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Blog about the impact of globalization on global project teams, cross-cultural communication, training, and education. |
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Entries: 1 - 5 of 17
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Are you the police? No, ma'am. We're musicians.
In the 1980 movie, The Blues Brothers, Dan Akroyd/Elwood Blues makes a prediction in the opening sequence of an Otis Redding song, "I can't turn you loose". You know so much of the music we hear today is preprogramed electronic disco, we never get a chance to hear "Master Blues Men" practicing their craft anymore. By the year 2006, the music known today as "The Blues" will exist only in the classical records department of your local public library 2006 is almost gone and the Blues are alive and well. Thank god. James Brown is gone but you don't have to visit your public library to hear his influence - just turn on MTV, BET, VH1 - he's all there.
Some Acknowledgments
It's good to sit down and list the people who have been big influences on a person's life. Not that anyone would be interested except for myself. If you are still reading, I assume you are trying to figure me out.
What's the occasion? A career change. After 11 years in private and public education as an educator, I made a carefully planned move to corporate learning. I'll miss K-12 education but look forward to the challenges of adult learning in a high stakes environment (ie, think pharma manufacturing).
Okay, here's my list in somewhat of a chronological order:
Jay Cross and George Siemens. I would be remiss to leave out Steven Downes , David Jonassen, Michael Allen, Elliott Masie, and James Farmer. Some other influences include Dr. Greg Sherman, Dr. Michael Moore, Dr. John Carroll, Dr. Thomas C. Reeves, and Dr. Jan Nespor. Some bloggers that share my view of the world include: Garr Reynolds, Brent Schenkler (Corporate eLearning Development), Maish Nichani (elearning post) , and Patrick lambe (Straits Knowledge). Former colleagues and friends from Media Arts, now running Logical Steps in Singapore keep me grounded in business reality.
Elizabeth (Liz) Arrington introduced me to the world of business consulting by including me on strategy meetings as she walked clients through the fundamentals of a tech startup. She also kicked my butt on the basic fundamentals of business communications and plain old business basics when I first moved from K-12 teaching to business. Girish too. I have to thank my friend from the land of Oz, David Stubbs. We explored technology enabled learning while working together in Singapore at ISS International School. David took me to visit a company located in a single room at National University of Singapore called TechNet. Wires were everywhere. It later grew into Pacific Internet, Asia's biggest Internet provider and launched an IPO on Nasdaq. Still around. Prior to the explosion of the World Wide Web, I got to hang out with some cool thought leaders in education at Fox Lane High School in New York. These folks included Mike Terlizzi, Steve Kluge, John Carlson, and Dr. Arthur Eisenkraft.
Going way back, I have to thank the person who gave me my first academic job as an astronomy tutor and observatory assistant, Dr. James LoPresto at Edinboro University of Pa.
Figuring Out The Hot New Learning Theories
If you are still trying to figure out how "connectivism (networked leanring)" is different from other learning theories, read on. IBM, Accenture, and plenty of other companies are jumping on networked learning theory by using internal wikis, delicious style tagging systems, and blogs for their employees.
This new hot theory is called "connectivism" or networked learning. It is also part of the new Informal Learning movement led by Jay Cross, father of e-learning.
Another well respected guru, George Siemens, just wrote about some differences between this new hot theory and older theories such as constructivism. He says:
For me - call it whatever you want - connectivism, social constructivism, navigationism (pick your own)...learning today must be seen as social, knowledge distributed across a network, capacity enhanced by enlarging the network, learning/knowledge as multi-faceted and complex, incorporating technology
The challenge involves creating models in order to cope with information overload and complexity. For example, ineffective models of learning function are not noticed for their weakness when they are not under pressure. When, as we are seeing today, the climate of knowledge and information changes, then the weaknesses of those structures are more pronounced. Connectivism is simply about forming connections - between people and with technolgy.
Constructivism, for example, relies on social dimensions of learning as a means of internalizing knowledge - i.e. in the end, constructivist knowledge ends up largely situated in a persons mind, while using the social space as a means to mediate and define the knowledge.Perhaps the real challenge I have with constructivism - and I've mentioned this before - is that it has so many flavors.
http://connectivism.ca/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/66
Learning Is A Connection/Network-Forming Process
George Siemens is an author, academic, futurist, and a 2005 Edublog winner. For people interested in informal workplace learning or networked learning, his 2005 paper, "Connectivism:Learning as Network-Creation" is a seminal paper on this topic and it is often referenced by people such as Jay Cross, the "father" of e-learning.
His new book, Knowing Knowledge, presents learning as a connection/network-forming process. This concept is often described using the term "connectivism" (see related blog).
In it, George says:
Knowledge is changing. It develops faster, it changes more quickly, and it is more central to organizational success than in any other time in history. Our schools, universities, corporations, and non-profit organizations, need to adapt. We need to change the spaces and structures of our society to align with the new context and characteristics of knowledge.
How we market, how we learn, how we build, how we collaborate - these are all changing. Most organizations are not prepared for the sea change washing ashore. We are conducting business in a manner that is no longer reflective of the market, or society as a whole.
One of George's most interesting quotes is found on his blog in the "about me" section. It reflects my current view of learning after spending 11 years in public and private K-12 education and a couple years in corporate learning.
George says:
When I was in the workforce, most of my learning was a by-product of other activities - learning was rarely an explicitly-focused task, and never without a higher aim. Learning was "messy", chaotic, social, collaborative, and connected with other activities and interests. Formal education, in contrast, was artificial and structured. The experience, however, was valuable in providing a space for self-evaluation and reflection. Most importantly, I've realized that certain learning challenges, by their nature, require formal, structured processes, while others require more fluid, informal approaches. The nature of each intended learning experience should drive the selection of tools and processes. Rather than outright dismissing theories and techniques which have served the learning field well for centuries, we need to retain their value for appropriate tasks. No one concept or theory is universal in its application.
They can't move the snow to India
Clyde Prestowitz, head of a leading economic think tank, told attendees of the National School Boards Association's Technology + Learning Conference they need to "keep reinventing" what they do to prepare today's students for the new global economy.
Watch highlights of economic expert Clyde Prestowitz on the implications of globalization for U.S. students.
Watch highlights of his keynote address in Windows Media.
Credits: eSN TV
Runtime: 6 Minutes 26 Seconds
Entries: 1 - 5 of 17
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