I’ve been having a blast! I teach a course every winter quarter for the Business School. This year they assigned me an introductory management course for non-majors – on Friday afternoon, no less – at Ohio University! Think they are sending me a message?

Even though it has a traditional face-to-face schedule, I decided to use a technologically mediated approach and experiment with some of the stuff we have been discussing. So I have been building the course (Managing in the Innovation Age) around a blog, and using podcasts and video podcasts while maintaining an action learning architecture. (No textbooks, of course) Christopher has developed a portal for the course in the Learning Center on our Campus in Second Life. He has done some absolutely amazing work. He will share more details with you when he opens the campus to the public the first week of January. I will still have some face-to-face time with the class, but almost all of the “instruction” will occur technologically.

Building the course has been fun. Now I am anxious to see how the students respond. I’ll give you an update as the quarter progresses.

John Stinson

Posted by John Stinson at 2:33 PM | Permalink

I was looking for updated information concerning Online Learning in colleges and universities and found this report, Making the Grade, Online Education in the United States, 2006, Babson Survey Research Group, Babson College. The research sampled over 4,000 higher education institutions, which included Doctoral/Research, Masters, Baccalaureate, Associates and Specialized institutions. Though everyone I know would have said, “Yes, there is a marked increase in online education in colleges and universities”, this report points out some very interesting areas of increased online education. It also provides information about how institutions view online education as a part of their long-term strategies.

The report found that 3.2 million students took at least one online course in the fall 2005 academic term. This number is an increase of 35% from the fall 2004 figure, a much higher percentage increase than had been estimated based on trends for the past three years. These numbers seem to indicate that online education is not only growing but growing rapidly. Close to 17% of the entire population of higher education students have participated or are participating in online education.

The report also indicates that 58% of Chief Academic Officers now consider online education as critical to the long-term strategy of their institution and 76% of these respondents believe that online education reaches students who are not served by face-to-face programs.

To see the entire report, which also includes breakdowns by program level and institutional type, along with the research methodology, go to:

http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/survey/index.asp

Posted by Muriel Ballou at 9:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I recently picked up my copy of “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.” I find that re-reading old classics often stimulates thought. My first thought this time was that the title said “… I Learned…” not “I was Taught.” (Note that the title is also an offhanded condemnation of the 12-16 years of increasingly structured formal education that follow kindergarten where we are “taught” everything we WILL need to know.)

Watch kids as they naturally learn. They play. They explore. They experiment. They ask questions. They experiment some more. Sometimes they fail and are frustrated. (Roger Schank makes a major point of the idea that failure is necessary to learning). Sometimes they are successful and applaud their own (and others) successes. Always they learn.

For those of you who would like to think a bit more children and learning – check out mamamedia, a neat learning site for children, inspired by Seymour Papert and Idit Harel. There is a section for grown-ups with a section on 21st century learning. I particularly like their focus on clickerati kids.

We are in the business of architecting learning for working professionals, but sometimes our learning comes in small packages. Watch the Kids!

John Stinson

Posted by John Stinson at 2:01 PM | Permalink

Here is a Diana Oblinger article on simulations, games and learning.

http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI3004.pdf

Much of what I read here I have read before however, it seems to resonate more for me coming from Diana Oblinger. A couple things that I have not heard or at least not seen so aptly put includes:

When defining the role of games in learning and how games are evolving Diana states:"Rather than their simpler predecessors, today’s games are coming to represent “distributed authentic professionalism,”...This isn't new information but I appreciate how well stated it is here.

I also appreciate Diana recognizing that "not all games are good for all learners or for all learning outcomes." She goes on to state, amongst other points, that effective learning strategies can go beyond the actual game play which I can verify from our experience at OUWB.

OUWB developed and tested a game on intergenerational workplace issues several months ago. During testing, it became glowingly clear that a minimal amount if any learning actually happened during the game. It was after the game during discussions amongst the participants who were critiquing both the game and their own choices that you could clearly see learning happening.

Posted by Christopher Keesey at 1:15 PM | Permalink