A Fan of Classroom Journaling

This is the first class that I have ever had that requires journaling as part of the class.  I must say that now that I have participating in classroom journaling, I am a fan.  What a great way to take the education outside of the classroom and to promote critical thinking.  And it is a lot more fun than the traditional homework assignments. 

If I ever teach a subject I think I will use journaling and online blogging for the class.  To me it is a great evaluation tool that can assess all kinds of important information at every stage of the learning process.

Take a Bite of Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi is a $25 computer that was developed to give kids everywhere an affordable way to learn programming.  The Pi computer is the size of a credit card and is a fully functioning computer that comes pre-loaded with free software.  One of the free programs is called Scratch which teaches children the basics of computer programming.

I don't think the developers of this project really understand how this is going to impact the world.  Their small vision of it being used for computer programming is nothing compared to what the world will use it as when it starts to spread.  Imagine an affordable PC ($25) that has the capability to run any computer programmers.  You could stored encylopedias, educational software like Khan Academy and basically any free knowledge based out there and help put knowledge and information into the hands of adults and children alike across the world. 

I believe that the Internet was one revolution to education and knowledge sharing, now this ultra cheap PC will be the next revolution.  Because it will make the benefits of computing for affordable and that in turn will increase accessbility.

Online Learning in Higher Education: Part III

Another way web-based learning can occur as a supplement to classroom learning is with dropbox or file sharing.  Students submit all of this great knowledge and learning to a teacher when they turn a paper in but none of the students get to see each others papers.  Imagine how much we could learn from one another.  To me, this is one of the biggest wastes of knowledge that occurs.  With online file sharing the students can post their papers for the whole class to read, that way students can learn from each other. 

Online Learning in Higher Education: Part II

Another example where web-based learning can supplement classroom teaching is with follow-up assignments.  If you learn about a topic like John Dewey in class, then there are all kinds of online methods that can be used to enhance the learner's understanding of a topic and to promote interest and critical thinking.  An example is SymbalooEDU.com.  It's an online, personal learning environment where a student can house all of the online materials they find on a certain topic.  In the Dewey example, one student may have 5 links to related material, a link to the Dewey School, 5 videos related to Dewey and a photo of Dewey.  And all of these materials would be in one place for the student.  The teacher could also audit this site to see what the student collected.

Online Learning in Higher Education: Part I

From my experience to date, it appears that web-based learning is best used a tool to supplement class-room learning.  There are exceptions where 100% web-based learning seems to be effective and that is with compliance-related training materials.  For example, workers may have to attend an Internet security training session held by their company that talks about not sharing password, asking suspicious people for ID and email etiquette.  Many students can learn this material by taking a short, online module and then testing to confirm understanding.

One example where web-based learning can supplement the classroom are using blogs.  Blogs are journals.  They are journals that allow for text, links, pictures and videos.  They are easy to write and easy to read.  Teachers can view them at any time.  These benefits make blog journaling so much more convenient and powerful for both the student and the teacher.

Google Glasses: Seeing the Future

Oh augmented reality, how soon will you arrive in full force?  Virtual reality used to be the big thing in the late 90s, now it has changed to augmented reality.  Overlaying our reality with digital graphics.  The possiblities in education are pretty cool, although a lot of it is early in the 'hype curve' currently.  Imagine learning how to use a new machine as a manufactor.  You put on the Google glasses, walk up the machine and as you look at different parts of the machine a digital overlay gives you helpful information on the names of the parts, how to use them and what order to use them in.  Safety warning may appear if a switch is on or if the machine is not set up correctly.  Productivity statistics could appear letting you know who productive you are being compare to your coworkers, which may influence your bonus.  Your trainer may be able to see what you are seeing and guide you remotely or give you visual prompts.  Oh technology, when will you slow down?  Hopefully never.

The New Guy

We have a new guy at work and I have been using the opportunity to see how learning and orientation really occur.  I do not believe that new employees learn new jobs through their corporate training.  I believe that informal learning is far more powerful than formal learning.

So far, it seems like he has learned the most through sitting down and talking to everyone.  He has also picked up a lot by going through the file folders on the network. 

Lego Architecture

I was in the Lego store the other day and saw a collection of Lego architecture buildings.  It made me think of this adult education blog because I realized as I looked through their collection that I now know a little more about famous buildings than before I walked into the store.  I learned something in the Lego store.  "How odd" I thought to myself.

It just reaffirmed to me just how quickly informal learning can occur.  I now know way more than I should about the Robie House, Farnsworth House, Burj Khlifa and Willis Tower.  I can now identify them just by seeing a photo of them.  All thanks to Lego.  Thank you Lego.

The Dewey School

Did some research this week on John Dewey's school.  The school's formal name is The University of Chicago Laboratory School.  It was very interesting to read through their website.  I like their slogan "LAB = LIFE".  That pretty much sums up Dewey's philosophy on education.

I was shocked to see how much of Dewey's influence still exist in our current school system configuration.  I still haven't determined if it is a good thing or a bad thing.

Educating the Masses on the Lottery Odds

The lottery is up to 640 million.  People are flocking to get their tickets.  What is interesting to me is the education going on through the newspaper and online articles.  Here are some statistics they are using to educate the masses:

- Your odds are 1 in 176 million

- Getting hit by lightning are 1 in a million

- Drawing a royal flush in five-card draw is 1 in 650 thousand

- Having identical quadruplets is 1 in 13 million
- Dying from a bee sting is 1 in 6 million

- Dying in a plane crash 1 in 30 million

Education through statistics is fun.

Which came first, technology or slackers?

I constatly hear how technology has caused our kids to become dumber.  Technology is blamed for bad grammer, poor social skills and wild abandonment of morals and values.  You know who is saying this, the adults.  Every generation of adults complains about how bad the kids are.  When I was a kid, it was generation X.  Known for bad grunge music, worst poetry and hanging out in coffee shops.  We were considered the wasted generation, wallowing in self-loathing, apathy and a waste of potential.  My parents, the baby boomers are known for woodstock, dropping acid, the hippie counter-culture and free love.  Every generation thinks the generation that comes after it is a bunch of useless kids.  And then those kids become your boss. 

These poor grammer, no social skill kids will adapt.  Just as we adapted, because the adults will adapt more slowly, or not adapt at all.  And then those kids, as they become adults, will be our professors, our leaders, our intellectuals, our politicians and our society.  So for those who fighting against the rapid changes occuring in society, fight on.  But know that society will shape itself regardless of your actions.  And technology will that catalyst that changes it more rapidly than the adults can adapt.

Using Visuals

So today I did an experiment.  I was tasked with communicating information to two people.  The information was the same, but with one person I used a visual and with the other I did not use a visual.  I know that both individuals prefer an auditory style of learning. 

After meeting with each, I found that even though they both have auditory styles of learning, using the visual still made a dramatic impact to the retention and understanding of the information being presented.  Very interesting.

Hybrid Philosophy of Adult Education - An "Aha" Moment

I have been contemplating how all of the philosophies of adult ed overlap and play off one another.  For example, it is actually impossible not to use some form of behaviorism in your training, teaching or facilitation.  The same can be said of liberalism's Socratic method or discovery through questioning or focusing solely on the idea.  The idea without application is meaningless.  And application comes into play in progressivism.  And anytime you lay your hands on a view and steer it a certain direction, you are engaging in radicalism.  Which is also unavoidable.  So the discussion isn't so much which you use, it is which you use at which times.  And there is your natural inclination and your purposeful use of the philosophies.  In a sense, when you use a particular philosophy to achieve a specific goal, you are once again using the behaviorist philosophy. 

I wonder why instead of focusing so much time on the definitions and roots of these philosophies, we aren't instead focusing on the proper use.  For example, use behaviorism for classroom structure, training plans, objectives and tests.  Use liberalism for small group and group discussion and for brainstorming and critical thinking.  Use Progressivism for practical examples, labs, exercises and small group projects.  Focus on the practical application of the idea.  Use Humanism for independent study outside of the classroom to promote learning outside of the learning environment.  Use Radicalism to discussion social and political ideas, critical thinking in a macro-sense and call to actions.

Had the topic been introduced and broken down into the application of these philosophies instead of the learning about these philosophies, I certainly would have been hooked from the beginning.

Thoughts on question #2 of "It can't happen here" (cont)

Of the 15 planks, which do you agree with?

Disagree with #1 - All banks, stock, insurance, bonds, mortgages, mines, oilfields, water power, public utilties, transportation and communication beed controlled by the government.

Disagree with #2 - Government determines which unions represent the people and they are bureaus of the government where all labor disputes are settled by the government.

Agree with #3 - Right to private property

Disagree with #4 - Right to religious freedom except.  Once you say except, I'm out.

Disagree with #5 - Cap on individual annual income of $500,000 and lifetime cap of $3,000,000 and cap on inheritence of $2,000,000.

Disagree with #6 - No profits on wartime manufactoring.

Disagree with #7 - Military expanded until the same size as the largest army on earth.

Disagree with #8 - Double the supply of money.  This would decrease the value of current money making debts cheaper but savings diminished.

Disagree with #9 - Do not strongly condemn un-christian nations.  Support jews as long as they support american ideals.

Disagree with #10 - African-americans income capped at $10,000.  Absurd.

Disagree with #11 - Every family gets $5,000 a year.

Disagree with #12 - Women not allowed to work.

Disagree with #13 - Communist inprisoned.

Agree with #14 - All bonuses promised to former soliders will be paid.

Disagree with #15 - Congress holds no power but to advise and supreme court cannot overturn executive laws.  Absurd.

Thoughts on question #2 of "It can't happen here"

Why the term "forgotten men?"  Since Windrip is a populist candidate he focus is on the people over the elite.  So the forgotten men would represent the common person.  This separation plays on class warfare.  It reminds me of the call of the 99%. 

Social Loafers

A student completing their capstone brought in a survey for us to complete during class.  Her capstone project was over "social loafers".  I had not heard the term before but now that I have I like it.  A social loafer is a person on a small team that does not pull their weight.  They are unprepared, do not participate, expect others to do the work and take credit for it all.  It seems like overachievers and social loafers falls within a normal curve in classes.  10% overachievers, 10% social loafers, and a run of everything in between.

Learning about the Hunger Games

The movie "The Hunger Games" has to quickly educate its audience about the rules of the Hunger Games in the movie.  The director does a great job considering that the rules are relatively complex and the director has to educate a very diverse audience.  The education was delivered using a video within the movie, dialog between the characters, rules laid out by narration and rules given while participants were training.  Multi-prong approach seemed effective as the audience seemed like they understood the rules by the time the Hunger Games began.

The Hunger Games vs. It Can't Happen Here

While watching the new movie "The Hunger Games" I got to thinking about the statement, "It can't happen here".  In The Hunger Games, the rich live in a lavish city and poor live in 12 different districts and are very poor.  To keep the society in order, the aristocrats hold a game where 2 kids from each division compete to the death and the winner gets riches and fame.  When I think, "can it happen here", my answer at first was no.  But then I started thinking about the question itself.  It's really a poorly worded question.  When you use the word "can't", it's a term with a very difined scope.  It's almost a trick question.  Because if you reworded it to say, "is it likely to happen here?" the answer is clearly no.  If you "can't", the answer changes to maybe.  Of course, "It can't happen here" was written 80 years ago and it never happened.  So maybe it can't happen here.

Thoughts on Queston 1 for "It Can't Happen Here"

1. On page 26-30, Doremus delivers a monologue about why Fascism, Communism, etc. CAN happen here.  One quote follows:

“ Prohibition—shooting down people just because they might be transporting liquor—no, that couldn’t happen in America!  Why, where in all history has there ever been a people so ripe for a dictatorship as ours!”

Discuss this in context with today’s political climate.  What is happening in our world that mirrors events in the novel – or are there any?

Books examples:
1)  Huey Long's monarch over Louisiana - aka Kingfish, motto was "Every man a king".  Dominated the state government.  Wanted mass redistribution of wealth.  Assisinated in 1935.
2)  Father Coughlin divine oracles to millions - broadcasts have been called "a variation of the Fascist agenda applied to American culture".  After hinting at attacks on Jewish bankers, Coughlin began to use his radio program to issue antisemitic commentary, and later to support at least some of the policies of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.^[4]
3) Tammany grafting - It was the Democratic Party political machine that played a major role in controlling New York City and New York State politics and helping immigrants, most notably the Irish, rise up in American politics from the 1790s to the 1960s.
4) Ku Klux Klan
5) Called sauerkraut 'Libery Cabbage' - due to concerns the American public would reject a product with a German name, American sauerkraut makers relabeled their product as "Liberty cabbage" for the duration of the war
6) Kiss the feet of Billy Sunday, the million dollar evangelist - Sunday was a strong supporter of Prohibition, and his preaching almost certainly played a significant role in the adoption of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919.
7) and Aimee McPherson - Accused of lying about being kidnapped and turning up in the Arizona dessert.  More likely with lover off the pacific.  Evangelist who used radio.
8) Voliva - Evangelist who believed in a flat earth
9) Mother Eddy - Wrote the textbook for christian science - healing power of god
10) OGPU were hiding in Oskaloosa - Soviet secret police
11) Al Smith - Democrat presidential nominee who believed in the pope over the consitituion
12) Tom Heflin - Democrat - Aruged that black Alabamans shouldn't vote and was against interracial marriage
13) William Jennings Bryan who learned biology from his pious old grandma - Democrat - attacked the theory of evolution.  Presidential candidate.
14) Kentucky night riders - a vigilante group that murdered, burned down buildings, and seized towns because of the unfair, low price of tobacco by the Duke monopoly.
15) Children's crusade - story tells of a Christian boy who gets 30,000 children to crusade to convert muslims and either died in a shipwreck or were sold into slavery.
Sinclair Lewis clearly dislikes religious extremists who are anti-prohibition and anti-evolution.

Thoughts on "It Can't Happen Here"

I am into the first couple of chapter of the book "It Can't Happen Here".  I am having a hard time understanding how this book fits with the "Philosophies of Adult Education".  So far the book seems like political fiction written to show what happens when a extremist political views go unchecked.  I am not sure how that fits with the adult philosophies of liberalism, pragmatism, behaviorism, humanism and radicalism.  Unless it is an example of radicalism where education is used to advanced social change.  But we haven't studied Radicalism yet and I haven't seen an education in the book yet either.

Maybe it will make more sense as I get further into the book.

iPad 3 comes out tomorrow

The iPad 3 comes out tomorrow and pre-orders are sold out and lines are already forming a week in advance.  Just continued proof that the iPad is next revolution since the Internet.  I cannot wait to see how it continues to shift education, training and presentations. iPads for everyone.

Progressivism vs. Behaviorism

Of all of the chapters we have had to read so far the chapter on Progressivism has been the most difficult for me to grasp.  That philosophy just seems like a mish-mash of all the other philosophies.  How it exactly connects to the term pragmatism also escapes me.  Of course, I cannot think of a better way to categorize the learning philosophies though but if I did I would probably redefine Progressivism the same but take out the social change elements.  Radicalism seems to cover that topic enough.

My Thoughts on this Blog Journal

I have been thinking about whether or not this blog journal is effective.  It has been helpful in getting my thoughts written down, so in that regards it is helpful.  I wish blogging was used by all students and shared so that we could read and comment on each other's blogs.  It is a such a rich and meaning tool to allow for a deeper level of thought and critical thinking on subjects and topics.  Plus it is free and easy to set up and use.  I hope it increases in popularity.

The Art of Gamification

I stumbled across an interesting website today that is dedicated to the gamification of education.  The website is gamification.org.  Gamification is currently just a buzz word or better put, it's being hyped (see hype diagram =>).

Gamification is the idea of adding game elements to educational experiences.  The focus has been on computer-based training but there are several examples that use card games and board games as well.  The idea is sound, but the execution has been lackluster.

The reason for this is probably due to the difficulty of adding game elements into your computer based training.  There aren't very many delivered gaming solution for training.  The best implementation of gamification of education that I have seen is Khan Academy.  You can earn points and badges as you progress through the online video and math learning map. 

Oh iPad, Education will Never be the Same

Oh iPad, how you have changed the world.  It's ridiculous how such a simple electric device can shift the entire paradigm of education.  When you think about it, there are only four things that the iPad changed to make this massive change in education occur: 
1) It is ultra-portable
2) It turns on instantly
3) It uses single-service applications
4) It is relatively inexpensive compared to laptops

That's it.  That is the revolution.  And now children and adults alike are using iPads to learn.  Whether is browsing the news, interactive magazines, the Internet, YouTube videos, FaceTime interaction, learning applications, wikis, the list is endless.  Now all of these formal and informal learning sources are at our fingertips and available whether we are.  I even saw a physician carrying one around the other day looking up reference materials while walking to the cafeteria in the hospital.  Simply amazing.

I cannot wait to see how it transforms the classroom, corporate training and higher education. 

The Pencast

I have been learning about a new training technique called the Pencast.  While using a smartpen, you speak and write a lesson onto paper.  You then upload that to the Internet and now you students can view the lesson being written and spoken at the same time.  The student can click on any of the writing to skip ahead or go back to previous comment.  It is really a unique and exciting new teaching tool.  Thank you technology, for continuing to come up with cool ideas.

Sample Pencast on how to make sushi (be sure to click "fulls screen" mode):
http://www.livescribe.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/LDApp.woa/wa/MLSOverviewPage?sid=02Gp1k4jWc86

Stuxnet Virus vs. Mis-educative

The Stuxnet virus is a computer virus created by the CIA that was used to shut down Iran's nuclear program. The computer virus spreads from device to device until it gains access to a set of specific servers that control Iran's nuclear facilities. Once the virus finds its intended server, it begins to corrupt the computer until it is unusable.

I thought of this when I came across the term mis-educative in our reading which means to "educate improperly". With the growing popularity of the Internet it seems like incorrect information spreads like the Stuxnet virus until it gets into the minds of those reading it. Then it begins to take hold in the brain and cause all kinds of havoc with mis-information.

Zen This!

I was introduced to videos by Garr Reynolds on YouTube.  He uses concepts of Zen to put together PowerPoint presentations.  His concepts are spectacular and his PowerPoints are amazing.  The problem is that when I try to recreate his PowerPoints, it is very difficult.  And if it is very difficult for me who is a computer programming and graphic designer by trade, then I can only imagine how difficult it would be for someone who uses the PowerPoint basics.  Garr modifies his graphics in Adobe Photoshop, uses obscure fonts and creates simple graphs in complex ways (such as overlaying a faded arrow over a bar graph). 

Isn't this just always how it goes for training and education.  You learn a life changing concept but then you don't have enough information or training to apply it to real-life situations.

Denzel Washington - The Ultimate Teacher?

Just got back from the movie Safe House starring Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington.  Near the end of the movie, a coworker of Ryan Reynolds states that Ryan is lucky to have escaped the safe house and traveled with Denzel.  Lucky because traveling with Denzel is the best training experience a CIA op can have he states.  It reminded me of how some students learn best by experiencing a situation and having a mentor or coach with them.

Come to think of it, Denzel trained a rookie cop as well using the same method in the movie Training Day.  Together, Denzel coached the rookie by having the rookie follow him on his patrol.  Scary way to learn, but by the end of the movie the rookie was no longer a rookie.

Mind Mapping Shows How Far Off Topic Facilitators Can Go

I tried this past week to take all of my notes in class and in my work using mind mapping. At first it was challenging to take notes in this new way. Once I adjusted to the format though, I found it to be an interesting excercise. Not neccessarily because it is an effective way to take notes, but because it shows how off topic meetings and classes get. I found myself with a condensed map for the course content but since I was mapping all conversations, the off-topic banter went out of control on the map.

It just reinforces how important it is for a facilitaor or instructor to make sure they have the skill to keep the class or group on topic.

How Some Class Instruction is like an Infomercial

The infomercial is a 30- or 60- minute commercial that markets a product to a consumer.  The interesting thing about these types of commercial is that they spend this entire time training the consumer about the product.  Of course the commercial could have trained the consumer about the product in about 5 minutes but instead they use the entire time. 

I believe a lot of educators are like infomercials.  They take content that could be effectively taught in 5 minutes and stretch it out over an unbelievable amount of time.  The expression, "less is more" comes to mind.  Instead of overwhelming the concep being taught, the time would be better spent with classroom discussion, student interaction, student discovery, etc. after introducing the core concept.  

To me it is why some classes can be taught in a weekend as opposed to a sixteen-week stretch.

I keep getting asked about all of the different technologies I know about that relate to adult education.  I then stumbled across an online website builder called Weebly.  It's a free website tool.  So I used that technology to list all of the other technologies that I know about and use for training. 

Here is the result: http://adultedtech.weebly.com/

How the Movie "50 First Dates" is like Education

While reading the chapter on the Progressive philosophy to adult education I could not help but be reminded of the movie "50 First Dates".  In the movie, the central character wakes up each morning with no memory anything prior to her waking up.  Each morning she has to watch a video that catches her up on why she has no memories and who the people are who are around her.  Although disorientating at first, she quickly picks up her situation and experiences the rest of the day with memory in tact.  The next morning, it all starts again. 

That is how the chapter presents Progressive education from the stand point of replicating and continuing society.  Each time a child is born in the United States, it goes through the process of learning our history and whats its role is in society.  In the movie, it was a video tape.  In real-life, it's schools.   The common theme is that the video tape was created to present certain memories and not all, since that would not be possible, just as schools just touch on a little of what can be taught. 

The discussion and argument seems to be around what to put on the video tape.  Because you change a lot about who the person is simply by changing what's on the tape.  That's a lot of power and influence over a person.  And that is why there is so much disagreement in what are curiculum's should consist of.

The Encyclopedia Killer

It's amazing must how fast the Internet has dramatically changed things.  Take a look at phone books, nearly obsolete in the matter of years.  And now the encyclopedia, single-handedly destroyed by Wikipedia.  Wikis are fascinating creatures.  They are created and maintained by the masses.  I never thought in a million years that an online encyclopedia edited by the world would be credible.  But people use it, oh how they use it.  It is by far the number one used tool to look up something.  It is up there with Google and YouTube.  I use it just to find citations of related materials that I can read based on certain topics.  It's an amazing new technology and so simple at its core.  It will be interesting to see what other long standing, traditional resources the Internet will replace.

Learning Through YouTube

It's amazing how many learn by using YouTube.  Just the other day I needed to learn how my running toilet, properly cut a tomato and how to replace the bulb in my HD TV.  So I popped up YouTube, did a quick search and was able to learn it in minutes.  Not only was I able to learn it but I was also able to apply it.  Oh how quickly you can travel up Bloom's taxonomy with Internet tools. 

Interesting stat: over 3 billion YouTube videos are viewed a day.  Now I realize that not all of that is leraning, but when you think about the context of education to replicating or forming cultures and societies, YouTube is doing that on a massive scale.  And it's no longer limited to local communites, states or nations, it is now global.  Informal education is rapidly changing and the opportunities for learning are endless.

Khan for Adults

* Note: Not to be mistaken for Star Trek's Wrath of Khan as pictured

Most educators are now familiar with Sal Khan and his website http://www.khanacademy.com/.  In my personal opinion, it has single-handily advanced the field of math education by leaps and bounds and has probably statistically increase the collective math score of American by a couple of points.  The beauty of the website is that it truly leverages technology, gamification concepts, instructional video and learning maps and brings all of them together seamlessly.  Another bonus, it's free.  I think many education tools and ideas don't spread very quickly because they aren't free.  That is why the Learning Management System (LMS) and online course authoring is still not widely adopted, because the good software is expensive (Camtasia, Captivate, etc.).

Khan Academy is such an exciting new experience that one Google's founders has left Google to work for Khan Academy.  He left Google, one of the most innovative companies in the world, to work at Khan.  That's saying something.

I cannot wait to see the concept of Kahn Academy spread to all of the disciplines (math, science, English, foreign language, art, history, etc.).  This is self-study at its finest.  And the best part is, this technology works for adults too.  I personally have taken the time to freshen up my math skills, learn more about economics and even ventured into a little art history (just for the fun of it). 

The Age of the Dinosaurs

Today part of a lesson I attended covered the proper use of overhead projectors.  Do they even make overhead projectors anymore?  It's almost the equivalent of learning how to use an old-fashioned typewriter.  I do not understand why there is a such a large gap that keeps widening between those who embrace new technologies and those who are scared of them.  What's so scary about Prezi?  You can play around with it for free, watch YouTube videos tutorials and use pre-built templates.  It's puzzling to me how sometimes educators don't like to learn new things.

Intuitive Training

Is is possible for something to be created in a way that it trains a person as the person experiences the new thing for the first time.  The example I think of is Facebook.  There are several people who use Facebook that I personally know that have an aversion to technology.  Even with this fear, they were still able to create a Facebook account, add friends and family, poke said friends and family (in the old days), play Farmville and Bejeweled Blitz, add photos and add status updates.  And they did all of this without any training.  They didn't read a manual or watch a video on YouTube.  It's like Facebook secretly trainined them as they experiened the technology.   Is this a new form of tactile learning?  Can user interfaces be designed in a such a way that it trains the user as they experience it.  iPad anyone?

PowerPoint-less

Ran across this Dilbert cartoon today and it reminded how quickly "PowerPoint" became a bad word.  You rarely here of anyone using effectively anymore.  I wonder if that is Prezi is gaining some much ground so quickly?

Student Presentation + Freire's Method = Needs Assessment

During a student presentation in a class on Paulo Freire, I saw Freire's Cultural Circle technique introduced a new way that I had not seen before. The students doing to presentation posed a series of questions related to job interviews to the other students. They took the key words that came up in the answers and wrote them on the board. Then they said that the words on the board could be used to drive the agenda and discussions.

When it was presented this way, I could not help but make a connection between needs assessment and this technique. This is almost needs assessment in its purest and simplest form. In the past I would use techniques such as asking the students what they hoped to get out of the class or ask them what they were most interested in learning about the topic. But in my experience, the answers have always been pretty narrow. What I saw with the student’s reactions to open ended questions related to the topic was a different experience. It was like mind-mapping the class agenda and objectives.

I have used a similar technique for brainstorming sessions but it seems like it may be so much effective in assessing the needs of the student in a training or learning environment. Of course, this type of technique will require more flexibility in the class' structure, but it seems like it will almost instantly create interest and engagement, which in turn will increase motivation.

Schopenhauer, Plato, and Jung Found in the new teen movie "Chronical"

I took my son to see the new movie Chronical today.  Could not believe that the movie contained a lot of the content that we are covering in class.  Here are some examples:

• Schopenhauer (In Will Durant book)
• Allegory of the Cave
• Hubris
• Jung

Who would have thought that a teenage superhero movies would reference many of the philosophers we learned about in the opening chapters of our text book?  Even more interesting is that the writers used the teen who was versed in philosophy as the rational and ethical boy with superpowers, while the other kid, who was heaped in personal issues began to abuse the powers, was unethical and eventually went insane with the new power he had acquired.  This was a parellel to our classroom discussion of Lord of Flies and the example in our web readings about being stranded on an island.

The Problem with Plato

While doing some research on the writing of Plato that we are assigned in class, I ran across this.  Very intresting indeed.  I also found a funny comic panel about Plato and Socrates.

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Plato's problem is the term given by Noam Chomsky to the gap between knowledge and experience. It presents the question of how we account for our knowledge when environmental conditions seem to be an insufficient source of information. It is used in linguistics to refer to the "argument from poverty of the stimulus" (APS). In a more general sense, Plato’s Problem refers to the problem of explaining a "lack of input." Solving Plato’s Problem involves explaining the gap between what one knows and the apparent lack of substantive input from experience (the environment). Plato's Problem is most clearly illustrated in the Meno dialogue, in which Socrates demonstrates that an uneducated boy nevertheless understands geometric principles.

Clinical Education Revealed

Met today with the director of clinical education.  It is amazing how effective and efficient the clinical education program is at hospitals and health systems.  The preceptor model is proven to be extremely effective in educating adult clinical staff.  It's the evaluations, tests and competencies validations that I think is most impressive though.  Clinical staff take short survey during classroom instruction to identify the immediate feedback.  But assessments that occur by the preceptor, the coworkers, the team manager and clincal director occur a couple of weeks and several months after the training to asess if learning and change in behavior occurred.  And these assessments are done by simulation, stretch assignments, testing and observation.  All of the data is also collected and analyzed to see if there is a decrease in grievences, turnover, fatalities, etc.  In my experience, this evaluation model is the only one I've seen that truly captures all 4 phases of Kirkpatricks evaluation model.  I wonder why the clinical industry has been able to capitalize on this and why a lot of these best practices have not been applied to human captial, universities, financial sectors, etc.

Understanding Theatre: A Sound Business Model

I attended the "Young Choreographers Showcase" this weekend at the University of Oklahoma.  I was surprised to see so many people attending.  It was nearly sold out.  My surprise turned to pessimism though as I begin to see every take out there spiral notebooks and pens.  It appears that students in the "Understanding Theatre" class have to attend these types of events and take notes for a grade.  Well, that's one way to fill the seats.  I imagined how many would be in attendance had all of the students taking notes been removed and there would have only been a handful.  So a student attending a liberal college pays $1,500 to take the "Understanding Theatre" class that they are forced to take as part of their degree (regardless of the degree type).  The class is then forced to attend theatre-related events which help drive up the attendance for events that would be otherwise poorly attended.  That's quite the setup.  Brilliant really when you look at it as a business model. 

The question to me is, can appreciation for the arts be taught?  Should it be taught?  Or can it just be appreciated for what it is, even if no one will appreciate it on their own?

The Five Faces of Adult Education

Today in class we talked about the five faces of Adult Education: Liberal, Behaviorist, Progressive, Humanistic, and Radical.  I liked how they were summarized:

Liberal = ideas

Behaviorist = structure

Progressive = application
Humanistic = individual
Radical = society

These are of course are gross overgenalizations of the concepts but it did help me to remember them and give them a frame of reference. 

During this dicussion we went into the Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy.  This was the first time I had been introduced to this model.  I am still not sure what to think about including the dimension of Fact --> Metacognition to the taxonomy but it is intriguing none-the-less.  I still can't fully wrap my head around how the Internet is impacting all of these models.  For example, facts and remembering is hardly even neccessary now with the instant access to that information at our fingertips.  Does this mean that we can head down the chart closer to metacognition and application?  I don't really think so.  And by saying that, that means that there is something about the model that is incomplete to me or that is missing the mark on an important point.  Maybe it will become more clear what is missing or not connecting as we get further into the class.

How the PAEI is Like a Burger

I completed the paper version and the online version of the PAEI.  My scores all came out about the same across all of the philosophies.  The only score that was lower than the others was the Radical category and even that wasn't much lower.  It's not a surprise though since my personal philosophy has generally been to take the best elements of all of the learning theories and philosophies and apply them to the appropriate situations.  For example, use Behaviorist techniques when the students are highly dependent on me as the instructor or when there is a lot of material, a lot of students and not a lot of time to get through it all.  Or switch to Humanistic techniques when the students bring a lot of experience and knowledge to the learning experience.  I probably scored lowest on the Radical philosophy because I am not often put into situations or with students where this approach would be the most effective.

Another observation I made while completing the instrument is that this particular instrument is very transparent.  You don't have to look into the questions very closely to realize where your answers are going to end up placing you.  I always thought that oversimplified instruments like this were not very helpful. 

To me its the equivalent of answering the following questions:
- Do you like to eat cooked beef? Yes
- Do you like to eat the sliced tomatoes? Yes
- Do you like bread? Yes
Based on your answers, you have been categorized as a person who enjoys eating hamburgers.  You are dominant in the Burgerphile category.  Your weakest category is the Vegansapien.

The Life, The Universe and Everything

Last night in class we watched "What the bleep do we know".  It was a movie that tried to tackle the issue of addiction by using theories of quantum mechanics to try and get the audience to see the world in new ways.  It offered many interesting ideas:
* Objects exist in multiple places at the same time and it is not until we consciously perceive them that they exist where they are
* Water's molecular structure can be modified with positive and negative thoughts
* Matter is mostly made up of nothing

The ideas and concepts were deep but using experts in quantum mechanics made it feel disconnect and less believable.  This is odd to say considering the point of merging the two was to create more credibility.  I just keep thinking that we were only getting the cliff notes on some of these theories and it felt like a lot of them were being taken out of context.   Some of the examples used also did not seem to connect well between the rules of subatomic particles and the macro world we live in.

A Journal is Born

I have created this online journal for my "Philosophies of Adult Education" class. Instead of using the traditional journal I thought it would be more interesting to post my journal entries on a blog. We have not been given our journaling assignment yet so I am not sure what I what I will be writing in this blog.