Dissertation Wordle
Posted on May 25, 2009
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A Wordle of my current dissertation draft.
Blackboard Buys Angel: Is this the death knell of the enterprise LMS?
Posted on May 7, 2009
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Yesterday afternoon, with no warning or rumor, Blackboard announced that it purchased Angel LMS. From the reports online, even Bb employees didn’t know about the acquisition until it was announced. For a mere $80 million Bb purchased its largest competitor. Why fight in court to impose all of the patents Bb claims to hold when they can just purchase their competition?
Needless to say, there’s much grumbling amidst the education community, especially among folks who work for schools that migrated to Angel to get away from the rumored poor service, lack of support, and high price of Bb.
I think Bb is a victim of its own success. The sheer size of its user base makes its the enemy the same as Microsoft has become. Once a monolith like that is established it becomes an easy target even if you’re still using its product. Microsoft had the first stable OS that was easy for people to make use of then they branched out into Office and used the momentum from the OS adoption to leverage their other projects. However, now we see applications like Google Apps that go after a narrower application base but do it better in some ways and do it for free. Is Bb trying to be all things to all people? Have they grown and diversified to the point of becoming vulnerable to competition from smaller applications that can do specific tasks better?
Buying Angel may actually be an opportunity for Bb to change its image. I’m sure it’s not easy to change the perception of the flagship product but taking Angel into the fold might mean that Bb has a product with which they can do it “right” in the eyes of the consumer base. Ideally, Bb would launch Angel as an open source alternative ala the business model of Redhat. However, this kind of business takes a serious committment to community and support…something that Bb hasn’t proven itself to be all that good at.
But then, of course, there are the patent cases and other big company behavior that makes Bb look greedy and unappreciative of the huge market share it already has.
Now more than ever, I think what would save Bb is to focus huge resources on community building and the support of good use of the LMS rather than just how to use it. Otherwise, that $80million may have been invested in Moodle or the DIY movement directly because the backlash to the acquisition will certainly fuel the fire under those who prefer to create their own solutions rather than struggle under a huge LMS.
Bb will always have customers. FERPA and other regulations that are applied to big institutions will always create a need for a one-stop solution in the eyes of administrators and those who write the checks. But that won’t last too long as individual departments and instructors rebel and do things their own way. Eventually administration will realize that they’re spending money on a product that isn’t being used and there will be a growing market for an alternative.
For more info visit the following links. Be sure to read the comments! :
- Chronicle Wired Campus
- Washington Business Journal
- Inside Higher Ed
- Twitter reaction to the purchase
Don’t make me learn too much
Posted on April 24, 2009
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Mike Wesch often says that students who ask “How much is this worth?” or “How long does this paper need to be?” are really asking you help them prevent learning more than they have to. Something about this rings very true to me and I know I was certainly guilty of it as a student. But is it the whole story?
Might students be asking you to help them prioritize their time? Maybe. Maybe not.
I certainly know that this behavior isn’t some kind of Millenial behavior. I’m tired of hearing that these whipper snappers just want to be told what to do. This is not new behavior. Technology and the 21st century have not somehow transformed students into new kind of student incapable of independant thinking.
So if it’s not a generational behavior and it’s not completely about time management, is Wesch right? If so, how should we respond to these questions? If a student is actually indicating to us that he/she is disengaged and doesn’t have any motivation or curiousity that would drive him/her to learn more than necessary or expend any more mental energy than the minimum, how do we turn that around? How do we convert a bare minimum student into one who’s ready to engage and excited to find answers?
I’d suggest that there are a few answers:
1. Better assignments: construct assignments so they allow students to apply concepts learned in class to areas that are actually interesting to them. If the learning is relevant and applicable it doesn’t feel like work.
2. Instructor enthusiasm: Never apoligize for being in love with the ideas in your class or for asking students to share that enthusiasm. Be contagious!
3. It’s learning not busywork!: If we can convince students to embrace the joy of figuring things out, of answering questions, rather than just doing busywork we’ll do more than improving their perfomance in class. We’ll have taught them a pleasure that will benefit them their whole lives.
Unraveling research questions related to Ed Tech: Communication is key
Posted on April 8, 2009
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medical mannequin
I’m constantly amazed at the wide variety of interests and projects I get to learn about when talking to companies and faculty. I think if I could compile all the basic understanding I’ve had to gain about all of these fields I might be able to personally rival Wikipedia.
But going from a basic understanding to a research question or a rigorous way to measure the influence of a technology isn’t so easy.
For example, I’ve just returned from a great meeting with a faculty member from the medical school who is doing amazing simulations using a computerized mannequin. Students who might not experience medical emergencies until their residency when a real patient is on the table are now able to practice fast reactions with the dummies. That’s pretty straight forward, right? But what this faculty member is interested in is how the simulations improve the doctor’s ability to communicate clearly in a medical emergency. I asked tons of questions and finally we agreed that what we could actually prove was that the mannequin’s role is to elevate stress in the simulation and that we could measure whether students were able to manage the stress and if the stress influenced their communication skills. We went from “How does the mannequin help students learn to communicate” to “Is there a correlation between the ability to communicate and the stress level of the simulation?” It’s a much clearer, concise question.
It’s difficult to get from a wide question to a narrow one, though, when you’re talking to someone who is immersed in their own field and you’re new to it. I don’t know what a thyroid artery looks like but I do know that if one is bleeding I would freak out and probably freeze rather than giving the necessary direction to a medical staff to stop it and save a patient’s life. It took a series of questions and clarification for me to understand enough about the field to be able to help.
Have you been in a similar situation? What strategies do you use to gather the information you need to get quickly up to speed to help? What tactics do you use to clear away extranious information and hone in on a narrow topic to assess?
Illinois Legislators Try to Stop Minors from Using Social Networking Sites
Posted on March 19, 2009
Filed Under Uncategorized, facebook | 1 Comment
Illinois legislators are trying to require minors to get adult permission to create accounts on social networking sites. For details about the legislation read here.
Creates the Social Networking Website Access Restriction Act. Provides that an owner of a social networking website must obtain and maintain in a database the written permission of the parent or guardian of each minor who is allowed access to the social networking website. Provides that an owner of a social networking website must give each parent or guardian unlimited access to the webpage profile of the minor under his or her supervision. Provides that an owner of a social networking website must implement procedures for verification of the age and information of anyone having a webpage on the social networking website. Provides that an owner of a social networking website must also verify the status of the parents or guardians who have granted permission to a minor to host a social networking website. Prohibits registered sex offenders from hosting or accessing a social networking website. Provides that operators of a social networking website must allow the parent or guardian of the minor unrestricted access to the profile webpage of the minor at all times. Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Provides that a knowing violation by an owner or operator of the Social Networking Website Access Restriction Act is an unlawful practice within the meaning of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.
Here is the definition of a social networking site: “Social networking website” means an Internet website:
5 containing profile web pages of the members of the website that
6 include the names or nicknames of such members, photographs
7 placed on the profile web pages by such member, or any other
8 personal or personally identifying information about such
9 members and links to other profile web pages on social
10 networking websites of friends or associates of such members
11 that can be accessed by other members or visitors to the
12 website. A social networking website provides members of or
13 visitors to such website the ability to leave messages or
14 comments on the profile web page that are visible to all or
15 some visitors to the profile web page and may also include a
16 form of electronic mail for members of the social networking
17 website.
d) The operator of a social networking website must adopt
18 and implement procedures to utilize independently obtainable
19 information to confirm the accuracy of the age and personal
20 identification information collected from:
21 (1) potential members of a social networking website;
22 and
23 (2) the parents and guardians of children applying for
24 a profile webpage.
This is the future! Are you ready?
Posted on March 6, 2009
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The brilliant kids who work with Peggy Sheehee created this video. You’ll laugh; you’ll cry; you’ll yell “A-men!
Edupunk Debate: Three Videos Worth Watching
Posted on March 3, 2009
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Whether you’re “pro-edupunk” or “anti-edupunk” these videos are worth watching. Jim Groom and Gardner Campbell, who seem to agree on more than they don’t, have a great debate that unveils a whole lot about who’s in charge of this whole anti-LMS movement and you might be surprised at what they come up with.
After watching, be sure to leave a comment. Who’s side are you on? Is “punk” a bad metaphor for the 2.0 DIY education movement? Is being anti-LMS just a cop out or an excuse to be against “the man”?
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Playing Devil’s Advocate: SL vs Virtual Worlds vs Better Learning
Posted on February 23, 2009
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***Disclaimer: This post is NOT intended as a slight to SL, the great projects built there, nor the innovative thinking going on around and inside SL. It’s meant to be a discussion only. Also, pardon the length.***
Phew! I don’t normally put a disclaimer in front of a post but I feel it’s necessary on this one. Stay with me and you’ll understand why.
A few of you may have followed along with yesterday’s debate at ITC where our own Chris “Fleep” Collins did a bang-up job of representing the many reasons why folks like those on the list (over 5,000) believe that SL is an important tool for education. If you weren’t able to follow along see Bryan Alexander’s great notes from the event here: http://b2e.nitle.org/index.php/2009/02/22/conference_debate_are_virtual_worlds_are
As I followed the debate and the reactions from SL-Ed evangelists my brain started throbbing with ideas. When I saw reports that, after the debate, the folks in the audience who thought SL was “stupid” increased in numbers rather than decreased even with Fleep’s excellent arguments…well, I started to wonder what we’re all arguing for.
If you know me, you know I’ve been a staunch advocate of SL for a very long time and an advocate for student-centered pedagogy for even longer. I’ve made the case for SL on dozens of campuses. I’ve written many articles to make the argument that this kind of teaching and learning is the way of the future. However, after yesterday’s event I’m thinking that the argument is focused on the wrong place. I wonder if we’re fighting a losing fight if we only argue for SL. Or, if we lead an argument about learning reform with an SL argument.
We all know the points against SL (hardware, learning curve etc) and yet we feel it’s worth it, worth solving those problems. But take, for example, a comparison between SL and MetaPlace as seen below.
|
World |
Second Life |
MetaPlace |
|
Affordances |
|
|
|
Custom avatars |
Fully custom |
Limited custom |
|
UGC (objects) |
Building tools |
Building tools |
|
UGC (scripts) |
Supported |
supported |
|
Space |
Purchase, rent |
Free, unlimited for every user |
|
Presence |
yes |
yes |
|
Communication |
Voice, text |
text |
|
Content imbedding |
Streaming media |
Web, media, audio |
|
Crowd limits |
40-100 |
unlimited |
|
Control over space |
Yes |
yes |
|
Games and simulations |
Possible |
possible |
|
Hardware requirements |
Mid-high |
Low-mid |
|
Software |
Download/install |
Web-based |
|
Learning curve |
Mid-steep |
Low-mid |
It’s pretty evident that the affordances that we find useful in SL are also largely available in MetaPlace with smaller investment, increased accessibility, and a shallower learning curve. So why do we argue for SL? I’m NOT suggesting that we all bail from SL and move to MetaPlace. I’m arguing that perhaps our focus may have become to narrow in some situations. That the time we all have invested in SL may blind us to the larger implications and a larger, more successful argument.
I wonder if the argument should be that learning practices need to change. It’s not any one tool that will do this. It’s people like the ones on this list who have seen that there are alternatives to the “sage on the stage” and that it can work!
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m in no way suggesting that the majority of us don’t do this. That we aren’t out there arguing for larger change rather than just arguing for SL. I KNOW we are. But yesterday’s debate and the audience reaction proves that, at least in limited circles, the argument is being misinterpreted as a “Pro-SL” argument rather than a “Pro-learning” argument. How can we change the way the argument is being percieved to make it harder to dismiss so easily as saying that “SL is the second coming of stupid”? After all, NO ONE in education would dare say that student-centered, active learning was “stupid”.
Let’s talk about it!
Betraying my research roots…
Posted on February 22, 2009
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I come from a field in which research is largely qualitative and most of the great thinkers are theorists. But, I think living with a social scientist is beginning to have an influence on me. It’s rare for a rhetorician to conduct a true experiment. Most of what we do is observation, ethnography, and theory. We disect and describe.
Sitting next to me, though, on most days, is a social scientist whose work is quantitative, experimental, and more…well, “scientific”! Scientific in the colloquial sense. I certainly woulnd’t argue that qualitative research isn’t scientific. After all, all research begins with a question, applies a method, and then compares the results to the question. That’s the scientific method! But, I find myself slowly leaning toward experiment, toward quantitative methods, and toward a structure of research that makes me feel more in control of what data I get.
I’m rapidly moving toward the end of my dissertation process and, even after writing a few hundred pages, I can’t quite label my work as qualitative or quantitative. It’s descriptive, yes. But, it seems a little more than that. Something a little bit different from the examples of research I studied in my degree.
I’m excited that my own work is morphing and expanding past what I was merely taught to do. I’m excited to see what comes next.
Can Twitter survive its popularity?
Posted on February 21, 2009
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If you’re a Twitter user you’ve probably noticed an influx of new users in the last few weeks. Need proof? Check this out. Twitter has become mainstream with plenty of mentions on national news and other mass media sources. Which is all awesome for the Twitter folks as they shuffle to find a way to become profitable. However, as most hard-core geeks know, when a tool that was considered cool to those “in the know” goes mainstream it often looses some of its punch.
Now, I’m not saying that Twitter isn’t great. Nor am I saying that just because non-geeky folks are using it that it’s time for the nerds to bail. Twitter is way too handy for that. What I am saying is that with a huge influx of users it seems to have lost a bit of its coziness. When a person like me, who is no Scoble or Neil Gaiman or Stephen Frye, gets a couple dozen of new followers a day, you know that something is happening.
So, do you feel like I do? Have you sensed a shift in Twitter? An influx of users? Is it still as cozy as it used to be? Can you control your network well enough to shape your experience?
keep looking »