Blogging

What goes around comes around. Blogger was one of my first places to blog. Since I left over 6 years ago I've posted a lot of content that is now archives at http://tech.rodesites.com/ . Since last fall (2010) I have been on a hiatus from any blogging -- got kind of burned out, not quite sure why I was doing it. With spring approaching it may be time to start a new beginning?

Trying out new Blogger Templates

I like the new blogger interactive templates. To see them look here: http://rodeworks.blogspot.com/view -- and you can read more at http://buzz.blogger.com/2011/03/fresh-new-perspectives-for-your-blog.html .

This Blog is now dead

I have ported everything over to my NEW BLOG! Please update your bookmarks and visit me at http://rodeworks.com . Thanks blogger, it was fun while it lasted.

Interactive Conference Sessions

Kathy Sierra has a great post entitled Creating Passionate Users: Interactions vs. one way communication. She compares some active learning vs. site and listen conference experiences, and comments on how odd some people find the active learning model.

She writes:

So why does this happen? Why aren't sessions more interactive? Three main reasons:

1) It's just not the way it's done.
2) The speaker doesn't have the kind of classroom-management skills needed to pull of group exercises, especially in a large room.
3) The session is really more of a briefing than an actual learning experience or tutorial, so it's not really appropriate.

Take a look, she makes some excellent points.

MAKE Textbooks

O'reilly media has two interesting projects -- the first is a new magazine called MAKE. The magazine will feature how-to articles on hacking and playing with technology. The first issue has an article on aerial photography using kites -- cool. This sample article is available for download. I got my copy, and my kite is ready to fly, so look forward to some aerial photographs coming soon. As a kid I was a Popular Mechanics and Popular Science subscriber, back when those magazines had DIY articles on making airplanes, and boats and all sorts of other cool things. The best way to learn and understand technology is to play with it.

The other thing O'reilly has going is something called SafariU. I haven't taken the full tour of how this all works, but the idea is you can create your own custom textbook from parts of O'reilly publications. You can also build a syllabus and book list for students. For teachers of technical subjects this looks like a great idea.

And you can hear all about these from Dale Dougherty in a talk posted at IT conversations. The talk is more like an infomertial than a real lecture, but its short and I thought pretty interesting.

Nifty Corners are Nif-tee

Here is a cool use of CSS. Rounded corners used to be a pain to create but soooo nice looking. Now you can have your rounded corners AND still have a standards compliant website. I've got several web projects in the works, so I'll need to work in some rounded corners.

Simulations and E-learning

Boy, what a month. I can't believe it has been several weeks since my last post. But I haven't been goofing off...

In the podcasting world, two recent shows from IT Conversations deal with the subject of simulations and games for elearning. One is an interview with Henry Jenkins, the program chair at MIT's program in comparative studies. In the interview he discusses his view that the millennial generation is wired differently than us older folks. He draws the line right around age 35, which leaves me eight years shy. The point is that the extensive use of video games for children under 12 leads to different neural paths in their brains. After around age 12 the pathways are set. This generation compares to the baby boomer generation, who were equally different from their prior generation, due to the early influence of television on their brains. I am all over the idea that learning and approach to the workplace will change as this group comes through our institutions. But I'm not so convinced that they see the world all that differently than us older folks do.

The talk by Clark Aldrich is terrific. He lists 6 qualities that are essential for simulations and learning in general:

1. Linear content
2. Systems of content
3. Cyclical content.
4. Simulation elements that model reality
5. Game elements that provide familiar and entertaining interactions
6. Pedagogical elements that ensure the students’ time is spent productively

He discusses the creation of, and results from the virtual leader simulation that he developed. The game elements in these types of simulations, and their immersive nature lead to strong learning experiences. If you are going to learn to ski, which is better: watching other people ski or doing it yourself? Obviously doing by learning leads to more memorable learning. And that's what the millennials are expecting.

Project Completition

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originally uploaded by rodeworks.

Well, Ethan got his project done on the cold war, but I still have several I need to get done. Including my final paper for my Capella Assessment/Evaluation class. So no big essays for another couple of days. You can check out my two latest webdesign projects here:

http://www.yale.edu/summercabaret/2005
http://www.jinxl.com

Both are in still in progress but coming along (more projects!)

Active Conference Plan

While driving home from NERCOMP in the snow I started thinking, why, at a conference where active learning and technology-enabled learning is all the talk, are we still stuck in the old teaching model. The speakers sit up in the front of the room with their carefully prepared PowerPoint slides and we all sit dutifully in neat rows facing them and taking notes. Isn’t it time for something different? Here is my active conference plan:

Registration – The registration process is done online.

Registrants create a username/password that will give them access to conference materials and activities. They also fill out a detailed questionnaire that is designed to assess their specific interests, learning goals, learning styles, opinion on conference topics and even personality characteristics. Think of this as a combination professional questionnaire and personality test. All who respond are treated to a summary view of all the responses, so that they can see where they fit into the mix.

Based upon the topics that people are interested in, the conference planners develop several broad questions/issues that are to be addressed by conference participants during the conference. Teams of registrants are created and are assigned to address one of these questions/issues. The team assignments are planned to be cross-functional/cross-disciplinary based upon the survey responses.

Pre-conference activities

Once teams are assigned, registrants participate in a pre-conference introduction forum. They upload a picture, describe themselves, post a link to their personal websites, etc. The first team activity, conducted online, is to design a team logo. From the logo a t-shirt will be created and given to team members when arriving at the conference. Maybe the team also selects their topic/question from a list of possible topics?

The conference website also would include short FAQ/training information on technologies to be used during the conference – podcasting, RSS, blogs, etc.

At the conference

The conference itself would have many of the standard trappings of today’s conferences – the exhibitor floor, continental breakfasts, keynote speakers, topical presentations, panel discussions, etc. But there would also be extensive time and dedicated space set aside for team activity. The expectation would be that team members would each attend the sessions they personally found of interest, then return to review the information with their team, share information, and discuss how it all related to their topic. Information learned at the sessions, from discussions with vendors, and other conference activities would now be used immediately in discussions with fellow professionals.

Individual blogs – each member is assigned their own blog to post notes/impressions during the conference. Blogs are organized by team, making it easy for members to share information.

Wireless networking – everywhere, with participants encouraged to bring their laptops everywhere. Encourage session leaders to work laptop use into their presentations (having all access the same website, etc.) Also have a vendor who can rent/loan laptops for the time of the conference.

The final activity would be presentations from all team groups on their findings/conclusions regarding their topic. Presentations would be brief, 10 – 15 minutes in length. If there are a lot of teams they may need to be multiple sessions, as any one sessions shouldn’t exceed 90 minutes in length. And food should be included. Final presentations posted online and become a part of the collective blog postings.

Implementing the Plan

This idea is flexible enough that it could be executed with a small group of people registered at a larger conference. There could be “normal” conference goers there alongside the “active” conferences.

There are a lot of details to still hash out with this idea, BUT this is starting to sound like the kind of conference I would like to attend. Everyone gets to be a active participant, you get to work with and meet new people, and you come out of the conference having really done something.