TravelinEdMan

Talking with the World's Youngest Teacher and the Founder of the University of the People

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:25:00 +0000

This was an interesting week with interesting people. Below are some details.

Meeting the World's Youngest Teacher:
On Tuesday night, I drove to Indianapolis to hear a talk from the world's youngest teacher at our IUPUI sister campus. It is slightly over 1 hour away, though with rish traffic a tad longer. As I noted in my recent blog post interviews, the name of the person I was about to see was Adora Svitak. Adora is 12 years old and has been teaching half her life (she learns and teaches online and also teaches teachers how to use technology). She has 3 books already written and read and endorsed my World is Open book.

Adora Svitak is a sign of nontraditional teaching and learning in the 21st century. She is a leader in the nontraditional learning movement which I attempt to document in my World is Open book. As I noted before, Adora reads 2-3 books a day and types 100+ words per minute. She had written hundreds of short stories. Wow. You might check out her homepage or Wikipedia page.

When I got to IUPUI, I discovered that Adora teaches with a very cool Promethean Active Board. People from Promethean typically come to help her out and bring all the equipment. This included the clickers or response system for audience participants. While she was in Indianapolis for the national Middle School conference, this night she was teaching teachers about writing. She gave them a series of writing-related tips. Things like break all the rules, use collaborative writing, build on student interests, make learning relevant, design inquiry-based activities, use Web 2.0 technology to excite students into learning (blogs, wikis, etc.), make learning a social and sharing event, and so on, were among her ideas. While most of these ideas have been common aspects of the process writing people for a few decades, hearing a 12 year old who is an accomplished writer and teacher spout them off is worth paying attention too.

Adora was interactive with her audience. She involved them in discussion, fielded many questions, and used the clickers to get their ideas and opinions. It was great to see her using active learning while simultaneously sharing her expertise.

Needless to say, Adora loves writing. She has been writing articles, short stories, and books since her mother got her a computer when she was 6 years old. In effect, it was technology that sparked her love of writing--here is a prime example where technology has definitely changed the life of someone. It perhaps does not hurt that her father works for Microsoft. While Adora is well above grade level in English, social studies, and writing, she is at grade level in her math and science. She still has a lot to learn and she realizes it.

When I spoke with her at dinner, there were times I felt like I was talking to a graduate student of mine, instead of a preteen. We discussed many topics--travel, technology, main interests, writing books, speaking, active learning, TV interviews, etc. It was clear to me by the end of the night that Adora has had a lot of experiences around the world. Her mother, Joyce Svitak, travels with her to all events. Each stop is a learning experience filled with visits to historical monuments, libraries, museums, schools and universities, parks, convention centers, and other points of interest. The sky is the limit for this young lady.

A Call from the Founder of the University of the People:
The week got more interesting on Thursday morning. It was then that I got a call from from Shai Reshef who founded the University of the People. While also chairman of Cramster, Shai said he is currently devoting his life to the UoPeople. He is on a mission to provide access to higher education to the people of the world.

The UoPeople is a free or nearly free unviersity (there are some minor assessment costs per course depending on the country you are in that range from $10-$100. There is also a university entry fee of $15 to $50, again depending on the country you are located in). Shai noted that the UoPeople is intended for the millions (or billions)of people around the globe who do not have access to traditional higher education. Like Lucifer Chu who used his own money to create OOPS which is translating MIT content to traditional and simplified Chinese, Shai is contributing his own money to get this innovative university started (a cool $1 million of his own money). Of course, like the Wikimedia Foundation, his university also takes donations. He noted that the business plan indicates that they will break even when they get to 15,000 students. This might not be too far off into the future.

When I asked about current enrollments, he said that they have 180 students this fall. He also noted that people are signing up from nearly 50 countries already--for example, Jordan, Saudi, Brazil, Vietman, China, USA, Ethiopia, Russia, Syria, Columbia, Nigeria, Germany, UK, Israel, etc. The initial two courses are orientation ones in computer science and English which students must pass in order to continue their studies. At this point, they are not inventing any courses or technology. They are using free content found online and the Moodle course management system. There is no video content found in the UoPeople courses at this point; it is all text. Shai told me that the university is about access first and low cost. They do not want to deter people who are interested in learning. Hence, no video content for now as many would not be able to access them.

For the 180 students, there are more than 800 professors volunteering to teach. This is not your Aunt Betsy type of PTA volunteers. These professors come with master's or doctoral degrees. Simple math indicates that this is more than 4 professors for each student. That is certainly the best instructor-student ratio I have ever heard of. What's more, it is an indication of the many people who want to teach college level courses or expand beyond their current offerings. But these "professors" are not directly instructing students. Instead, they are available for students when and where needed. I think that is the model of 21st century teaching and learning. When a learning need arises, a teacher should appear. And those teachers can come from any setting or location on the planet.

When I asked him about similar ventures, Shai noted that they are different from Peer 2 Peer University, in that P2PU does not offer programs and degrees. Instead P2PU just provides guides people through free online content. How do these compare? Perhaps think of it this way...perhaps OpenCourseWare and Open Educational Resources are Level 1 or Phase 1 of the Open Education movement--free stuff which you can explore online. P2PU is a transitionary phase but let's call it Phase 2--free stuff you can explore online with help from mentors, tutors, coaches, and facilitators. The University of the People is then Phase 3--free courses and degrees using free and open content. What is Phase or Level 4 or 5? Where is this headed?

Shai also surprised me by saying that they hope to be accredited at some point. He did not mention how or by what agency. For now, the University of the People is located in Pasedena, California. You might stop by and visit if you are in the LA area.

So much happening today in the open education movement! How can you not be interested or excited? We will all benefit from it in a few years in ways we cannot even dream about today. Happy dreams tonight.

The Wide Open Learning World: Sea, Land, and Ice Views

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:48:00 +0000

As we all realize, informal learning is exploding--especially with innovative Web options. Such learning extends far beyond traditional learning venues. For the past few years, I have become interested in how people use technology in unusual ways to teach or learn with it (from trains, planes, mountain tops, resorts, caves, icebergs, parks, cafes, boats, etc.). There are teachers today on sailboats in the ocean who communicate with kids in schools about what they are doing or seeing.

With this in mind, I had an informal learning article come out this week in an e-newsletter from the UK. I explore teaching and learning from the sea, land, and ice. I think this will be my new research area. Here is a link to that article.

Bonk, C. J. (2009, October 19). The Wide Open Learning World: Sea, Land, and Ice Views. Association for Learning Technology Online Newsletter, Issue 17, Available: http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/g57hhv01ses15pbvrjm4bf

Hope you enjoy it.

Lots happening. Earlier today (Thursday) I was interviewed for the Kathryn Zox radio show (tape delay--to come out later). She does radio shows for the VoiceAmerica Women's Network. It will also appear on WMET 1160 AM in Washington, DC. Later today (Friday morning), I will be in Indianapolis presenting to the Central Indiana chapter of ASTD. This will be a three hour talk. Saturday I travel to Vancouver for a week for the International E-Learn conference. I am heading the executive advisory board so I need to go. Besides, many great friends will be there. I think that there are five other similar conferences happening that same week. Oh my!

The October Road Show..Bonk to it!

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:53:00 +0000

Time to Hit the Road:
I will be on the road the next few days with four radio shows on Thursday the 15th of October in Chicago, Racine (Wisconsin), Mequon (Wisconsin--a suburb of Milwaukee) and downtown Milwaukee. The Chicago Public Radio one is at 9 am on Thursday. You can listen in since it is being streamed. It will also be archived. I have never done 4 radio shows in four different cities in a day so this will be fun and a tad challenging. Fortunately, I grew up in the Milwaukee westside burbs. I get to stay one night in Chicago (across from Navy Pier) and a couple of nights with my mom in Milwuakee with a night in Madison sandwiched in between. This will be a fun trip!

On Friday October 16th, I will do two Webinars for Magna Publications in Madison, Wisconsin. The first one is from 10:30 to 12 noon. It is titled: The Flat World Swung Open: Now WE-ALL-LEARN with Web Technology. The second one is from 1:00 to 2:30. It is titled: Creatively Engaging Online Students: Models & Activities. Perhaps your college, university, or organization has signed up for it and you can sit in. Hope to see some of you asking me questions at the end.

On October 20th at noon EST, Robin Good from Rome, Italy will be interviewing me about my World is Open book. Robin is simply an amazing person with a wealth of resources in the world is media. I will be in my home office for this one.

Friday, October 23rd, I will present to the Central Indiana ASTD (CIASTD) chapter in Indianapolis at the pyramid buildings. The talk is titled: The Flat World Has Swung Open: How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Training and Education. For those in the Indianapolis area, this will be at the Holiday Inn near the pyramid buildings on the north side. This will be more of a corporate training audience.

The E-Learn 2009 Conference is in Vancouver in a couple of weeks. The preface is up. As executive board chair, I will be there the entire week from October 24-31st. I also have a 1:30 pm session on Tuesday in the Grand Ballroom B: The World is Open: Introducing the Heroes, Gurus, and
Revolutionaries of the Shared Internet. This links to my World is Open book. It will be a unique talk with pictures of people who have changed the world of education (the people who created the 10 openers mentioned in the book). I will let the audience pick the opener and, hence, the stories that I will tell. Ironically, four years ago I keynoted this conference when it was last in Vancouver. It was my very first talk that I gave on the open learning world. Now it is a book (or 2 with the free e-book extension to come) and my life. Well, not my entire life. I do other things like YouTube and Wiki-related research. By the way, Grace Lin from the University of Hawaii, and Georgette Michko from the University of Houston, and I also have a talk in Vancouver on our YouTube research. I will just watch that one and let Grace and Georgette perform. Grace helped in my keynote in Vancouver 4 years ago.

Hope to see you in Vancouver. I love Vancouver! That is enough traveling for a while.

World's Youngest Headmaster, Open Courses, and Other News this Week

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:43:00 +0000

Ok, I posted a three-part interview with the World's Youngest Teacher. Now the BBC has an article and associated video with the World's Youngest Headmaster. It came out yesterday. Imagine a 16-year-old named Babar Ali who is a schoolboy in India and decides at age 9 to create his own school for children from his village who are left out of education. He is helping educate hundreds of other children. Barbar Ali's specialty is history so he is the history teacher. You can watch a video from a young girl who are impacted as well as a question and answer session with children from the UK. This is quite a story. What would all the credentialing and accreditation people in North America say about this?

I see quite a caring individual who has gone out of his way to provide education for others. What happens when the world is filled with thousands of Babar Ali's? Could it? Do we have thousands or even dozens of such people? Let's hope. And when you can peer in with videoconferencing or even letter writing back and forth, you can expose those in the West to what is happening. Perhaps mobile learning can add to his efforts someday. I know my friend, Dr. Paul Kim, a mobile expert from Stanford was just there in the slums of India.

Lots of other interesting news stories lately. I was quoted in one article for Education.com on Technology and Higher Education by Anna Weinstein. My friends Ron Owston at York University in Toronto and Randy Garrison at the University of Calgary were both also quoted. The Education.com site is for K-12 education and makes resources available for parents, teachers, and K-12 educators.

There is also an interesting article in the Chronicle of Higher Education this week: "Open Courses: Free, but Oh, So Costly Online students want credit. Colleges want a working business model." The article is by Marc Parry of the Chronicle of Higher Education, October 11, 2009. In it people like David Wiley caution about the business models of open education and open courseware. He says that OCW could be dead by 2012. In the article, David argues that "Every OCW initiative at a university that does not offer distance courses for credit," he has blogged, "will be dead by the end of calendar 2012." Marc Parry, the author of the article says, "In other words: Nice knowing you, MIT OpenCourseWare. So long, Open Yale Courses." More from David: "I think the economics of open courseware the way we've been doing it for the last almost decade have been sort of wrong,"

David is right that we need better business models. Marc Parry even likened David to Nostradamus and education's "Everywhere Man." We need people like David to push our thinking as well as our planning. David is the type of leader who gets the field the attention it deserves. However, in terms of the future of OCW, I think it may have a huge role outside of traditional university structures. I like what Catherine Casserly, Senior Partner, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, had to say in this article. In the article she says, "I find it like a disruption," says Catherine M. Casserly, the Hewlett foundation's former director of open educational resources, speaking in general about the movement for openness. "It doesn't shift what's happening in some of the very stable traditional institutions of higher education. But there are huge numbers of others who aren't being served. And it's with those that I think we'll begin to see new forms."

Yes! OCW and open educational resources help those who are not normally served by traditional schools, colleges, universities, and training centers. And that is billions of people. Read the opening story about Steven T. Ziegler who works at a restaurant-equipment company in Pennsylvania and is about to lose his job. He has been learning from courses at Yale and MIT using OCW and he loves it. There is a video interview of him at the top. I recommend you watch it. Fascinating how a hang gliding experiment left him with not much to do for a while and so he decided to start learning from the free and open courses that he found.

There is also an intereesting and quite long article in the Chronicle this week (October 11, 2009) By Eric Hoover. "The Millennial Muddle: How stereotyping students became a thriving industry and a bundle of contradictions." Eric Hoover gets different opinions about the books, papers, and propoganda related to different generations in the workplace. Are Millennials (those born between 1982 and 2004 like my son, Alex, and daughter, Nicki) any different from previouos ones?

Do they really multitask? One thing that they do engage in more than most is text messaging. It is kinda hard to refute that when you see the summary counts on our phone bill. You can read about young kids who text too much and some concerns parents and others have in an October 12th New York Times article by Perri Klass, "Texting, Surfing, Studying?"

Finally, there is an interesting article and video from Business Week (October 9th) about this generation and those slightly older who cannot find jobs. They are the so-called "Lost Generation." The writer is thios article, Peter Coy, says that "The continuing job crisis is hitting young people especially hard—damaging both their future and the economy." The recent recession really made things a lot worse for those without many skills or relevant experiences. I sent this article to my brothers and sisters and their kids. I worry a bit for my millennial kids. But maybe they can learn more stuff from open educational resources and OCW. Maybe they can be like Babar Ali and start their own schools for those without jobs.

Part 3 of 3: How Does “The World’s Youngest Teacher” Use Web Technology? An Interview with Adora Svitak

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 05:11:00 +0000

Below is the third and final part of my interview with Adora Svitak. If you want to watch one video that summarizes Adora and her influence, you might check out the one appearing in the center of her YouTube Channel at the present time. Enjoy....

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How Does “The World’s Youngest Teacher” Use Web Technology?

An Interview with Adora Svitak

by Curtis J. Bonk, Professor, Indiana University, USA

20. CJB: Which place (or places) that you have traveled to impressed you the most about their use of technology to teach and learn? Please explain why.

AS: A few years ago, I went with my family to England, where I taught at the Burley School. I was very impressed by the fact that each student had a laptop, and was able to use it for school projects. I was able to conduct writing sessions very effectively when students were able to get their thoughts out onto a word processing document. I know that many children have difficultly writing quickly, and I think that giving students laptops is a very time-effective measure. Also, it prepares students for a future of which technology will be increasingly a part of.

21. CJB: I know you often read 2-3 books per day. But likely not ones like my book, The World is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education? What were 1-2 ideas that caught your attention when you were reading it?

AS: One idea in the World is Open that really caught my attention was the idea of alternate reality learning. We have all heard so much about technologies, such as Second Life, that offer alternate realities, but “education” is not the first word that comes to mind when I hear “alternate reality.” So this really opened up my mind to that possibility, as well as to the fact that some of the things we don’t automatically associate with education may be, in fact, very valuable in learning. Another idea I liked was the use, and the availability, of open-source software. I am used to using technologies that you have to pay for—Microsoft Office and Encarta Encyclopedia, for example—but as open-source software is becoming more common, schools have the choice to use open-source technologies like Google Docs, OpenOffice, Reference.com, or Wikipedia to address their schools’ needs.

22. CJB: How has the world become more open for learning during the years you have been a teacher? How is it different since you were 7 or 8?

AS: I think that definitely open-source technology has become more of a presence—companies like Google are churning out free software ripe for the taking. As a teacher, reaching out to the world has become easier to me through distance learning. When I was 7 or 8, physically traveling to schools to deliver workshops was the norm for me. Now, I use new technology to deliver my message. Students are connecting with classrooms through the internet, schools across the world are connecting with each other—the world has opened considerably since my “younger days.”

23. CJB: Do you think that the world of education is ready to be more open and online? What needs to happen to make parents, kids, teachers, politicians more aware of the benefits of learning online?

AS: We live and work in the 21st Century; it is time to learn in the 21st Century. Ample resources are available to create supportive learning environments. It is essential that leaders in education and government, parents, and families become aware of the need to use these resources. Leaders need to realize that schools must use technology to help students today become the leaders of a new and open world.

24. CJB: What do you think teaching with technology will be like in 5, 10 or 20 years or more?

AS: Considering the rapid speed at which technology has grown since I was 7 or 8, it is really difficult to predict what teaching with technology will become. I think that less influence will be placed on physical presence in the classroom and more influence on online learning. Also, I think that students learning at their own pace with the aid of technology will become the norm. Teachers may teach students who are more geographically diverse in their locations.

25. CJB: What has been your top or peak teaching experience in your life so far?

AS: Recently, I delivered a professional development session through Elluminate, an online conferencing tool, to hundreds of teachers and administrators around the world, from places as diverse as Brazil to the U.S., England, France, and Australia. This event showed me the great power technology puts in the hands of teachers as well as students—allowing the teacher to reach people across the globe, and allowing the student to connect with others outside of their own community to share learning practices and realize similar experiences.

26. CJB: Where can people go to watch some of your teaching episodes or read some of your work?

AS: People can go to my YouTube channel. You can also visit my TeacherTube channel; search Adora Svitak at www.teachertube.com. Also visit my website, www.adorasvitak.com.

27. CJB: What is it like being an author at such a young age? Are your books offered online? How might people find them?

AS: It is an incredible experience to have published books at a young age. It gives me another perspective that most of my peers do not have. My books are currently only in print form, but I am considering offering them as eBooks. They are available at my website, adorasvitak.com.

28. CJB: What are you currently working on in terms of books, projects, etc.?

AS: I have just released my third book, Yang in Disguise, a satirical coming-of-age fantasy adventure story, and I am working on composing and compiling poems for a second book of poetry.

29. CJB: When might you attend college? At what age? Will you go physically or attend virtually online or both? What might you major in?

AS: I am thinking that I will attend college in three to four years. Although my language arts and history skills are advanced, my science and math skills are still at or slightly above grade level. So it will take me perhaps a little longer than some would expect. I think that I would attend both physically and online. I would hope to double-major in literature and education.

30. CJB: Is there anything else I left out that an audience interested in the topic of online learning might want to learn from an 11 year old teacher? Or any final commends you would like to mention?

AS: I would say not to be afraid of the changing world of education and to wholeheartedly explore new, online solutions for learning. I think that it is also important that we keep in mind tried-and-true best practices from the “olden days.” Ultimately, educators must help the students of today learn so that they can become the leaders of tomorrow.

CJB: Thanks, Adora, for the chance to interview you in the midst of your hectic schedule. Your comments should be helpful for online educators interested in the perspective of young learners as well as young teachers related to technology integration in education.

References
Bonk, C. J. 2009. The World is Open: How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Corr, K. 2009. Is Adora Svitak the cleverest child in the world? UK telegraph, January 14. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/primaryeducation/4241402/Is-Adora-Svitak-the-cleverest-child-in-the-world.html (accessed August 29, 2009).

Sadovi, C. 2009. 11-year-old prodigy wows high-schoolers: Girl has had 2 books published and gives seminars around the world. Chicago Tribune, February 4, http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/feb/04/business/chi-prodigy-04feb04 or http://tinyurl.com/dlr3yp (accessed August 29, 2009).

Sivtak, A. 2009. The school principal just friended me? Social networking in education. The Educators’ Royal Treatment. August 4, http://www.educatorsroyaltreatment.com/2009/08/power-to-the-student.html (accessed August 30, 2009).

Curtis J. Bonk is Professor of Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University. He has a popular blog called TravelinEdMan and is the author of The World Is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education, Empowering Online Learning: 100+ Ideas, for Reading, Reflecting, Displaying, and Doing, and The Handbook of Blended Learning: Global Perspectives, Local Designs.

Interview Part 2: How Does “The World’s Youngest Teacher” Use Web Technology? An Interview with Adora Svitak

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 05:01:00 +0000

Part 2 of my recent interview with Adora Svitak, age 11, the World's Youngest Teacher is below.
======================

How Does “The World’s Youngest Teacher” Use Web Technology?

An Interview with Adora Svitak

by Curtis J. Bonk, Professor, Indiana University, USA

7. CJB: What exact types of lessons, topics, or courses do you teach with technology? Do you have any favorite ways you use technology? What are the ages of your students?

AS: I teach language arts and social studies. More specifically, I present lessons that focus on typical elementary, middle, and high school curriculum, areas that are tested in state standardized tests, with an added emphasis on lifelong skills and writing inspiration. I also offer professional development courses to teachers that cover technology integration in classroom. The ages of my students range from elementary school students to college students and teachers.

I love to use technology to learn and teach; education, after all, is really a two-way street. Writing can be challenging to teach; the subject demands a real-time learning environment. Students need to be able to ask questions as soon as they see something they don't understand, and I need to be able to get to know my audience, so that I can demonstrate concepts in a way my audience understands. Technology has made this possible by allowing me to demonstrate the process in an immediate and interactive way. When I teach writing, I type up the writing on my screen and show it to the students, word by word, line by line, while incorporating their ideas into the writing. This approach makes writing not just an educational activity, but also a social one; it allows me to interact with the audience and it allows the audience to interact with me.

I am able to demonstrate techniques for writing with the click of mouse. For example, I can click on the synonym function on Microsoft Word to show students how to use better word choice. Making the writing process visual is very important to students.

8. CJB: Can you give 2-3 examples of innovation in your teaching pedagogy? Anything risky you have tried that worked or did not work? Along these same lines, is there anything controversial in what you do as a teacher? How might you push beyond the norms?

AS: Certainly I can think of things that I have tried and haven’t worked, although some of them are less innovative than others. One time, for instance, I was hooking up my computer to my video conferencing system to show my presentation to the audience. They said that they were only able to see a black screen. Because a great deal of important text was on my presentation, I instead resorted to something decidedly old-school—I wrote keywords on a whiteboard! I think that, as educators, we have to realize that innovation goes both ways—using, and knowing, new technologies well, and not being afraid to use old methods when we have to!

On a more pedagogically innovative level, I have students write more than slightly off topic when learning about persuasive writing. Although it is common practice to have kids stay to the same kind of dry persuasive prompts, I prefer something a little more—otherworldly. When I was introducing the persuasive letter, I had students write to aliens to convince them not to destroy Earth. My theory behind this is that when kids are introduced to a supposedly boring topic, such as persuasive writing, they might be more receptive to it if they are caught “off-guard” by a fun activity. How are they supposed to know it’s educational?

Another thing I do is employ my blog to share student work on the World Wide Web. Many schools are leery of blogs; I promote the use of blogging as an educational tool and a way to give students an audience for their writing. After working on a collaborative writing activity with students, I often post that writing on my blog.

9. CJB: How might tens of thousands of 11-year-old teachers like you be nurtured? What need or gap in education might a nucleus or core of such young teachers fill?

AS: A shift in thinking needs to happen in order for educators to embrace the idea that every student should be given the opportunity to share what they know, what they are interested in, and what they’d like to teach. The best way to show you value someone’s knowledge is to give them the platform to teach somebody else. The technology we have today can make it happen easily.

In order to create young people capable of teaching others, we need to instill in them a love of sharing their knowledge with others; empathy for students who may have more difficulty understanding certain concepts; and the importance of bringing their “kids’ eye view” to education. I love the idea of a mini-army of teachers—or would it be an army of mini-teachers? I think that other teachers my age would fill a huge gap in education—the fact that education is not always student-centered. Student teachers would draw attention to the issues that matter to them and their peers, instead of the issues that matter to grown-ups collecting paychecks. Although I’m not opposed to young teachers getting salaries.

10. CJB: I see that you have used YouTube and TeacherTube to post videos of your teaching. How many teaching videos do you now have in your channel? Can you explain how these are used? How might they be put to better use by other educators? What is YouTube lacking for teachers and students that might be added? How might you go back and reuse these in a decade or two?

AS: I now have approximately 300 videos on my YouTube channel. These videos are used in a variety of ways: I use them to demonstrate my teaching style to others; one professional development leader wished to use videos of me teaching the six traits [of good writing] to show other teachers how it was done. Many classrooms, before they connect with me over video conferencing, will view some of my videos to familiarize themselves with my work. I think that these videos have value as teaching tools (teachers can show them in their classrooms, for instance). I believe they could be put to better use if circulated among a wider audience. Ten years from now, I will probably refer to my videos as benchmarks for progress; I would see how much I had improved, and skills that I wanted to maintain.

YouTube lacks a consistent thread to link education videos; when you search for a keyword, you may find informative lessons mixed with slapstick humor and teenage singers. I think there needs to be a central area for students and teachers, where education videos can be posted, or a better way of organizing the search so that you can effectively find the right videos. Very few schools allow students to go to YouTube due to those inappropriate videos being mixed with possibly valuable ones. I think that when YouTube gives schools and classrooms the ability to filter their searches more effectively, they will have a larger audience in education.

11. CJB: Are there places you visit online for examples of stellar teaching? If so, what are they?

AS: Regarding technology use, I enjoy watching Promethean’s “Featured Teacher” series. It covers teachers who use interactive whiteboard technology to engage students in different ways.

12. CJB: Has anyone asked you to contribute to a website or portal of online teaching tasks or activities?

AS: Ken Royal, a columnist at Scholastic Administr@tor Magazine, has invited me to contribute to his blog, The Educator’s Royal Treatment (Svitak, 2009). CDW-G’s EdTech magazine asked me to contribute to their online website and to their print magazine.

13. CJB: Do you have an underlying philosophy, model, or framework you use for teaching?

AS: I wouldn’t say I have a unifying teaching dogma; I think, that in such a rapidly changing technological and educational environment, that the philosophy I come up with today might not stand tomorrow. I do believe strongly in three fairly timeless ideas: (1) The student comes first! In order to empower learning, student access to technology is essential. The students of today are the leaders of tomorrow, and the leaders of tomorrow need to know technology like the back of their hand. (2) The teacher should not be afraid to collaborate with students and be a team player. A lot of learning happens when students see their teachers working in symphony with them. (3) Teaching is an art. It requires constant tuning and crafting. As a continuous learning process for every educator, it requires innovation, creativity and vision. There is no “one style fits all.”

14. CJB: What do you particularly like and not like about education today? What do you think needs changing first?

AS: I like the fact that online public education is gaining support and that I have the choice of choosing a publicly funded online school to satisfy my learning needs and preferred style. I dislike the fact that many available educational technologies are banned in schools, such as YouTube and blogging. This only widens the digital divide, which is depriving some well deserving students the opportunities to excel in their learning and later in their career.

I also dislike the fact that much of education is not student-centered. As far as a general cultural attitude goes, I think that our culture does not have a positive attitude about education. Instead of aspiring to become astrophysicists or professors, modern youth may at times idolize felons and the “gang culture” that is propagated by modern music. Education needs respect. When we look at countries in Asia and Europe, a well-educated person—and continuing education—is highly-regarded, if not demanded.

The cultural attitude has to be changed.

15. CJB: And how would you go about any changing or reshaping of education?

AS: I would also offer a kid’s eye view of education so that teachers and administrators understand what students need and want in the classroom. I also try to make a larger difference by writing about my views on education.

If I were in a position of power, I would start out by selecting the best and brightest people to go into teaching and administration. People who have a passion for lifelong learning, who are open-minded about innovation, would be my top picks. I would make sure that students understand their responsibility, and the expectations society has placed on them. Both teachers and students will work harder to meet international standards. American students are competing, and will be competing, with students from all around the globe.

16. CJB: And, besides your young age, why do you think your work as a teacher is so popular?

AS: I think that my work as a teacher is popular because I really enjoy what I talk about. What I teach is very relevant to my students. Teachers find them very practical and useful for their own teaching. I use humor and encouragement throughout my presentation to make my audience feel at ease and eager to participate. Writing, for me, is high entertainment, and I depict it as such. Being an avid reader and prolific author has given me a lot of credibility when I teach. My passion and love for the literary arts comes across clearly in every lecture I present.

I don’t teach to the test—I teach lifelong writing skills and inspire and motivate writers whose enthusiasm will last long after acing the state standardized assessment.

17. CJB: How do you teach online? What approaches work best for you and why?

AS: I teach online through live two-way interactive video conference system; Webinars and on-demand videos. Typically, I try to incorporate many Web tools into my lessons, such as video streaming, so that audiences are able to see me and get a better idea of the person behind the lesson.

18. CJB: How do other children kids react to your teaching approaches?

AS: The reaction from my peers has been very positive. Those who are younger and the same age as me may think “She can write and publish; maybe we can too.” Those who are older may feel a little challenged to work harder. My use of technology, I think, really helps engage kids and make them feel comfortable with me and interested in the content.

19. CJB: Do you have international friends from all your online teaching and learning? If so, what countries do many of them come from? How do you stay in contact with them?

AS: I do have many international friends; it is one of the best parts of traveling and online teaching! My friends come from Canada, China, England, and the United Arab Emirates primarily. I stay in contact through email, Facebook, and Twitter.

=====================
Note: My interview with Adora Svitak, the World's Youngest Teacher, will continue with the final questions in a day or two. This will be the third and final installment of this interview. In the meantime, you can watch an interesting video she recently produced, "The Thankless Search for Intelligence Out There... Somewhere" for "Motherboard." She interviews people from SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). See the SETI Institute. Cool stuff for an 11 year old.

How Does “The World’s Youngest Teacher” Use Web Technology? An Interview with Adora Svitak

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:38:00 +0000

During the next few days, I will post an interview I did 1-2 months ago with Adora Svitak, age 11 (turning 12 next week), who is often referred to as "The World's Youngest Teacher." Adora, who is from Redmond, Washington, started teaching at age 6 and writing books shortly thereafter. For those interested in the online world, Adora is literally amazing--she teaches with various types of technology and learns via the Web. She even teaches teachers how to teach in workshops that she does. You can read about her fascinating story below. Imagine having spent nearly half of your life teaching and you are only about to turn 12 years old; oh, the stories she will have to tell in the years and decades to come. I hope you enjoy this one.

How Does “The World’s Youngest Teacher” Use Web Technology?

An Interview with Adora Svitak

by Curtis J. Bonk, Professor, Indiana University, USA

There is perpetual clamoring that teachers need to integrate emerging technologies in their classrooms. Often younger teachers are deemed to be more in touch with learner technology needs and demands. Adora Svitak, age 11, is one the world’s youngest teachers, writers, and speakers. She was 7 when her first book, Flying Fingers, was published. This child prodigy reads two to three books each day and types between 80 and 112 words per minute. Rough estimates place her writing at more than 330,000 words per year (Corr, 2009). Already, she has written more than 400 short stories, 3 books, and dozens of poems (Sadovi, 2009). As a technology enthusiast, Adora has a blog, Facebook account, and much of her poetry posted online. Not only does she teach with Web technology, she learns with it in a virtual school.

As a preteen, she is keenly aware of how children learn and socialize with technology. What differentiates Adora from others her age is that she experiments with innovative technology in her teaching; including the use of blogs in personal writing, wikis for team writings as well as creative writing, Google Docs in collaborative writing, and social networking tools for communication. She uses emerging technologies and creative pedagogies as an attempt to place students in charge of their own learning. By combining the two—the integration of online technologies with innovative pedagogies—her mission is to help transform the traditional curriculum.

Adora’s career as a teacher emerged when she began to speak to other students both in live performances as well as her now popular videoconferencing series. Adora was been highly sought after to speak in schools as well as at conferences and conventions around the world. During the past four years, she has reached more than 300 classrooms and school auditoriums. She not only teaches others students in some of the most prominent school systems in the United States, she conducts professional development seminars and workshops for teachers. In taking her message to wider audiences, Adora has shared her teaching and learning insights and ideas on the BBC, TLC, NBC, FOX, CCTV, the UK Channel 4, Good Morning America, Montel Williams, and the Tyra Banks Show, among other well known media outlets. She has also been featured on Oprah.

Given her writing, reading, speaking, and teaching background, it is clear that this is no ordinary 11 year old. In this interview, I ask Adora about her growth as a teacher during the past 3 or 4 years. My questions also address the technologies she uses today to teach and learn as well as those that intrigue her about the future. In addition, she is asked about her experiences as an online learner as well as her teaching philosophy, reactions from the students she teachers, and changes needed in education in general from her point of view. Finally, as someone who has recently written on the educational uses of social networking technology (Svitak, 2009) and read and endorsed my book, “The World Is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education” (Bonk, 2009), Adora is asked for her opinion about open education and the technologies fostering this more open learning world.

1. Curtis J. Bonk (CJB): Can you tell the audience a brief few sentences about yourself?

Adora Svitak (AS): I am eleven years old; I am the world’s youngest teacher, seasoned speaker and the published author of three books. I teach every day during the school year to schools and classrooms around the world. I live in Washington State with my older sister, my mom, and my dad. I enjoy drawing, cooking, water fights, and, to quote my book Dancing Fingers, “expanding my plans for world domination.”

2. CJB: Some people call you one of the world’s cleverest people and a child prodigy. What is it like when you hear that?

AS: I have to wonder how many other children they have met—(smile). I know for certain that I am not the world’s cleverest person; I am talented in some ways, but so are many others. I think that everyone has a skill to share, at some time—I just made my mark a little earlier.

3. CJB: What motivates you to learn online? What gets you excited when you see it?

AS: I am really motivated to learn online because it allows me to move at my own pace, discovering new information along the way in new and engaging formats. I am excited by online learning because I really feel that I am able to reach out to the world—there are no limits in what I can do in learning and teaching through technology.

4. CJB: Can you describe the way you learn online? When do you learn online? What tools do you prefer to use and why? Do you learn from self-paced materials or do you interact with teachers or moderators?

AS: My school, the Washington Virtual Academies (WAVA), uses curriculum from the education vendor K12. This is delivered to me over the computer; I can access it at any time, anywhere. I am a bit of a night owl and thus I prefer evening hours. I have found something very basic—search engines—to be incredibly helpful to me when I am doing research for assignments. The majority of schoolwork at WAVA is self-paced, but we do have teachers, and they do conduct synchronous learning sessions online.

5. CJB: Do you meet other kids around your age who also learn online? Do you ever do projects with them?

AS: At WAVA, I get the chance to share work, collaborate, and communicate with my classmates through face-to-face meetings, live online collaboration sessions, and e-mail. I have not met another person my age who formally teaches online as I do, but I can say that many of my classmates do share presentations and projects online.

6. CJB: How might the online courses for K-12 students (such as those you take at the Washington Virtual Academies) be improved for young people who have hectic schedules like you? What might you like added? Would physically meeting other kids face-to-face as in blended learning be a benefit? Why or why not?

AS: My school actually does take a somewhat blended approach to learning; we have field trips every month, and many other opportunities to meet our classmates. I believe that, while purely online learning has its benefits, it is important to realize that we still live in a physical world and that it can be easier to make connections when we can see someone face-to-face. However, the face-to-face interaction is greatly enhanced if you have met online first. I think that one of the most valuable elements of online learning is the fact that students can move at their own pace; online learning gives more freedom for compacting a topic a student knows well and exploring in depth a topic they are interested in or need to improve on.

(Note: this story will be continued tomorrow and Friday with two more installments of interview questions with Adora Svitak, the World's Youngest Teacher. Stay tuned! By the way, portions of this interview will appear in Chapter 11 of the e-book extension of my book, The World Is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education that I am working on.)

Ten Tips for Navigating a More Open World

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 05:38:00 +0000

Instead of posting to my blog I recently made a blog post at the Mission to Learn website. Jeff Cobb, who coordinates that site, asked for "Ten Tips for Navigating a More Open World." So I gave him ten tips with many links. He posted it on September 28th. It looks longer than I remember it. Perhaps this is due to the editorial comments that Jeff added.

I had forgotten about this and tonight I discovered it went up. Also tonight, my assistant, Seth White, stumbled upon a blog post from Lisa Chamberlin who apparently has decided to create her own Ph.D. program in educational technology after reading my The World is Open book. Getting people to skip traditional doctoral programs and create their own degrees instead was not the main intent of the book. However, I bet people like Lisa will lead the way for tens of thousands or perhaps millions of others to do this during the remaining 90+ years of this century. Her blog post was made back on September 17th. It is title, "The Open PhD—What a Concept." It is a quite interesting post as are the comments posted by many others. You might check it out.

So, what are your thoughts...can self-created programs of study using open educational resources and open courseware replace traditional programs? Is Lisa among the first of hundreds, thousands, or millions of people? What is needed for more people to attempt to do this? What tips would you have for Lisa and others in navigating this open world? Where is this all headed? What is coming next?

I am curious what you think. If most people interested in a doctoral degree skip the university and create their own degree programs, many of my colleagues could end up in unemployment lines. Reading the comments beneath Lisa's post, it is clear that she is not alone in wanting more choice, flexibility in course selection, and cheaper options than prevailing price tags of doctoral degrees. The coming year will likely make this increasingly evident.

An Open Letter to the Learners of This Planet: A Postscript to The World Is Open

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 20:10:00 +0000

Update on "The World is Open" E-book Extension, Prequel, and Postscript:I am still working on the e-book that extends my new book, The World Is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education. It will have the same chapter sequence and length, but different content. I am currently working on Chapter 11 of 12. It is on "networks of personalized learning." I finished a solid draft of Chapter 10 on mobile and ubiquitous learning late last night and sent it on for copyediting. The final 2 chapters may take me a while given my upcoming speaking schedule. Not sure when the e-book extension will appear now. But it is starting to take shape. My colleague, Dr. Grace Lin, and I are also working on some reflection and discussion questions for the book. The Web resources and references for both the hardcover and e-book extension are posted to the WorldisOpen book website (more Web resources will be added soon).

I also wrote a short prequel (8,900 word) and a postscript (3,800 word). The prequel is posted but is being modified and updated. A couple of people are doing final proofing of it now (I hope to have the new version of the prequel up in early October). The postscript is finalized and posted. It is in the form of an open letter to the learners of this planet. It will also be published in a book for the Higher Colleges of Technology in the United Arab Emirates. The reference is below. Near the end of that article, I list 10 learner rights and 10 learner responsibilities in this new age of learning. I pull them out and list them below. See what you think.

Bonk, C. J. (in press, for October 2009). An Open Letter to the Learners of This Planet, A Postscript to The World Is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education. In T. A. Kamali (Ed.), Higher Colleges of Technology 22nd Anniversary Anthology. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: HCT Press.

I have permission to repost it. A snippet from ending section of that article is below:

==================
LEARNER RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
This is your learning world. You have the right to learn where, when, what, and how you want as well as from the people who fit your learning needs. Throughout history, billions of humans have lived and died on this planet. None of those who left this world prior to the end of 1999 had the learning resources you now possess. Not a soul!

Keep in mind that you do not even need Internet access to benefit from the explosion of Web content and learning technologies. All that is required is for you to live in a community that has an organization or institution that is connected to or touched by the Internet. People from around the world can give their time, talents, and money to it; often making their contributions or commitments from a Web page or link. As this happens, we all learn.

Learner Rights
Learners of any century need rights, but this is especially true for learners of this century. As we push into the technology-rich twenty-first century, you—the learners of this planet—can see your rights crystallizing before your eyes. I suggest that we all have the following ten learner-related rights:

1. The right to learn when and how you want in a learning environment that is personally safe and comfortable.
2. The right to access any content you need at any time you need it.
3. The right to learn from the best educators and learning guides on the planet as well as from as many instructors as you so choose.
4. The right to help others learn.
5. The right to share your learning-related discoveries and ideas with others (such as experts, peers, instructors, friends, and family) for their prompt and candid feedback.
6. The right to self-monitor your learning progress as well as obtain feedback from others on that progress.
7. The right to share content that you create as well as comment on or evaluate the educational resources that you find.
8. The right to form groups of individuals or learning communities with similar learning interests and experiences to discuss, debate, and extend such ideas while finding personal learning identity and meaning.
9. The right to create new tools, materials, and resources to facilitate your own learning as well as that of others.
10. The right to teach, train, tutor, and mentor others using Web tools and resources.

These are the inalienable rights for learners in this century, a time period when we are inundated with seemingly limitless learning opportunities. Each of these rights is easier to visualize, support, and actualize with Web technologies. With these ten rights in place, cultures and people can advance in more harmonious ways and at a much quicker pace than in the past. We can learn whatever we want with whomever we want at the times and places that we want.

Learner Responsibilities
Along with learner rights regarding Web technology, we also have responsibilities. Among these are the following ten learner-related ones:

1. The responsibility to take ownership for our own learning when and where appropriate to do so.
2. The responsibility to seek out the most accurate and credible information while questioning and examining online information and knowledge in a critical and reflective manner.
3. The responsibility to dialogue with children or any other unseasoned learner about how to evaluate the quality of the educational content found online.
4. The responsibility to contribute to the learning of others in a productive and humane way.
5. The responsibility to educate others about the learning potential of the Web—to show them how to contribute to the Web and how to receive learning from it.
6. The responsibility to seek help when online tools and resources are overwhelming or frustrating.
7. The responsibility to respect those who provide meaningful educational content and tools, and all the teachers, trainers, tutors, mentors, and learning guides you encounter in your online learning quests and queries.
8. The responsibility to test and experiment with new learning resources and discuss and report on their utility with others.
9. The responsibility to report online educational resources that are inappropriate or potentially harmful (as well as the people who placed them there).
10. The responsibility to think about how online educational materials can benefit those beyond your household, neighborhood, community, or region of the world to your global brothers and sisters who have different educational and cultural backgrounds, needs, opportunities, and supports.

===========
So, those are your rights and responsibilties as a learner in the twenty-first century as I see them. Do you agree? Do you want to add to the list or modify anything? You have a right and perhaps a responsibility to do so. That is just a piece of the postscript. You might want to read more of it.

I hope to post the revised prequel, "Sharing...the Journey" this coming week or next. I was hoping to blog post on the prequel first but it is taking slightly longer than I expected. In the meantime, you might check out the postscript and my "Open Letter to the Learners of This Planet."

We're Talking EdTechTalk Tonight...

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 06:13:00 +0000

If anyone is interested, my friend Jeff Lebow from Worldbridges
(initially called "World Explorer") will be interviewing me about my World is Open book tonight in EdTechTalk. This will be Sunday night September 20th at 8 pm New York time.

Jeff is a firm believer in intercultural interaction, open source forms of collaboration, respect and civility, and world identity. Online Webcasts are one way for people to see different and multiple perspectives around the planet. Hence, this should be a fun interview. In EdTechTalk he brings people in to discuss emerging technologies and trends.

You can look up your time at this link. Jeff will archive the session in case you miss it. If you are there, be sure to ask a question.

The Jossey-Bass Online Teaching & Learning (OTL) Conference Online October 6-8, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:50:00 +0000

Upcoming Jossey-Bass Online Teaching and Learning Conference:

My publisher Jossey-Bass (JB) (an imprint of Wiley) has asked me to post a note to my blog about their upcoming online conference on October 7th and 8th, 2009. There will also be a special pre-conference workshop, hosted by Fielding Graduate University, which will be held on October 6, 2009. I am the keynote speaker on the final day (Thursday October 8th) from 1:00 to 1:50 pm eastern time (EST). In that talk, I will be discussing my new book, The World Is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education. Here is a link to my talk.

Conference Registration and History/Overview:
The conference title is the "Jossey-Bass Online Teaching and Learning Conference" (OTL2009). It costs $260 ($239 if you register before September 19th) and this code will give you an additional $20 off (cbk4b); so as cheap as $219 if you do it this week. The conference program looks interesting.

In these days of budget shortfalls, I am sure that many people will prefer an online conference. Jossey-Bass (JB) says that the speakers are "over 20 of the field's most well-respected practitioners and authors." Or perhaps 19 famous folks and little ol' me. Many of them are JB authors. Hence, this is good exposure to people writing about teaching with technology without having to fly or drive somewhere. I doubt if these 20 people were ever in one place or space before or ever will be again.

From what I hear, this is the third year of the conference and it has always been online. They had perhaps 300-400 the first year and I think 600-700 the second year. So perhaps they will get to 1,000 this year. Hard to say. I was sent an email today that said that this year there is an option for Continuing Education Credits. More added bonuses are noted below.

The Program and Some Topics:
The topics include "Learning Online with Games, Simulations, & Virtual Worlds" with my friend Clark Aldrich. Jonathan Finkelstein (who is helping me with my session) will talk about Producing Great Podcasts. Also making an appearance are my amazing friends from Calgary, Randy Garrison and Norm Vaughan talking about "Recent Developments in Blended Learning in Higher Education." They have a cool new book on blended learning, Blended Learning in Higher Education: Recent Developments and Implications for Practice. It is much more applied and lighter (easier to carry around AND use) than my Handbook of Blended Learning; Global Perspectives, Local Designs from 2006.

In addition, Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt, who seem to be everywhere (and perhaps are), will do a preconference workshop on the 6th on "10 Ways to Take Responsibility for Your Own Professional Development." They will have a conference talk on the 7th on "Assessing the Online Learner: Resources and Strategies for Faculty" and on the 8th on "Collaborating Online: Learning Together in Community Online." They have books on everything imaginable in the online teaching and learning field. Rena and Keith were the first to lead us into this field with practical guides.

There are many other great speakers as well as podcasts you can listen to from the likes of Stephen Brookfield (Discussion as a Way of Teaching), Raymond Wlodkowski & Margery Ginsberg (Diversity and Motivation), and Rita-Marie Conrad and J. Ana Donaldson (Engaging the Online Learner: Activities and Resources for Creative Instruction). There is even a scheduled Happy Hour from 4:30 to 5:00 pm on Wednesday afternoon October 7th.

Three Book Bonus:
Those who register will receive their choice of any of 3 books from 8 that are offered. Free! Here are some of them:

1. Learning Online with Games, Simulations, and Virtual Worlds: Strategies for Online Instruction
by Clark Aldrich

2. Assessing the Online Learner: Resources and Strategies for Faculty
by Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt

3. Using Wikis for Online Collaboration: The Power of the Read-Write Web
by James A. West and Margaret L. West

Notice that my book is not in there. It is ok...remember I am currently writing a free e-book extension of The World is Open (TWIO) book with the same chapter sequence but different content. This will come out in a couple of months. Working on chapter 10 of 12 now. The WorldisOpen Website also has tons of resources and references from both books and a free prequel and postscript.

Recap and Contact Information:
So let's recap this conference a bit. You will get to meet 20 authors in live interactive keynote and workshop sessions, learn concrete and practical resources to help in higher education teaching and learning, network with hundreds of global colleagues, listen to special bonus podcasts, access archived session information at any time after the conference, learn from leaders in the field, and get 3 free books. Sounds like a pretty good assortment of activities. In some corporate conferences or face-to-face events you pay this amount or even more for just one or two speakers. See the conference flier for more details.

If you have questions, JB can be contacted by e-mail: otl@learningtimes.net or by Telephone: 888.222.9749 (in US & Canada). 212.420.6052 (outside US & Canada)

Hope you get a chance to enjoy the conference. See some of you on October 8th. Remember, the world is now open to do so!

The World is an Open List: Especially 100+ Item Free Education Lists

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 06:48:00 +0000

Yesterday, Powell's Books Blog people posted a guest blog post that I did for them. The title of the post is: The World is an Open List: Especially 100+ Item Free Education Lists. In it, I discuss how we are living in a world of lists. And this world of lists is not just detailing the world's best vacations, diet plans, sports figures, or movies of the year. Today such lists are common on the world of education; especially open education. We have lists of the top 100 OpenCourseWare sites or top 100 free websites for learning. There are also the top 100 podcasts from universities or top 100 educational blogs. And there are summary lists on ways to teach online as well as educational applications of tools like Twitter and Second Life.

So much is available for educators and students today! I also talk about free e-books and related e-book lists. In the end, I link it all back to my World is Open book. Enjoy my blog post to Powell's Books Blog. Powell's is very popular in places like Portland, Oregon. It is an independent bookstore there. I found it at the Portland International Airport back at the end of June.

The World is Open on the Radio--Perhaps even a little red Sinclair Transistor Radio

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 02:10:00 +0000

What a hectic day! That has been my life since my book was released in early July. Just trying to catch my breath each day. This time I am talking radio. Yes, radio. Something I loved growing up as a kid in West Allis, Wisconsin (street address was "2468"...now who do we appreciate? Yes, that was the address believe it or not.). Basically this is the near west or southwest side of Milwaukee. So I just say I am from Milwaukee. Nice city, but I will likely never live there again.

Back when I was like 7, 8, or 9 years old, I had a lovely red Sinclair transistor radio. I listened to it when fishing with my dad or my Grandma and Grandpa Goronja, swinging on the swing in my backyard (with a big ol' pine tree next to me), or sitting in my room. Lots of British invasion and Bubble Gum music. Let's see, there were the Rolling Stones (still around), Beatles, Scott McKenzie (telling me and everyone else to move to San Francisco), the Kinks, Cream, and Eric Clapton (with various groups..he's still around too), as well as Jefferson Airplane, the Doors, the Moody Blues, The Who, Procol Harem, Eric Burden and the Animals (also speaking about San Franciscan Nights, the Hollies, The Turtles, the Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder (still around), Donovan, the Yardbirds, the Association, the Spencer Davis Group, and soon Led Zeppelin, the Guess Who, Ozzy Osborn and his group Black Sabbath as well as Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP) and Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) and sometime later, the E-Learning Gang (ELG...Was that a group?). That little radio was my life line to the world beyond our little red brick house. It made me more globally aware.

Here is a picture of what one looked like. Memories! Here is a pic with the carrying case and ear plugs. So cool!

I had that so long ago. Wow. The Web is so cool. Lots of emotions rush through my body when I see it again. It has been decades. It lasted a good long time. In those days, when technology died you really struggled with throwing it away. Not today I guess.

Ok, now to the connection and why I am blogging. In my last blog post, I discussed the Mission to Learn website and podcasted interview about my book, The World Is Open (TWIO): How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education. Podcasts are great and something I could not listen to on my Sinclair Dino Supreme gas pump transistor radio. Sure, I used that radio for music, but today, it would be for information such as on NPR; that is, assuming I was not listening to an audiobook in the CD player.

During the past 4-5 weeks, I have been on many radio shows talking about the TWIO book. Now these I could have listened to on my little red radio. These shows have included Wisconsin Public Radio (twice; including a show called “To the Best of Our Knowledge”), the USA Radio Network (twice; including “Point of View” with John Clemens and sent to over 1,000 stations), and yesterday I did Media Tracks Communications show called "Viewpoints" for 360 stations). There have been shows in Manchester, NH/Boston area, Greenville, South Carolina, San Diego, Grand Rapids, and North Carolina.

Today I was on a panel for online education for a station in Louisville, Kentucky. This show was archived already. Several other ones too. So I thought I would share the links to the 7 archived shows (so far) in case you wanted to listen to any of them. I really liked the San Diego NPR interview which is #4 below. Other people I have been talking to really think that one went great. I also liked the 2nd one on Wisconsin Public Radio since it played in my home state and my Aunt Rosemary, my brother-in-law Chuck Maas, and others heard it.

The first one I did back on July 23rd (#7 below), I could not hear the interviewer well once the studio went live. His voice went faint on my phone and so I just had to go with the flow and sorta hear him as best I could. But Dr. Alvin Jones was a great interviewer and does many famous author books. It was an honor to be on his show. On the 1st one listed below, I think I went a bit fast (the show in Louisville) but I think it went well overall. There were two other panelists who joined me to discuss online learning.

So here they are...so far.

Archived Radio Shows on "The World is Open" (TWIO) book and related topics:
1. September 1, 2009, Louisville, Kentucky, Length: 50 Minutes: Radio interview for “State of Affairs/Studio 619” show with Julie Kredens, interview on "World is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education,” panel discussion, and call in show panel with Allen Lind, Vice President for Information and Technology, Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education and Diane Calhoun-French, Provost, Jefferson Community and Technical College, WFPL.

Archived audio: http://www.wfpl.org/2009/09/01/the-world-is-open-how-technology-is-changing-education/

MP3 Audiostreaming: http://archive.wfpl.org/soa/20090901SOA.mp3

3. August 19, 2009, Madison, Wisconsin, Length: 50 Minutes: Radio interview for “Conversations with Joy Cardin,” Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR).

Archived podcast: http://www.wpr.org/webcasting/audioarchives_display.cfm?Code=jca

Stream with Real Player: http://clipcast.wpr.org:8080/ramgen/wpr/jca/jca090819c.rm

3. August 19th, 2009, Grand Rapid, Michigan, Length: 9 Minutes: Radio interview for “Morning Show with Shelley Irwin,” Shelley Irwin and Kevin Chapman, WGVU-AM/FM (NPR).

MP3 Audiostreaming: http://www.trainingshare.com/video/3581H.mp3

4. August 18, 2009, San Diego, California, Length: 24 minutes: Radio interview for “These Days” show with Maureen Cavanaugh, Hank Crook, “Internet is Increasing Access to Education Around the World,” KPBS 89.5 FM.

Interview transcript and podcast: http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/aug/18/internet-increasing-access-education-around-world/

Audiosteam with Windows Media Player: http://kpbs.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/audio/2009/08/18/WebTech.mp3

5. August 5th, 2009, Boston, Massachusetts, Length: 31 Minutes: Radio interview for “LifeTips Radio.” Amanda Smyth, Boston, MA. Archived and available.

Archived Podcast: http://www2.webmasterradio.fm/life-tips/2009/how-web-technology-is-revolutionizing-education/

MP3 Audiostreaming: http://www2.webmasterradio.fm/mp3/lifetips/09/LT080509.mp3

6. July 29, 2009, Southport, Connecticut, Length: 2 Minutes: Taped radio interview about “The World Is Open” book on radio program, “Something You Should Know,” Mike Carruthers.

Audio Transcript: http://www.somethingyoushouldknow.net/transcript08_10_09.htm
MP3 Audiostream: http://www.somethingyoushouldknow.net/previous-weeks-programs.htm

Direct to Real Player: http://www.somethingyoushouldknow.net/realaudio1/2009_08_10_pgm.ram

7. July 23, 2009, Oxford, North Carolina, Length: 8 Minutes: Live interview about “The World Is Open” book on the Paradise Radio Network WCBQ-AM 1340, WHNC-AM, by Dr. Alvin Augustus Jones.

Archived Podcast with Windows Media Player: http://www.dralvinjones.com/detailmedia.php?id=3857

Direct Link to MP3 Audiostreaming: http://www.dralvinjones.com/content/01%20Curtis%20Bonk.wma

So there you have it; of the dozen or so radio shows wherein I have been interviewed on the TWIO book, these 7 radio programs have archived the audio and a few included the transcript. More will be posted soon as I try to keep this page up-to-date. You can find most of these and more in my "The World is Open" book website under "Media Interviews."

Give a listen. See what you think. Which one do you like best? Seems much interest in the book. So, in effect, the World is Open on the radio.

Wish i was an 8 year old kid again listening to such shows on my little red Sinclair transistor radio. Wish I still swinging on that swing in West Allis, Wisconsin.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, There's a "Mission to Learn" After All

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 04:09:00 +0000

Sometimes life brings you to a mirror. You look in that mirror and ponder what if. There are times you think, ok, I really like this mirror. It all turned out pretty well. There are many other times, you could just as soon chuck it. Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the ugliest of them all?

If the mirror is not about physical appearance, but instead about thought or ideas, you begin to think about all those years that led you to a particular perspective, opinion, or point of view. Anyone who comes to the same conclusions as you or seems to have similar points of view is immediately suspect. That is a given. How can he or she have the same idea or thoughts? Well, anyone can. We all distill our information from the endless sea of possibilities out there. With 6.7+ billion people, someone is bound to have found a similar life purpose or mission.

And so it is with Mission To Learn. What a wonderful concept about the human species! Learning is not just about K-12 situations or learning for credit of some kind. It should not wait until one gets to a college or university setting nor should it end with that. Learning is lifelong and all environments we enter are learning venues; including grocery or department stores, summer cabins, bookstores, cafes, sports arenas, and airplanes. It is time that we stepped back, looked in the mirrors around us, and realized that.

Too often learning is compartmentalized. You teach or learn in K-12 settings and only are concerned with that. Or you are college professors, university administrators, or instructional designers. If so, higher education becomes your audience or life mission. And then there are those who are totally focused on corporate training and employees who need perpetual reskilling. Ditto military training. Same is true of training and education in governmental and non-profit settings as well as healthcare ones. You may not think about it but there are also learning mission statements of libraries and museums. And so on. Each particular place has its overriding focus. We each exist in our own silos or bowl only in our own lanes with minimal interest (or time) in what is happening in the alleys right next to us. Once you mention adult education in a discussion with many in the K-12 world, the conversation often grinds to a halt. Ditto the reverse.

However, the one overriding principle is that all of us humans learn; young or old, rich or poor, male or female, etc. And with the world now open for learning, we all have many more avenues for learning and people to learn with. Today technology brings us all together to learn--with Twitter or Facebook posts, Ning groups, or projects in Google Docs. Learning is really becoming lifelong.

The labels we have as being in primary school or corporate training typically relate to our training or where our funding comes from. Even our departmental housing. But, with the emergence of Web technology and the tools for collaboration and communication, we are all teachers of the world today as well as learners within it. Our colleagues, students, friends, teachers, mentors, tutors, etc., are global ones. They are all helping you on your mission to learn.

Now we have a movement with exactly that name. Yes, "Mission to Learn" exists. According to the "About" section of the Mission to Learn website, Mission to Learn is a destination for lifelong learners in a hyper-connected, information-overloaded world. Our view is that learning is not just about courses, or schools, or teachers. In fact, we’re not all that concerned here with formal learning or professional development. Learning happens everywhere, all the time, and the Web has exploded the possibilities for all of us to reach our full potential through learning."

And so Mission to Learn seems to be stating what I have noted in my The World Is Open book. The Web has really changed things. We are more connected as a species and much more learning focused than in the past. Informal forms of learning are pervasive, continual, and increasing in importance. They are life itself. I explored the website and it is as if I am looking in a mirror. A pleasant sort of mirror at that.

Mission to Learn is the brainchild of Jeff Cobb. Jeff interviewed me this week (see "Open Education, Open World, Podcast with Curt Bonk"). You can now read his blog post of August 26, 2009 on that interview and my book and listen to the audio or go directly to the MP3 from that session.

I had fun. Jeff is a great podcast show host. And he is looking to expand his mission, or I should say, his "Mission to Learn." You might become a member or subscriber. Like all such missions, it is free. You can get his Learning Monitor newsletter.

People like Jeff accurately argue that the Web is transforming education in front of our eyes. The natural instincts to learn are more and more apparent each day as we have dozens of downloadable documents to read, Web portals to browse, blog postings to discuss, wikis to collaborate on, and shared online videos to watch. We do not have to be in sixth grade to watch content from NASA TV, Discovery Channel Video, or National Geographic Video. And we do not need to be an adult to benefit from MIT World, SciVee, or hundreds of colleges and universities with channels in YouTube or YouTube Edu. Now we can select any of these learning options as well as hundreds of thousands of other ones at any time. You are free to learn.

Keep looking in the mirror. Someday you might come to see something fresh and new. There just might be a mission to learn in you that you did not recognize before. You can thank people like Jeff Cobb for that. I think the world is filled with such people. Thanks Jeff. Thanks for giving all of us a mission to learn.

Guest Blog Posts and Interviews for GETideas.org, TeachKnowLogist (from India), and Inside Higher Ed

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 03:58:00 +0000

I have not been posting much to my blog yet my fingers are sore from blogging. How can that be? Well, I have been doing many guest blog posts and interview responses. Here are 3-4 examples.

First, Catherine Shinners, Community Manager of GETideas.org contacted me. She has posted my new book, The World Is Open (TWIO), to their library and were profiling my work. That was a kind gesture. She soon asked if I could blog post for them. I said sure and started to write about K-12 leadership issues in the age of e-learning, open education, and the Web 2.0. On Monday, the first of a three-part blog post went up. It is titled, "Learning and Leadership in the Open Education Age (Part 1): Online and Web-Based Learning: 1990-2005."

On their Website, GETideas.org indicated that they want to support global education transformation with different partners, visionaries, and thought leaders from around the world. The site is supported by Cisco Systems, Inc. I may go out to the San Francisco area for an interview on my ideas in front of a live audience. We will see.

It was great to hear of this site and that there is corporate backing for it. Strategic initiatives like this can help people making sense of many changes happening around them.

Second, a week or two ago, my good friend Dr. Sanjaya Mishra of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU)interviewed me for his blog TeachKnowLogist. He asked some insightful questions about my TWIO book. Sanjaya is the editor of the Asian Journal of Distance Education. And he works for what I think is the largest university on Planet Earth--IGNOU is approaching 2 million students. Wow! And Sanjaya is one of their stars! He has many books and articles in the field of educational technology. He will be one of workshop chair at the newly announced conference, Global Learn, which will be in Penang, Malaysia May 17-20, 2010.

Sanjaya posted this interview in a couple of different ways. It is text at his blog, "The World is Open" August 13, 2009. You can also listen to it as an archived audio file. And it can be streamed as an MP3 audio file. Always great to have multiple formats.

Listening to a written interview is interesting. I appreciate Sanjaya showing me that. I have now added that feature to this blog. You can subscribe to the podcasts or audio versions of my blog posts. The technology for this is coming from Odiogo. You can sign up. It is free! I recommend that you consider it.

Third, I was interviewed by Scott Jaschik from Inside Higher Ed about my TWIO book. It took me a while to respond. The interview post is, in fact, titled, The World is Open. Again these were great questions. It took a while to respond. It was posted yesterday morning. Much great feedback immediately came in.

I will also have a guest blog post at Powell's Books blog. It will have many links to learning openers which I discuss in my book. Now I need to write a guest blog post for the Faculty Focus newsletter from Magna Publications. Back soon.

Fingers getting sore!

New Book from AACE: "A Special Passage through Asia E-Learning"

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:51:00 +0000

Recapping E-Learning in Asia Book, Special Journal Issue, and Las Vegas Event:
Sorry again for not posting for a week. I have been posting elsewhere. Details to come soon.

Good news! Last week I received a book in the mail. It was a "special" book. I have been waiting patiently in anticipation of it. But special it is! In fact, it was titled: "A Special Passage through Asia E-Learning." This book is a print-on-demand book. It also also a "special" issue of the most recent issue of the International Journal on E-Learning, volume 8, number 4. The digital format of the journal is out in the AACE library but not the printed version yet. Ironically, the book is already out in both versions. Here is the citation:

Bonk, C. J., Lee, M. M., & Reynolds, T. H. (Eds.) (2009). A Special Passage through Asia E-Learning. Chesapeake, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education. (see http://www.editlib.org/ebooks/ or http://www.editlib.org/p/32264 and http://aace.org)

You can order the electronic copy or the printed version of the book from the AACE digital library. The printed version (which I am recommending to you) is only $15. I think the e-book is cheaper. Below is the book cover. It is pretty special I think. Hope you agree. Tom Reynolds and I have wanted to do a book together for 20 years now. Finally!

Note: this was also a special journal issue: Bonk, C. J., Lee, M. M., & Reynolds, T. H. (Eds.) (2009). International Journal on E-Learning. 8(4). Special issue: A Special Passage through Asia E-Learning.

Some History or Overview:
This is not the first such review of e-learning in Asia. There was one over two years ago in the March 2007 special issue of the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning. That earlier issue was coordinated by my good friend Dr. Insung Jung from International Christian University in Japan. She titled that issue the “Changing Faces of Open and Distance Learning in Asia” (IRRODL, 8(1), 2007). In the opening article introducting that issue, Insung mentioned that, at that time, there were 70 universities within Asia dedicated to open access to education. And these were big ones. Really, really big ones! The supersized whoppers of the e-learning world. In fact, 7 of the 11 largest universities in the world were in Asia; each with over 100,000 students. Hence, why the world seemed to be tuning in to e-learning events in Asia. Much media as well as research attention.

Her special issue documented much e-learning attention and growth that was happening in Asia. In some coutries included in that issue, the governments and universities were experimenting with cross-border relationships and other unique partnerships. There were also places wherein the focus was on blended learning programs whicn combined self-study with online and face-to-face experiences as needed by the learner or dictated by the content. There was increasing focus on expanding access to content, greater course interactivity (i.e., less boring stuff), and customization and individualization of learning modules, courses, and programs. Of course, many digital divide issues remained as well as quality control, assessment, and plagiarism concerns.

E-Learning in Las Vegas (November, 2008):
As we read the articles in that issue, my colleagues, Tom Reynolds from National University in San Diego and Mimi Miyoung Lee from the University of Houston, and I were extremely impressed. Insung had gathered a highly unique group of people for her special issue. So excited by the vast changes happening in the Asia e-learning scene that Tom, Mimi, and I decided to conduct a special preconference session on e-learning in Asia at the World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education in Las Vegas on November 17, 2008.

The three of us were the program chairs for the conference. So, we at least knew who to talk to (us...smile). Further impetus came from the conference founder and director, Dr. Gary Marks, who was encouraging us to do so. He too was excited by what he saw happening in terms of Asia e-learning. We quickly replied to him, sure, why not...Las Vegas is a special place in which to try this out. So we went and searched for the best people we could find. We found a dozen shooting stars! They were making many brilliant waves in their respective countries.

With a few Web searches, emails, MSN chats, and Skype calls, we soon set up a preconference symposium on e-learning in Asia for the E-Learn 2008 Conference in Las Vegas. We got many fascinating people to join us. Unfortunately, Insung Jung, herself, was not available at that time. Gary gave us a complete day for the symposium. And at the end of the day, we had dinner and saw a fantastic show in Vegas called Le Reve. What fun! See below.

We designed the day so that the symposium addressed a range of issues related to e-learning throughout Asia. During the event, we had a dozen different people showcase their e-learning research and program innovations within 10 different Asian countries. The countries that were represented were China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India, and Turkey. Unfortunately, the representative from an eleventh country, Indonesia, had to cancel at the last minute due to administrative responsibilities back home. A picture of the participants is below.

Tom, Mimi, and I acted as the moderators and coordinators of these presentations and ensuing interactions among the participants as well as session discussants. Mimi wrapped up the day with her reactions. Tom posted what was happening to the conference blog. And I made sure we tried to end the session on time. We also were helped by Dr. Tom Reeves from the University of Georgia who attended the morning session but had his own workshop in the afternoon. He gave a quite lively and fun recap of the morning presentations. Tom also wrote the ending chapter of the special issue. A special thanks to Tom!

We had so much fun at the conference symposium during the day as well as the events that unfolded that night and throughout the conference, that we decided to do the special journal issue mentioned above. And, as noted, that special issue has now become a book. The countries included in the special issue book and journal are: Japan (2 chapters), Taiwan, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India, and Turkey; in that order. (Sidenote: Mimi, as a Korean native, indirectly represented that country. Tom and I foolishly attempted to represent Nepal and Bhutan, respectively, but were not successful--I am joking.)

Such is digital scholarship in the 21st century. So much is possible and quickly. The special issue includes a wide range of topics, concerns, and opportunities. Areas discussed in the various chapters include the impact of e-learning on students, new requirements for instructors, models for e-learning adoption and implementation, and the ways in which the Web 2.0 and other technologies are used within Asia for e-learning (in particular, the Japan and Singapore chapters). Some chapters also address motivation and retention issues, institutionally-sponsored research, e-portfolios, assessment and evaluation, administration and management, and future trends. See below for the table of contents (with names of the participants and their respective countries noted).

Book/Journal Contents

Preface: A Special Passage Through Asia E-Learning p. 9 Curtis J. Bonk, Mimi Miyoung Lee, and Thomas H. Reynolds

Opening Comments on E-Learning in Asia p. 17 Mimi Miyoung Lee

Digital Trends Among Japanese University Students: Podcasting and Wikis as Tools for Learning p. 23
Yayoi Anzai

From Competency List to Curriculum Implementation: A Case Study of Japan's First Online Master's Program for E-Learning Specialists Training p. 39 Katsuaki Suzuki

E-Learning in Supplemental Educational Systems in Taiwan: Present Status and Future Challenges p. 49 Ke Zhang and Jui-Long Hung

E-Learning in the Philippines: Trends, Directions, and Challenges p. 65 Melinda M. Dela Pena-Bandalaria

University 2.0: A View From Singapore p. 81 Daniel T. H. Tan, Chye Seng Lee, Lay Kock Chan, and Adrian Din How Lu

E-Learning in Malaysia: Moving Forward in Open Distance Learning p. 97 Zoraini Wati Abas

E-Learning Readiness in the Academic Sector of Thailand p. 109 Thanomporn Laohajaratsang

E-Learning in India p. 119 Sanjaya Mishra
Academic Social Networks Affecting the Adoption of E-Learning in Turkey p. 131 Siew Mee Barton, Brian Corbitt, and Lemai Nguyen
E-Learning in Asia: Just as Good Is Not Good Enough p. 147 Thomas C. Reeves

Countries for Special Issue (the passageway):
A map of the participating countries is below. Keep in mind that country selections were based on nominations and places or people with known innovations in e-learning. Our special passage through e-learning in Asia could have taken a much different route. We realize that a more northerly passage would have provided a much different view. We also know that a set of chapters from the same eight countries just 5 or 10 years from now would have vastly different issues, challenges, opportunities, and questions.

I hope you enjoy this special passage through Asia e-learning. Many of us will reconvene at the E-Learn conference in Vancouver in late October. If you are going, please let me know. Books will likely be on display.

Global Learn:
We will also get many people to talk about e-learning in Asia at the new conference we are helping create called Global Learn: Global Conference on Learning and Technology. Global Learn will be in Asia and the Pacific Rim region each April or May. The first one will be in Penang, Malaysia May 17-20, 2010. Here is the hotel (quiet, this is still a secret!). Hope to see you there. Perhaps you can be a contributor to this first ever type of event. I promise to bring a few copies of this book to pass out at my sessions. Of course, we will continue the conversation there. It should be highly interesting and exciting as broadband expands in Asia as does mobile learning and so much more. And that will certainly be special. See you at the Shangri-la!

Before Global Learn, please take some time and explore that special passage through Asia e-learning. You will meet many fantastic people from India, Thailand, the Philippines, and Japan. Oh, ya, also some great scholars from Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia. And very special friends from Australia doing research in Turkey. Smile.

Just $15 USD from AACE. Order direct.

20 Quick Points from "The World Is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education"

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 04:25:00 +0000

Last week, my publicist, Meryl Moss, asked me to post a few some guest blog posts to her BookTrib blog. Some of you may have read them. I explained some of the history behind the writing of my book, The World Is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education. I also had a post with 20+ ideas for finding someone's email or other contact information.

This week, she has asked me to turn my 460 page book (monster) into 5-6 bulleted points. I tried for a few hours but was not able to. I was able to create a summary of 20 key points.

The World Is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education
by Curtis J. Bonk, Published by Jossey-Bass, in Wiley imprint in July 2009.

20 Quick Points

First of all, keep in mind that there are 12 chapters, an introduction and ending chapter as well as 10 chapters in the middle; 1 for each of 10 openers.

Ten Openers: (WE-ALL-LEARN)
1. Web Searching in the World of e-Books
2. E-Learning and Blended Learning
3. Availability of Open Source and Free Software
4. Leveraged Resources and OpenCourseWare
5. Learning Object Repositories and Portals
6. Learner Participation in Open Information Communities
7. Electronic Collaboration
8. Alternate Reality Learning
9. Real-Time Mobility and Portability
10. Networks of Personalized Learning

Here is a mini Table of Contents:

Introduction to the Open Learning World
Chapter 1: WE-ALL-LEARN
Chapter 2: To Search and to Scan (Opener #1: Web Searching in the World of e-Books)
Chapter 3: E-Demand around the Globe (Opener #2: E-Learning and Blended Learning)
Chapter 4: It's a Free Software World After All (Opener #3: Availability of Open Source and Free Software)
Chapter 5: MIT in Every Home (Opener #4: Leveraged Resources and OpenCourseWare)
Chapter 6: Portals for the People (Opener #5: Learning Object Repositories and Portals)
Chapter 7: Making a Contribution (Opener #6: Learner Participation in Open Information Communities)
Chapter 8: Collaborate or Die! (Opener #7: Electronic Collaboration and Interaction)
Chapter 9: Who are you? (Opener #8: Alternative Reality Learning)
Chapter 10: U-Learning? (Opener #9: Real-Time Mobility and Portability)
Chapter 11: Learning at Your Service (Opener #10: Networks of Personalized Learning)
Chapter 12: The Treasures and Traps of this Open Learning World
Acknowledgements
Notes

1. E-Books (Opener #1): Around 100 schools in Korea are experimenting with digital books in 2009. These books are embedded with simulations, study aids, dictionaries, games, hyperlinks to the Web, multimedia, student authoring tools, enhanced data searching capabilities, email, discussion forums, and evaluation tools. The Korean government wants such books free for all schools by 2013. If Korea is successful, there is no reason why the U.S. cannot set similar goals. Already the state of California is adopting policies for digital and open access textbooks as a means to reduce the state deficit and enhance learning.

2. K-12 E-Learning (Opener #2): The state of Michigan has mandated 20 hours of online experience to complete high school; in effect, requiring every student to take at least one online class to pass high school. The state of Florida has mandated online course access in every school district from kindergarten through high school. These are signs that the online learning momentum is not going to subside anytime soon.

3. Higher Education E-Learning (Opener #2): Most courses in universities settings today have some type of online component. Some institutions like the University of Illinois at Springfield and the University of Central Florida now offer many of the exact same courses in face-to-face, blended, and fully online formats. Students are allowed to select the delivery mode that works for them. E-learning is also exploding in Asia with 7 of the largest universities in the world, all with over 100,000 students. While the University of Phoenix may have over 400,000 students, Ramkhamhaeng University in Thailand has more than 600,000 and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has nearly 2 million students. The Open University of Malaysia has exploded from just 800 students in 2001 to over 80,000 students in 2009. That is some 10,000 additional students per year!

4. Free and Open Source Course Management Systems (Opener #3): Creating online courses and programs can cost a lot of money. Systems like Moodle and Sakai are free and open source options. As of February 10, 2009, there were 620,000 registered users of Moodle from 204 countries speaking 78 languages. And there were countless Moodle users who did not register.

5. OpenCourseWare (Opener #4): MIT has succeeded in placing all of its courses online (some 1,890 courses). Many are being translated free to the world in Spanish, Portuguese, and simplified as well as traditional Chinese. Hundreds of other universities and other organizations are following in MIT’s footsteps in placing their courses online.

6. Community College Course Giveaways (Opener #4): There is a recent $500 million dollar plan ($50 million per year for ten years) from the Obama administration to create free and open online learning at the community college level. A free library of courses would be available to colleges and their students nationwide. Open courses for community college students will help millions of students explore careers options while giving many of them confidence before returning to school. They can also improve retention once they get there and lower the cost of a degree. Dr. Bonk was quoted and his World is Open book cited in key articles on these plans from the Chronicle of Higher Education (see http://chronicle.com/article/Obamas-Great-Course-Giveaway/47530/) as well as Inside Higher Education (http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/06/29/ccplan).

7. Learning Portals (Opener #5): The majority of the work of Einstein, Shakespeare, Darwin, and many other historical giants is now available for free online. Of course, Shakespeare has multiple sites as do Einstein and Darwin. Learning portals even exist for all the digital museums of the world (see the Museum of Online Museums; see http://www.coudal.com/moom/) as well as countless digital libraries. Free dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauruses, and open access journals allow learners to find needed information within seconds. There are also millions of free online books from Google and the Internet Archive.

8. Online Sharing Communities (Opener #5): MERLOT is a website that contains more than 20,000 free learning contents that are useful in higher education, many of which are peer reviewed (http://www.merlot.org/). MERLOT has more than 70,000 members as well as conference, journal, and newsletter. Connexions from Rice University offers similar services but is available for all ages of learners. Millions of people from 200 countries access it each month. At the same time, Curriki, spearheaded by Sun Microsystems founder Scott McNealy, is providing a stockpile of free K-12 content.

9. Open Access Journals (Opener #5): The publishing world is increasing becoming open access. Open access journals in the healthcare area provide invaluable information to those in the developing world. The Public Library of Science (PLoS) offers free peer-reviewed scientific journals. Scientists who publish in PLoS journals might present their work in SciVee. SciVee allows the user to hear or see the scientist explain his or her research in what is known as pubcasts.

10. Shared Online Video (Opener #6): According to a June 2009 report, 13 hours of video are posted each minute to YouTube. It also indicated that Internet users watch nearly 13 billion online videos in November 2008 alone. In January 2009, 136 million people watched some type of professional video content. While most Internet users have watched or shared entertaining online videos from YouTube, educators can find many uses for them. In fact, there are millions of freely available educational videos in YouTube Edu, TeacherTube, Big Think, NomadsLand, Current TV, Link TV, Howcast, Wonderhowto, Google Video, CNN video, and BBC Audio and Video. Many schools, universities, and corporate training divisions now have their own channels in YouTube and iTunes U (e.g., Stanford, MIT, or Berkeley). Consulting firms like Deloitte are even sponsoring YouTube video competitions related to working at the company.

11. YouTube Teachers (Opener #6): The Web turns everyone into a potential teacher or learner. Matt Harding dances around the world and millions watch him. He becomes a geography teacher to the world community. In slight over a year, his 2008 video was viewed more than 22 million times. Lee LeFever’s “In Plain English” videos from Common Craft have been viewed millions of times. In them, LeFever explains blogs, wikis, and social networking technologies using simple examples and illustrations.

12. Teaching Celebrities (Opener #6): Lectures from Berkeley professors like Professor Marian Diamond in biology with hundreds of thousands of viewers as well as those in law, physics, computer science, and other subject areas are freely available to watch in YouTube for anyone with an Internet connection to watch. Some lectures are viewed hundreds of thousands of times. As of August 12, 2009, nearly one-quarter of a million people have viewed Google Co-Founder and President Sergey Brin give a talk at Berkeley on “Search, Google, and Life.” Stanford professors as well as those from hundreds of other universities can be listened to in YouTube as well as iTunes. Professors are becoming celebrities.

13. Scribd is the YouTube of Text (Opener #6): Tired of shared online video? Perhaps try Scribd; it is the YouTube of text documents. As of June 2009, there were millions of documents posted to Scribd with 35 billion words in 90 different languages that were being read by 60 million readers each month. Scribd has quickly become one humongous virtual site. It now ranks in the top 150 sites in terms of Web traffic. It has readership approaching the New York Times and is already more than 5 times bigger than Wikipedia in terms of total number of words. The gap between it and Wikipedia continues to grow as more than 50,000 documents are posted daily to it. Small wonder it attracts so many eyeballs. The Securities and Exchange Commission, National Science Foundation, and Internal Revenue Service are among the biggest users, each with more than 10,000 documents posted to Scribd. More impressively, the Federal Register has more than 200,000 documents preserved in Scribd. Anyone can post legal documents, music scores, poetry, homework, term papers, catalogs, how-to-guides, resumes, technical reports, or genealogical records to Scribd. Users can also form social networks to discuss, rate, and share these documents. The text sharing possibilities are endless!

14. Wikis (Opener #6): A few years ago, many people said that Wikipedia would not work. Today it ranks 7th in Internet traffic in the United States. There are more than 10 million pages of content in more than 250 languages. As of August 2009, there are nearly 3 million pages in English alone. In addition, the Wikimedia Foundation boosts popular wiki sites such as Wikiquote, Wikisource, Wikitionary, Wikinews, and Wikibooks. Thousands of books are being composed free to the world at the Wikibooks website. K-12 and college students might help instructors design lessons in a wiki or share their projects and products. At the corporate training level, places like Best Buy are adopting wikis as a way to allow its 150,000 employees to contribute ideas on business practices, training approaches, employee benefits, and industry trends. In a word, they now have a voice.

15. Guest Experts on Demand (Opener #7): Need a guest or expert speaker for your class? Today, all it takes is a simple email request and a $20 Webcam and you can bring that person in within minutes. Experts can also arrive using text chat, online discussion forums, interactive videoconferencing, Skype, Google Talk, or virtual worlds. And they can be archived for later use. Similarly, an instructor can select any region of the world for his or her students to collaborate with using freely available technology or services.

16. Collaborate or Die (Opener #7): The tools for online collaboration have exploded during the past decade. Microsoft offers SharePoint and Groove while Google has Google Groups and Google Docs. Online communities like Ning foster collaboration for more than 1 million groups including the popular Ning in Education, GrownUpDigital, Classroom 2.0, LearningTown!, and the Open Source University Meetup groups.

17. Virtual Worlds (Opener #8): As of January 2009, Second Life had more than 16 million residents, of which more than 1 million people log on each day. Colleges professors are using Second Life to teach law at Harvard, English at Ball State University, sex education at the University of Plymouth in the UK, and much more, including history, architecture, geography, art, and medicine. Using virtual world technologies like Second Life, many university medical schools and hospitals, in fact, are conducting simulations and other instructional activities that previously were extremely expensive. Businesses like IBM and Dell are finding unique ways to exploit Second Life and other virtual worlds for employee training, community building, special announcements, and online conferences.

18. Mobile Learning (Opener #9): According to Dr. Paul Kim, Chief Technology Officer at Stanford School of Education, mobile learning will transform education around the planet. As of January 2009, there were 40,000 new mobile subscribers in Rwanda each week and 15.4 million each month in India. Across Africa, mobile penetration has exploded from just one in 50 people at the start of the century to more than 28 percent of the population as of March 2009. On a global basis, there are 60,000 new mobile subscriptions every hour! That equates to 720,000 more people who can learn online each day and tens of millions more people each month. In the Pocket School project, the teacher is in the pocket of migrant worker children in Latin America.

19. Mobile Technology Giveaways (Opener #9): Places like Abilene Christian University are giving away iPhones to incoming students as a means to attract new students as well as foster technology integration, Web access, and overall communication on campus. Not to be outdone, Oklahoma Christian University has initiated a program called InTouch to give away both an iPhone (or iPod Touch) and an Apple Macbook laptop to incoming students. Such mobile technologies are used for survey research, Web searching, uploading and downloading course tasks, and course discussions.

20. Online Language Learning (Opener #10): Have you ever wanted to learn Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, English, Hindi, Russian, or Farsi? Millions of people are using resources such as Livemocha, ChinesePod, SpanishPod, Mixxer, KanTalk, ECpod, and dozens of other online resources to learn or teach languages. Much of this is free. One company, Livemocha, has gone from start-up to 3 million users in less than 2 years. At the same time, free podcasts from ChinesePod, a product of Praxis Language, are downloaded around 300,000 times per month. These free podcasts are available at beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels.

Ok, perhaps the twenty items above caught your interest. I hope so. My publicist does as well. Feel free to write to me with questions.

A Week of BookTrib Blogging on the World Is Open book

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 07:49:00 +0000

Some of you may be wondering why I have not posted to my blog in over a week. One reason is the passing of Mike Reed. But I actually have been blogging; you may not be aware of them since they are at another blog site.

You see, my publicist, Meryl Moss, featured my book, World Is Open: How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education, at her BookTrib website 1-2 weeks ago. Each week, she features 5 books and gives them away in random drawings. In the past they have featured:

1. O’S Big Book of Happiness, from the editors of O, the Oprah Magazine
2. Lone Start by Alan Weisman
3. Gravedigger by Peter Grandbois
4. The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
5. The Reincarnationist by MJ Rose
6. The Fat Smash Diet by Ian K. Smith, M.D.
7. The Complete Beck Diet for Life by Judith S. Beck, Ph.D.
8. On My Own Two Feet by Manisha Thakor, MBA, CFA & Sharon Kedar, MBA, CFA
…and much, much more!

Had I been more prompt in posting, you could have won my book just by stopping by the BookTrib site. Sorry about that.

Well now, you might be wondering exactly what is BookTrib. According to the BookTrib site, “BookTrib is a full service portal dedicated to bringing all the news, blog sites, and information about books, writers, and readers under one link. One place to stay up-to-date about the world of books and everything related to them. If it's about books, it's on BookTrib."

Meryl Moss explained to be that: “We started BookTrib originally to create a community of and for booklovers—readers! Now there is a one-stop spot for all things book-related! Our BookTrib giveaway has had over 170,000 entries since we began. Have a look and join the community.”

In late July and early August, I did a series of blog posts in BookTrib related to my new book “The World Is Open.”

I was slow getting in, so my publicist began with a blog post that was a press release we had done.

“The growing trend of the open-source movement will change the future of college education. . .” July 27, 2009,

But then I started to post. First I reflected on the free and open educational world of today and what it was like more than 2 decades ago as I prepared for graduate school days at Wisconsin. So much has changed since then. Terms such as Open Educational Resources (OER) and OpenCourseWare (OCW) did not exist then. And "open education" was not so widely used outside the Open University of the UK.

Blog Post #1. “Free and Open Education Today, Not Like Yesterday” by Curt Bonk, July 29, 2009.

Next, I detailed who the educational world was not open for and when they might jump into it.

Blog Post #2. “Just Who is the World Open For and When?” by Curt Bonk, July 30, 2009.

In my third blog post at BookTrib I described the history of my World is Open book and how it came to be.

Blog Post #3. “The Unfolding of an Open Book.” by Curt Bonk, July 31, 2009.

I ended my BookTrib blogging with a three-part post that detailed 20+ ways to access someone’s email account or obtain contact information of important people whom you might want to interview for such a book.

Blog Post #4. “A World of Open Contacts: 20+ Ways to Exercise Your Digital Risk Muscle, Pt. I” by Curt Bonk, August 3, 2009.

Blog Post #5. “A World of Open Contacts: 20+ Ways to Exercise Your Digital Risk Muscle, Pt. 2” by Curt Bonk, August 4, 2009.

Blog Post #6. “A World of Open Contacts: 20+ Ways to Exercise Your Digital Risk Muscle, Pt. 3” by Curt Bonk, August 5, 2009.

Enjoy those blog posts. And do check out BookTrib again down the road. It is a pretty cool place for us book lovers!

In Memory of W. Michael Reed, Professor and Highest Quality Friend

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 05:03:00 +0000

Note: This blog post was originally crafted on July 31, 2009. It was then updated several times with more content, quotes, pictures, and funeral information; most recently, in the early evening of Wednesday August 12, 2009. I added a final personal reflection about Mike's life to the bottom of this blog post. While I missed Mike's funeral since I was in Madison for the annual distance teaching and learning conference, I mentioned Mike at the start of my talk during the conference closing panel. A special thanks to those who contributed to this blog. Colleagues and former students have been creating Google Groups and Facebook groups in Mike's honor as well as planning a symposium at EERA and a special edited book. Perhaps you can contribute in one or more ways. More is below.

Sad news passed my desk earlier today.

I received an email from Dr. Min Liu at the University of Texas-Austin that Dr. Michael Reed passed away yesterday on July 30, 2009. The email says that "while Mike had not been feeling well of late this was quite unexpected."

Mike was my mentor when I was a brand new faculty member at West Virginia University (WVU). He was the kindest person one could know. A gentle giant of sorts. He was also Min Liu's advisor at WVU before she left for Texas. His graduate students were treated as his children. And Min Liu was his top doctoral student and she remained that way for the next two decades. Needless to say, I bet she is taking this hard. Mike had much wisdom from his experiences to share with everyone around him. And I think he relished that role, despite being a pretty introverted person. It would have been great to have short videos in YouTube or TeacherTube of his sage ideas and mentoring. Perhaps someone has captured a couple that will be posted later on.

While countless people helped me before graduate school as well as during it, as I said, Mike was my first mentor "after" I graduated with my Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in the summer of 1989. He met me the first day at Gibbies Pub and Restaurant in downtown Morgantown. We had a wonderful meal and a beer or two to down it with. More importantly, we discussed our common interests. The main one was reserch on computers and writing as well as cool writing technologies and applications. That was August 1989 or exactly 20 years ago. (I was 8-years-old then of course.) Unlike most busy faculty members, Mike knew I was in Morgantown and on campus before anyone else. In effect, he took me under his wing to help me succeed. He showed me how a more advanced faculty member should treat younger ones. And it was not just me who he welcomed in; Mike Reed went out of his way for anyone at any time. Students often waited in a cue outside his door. But again, they were his children, so they rarely had to wait too long.

There were many great faculty at WVU. I hate to name names since I will be leaving out too many people (though I must slip in a hello to Rogers McAvoy who helped hire me). But among the great WVU people was Mary Alice Barksdale. She just sent me this picture of her and Mike. Apparently, she had dinner with him last Wednesday night. Which was the night before his heart attack. So appropriate that she was the last person to do so. Mike did work the following day at Radford.

Thanks Mary Alice. What a dashing picture of Mike. Ok, it is the wee early hours of Wednesday August 5th and more pictures of Mike have arrived! Mike did like to travel and see the world. James (Jim) Takacs, Executive Director, Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida, sent the pictures. He and Gail Fitzgerald (formerly of WVU and now at the University of Missouri) traveled with Mike to Germany and Austria and then later Jim traveled with Mike to Ed Media in Seattle in 1999 (which may be the last time I saw Mike). Jim said I could share these pics in this blog.

According to Jim, the first pic, "was taken on a horse and buggy ride we took to the Neuschwanstein Schloss (castle). Gail [Fitzgerald] took that photo of us in the carriage and mailed it to me after the trip."

In this second picture, "Mike, Gail, and Jim are at a late lunch out on the sidewalk at Munsterplatz in Freiburg, Germany. The Cathedral in the background was under construction."

Per Jim, the third picture in this sequence he sent me "was taken at the Heidelberg Castle in Heidelberg, Germany." Now that is a place I wish I had visited. Cool!

The fourth pic "was taken on the Zugspitze--The highest mountain in Germany. It's near the Austrian border and Garmisch-Partenkirchen." There is no doubt from looking at this picture that is was a stellar trip!

The 5th and 6th ones, according to Jim, "Are photos of Dr. Reed and Gail getting ready for their presentations at the 1999 Ed-Media Conference in Seattle, WA, thus him wearing the suit and tie."

The first is of Mike. As I said, I think that may be the last I saw of Mike and he was in fact wearing that suit. Ten years it has been. I tried to see him at NYU a few years ago but it was Christmas break and he was not in. Regrets now exist as I am sure many people reading this blog now have.

When Mike was not traveling, he was well known for his writing and computers research as well as that on hypermedia tools for writing and collaboration. And my dissertation was on computers and writing. I guess he was glad to see me arrive so he could share his research passions with someone. I fully understand that feeling. In 1992, Mike and I edited a special issue on writing research (my first special issue). Here is the introductory article we wrote for that issue.

Reed, W. M., & Bonk, C. J. (1992). Computers and writing research: Extending agendas across ages. Computers in Human Behavior, 8(1), 1-7.

We got many of the authors for that special issue to present at the Eastern Educational Research Association meeting in Boston in February 1991 (a regional conference of AERA). Our session at the conference was called Computers and Composing Across Curriculum. Mike twisted my arm into the role of discussant. He did not have to twist too hard. But it was my first experience as discussant so I did need a few courage pills. Fast forward to today and, in retrospect, I see myself trying to get younger colleagues similar roles at conferences as discussants, chairs, presenters, and what-nots. Some prefer being "what-nots" but most appreciate getting a chance to speak in front of others. Suffice to say, Mike's influence lives on and on and on and on.

Two years after the special issue, I published an article in another special issue journal Mike was editing; this time he was working with John Burton from Virginia Tech and Min Liu from UT Austin. This special issue also became a book. Funny, right now I am editing a special issue of a journal on e-learning in Asia which will also be a print-in-demand book. Life goes in cycles.

Bonk, C. J., Medury, P. V., & Reynolds, T. H. (1994). Cooperative hypermedia: The marriage of collaborative writing and mediated environments. Computers in the Schools, 10(1/2); 79-124.

As noted, the above article also can be found in the following book: W. M. Reed, J. K. Burton, & M. Liu (Eds.) (1994). Multimedia and megachange: New roles for educational computing (pp. 79-124). NY: Haworth Press., ISBN: 1-56024-693-6.

That was a thick book. I quite vividly remember when it arrived in the spring of 1995 and I passed it around my graduate seminar on "Interactive Technologies for Learning and Collaboration." I was quite proud to have a chapter in his book. In retrospect, it was one of my few publications prior to tenure and I was about to go up for it the following year so I really really needed that one. Mike was there for me even though I had moved from WVU to IU. I soon followed in his footsteps by doing an edited book on emerging online collaborative technologies ("Electronic Collaborators") in 1998. The Interactive Technologies for Learning and Collaboration doctoral level course was actually something that I had co-designed with Mike back at WVU. We team taught it one semester there. As with the course on cognition and memory I had team taught at WVU the semester before with Dr. Richard (Dickie) Walls, I was learning from the master how to teach.

Before creating the class, Mike and I had traveled in 1990 to San Diego for a special 2-3 day workshop on artificial intelligence in education that Chris Dede and others were putting on. It was a great setting near the downtown harbor in San Diego. The content we got from the workshop highly influenced that course. It was fun to teach as a trial course. So much fun, we decided to complete the silly forms to make it a listed course in the department. A few months after we got it approved as a permanent course at WVU, I left for Indiana and started teaching it there. I taught the class for 10 years based on the design Mike and I created. In 2002, it was transformed into a course on "E-Learning Pedogogy and Evaluation." Today, this course has morphed into one titled "The Web 2.0 and Participatory E-Learning" which is linked off my homepage (http://mypage.iu.edu/~cjbonk/).

And I guess I just realized why this course is highly linked to my new book, "The World Is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education" (http://worldisopen.com/). It is the latest in a chain of influences dating back to that time with Mike from 1989-1992. So anyone at IU who has taken one of these courses with me or who will take different versions of it in the future, will have been influenced by Mike Reed. Ditto anyone who reads the "World Is Open" book. Mike's interests in the impact of technology tools and resources on human learning is a part of every page of that book and every week of the Web 2.0 course. And having that internal muse from remnants of conversations and activities with Mike Reed, as you can see, is a very good thing.

More on Mike...In addition to editing books and special issues and team teaching with people like me, Mike was pumping out research in the late 1980s and on throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s. There were also multiple piles of papers collected (i.e., research data) that sat near his office. Still, when I was at WVU, Mike would always take time to meet with anyone at any time. Each human being was important. He supervised the computer lab and had a big office so everyone stopped by. And people poured into his office. One right after another. I am not sure how he got any writing done, but he definitely did. In fact, he likely published more papers than anyone in the College of Human Resources and Education (HR&E) during the three years I was there.

I left WVU and came to Indiana University in 1992. The year after I arrived, there was a position that opened up in Language Education. I nominated Mike as well as my colleage Tom Reynolds. Both got interviews. Neither got the job--it went to the 3rd candidate. That was unfortunate. I remember that Mike’s luggage never arrived during his time at IU and he was also suffering from a bad cold. That definitely did not help his chances (just envision someone coughing constantly and wearing the same clothes each day during a 2 day interview). So, instead, Mike went to NYU.

Here is a picture I found online of him at NYU and a brief bio since the remaining part of his bio was on a page that is no longer accessible.

NYU was lucky to get him! In his bio at the NYU Website, it says that "W. Michael Reed, Professor and Director of the Educational Communication and Technology Program, has focused his recent research on hypermedia/multimedia development and developers' learning styles. Over the past 20 years, Dr. Reed's research has focused on problem-solving and authoring, integrating technology in teacher education, and cognition and hypermedia..." As I indicated, the continuing page is no longer available but you can get a sense of his interest areas and places of expertise. Here is another page I found:

New York University
Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development
Department of Administration, Leadership, and Technology
Program in Educational Communication and Technology

Contact Info:
Dr. Michael Reed
Director
New York, NY 10012-1019
Phone: 212-998-5520
Fax: 212-995-4047
Email: w.michael.reed@nyu.edu

Mike participated in a "Teaching More Effectively With Technology" Conference in April 2001. The article I found his picture below starts off saying: "On Wednesday, April 11 and Thursday, April 12, 2001, the newly established Center for Teaching Excellence at New York University, in cooperation with Information Technology Services, the NYU Libraries, the Faculty Resource Network and the Humanities Council, organized and presented Teaching More Effectively With Technology: A Conference and Exhibition at New York University, a high-level, major initiative by NYU to focus on the role of technology in teaching."

Figure 2. After a question and answer period, Michael Reed of the NYU School of Education (far right), delivered a talk entitled "What the Research Shows". (On the left, Sharon L. Weinberg; in the center, Marc Hamilton.)

It is good to see that Mike has his typical wry smile on his face. He knew what the research said. He definitely knew. Mike Reed conducted some of the most rigorous research on computers and writing that I know of.

He was also a great listener. During my 3 years at WVU, he had to listen to me and my naive statements over and over and over. He recently retired from NYU. But Mike was not done as he took a position as administrator in the Institutional Review Board at Radford University. Radford was in the part of Virginia where he had moved to. Any complaints or questions on one's IRB, and they apparently were referred to Mike Reed. Yes, he could handle such complaints. Here was his contact info:

For questions please contact:
W. Michael Reed, EdD
Box 6926
Radford University
Radford VA 24142.
(540) 831- 5290
wreed11@radford.edu

Mike did not leave a heavy footprint on the Web. I emailed him on July 6th, 2009 and asked if I could send him my World is Open book but he did not reply (he rarely used email—so I did not hear back). It is too bad we did not get a final chance to correspond. But I will have to assume he read my email. We will never know. Mike will be dearly missed. We used to play tennis once-in-a-while when I was at WVU. He was a big guy. That was intimidating. He could whack the crap out of the tennis ball. He would have me running from side-to-side. And even though he was known to smoke quite a bit, he could still whip me in tennis.

He also could write. Wow, he definitely could write. He was a journalist in the army. He always told me that when he retired he wanted to write novels. I hope he got a chance to. If anyone reading this blog knows the answer to that question, please send me an email.

(Note: An answer to this query arrived a few hours later from his (and my) former student, John Oughton. Per John: "I wanted to mention that Mike did indeed publish a book in 2001 entitled Kelly Barracks under the pseudonym R. P. Michaels. I found this link on Amazon to the book:"

http://www.amazon.com/Kelley-Barracks-R-Michaels/dp/0595171419/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249180880&sr=8-1

I just ordered the book! The Web is so cool! I cannot wait to read it. Thanks John! I miss you too and your softball skills.)
Wow, today is August 9, 2009 and my special issue of Mike's Kelley Barracks' book has arrived. And, to my surprise when I open it up, it has Mike's signature. Wow! So cool to have it. And, no, it is not for sale. Great book, by the way.

I also remember Mike receiving a Fulbright award to live in Finland for a bit. I think it was Jyvaskyla. Yes, that was the place. He was so looking forward to it--he had his time there completely mapped out months before going. He gleefully showed me that map many times before he left. He loved it there. And they loved him. I had a similar reaction to Finland. So relaxing. And many fun people. The Fins are sorta like Mike--into technology, quiet and shy (until you get to know them and then they open up and you are friends for life), know the research, conduct thoughtful studies, and like a good beer. And I later had a collaborative research project with the good folks of the University of Jyvaskyla (the University of Oulu as well) on case-based learning online. Mike helped me make connections with a few people there before my travel to Finland in the spring of 1997. My kids even came on that one. Indirectly, Mike helped make that a smooth and fun trip.

Jim Takacs posted a comment to my blog about Mike. He took Mike's picture when he was not expecting it. He sent me links to the following 3 pictures. This one shows the friendships he had. I have a similar picture from Paris in February or March of 1992 with Mike which I will try to find and scan.

Jim noted that Mike often did not like his picture taken. You can see the look on Mike's face when he did.

But this reveals the bright and smiling Mike we all knew! According to Jim Takacs: "That photo was taken in October 1995 on a conference trip in West Virginia." It is one the best pics he found in his collection of Mike Reed photos. He has a few more that might be shared later.

Thanks so much for the pics Jim. I hope we can get a few more.

Some Funeral Information: To remember Mike Reed and to pay tribute to him, Michael Orey from the University of Georgia has formed a Facebook group for Mike Reed. Thanks Mike. Mike also planned for everyone in the world to toast to Mike at 6 pm on Monday August 3rd. Liu Min told me that Mike funeral services are in Westover, West Virginia (next to Morgantown) on Friday August 7th at 1 pm with apparently some type of service the following day (Saturday the 8th) in Radford.

Per another former student Mike was extremely fond of (and for good reason), David Ayersman, the cemetery information for Westeover/Morgantown is:

Beverly Hills Memorial Gardens (Rick Overbaugh said it is at 1 pm)
1290 FAIRMONT RD
Morgantown, WV 26501
(304) 983-2233

Post Funeral Information: Per Mary Alice Barksdale: There will likely be a memorial service at Mullins Funeral Home in Radford at 11 on Saturday August 8th and then anyone who would like to get together should come over to her house after.

Donation/Contribution Information: This information came from Mike's brother, Skip. Also, Liu Min said that it was Dr. Reed's wish that instead of flowers that folks would send a donation to:

Pound Pals
P.O. Box 2851
Radford, VA 2414
pals@psknet.com3
http://www.radfordpoundpals.org/

According to the Pound Pals Website, "The core mission of Pound Pals of Radford, Inc. is the prevention of suffering, neglect, abuse and cruelty to animals by working in conjunction with our local animal shelter in all phases of animal placement and rescue. Pound Pals of Radford, Inc. is a private, non-profit 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Contributions are tax-deductible."

This definitely sounds like Mike. A very good spirit to all living creatures. Ok, now, make a contribution in Mike's name if you can. I am quite sure that will make him happy.

Tonight Jan Plass, colleague of Mike's from NYU, sent me a note that he is thinking of a way to remember Mike's scientific contributions. He said the following, "I could think of no better way to do this than to edit a volume in his honor to which his colleagues and former students would make contributions. Given his passion, the theme of such a volume could be Individual Differences in Multimedia Learning: Theory and Research. We could also organize a symposium that brings together his former students and collaborators and that could be the preparation for such a volume."

Jan (who is the Director, CREATE Consortium for Research and Evaluation of Advanced Technologies in Education, Co-Director, NYU Institute for Games for Learning at NYU) and I know it is quite early to think about this but I also know people are reading this blog post this week. I have had my TravelinEdMan blog for 4 years now but the past 2 days have been records for the number of visitors to my blog. It is clear that many people loved and respected Mike Reed. Jan also said we should think about who might contribute to such a symposium and edited volume as presenters, authors, editors, organizers, etc. More to come on that I am sure.

Note: For those of you returning to this blog, the insert above is an update to this blog post. There will be more I suspect. Mike is not going to leave any of any time soon.

I have heard Mike's voice in my head all day--actually for a few days now. He had an unmistakable voice. He might have made for a good radio personality with that voice. All the advice over the years is coming back to me. We had many a fine private chat in his private office (that means outside on the College of HR&E back patio where he could smoke and we could talk and relax. There were many people he would mentor out on the back patio. I also remember a few very chilly days back there).

Anyway, I miss him. I left WVU 17 years ago, but it seems like yesterday. Mike's warm acceptence of me was calming for someone who had just completed and defended his dissertation, adopted and baptized a son from Korea, held a huge party to celebrate each, sold a house, moved to a new place, and started a new job (all in a matter of about 2 weeks). I saw perhaps two dozen doctors during the preceding months to help with the stress. Meeting someone like Mike was the best medicine. We all need a Mike Reed around us. One who encourages, nudges, smiles, frowns (at the right moments), and quietly elevates everyone toward their highest goals. Thanks Mike. I am here because you were there (for me).

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

Please Note: The following section was added on Wednesday August 12, 2009. It was written in response to an email that morning from Michael Orey and John Burton. They asked me to check over a bio of Mike Reed that John and Min Liu had drafted. They asked for my comments and potential additions. I wrote the comments below. It will appear as an addendum to an article in the Educational Media and Technology Yearbook (EMTY) 2010 or so I think. The title of that article will be: W. Michael Reed: At the Beginnings Using Computers in Education for Higher-Order Learning by Min Liu and John Burton. Again, what is below will likely be an addendum to that article. And I am sharing that insert with all of you in this blog. See what you think.

Reflective Addendum: Mike’s Life Compiled
As is clear, Mike was a builder, a composer, a designer. In a word, he was a doer. At its heart, Mike’s life was one of composition. He composed it as he went along and lived as he wished from start to end. But each day and each product must be seen for the greater whole. This is a man who wrote as a journalist for the U.S. Army in Germany. Countless newspaper articles and other documents were drafted, redrafted, approved, signed, and disseminated.

Knowing Mike, he was likely composing and recomposing them at each waking moment of day as well as in his sleep. After completing his army duties, he had the challenging task of teaching teenagers about the great works of Shakespeare and other compositions as a high school English teacher in Virginia. It is likely he touched many hearts and minds with his sage advice, keen insights, timely and heavy feedback. Perhaps more enjoyably he coached these kids in many after school sporting events.

When Mike left the world of an English teacher, he went on to write a massive composition called a dissertation as a graduate student at Virginia Tech. After successful defense, he crafted many other such types of documents when at WVU and NYU. During his time in academia, Mike trained dozens of other graduate students to write coherent, interesting, and seminal compositions of their own. His life of composing did not end when the research was completed. Often these works would end up as published papers in conference proceedings.

If you knew Mike, you would not be surprised by the fact that upon return from such conferences, he was not done. He would quickly assemble the troops for a special journal issue of their compiled papers; yet another form of composition. Once submitted, he was still not done! These journal issues often were reprinted a year or two after release as edited books, typically with colleagues and former students as co-editors. All the while, Mike was subtly teaching each of his collaborators and students the composing process. He was the grand maestro!

All aspects of his life were composition. All products--from his programming in Basic as well as Logo in his early academic years to his more rich hypermedia and multimedia designs--could be viewed as compositions. These were his works of art. His contributions to world. Ditto all the frameworks, models, and learning guides he built as well as the myriad journals he reviewed for. Compositions—all of them.

What’s more, much of this work was on the writing or composing process itself. Mike was, in fact, a writing researcher. And if writing is indeed thinking, Mike Reed was the consummate thinker. He not only was constantly writing or reading the writing of others, but was researching the entire shebang. In effect, he wanted everyone to know what good writing or composition was and was continually researching it, teaching it, and sharing it.

In addition to his life as an academic, Mike wanted to write the ultimate composition—the novel. And in 2001, he did just that! It was titled "Kelly Barracks." That was his masterpiece. His sonata. His magnum opus. With that, his life had come full circle, from one who was trained in how to write a composition as well as teach others about the process, to one who composes such wonderful displays of human intelligence for others to read, dissect, discuss, and reflect upon.

Without much doubt, there are some forms of composition within Mike’s life that are not mentioned in these brief paragraphs. Each person who was touched by him likely has his or her own stories involving one or more products or compositions of Mike’s life. These too should be added here for that is what a biography should be—a compilation of one’s life. And Mike Reed definitely compiled! He left us much to personally read, assign to our students, expand upon, and simply enjoy.

Global Learn from AACE, E-Learning Asia, and Open Ed for Community Colleges

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:22:00 +0000

It continues to be interesting and hectic. Today, Tom Reynolds, Mimi Lee, Gary Marks, and I were creating themes and topics for the first ever Global Learn: Global Conference on Learning on Technology. Global Learn will be held in either KL or Penang, Malaysia, next May 17-20, 2010 or so I think. Site selection and announcement coming soon. This conference will be a spin-off of AACE conferences such as SITE, Ed Media, and E-Learn. However, this one will be held in Asia and the Pacific Rim area each year; at least for now.

Global Learn (GL) will be a wonderful experience when it happens. We have a wonderful executive advisory board with members from dozens of countries in Asia and the Pacific Rim. The topics will cover both learning as well as technology ones. The current list we drafted is quite extensive. I hope to have much more to post on GL in the near future. And I hope some of you can attend next year in Malaysia! If not, perhaps you can attend virtually. Again, more to come soon on this.

In addition to our GL discussions, we also spent part of the morning selecting a book cover for the upcoming book Tom, Mimi, and I will have with AACE. We are the editors. Chapters come from Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India, and Turkey. The book is called “A Special Passage Through Asia E-Learning.” It will be a special issue of the International Journal on E-Learning and a print-on-demand book as well as an e-book from AACE. Here is the upcoming reference for the book and the journal:

Bonk, C. J., Lee, M. M., & Reynolds, T. H. (Eds.) (2009). A Special Passage through Asia E-Learning. Charlottesville, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education. (see http://www.editlib.org/ebooks/ and http://aace.org)

Bonk, C. J., Lee, M. M., & Reynolds, T. H. (Eds.) (2009). International Journal on E-Learning. 8(4). Special issue: A Special Passage through Asia E-Learning.

Every day is packed this week. Tomorrow I will appear on the radio program, “Something You Should Know.” It will be taped, not live. Thursday I will do a Webinar for Ednak which is an online network for “thoughtful” online educators. And Friday at 11 am I will be on the USA Radio Network (1,300 stations) which includes the Armed Forces Network. Once again, this will be taped not live.

Finally, I appreciate people who have blogged on my World is Open book the past few days. Thanks to Stylianos Mystakidis from Greece, Sheri Steinke from Hennepin Community College, James Moore, DePaul University, Tim Holt and his Intended Consequences blog and podcast program from El Paso, and Ray Schroeder, Professor Emeritus & Director OTEL (Office of Technology and Enhanced Learning) at the University of Illinois at Springfield. Thanks for your kindness everyone.

So much is happening. Today, someone from the Chronicle of Higher Education contacted me with questions about Obama's new plan to fund open education courses at the community college level (as well as high school). Just as I was writing about the open educational resource movement at Foothill-De Anza Community College District and all that they have done, I get an email from Judy Baker who is Dean of Foothill Global Access, Distance and Mediated Learning, and
Administrative Supervisor on an upcoming 2-year grant project: Community College Open Textbook Collaborative. She had some Web links that I might include in my World Is Open Website. She gave me many resources including the Sharing Of Free Intellectual Assets (SOPHIA) project which has designed 8 open access online courses for community colleges.

I told her that it was ironic that we met online at the exact moment of need. I suggested that perhaps something spiritual in nature was happening or it was a kind of karmatic experience. I mean, how often does the one person who can help you out of 6.7 billion people just materialize just when you need his or her help? Well, she replied (and she said I could quote her on this), "The open learning community is actually much smaller than we'd like to think. Obama's attention to the issue has created a perfect storm along with existing open learning initiatives where all of us are getting blown together. Now it's a matter of rowing together or sinking separately." Thanks Judy. In a way, I hope she is right--that more money and attention will happen in open education during the reign of Obama. I also hope she is wrong--I hope it is not a small movement, but, instead, one that will grow across the planet.

The Flat World is Now Open: Time to Embrace the Power of Informal Education

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 06:42:00 +0000

So much happening today. Morning radio interview by Gary Sieber from NewsRadio AM1340 WTRC in Elkhart, Indiana Am radio station to start the day.

Next I was quoted in article for Evansville Courier and Press, “‘Vision’ a must for EVSC netbooks: Expert says laptops can open new doors.” by John Martin, July 27, 2009, http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/jul/26/vision-a-must-for-evsc-netbooks-expert-says-open/

Then I had an article come out in Chief Learning Officer Magazine linking the flat world to the open world. It is in both digital and HTML formats.

Bonk, C. J. (2009, August). The Flat World is Now Open: Time to Embrace the Power of Informal Education. Chief Learning Officer, 8(8). Available in 2 formats: HMTL and PDF:

Digital format: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0809/#/52 and
HTML format: http://www.clomedia.com/in-conclusion/2009/August/2703/index.php

More tomorrow...getting tired today.

Indiana University Press Release, The “flat” world is “open;” how technology is changing education

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:18:00 +0000

Lots happening since the book came out a week ago. I barely have time to eat, sleep, run, walk, or chew gum, let alone post to my blog. But I will try to post something worthwhile. I will focus on 3 main things below: 1. a press release, 2. a talk, and 3. a book review. All are related to my new book.

1. IU Press Release: There were 2 press releases today on my new book, The World Is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education. I often refer to the book as the TWiO, since there will be 2 of them--one hardcover (which came out a week ago) and a free e-book extension which I am still working on. The book Website has the references and Web links for both books already and many excerpts.

The 2 IU press releases are the same basic story but there was one press release was from the Indiana University (IU) press and one from the IU School of Education. The one from the School of Education includes a picture of the book and 5 short audio file links (MP3) and transcripts to listen to from the interview. Cool!

Indiana University Press Release, The “flat” world is “open;” how technology is changing education; July 20, 2009, IU News Room.
http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/11427.html

IU School of Education Press Release, The “flat” world is “open;” how technology is changing education, School of Education professor’s new book outlines the complex world of learning today; July 20, 2009, IU School of Education Homepage:
http://education.indiana.edu/news_detail/tabid/10308/Default.aspx?xmid=1776 (Note again: this has 5 short MP3 files of part of the interview--scroll to the end of the article and listen.)

See what ya think. I think IU did a great job on it.

2. Indianapolis Talk this coming Friday July 24th: IU also posted a "Media Advisory" event for this coming Friday July 24th when I will be part of a seminar on "Issues in Education" at our IUPUI Campus Center in Indianapolis. I will be presenting ideas from my The World is Open book at 11 to 11:45. Others will be presenting that day as well. This is intended for Indiana media but I think anyone can attend. The cost is a mere $15 for the day. For more information about this seminar, please contact: Chuck Carney, director of communications and media relations for the Indiana University School of Education, 812-856-8027 or ccarney@indiana.edu. Or see the Web-link.

MEDIA ADVISORY
What: "Issues in Education" seminar
When: July 24, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: Room CE 148, IUPUI Campus Center, 420 University Blvd

3. Review of the World Is Open book: Michael Shaughnessy, a writer from EdNews/org and professor at Eastern New Mexico University, wrote a book review of: “The World is Open: How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education.” It was posted to the blog of the Innovate Journal of Online Education called, Innovate-Ideagora (Ning blog), July 17, 2009.

It is interesting to be compared to E. F. Hutton and Reggie Jackson. It does not happen often. Well, it has never happened before. I actually saw Reggie Jackson play many times when he came to Milwaukee to play the Brewers in the 1970s and 1980s, including the American League Championship Series in 1982. He was one great player! I used to like how would take his time at the plate. Liked to spit if I remember correctly. He was one menacing character. I hope Michael wasn't indicating that I am menacing. Smile.

The important thing is that we (the Brewers--they played in Milwaukee which is the land of beer and more beer) beat the Angels 3-2 in that series. We came from behind 2 games to 1. I was at games 4 and 5. They were special! When Cecil Cooper hit the game winning drive in Game #5, old County Stadium went Bonkers (no pun intended). And I mean Bonkers! Ok pun intended. My best friends and I were there. I think we even let my little brother, Richard Bonk, join us. There is a joke in there for people who know Richard. Gosh did we party that night. I do miss Milwaukee if only for a few fleeting seconds.

Then it was on to the World Series where we lost to the Cardinals 4 games to 3. I saw Game #3 that year. We lost that one. Bummer. My only World Series Game. I did have Pirate World Series tickets in 1991 and 1992 that I never got to use thanks to the choking of Bobby Bonilla and Barry Bonds. Ok, enough baseball. Gosh I remember Reggie Jackson as a Yankee as well as when he was in Oakland before that. I guess I am old. Ok, let me say this again...enough baseball.

After you get past the Reggie and E.F. Hutton bit, you will find that Michael has posted a balanced (if not critical) review. He "hits" on many concerns he has at the end of the review. As you round the bases of this review, you will see that most of them relate to formal educational settings like as quality, integrity, certification, and accountability. His points are well taken and worth discussing and debating. Still, I am not trying to solve all the problems faced in K-12 or higher education settings with the book. Instead, I am simply trying to show how the world has become more open for learning. And it is more open for learning. He does not seem to debate that point.

This is the fourth review of the TWiO book. The other three are already posted at the book Website in About the Book.

Ok, I must go back to work on the e-book extension of this. I hope to post a postscript I wrote later tonight or tomorrow.

The World is Open book release...You too can be Bonked!

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:06:00 +0000

Ok, my book, The World is Open: How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education, was released. Amazon is shipping it 2 weeks ahead of schedule. I got the order I placed last week Thursday and Friday. You can order it through my WorldisOpen.com book website. You can also get the prequel and all the references, Web resources, and reviews. Some excerpts too!

Much happening. If you want to hear me speak on the book, there was a podcast interview yesterday by Tim Holt’s Intended Consequences Podcasts. Tim is from El Paso, Texas. He started this as a hobby and now many people listen in. The reactions have been good. This is a podcast series for people with books in educational technology.

http://snipurl.com/n6hop
http://web.me.com/timholt/Intended_Consequenses/
Intended_Consequences_Podcast/Entries/2009/7/13_The_World_is_Open._A_Conversation_with_Curtis_Bonk.html

If, instead of hearning me, you would like to see me in action or get a quick overview of the book, there is now a videostream talk on my “The World is Open” book (video, slides, and audio). This Webstreamed presentation using Adobe Connect Pro was posted today by the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE/Ed Media people). This is at the AACE site.
http://www.editlib.org/view/31448

Note: you or your students can watch this (it is 1 hour 25 minutes long). It is a make-up or redone presentations since we had problems at the conference in Hawaii during Ed Media.

"Today I was also interviewed today on my wikibook research for Educational News again. An Interview with Curtis Bonk: A Look at Wikibooks and Wikibookians.” by Michael Shaughnessy, July 14, 2009

I will speak on the book for Ednak (a site for "thought networking for online educators") on July 30th. I will also be interviewed by the USA Radio Networks and Armed Forces Radio the following day (July 31)."

I will also be interviewed by the USA Radio Networks and Armed Forces Radio the following day (July 31).

On August 4th, I will have a Webinar on the book for the Denver chapter of the International Society of Performance Improvement. I will also be interviewed that day by for a 30 minute Radio Interview on KUCR (88.3 fm) in LA. The show will broadcast at 6:30 pm on the 4th, and again at 8:30 am the following morning (August 5th). This will be in their Education Today show. Education Today has a 15 year history – they deal with any and all issues in the world of education. KUCR is located on the campus of the University of California, Riverside, and its signal covers approximately 20% of the LA metro area – including the Inland Empire, as well as portions of LA & Orange counties.

Today (July 14th) was special. It was the 20th anniversary of my son, Alex, coming from Korea. This coming Friday is also special. It is the 20th anniversary of my dissertation defense at the University of Wisconsin. Of course, all my advisors could care less about my presentation; instead, they all wanted to meet my son who was waiting patiently outside the door. And now, 20 years later, Alex and I sit next to each other putting hundreds of mailing packages together on my The World is Open book to send to people. It is a huge mess. But fun.

Should Learning be Free and Open?

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:43:00 +0000

My last post had many text articles related to online learning and open education. This time, I will focus on videos and free education as well as two possible articles to read. Seems to be so much content flying in the air this week related to the concept of freeness as well as open education.

Video #1: Last night I watched this excellent TED talk that Clay Shirky gave on "How social media can make history." This TED talk video was posted in June 2009. Shirky shows how innovation is happening all over the world through social media. As many people have noted, people are producers as well as consumers. He rightfully argues that this is a huge transformation. As Shirky says, "the moment we're living through, the moment our historical generation is living through is the largest increase in expressive capability in human history. Now that's a big claim." Yes it is! He emphasizes that media is increasingly global as well as social, ubiquitous, and inexpensive. As a result, media shifts from being about crafting messages for individuals to consume to one of creating environments for people to convene and conduct group-related activities. As such, in my mind, I think the world of media moves a tad closer to the world of education as well as work. Media supports people to create and share knowledge as well as learn from it. At the end of the video, Shirky poses the question of how we make best use of this media even while it is changes the very role of media.

Video #2: Chris Anderson, Wired Magazine editor, discusses free books or book content wrapped around paid books. It links to his new book called Free: The Future of a Radical Price. This book is scheduled to be available from Amazon on July 7, 2009. That is 3 days from now.

As Anderson points out, there are many ways to offer free materials while still making money. There are now free e-books that come with a printed book you pay for, free e-book excerpts, and free e-books before the release of a book or months after it. There are also free audio files of a book, either the abriged or unabridged versions. He recommends giving away the unabridged versions since people are busy and will more likely listen to the abridged version since they have minimial time. He poses many delightful ideas about what free actually means, especially in relationship to the music and publishing industries.

Cool ideas. I may need to rethink how I will market the free e-book extension of my The World is Open book when it comes out in a month or two. The hardcover will be out in a couple of weeks.

Video #3: There is an earlier 3 minute video from Chris Anderson is embedded in an article in Wired Magazine from last year. It is quite thought provoking and captivating. He points out that technology is becoming increasingly cheap and in many cases, free. What happens when technology is free or nearly so? Anderson discusses the ramifications of this.

I would like to know what happens when educational contents that can be put in such free devices are also free? Might we all become perpetually learning human beings?

Chris Anderson, ‘‘Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business,’’ Wired (Feb. 25,
2008).

Cool stuff!!! I discuss Anderson's ideas at the beginning of Chapter 4 of my The World is Open book. I had briefly interviewed him for the book.

In addition to these videos, there is a review of Anderson's book in the New Yorker by Malcolm Gladwell, July 6, 2009, Priced to Sell: Is free the future?. Gladwell poses some insightful questions about this notion of freeness. When you read the review or Anderson's book, think about open education and ideas related to it becoming increasingly free. Perhaps not.

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2009/07/06/090706crbo_books_gladwell

Finally, this morning my friend, Dr. Abtar Kaur at the Open University of Malaysia sent me this short and interesting article on open education from Marshall (Mike) Smith, formerly of the Hewlett Foundation and now Senior Council to the Secretary of Education. This article provides a splendid history to the open educational resources (OER) field.

Marshall S. Smith, Opening Education, Science 2 January 2009: Vol. 323. no. 5910, pp. 89 – 93.

So should learng be free and open? Can it be? I am not so sure after watching these videos and reading these articles. Yet, I remain a tad hopeful that it can be more accessible and affordable by millions who do not currently have much in the way of educational opportunities.

Happy 4th of July to my American friends. Happy Canada Day to those north of us (I know I am 3 days late). And Happy Happy Days to everyone else. And for those still grumpy, HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY days to you!!!!!!!

The World is Open for a Reason: No, Make that 30 Reasons!

noreply@blogger.com (Curt Bonk) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:24:00 +0000

Lots of online learning news in the online Chronicle of Higher Education today including an article from an Education Department report that showed that online learning may have better results than face-to-face learning. This is a meta-analysis of the research on online and blended learning. What is interesing to me is that of the 1,100 or so odd relevant empirical studies they found from 1996 to 2008, only 46 had "sufficient data to compute or estimate 51 independent effect sizes."

T.H.E. Journal picked up this story as well showing the importance of blended learning today. In fact, T.H.E. cites U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, saying that "This new report reinforces that effective teachers need to incorporate digital content into everyday classes and consider open-source learning management systems, which have proven cost effective in school districts and colleges nationwide." This appeared in a statement that came out with the release of the report. So now he suggests the need to expand broadband access and online learning to more communities across the U.S.

If that story makes ya yawn or is old news, David Wiley had a highly interesting and apparently somewhat controversial piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education as well about "The Parable of the Inventor and the Trucker." This one generated much discusion. See the comments below the article. I will side with David. See my eLearn Magazine article noted below for why that is that case.

While all this was going on, AACE (The Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education) announced a new Social Media Seminar Series. George Siemens and David Cormier will be offering monthly sessions the 2nd Tuesday of each month. AACE also announced a social networking group in Ning for the E-Learn Conference in Vancouver in October. I joined in to bring the total to 17 people. I am sure it will soon have hundreds like the AACE created back in February for a virtual conference. There was also a Ning group for Ed Media last week in Honolulu. Ed Media was fun. E-Learn will return to Hawaii in 2011. I am counting down the days already.

Then late this afternoon, I had an article published in eLearn Magazine about online sharing that might be of interest. The article includes 10 reasons why institutions and organizations share educational content online as well as 10 why instructors share. It ends with 10 why learners would use any of it—-especially those currently unemployed. Wrapped around those three lists is an explanation of how I came to write my book, The World is Open: How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education (a brief 4 year running history of how it came to be) as well as bit of the field of OpenCourseWare and the open educational resource (OER) movement.

Note that this article was written first as ideas in my TravelinEdMan blog a month or so ago. Then I expanded it for the upcoming free e-book extension of my "The World is Open" book. Now the bulk of it is in this eLearn piece.

Here is the reference: Bonk, C. J. (2009, July). The World is Open for a Reason: No, Make that 30 Reasons! eLearn Magazine. Available: http://elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?section=articles&article=85-1 and http://elearnmag.org/index.cfm

So if anyone asks why people share online content, you can now perhaps cite 30 reasons. At the very least, you should have 2 or 3 now. perhaps that will be enough.

That should give you enough to read today. It was enough for me. Now printing the Education Department report. Time for a late night run. What a day!