• Penn UICONF 2010 – July 21 & 22 – Higher Education Web Symposium
• HigherEdCamp Philly – A day long higher education technology unconference on Friday July 23rd

The session lineup for the Penn UICONF looks amazing and highly representative of current technology trends in higher education.  I’ve attended past versions and have always left with useful information that I could apply to my job.

As for the HigherEdCamp, I also had a great time at last year’s event.  The unconference style allows for creative sessions that lead to unexpected positive ideas and conversations.

• students’ perceptions of their ability to multitask compared to the realities of research on the subject
• the perceived demand for classes to be more engaging and interactive than they were a generation ago
• the benefits and possible perils of immersive virtual worlds such as SecondLife

See http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/ to read more about it or watch the episode online.

Our  “revolutionary video project” involved the delivery of over 30 hours of broadcast-quality lectures in a fully-online non-credit course to more than 1000 participants in 62 countries on 6 continents. Course participants watched the video lectures and discussed them using tools of the social web. Come hear a bit more about this and other exciting video projects:

Connect@NMC: Kaltura Inspire: The Future of Video in Education

This Webinar will explore how video and new forms of multi-media enabled learning are revolutionizing education across the country. Video in Education now goes beyond simple publishing and includes internal university ‘YouTubes’, deep learning management system integrations, collaborative video editing assignments, video for distance education and libraries, and media-powered blogs and social networks.  Kaltura has developed an open source alternative to proprietary video platforms that is flexible, easy to integrate and includes custom tools  specifically for education.

Join us for a showcase of  revolutionary video projects. Penn State’s Chris Millet, Penn’s Marni Baker Stein, 2Tor’s James Kenigsberg, and Kaltura’s Leah Belsky.

Note you will have to pre-register to attend via http://www.kaltura.org/education-webinar-registration?ref=NMC

Over the next few months we’ll publish here descriptions of other video projects we’re working on with Penn faculty. In the meantime, why not share some information about a project that you’re involved with?

The attention-grabbing headline of this report states, “The meta-analysis found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. The difference between student outcomes for online and face-to-face classes…was larger in those studies contrasting conditions that blended elements of online and face-to-face instruction with conditions taught entirely face-to-face.”

However, the authors provide this important caveat:

“Despite what appears to be strong support for online learning applications, the studies in this meta-analysis do not demonstrate that online learning is superior as a medium. In many of the studies showing an advantage for online learning, the online and classroom conditions differed in terms of time spent, curriculum and pedagogy. It was the combination of elements in the treatment conditions (which was likely to have included additional learning time and materials as well as additional opportunities for collaboration) that produced the observed learning advantages. At the same time, one should note that online learning is much more conducive to the expansion of learning time than is face-to-face instruction”

Later in the report the authors mention,

“Studies in which analysts judged the curriculum and instruction to be identical or almost identical in online and face-to-face conditions had smaller effects than those studies where the two conditions varied in terms of multiple aspects of instruction” (page xvi)

and

“In terms of instructional features, the online learning conditions in these studies were less likely to be instructor-directed (8 contrasts) than they were to be student-directed, independent learning (17 contrasts) or interactive and collaborative in nature (23 contrasts). Online learners typically had opportunities to practice skills or test their knowledge (42 effects were from studies reporting such opportunities).” (page 17)

In my humble opinion, this study validates the effectiveness of a variety of pedagogical techniques and thoughtful course design.  These techniques can be applied to both online and traditional courses; the pedagogy matters more than the medium.

An article which summarizes the findings of the report is available at

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/06/29/online

and the full report is available at

http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf

We encourage you to visit http://www.sas.upenn.edu/computing/instructional for more information about technology support services.   SAS Instructional Technology grants are available to SAS faculty to facilitate activities which require special support. Grants can be used for a variety of purposes, such as

Rock the Academy
Radical Teaching, Unbounded Learning
The 12th in the Series of NMC Virtual Symposia

November 4-6, 2008, via the Internet

Proposals for presentations for Rock the Academy: Radical Teaching, Unbounded Learning, a special 2-day, live online event to be held November 4-6, 2008, are being solicited through October 17. See http://www.nmc.org/2008-fall-virtual-symposium for full details.

About the Symposium
Rock the Academy, the twelfth in the NMC’s Series of Virtual Symposia, will explore the kinds of ideas and activities that are changing the shape of education today. Revolutionary practices are breaking apart old models of teaching and learning; students are using new tools to construct meaning and contribute to the design of their own education; teachers are sharing the power that has traditionally been theirs alone.

Examples of unconventional, yet highly effective, methods of teaching and learning may be found in pockets all over the world, at all levels of education. When the multitude of examples are taken together, we begin to sense a profound change in the making that will alter our concept of education itself.

The symposium will take place in both the Adobe Connect 2D web environment and in the 3D virtual world of Second Life.  All events in Second Life will also be streamed into Adobe Connect; participants will also be able to access Adobe Connect from within Second Life.

Proposals are encouraged on any of the following themes, but this list is not exhaustive and selections will not be limited to these categories:

• open education resources and open content
• social networking and global connections
• guerilla learning, games, and activist learning
• the next killer apps for education
• alternatives to course management systems
• real-time data, maps, and mobiles
• backchannels and alternative communication tools
• students who do research in their fields
• any technology or practice that shows promise for engaging students and supporting subversive teaching and learning

Sessions should describe new approaches, illustrate case studies, or address the implications for learning and teaching of themes like those above.

Proposals may be submitted online at http://www.nmc.org/2008-fall-virtual-symposium/proposals

Flat World Knowledge offers a new approach to textbooks: open them up and bundle them with social learning tools. Founded by Jeff Shelstad and  Eric Frank, two former textbook industry executives, Flat World Knowledge’s mission statement reads:

We preserve the best of the old – books by leading experts that are rigorously reviewed and developed to the highest standards. Then we flip it all on its head. Our books are free online. We offer convenient, low-cost choices for students – print, audio, by-the-chapter, and more. Our books are open for instructors to mix, mash, and make their own. Our books are the hub of a social learning network where students learn from the book and each other.

While the content of their Open Textbooks is free and accessible to all, they charge for convenient ways to consume the Open Textbooks (print, audio, PDF) and efficient ways to study (study aids). Most interesting of all, IMHO is their description the social learning tools:

Students can chat live with other readers, take and share digital notes, set up study groups, and even find partners for cross border projects. They can do all of this at our site or tap into the collaborative features of Facebook using our Facebook app for this. They are part of a global community of learners. Or not. Their call.

To read more about Flat World Knowledge, browse through their website or check out this article from Wired’s blog network. Potential authors can learn more about joining the “little textbook revolution” on Flat World Knowledge’s website.

Wonder if anyone at Penn might like to pilot a project with a Flat World text? LPS Online would be very interested in talking with faculty members about the possibilities. Email me if you’d like to chat.

With two million books in its collection, pricing plans begin at $10.99 per book per month for four months. check out Skoobit’s website for more info.

How interesting do you think this service would be to Penn students?

When I was in college, I really liked acquiring books, thinking my collection would somehow archive my intellectual development. It’s only recently that I’ve begun letting go of them all, asking myself, “Will I ever really open that book on theoretical morphology? Won’t some aspiring linguist find this interesting?”

If anyone’s looking to find old textbooks, check out the Free Library’s Walnut St. West book sale, held outdoors on Fridays from 11:30-1 or 2, depending on the weather.