The Learning Voyage

Adapting and Learning

2011-10-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

Trying to get a little better and smarter each day; Passionate about helping others do the same.

It's been quite some time since my last entry. In fact, it's been so long that Blogger has a new interface. So far, so good. I've got a new topic that I'm the process of learning a lot about: Adaptive Learning. Not in the sense of helping those with special needs, but more directly related to importance of adaptation in teaching and learning process.

Baseline awareness of information
Consciously knowing that something is true
Knowing how to use the knowledge in the world

So as I transition to my new role with Area9 Learning, I figured this should be a fun little exercise to help me adapt and learn.

INTERVIEW: Jamie Coch and Richard Harris

2010-09-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

Richard Harris (left) Jamie Coch (right)

I had the pleasure of recently answering a few questions from Victor Rivero about the development of the Mead Builder for the edtech digest.

http://edtechdigest.wordpress.com/2010/09/09/interview-jamie-coch-and-richard-harris/

The article nicely chronicles the development and reasoning behind the program. It gives some insight as to our philosophy on learning and education along with a few quotes from real users. Any feedback is appreciated.

The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint: Pitching Out Corrupts Within (Notes)

2010-08-25T11:37:00.000-07:00

Edward Tufte has an interesting take on the impact of Powerpoint - Take a look at the notes and see if you agree.

Cultivating Creativity & Personalizing Education

2010-08-20T13:42:00.000-07:00

So why is it important to personalize education? Shouldn't the same standards drive education for all? Seems logical, but doing so could actually be quite harmful. Watch Sir Ken Robinson explain why. As a father of two young kids, the one size fits all approach to education has me taking a hard look at what's best for my kids.

Create a Remarkable Product - Create a Purple Cow

2010-08-17T18:25:00.000-07:00

Seth Godin is one of my favorite authors. There is a lot of wisdom in his approach to marketing and development. To understand my point of view on the types of products I like and understand how to create, read or listen to Purple Cow. It gives a wonderful account of how to develop the types of products that have the potential to be breakthrough innovations (ie. products that people actually care and will talk about).

How Mead Builder Helps with Plagiarism.

2010-08-09T13:17:00.000-07:00

Just wrote a few thoughts on the Builder blog discussing a NY Times article on plagiarism. The digital note card feature has helped a lot of kids better understand the concept of plagiarism. To see other features and benefits of the Builder software, check out the demo on www.meadbuilder.com.

New Builder from Mead site is up!

2010-07-28T18:25:00.000-07:00

My baby is officially live and available for sale and shipment starting next week. We're still cleaning up some of the elements on the site, but hopefully you'll begin to get a sense for how the Builder Research Paper Edition from Mead can begin to help students with the difficult task of managing and organizing information related to the research paper assignment (check out www.meadbuilder.com for more information). It has been a wonderful and humbling experience to be part of such a wonderful project.

The Innovator's Dilemma / The Innovator's Solution

2010-06-14T18:48:00.001-07:00

These two books are tremendously powerful. Take a look at the map for the detailed notes. The attachment contains the notes in bullet point format that I developed as I listened to both books.

Drive by Daniel Pink

2010-06-06T13:21:00.000-07:00

What tools in the Drive Toolkit most interested you? How would you use these tools to motivate those around you? To be personally motivated?

As I think about my department at work and life as a parent, I think there are a couple of key insights to glean from Pink. The idea that any activity should promote Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose is something to strongly consider as we think about the changing world. AMP has been prevalent in my work creating Builder (www.meadbuilder.com) and it is why my team and I have been so dedicated to the project.

As a parent, Pink provides a couple of really interesting ideas around ways to keep your kids in their natural type I state.

Offer praise the right way
•can easily become an if/then reward
• praise effort and strategy, not intelligence
• make praise specific - don't be general
• praise in private - feedback not a reward
• offer when it's only merited

Take a look at the notes and please forgive any typos. I took them while listening to the audiobook.

My Baby - Builder by Mead

2010-05-30T20:10:00.000-07:00

If you want to see what I've been working on obsessively for the last 18 months, check out the Builder web page (www.meadbuilder.com). The Builder software program is designed to help students organize and write better research papers.

A little about me...

2010-05-23T14:05:00.000-07:00

My name is Jamie Coch and I have a personal passion for creating new business and tools centered around the idea of helping students learn and teachers teach. I currently work for the company that makes Mead school supplies, so I'm one of the lucky ones in that my job allows me to work on those things that matter to me. For the last 18 months, I've been focusing and studying how to develop and innovate breakthrough products for education and using that knowledge to develop a software program that will hopefully revolutionize the way students write and think about research (Builder Research Paper Edition by Mead).

The way I see it. Breakthrough development is one long conversation with your consumers. Developing a breakthrough product or innovation is never finished. It's like expertise in that it is a journey about always getting better and improving. In The Dip, Godin (2007) talks about the challenges and difficulties of pursuing something new and different. Design is one of those things that everyone can do. Only a few take the time to figure out how to do it well and that is what makes it valued. It is about defining the right opportunity and constantly striving to be the best in the world.

Impacts of Change

2010-05-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

Who is impacted by change? What are their characteristics and how do we use our understanding of them to best implement change?

It just depends on what the change is. If I'm a teacher, often times it is the students that are impacted. As a product developer, my consumers are impacted by changes to the program. When I identify those changes, my developers are impacted. When I learn about what matters to my consumers, the ad agency I work with is impacted. Basically anyone who is networked with you on a project could possibly be impacted by changes that I make.

Definining what's important

2010-05-17T12:06:00.000-07:00

Understanding the learning context for change, Part 1. How do we know what learning is necessary within ourselves and those impacted by the change?

Knowing what to learn and what to figure out is a tricky question. The most important thing to do is to first figure out what it is you're trying to change. Until you understand the what and why you are trying to change it, you can't possibly begin to learn what you need to know to achieve this change. It takes upfront work and preparation. Once you know what and why you can then begin the process of educating yourself through books and networks and experiments. Without an understanding of what and why, you'll end up wasting a lot of time researching the wrong materials and asking the wrong questions.

Environment for Change

2010-05-17T10:05:00.000-07:00

After a quarter of blogging in Sakai, it's back to my own site...

How do you know when change is needed? How do people become passionate about change?

In my own experience, I have found that "pain" and "frequency" are two great indicators in determining a need for change. Pain is the amount or level of frustration that occurs when I or someone is forced with doing or completing a certain task. I have found that pain or dissatisfaction is a great motivator to change. If a certain task is painful, people are much more likely to be receptive to new ideas, solutions or remedies. Frequency is used to describe how often a specific task is performed. The more common the issue, the more ripe the environment is for change. I believe passion is something that is more intrinsic. It is less reliant on external factors. Passion stems from something that you deeply care about. So the key is to tap into something that people would be willing to change in a way that gives someone a reason to care or find important. Once it's been established what needs to be changed, then find the right people and give them the autonomy to go about making the change.

Final 633 Project - Learning Theory & Mead Builder

2009-12-13T20:17:00.000-08:00

As a reminder, my passion is to create tools that help students learn and teachers teach. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be working with such wonderful people and materials as part of the Pepperdine M.A. in Learning Technologies program. I now have a much clearer picture of what it means to learn. The experiences from the past 6 months have been so valuable as they have helped me more intelligently form my own theory of learning. These experiences have helped shape the way I have been developing a new software program to help students organize and write research papers. My team recently debuted the Mead Builder prototype to English teachers at NCTE to much fanfare. I'm happy to be able to finally share it with you. The influence of this masters program has been great. I've tried to include some of the ideas and influences in the discussion of some of the philosophy behind Mead Builder. Of course there are many others, but in the spirit of keeping it under 5 minutes, there was no way to discuss it all. I only wish I could've gotten James Earl Jones to narrate! The screen shots in the video are a little tough to read, so if you'd like to learn more, you can check out the Mead Builder website or view the storyboard. Any feedback or comments are appreciated. Thanks again.

21st Century Learning: Collaboration Learning Adventure 7 - Educuation & Wisdom from the Comedian?

2009-12-08T18:51:00.000-08:00

I wasn't part of the synchronous viewing, but enjoyed the movie and reviewing the comments. One of the things that I've learned throughout this program is to be mindful of being able to learn from people and groups that might not necessarily be obvious. CoP's are everywhere. Musicians, car enthusiasts or in this instance, comedians. While the content varies greatly, the way participants study, reflect, practice and participate are all very similar.

Some key lessons:

Listening and adapting to the situation (some jokes don't play well in some markets)
Importance of reflecting and assessing what works and what doesn't and then adapting
Seek out and mimic the experts

It was interesting to watch and compare what I've learned from nature of expertise from Surpassing Ourselves and overlay against the experiences and development of the different comedians.

A Busy Week! Action Research and Google Wave and Math Adventures (LA #6). Oh My!

2009-12-03T19:57:00.001-08:00

Coming off the Thanksgiving holiday, it's been a very busy week! Lots going on with work, action research, learning adventures and learning theory. It is the home stretch and I am trying to make sure I get to everything wrapped up as best as I can before the end of the quarter.

I started these thoughts last night and before I even had a chance to finish this entry, the Cadre got a note from Dr. Stager about the level of participation in the most recent learning adventure (The 3N math conference). Here's the question - If you HAVE NOT participated in the Google Groups discussion, please explain your lack of participation in your web portfolio. I believe I'm a tweener for this project as I probably land right in the middle of zero participation and those that have done some crazy cool stuff as part of this adventure. Please know that I am not complaining, but trying to provide explanation as to why the level of participation could or might have been higher under a set of different circumstances.

This whole quarter/semester has presented a 3N problem of sorts. One of appropriately managing my time between priorities. My Pepperdine 3N Math Problem is the point where commitment and expectations require work greater than the 15 - 20 hours allotted for Pepperdine (specified time requirement given to me while going through the admissions process). For me, 15-20 hours represents a pretty hard cap in terms of time to give to this program. When it goes beyond this requirement, other important priorities suffer as a result. For many, this probably sounds very familiar. I am not complaining, but just saying why my level of participation maybe hasn't been as high as some of the others. You can skip down to the red text if you want the simple explanation.

Weekly Schedule: Monday - Friday
6 AM - 6 PM EST: All things associated with my job
6 PM - 9 PM EST: Being a husband and dad to 2 little boys
9 PM - 11/11:30 EST: MA in Learning Technologies
Sleep and start over.

The week day schedule allows for 10 - 12 hours to devote to school. The remaining 8-10 hours have been covered on the weekend.

So let's review the events of my week...

Sunday - 3N Adventure assigned that evening while I was working hard on A/R report
Monday - Spent 2 hours with the Wave adventure for Learning Theory
Tuesday - Started my A/R learning circle discussion at 9 and it didn't get over until 11 as Paul was meeting with the other groups prior to 10.
Wednesday - Finally had a chance to participate in the Math Adventure, came up with a pretty cool observation to find it had already been covered (see below). Either way I still felt good.
Thursday - During the day, Jason really helps me connect the activity to the readings which is great. Later in the day, the United States of Dillon-Mary-Nick-others, Nation of Jorge and the Republic of Cramer "takeover" the summit by being so far ahead and advanced that there was no chance in hell that I was going to be able to contribute anything on Thursday night in light of the fact that Action Plans are due to Paul on Friday.
Which brings us to Friday.

This is a really long winded way of saying that lack of time is probably the most simple explanation for the lack of participation.

Here was my contribution in which Melody had already discovered.

I felt really good about picking up the pattern and being able to provide an equation. My enthusiasm was tempered a little after I discovered it had already been observed, but I was still pretty excited. It's been a long time since I've done this kind of math. I really appreciated Jason's insight as to what happened. Here's what he had to say.

"oops - looks like you already found it" - Jamie

Jamie, the same thing happened to me. I'm still on Part I of this adventure and last night I decided to sit down and tinker with some numbers. Math intimidates me, or bores me, or both. I'm not sure. I decided for no reason in particular that because 4+2+1 = 7, I would start adding numbers by multiples of 7.

7 revealed 14 generations, 14 revealed 15 generations, and then my pattern ended when 21 revealed 5 generations. As I started to increase by 7's, the same pattern jumped out at me. 35 revealed 11 generations and 70 revealed 12 generations. I realized that I had discovered a pattern and was quite proud of it, until I double checked everyone else's work and saw that it had been mentioned a few times :)

One thing I found interesting about this equation was that I began to research it. Never in my math experiences had I done that. In 'The Children's Machine,' Papert emphasizes thinking about and studying problems. I looked at this equation through a different lens than I have looked at others in the past. I wanted to know what it was about, how it worked, the history behind it etc. When I think about math in middle and high school, very little was discussed about the how and why of the problems, or where they came from. It was all drills. While I didn't break any amazing ground thus far, I was happy to discover something. There's no shame in finding something that someone else has already found. I'm like Columbus :-)

So what's next? I'm looking forward to finishing up the 4th book, starting the final big project for 633 and participating in the final super cool 664 learning adventure.

The Big Picture - Education Is Everyone's Business

2009-11-23T18:57:00.001-08:00

I'm in the process of wrapping up the The Big Picture - Education Is Everyone's Business. As I think about this and the other readings as a citizen, in context of my job (new business development) and as a parent, I recognize how important "education" is. I used the word education in quotes, because it's one of those words where if I asked for a definition, I would get a different answer from each person I ask. The question of what it means to be educated and how one becomes educated is always on the top of my mind as I move through this program. It is very concerning to see how the "test" is the measurement of learning and seems to be continuing to build momentum. It is my hope that I can learn enough so that I can be in a position to change this troubling paradigm. I have a feeling that this is one of those books that I'll reference quite often. It paints a really nice picture of what a school could and should be.

For additional information, you can read an interview with Dennis Littky by Gary Stager.

My favorite quote from the book that is true whatever your profession...

"A study I read about recently found that the one thing the greatest managers in the world have in common is that they do not hesitate to break the rules. I believe that special leaders figure out how to work around faulty systems and take rule breaking a step further, so that broken rules become accepted rules. If you start by doing something that works, people take notice and want to do the same thing in other places. This is how bad rules get broken and replaced by better policies. It happens on a small scale and on the largest scale, in the small picture and the big picture" (Littky 196).

I look forward to continuing to write my own rules.

21st Century Learning: Critical Thinking - The Power of Mindful Learning

2009-11-23T18:33:00.000-08:00

I must say that I am quite pleased with the book I chose for my learning theory class, Ellen Langer's, The Power of Mindful Learning. I haven't made a map yet, but I underlined and made notes everywhere. For a while, I was beginning to wonder if I was headed down a path that is even "too different" for this program since she hasn't been referenced or discussed anywhere. Those thoughts came to an end. I've just started reading The Big Picture - Education is Everyone's Business by Dennis Littky and was happy to see this mindfulness quoted and referenced in the first chapter. I've tried to pull some of the interesting highlights from the book. I'm looking forward to continuing to make and draw connections between everything I'm learning.

The Power of Mindful Learning by Ellen J. Langer

Summary

This book is about 7 widespread myths that undermine the process of learning and how to avoid them in a variety of settings.

The basics must be learned so well they become second nature
Paying attention means staying focused on one thing at a time
Delaying gratification is important
Rote memorization is necessary in education
Forgetting is a problem
Intelligence is knowing "what's out there"
There are right and wrong answers

It is described as a "why to" versus a "how to" book. Each chapter above speaks to the why each one of the myths get in the way of mindful learning and is supported by evidence of different psychology experiments.

Related Theorists & Concepts (I'm sure there are more, but haven't made them yet).

Dewey - Experience & Education
Papert - The Children's Machine
Bereiter and Scardamalia - Surpassing Ourselves
Action Research
Theories of Intelligence

Regardless of what is being learned, Langer believes that practicing the basics until they become second nature is the wrong way to start.

"Learning the basics in a rote, unthinking manner almost ensures mediocrity. At the least, it deprives learners of maximizing their own potential for more effective performance and for enjoyment of the activity. If we learn the basics but do not overlearn them, we can vary them as we change or as the situation changes" (Langer 14).

Langer argues that overlearning the basics gets in the way of being able to adapt as the world or situation changes. By overlearning the basics, we are taught to take in information in one specific way irrespective of a change in the situation. The importance of being able to adapt is summarized by John Dewey in his creed.

"With the advent of democracy and modern industrial conditions, it is impossible to foretell definitely just what civilization will be twenty years from now. Hence it is impossible to prepare the child for any precise set of conditions" (Dewey 1897).

While the amount of change Dewey witnessed in his lifetime was significant, technology and globalization makes this quote even more relevant today. Being able to adapt is key to mindful learning. In many respects, she shares this view of Dewey in that the world is constantly changing and believes we must be in a position to adapt and live and work within it.

Mindfulness vs. Intelligence

Langer's view of intelligence differs than much of what is out there. Many theories of intelligence implies an idea of "optimal fit" between an individual and environment. Rather than thinking of intelligence as matching cognition to environment, mindfulness recognizes there is no one perspective to optimally explain a situation. It's not about selecting the one response. Instead, one understands multiple perspectives on the situation and chooses from among them. Table 1 from the book spells out the differences.

Table 1
Differences Between Intelligence and Mindfulness

Intelligence	Mindfulness
Corresponds to reality by identifying the optimum fit between individual and environment	Controls reality by identifying several possible perspectives from which any situation can be viewed
A linear process moving from problem to solution as rapidly as possible	A process of stepping back from both perceived problems and perceived solutions to view a situation as novel
A means of achieving desired outcomes	A process through which meaning is given to outcomes
Developed from an observing expert's perspective, which focuses on stable categories	Developed from an actor's ability to experience personal control by shifting perspectives
Depends on remembered facts and learned skills in contexts that are sometimes perceived as novel	Depends on fluidity of knowledge and skills and recognizes both advantages and disadvantages of each

"When we are mindful, we implicitly or explicitly (1) view a situation from several perspectives (2) see information presented in the situation as novel (3) attend to the context in which we are perceiving the information and (4) create new categories through which this information may be understood" (Langer 111).

You can liken this idea to that of Action Research. Understanding new concepts and new knowledge is important, but she believes it is important to be able to make the connections to your environment and then be able to use your knowledge in a way to change it. Mindfulness emphasizes both personal and environmental changes.

"At every moment in a mindful state, we are learning something, we are changing in some way, we are interacting with the environment so that both we and the environment are changed" (137).

"Optimal thinking corresponds to one's environment" (113).

The theory of mindfulness insists that uncertainty and the experience of personal control are inseparable (130). This uncertainty creates the freedom to discover meaning. This means that it would depend on the person answering the question and on the context in which it is answered. Similar to the idea discussed by Dr. Gary Stager, "Crisis of Certainty," Langer suggests that we as individuals get locked into single-minded views, but also reinforce those views of each other until the culture itself suffers the same mindlessness. People believe what they want to believe and they seek out those that agree with them. Langer sees validity in all things and shies away from absolutes. In my opinion, someone who is mindful is someone who is truly educated.

21st Century Learning: Critical Thinking & Collaboration - Learning Adventure 5

2009-11-16T18:38:00.000-08:00

I recently had a really good wake up call while trying to understand the nuisances and differences of instructionism and constructionism. As of late, I've found myself getting sucked into an overemphasis of the "product" as it relates to the degree. This whole experience is and should be about the process and not the product. Doing so has allowed me to catch my breath and relax a bit and get back to what is important.

As I think about the program so far, all of these adventures and exercises are meant to provide an opportunity to show how we can become sophisticated learners with the hope that those of us in the classroom can then take some of these experiences and learnings into the classroom. The best "instruction" in the world can't help a student make music, have an appreciation for the vastness and wonders of space or understand the nuisances and complexity of computer programming. In chapter 5 of the The Children's Machine, Papert gives us some really good guidance as to what it takes to learn (time, talking, thinking). All 3 facets of learning have been required in each learning adventure. If we understand the process of learning, we are truly free to do and explore whatever we wish.

This is absolutely true for this particular learning adventure as we were tasked with programming a turtle in LOGO to make a patch and then quilt using the patches of our cadremates. Honestly, I wasn't quite sure if I was ever going to complete a patch, but I finally had a window of time to sit down and focus a bit. Seeing the conversations and examples of the patches so far really helped. I was able to start with a small kernel of code which I used to expand and eventually make work. While my patch is no where near as cool or sophisticated as some of my friends, I am quite OK with that. In fact, I was and am quite pleased!

Here's what I put together...

Code Used

to frame
pd
setc "black
repeat 4 [fd 100 rt 90]
end

to patch
frame
rt 45
fd 100
rt 45
fd 25
setc 14
bk 90
lt 45
setc 105
fd 35
rt 135
fd 95
fill setc 125
rt 90
fd 30
rt 45
end

to quilt
repeat 8 [patch]
end

21st Century Learning: Technology as a Tool

2009-11-14T20:12:00.000-08:00

Here are a few thoughts after reading an article by Seymour Papert, Computer as Material: Messing About with Time.

The idea of the computer as a "special" tool definitely resonates with me. It's actually a belief I've held prior to coming into the program and it's always nice to come across an article by really smart people that supports an existing belief. I've been able to see first hand in my work what technology can do. On a day to day basis, I work with a small group of people that are in Ohio, Denmark and Russia and we do with little to no difficulty. The collaborative technologies are just that good. While reading through this activity, I kept thinking about a specific quote from the Children's Machine...

"Not since the printing press has there been such a great surge in the potential to boost technicalized learning" (Papert 55).

The importance of viewing technology/computers as a tool is an important one. Doing so unveils its potential but also reveals its limitations. The tools are only as good as the people using them. All too often, students coming into the workforce as full time employees or interns have a belief or need for someone to tell them what to do. Where business differs from "most" classrooms is that it is up to the worker to not only solve the problem, but define it as well. Everything has always been so structured and so defined that students freeze when a task is ambiguous and requires them to build assumptions. This has been an observation for quite some time and why I believe the idea of the art of learning is so important. All of the computers, software and technology in the world don't mean a damn thing if people can't learn and apply them to their world and use them to do something productive.

21st Century Learning: The Art of Learning

2009-11-10T20:05:00.000-08:00

It's interesting to consider Papert in the context of reading Dewey and others. Papert effectively lays out a call for life-long learning and provides some very sound advice as to how get really good at it (time, talking, thinking to name a few). True learning is an awakening in which always leads to more learning (see blog title). He had/has the vision for the power of technology. He knows that this power can only be realized if someone is skilled in the art of learning.

"Not since the printing press has there been such a great surge in the potential to boost technicalized learning" (55). Keep in mind this book was written in 1993 before...

Google
Youtube
Digital cameras
Laptops

All of these tools can be used to create rich activities.

Another key point:

"Understanding in the head comes is well suited when we make something that is "in the world" - the product can then be discussed, examined, probed and admired"

For me, it's why this blog and these maps are so important. By working through these exercises, I am actively constructing and reflecting and making connections with the texts we're reading. I hope they can help you do the same.

21st Century Learning: Collaboration - The Benefits of Creating the Map Using Voice Thread

2009-11-08T12:49:00.001-08:00

Thought it would be good to try a different way of discussing topics other than text. I've been participating in a lot of message forums and one of my classmates wrote of his desire for some form of communication and collaboration other than text. I've just started scratching the surface with VoiceThread, but it seems like it could be a very powerful tool in facilitating conversations. I'm surprised something like this hasn't been integrated into the program yet. We'll see if anyone latches on to the idea.

21st Century Learning: Defining Knowledge and Learning

2009-11-02T18:29:00.000-08:00

I'm getting back into Learning Theory after immersing myself in Papert and a Literature Review for my Action Research project. I thought it would be a good idea to review my answers to the 4 essential questions prior to reading The Power of Mindful Learning by Ellen J. Langer.

Is learning a solitary activity, undertaken by an individual, or is learning a social activity, something done by a group within a context?
Is learning primarily focused on the transmission of facts and information or is it focused on the development of understanding of concepts and new knowledge?
Is our goal as educators to prepare an individual who can recall sets of information or develop groups of individuals who can apply the information to as yet unsolved problems?
Does development precede learning, or does learning precede development?

Is learning a solitary activity, undertaken by an individual, or is learning a social activity, something done by a group within a context?

It can be both. No I hope this isn't read as a cop out. It's something I believed before doing some digging and thanks to the video Scott sent in the tappedin session and this really good article from Joy, I feel like I am beginning to have enough information to at least be dangerous (ie. Defend my point of view smile ).

For me I break learning down into two buckets - acquisition and application. As the article mentions, it's what Gilbert Ryle (1949) has termed 'knowing that' and 'knowing how." The idea is that we can know of a subject like medicine and the body, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into knowing how to be a surgeon. But I think that both pieces of knowledge are absolutely required in the context of being a surgeon. For the sake of the example, a student could study a physiology text (individual) or work with a study group or listen to a professor’s lecture in order to acquire a baseline understanding of the body (social). In order to learn how to be a surgeon, that same student could watch videos or work through simulations (individual) or learn the trade through an apprenticeship or residency (social). Either way, the student is learning about the ‘that’ and the ‘how’ either as individual or within a social context.

Is learning primarily focused on the transmission of facts and information or is it focused on the development of understanding of concepts and new knowledge?

Not to sound like a broken record, but I still believe it takes both. I take "learning primarily focused on the transmission of facts and information" as the price of admission or the bare minimum required in order to participate in a conversation or community. A recent example of what I mean by this is when Gary shared all of his photos of Jazz musicians. I can say that I definitely appreciate all forms of good music as an art form, but other than that, I have nothing to say about Jazz. When I look at my time constraints, jazz isn't something I have time to research or learn more about, so for the time being, I'm willing to sit on the sidelines for that conversation. Maybe someday? So for any topic, whether you are a novice or expert, you have to have digested certain basic facts or at least have the desire or willingness to do so in order to begin the process of learning so that you can at least function in a given conversation or community.

Now on to the second part of the question - is learning focused on the development of understanding of concepts and new knowledge? This is where we can begin to start talking about the quality of the learning. I believe this is getting at what's talked about in Surpassing Ourselves. I'm not even a third of the way through it, but I'm really enjoying it thus far because it's helping me connect the dots. In my opinion, these are the attributes of expert learning. A couple of key points from the book:

Expertise requires a tremendous amount of KNOWLEDGE
Need to think of expertise as a process - something that people do rather than as something they have
Experts look for ways to maximize opportunities for growth - the more expert people go about things in ways that result in their learning still more...very progressive - they are always moving forward

Career of the expert is one of progressively advancing on the problems constituting a field of work, whereas the career of the nonexpert is one of gradually constricting the field of work so that it more closely conforms to the routines the nonexpert is prepared to execute (Bereiter & Scardamalia).

So if expertise is all about knowledge and recognizing what's important and making connections, then it's very important to teach students or learn for yourself how to acquire the right type of knowledge so that one can be successful or better yet become an expert (ie. that is focus on the development of understanding new concepts and knowledge).

Is our goal as educators to prepare an individual who can recall sets of information or develop groups of individuals who can apply the information to as yet unsolved problems?

Sorry I'm a little late to the party on this one, but I wanted to share a blog entry I did a couple of weeks ago on this topic. The quick answer is educators should be teaching our kids both.

Batteries & Knowledge

So what can batteries tell us about learning? Before I get into that, I have to give credit to my priest who gave a really good homily using the battery analogy which I'm going to attempt to compare to learning. The idea is pretty simple, which is why I like it.

So what is a battery and why is it important?

Forgive my unscientific definition, but a battery is simply an object that contains a charge and the potential to give or provide energy to an object like a camera or phone. It's the source of power if you will. It's what allows many devices we enjoy in our everyday lives the ability to function and operate. A battery by itself is pretty much worthless. If it's not used, it eventually loses its charge (I guess you could use it as a paper weight or a door stop, but that's not its purpose or the point of this entry).

Batteries and learning

So let's think of the battery as the knowledge or facts possessed by an individual. This knowledge could be acquired through reading, memorization, instruction or experience. The acquisition for the sake of this entry doesn't matter. The individual's life, environment and unsolved problems represent the device (the benefit). The knowledge by itself represents potential power or influence, but doesn't really matter unless the individual knows how to make the connection to his/her everyday life and environment. Having the ability to practically apply the knowledge to one's life is when the knowledge begins to have meaning and consequence.

Does development precede learning, or does learning precede development?

POP!

That was the sound of my head exploding out here in Ohio. I've put the pieces together and am now ready to try and respond. What is learning? What is development? Which comes first? Depending on how you define those terms, it can change your point of view. I'm with you guys, it feels rather circular in nature.

That said. I've been thinking about this pretty hard since the question was posed and am trying to come up with a succinct answer. So here it goes.

Learning comes first. To understand individual development, you have to understand the social and cultural context of the individual. From birth, we learn how to interact with our families, culture and environment. As we learn, we can begin to develop understanding and meaning. Without the basic building blocks of learning (ex. attention, sensation, perception, memory), we cannot develop a deeper level of understanding or higher order of thinking.

If you don't like my arguments, Vygotsky argues this a heck of a lot better than I can "learning is a necessary and universal aspect of the process of developing culturally organized, specifically human psychological function" (1978, LINK)

21st Century Learning: Collaboration & Creativity - Learning Adventures 4

2009-10-27T17:32:00.000-07:00

First off I want to apologize to any of my cadre mates that I might have turned off to this particular learning adventure based on my initial thoughts on webspiration. I can assure you this was not my intention. I've been using mapping software for 2 years now and I have developed a certain affinity and way of using this type of program. It's a very powerful way of working and a great way to make connections and sense of complex ideas. When I first started working with webspiration, I experienced all kinds of technical difficulties and became pretty frustrated. I wanted to make sure everyone had a positive experience with working with maps so that's why I suggested working with Comapping instead.

I was ready to kill webspiration and never touch it again, but thankfully Nick talked me down and shared his map. This inspired me to think more like a kid and figure out a way to communicate what I had been reading by creating a collage of ideas. So I went back to the drawing board and started playing around with the ideas of chapter 2 again. This time it made a lot more sense. When I discovered that I could import images outside of the clip art, that's when things really started to take shape. I think I was most pleased when I was able to add a picture of the man himself, Seymour Papert, along with a photo of our cadre from virtcamp. It made it more personal. So I got the map started and then was even more pleased when I saw what my team mates added to it. I think it looks great and tells a nice story. I look forward to seeing how the others turn out and figuring out how we can put them all together.

One other wrinkle that was part of this adventure was a conversation I had with my little sister. She is a freshman in college and getting her degree in education. I am having a lot of fun swapping stories about our learning experiences. She happened to Skype me while I was in the process of proposing the Comapping audible to this adventure and she asked me in a very surprised way if I could actually do that? I explained to her that this is my education and how important it is to take charge and responsibility of your own learning. I couldn't figure out how to make it work so I chose to try and do something about it. I explained to her that the worst thing that happens is that the group or the professor says no. It never had to come to that because Nick and the others who shared maps helped broaden my perspective. I encouraged her to do the same and I'm hoping it is a lesson that I'm able to instill in her as my sister and a future teacher.

21st Century Learning: Creativity & Communication - Webspiration

2009-10-24T12:21:00.000-07:00

Over the last few days, I played around with webspiration. I've been using collaborative mapping in my work for over two years now so I have pretty high standards. It's a public beta version, so there are things the developers are surely working through (ie. speed and a few others). That said it's a pretty cool tool and an interesting way visually communicating connections.

I've been reading the Children's Machine by Seymour Papert and really enjoying it. I just have a couple more chapters to go. I'll post my thoughts later, but here's a sneak peak at some of the key takeaways from chapter 2 of the book that I put together in the program.

Apple Should Learn from Military History - The Two Front War Spells Trouble

2009-10-18T18:32:00.000-07:00

Like for Nazi Germany, the two front war marks the beginning of the end of Apple's run at dominance. For Apple, it's no longer just about Microsoft. Verizon and Google have launched a full fledged assault on the iPhone with the "There's a map for that" and "Droid Does" commercials.

The topic is a bit off, but I'm a new business development guy by day and after seeing the "Droid Does" commercial this weekend I must say that I am impressed. So impressed that I'm actually taking the time to write about it (yes I am a nerd).

Like the German Blitzkrieg, when Apple launched the iPod, the competition didn't know what hit them. By the time they realized it, it was already too late; Apple already won. Apple parlayed the iPod success against Microsoft's lowly Vista operating system with the very effective Mac / PC ads which helped Apple gain market share in the personal computer market. They launched the iPhone and it seemed as if they were going to duplicate the same incredible results of the iPod and iTunes for many years to come.

The enemies of my enemies are my friends.

Others can do a better job of filling in the details of the following events, but in my opinion, Apple made two huge monumental mistakes in July of 2009. The first was the was the rejection of the Google Voice app for the iPhone and then a few days later announcing the AT&T exclusivity contract would run through 2010. Not working out a deal to get the iPhone on the Verizon network and denying Google Voice was the beginning of the two front war for Apple.

Forecast looks bad on both fronts for Apple.

You remember those guys up Washington? You know, the "evil empire" Microsoft? Yeah those guys. They finally decided to hit back with the "I'm a PC" campaign and delivered a major blow to the Mac "cool factor" with the Lauren commercial. By all accounts, Microsoft will redeem itself with Windows 7 and will look to regain its claim to OS dominance. Given Apple's considerably higher prices for computers, they are going to have to work hard to maintain the share they've gained at Vista's expense.

Now with the Google/Verizon alliance, the iPhone looks like it has some real competition. After just seeing the commercial again, the message is brilliant, taking a page from Lauren. The two commercials both do a fantastic job of highlighting the core problems with the iPhone, network and iTunes platform. The Verizon network is better, but can the product deliver? It will be interesting to see how Apple reacts. Will they fight on both fronts on concentrate on one or the other? I guess we'll just have to wait and see until November.

21st Century Learning: Collaboration & Communication - Here Comes Everybody

2009-10-17T19:18:00.000-07:00

Clay Shirky said in an interview with the Colbert Report that "Communication tools don't get socially interesting until they get technologically boring. The social effects are now more important than just how the technology works." With $100 laptops, widespread internet connectivity and other tools, I believe we're in the midst of a radical change. If you're novice to the world of communications and technology, this is a good read. It will help you get up to speed as to how and why technology is playing such a major role in how our society communicates and collaborates. It covers specific technologies and gives a lot of good examples of uses. I hope you find the notes useful.

21st Century Learning: Understanding Meaning - Learning Adventure 1 - Flashback

2009-10-14T18:43:00.000-07:00

I just realized that I haven't posted a few items from my Technology & Learning course (664). We've embarked on several learning adventures and these are my responses to LA 1. I'll start with what I learned because that is most relevant.

September 28 - Wrapping up Learning Adventure #1

In my best impersonation of Kevin M. (who I would argue is NOT pessimistic but rather "matter of fact" : - ) that reliability, validity, perspective and bias always play a role in varying forms of degree. Is this source reliable? Is it valid to the topic? Where's the author coming from? These are questions that one should always ask when learning. Can't say exactly when I learned this lesson, but I believe empathy is extremely important when it comes to understanding. Over time and experience, we learn what and who are credible, reliable and valid as sources of information.

Two unrelated items stick out for me when reflecting on the adventures:

Is the amount insight to glean from the responses of all that participated. I learned about the perspectives, biases and credibility of my fellow classmates. If you didn't pick up on any of this, I would suggest you go back and reread some of the posts and overlay it on top of posts from other classes and your experiences during virtcamp. To me it was very interesting and should prove helpful as I continue to learn from everyone in this cadre.
I'm going to experiment a little bit with this technique as an exercise to begin to build a foundation of formal knowledge on a variety of topics in my organization. What struck me was how quickly varying points of views were shared to create a really balanced point of view on both questions. Each side (pro/con) served up some interesting questions that merit further and deeper research and understanding. As opposed to the conventional training exercise in business that we might go through (lecture), I think this could be a really interesting and efficient way to get a department up to speed on a whole host of issues.

Answers to the individual questions...

September 17 - Is Ned Kelly a Hero?

Name was familiar to me, but I didn't know or remember anything about him other than what was already posted.

Before answering the question, I decided I better first define hero.

Dictionary.com for hero –noun, plural -roes; for 5 also -ros.
1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.
2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child.

From the posts, he seemed like a pretty bad guy so I decided to search for "Australian" content on Ned Kelly and see what they had to say. I found a good article on web wombat that summarized his life.

Evidence from the article supporting Ned Kelly as a Hero

while at school he saved a seven-year-old boy from drowning and received a green-silk sash fringed with gold for his courage
At the age of 12 he was forced to quit school to become the family breadwinner after the death of his father, but despite this he educated himself and was known for his good use of language and fine sense of humor
Continued to defend his family from injustice (police got too friendly with his sister and the police falsely imprisoned his mother)
spent another six months in prison for beating up a salesman (what can I say, I DON'T like solicitors ; )

I then found another Australian website called Ned Kelly's World and after reading his story, I think you can definitely say that he was a hero in the fact that he fought against the injustices that were prevalent in Australian society at the time (mainly corruption). He showed courage, was admired for his brave deeds and saved a drowning boy so yes, Ned Kelly is a hero.

Further support for my argument on Sept 18

Hi Mary -

Defending one's sister from sexual assault? I'd say that's pretty noble and important. Jumping in the water to save a boy without regard to his own life? I'd say that's a pretty good ideal or model example of self sacrifice. Fighting against corruption on behalf of the less powerful would be considered noble by many.

I'm not saying the guy was perfect, but no one is. Seemed as if he had a short fuse and was often quick to resort to violence.

When the question is asked whether or not Ned Kelly is a hero, I'm trying to argue from the point of view of the people who get to say whether or not he is a hero (ie. Australians). I'm trying to provide context. Let's ask the question this way. Are the American Revolutionaries who fought against the British for our country's independence heroes or ungrateful murderers? If you ask me, I say heroes. If you asked someone from England in the early 1800's, they would definitely probably say they were ungrateful murderers among many other things.

Perhaps a better example of this can be drawn from the end of the movie A Time to Kill with Samuel L. Jackson. Think back to the Matthew Mcconaughey closing argument when he asks the jury to close their eyes, walks them through the entire gruesome sequence of events the little girl went through and then asked the jury to then imagine that the little girl wasn't black. It was a challenge to not always see the world through our own eyes only.

The important point for me isn't whether or not Ned Kelly is a hero, but the importance of thinking of other people's perspective when evaluating any situation. Trying to see things from both sides and just not your own. I think when we do this, it helps us come to a better understanding of any situation.

September 22 - The Chicago Seven Were Martyrs

I'm sensing the shades of gray theme. As I read an account of the story, there was a little Eric Cartman guy sitting on my shoulder telling me that these hippies, I mean yippies got exactly what they deserved. No way were they martyrs. There is rule of law in this country and to make a mockery of our judicial system is wrong...don't care how bad the judge is. Be respectful and appeal the case. Then another little guy popped up on my other shoulder with a little halo named MT telling me to dig a little deeper and try to understand the other point of view. So I asked myself a question. If I were part of that movement, would I consider the seven to be martyrs? The answer would be yes. But for me, no way they are martyrs for the reasons already stated. If Daly and crew would have hired Eric Cartmen instead of the National Guard, it never would have escalated to the point that it did : ) I'm actually headed to Chicago for a couple of days for work so I'll have to ask the locals what they think.

21st Century Learning: Collaboration - Exploring a Community of Practice (CoP)

2009-10-09T20:55:00.000-07:00

Growing up in a house where duct tape was the primary and preferred tool for home repair, I never really learned how to fix or repair equipment or machinery. For this project, I decided to explore a world that was and still is, but to a lesser extent, completely foreign to me...traditional kustoms and hot rods. Thanks to Richard for sharing with me how he works and how he benefits and participates as an Alliance member of the Jalopy Journal.

You wouldn't usually think to call a car guy a historian, craftsman or artist, but that is exactly what these guys are and they are using technology as a means to connect and spread the gospel of traditional hot rods and kustoms worldwide. It's an example where a "hoodlum" is the ideal student and teacher. I sent a note to the founder a few days ago and will update the entry if I hear back from him.

21st Century Learning: Creativity

2009-10-05T13:30:00.000-07:00

I can't overemphasize the importance of creativity and being able to define and solve problems.

Very important and enjoyable Ted Talk. I'm struck by the idea that is proposed here. The argument made is that we are educated out of creativity.

Key thoughts

"Nobody has a clue what the world is going to look like in five years and we're supposed to be educating them for it."

"Creativity is now as important as literacy."

"We get educated out of creativity."

In a world where the degree is commoditized, you better be creative and understand the world around you.

21st Century Learning: Creativity - Adventure in Learning #2 - Play

2009-10-04T19:40:00.000-07:00

I'm reading the Children's Machine by Seymour Papert and got an assignment to compose a piece of music using Sibelius software. Other than recreating songs and melodies on the Casio keyboard I had as a kid, I have no formal training or experience with music (unless you count the recorder in 4th grade). As recently as 2001, I played around with a piece of software to score music for a short lived sketch comedy show (pre-youtube so don't waste your time searching : ). I've always enjoyed playing around with music, but other than that, I've never really focused on it. There's a quote in the book where Papert talks about computers and kids that I thought could play a role in this assignment.

"I was playing like a child and experiencing an explosion of creativity. Why couldn't a computer give a child the same kind of experience?"

So with this adventure, I decided not to keep all the excitement to myself. I decided to enlist the help of my two boys (ages 3 and 1). I learned a lot during this exercise:

Don't be afraid to just jump right in
Don't worry what others think
Play. Play. Play.

I know 16 years later, the computer is providing my 3 year old with this kind of joy. As you'll see in the video, there is such joy in learning. Here's to hoping he and other kids can have this much fun while learning. Now I have to figure out how to not "screw up" the natural creativity and curiosity. Sorry for the clunky beginning.

21st Century Learning: Defining Success

2009-09-27T12:44:00.000-07:00

Some interesting things to think about as we think about defining success. Understanding success is important as we set any goal or objective for ourselves regardless of what it is that we do. An important lesson to learn is that it is about the effort and pursuit of success. It's not about material goods or external rewards. In a sense, we would be much better off if we worry about ourselves and not about others. Don't worry about judgement or what others think. Probably what's most important is to make sure what we're working towards is what we want and not what someone else has defined for us.

21st Century Learning: The Great Grandfather of 21st Century Learning Skills

2009-09-20T14:06:00.001-07:00

"With the advent of democracy and modern industrial conditions, it is impossible to foretell definitely just what civilization will be twenty years from now. Hence it is impossible to prepare the child for any precise set of conditions." (Dewey 1897)

This seems like a quote from today, but it is actually from a leading educational philosopher, John Dewey, from back in 1897. While the amount of change he witnessed in his lifetime was significant, technology and globalization makes this quote even more relevant today. Teaching critical thinking, communication and creativity is essential if we expect students to be successful in today's and tomorrow's world.

According to Dewey, education must always be considered within the context of the individual and the world in which he or she interacts. You can not separate the two. It was interesting reading this creed after reading Education and Experience, which he wrote 41 years later, because I think it is in that text that the idea of constructivism really comes through.

"Constructivist learning theory says that all knowledge is constructed from a base of prior knowledge. Children are not a blank slate and knowledge cannot be imparted without the child making sense of it according to his or her current conceptions. Therefore children learn best when they are allowed to construct a personal understanding based on experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. (wikipedia)

So when thinking about Dewey and his beliefs around the goals of education, it comes down to helping students think and interact in society. Helping students with the ability to frame and define problems as well as the means to solve those problems within his or her own environment is critical. To be able to think and do this effectively and logically within the community are signs of an educated individual.

Below are notes from Experience & Education. Hope they are useful as you study and develop your own theory of learning.

21st Century Learning: Teaching and Learning

2009-09-20T12:19:00.000-07:00

As we think about our everyday lives, there are numerous opportunities to both learn and teach.

We're all learners. We're all teachers.

No matter where we are in our life, we have numerous opportunities to teach and learn each and every day. Parents play a role in teaching their children. At work, we have the obligation to help share knowledge as well as acquire new knowledge. What makes an expert learner or an expert teacher? That's what I'm in the process of trying to figure out.

21st Century Learning: Batteries & Knowledge

2009-09-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

21st Century Learning: Collaboration - When Less is More – Applying the Lessons of Brooks to Everyday Project Management

2009-09-08T10:06:00.000-07:00

The Mythical Man-Month (Fred Brooks)

Assigning more programmers to a project running behind schedule will make it even later, due to the time required for the new programmers to learn about the project, as well as the increased communication overhead. When N people have to communicate among themselves (without a hierarchy), as N increases, their output M decreases and can even become negative, i.e., the total work remaining at the end of a day is greater than the total work that had been remaining at the beginning of that day, such as when many bugs are created.

* Group Intercommunication Formula: n(n − 1) / 2
* Example: 50 developers give 50 • (50 – 1) / 2 = 1225 channels of communication.

Wikipedia

Now replace programmers with Decision-Makers…

Assigning more Decision-Makers to a project running behind schedule will make it even later, due to the time required for the new Decision-Makers to learn about the project, as well as the increased communication overhead. When N people have to communicate among themselves (without a hierarchy), as N increases, their output M decreases and can even become negative, i.e., the total work remaining at the end of a day is greater than the total work that had been remaining at the beginning of that day, such as having to address questions by those who have recently been included in the process of deciding.

Apply the formula against a project that has 4 decision makers. The math works out to be 6 lines of communication. Doubling the number of decision makers to 8 shouldn’t complicate things that much should it? Think again while doing the math. The number of channels of communication goes from 6 all the way to 28. Now imagine varying levels of hierarchy and things get even more complicated!

When adding people to a project (ie adding additional channels of communication), you need to consider the amount of TIME, ENERGY and RESOURCES required to inform the new participant that will now be a part of the decision making process.

Then you need to assess the VALUE the new participant will bring if they are informed. Ask yourself the question, what VALUE will be added to the project if I spend the time informing them.

If the VALUE of the informed is GREATER than the TIME, ENE ENERGY and RESOURCES required to inform, then go ahead and engage them and bring them in as part of the decision making process.

If no, then only engage the person when it’s time for them to add value.

Committee is no substitute for competent project managers. Competency is defined as the ability to appropriately define and solve problems within the context of the project and environment. Appropriately is defined as those things that truly matter to the success of the project.

21st Century Learning: Critical Thinking - Does Twitter Make You Dumber?

2009-08-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

Came across an interesting article on CNN today about the impacts of multitasking.

Twitter for this entry is defined as the attitude and "ability" people think they have to multitask. I've never bought into the idea of being able to do multiple things at once (at least things that require some level of conscious thinking). I hate Twitter and this reminded me of my first and if I can help it, only Tweet. Trying to listen and tweet doesn't work.

Multitasking may "lower the threshold of distractibility," possibly harming the ability to do tasks that require intense sustained focus, such as art, science, and writing. Gary Aston-Jones, Ph.D., the Murray chair of excellence in neuroscience at the Medical University of South Carolina.

The study suggests that avid multitaskers tend to be easily distracted and aren't as good at focusing and filtering important information as those that aren't immersed in that world. I tend to agree. So instead of doing one thing adequately, the multitasker does 10 things poorly. Well done multitasker ; )

21st Century Learning: Collaboration - Thoughts and notes on the first part of Wikinomics

2009-08-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

Key idea: New models of production now available as a result of community, collaboration and self-organization as opposed to hierarchy and control.

21st Century Learning: Redefining Education

2009-08-08T11:58:00.000-07:00

What does it mean to be educated in the 21st century?

Found a FANTASTIC essay written by an award winning professor and scholar (William Cronan) where he sums up what it means to be liberally educated (conservative friends...don't worry).

To quote his essay "Only Connect,"

“More than anything else, being an educated person means being able to see connections so as to be able to make sense of the world and act within it in creative ways...listening, reading, writing, talking, puzzle‐solving, seeing the world through others’ eyes, empowering others, leading—every last one of these things is finally about connecting.”

All I can add to it is that I wholeheartedly agree...that guy is pretty smart! Can we educate/train our kids and coworkers in order to do this? I have a feeling I'll be referencing this essay quite often.

21st Century Learning: So what are you studying?

2009-08-08T11:54:00.000-07:00

Here's how I've been explaining the Pepperdine Masters of Arts in Learning Technologies program to people and it actually works for most...

It's a program that explores how people actually learn
and how technology can help facilitate and play a role in the learning process

The million dollar question is whether or not my interpretation/explanation is actually true or not! Keep reading and I'll let you know if I'm right.

Action research & washing your hair

2009-08-08T11:53:00.001-07:00

Coming into the program, I thought I had an idea of what action research meant. I assumed it was very similar to the various forms of consumer research. Quite the contrary! Consumer research is about understanding the values and opinions of consumers, independent from my thoughts and feelings. As I come to understand more, I'd almost describe it as research that is somewhat "self-serving" in nature. Not saying that is bad, but just very different from my previous point of view as to what research was. It's a process where the importance and value of the learnings is determined by the participants. This is useful because it's about improving the environment around the researcher. There's never a right or wrong answer; it's about putting actions into place to help make things better. The action comes into play because the researcher also plays a role in the process with others. Once again, something that is very different from consumer research where the role is as an observer vs. active participant. The science comes into play because it causes a change and has a specific process that studies and analyzes the effects of those changes. As I come to understand, it's a process for organizational and individual learning. Learning is something that never ends and is always about making progress and continuing growth. Hopefully this thought process will become so ingrained in my thought process that I never have to think about it. Kind of like washing your hair. Thus - rinse, lather, repeat.

Distributed Cognition

2009-08-02T12:42:00.000-07:00

Trying to read these articles and as someone from the business world, I'm coming across a lot of different terms that are not yet familiar. I'd be interested in hearing what everyone's interpretation of distributed cognition is in your "own words" if you will and not some wiki article or technical journal.

Here's my take...

Distributed cognition is the practical application of knowledge in order to facilitate further understanding in one's group or environment. It's a recognition that we need a variety of tools and resources (including people) to "figure things out" if you will.

Coming together to form a community

2009-07-18T18:36:00.000-07:00

What makes it possible for a random group of people to come together and form a solid community full of support, trust and encouragement all in the span of 4 days? Is it a common belief or passion in a certain topic or thing? Is it more attributable to a "process" of throwing people together in a series of team building exercises? Or maybe some people are "wired" in a way that makes them associate with groups and be "team" players? After this past week, I assume it's probably a combination of all three of the things I just listed as well as other reasons not yet identified or understood. I look forward to learning more about the process of learning and better yet how we can help others learn and understand.

21st Century Learning: Collaboration - Smart is as smart does

2009-07-18T07:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a fast and long week at the same time. Yesterday was a long day finishing up projects trying to meet the Saturday deadline. The teams have all started to gel and come together. We've each found our role and have worked towards a common goal. It's interesting to see learning circles put into practice and see how the structure lends itself to getting a lot accomplished in a short amount of time. The lesson from Thursday was also a reinforcement of a philosophy that I learned while playing in sports and in the business world. Surround yourself with smart and talented people and learn as much as you can from them. That's probably the most exciting thing that I'm looking forward to as we wrap up this week long journey here at Pepperdine. My classmates & professors are all very extraordinary and interesting people and I look forward to making this journey with all them. Hopefully I'll be able to share a little knowledge and wisdom along the way.

It's now more like school

2009-07-16T17:56:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day it felt like school. Problem solving and challenges aren't really an issue for me. Running through the syllabus, along with new unfamiliar terms like "distributive cognition" and "action research" all the while pointing and clicking all over the place for books and resources (stuff that should be "easy") is what stresses me out. I'm no expert on user interface, but I know a general rule of thumb is to always minimize the amount of clicks for the user. I had to type out 9 different steps in order to search for different topics on various databases. There has to be an easier/better way. Hopefully by thinking and asking this question, I can help improve the program and the learning environment around me.

What is Community?

2009-07-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

According to dictionary.com

com⋅mu⋅ni⋅ty–noun, plural -ties.

1.	a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage.

Generally we might think of community as the place where we live or the people meet and interact with on a daily basis. Often times we think of this only taking place in the physical or "real" world so to speak. There's a certain proximity or closeness to those considered tied or grouped into your community. This is especially true for churches, civic organizations or cities, but what about learning communities? Is it possible to have a "real" community of people building knowledge and working together using technology and communications tools? Up until now, I would've said that it's highly unlikely, but I'm now beginning to see how a diverse group of people who otherwise might be complete strangers can actually come together through a set of shared experiences to help each other learn. Connections are being made and trust is being established. It's now not only possible, but now very likely.

The first post - Pepperdine

2009-07-14T19:23:00.000-07:00

Been immersed in my masters program (MA in Learning Technologies) for 4.5 hours and trying to capture the single most important thing that is sticking in my head. Over the last few years I've gotten a taste of working on developing tools to help students learn and teachers teach and have enjoyed every minute. I've had some success and some set backs, but have been learning all the way. While the substance of the content might be a little "light" right now, I'm anxious to go back and read this post six months and twelve month from now and see how I have grown and evolved. I'm excited by this voyage/journey to better understanding how people learn so that I can use that knowledge to more effectively articulate how to change and make things better. It's one that began a few years ago, has now gone to another level and ultimately one that will never end...