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Issue Contents Visual Approaches to Learning in Online and Immersive Environments Nicola Martinez, SUNY Empire State College Imagine the following learning activity: describe an elephant, text only. Compare this to: provide an image of an elephant. Which might best convey the idea of the elephant? The image, probably. Better yet: provide an image with a written description. Then perhaps, show a video of the elephant and/or take the students to a zoo or safari (or Africa or India) to see the elephant first hand. Another possibility: a 3D representation of the elephant in an immersive virtual environment shows students what it is, allows them to examine all sides of the elephant, from different perspectives, and perhaps even provides the opportunity to examine the internal organs, skeletal structure, and epidermis. Do you think that text alone could convey the same level of learning about the elephant as the text plus image, text with video, actually seeing a live elephant, or the 3D representation? Questions such as these drive my interest in moving beyond text to understand how to convey mean in, and enhance learning with design approaches that engage the visual brain while maximizing the engagement of other cognitive functions. Certainly text is a powerful medium, and has enjoyed primacy in communication, particularly for education, since the advent of the printing press. However, 21st century communication technologies and new media present us with a wide range of methods to convey meaning and elicit learning. Digital media provide today's youth with an unprecedented access to information sharing, collaborating, and knowledge creation. Millennial students have grown up immersed in visually rich media - film, television, video-games and now cell phones that combine voice, text, images, video and web access in one minuscule device. How might we harness the potential of these media to design deeper levels of learning? The virtual and immersive world Second Life (1) provides educational researchers, designers, and teaching faculty with a visually rich, interactive, social environment, spaces and tools to explore the possibilities for learning. More than three hundred educational institutions, including highly influential consortia such as Sloan-C and the New Media Consortium (NMC), have established presence in Second Life. Educational builds include replications of the Sistine Chapel, virtual eco-systems, the New Media Consortium campus; University of Tennessee Medical School research trauma center, NOAA simulations of environmental phenomena (such as a tsunami), the Virtual Neurological Education Centre; to name a few. In addition, fantasy communities collaborate to create elaborate worlds that stretch the boundaries of human imagination, and allow human beings to experience what has never before been possible ( to fly...be dragons...shape shift...and more). In 2007 the neuroscientists Gallese, Rizzolatti and Fogassi, were awarded the Grawemeyer International Psychology Award for their discovery of mirror neurons, which essentially demonstrates that the same parts of brain activate when we are watching and identifying with an action as if we were doing the action ourselves (for example, if a dancer who is a master of a given technique watches another dancer dance that technique, his or her brain activity reflects the same brain activity as if s/he were actually dancing). (2) Gallese takes this principle even further with his discussion of embodied simulation - our brain simulates activity to the point of embodiment. It will be interesting to see what further studies in neuroscience and embodiment tell us about how our brain responds to simulated activity in immersive visual environments, and how this will inform our understanding of human learning. See you in-world. 1. http://www.secondlife.com/ For more on education in Second Life visit wiki for educators in Second Life: http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_Education_Wiki. 2. For details on Gallese's work, visit: http://www.unipr.it/arpa/mirror/english/staff/gallese.htm#pubs. (Join Nicola Martinez, SUNY Empire State College & Eric Feinblatt, Fashion Institute of Technology in the Sloan-C online workshop, Visual Pedagogy, Collaborative Learning, and Meaning-Making in Online Environments, September 19th - 28th)
EDEN Looks Ahead to the Educational Impact of Web 2.0 Gary E. Miller, Executive Director Emeritus, Penn State World Campus
(Excerpt from full Report, which can be found at http://sloan-c.org/resources/index.asp) In June 2007, the European Distance and e-Learning Network (EDEN), celebrated its 16th anniversary by looking ahead to educational impact of new web-based technologies. The annual EDEN conference, held in Naples, Italy, focused on a theme that captures the questions facing the profession as it looks to a future driven by the next generation of the Internet: New Learning 2.0?: Emerging Digital Territories, Developing Continuities, New Divides. The three-day conference showcased numerous innovations by European institutions with the new social networking applications, such as blogging, social bookmarking, wikis, blended learning and open educational resources. Nick Allen, provost emeritus at UMUC, cautioned against an uncritical enthusiasm for the Web 2.0 culture. He said that education is undergoing a "climate change" that reflects broad issues in society. Because we need to raise the level of learning per student while providing access to more students, the issue for institutional leaders is whether the new technologies help students learn more, provide access to larger number of students, improve learning outcomes, or help faculty teach. Web 2.0 applications seem to be focused on informal learning; thus, educational institutions need to learn whether they can really help advance formal student learning objectives. The democratization of learning made possible by these systems needs to be supported by intelligent tutoring systems, required information literacy courses, new forms of faculty development, and learning management systems that allow "plug and play" use of new applications. Paul Clark, academic pro-vice chancellor of the Open University of the United Kingdom, overviewed the UK Open University's strategic commitment to open educational resources. Openlearn, an open content initiative funded by Hewlett Foundation, has resulted in 2,700 hours of material posted on a website, with another 2,300 hours planned. Individuals can download materials, adapt them, and re-submit them so that others can use the adapted materials. Thus far, 500,000 people have visited the website http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/. Clark reported on two major issues that have arisen during the early implementation of Openlearn: (1) people are reluctant to adapt materials and return the "re-versioned" materials to the collection, suggesting that no sense of OU/user collaboration/community has emerged yet; and (2) there is no revenue stream to permit sustainability. The EDEN conference brought into focus the growing distance between the first generation of online learning and sometimes disruptive new thinking that promises to shape the next generation of e-learning. These issues are common to institutions and professionals in Europe and North America, in at least three areas: - Effective practices in both informal and formal learning uses of specific applications.
Click here for the full report.
Learn From the Experts - The Sloan-C 2007 Workshop Series Getting Started: Online Course Development Basics- Sept 12 - Oct 5 Based on research and the Sloan-C effective practices, this workshop provides the foundation for designing and delivering online courses. Faculty gain enhanced pedagogical knowledge and learn effective strategies for creative, online classroom facilitation. During the three-week workshop, facilitators will review the benefits and challenges of online curriculum development and teaching and address the qualities of effective online education. The workshop is designed as an 'active' learning experience, enabling faculty to explore actual online courses in several disciplines and institutions, as well as build a syllabus leading to the major outcome of the workshop: building a complete online course module relevant to their own educational interests. Click here for details and registration. Visual Pedagogy, Collaborative Learning, and Meaning-Making in Online Environments- Sept 19 - 28 Visual Communication and Interactive media are transforming teaching, knowledge production, and learning in 21st Century learning environments. Facilitators Martinez and Feinblatt have been collaborating on theory, research and best practices related to the use of the mediated image in learning. This workshop will provide participants with a brief introduction to theory, strategies, and examples of visual pedagogies that promote collaborative learning, followed by conversation and activities designed to illustrate the meaning-making; deeper levels of learning; and dynamic interaction elicited within visual approaches to the curriculum. Click here for details and registration. Today the skills and education required of adults to obtain employment and improve their chances for career advancement are increasing. Non-traditional adult learners and GED graduates are seeking post-secondary degrees to be better equipped to achieve their goals for their families and as community members. The transition into college degree programs is not always a seamless process. Many of the programs that adults access are now available online and require both academic and computer literacy skills as well as the ability to navigate the complex higher education environment. What kind of support system needs to be in place for these adult learners to succeed and persist with their studies? How can adult basic education programs and online college courses be better aligned so adults face fewer barriers upon entering college? In this workshop you will learn valuable skills and tools to assist adult learners who are attempting to make this transition. Click here for details and registration. *This workshop is part of the Select Series and College Pass Members must use their additional 50 seats provided to take advantage of this workshop. |
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