed up and many of them had to stand or sit on the floor that day. In addition, thousands more signed up to watch the live stream of the event on their computers or other mobile devices (perhaps some 10,000). In addition, countless others were tuning in throughout the Middle East to an educational TV station that was being piloted during the conference. During the conference, all of us speakers were interviewed for that TV station. Needless to say, it was great exposure for anyone presenting at the eLi conference.

While I could not see the women, I had them jumping during my talk (I had the men jumping too). It is part of one of my talks—I get people to jump. Though not typical, I did actually get 15-20 minutes to meet and chat with a few of the ladies in the exhibit hall, though most were veiled. Sorry I cannot share any photos here. Many pictures were also taken with the men on my side after my talk and throughout the conference. There were also a couple of newspaper interviews (see article in "the Saudi"). It was quite a spectacular experience. Until my return home. Read on…

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Story/Trip #4. Part B. “Am I being kidnapped, extorted money, or what? Time to crawl out the taxi window.” All great conferences come to an end and so did this one. After meeting with the father of one of my Saudi students, I packed and then went downstairs for a quick work out. Upon returning, I had a Skype discussion with a colleague back in the USA. And then I took off for a lovely dinner in one of the hotel restaurants. At that point, the excitement of the evening began to happen. At dinner, I was approached by a tall, strange looking, Saudi young man who asked if I needed a ride to the airport. He asked me this in sketchy English and wanted to charge me a fee. I said I did not need one since I was to be picked up. The waiter said he was a crazy man and showed him the door.

After waiting for more than an hour for my prearranged conference shuttle, I called the conference host and chatted with her. She said to wait patiently and so I did. I called her again 20 or 30 minutes later and she indicated that a ride was nearly there. And sure enough, there it was…actually 2 taxis, both bearing the conference initials so I felt ok about that. I was told to get into the 2nd taxi by the first driver. However, it was obvious that the 2nd driver could not speak English. The first one could. It later occurred to me, that is was the same deranged young man who approached me at the restaurant. Unfortunately, the guy who spoke English quickly drove off.

And so we are off. My driver calls someone on the phone and starts to yell. I tell him to take me to the airport and he replies “no English.” I have to flap my arms to indicate a bird flying for him to understand. Keep in mind, when I was picked up from the airport 4 days earlier, I had an English speaking escort. And that was a very calm ride to the hotel in a very comfortable black Mercedes.

In contrast, this car was so-so and the driver was in need of a psychological exam. He was on the phone constantly when driving. He drove with one hand (finger actually) barely touching the wheel. He glanced quickly (if that) when changing lanes. I am surprised he is alive. And then he started yelling on his phone again. This was all in the first few minutes. And in extremely heavy traffic. It was crazy. Making it worse, King Abdullah had just returned from an operation in the USA, so it was like a 4th of July celebration in the streets of Riyadh.

My crazed taxi driver eventually pulled off to the side on a busy Riyadh street and waved some keys at me and got out of the car and locked me inside, all while continuing to talk on his phone. I had no idea what was happening. Was I being kidnapped? I had no clue. Was he abandoning the car and leaving me on the streets of Riyadh to fend for myself? I was some 2 or 3 miles from my hotel and I knew nobody or how to get back. And again, the streets were alive with celebration. But I decided to roll down the window and crawl out. My suitcase was in the truck of the car but I had my technology in my computer bag and I was fine with just that. I was about to walk back to the hotel or go anywhere but stay in that car.

Before doing so, I was going to ask for my bag and try to get a different taxi. I wanted to be anywhere but locked in a car in a strange city with this very strange man. (As an aside, I should point out, that it was my 9th trip to the Middle East and I have had many poor drivers in the past.) At this point, the taxi driver then turned and said “sorry” (apparently he knew one usable English word).

He then got back in the taxi and motioned for me to come back in. I regrettably got back in and we drove off. His driving got increasingly worse, not better. I asked if we were going to the airport. He said he knew no English. Only Arabic. “You (know) Arabic?” he asked. So I am in a shuttle with a man who is yelling on his phone and who does not know how to communicate with his passenger and who apparently does not know where he is going. Since he knows no English, I decide to wave my arms again like a bird and he once again nodded that he understood.

Then he finds an alternative route to the expressway. Once on it, he speeds up and swerves around traffic. I say slow down and he says No English. Right on the tail of many cars and trucks and flashes his lights for them to pull over. I momentarily close my eyes. This type of driving continues. I try to close my eyes again and hope for no accident but I cannot. I must see what is going on and where we are going. I hang on, 120 kilometers per hour in heavy traffic or faster (130) (Note: I had experienced 180-190 kilometers per hour once in a taxi from Abu Dhabi to Dubai in the UAE but that was with limited traffic).

I say slow down over and over to myself. It is my mantra to calm me down. He turns on some Arabic music really loud. Then a police light and checkpoint is up ahead. “Thank goodness,” I say to myself. He finally slows down and turns off music and puts on his seat belt. Apparently, he knows the laws and that he is not abiding by them. We drive through the checkpoint with no one stopping us and he immediately takes off his seat belt and talks on phone once again. And the wild driving returns.

Can things get worse? Yes they can! He then asks me for money. “Money. Money. Money.” I say the name of the person bringing me to the conference and that it is paid for and he apparently does not understand (or pretends not to). He again asks for money. I feel he is going to drop me in the middle of this highway here in Riyadh. So I decide to pull out the email with the phone number of the conference coordinator. He looks at it and types something into his phone (as he drives at some frenetic speed, of course) and I think he will call her. But he does not.

During all this, an indicator light comes on that he is running out of gas. Oh great, I say to myself; instead of him sticking me on the highway, we are going to be trapped together. Scary to say the least! Fortunately, the airport is finally within reach. A sign indicates that a private airport to the right. He starts to go there but I catch him doing this and I point to the sign that says domestic and international flights to the left. He goes left at the last second. Whew. We get to the domestic sign and he pulls over. He must be glad to get rid of me. It is perhaps a third or half mile to the international terminal but I do not care. I will run and then walk and then run again and be rid of him as well.

As per usual, some of the lines at the international terminal are quite long with hundreds of workers from the Philippines and other places heading home. Fortunately, those are not my flights. Some parts of the Riyadh entry terminal remind me of cattle herding. I finally find Lufthansa and one of the conference escorts named “Ryan” luckily finds me (shaking). He asks me what’s wrong and I tell him the cliff notes summary of what just happened. He apologizes and takes me over to the special customs clearance for VIPs and we sail right through. First, however, we sip some dark and quite potent Saudi Arabian tea/coffee. It feels great to finally relax.

Side note: I do not think I was being kidnapped, but I definitely believe that this guy and the other taxi guy who showed up with him were jointly conspiring to scare me into giving them money. He was likely the same guy who approached me at dinner and asked me if I needed a ride (in broken English). Later, I think that the two of them sat across from me in the hotel lobby as I waited patiently for my taxi. They were sitting right there watching me get nervous and look at my watch as I waited for my ride (and they were my drivers playing games with me). I think for a long time they were watching me at the hotel and then they left and then he came back.

I do not know for sure. But, it was just so bizarre. If I am correct, they were trying to extort money from me. Moral: Be careful getting into a taxi in a strange city even if it seems they are paid and approved by the conference people bringing you there. Do not get into a taxi without a 2nd person sitting next to you who knows English AND Arabic.

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Story/Trip #5. “There’s a whole lot of shaking going on.” (Personal Car (2001 Nissan Pathfinder), Columbia, Missouri, March 6-9, 2011). Tired of flying, I decided to drive the 6-7 or so hours needed to get to the University of Missouri back in early March. Four other consultants and I were brought in by the MU College of Education Dean, Daniel Clay. We were there to review their areas of strengths and point to areas to build upon. Many meetings. All went well for those two days; after which I gave a keynote talk at their annual TeAchnology conference.

The following day, I had a final breakfast with some of the people I know there at MU. After that, a couple of them gave me a tour of some of the MU campus; including a brief look at some of their learning technology projects. Then my old friend Ta Boonseng dropped me off at my car, a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder, and I headed to the highway I-70 for the 6-7 hour journey home. Sidenote: As a graduate student, Ta had helped run a conference back in December 2006. I was one of the keynote speakers he brought in for it. Ta is now working on his dissertation.

At this point, my car stated knocking and shaking. The engine was misfiring. I had several engine coil problems in the past but this seemed more serious. The entire car was shaking worse than ever before. I slowed down and finally had to pull off the highway just east of Columbia. Needless to say, I knew no one (though Columbia was not far away). I let the car rest while getting gas. Got back in…same problem. Went inside the gas stop convenience store and let it rest a few minutes more. At this point, I was worried that I would be spending another day or two in Missouri and I had already been there 3 nights. After asking where the local auto repair shop was, I got back in the car and started it back up and to my surprise there were no problems. So I immediately headed home a happy, though cautious, man.

University of Missouri Trip Pluses : When at MU, I was able to learn about a graduate program in information science and learning technologies which was similar to the one I am in at Indiana University. I also had the good fortune to meet with several current and former doctoral students that I had been mentoring (Ta Boonseng (as was mentioned) as well as Vera Chen and Hui-Hsien Tsai (now Dr. Tsai). Vera came to a talk I gave at Beijing Normal University back in October 2004. However, she had to leave before I finished as she had a class, so we never met. Since then, we have published a paper on blogging on China. But this was the first time we met. It is always interesting collaboratively writing with someone you have never physically met. Also, at my talk was my former master's student, Pil-Won On is now working there in engineering education. It was great to see Pil-Won and everyone there doing so well.

With all the graduate students I help out with at different places, there are times I feel more like a faculty member at places like Missouri, Wisconsin, or Georgia than IU. But such is the way of the open educational world. We no longer are restricted to teaching and mentoring those within a few miles of your campus, school, or training department. Today, you can help anyone at any time and they, in turn, can help you. I met some really top notch graduate students when traveling during the past year when visiting MU, UGA, FSU, etc. For this I am thankful.

During my three days at MU, I also got to hang with faculty member friends like David Jonassen, Gail Fitzgerald, John Wedman, Joi Moore, Rose Marra, and others. They have assembled one of the top departments in the field of learning technologies in the country and the world. I think it was back in 1987 or 1988 back in grad school at Wisconsin when I first wrote to David about one of his papers in Educational Technology Magazine. I was extremely excited when I got a handwritten reply (few of us used email then; it was around that time when I started to, however). David was at the University of Colorado at Denver back then. I met Gail a year or 2 later when I was a new faculty member at West Virginia University (WVU). Gail and I (and Mike Reed--see Story #1) were assigned to every committee involving technology...and there were many. In addition to knowing David and Gail for some time now, I met Joi at the e-learning conference in Thailand, mentioned above, back in December 2006. And Rose, I got to know through the tenure review process. John Wedman is the department chair (I think of 2 departments now as he became interim head for the educational psychology people in addition to learning technologies and info sciences). He has done a marvelous job as chair. Will he soon become chair of 3 or 4 departments? I doubt he (or anyone) would welcome that.

The reception after my talk and then dinner were both fabulous. Many pictures taken. As with UGA the month before, these are really great people. From my involvement in the consulting project with the dean's office, I also learned a ton about how a college or school of education is run from. I am pretty sure that our final report was well received. still, I do not want to do many such things.

Final reflection...now I will be sure to get a different car soon so I can visit them again and not have to worry about it breaking down. It is really not that far away.

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Story/Trip #6. “Perfect timing no more.” (United, Melbourne, Australia, March 25-April 2, 2011). I had planned my trip to the Global Learn conference fairly well. Before I left, I was able to watch Butler University (where my daughter Nicki goes to school) beat my alma mater (Wisconsin) in the Sweet 16. The following day I would board a plane for the Global Learn conference in Melbourne. There were stops in Denver, LAX, and Sydney. Food at LAX was awful as was the airplane food. As a seafood vegetarian, I did not eat any of it. I thought that perhaps after I landed in Sydney to change planes, I could catch the score of Butler’s next game against Florida. I actually got rolling text of the game in the Sydney airport and saw that Butler was keeping it close. Halftime. Time to reboard.

When I arrived in Melbourne, my good buddy, Clint Smith, accessed the Web with his phone and told me that Butler had indeed won in overtime and were, once again, in the Final Four. Way to go Butler Bulldogs. I could not believe it. On my way home, I planned to watch their Final Four game in the Denver airport between flights. However, when I arrived back at LAX on my way home, my flight to Denver was delayed by 3-4 hours. Bugger. I went to the United help desk for premier customers and asked to be rerouted through Chicago or Houston. If I could be rebooked, I could watch the entire game at home perhaps or in Indy with my daughter.

Unfortunately, I was told that all flights were full. Every plane was crammed to the max that day. So I sat and sat in my least favorite airport—LAX. My flight was delayed so much that I got to see the half-time show of the Butler game in Denver and that was it. Fortunately, my son (Alex) and daughter (Nicki) texted me the scores as they happened while I was on the plane getting ready to depart for Indianapolis. And, just before landing, the pilot told us the final result--Butler beat VCU 70-62 and was in the NCAA finals for the second straight year. Amazing! I would have loved to see some of that game. Thanks United. Not!

Global Learn/Melbourne Trip Pluses: There are too many positive and fun events that week in Melbourne to list here in detail. I did get to see my first Formula One/Grand Prix race a few hours after arriving in Melbourne. I viewed parts of it from the rooftop of an apartment complex. Clint Smith took me to that party. The penthouse apartment of his friends had views of the racetrack, downtown Melbourne, the sun setting over the bay, and Pamela Anderson down below (a tiled mural of her on one of the homes below). What fun! Much wine and food as well.

The next evening, Clint and I joined 20 or so others and enjoyed a limo ride around Melbourne. It was a stretch Hummer filled with champagne. In fact, every night in Melbourne was grand. The conference went well too. Many old and new friends were met. Then it was on to the Global Learn conference where I would do an afternoon workshop the following afternoon. Before that, I would have breakfast with my friend Elaine Khoo from the University of Waikato in New Zealand. At breakfast, we would map out a book project which I am about to start writing once this blog post is done. The book will be about motivation and retention online based on my TEC-VARIETY model (i.e., Tone, Encouragement, Curiosity, Variety, Autonomy, Interactivity, Engagement, Tension, and Yielding Products). We will map out 10 activities for each of these 10 motivational principles. We will end up with another 100+ activities book just like my Empowering Online Learning (R2D2--Read, Reflect, Display, and Do) book with Dr. Ke Zhang. I will focus on the activities (practice) and she will focus on the theory side. Elaine's husband was also helpful at breakfast as we formed ideas. Elaine has time now since she recently finished her dissertation (a 550 or so page tome) and became Dr. Khoo. We are ready to push ahead now.

After breakfast at a quaint cafe in Melbourne, we took a tram ride back to the conference. I should point out that the success of Global Learn is important to me. A couple of years ago I helped found Global Learn, including drafting the mission statement, topics, and recruiting board members. Gary Marks from the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE) wanted to try some new type of event in Asia. And so we did. So at the e-Learn conference 2008 (sponsored by AACE), the co-program chairs for the conference, Mimi Lee (University of Houston), Tom Reynolds (National University), and I put together a preconference symposium on e-learning in Asia. Thanks to the hard work of my two colleagues, more than a dozen speakers came from China, Thailand, Korea, Malaysia, India, Australia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Singapore, Japan, etc. This evolved into a special issue of a journal and eventually a small, print-on-demand book called "A Special Passage Through Asia E-Learning." Tom, Mimi, Gary, myself, and many others worked extremely hard to see this conference come to fruition; Zoraini Wati Abas is another and she is the new board chair of the conference. Zoraini is a true leader and someone we needed badly...with her insights into how to run a conference in Asia. I am thankful to have such excellent colleagues to work with. As we worked on it over the past few years, Global Learn has evolved into an annual event in the spring (late March, April, May, or early June) in Asia or the Pacific Rim; at least for now.

For the 2011 conference that was held in Melbourne March 27 to April 1 (i.e., the 2nd Global Learn, the first one was held in Penang, Malaysia in May 2010), I helped organize a debate panel for the third day of Global Learn on our respective digital futures. The panel included all the keynote speakers and many of the invited ones as well. I once again met up with John Hedberg (from Sydney) and Daniel Tan and his assistant Shirlene Tang (from Singapore). I also got to see Grace Lin, Curtis Ho, and Betsy Fulford (all from the University of Hawaii Department of Educational Technology), Xun Ge (U of Oklahoma), Gilly Salmon (U of Southern Queensland in Brisbane, Australia—I bogged on her keynote talk), Tian Belawati (Open U of Indonesia—I also blogged on her keynote), Rick Bennett (my dear friend from the University of New South Wales in Sydney--I blogged a bit on his keynote at the end of my post on Gilly), Elaine Khoo (U of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand—Elaine and I are starting to work on a book project this summer related to motivating students online), Mark Curcher (Dubai Men’s College), Verily Tan (my new student from Singapore), Torsten Reiners (Germany…soon to be Australia), Siew-Mee and Greg Barton (Melbourne), Zoraini Wati Abas and Abtar Kaur (both from the Open U of Malaysia in KL), David Deeds (China), Christopher Devers (U of San Diego…soon to be Indiana), Ferial (Faye) Khaddage and Leanne Ngo (both from Deakin U in Melbourne and both fantastic people who will shake up the field in the near future), Josie Csete (Hong Kong Polytechnic), Carmel McNaught (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), Mona Masood (a former student of mine now in Penang, Malaysia), Mikhail Fominykh (from Russia but working in Norway on his Ph.D.), and so many others (Apologies to those that I did not list or mention). As you can see, Global Learn, as would be expected, is a very international conference.

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Story/Trip #7. “Sound the alarm.” (Continental, AERA Conference in New Orleans, April 8-12, 2011). I tend to go to the American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference each year. And I did so this year as it was in New Orleans. It was my 4th or 5th AERA in that wonderful, historic city. Other than overhead luggage containers that were far too small and overstuffed as well as the tiny bathrooms and waiting area in the Houston airport on the way home, this trip was my first in months with no problems or complaints. But I had a lunch scheduled in Indianapolis after my return with my long-time friend, Jim Middleton from Arizona State University.

Jim was in town for the annual National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) conference. Actually, he was there for the preconference as well as the main conference. So I placed my parking ticket in the meter to pay for it before going to find my car. That was supposed to be easy. However, the meter did not like the shape of my ticket and spit it out. So I turned it around and placed it in again and the dang ticket got stuck. I hit a green button to get it back and the several alarms went off in the airport parking area (right next to the doors to the concourse). These alarms were screechingly loud and would not end. I called for help and was told that a supervisor would be coming. After 10 full minutes of blaring sirens and everyone looking at me like I robbed a bank, a man appeared and helped me out.

New Orleans Trip Pluses: My session at AERA in New Orleans on wikis in elementary school classrooms went very well. I am particularly pleased since my colleague on the paper initially wanted to withdraw it due to a lack of time. But an all-nighter or two took care of that. So off to the conference I went.

As with every AERA conference, I got to see dozens of old friends, colleagues, and current as well as former students. And there was a free music festival going on in New Orleans at the time (i.e., the New Orleans French Quarter Festival). Many pictures taken. Much to enjoy in addition to the conference. Though I must say that Royal Street is much more pleasant than Bourbon Street.

On my way home, I also got to attend part of the NCTM preconference in Indianapolis and see not only my good buddy Jim but also I also sat in on a presentation from my friends from the University of Houston (UH). The UH talk was highly informative, comprehensive, and exciting. Much preparation went into it to be sure. Their iSMART (Integration of Science, Math and Reflective Teaching) project is quite novel and momentous. About 25 middle school teachers in the state of Texas enroll in it each year. As part of their efforts, iSMART teachers obtain a master’s degree when they complete the 2 year program and it is all paid for by a grant. A free master’s degree from a Research #1 university? Yes! Now that is something we can all smile about. iSMART, uSMART…we all smart! Way to go UH people. Sitting in that talk was a wonderful way to end that trip and more than makes up for my embarrassment in setting off the alarm at the airport a couple of hours earlier.

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Story/Trip #8. “Let’s go back and get 3 crew members.” (Delta/Pinnacle, Destination was Dallas/Denton, April 28-30, 2011). I boarded the plane on the afternoon of April 28th with my destination being Dallas. I would speak on shared online video later that day (early evening) at the University of North Texas (UNT) to a class taught by Dr. Scott Warren. Scott is a former student of mine. The following day, I would keynote the University Forum on Teaching & Learning (UFTL) held each year at UNT with invites to those working at surrounding universities in the Dallas-Denton area.

Everything looked great. All my flights were on time. The airplane door was shut. The jet bridge was motored back. And all seemed well as we were headed to the runway in Indianapolis. And then, the pilot informed us that we would be going back for 3 crew members. Nothing else was said. We went back and waited and waited and waited for more than 30 minutes. There were no “crew members” it seemed. They were fictional. Someone made them up. Was it April Fools’ day? No, that was 4 weeks earlier.

I voiced a complaint to the young flight attendant standing nervously at the front of our regional plane and asked a question or two. He heard me but clearly he had no clue what was going on. Finally, these three mysterious people we had heard about showed up. That led to another problem. We only had 2 seats open on our plane. Someone had to be bumped off. Fortunately for Delta, a guy behind me quickly jumped at the $400 voucher they offered to take a later flight.

I had to ask myself, what was going on? These were not even people needed to fly our plane. We were basically taking 3 people from Indianapolis to Memphis who were not registered for our flight. One guy was dressed quite nicely. Was he a pilot or was he a Delta VIP? We ended up leaving about 50 minutes late because of them and that was the exact amount of time that I had to make my connection in Memphis. Others were in the same boat or worse. Delta did not care about the 70-80 or more people who had already boarded this plane with me; just their 3 valuable employees. With Delta, the customer does NOT come first. With Delta, Delta comes first.

We were told that the gate agents in Memphis knew of our situation and would help us out. That was definitely not the case when we landed there, however. Lies! All lies! When we did arrive in the Memphis airport, many of us had to wait for our gate-checked bags to come up. As with my Newark trip the month before on Continental, the amount of time it took to retrieve those bags was much longer than expected. Making matters worse, the nearby gate agent from the concourse who peered in to see why so many of us were waiting for our bags for so long would not tell any of us if our flights were delayed. She said to “check the monitors” which we could not do until we got our bags. When she came back a second time, I asked about the gate and departure time of my plane and she said the same thing. But if I left to check the monitors, I could not come back and get my bag. Silly! Thanks again Delta. Not.

When I got finally got my “carry-on” bag, I looked at the screen and sure enough, my plane was in final boarding on the other end of the concourse; it was scheduled to depart in 5 minutes (which was 5 minutes later than the original time, thank goodness). To get to that gate, it was a 10 minute or so walk and 4-5 minute run. With some knee pain from a previous accident, I ran through the concourse at my top speed while rolling my bags behind me. As I got within shouting distance, I repeatedly yelled “One more passenger for Gate 39.” When I arrived, they were about to close the doors and had given away my seat. The gate agent issued me a new seat fortunately and asked me to quickly get on the plane. But then I had to inform her that others were coming behind me, including a family with a baby in a stroller and other children. She had no clue about our situation. As I said, Delta people lied. No one was informed of their snafu. Delta cares about their 3 passengers (i.e., “crew members”) but no one else. How sad.

So who were these 3 crew members really? I wrote to operations managers and customer support people at Delta as well as their regional Delta connection, Pinnacle, which was in charge of the fight in question. All I got was an apology from the operations manager at Pinnacle for the “rude behavior of the gate agent in Memphis” and a $100 voucher for my next Delta flight. He did not address the real complaint. They were hiding something. What might it be? Was it an infraction of prevailing laws or the rules of the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration)? I think it was unlawful (or at least unethical) for Delta to take a plane back to the gate to get people (especially those who clearly did not have a ticket for this flight) once we had headed for the runway. So, in effect, Delta is using their planes at their own convenience to carry around their employees; not to help their customers. I do not know how many people missed their connecting flights that day (undoubtedly some did), but I know that many were scrambling and all of us were inconvenienced at the very least. Delta should be royally embarrassed.

Dallas/Denton Trip Pluses: On the positive side, I did get to meet Scott Warren and his wonderful students as well as other UNT faculty in the Department of Learning Technologies like Gerald Knezek and Lin Lin. Really great people at UNT and they get to work in a lovely building former occupied by Texas Instruments. Making life pleasant for me after that ridiculous Delta flight, they put me in a lovely European-inspired boutique hotel—the Wildwood Inn—it was extraordinary. Finally, my talks at the conference ended just as the City of Denton kicked off its annual Denton Arts and Jazz Festival. It was a great way to end that trip. Thanks Scott and everyone who showed me a marvelous time!

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Story/Trip #9. “Is there anyone on board who can change a tire?” (Delta, Newport News, Virginia, May 10-12, 2011). It has been 8 years since I was a research fellow with the Army Research Institute and 6 years since I had such a role with the Department of Defense. Still, I was happy to speak at an Army Learning Summit in Newport News, Virginia last month. The program for the summit was quite interesting. I gave two different talks on blended learning to two different groups as well as a keynote talk the next day (if interested, see color PDF of talk slides). This took some prepping but I learned a lot while doing so.

I was on Delta again. Would we be going back for crew members like last time? No. After boarding my connecting flight in Atlanta on my way to Newport News, however, we were delayed a tad in Atlanta. After about 10 or 15 minutes, I started to wonder why. And then I overheard the flight attendants mention that a special and quite huge dog would be traveling with us from Atlanta to Newport News. And he would be in the seat just in front of me.

The woman who needed this guide dog came on the plane crying profusely. Apparently, Delta officials at the gate did not treat her or her dog too well. Perhaps to compensate, the flight attendants inside the plane did everything they could to calm her down and attend to her needs. That dog was extremely well behaved. And yes, he was very big. Some kid of oversized hound dog; perhaps it was a mix of some kind. Not sure what it was. I felt sorry for this lady. More troubling was the fact that her husband was seated 20 rows back. In retrospect, perhaps I should I have offered him my seat. But we made it.

On the way home, I had yet another Delta incident. This time as we approached the runway, there was a sudden stop. The pilot soon came on the air and said, “you may have felt something when we backed the plane up from the gate and attempted to stop.” Then he informed us that we had a flat tire and we were heading back to the gate. I am glad he did as I think we were very close to taking off. He also noted that Delta officials had been informed of the situation and that a maintenance crew was on the way. Once back, it was quickly determined that our plane would not be back in service anytime soon. It was mass madness on the small concourse at that point. Many angry people and I could not hear much that was being said.

So, I left the concourse and headed back to National Car Rental from whom I had rented a car 2 days earlier in order to see Colonial Williamsburg. I thought I might drive to DC and see my sister and her family and then fly home from there. Just prior to do so, I decided to call Delta and see if I could get on a later flight. The answer was yes. But I would have to wait 4-5 hours for that next flight. So I waited along with a few others who came to the conference. I have flown a lot but, as with most of the stories I am telling here, it was the first time anything like that had ever happened to me.

Newport News Trip Pluses: This was one of the best trips of the year. As indicated, I got to visit Colonial Williamsburg for the first time. And when there, I had an engaging and personally enriching conversation with George Washington; or, should I say, the actor in town who portrays him, Ron Carnegie. We mainly discussed my idol, Alexander Hamilton (the conniving accountant…as I once hoped to be…smile). Having read both Hamilton’s and Washington’s biographies as well as Founding Brothers and many other Revolutionary War era books the past few years (or I should say, listened to them in my car), I really appreciated his insights. His college background was in history and acting so it was a perfect fit. Officials there gave him one year to study and learn all that he could about George Washington. It was like a personal sabbatical. And he continues his study today though he has been performing for many years now. Suffice to say, Colonial Williamsburg is a must see.

After that, I got a tour of the campus of William and Mary from my good friend, Dr. Judi Harris who has an endowed chair position there. It is the second oldest campus in the United States dating back to 1693. Only Harvard (founded in 1636) is older (and that is perhaps contestable). Anyway, I love traversing college campuses; especially historic ones like William and Mary. Totally awesome! And it was a much larger campus than I expected (5,850 undergraduate, 1,414 graduate, and 628 professional students in 2008). Yet I saw building after building after building and there was much of the campus that we did not get to due to time. I was equally surprised that it was a public institution, not private like Harvard as I had always assumed.

I have known Judi for many years so it was wonderful to catch up. She had spoken in the School of Education at Indiana University about a dozen years ago. Back then, she a professor at UT-Austin and researched the ePals program and other K-12 collaborative sites. I remember taking her to dinner. I had just completed an edited book on electronic collaboration or it was about to come out, so we had much in common. Now we were reconnecting. It happens sometimes. You do not hear from someone for years and then wham, you see him or her at several conferences or events in a row.

I felt thankful that Judi had required her class to read my “World is Open” book this past spring. She even brought me in to speak to her students using Adobe Connect Pro several months back. That Webinar was in a question and answer format, so really no pressure on me to present anything. Judi and several of her students joined me for dinner after I explored Colonial Williamsburg. We had a great conversation and delicious food. After that, Judi showed me the new building for the School of Education. Hard to leave Williamsburg but leave I must. The conference people were waiting.

To my delight, the conference hotel back in Newport News was wonderful as well. During the conference, I met several inspiring people including John Register, an army veteran and Paralympian who lost his leg during the 1990s in a freak accident while training for the 1996 Olympics. John later recovered and won a silver medal in the long jump in the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney (see bio). He is now a motivational speaker and inspiration for all wounded veterans about their lifelong possibilities. John also played a huge role in the warrior games this past May at the U.S. Olympic Facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is meeting people like John and Judi that make my trips most enjoyable, despite the plane or traveling issues along the way.

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Story/Trip #10. “Customs and chaos in sweaty Newark.” (Continental, Oslo, Norway, May 22-27, 2011). One army conference leads to another; this time it was an international event called the Norwegian Defence ADL Conference 2011 (see the program). I had not been to Norway since August 1999 so I was intensely looking forward to this particular trip a month or so ago. The flight out to Newark (yes, Newark again) was fine despite a bit of a delay…there was cushion built into my flight schedule, so no sweating it out this time. Coming back was another story. My return from Oslo started out well with 3 seats in the middle of plane to sleep on (I was the only one ont he entire plane with such good fortune). Twice, there were passengers attempting to scam one of my 3 seats (i.e., my make-shift bed for the flight home) but the flight attendants made one move back to their original seats. So I slept most of the way home, waking up only for some of the scrumptious dark chocolate bars I bought in the Oslo airport.

When we got into Newark, however, the customs line was enormous. And it grew and they grew and then grew some more. All that the customs people near us would say is that we should write to our congress men and women who had approved the budget cuts. Funny. Very funny. It took over an hour to get through that line and nearly another hour to get through security (see next paragraph). Combine that with people cutting me on the air train between terminals and, in effect, bumping me off, and I was not too happy.

In customs, I had additional screening since I admitted to having an apple in my bag. It was an apple from my home refrigerator that I brought with me to Norway but never ate. But, apparently, on return, it was no longer an apple I could bring into the United States despite it coming from here. After customs, it was on to security. It was extremely hot and steamy that day in Newark. I was sweating in security after the cool temps in Norway. Sure I can go in the priority line. That made things worse. Then we were moved “up” which really was not up; just a longer line that was closer to the terminal. Come on up, this one is shorter, we heard. Not! Oh this one is shorter, but it wasn’t. Ditto next one. A scam! We keep moving up to, in effect, clear space for the people behind us but the lines were no shorter. Someone should demolish much of that airport (not the whole thing, but perhaps).

On to the concourse. It was the start of Memorial Day weekend and the terminal looked like it. What a mess. People sprawled everywhere. Suffice to say, I hate the Newark airport almost as much as LAX. Fortunately, my plane was delayed and so I did not miss the flight home.

Norway News Trip Pluses: Upon arriving in Norway, I got a chance to visit the Fortress in Oslo. It was where the people from the ADL (Advanced Distributed Learning) lab worked. ADL people like Geir Isaksen had organized the conference. Geir did a fantabulous job arranging the speakers, sessions, socials, schedules, etc. During my first day, I also got to see some of the sites of Oslo with my good friend Donald Clark. Donald always has interesting insights about the present and future state of e-learning. After an hour or two strolling around Oslo, we went back to the Fortress. Then we gathered our things and headed for the train station. We would then enjoy a 3 hour journey to the north with the destination being Pers Resort in the city of Gol. Lovely. Lovely. Lovely. Many pictures taken. Suffice to say, walking and jogging in Norway was beautiful. I wished I could spend more time there.

The 3 day conference in Gol was well attended and extremely fun. Each night there we could listen to a piano player at the pub who had a superb voice. In addition, a couple of the conference participants played electric guitar with him. There was also a “Tropicana” night wherein most people wore Hawaiian shirts and shorts to dinner. Among those in attendance who I got to know that week weew: Major Tom Lyck from Sweden, Mikhail Fominykh (from Russia working in Norway--Mikhail was the only one I knew previously as he ws in Melbourne with me a month or 2 earlier), Joe Camacho (Program Director, U.S. Joint Forces Command, Joint Warfighting Center, JKDDC, JMO), Dr. Bart Kessler (Dean of Distance Learning, Maxwell Airforce Base), Biljana Presnall (Jefferson Institute in DC), Linda Tropea (NATO, Supreme Allied Command Transformation (SACT)), Ramin Dasiro (Norwegian Armed Forces, Norwegian Defense University College), Geir Isaksen (Head of R&D/XO at the Norwegian Defense Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Partnership Lab), Dr. Gokay Sursal (NATO, Section Head, Education and Training Technologies), Marianne Dohl-Marchetti (Lieutenant Colonol/Senior Staff Norway, Norwegian Armed Forces--Marianne had recently returned from duty in Afghanistan), and many others. Great people!

The conference included many sessions on military simulations and games. There was also an informative talk on the second day from a futurist (Eirik Newth) as well as an opening presentation from the Rear Admiral (Louise Dedichen, CO NoD University College). Before her talk, I got to meet with her briefly and share a copy of my book. I was happy that my talk was shortly after hers and delighted that she stayed for much of it before heading to the train station to get back to Oslo. Conference participants also came from the UK, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, the USA, Korea, and other places. We got to spend one final night in Oslo before departing. Like Williamsburg the week before, it was difficult to say goodbye to Gol and Oslo.

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Story/Trip #11. “No plane…No plane!” (United, Emporia, Kansas, May 31-June 1, 2011). I was about to travel to Kansas by flying Chicago. I should have known better than to fly through Chicago. Smile. One of my students from the learning sciences program at IU, Maria Solomou, was heading to London but had to fly through Chicago that same day. She had just completed her coursework and qualifying exams and was taking part of the summer off to relax before moving to Arizona State University with her advisor, Dr. Sasha Barab, as she dissertated. I told her I could give her a ride to the Indy airport. I was going west to Kansas, while Maria was traveling east. First, as indicated, we would both have to travel on United to Chicago. Her flight was leaving shortly after mine.

However, when we got to the Indy airport, there was flashing news on the flight screen that my plane was canceled. Apparently, a storm whipped through Chicago for a short time and messed things up. So I went up to the United Airlines reservations area and found the line for rebooking my flight. It was extremely long due to the fact that the Indy 500 race had been run 2 days earlier. Many people were now heading home as they stayed an extra day in case of race rain delays. People were flying back to all points around the world (i.e., New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Canada, etc.). Each person in front of me seemed to require 10 to 15 minutes of customer support. There was only one line for all of us. Making things worse, the information kiosks for United were down. As with my recent flights on United, Continental, and Delta, it was mass confusion once again and there were many verbally angry people. From time-to-time, United personnel made announcements that no one around me could hear.

Eventually, I got on a flight leaving 6 hours later and going through Kansas City instead of Wichita. With that schedule, I would not get to my hotel until perhaps 2 am. I tried to get on Maria’s flight by going on standby. In fact, I ended up as the next one in line to get on that flight when it was pronounced full. Despite leaving close to on time (maybe 25-30 minutes late), her flight ended up arriving extremely late. Apparently, the pilot pulled up in the nick of time to miss a plane on the runway or something and had to try to land again 20 or 30 minutes later. And so Maria missed her connecting flight to London. Poor, poor Maria.

I ended up on standby on the next flight. The United agent gave me an open seat and I boarded, but someone was sitting in that seat. I went back to tell the United agent, who ended up bumping an unhappy United flight attendant off that flight who was trying to get to Chicago (I felt sorry for her). After arriving in Chicago concourse C, I briefly saw Maria and learned that she was catching a later flight to London. I got on an earlier flight to Wichita than they had rescheduled me for and I ended up at my hotel before midnight. During the early morning hours, I prepared for my talks for the following two days (Day One: An E-Learning Institute; and Day Two: An M-Learning Institute). Getting there before midnight definitely helped. Still it was 5 hours or so later then planned. Thanks United for canceling my plane.

Emporia, Kansas Trip Pluses: The big plus here was that I finally got to Kansas. I had visited every state around it but not Kansas. I still have seven more states to go: Maine, Vermont, South Carolina, South Dakota, Mississippi, Oregon (unless you count the Portland airport), and Alaska. Who wants to come along? Who wants to invite me?

I was treated very well by everyone there—among them were Dusti Howell (a fellow UW Madison Alum) as well as Marcus Childress, Harvey Foyle, and Zeni Colorado I want that name). Zeni was out of town on personal matters, but had arranged it all. During my two day visit, Dusti and I told many Madison (and Wisconsin) stories. It was great to talk about old times in Wisconsin as he drove me from the airport and then back again (a little over about 1.5 hours each way).

As mentioned, Day One was the E-Learning Institute (see program). In attendance on Day One of my talks was the university president at Emporia State, Dr. Michael Lane. Michael and his wife came to all my talks that day. It was a five part “masterclass,” including sections on shared online video, extreme learning, motivation and retention online, addressing diverse learners, and so on. Faculty members and instructional design staff came from across the Emporia State campus.

Day Two was a special session on mobile learning for the School of Education (i.e., an M-Learning Institute; see program). An Apple rep as well as Dusti, Marc, Janet Holland, and others were co-presenters in the morning. The dean of the School of Education came to my morning session on mobile learning as well as my afternoon one on podcasts, wikis, and blogs. The mobile talk was brand new. The other, “Podcasts, Wikis, and Blogs: Online Learning is Not in Kansas Anymore” was an oldie I totally overhauled and updated for the occasion (if interested, see color PDFs of my talks at ESU). Rarely do I see a dean or university president when I travel. So it was wonderful to have such high level administrators there for each day.

Finally I should note that between sessions, I got to see the National Teachers Hall of Fame which is housed in the School of Education at ESU. Great trip, despite United canceling my initial flight.

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Story/Trip #12. “Two attempts too many…the landing that never happened.” (Delta, Birmingham, Alabama, June 14-16, 2011). What do you think happened when I put a note in my Facebook status line Wednesday night this past week that it looked like I would finally have an uneventful trip? All was going smoothly, or was it?

I was headed home from Birmingham, Alabama to Atlanta and then on to Indianapolis. I had just finished speaking at the 16th annual Alabama Educational Technology Conference (AETC) in Birmingham (see AETC conference program). This would be my last flight for the next 2 months. My plane to Atlanta was boarding on time and I was happy to be in Zone 1 for boarding. “All those in Zone 1 can now board,” said the gate agent. So I collected my things and exited Facebook. Of course, less than three minutes later, Atlanta airport people grounded our plane in Birmingham due to weather problems in Atlanta. It was the first of at least two major storm cells going through Atlanta that evening and my night would be affected by both of them. So much for a smooth flight home!

Two minutes later, an announcement was made by our gate agent. He said that our pilot wanted to continue boarding our plane. And so we did. It seemed that there was a debate between our pilot and the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport personnel. Perhaps he was trying to get us in the arrival queue between storm systems. Perhaps our pilot had won the debate or was bluffing that we were all on board. So everyone quickly got on board and our bags were stowed. Just then, our pilot came on the speaker system and told us we need to deplane and collect our bags as we waited out this first storm in Atlanta. Apparently, he lost the battle.

I thought to myself, well, perhaps we will get to Atlanta later tonight but, when we do, I will likely miss my connection and have to sleep at an Atlanta airport hotel that night. The Renaissance is nice and close. I could watch planes take off and land all night just in front of my hotel room window. It turns out, I was only partially correct.

So we deplaned and sat on the concourse again as Atlanta people were smart in not letting us leave sunny Birmingham for stormy Atlanta which is just a 30 minute flight away. In the meantime, I called Delta and found out that my connecting flight would also be late getting into Atlanta so I might be ok. At that point, I decided to sit in the main pub at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport and regrettably drink a couple of nonalcoholic beers while we all waited. When resting there, I promised myself that I would blog on the previous six months of flight problems. And so I am. In one humongous blog post. And to all those who read this far, please forgive me for this moment of happy fingers. Almost done. Smile.

About an hour later things got particularly interesting. We boarded. In fact, two planes were boarding for Atlanta in gates right next to each other. One was a large plane and ours was a smaller regional jet. The larger one was leaving first as everyone had boarded. I thought about getting on that one as seats were available. I went back and forth between the two grates trying to decide what to do. A final call for that flight was made twice. Then I thought I should just get on the plane I was scheduled for and so I did. In retrospect, I think that it was a mistake not to take a ride on the larger plane, given the storms anyway, though I cannot be entirely sure. Naïve perhaps, or just plain stupid, I went back to the line I belonged in and got a pleasant surprise. I was bumped up to first class as the smart people who were in first class had decided to drive to Atlanta or find some other means to get home that evening. So off we went to Atlanta. Little did we know that our delays in boarding and stowing our bags would cause us to arrive in Atlanta just as storm system #2 made its presence felt at the airport…and not in a minor way, but in a huge way!

As our plane approached Atlanta, we were whipped around, left and right, up and down. This happened repeatedly. It was not much fun. I could see the downtown lights of Atlanta in the distance and then the rows of lights leading to the airport. All of a sudden, we pulled up and the pilot averted the landing. No announcement. No news from him. We just banked and shook. Banked and shook again. It was another quite scary flying event. Our entire plane was being jostled by the wind. And after 15 or 20 minutes of this, we were back trying to land again. This time we did not get as close to landing. The winds were even worse than before. And we went up.

I have never been part of back-to-back failed landings and so I started to pray. I do not pray often, but this time I was praying that we had enough gas. I was praying that I would have my feet firmly planted on the ground again. Were we making our third attempt to land now? I was not sure. Again, no word from our Delta pilot.

After 5 or 10 minutes of being in a sorta flying state of limbo, we soared above the clouds and the nasty weather. I said to the guys next to me that we are likely going back to Birmingham. And so we were. The pilot confirmed this about 5-10 minutes later. As we headed back, the flight attendant in our first class cabin said that she never experienced such a series of events in her 5 years working for Delta. The seasoned travelers near me all said the same thing. When we landed, there were 2-3 dozen other averted flights on the runways and tarmacs of the Birmingham airport. Many of them were in need of refueling. And many were ahead of us and there were only 1 or 2 fuel trucks from what I could see. No gates available. So we waiting for over an hour as grounds people with orange cone lights ran back and forth to make sure that we did not bump into each other. It was a scene out of 911—stacks of planes all vying for space in an open airport runway like a downtown parking lot for airplanes. First one to a spot gets it. Squatter’s rights were in effect.

We were at a standstill. “Can I turn on my computer,” I asked. “No” the flight attendant very softly and kindly replied. Everyone else seemed to have an iPod, iPhone, or a Blackberry and much craved for Internet access. They also were able to get in touch with Delta people to rebook them on a flight the following day. Many of them could look up possible flights online as we waited. Not me with my dumb LG phone and laptop that could not be used. So, instead I tried to contact Delta on my mobile and get rebooked. I would be waiting for more than an hour according to the Delta answering machine. More than 75 minutes later, I was still on hold. Yikes!

What happened? Our pilot took a bathroom break and, when he got out, he told the flight attendant that we faced winds of 35 knots in Atlanta that were gusting up to 47 knots. They are not supposed to be landing (or attempting to land) in such weather (I think it must be in the low 30s). I later did a Google search on 47 knot winds and airplane landings and the results made me happy that we turned around and went back to Birmingham. But I have heard that such windy weather is affecting many flights this spring (and now summer).

After about 90 minutes of waiting at or near the runway, we got a gate, or so we thought. The pilot headed for one gate and then abruptly he spun the airplane around and headed in a different direction. Did someone grab our gate? Were squatter’s rights in play once again? Or, were we headed back to the runway to try to fly to Atlanta a second time tonight? I certainly hoped not!

But eventually we did coast into a gate. And, since I had been bumped up to first class, I was third in line inside the terminal with the gate agent who was helping us all with our reticketing. He suggested that I take a 2-3 hour bus to Atlanta that they had waiting and catch an early morning flight home to Indy but I refused. If I did that, I would be getting into Atlanta at 4 am for a 6 am flight, which meant no sleep. After a long sequence of typing keys and entering codes, he finally got me a ticket for the morning (though it really was not official until I showed up the next day). I felt bad for those at or near the end of that line. Within a few minutes, I found a taxi and I rechecked back into the Birmingham Sheraton Hotel as did most of those sitting around me on the plane. We got a picture of 5 of us in the hotel lobby to remember the night.

Birmingham Trip Pluses: I was back in Birmingham for the first time since a brief one night stay in 2002. My brother, Tom, used to live there in the 1980s and I had spent a couple of days with him back in 1983 and 1984. I remember all the beautiful brick homes back then, many of which were still there. The small mountains and hills, lush wooded areas, and charming homes makes Birmingham a popular place to live.

This particular trip started off fine. My hotel was a happening place my first night as there was a special benefit concert next door for tornado victims. I also had a great meal and discussion with Dr. Steve Terrell and his wife, Dalia. Steve is from Nova Southeastern University and has been involved in the Internet and Higher Education journal for some years now. I am a board member and reviewer for that journal. I also have a piece that just went to press in that journal on blogging in Korea with my former student, the always engaging and witty, Dr. Inae Kang from Kyung Hee University. Inae is one the most brilliant and ambitious people I have ever met. And after 17 or so years of knowing each other, we finally have a paper that is about to be published. Life is grand. So happy to be alive and enjoying it.

Steve is now working on a special issue of that journal. Perhaps Inae and I will write another piece for it. Not sure just yet.

Steve knows heaps about the field of distance learning. Like me, he was one of the first ones researching and exploring online forms of instruction. As Steve pointed out to me, Nova Southeastern was the first to put its master’s in educational technology online. It also has an online doctorate. It was fun to compare notes about the future of distance learning with people such as Steve Terrell.

The following day, I met up with my former student, Jung Won Hur, who as was alluded to earlier, is an assistant professor at Auburn University. Jung Won arrived just after my keynote and attended my two breakout talks later in the day. Between these talks, she hoped to interview people for the E2T2 (or EETT) technology integration project sponsored by the state of Alabama. She is one of the project evaluators. After her conducting a teacher interview, Jung Won joined me for lunch at the Birmingham Museum of Art which was a short walk from the Sheraton and the adjacent convention center. After my sessions ended that afternoon, we went back to explore some of the wonderful art exhibits there including those from her native land of Korea as well as many magnificent ones from other cultures such as India, China, North America, etc. Needless to say, exploring an art museum is always a wonderful way to end a trip.

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So Who is Willing to Fly with Me Now?
So that makes 12 straight trips with problems or issues of some sort. There were many nerve wracking moments. Traveling is never easy, but it need not be this difficult either. I do not want to fly again for a while and so I am not. But when I do, who wants to fly with me? Any takers? And, as pointed out, driving is not likely to be any better. So who will fly with TravelinEdMan? Or better yet, take my place...?

Bonk's Last Principles of Instruction: A Baker's Dozen Plus One More...

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Tue, 17 May 2011 00:31:00 +0000

I have a colleague here at Indiana University (IU) who asked me for some of my teaching tips yesterday. We chatted on several of them over tea and a bagel at Panera. After reflecting on her question for a day, I just sent her the following 10 teaching tips. When combined they might help others...perhaps.

Keep in mind that these are off the top of my head. Also note that they are also more focused on higher education teaching and adult learning than K-12, though many principles can be directly used or at least adapted for younger learners.

Bonk's Last Principles of Teaching/Instruction (I just made these up…therefore, they might just be called “Bonk.” Why "last?" Well, since David Merrill has his "First Principles of Instruction," and I am a former accountant, I will go with the LIFO (Last In, First Out) method. Hence, I will call these "Bonk's Last Principles of Instruction"). Of course, there is much overlap with what Merrill and others have suggested (see one of Merrill's relevant papers).

And, before you start critiquing these, please keep in mind, I am just giving advice to a friend and colleague. I am not saying that there is research to back up any of these. These are simply things I do that I am suggesting others might consider or build upon. After spending some time writing these up, I thought I might post it.

1. The Principle of Flexibility. e.g.,
a. Have multiple due dates (have the papers due the week before you want them and the week you originally planned--2 due dates (they pick which to get it in by). This way you seem flexible and open but are in actually being tougher on them and they do not even know it).

b. Give students 2 days or 3 days to turn in papers (e.g., Monday May 30th or Tuesday May 31st; or Friday June 3rd or Saturday June 4th or Sunday June 5th). If you are not planning to grade them for a few days or will be at a conference later that week, who cares what the due date actually is? You seem flexible and open, when, in fact, you are just giving yourself a sanity break. Smile.

c. Have a 24 hour lateness policy or 48 hour (one class I use 24 hour and another one I use 48—no assignment is late if you turn it in within 24 hours of the assignment due date. This is a huge relief for students). Be less concerned about the consequences of being late and place more emphasis on the fact that the goal is to get their papers in on time and of a high quality. In effect, you are working with them. The goal is high quality work and you are going to help them where possible by being flexible. Sure you can and should take points off for lateness, but that is not the primary factor within your system.

d. Have a weekly or daily agenda with set items but allow students interests and concerns to determine the order in which you go through it. You might go in reverse order or skip many items and come back to them the following week.

2. The Principle of Convenience. e.g.,
a. Have multiple mechanisms for student communication and turning in of assignments. Allow students to turn in their papers through the course management system, via fax or email, dropping it off at your house, sliding it under your office door, or some other way.

b. Record your class for those who cannot make it (e.g., podcast, webstream, etc.).

c. Change the time of the class if more than a few students will be out of town or at a conference that week. Or if there is an outbreak of H1N1 or tornadoes or floods, your class might be rescheduled or put online for a week or two (i.e., try blended learning).

d. Before you schedule a face-to-face class, ask your students when you should teach the course and in what format(s).

3. The Principle of Collegiality. e.g.,
a. Go to sessions at conferences with your students. Introduce to colleagues. Bring colleagues and visiting scholars into your class for conversations. Introduce your students as your colleagues. Tell them some personal stories about your academic or professional life.

b. Ask your students to share articles with you and vice versa. Show them that you are learning along with them. If they cite an interesting article that you did not know about, ask them for a copy of it or a link to it.

c. Help turn student papers into publications.

d. Take the class to dinner, order pizza, etc. For online class, share coupons you might have found in Amazon perhaps.

4. The Principle of Cheerfulness and Optimism. e.g.,
a. Find the optimistic side of life. Students want positive feedback on papers before critique. Start with a positive, however minor it might be. Then move to ares of potential improvement.

b. Tell your students that they can do better and you know it and they know it. But smile at them when you do so. In effect, you are nudging them forward toward excellence...at times, without them knowing it. In part, it happens with your knowing smile, winks, and grins. They do not want anyone who smiles and winks at them down.

c. Be happy for their accomplishments. Celebrate them.

d. Laugh. Smile. Nod your head in agreement. Make jokes that relate to the class (of course, sometimes they might not totally relate but usually they will).

5. The Principle of High Expectations. e.g.,
a. Post high quality work from previous semesters. Or bring back prior students to discuss their products. Each time, set the bar higher.

b. Tell them it will be a lot of work but you will support them to reach for the stars. That is what good teachers do, challenge and support. Challenge students with high goals or difficult or complex projects and then find ways to help them succeed. Online job aids, support systems, peer mentoring, etc., are all useful.

c. Mention how students used their final projects last time for conference presentations or publications.

d. Say some people enrolled in this course have done this or that important thing in the past. And then you welcome them to do the same in your class.

6. The Principle of Choice and Options. e.g.,
a. Have 5-10 options for midterm or final assignments. And examples of prior accomplishments.

b. Might have 3 papers due during the course and give 6-10 options. Have them choose a different option each time.

c. Let them decide if they want to do a group final paper or product or a solo/individual one. If you want a group project, say that or emphasize that but leave the individual project as an option.

d. Let them sign up to be a cool resource provider or discussion moderator for the week that appeals to them. Their findings or shared resources can be used the next time you teach that course.

7. The Principle of Empowerment and Autonomy. e.g.,
a. Have them create something for a wider audience. Build products. Design something. Put in an online gallery.

b. Have them pick the class agenda from 2 or 3 optional ones. They might check off the option that they prefer as they walk into class.

c. Negotiate the syllabus or agenda in a wiki. My colleague, Dr. Ron Owston, at York University in Toronto does this sometimes.

d. Have students do final presentations of what they learned in the course. This might be a movie night of short 5-10 minute long YouTube or other shared online video presentations, Prezi presentations, role plays, etc., that summarize their learning in the course.

8. The Principle of Support and Feedback. e.g.,
a. Give extensive feedback on papers.

b. Send the feedback back as soon as possible. If you have distance students, you might scan the papers as a PDF and send back. (or mark right on them in Word.)

c. Build in critical friend or some type of peer feedback; especially in weekly writing such as blog postings.

d. If you are getting the same questions over and over, you might offer summary feedback in the course management system or via email.

9. The Principle of Spontaneity. e.g.,
a. Try stuff out. See what works. Do not just go through the motions. Lately, in my R546 class on instructional strategies class on Saturday mornings in the spring, I have tried to be like Robin Williams in the movie Dead Poets Society.

b. Ask your students at break time how the class is going (formative feedback) and change it based on their responses.

c. Combine ideas that you have tried before. Do them in reverse.

d. Debrief on anything new that you tried and ask for feedback.

10. The Principle of Organization. e.g.,
a. Have an agenda and share it ahead of time. You might send it directly to your students via email or bring copies to class. You do not need to go through it all. Post instructor notes, PowerPoint slides, and other resources to the course management system prior to meeting.

b. Have a syllabus prepared at least 1 or 2 months in advance, where possible. Or you might use a shell or skeleton of one. A just-in-time syllabus (JiTS) or just-in-time-teaching (JiTT) can break you out of the same old thing. But it also provides a base from which to build. This works great for courses with interesting articles, videos, or happenings in the news on a daily basis, such as psychology, economics, sociology, education, etc.

c. Call guest speakers well in advance of their date of appearance. Keep in contact with them. Arrange their appearance, share their bio, test the technology if they are to appear virtually. And thank them when done.

d. Arrange the order and topic of final project presentations weeks in advance. Such organization will reduce the tension surrounding these course tasks.

As I said, I hope these help others think about their teaching. I could give you 10 totally different ones if you want. Ok, below are 4 more.

11. The Principle of Sharing. e.g.,
a. Always share your notes, ideas, resources, etc. with students, colleagues, prospective students, those writing your email requests, etc. Share everything you can share. Two years ago, I wrote an article for eLearn Magazine recently on 30 reasons to share online contents. Also the upcoming prequel in the paperback version of my "The World is Open" book is entitled, "Sharing...the Journey." Suffice to say, anyone teaching today should believe in the power of sharing.

b. Place your syllabi and course materials online. You can then refer to them later and get feedback on them. I have done that with some of my classes (see syllabi, both old and new).

c. Share new ideas and resources that emerge in your course management system as they arise during the class.

d. Share student work in a project gallery or Website.

12. The Principle of Nontraditional Learning. e.g.,
a. Send your course to other sites using videoconferencing or Web conferencing.

b. Have students work on joint projects or products with those from other universities.

c. Move your class or activity to an outdoor classroom or the hallway. Be anywhere except in the classroom to which you were assigned. Break out!

d. Extend your class to online conferences, e-books and online articles, virtual mentoring, etc. Take your students to guest lectures on campus or at other locations.

13. The Principle of Passion and Inspiration. e.g.,
a. Relate the course content to personal interests and stories. Students can learn much from your experiences and insights.

b. Link the course to items that excite you in the news that week or day.

c. Bring in as guests and experts, people who inspire you and explain why that is.

d. If a topic or idea has you excited or motivated to learn more, let your students know.

14. The Principle of Relevance and Meaningfulness. e.g.,
a. Embed projects and tasks that students can immediately (or later) use in their job settings. They will likely get additional respect and responsibility from it; hence, you will have impacted the local or world community.

b. Brainstorm lists of possible projects or topic areas that interest your students. Post them online or on the wall and extend the discussion about each of them. Then allow students to select from them.

c. Create theme or interest areas and find out who is interested in a particular topic. Form group tasks or assignments around such interests.

d. Cycle back to previous topics or assignments. Recursively build on tasks from initial thought papers to full blown technical reports, book chapters, or even books.

Ok, those are the 14 Bonkian Last Principles of Instruction (at least for tonight; tomorrow they might be totally different). Alas, I think that is enough for now though I am sure that there are dozens more I could list if I had another hour or two. And I am also certain that most of those reading this post are doing most or all 14 principles. However, keep in mind that there are degrees or evolutionary stages, steps, or phases within each one. So Stage 1 meaningfulness might be totally different from Stages 2 or 3 or 4.

For instance, there is flexibility built into one’s schedule (i.e., Stage 1: Mechanical Flexibility) and then there is flexibility built into one’s persona (Stage 3 or 4: Human Personalization Flexibility...I just made up this example to exemplify the point). At upper stages of instructional evolution, every decision you make would exemplify that principle. You would be living and breathing it.

Suffice to say, the goal is not checking these off a teaching list and saying that one is successful since he or she is doing this or that principle. The goal is to evolve within a set of instructional stages or personal developmental levels within teaching. We should all be pushing toward the edges of the teaching spectrum. Effective instructors challenge and support students in those challenges...that is all we can do. And if teaching online, we are concierges as I have stated a few years ago in a blog post.

Again, the above list was created for a friend. They are based on my experience teaching face-to-face, blended, fully online, and via videoconferencing. There is no research behind these "Last Principles," unlike Merrill's First Principles. Start with those First Priniciples (like his 2002 article). Use my ideas LAST, if ever. Smile. If you are hitting the wall and all else is failing, ok use them. Then, you too can be Bonked.

Tian Belawati on Managing Quality Assurance in a Mega University...Final Global Learn 2011 Keynote

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 21:47:00 +0000

Professor Tian Belawati is the final keynote here at Global Learn. She is at a giant university--the Open University of Indonesia with over 650,000 students. We both keynoted a conference in the Philippines last year but it was from a distance, so this is the first time we have actually met. I have really enjoyed listening to her ideas yesterday at the keynote panel. (Note: As with my previous post on Gilly Salmon's keynote on Tuesday, I am typing this on the fly. Please excuse the typos.)

Tian's talk is "Managing Quality Assurance in a Mega University." Tian Belawati. As indicated in the bio posted at the Global Learn website, she is the Rector at Universitas Terbuka (UT), the Indonesia Open University. Universitas Terbuka.

She is so interesting and filled with data. Tian argues that there is much strength in open and distance universities in opening access to education in Asia and around the world. The opening of access is undeniable. It is not just online supplements but a way to expand access to education. The first open university was in the UK in 1969 and in Asia, the first one was in Pakistan in 1974. Now 12 of the largest universities are in Asia serving more than 8 million students. Amazing and a statistic we rarely hear about in North America. Her list of open universities and their size is impressive (wish I had a copy). She notes that open and distance universities are as much a political symbol as it is an educational tool.

As time goes by, it is no longer just a question of access. Tian tells us that now the focus is quality. It must be on quality or open universities will be looked as second class and lower. In the late 1980s or early 1990s, there was an increasing focus on quality--such as adding tutors or mentors and the communication between them and the students. So how can ICT help? Many open universities are designed to be flexible and open. They want access to the system. But translation of the idea of openness is complex. You do not want to limit the age of the student, the start time, the registration period, etc. No one can be denied unless he or she dies or graduates. The audience laughs. This is the only way to come off the database.

It is difficult. You must flag things. So governments set up reviews and accrediting agencies and organizations to give guidance as to the minimal standards and other quality factors. Tian then asks us, what is quality in face-to-face (FTF) instruction? She then notes that much lies in the professor. It is a fairly simple model. But it is much less simple in open and distance learning. For one, the designer of the content will likely not be the one who mediates the instruction or who assesses the learning. The mediated part is the challenge. The teaching and learning is mediated, both print and online.

We have to consider more factors and management. Need good course writers. Good curriculum materials. Good tutors. You need good across the board. Many parts to the system and each is critical. Need everything done in accordance with principles of learning as well as principles of open and distance learning, flexible learning, etc.

Terbuka (her place) was started in 1984--to be flexible, affordable, accessible, and open. She was there at the start. She says that today they must use technologies that the people have personally or can access in a local center. The mission is to provide services to those who do typically not have a chance to attend other universities. Head office is in Jakarta with 369 academic staff and 567 administrative staff. They manage all operations from there. There are 37 regional offices and 400 academic staff and 498 administrative staff. About 1,800-1,900 staff in total. Of their students, just 1,000 are outside of Indonesia.

Total students are 646,467 as of the fall 2010. About 82 percent of the 646,467 are practicing teachers and 65 percent are females. Wow. They can join in face-to-face (FTF) or online tutorials. Before the students can register, there are many considerations. Must invite experts from other universities for many things--writing test items, developing curriculum. The main operational activities are complex--there are needs analyses, rewriting course materials, rewriting of test items, etc.

So many activities. There are 974 courses written by 1,000 writers. Students can take any one of them at any time. Interesting, that 100 percent of the content must exist in printed form. This is to help those who do not have technology access. There are over 22,000 tutors every semester to help conduct the FTF tutorials. There are 575 online tutors for 552 online courses for over 13,000 students.

How do they prepare the tutors? This is a huge issue. This is instructor training. They also need exam rooms. There are 741 cities for 21,781 exam rooms each semester, simultaneously around the country. Also there are 12 cities in other parts of the world for 369 other students. There are over 40,400 exam supervisors or proctors. Over 2,100,000 course exams processed in a semester. And then there are floods, tsumanis, earthquakes, and bad weather. In fact, boat problems arise. For instance, a ferry once sunk carrying one-half million dollars of course materials. Wow. What did she do then, someone asks...? Tian says, they that they immediately resent them. So they must have prepare and create a lot of structure within their internal quality assurance (QA) system.

Starting in 2001, they made a commitment for a very strong QA system. They have 10 people on the committee. They found a AAOU draft of a QA framework and used it. It look much planning and thinking. So then they came up with a best practices statement. Need to take into account many things: policy and planning--there are 7 statements of best practices, human resources recruitment and development--9 statements of best practices; the learners--10 statements; learning supports, media for learning, assessment of student learning--15 students; course design and development; etc. Given all of these concerns, they have many manuals. For instance, manuals for academic administration, student services, promotion and partnerships, course and examination materials, development and distribution, general, etc. These are all manuals--there are more than 71 manuals for different things. Auditors must look for certain things.

QA is enforced in various ways. They have a certified audit (my interest is peeked now, since I am a former auditor and CPA). The Ministry of Education monitors this process. There are also external assessors--the International Council for Open and Distance Learning (ICDE) as well as the International Standardization Organization (ISO). They have had positive reviews but Tian realizes that they must keep focusing on quality issues. They cannot be content. There are many management aspects. There are many aspects to and processes within the system. And most of them are not electronic.

She stops now and takes questions. She has started with the Open University of Indonesia in 1984.

A question comes up about technology. She says that the Internet cafes are not the same in Indonesia as in Melbourne. They do use a suite of tools. But need the supplementary materials. This includes mobile learning tools. She warns her curriculum and course development staff and tutors not not be too heavy in the Websites or any technology resource or tool.

A question comes up about interesting stories (this is my question)--She talks about a 93 year old graduate. She also mentions a mother who graduated at the same time with her daughter and her primary school teacher. There are many many more. Students from different regions of the country--and one month after graduating get a new job that changes the lifes of many people. Many once in a lifetime experiences are shared with Tian over the years. Someone in the audience adds his own story. He mentions how students struggle to get an Internet signal. Interestingly, he is one of their tutors.

I also asked a question about her quality assurance components and the manuals which are in place. Theo Bastiaens from the Open University of the Netherlands mentioned a quality assurance in e-learning model that is often used--this instrument is based on the E-xcellence manual containing the benchmark statements, with the criteria and indicators. It is free online.

A question comes up about the types of course offerings. They do not have engineering or medical courses.

And then a question comes up about quality at the individual level. She discusses quality standards. There are contracts and evaluations. It is part of the QA system.

She started as an editor for course materials back in 1984. Was doing work in agriculture economics. After that, she headed a research institute. Research on the field of distance education.

We start discussing skills and competencies in today's world. People must be flexible and adaptive. People must be able to do many things.

I ask her what didn't she note during her keynote that are hot buttons. Tian notes that the QA system is being transformed now. They do not want people to feel it is all imposed from the top. She wants the stakeholders involved--the academic departments, for instance. Many instruments developed for evaluating quality. Give triggers so do not get lost. Topics like plagiarism arise. Exam supervisors and empathy with students arises so they must rotate exam supervisors.

In the end, Tian Belawati gave us another fascinating keynote and a good way to end the week. It was great to meet her and I hope you can too.

Gilly Salmon's Creating Learning Futures here in Australia...Live Blogging from Global Learn in Melbourne

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 21:49:00 +0000

In Melbourne, listening to a keynote at the Global Learn conference Gilly Salmon from the Univerity of Southern Queensland. I will take notes here and try to capture her key points so you can feel as though you are here with us (by the way, the date of this blog says Tuesday the 29th of March; but here in Melbourne it is Wednesday morning the 30th).

Ok, here it goes (sorry for any typos). Gilly has recently moved from the University of Leicester to create a Digital Futures Institute here in Australia (i.e., "Australian Digital Futures Institute"). It has been four years since I last saw her in Leicester. Always a fun person to listen to. She always gets me (and others) to think in a new way. Her books on moderating and facilitating online courses and activities are highly popular. John Hedberg from Macquarie University in Sydney just introduced her. John, Gilly, and I keynoted an e-learning summit in Hamilton, New Zealand nine years ago this week. Hard to believe that those 9 years have gone by so fast.

Ok, back to the keynote. Gilly is showing a visual of what she is calling "The Tree of Learning." Using it, she is attempting to show us the evolution of learning. She discussed people like John Locke bringing on empiricism, Raplh Taylor for structuring the school curriculum, Erasmus on the method of study (i.e., pedagogy), Charlemagne (the emperor) who surrounded himself with scholars who provided him with evidence and not just opinion, Raphael's School of Athens (and she alludes to learning through apprenticeship and groups), and also in there is the Ptolemaic Library and Research Institute of Alexandria.

Then Gilly goes on, "An interesting thing happens to our tree," we now have a wide diversity of learning. Many things happens. Ivy Bean, age 104 is the world's oldest tweeter. Gilly worked near her in the UK until recently. She kept in touch with new and old friends now with her tweets. I think to myself, "imagine the mentoring possible today from people in nursing homes and retirement communities around the planet."

I cannot think for too long...I must keep up with Gilly. Next, she points out that there are many exciting, new learning branches and new forms of growth. New things developed. Some species became extinct, she says. "As more variations occured, the Tree of Learning grew." Then she goes back and says that in many cases books were locked up in chains. Today, universities open up their knowledge. Journals are open. Open educational resources (OER) and opencourseware (OCW) enhance the university. They do not distract from it. She knows of no university which has placed OER and OCW on the Web that are extinct. What I think she is saying is that often, exactly the opposite happens--educational organizations that are more open and celebrate open educational avenues thrive and become ever better known. We need such experimentation.

In terms of the history of the world, open education is just the last milisecond of time. The first Wikipedia entry, the first cafe with the Internet, the first blog post, the first podcast, etc. These are all recent phenomena. She asks, so is online learning establishing itself as a significant part of the learning equation? Today, workplace and professional learning is more contributary, more on demand, more relevant, etc. The workplace branches for learning are now more fresher and greener, she contends. I think she is absolutely correct.

The guilds are gone. However, 70 universities in Europe are in the same place doing the same things that have existed for centuries, if not millennia. Of course, the British Library has over 150 million physical items and very good coffee. Audience laughs. It is worth a wonder into it. Technoshine (a word Gilly has coined) has digitized 25 million pages of newspapers dated since the 17th century including the UK Times as well as more trashy news sources. Gilly notes that this opens up scholarly work.

Now what about the up and coming generation. We need to educate things for massive challenges in front of us. Climate change, security, healthcare, etc. For instance, Sugata Mitra's Hole in the Wall ideas and other ideas for helping children in rural India can teach themselves skills. He calls the result "self-organized learning." Kid will learn to browse the Web n their own. We need to capture such stories. She thinks that this can be a new species of learner. Part of this new learner will be more mobile. It will transform education. Gilly provides a story of her 14 year-old granddaughter who texts friends, uses virtual learning environments, shares ideas for homework with friends, etc.

So what is next? She quotes from Eric Hoffer that in times of change the learners inherit the earth while learned people are prepared for a world that no longer exists. Do you want to let it happen, make it happen, or wonder what happened, she asks all of us. Our audience raises its hands and says it wants to make it happen.

She then has 3 main points. The first is that Differentiation = innovation (I missed the other two--ok, I asked her for more info after her session and she said one of the other ones is that natural selection allows for more learner's chose). She discusses ideas from the Young Foundation about social innovation. Most are extending and defending our core businesses, Gilly contends. Some universities are building emerging businesses. And a few are creating viable options. She argues that we need to do all three to survive. You can rarely do #2 and #3 on your own. In effect, she says, you need to "collaborate to compete" (I think that was the point).

What she is trying to do is reflect on ideas from Darwin to wish to evolve our learning and education spaces. Just as animals evolve, so must education and learning opportunities. It is difficult to change any aspect or part of education. But we are now in a very rapidly changing ecosystem. In such a system, you need to know where your specialness is and where it is going. Know where your differentiation is going to be rewarded in the future. We need to shift resources to new areas. Futurists design for the future. Education needs to respond to the variety of opportunities on the tree of learning.

She pauses for a moment and says, oh, but some will contend that teachers (and others) will be resistent to change. Yet, how can the most creative of the species known as human--teachers--be resistant to change? More and more ideas are tumbling from the tree. How can this dillemma happen? Some take on too many changes at once. A huge proliferation of projects, the majority of which no longer exist. The paradox is that the continuity of core activities is so deeply entwined that it is difficult--the longer you have been doing something, the much harder it is to extract resources from it for innovation (I asked her for this clarification in her meet the keynote session). We need to extract resources from one area to rethink and design new areas.

There are four things in a matrix that she is showing us:
1. University owned technologies and continuos adaptation is what is happening now.
2. Then consider new technologies and how they can be harnessed for the future.
3. Third, we need to think about universities owned technology and new opportunities with them.
4. And fourth, this quadrant is about riskier, new technologies and new types of learners.

Gilly then reflects back on the Media Zoo that she had at the University of Leicester in her "Beyond Distance Research Alliance." Otters, pelicans, tigers, etc. Animals were her metaphor there in Leicester. Here is Australia, she has a "space" metaphor.
1. Our Solar System,
2. Our Galaxy,
3. Our Galatic Partners, and
4. Deep Space.

She is still working on it. She does mention several principles and ideas including going back to Athens with dialogue. She is cautious in predicing the future. More learner voice, partnerships, and contributions. We will form relationships between 3D virtual world environments, and real world. More open educational resources. Thanks Gilly...you were wonderful as always! I look forward to Thursday morning when I join her and five others on a panel that will discuss our digital futures (see below for the link).

Yesterday, the keynote was Rick Bennett from the University of New South Wales. His paper (10 meg), Global Classrooms, Rural Benefits: creative outreach through computing in education, is downloadable from the Global Learn speaker Website. Rick is at the intersection of creativity, art and design, expert mentoring, online collaboration, learning technologies, humanitarian causes and social change. Do check out his Omnium project and Creative Waves outreach and research.

Rick's stuff is so cool. Many people were just amazed by his talk. He really gives a purpose and meaning to those of us in the learning technologies field. As Rick puts it, he just does stuff. He takes action to help people in developing and underdeveloped countries (the Philippines, Uganda, Kenya, Sri Lanka, etc.). Check it out. His work is exactly what the Global Learn conference mission and vision is all about.

What a fantabulous way to start the conference out. Write to him...read his papers...check out the Omnium project. And then find a way to make your own dent in the world. Gilly, John, and Rick have. You can too. At the start of his talk, Rick referred to reflecting on what happened "on your shift" and your role in it. It is something that Gilly has said to him once and it struck a chord with him (and me too now). I say make a dent. What will your dent be? What will you do on your shift? Go for it. Be bold. Do not be, same ol', same ol'. Please!

Check out our special keynote panel for tomorrow, Digital Futures: Now and When. If you get a chance, come to the Global Learn conference tomorrow here in Melbourne, Australia. Or come next year to Singapore for the 3rd annual Global Learn conference (assuming that is where we go).

Hope this was helpful. Again, apologies for typos...I was typing as she was speaking and my battery is running low and I need to post this now.

Purdue to Launch Online Master's Program...Reflections on Why...

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 01:54:00 +0000

News was passed around my department today that Purdue University will soon be announcing a new online master's degree focused on learning design and technology. Apparently, this program has been three years in the making. What I find interesting is the statement that there will be no fundamental difference between the residential and online courses.

No fundamental difference? How can they be so sure--the program has not even started. Humm...all programs say that. But as with any program (live in the classroom or online or blended or videoconferencing or correspondence or whatever), with each teacher, each module, each resource, etc., that is different, the program is, in fact, different. Hec, I have taught a course on instructional strategies for over 20 years and this spring I changed nearly 50 percent of the activities. It was vastly different.

I think such statements are made so as to reduce fears of those enrolling as well as those potentially hiring the graduates of such programs. But, in my mind, if you are really good as an instructor, your class cannot be replicated. Each iteration should be highly unique and special. Those who like vanilla bland, same-same programming (i.e., prepackaged content) will bore students and instructors endlessly.

Perhaps you should read the press release...
Purdue to Launch Online Master's Program, March 20, 2011, News Release, InsideINdianaBusiness.com Report.

I find it interesting that the Inside INdiana Business article is dated March 10, 2011 while the Purdue press release is dates 9 days from now or March 20, 2011. In effect, the news story got out 10 days early it seems. Perhaps they are concerned about the competition--there are many online master's programs in the field of instructional design and educational technology. There are also certificate programs. My program Instructional Systems Technology here at Indiana University in Bloomington has both online certificate as well as master's programs (and perhaps soon an online Ed.D.). Check out the IST Website for distance education courses, requirements, and forms.

As dozens of online master's in educational technology and learning technology spring up around the country and the world, there will be fewer needs for faculty members in my field to be place-based. But why are so many such online programs coming online today? Here are 14 reasons off the top of my head.

1. Keeping Up With the Joneses: To keep up with other programs. If IU does something, often you will see programs at Florida State or the University of Georgia or Missouri (where I was earlier this week), do the same or similar, and vice versa. Most of the prominent educational technology programs now have online master's degrees or at least are contemplating offering such degrees soon.

2. Faculty Interests and Skill Base: These are educatiional technology programs--certainly most faculty in such programs are interested in online learning or have technology skills in this area.

3. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs: As schools, colleges, and universities as well as businesses add online courses and programs, they most certainly need to hire more instructional designers and e-learning specialists. With the recent explosion of online and blended degrees, there are many jobs right now in this field (i.e., the demand). And, as a result, many people want to obtain the skills needed for such jobs (i.e., the supply). For those interested in educational technology job openings, see my ed tech jobs portal which has links to 34 job listing sites in the field.

4. Design, Development, and Deployment Costs: There is not a lot of capital needed to build such programs (compared to science and medical fields).

5. Demand: There is much demand from those working fulltime who are now seeking instructional design or new media skills in their spare time. Coming to campus for a face-to-face experience is not possible.

6. Branding, Recognition, and Recruitment: This is a means to advertise one's doctoral program--offer a certificate online and attract students to the master's...or offer a master's online and attract students to the doctorate. Successful online certificate programs and master's degrees help with the branding of the department or program.

7. Survival of the Fittest: For many programs in educational technology, they would not exist without the online master's or certificate program. Students do not have time for traditional, face-to-face classes. Courses and programs, and faculty within such courses and programs, must be nimble and flexible.

8. Tough Economic Times: Similarly...This is new money! Budgets are tight right now and administrators will take anything that provides a positive cash flow. And many online master's and certificate programs are doing just that today.

9. Campus or Organization Need, Niche, or Service: The online master's or certificate might be a service for other units on campus--i.e., training people who need skills in instructional design and development. It also might be part of a president's or dean's stated mission or state of the university address.

10. Expandable Faculty: With an online master's program, you can recruit clinical faculty from around the world (some famous and some former alumni). With that, you can potentially extend both the reach and reputation of the department.

11. Influence and Footprint: Purdue has great faculty (as do other programs like Michigan State which I reviewed in an earlier blog post) and so it is important to see how far the ideas, skills, and courses of such faculty can extend around this planet. Why not try to influence those thousands of miles away?

12. Template Exists: Once one program goes online, there is a template for how others can replicate and extend such a model.

13. Learner Expectations: At first, our online master's was unusual when it was first offered in the late 1990s. Now it has become the norm. Students simply expect educational technology programs to offer online master's degrees as well as certificates. And they can learn from those students who have successfully transversed through such online courses and programs.

14. Real-World Touch: Master's programs with those working fulltime provides a reality check for one's ideas, cases, and activities. With such students, there is a real world audience built into each course.

There are many types of people in the real world who might sign up. In fact, the INdiana Business article says: "Fields such as education, business, industry, and the military, have a need for effective training and instruction prepared by skilled professionals. Our program incorporates cutting-edge learning theory, educational technology and instructional development in a convenient online delivery method - taught by the same faculty as the on-campus classes."

This is true--there are many audiences for such online programs. I wish my colleagues at Purdue much success. They are great. One must also realize that they were not the first, nor will they be the last to offer such a program. By 2020, hundreds of such master's programs may exist. By 2030, most Ph.D.'s in my field will be online or blended (some FTF mentoring will still be needed at times). And by then, the field will have certainly morphed into something else. That morphing might be coming sooner than most people realize....it could be right around the corner in the next few years. But 20-30 years out is a pretty safe bet. Times will change and so will this field. Which people and places will recognize such and stay ahead of the field?

Those wanting more information can contact Purdue (see website for more details).

By George, he's Rich: From Connexions to Connectivism and Beyond

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 04:30:00 +0000

Ok, Packers have won the Super Bowl...Cool. Now time to move on to other things...but it takes a few weeks to move on from that huge feat.

Tonight I am sharing...Life is a Breeze (meeting) sometimes...(3-4 years ago Yun Jeong Park and I had an article, "Is Online Life is a Breeze?" The past two nights it was. The World was open and more so!)

You see, I had 2 world famous guest speakers in my online R685 World Is Open (Web 2.0) class this week in Breeze/Adobe Connect Pro:

1. Richard Baraniuk from Connexions at Rice University in Houston (Connexions is like MERLOT only it is a repository; not just a referatory or set of Web links) talk about Open Education (among best talks on Open Education I have seen—he addressed the Creative Commons issue—he takes a very liberal viewpoint and you can watch and understand why.

Note that this was his invited talk at the Educause Learning Initiatives (ELI) conference in DC this week. Good conference--I did it last year in Austin. The ELI conference connects the learning and technology people more tightly than the main annual conference from Educause. Educause, in fact, has many different wonderful conferences. And they stream and save the key talks. In addition, Educause Quarterly and Educause Review are free and open access journals. They also have a great annual report predicting the future of technologies called the Horizon Report which is freely available online (e.g., see the 2011 Horizon Report). So Educause is a key player in this open education world.

Back to Richard Baraniuk...Rich has a popular TED talk from a few years ago. He always has brilliant content and an engaging manner of presenting it. And he just popped into my class and had a go. How cool is that? Rich and I were both master's students at UW Madison in 1987--he in computer science and electrical engineering and me in educational psychology (Rich left for Illinois for his Ph.D. while I stayed on for mine). And both of us freezing our butts off. Henry Jenkins was also in grad school at Madison that at the same time but in yet another department as were my close colleagues, Tom Reynolds, Okhwa Lee, Veronica Acosta, Kim Foreman, and Miheon Jo and many others. It would have been fun for Rich, Henry, myself, and others to meet at the same time then. Some refer to it as the Golden Age at UW-Madison. Perhaps not like what has been happening the past few days in Madison.

Here is his talk from last night (just click and play):
Richard Baraniuk, Rice U, Breeze Meeting on Open Education, Feb 16, 2011: http://breeze.iu.edu/p83518404/

2. George Siemens of Athabasca U in Canada; George is a popular blogger. Famous for his theory called Connectivism which he discusses along with social networking and Learning Analytics. In fact, George has a new course on learning analytics. His Learning and Knowledge Analytics course is open access. See his syllabus. George is a firm believer in open teaching and open access to content. I am trying to do the same by sharing these two talks in my blog for my R685 World is Open/Web 2.0 course (a 51 page syllabus with every article as a hot link).

This was another fascinating talk from George. And with both audio and video. George has generated so much content in such a short period of time, it is difficult to tell you were to start reading all his stuff.

Like Rich, George has a TED talk. His was in New York on April 13, 2010.

Here is his talk tonight (again, just click and play):
George Siemens, Athabasca U, Breeze Meeting on Connectivism and Learning Analytics, Feb 17, 2011: http://breeze.iu.edu/p46919943/

Both Rich and George (tempted to call them Sir Richard and King George given their status in the field) were excellent. Each point made was spot-on brilliant as per usual. And each talk was a new one. We got the first dry run or second one. That is what this open world allows. Each day, each moment in fact, there are thousands, if not millions, of such global interactions with students and experts around the planet. That is one of the key benefits of the Web (or Web of Learning)--we can connect to mentors, tutors, and experts at any time. Each of us can play a major role in creating, facilitating, or simply participating in such global connections and collaborations. Yes, YOU!

I mean, this is what we are alive for--to help the people of this planet see new perspectives. To stand in each other's shoes; even if just for a few fast-fleeting moments or a few minutes. Elevating social cognition and perspective taking is why many of us are in the fields of learning technologies, educational technology, instructional systemes technology, e-learning and distance learning, learning sciences, and educational psychology. That is why I am here.

It was great to hear about Connexions, Collaborations, Creative Commons, Connectivism, and Learning Analytics the past two nights. It is not often that you can invite and bring in two well known people to your class. the past two nights have been such nights. What fun. Thanks Rich and George.