Becoming a Millennial

178. Faith, Technology & Teaching in the 21st Century

Second Life, podcasting, social networking, Web 2.0 ... What does it all mean?  Where are we being taken?  How do I deal with these overwhelming technologies as an educator? as a Christian?

I invite you to watch the keynote talk I gave at Taylor University's recent "Technology for Teaching" Conference.  The title of my presentation is How Web 2.0 is Impacting Education. 

Following the session one of our professors came up to me and said, "I get it! I finally understand what you have been saying to our faculty over the past couple years."

I apologize that the video quality isn't the greatest, as it was only at the last minute that I requested a camera to be set up to record the session. 

177. "Technology for Teaching" Conference

Here is an article in yesterday's Marion Chronicle Tribune on our Aug 16 & 17 "T for T" Conference.  Click here to open.

Details of the conference are available on a previous posting.

172. "Technology for Teaching" Conference

Web 2.0 tools will be a major theme at our 5th Annual "Technology for Teaching" Conference to be held August 16 & 17 on the Taylor University Upland campus.  This conference is primarily for our TU faculty, although we have invited a limited number of guests from nearby universities. 

This year we have expanded the offerings to include 39 different breakout sessions, an opening general session on "How Web 2.0 is Impacting Education", and 12 "mini-grant" presentations by faculty.  Click here to see the schedule.  Click here to see a description of the breakout sessions.

170. Tools of the Millennial Generation

I'm preparing for a one-hour presentation to give on Wednesday to the TU office staff (about 40 of them) on the topic of Web 2.0.  This is part of the annual one-day professional development program the university schedules for the staff. 

I've created an informal, easy-to-understand (hopefully), one-page overview of the web-based tools that have exploded over the past five years into what is now being called "Web 2.0". 

Click here to see the handout.  It gives a layman's overview of blog, wiki, podcast, social networking sites, virtual reality sites, media sharing sites, and aggregators.

158. College Creates Campus in Second Life

This will stretch your thinking.  Ohio University has created a campus in Second Life.  Take a look at their two minute video posted in YouTube.

You might want to look at my three earlier postings about Second Life: SecondLife.com, Is There a Place for Faith in SecondLife?, and  Church in SecondLife Taken Down.

155. The New vs. the Old

A recent article in Educause Review (March/April 2007) is worth reading.  Malcolm Brown, Director of Academic Computing at Dartmouth College, writes about Web 2.0, pedagogy, and course management systems. 

Brown compares Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0 technologies, and notes how they mirror the teaching paradigm vs. learning paradigm.  Course management systems (CMS) are fairly new and would still be labeled CMS 1.0.  However, they will soon be morphing into CMS 2.0 that will include Web 2.0 technologies such as content generation, content sharing, content markup, and content repurposing.  The timing will be right as faculty begin looking for tools to support the learning paradigm over the teaching paradigm.

97. The Read/Write Web

Will Richardson in his book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms writes: "In and of itself the ‘old’ read-only web was a transformative technology. It has changed the way we work, the way we learn, and the way we communicate. I would argue that historians may look back on these past 10 years the same way we look back on the early days of the printing press, the steam engine, or the automobile. The Web has changed our lives.”

Janet and I are at the tail end of a 10-day trip through Canada, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Every motel we have stayed in has had internet access, either in the room or at least wireless in the lobby. In fact, right now Janet is catching a few extra winks and I’m lounging in bed with my ETC laptop writing this blog entry.

The fact that the web has changed our lives is not news to you. What might be news to you is Will Richardson’s next statement: "This 'new' Read/Write Web will change it even more." Yes, what's new is that people can now write to the web using tools that are as easy to use as email. For years it has been possible to publish on the web, but you had to be a techie. You had to be able to navigate Frontpage or some such web editor to create your web site. But with blogs, wikis, and social networking software one can literally sign up and within minutes begin sharing ideas with the world.

Richardson writes, “The bad news is the Read/Write Web threatens to make the differences between teachers and learners even more acute. Whereas students are open to the ways of new technologies, schools by and large are not.” 

What if our writing teachers would encourage their students to write their essays on a blog where they could easily be read by the rest of the class … or their parents, friends … or the world at large? Would their motivation be greater knowing they are really publishing as opposed to generating what they perceive to be busy work that gets graded and thrown away?

We have a success story. This spring I spent a couple days in English Methods (as I have done for the past 4-5 years) teaching these education majors how to use Publisher to make a website to which they would post their group semester projects – lesson plans, course units, links to resources, etc. For the first time we announced that the site would be posted on an external server, linked to the English Dept web site, and kept live for the world to see (including participants at a conference the professor was going to present at later on in the summer). It was amazing to see the difference in motivation as the students attacked a project that was genuine and not just an “assignment”.

81. Let's Stretch Our Use of Blackboard

The July/August 2006 issue of Educause Review has an interesting article discussing current course management systems from the point of view of students, faculty, and administrators.

What seems like such a new tool for us (i.e. Blackboard) in reality can seem pretty "old school" and unimaginative for the students.  Here are some exerpts from the article, Managing Courses Defining Learning.

"Students especially made the case that it's time for a change in how we think about teaching and learning and that the change is long overdue... They wondered why there is so little incorporation of the tools they use everyday, tools that they know are available (for free, they pointed out) but that instructors don't use.  Why, in an age of speed and instant response, does everything take so long and seem so clumsy and hard to use?  They told us that it is time for the academy to get with the program... they really don't want instructors to invade MySpace but that they do want the e-learning environment to use the same tools: blogs, wikis, home pages, public messages, online presence."

The author, Colleen Carmean, continues several paragraphs later --

"It would be a mistake to think that any of us can last out the storm by staying huddled together and expecting students to continue to come to traditional education gladly... The next-generation e-learning environment includes Google, IM, SMS, Web 2.0 social knowledge and software, intelligent systems with memory and personalization of the learner's needs, mobile learning, wireless learning ..."

Think about taking another "baby step".  This semester let's see if we can stretch our use of Blackboard a bit.  What about using the Gradebook so students can enjoy quick feedback?  ... or try the Assignments tool so students can electronically submit their papers?  ... or online quizzing to provide some interactivity? ... or experiment with the new Journal and Teams tools that provide blogging and wiki capabilities?  ... or try the Virtual Classroom/Chat for late-night virtual office hours? <-- that would suprise them!

73. The Future of Computing

In 1996 we left the Philippines to return to the U.S.  These were the early days of the internet when people were just beginning to use email and access the web on their '486 computers.  About this time I remember Bill Gates making the statement that "connectivity" was the future.  A computer that wasn't connected was going to be useless.  Has this prediction come true?  You give someone a computer today that has no internet capability and she'll look at you like, "What good is this?!"

It is now 2006.  There is a fascinating article in the June 30 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education, titled Human Trails in Cyberspace.  Marc A. Smith, leader of the Community Technologies group at Microsoft Research is quoted as saying, "The future of computing is social computing".  It's been 10 years and we are facing another paradigm shift.  "Connectivity" is already here.  Gates was right.  We all have broadband (or are complaining to our local DSL provider about why it can't make it to our house).

I'm guessing that in a few short years those of us who ignore the Web 2.0 social networking tools (weblogs, vlogs, wikis, podcasts, ...) will be looked at in the same way as the current user who says he/she can live without the internet. 

How do you keep up with all of this?  One way is to keep reading this blog.  My blog is geared toward the busy educator who needs the technology "cliff notes".  Try to spare a few minutes every day or two to read the new entries. I believe you'll find the journey intriguing and worthwhile.

70. TU Blackboard Has a Wiki

"Much of Web 2.0 is about harnessing the knowledge and work of many people to create something of value" -- Jim Rapoza, eWeek, July 10, 2006. 

A perfect example of this is Wikipedia.  The value of the website is due to the millions of people contributing to its content.  It is a group project on a massive scale. Another example is eBay, where the millions of sellers and buyers create its value.

Group projects are big in education today.  What often frustrates students is the difficulty in getting the group together.  Why not enable them to do some projects online using a wiki (which is one of the new Web 2.0 tools)? 

We just installed the Blackboard building block, Campus Pack, that has a module called Teams LX.  It is basically a wiki that facilitates collaborative student projects. A group of students can work together asynchronously on the same document, each one having full access to the editing tools.  It will be interesting to see creative ways in which our faculty take advantage of this tool in the coming school year.

57. The Digital Divide in Higher Education

A colleague of mine is leaving Taylor to pursue graduate studies with the goal of becoming a college professor.  This week he visited the university where he'll be attending.  He came back kind of wide-eyed, "Gary, you won't believe this.  The classroom where I'm going to have all my classes has NO technology! All it has is an old-fashioned blackboard and an overhead projector--the old kind." 

It seems to me that physics would need to be taught using some technology.  And maybe the professors will be bringing in their own laptops and portable projectors.  But the image was disturbing.

For several years now our admissions folks have said that technology really doesn't sell a school.  Students just expect that what they need will be there.  I'm wondering if this will be changing.  I'm wondering if this Millennial generation will begin figuring out that certain schools are integrating technology across the program (e.g. for two years now at Taylor we've had ceiling projectors and computer/multimedia podiums in every classroom) and other schools are still using blackboards and chalk.

And, I'm wondering if even within the same institution students will begin figuring it out.  Certain professors are using technology in effective ways to engage the students and others are not.  I need to be careful here.  I'm not saying that effective teaching always has to incorporate technology.  But I'm just wondering how many more years a faculty member will be able to effectively engage a class with a 50-minute lecture and a piece of chalk.  The students have changed.

55. Two Major Paradigm Shifts

I'm not making things up when I say that I'm really new at all of this.  Yes, I've been a technology guy for 26 years, beginning in 1980 when Eastbrook High School bought an Apple II computer ($4,000 for the computer, b/w monitor, 9-pin dot matrix printer) that landed in my room.  The computer couldn't do anything because it came with no software.  I was forced to become a programmer (using Apple's version of BASIC called Applesoft).  I learned to make a block bounce around the screen, then I wrote a program to do my grades, then one to do my basketball stats, then track stats, then an address book. 

The next year a fellow teacher brought in a disk (5.25" floppy) with a program on it called Magic Window.  It was a word processor!  Anyway, that was the start of my gradual swing from the teaching of math to teaching computer programming and applications.

Paradigm shift #1:  For me the mid-1980's was a major paradigm shift when I moved from programming the applications I needed ... to using purchased application packages (Lotus 1-2-3, Appleworks, PFS, dBase II). 

Paradigm shift #2:  The second major paradigm shift for me happened June 2006 when I started using the "Millennial tools" or "Web 2.0" tools, whatever you want to call all of this.  This is a major transformation!

52. Parallels Between the Global Economy and Education

This series of six articles from the July issue of Wired leads to some interesting comparisons between the global economy and the educational world.  People Power --  the power of "regular folks" (I suppose that includes students) to produce, connect, and harness information. Video Unlimited -- what is today's Millennial if not video-oriented? Personalize It -- students want choices, options, and personalization. All-Access Economy -- students expect no-fuss ease of access

42. More on Web 2.0

am finding that a blog is a powerful tool for research; for the pursuing of ideas and finding answers.  The Director of Communications at the CCCU national office in Washington D.C. read my blog and sent me links to four articles about "Web 2.0".  I had barely heard about Web 2.0.  But I read the articles and a whole new understanding is beginning to develop.

Web 1.0                          Web 2.0
Personal websites             Blogging
Britannica Online              Wikipedia
Netscape                          Google
                                        
From the above few examples do you get the picture? Web 2.0 is all about collective intelligence; it's about the organizing and sharing of data/information/content; it's giving to the users (millions of them) the power to determine what is important and what should bubble to the top (i.e. in a Google search or in iTunes Today's Top Podcasts).

Many of the Web 2.0 tools are heavily geared toward pop culture.  What if we as educators could harness the power of these collaborative tools?  In the same way that a Google search places at the top of the list those sites most relevant (determined by keywords, the number of other sites linking to this site, and other wizardry) could there be an educational site where students would enter a search and the top hits would reflect what others (thousands, millions) have found to be most useful.  Maybe you're aware of something like this taking shape.  If so, please take a few minutes and add a comment to this posting.  We'll all benefit.

Footnote 1:  This is disturbing to some, but I am hearing evidence that a repository of information like Wikipedia (edited and refereed by the masses) may be as accurate and relevant as a similar set of reference materials published by a select group of "experts".

Footnote 2:  Here are the articles mentioned above that have been so helpful:
Bryan Alexander ... Tim O'Reilly ... Steven Levy and Brad Stone ... David Gammel

39. Web 2.0 -- A New Wave of Innovation for Teaching and Learning?

The above title was from an article written by Bryan Alexander in the March/April 2006 EDUCAUSE Review. 

I would remove the question mark.  The new web-based tools that are emerging are going to change the face of teaching and learning.  All the "old" technologies represented by such products as PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Outlook, FrontPage, and even Blackboard have not really changed teaching and learning all that much.  What they have accomplished is to lay a foundation for this new wave of what are being called Web 2.0 applications.

The Web 2.0 movement includes the "social software" that we have been exploring together -- blogs, wikis, podcasting, videoblogs, RSS feeds, social bookmarking, and social networks such as Facebook and Myspace.  These tools facilitate collaborative learning and the sharing of information. They provide easy and immediate access to information never before possible. They create a new level of engagement (I hope you've experienced some of this reading my blog).  They put power in the hands of the learner -- power to explore, to connect, to create, to publish.

Is it a scary thing?  You bet.  We who have been in the business of education (I taught high school math and computer science for 19 years) have been used to tightly controlling what goes on in our classrooms.  We're going to have to open up.  These tools are going to require (if we as educators are going to stay relevant) that the "sage on the stage" really does need to become the "guide on the side".  I've never liked that worn-out analogy but I believe it's true.

This posting should stir the pot.  What are your thoughts?