Thoughts about mobile learning

There’s an interesting new forecast from Gartner predicting that within three years, mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common web browsing device, with approx. 1.8 billion devices accessing information on the cloud. Just yesterday, our faculty were looking at Google Analytics of our student portal, and saw we had 2% access by iPhone (and 35% by Mac). It’s a small number, but a beginning. There was a growing excitement among us as we realized that some of our graduate students were living mobile learning, and what we had done to facilitate that access was to have our program offered fully online.

This summer, Barbara Schroeder and Chris Haskell will be offering a new elective for us, EDTECH 597: Mobile Learning: Devices, Applications, and Pedagogy. How cool is that? Actually, since they created the Cool Teacher Podcast, I wouldn’t expect anything less from these two experts. As we’ve been discussing mobile learning over the last year or so, the question was posed to Chris and Barbara, “Could you teach an entire class on an iPhone?” The answer of course was yes, and voila, we have a great new course coming up.

I recently traveled out of state with my husband.  We were both noticing and commenting on how little we actually used our laptops, and spent our online time using our iphones.  It was quick and easy, and I didn’t feel as tied down to login and be somewhere stationary.  On my gadget wish list, I would like my iphone to serve as my computer, and have the ability to hook it up to an Apple Cinema display as needed, just like I do now when I take my regular laptop with me to work everyday.  Yes, mobile learning and all that it means and implies is coming.  I’m reflecting on next year’s strategic planning process, and our need to give deep consideration to the implications for our classes and programs.

ePortfolios with Helen Barrett

http://bit.ly/8qarI2

Everyday I count my blessings, and appreciate how fortunate we are in our EdTech program at Boise State.  This week was no exception, as we had the wonderful opportunity to have international ePortfolio expert Helen Barrett spend a day with us, sharing her knowledge on “Balancing the Two Faces of Portfolios.” Helen started with a one-hour overview presentation and discussion with faculty in the College of Education, and then we moved into five hour brainstorm and planning session on how to leverage her key ideas to improve the use of ePortfolios in our Masters’ programs in EdTech.  Wow, what a fantastic way for our department faculty to close up our semester, reflect on what we had learned about our first semester offering our culminating portfolio class, and make updated plans and improvements for the spring.  It seems Helen had fun, too.

One key idea that Helen helped us understand was the use of a “workspace” portfolio where students collect and reflect on their work and learning as they move through the program.  Up until this year, our students had been saving their own artifacts, and creating a “showcase” portfolio in our culminating portfolio class.  The process worked, but was disjointed as students attempted to make meaning of their learning over the entire course of a program.  We discussed different venues for the “workspace” and decided to recommend WordPress for the following reasons:

• Student owns account, and can take it with them once they leave the program
• Student has choice to be public or private (invites to faculty/students)
• Administrative backend data and analysis tools are motivating to users and encourage posting
• Helps students build their digital brand & audience
• Helps build a positive digital imprint
• Users can tag entries with a class name and other sortable tags, categories can be used to associate entries with program standards, and pages can be created for the culminating “showcasing” process.
• Can be embedded via RSS feeds and widgets into other tools, such as LinkedIn

Overall, we agreed on the following next steps:

1. Establish a “workspace” portfolio at the beginning of the Master’s program for collecting key artifacts and reflections as students move through the program.  We currently recommend using WordPress for this purpose, but will give students the option of choosing their own blog tool.  We agreed to call the workspace a “learning log.”
2. Minimum of one reflection per course, especially major assignments, or any assignment you might want to put in your  workspace portfolio (keep journal of your learning experiences as you go through the program):  see Helen’s wiki on “reflection for learning” reflective practice, see “recipes for reflection” page.
3. Introduce the balance the two faces framework in the culminating Portfolio class, and explain that students are now moving from a “workspace” portfolio (learning log) to a “showcase” portfolio.
4. Educate our adjuncts ; create tutorials (Barbara will create showing tags, categories, pages, etc.).
5. Announce learning log to all Master’s students at the beginning of the semester, refer to video tutorials, and integrate detailed introduction into EDTECH 501.

Thanks to Helen and all my great colleagues in EDTECH for a good day of learning.  I’m really proud of our collaborative work to support high quality and powerful online graduate education.

Teaser for 3D GameLab

I couldn’t help myself, Chris and I are having too much fun planning next summer…

3D GameLab, ideas for summer 2010?

Chris Haskell and I are working together to plan 3D GameLab, a summer camp for kids on the campus of Boise State.  We’re planning a four week camp where teens will explore a variety of 3D games, their applications for learning (horror–learning during summer game camp?!), and create a guide for other kids, teachers, and parents on kids using 3D games and virtual worlds.

Would love to hear opinions about what platforms would be useful and/or most popular with teens (note xbox games are missing from the list, “T” rated or below only).  And we’re especially interested in a framework for “learning” while kids are involved in 3D gameplay (or afterward via reflection).  Could apply the New Media Literacy skills as a frame, or Jim Gee’s work, any other ideas?

Poll: What is your job in K12 online education?

100 Excellent Open Access Journals for Educators

One of the problems with research journals is that most of it stays locked behind subscription-only access.  This handy list of open access journals is a cool reference for those who may not have access through a university library account.  http://www.onlinecollege.org/2009/11/11/100-excellent-open-access-journals-for-educators/

PS  Found this on Jonathon Richter’s Facebook page.  Thanks Jon!

National Educational Technology Plan–contribute!

As the feds prepare for an updated version of the National Educational Technology Plan, take this opportunity to contribute to its development! https://edtechfuture.org/

The plan is a major tool used to influence the development of federal and state policy, it provides the basis to initiate funding, create grant opportunities, and frame the way we research and work with technology in schools, students, and teacher training.  Online education is playing a MAJOR role in the developing federal policy around the impending reform in education.

If this post makes no sense to you, and you need a 3 minute overview on the impact of social media learning, check this out this video.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8

K12 online teacher professional development

Just finished up a great conference at Virtual School Symposium in Austin.  Was very pleased to be able to present with Kerry Rice, Cathy Cavanaugh & Michael Barbour on “Exploring the linkages between research, policy & practice in K12 online teacher professional development.”

Vss Exploring Linkages

 

View more presentations from Lisa Dawley.

ARVEL SIG 2010 Program Announced!

The officers of the Applied Research in Virtual Environments for Learning (ARVEL) SIG are pleased to announce the final program for this spring’s annual meeting at AERA. Thank you to everyone who submitted proposals, to our reviewers, session chairs, and SIG officers for all your hard work! Our acceptance rate was 67% this year, representing the work of over 65 educational researchers studying virtual worlds and immersive virtual environments.

We are pleased to announce that Eric Klopfer, MIT, will be our keynote speaker at this year’s Business Meeting. Also, for the first time, we are hosting a no-cost two hour workshop to support virtual world educational researchers with tips, tools, methodologies, and more! Food and social networking will be available at both the Business Meeting and Workshop, so we hope to see you in Denver–the final schedule is pending from AERA.

2010 ARVEL SIG at AERA

Business Meeting
Keynote: Eric Klopfer, MIT
Chair: Jonathon Richter, University of Oregon
Honorary Chair & Nominations: Chris Dede, Harvard University
Program Chair: Lisa Dawley, Boise State University
Co-Program Chair: Greg Jones, University of North Texas
Secretary/Treasurer: Diane Jass Ketelhut, Temple University
Membership: Brian Nelson, Arizona State University
Communications: Sabine Reljic, San Diego State University

Sessions
1. Moving Forward by Looking Back: Lessons Learned about the Design of Immersive Virtual Worlds
Jody E. Clarke Harvard University: Chair
Designing Immersive Virtual Environments for Assessing Inquiry
Jody E. Clarke; Chris J. Dede; Michael Charles Mayrath, Harvard University
Past/Present: Successful new design approaches for game-based social-history education at the middle school level
Bert Snow, Muzzy Lane
EcoMUVE: Design of Virtual Environments to Address Science Learning Goals
Shari Metcalf; Chris J. Dede; Tina A. Grotzer; Amy Kamarainen, Harvard University
Greg Jones, University of North Texas: Discussant

2. Transformative Play: Games as 21st Century Curriculum
Taiga Fishkill: Example 1 of Transformational Play
Sasha A. Barab, Indiana University; Adam Ingram-Goble, Indiana University
Modern Prometheus: Example 2 of Transformational Play
Patrick Pettyjohn, Indiana University; Maria Solomou, Indiana University
CARDETAnder City: Example 3 of Transformational Play
Melissa Sommefeld Gresalfi, Indiana University
Virtual Mesa Verde: Example 4 of Transformational Play
Anna Arici, Indiana University; Charlene Volk, Indiana University Sasha Barab; Indiana University; Chair
James Gee; Arizona State University; Discussant
James Greeno; University of Pittsburgh; Discussant

3. Redesigning Leadership Preparation and Research Through Virtual Experiential Simulations – A Symposium
C. Brunner; University of Minnesota; Chair
S. Lynn Shollen; Hobart & William Smith Colleges
Edith Rusch; University of Nevada – Las Vegas
Karen Hammel; University of Minnesota
Mary de Leon-Denton; University of Minnesota – Twin Cities

4. Workshop: Educational Research in Virtual Worlds
Chair: Lisa Dawley
Invited presenters set up around room to discuss and demo aspects of their projects and/or products to support research in virtual worlds (i.e., new virtual worlds vendors, data collection tools in virtual worlds, specially-funded projects, etc.)

Roundtable 1: Using Virtual Worlds in K12
Chair: Chris Dede
1. K12 Teachers Encounter Digital Games: A qualitative investigation of teachers’ perceptions of digital games for K12 education
Michele Dickey; Miami University
2. Issues and Concerns of K-12 Educators on 3D Multi-User Virtual Environments in Formal Classroom Settings
Greg Jones; University of North Texas
3. Player Participation in Community Management in a Tween Virtual World: Opportunities and Challenges for Learning
Yasmin Kafai; University of Pennsylvania
Kristin Searle; University of Pennsylvania

Roundtable 2: The Intersect of Virtual and Real World Learning
Chair: Greg Jones
1. Design Principles for Embodied Learning in Computer-Mediated Environments
David Birchfield; Arizona State University
Mina Johnson-Glenberg; ASU
Philippos Savvides; Arizona State University
M. Colleen Megowan-Romanowicz; Arizona State University
Sibel Uysal; Arizona State Univeristy
2. Blended Inquiry with Hands-on and Virtual Laboratories: The Role of Perceptual Features during Knowledge Construction.
Eva Toth; West Virginia University
Lisa Ludvico; Duquesne University, Bayer School of Natural Sciences
Becky Morrow; Duquesne University, Bayer School of Natural Sciences
Dana Keener; Duquesne University
3. The Results of Formatively Evaluating an Augmented Reality Curriculum Based on Modified Design Principles
Patrick OShea; Harvard University
Mathew Cherian; Harvard University
Chris Dede; Harvard University

Roundtable 3: Learner Attitudes & Identities in Virtual Worlds and Game Environments
Chair: Diane Jass Ketelhut
1. Effects of modern educational game play on attitudes towards mathematics, mathematics self-efficacy, and mathematics achievement
Albert Ritzhaupt; University of North Carolina – Wilmington
Heidi Higgins; University of North Carolina Wilmington
S. Allred; University of North Carolina Wilmington
2. Virtual Orientation Environment: A Pilot Study of Participant Attitudes and Experiences
Chris Bigenho; University of North Texas
Anjum Najmi; University of North Texas
Mohammed Alajmi; University of North Texas
3. Dance Dance Education — Revolution and Rites of Passage, identity construction and sustaining engagement
Brock Dubbels; University of Minnesota
4. The Effects of Avatar Representations and Social Interactions on Perseverance in an Online 3D Virtual World
Ugochi Acholonu; Stanford University

Roundtable 4: Developing Community & Collaboration in Virtual Worlds
Chair: Jonathon Richter
1. Being Polite in Second Life: Discourse Strategies When Learning Collaboratively in a Virtual World
Yueh-hui Chiang; University of Texas – Austin
Diane Schallert; University of Texas – Austin
2. Understanding and Fostering Online Communities For Game Design
Sean Duncan; University of Wisconsin – Madison
Idit Caperton; World Wide Workshop Foundation
3. A Statewide University System Goes Virtual: Building Learning Communities in Second Life
Leslie Jarmon; University of Texas at Austin

Roundtable 5: Teaching & Learning in Virtual Environments
Chair: Brian Nelson
1. War Stories: Using a Virtual Contextual Environment to Support Student Writing for Students with Learning Disabilities
Elizabeth Simpson; University of Wyoming
Michelle Buchanan; University of Wyoming
2. Virtual Tutor Training: Building Effective Teaching Behaviors in Second Life
Peter Blair; Utah State University
Lee Mason; Utah State University
Nancy Glomb; Utah State University
3. Digital Dome Versus Desktop Computer in a Learning Game for Religious Architecture
Jeffrey Jacobson; PublicVR

Poster Session 1: ARVEL Posters on Virtual Environments
1. Using virtual worlds to engage youth in social initiatives: A case study
Selen Turkay; Teachers College; Devayani Tirthali; Teachers College, Columbia University
2. Mixed-reality simulations for education: Teaching and learning through virtual character interactions
Joseph DiPietro; University of Florida; Richard Ferdig; University of Florida; Lois Cao; University of Florida, Ethan Blackwelder; University of Florida; Shiva Halan; University of Florida; Benjamin Lok; University of Florida
3. Serious play: Exploring virtual leadership practices in the MMO World of Warcraft
Moses Wolfenstein; University of Wisconsin – Madison
4. Sailing in Schome Park: Humour and Learning in a Virtual World Project with Teenagers
Julia Gillen; Lancaster University; Rebecca Ferguson; Open University; Anna Peachey; Open University; Peter Twining; The Open University

More on participatory culture and network learning…

Jenny Wakefield was kind enough to record a recent guest chat I did on the topic of participatory culture and global network learning with Annie Jeffrey’s students in EDTECH 597: Social Network Learning in Virtual Worlds.  Thanks Jenny!

Recording of presentation
More info about our virtual world courses

This is an interactive slideshow.  To get full functionality, it should be downloaded and played in Powerpoint.