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.