EDUCAUSE | Podcasts, Net Generation Learner, and Teaching and Learning

E08 Podcast: Fostering Learning in the Networked World: The Cyberlearning Opportunity and Challenge

gbayne — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:11:33 -0600

This forty-two minute podcast features a session recorded at the EDUCAUSE 2008 Annual Conference. The speech is by Christine L. Borgman, Professor & Presidential Chair in Information Studies at UCLA. Her session is entitled, "Fostering Learning in the Networked World: The Cyberlearning Opportunity and Challenge."
Video of this session is also available.

Imagine a freshman college student in the year 2015. She has grown up in a world where learning is as accessible through technologies at home as it is in the classroom, and digital content is as real to her as paper, lab equipment, or textbooks. In high school, she and her classmates engaged in creative problem-solving activities by manipulating simulations in a virtual laboratory or by downloading and analyzing visualizations of real-time data from remote sensors. Away from the classroom, she has had seamless access to school materials and homework assignments using inexpensive mobile technologies. She continues to collaborate with her classmates in virtual environments that allow not only social interaction with each other but also rich connections with a wealth of supplementary content. Her teacher has tracked her progress over the course of a lesson plan and compared her performance across a lifelong “digital portfolio,” making note of areas that need additional attention through personalized assignments and alerting parents to specific concerns. What makes this possible is cyberlearning, the use of networked computing and communications technologies to support learning. Cyberlearning has the potential to transform education by enabling customized interaction with diverse learning materials on any topic, from anthropology to zoology. Today’s students already enter the university with high expectations for the use of technology in their learning and for maintaining relationships with their high school classmates, wherever they may have scattered for college or career. The educational system must respond dynamically to prepare our population for the complex, evolving, global challenges of the 21st century. Advances in technology are poised to meet these educational demands. Cyberlearning offers new learning and educational approaches and the possibility of redistributing learning experiences over time and space, beyond the classroom and throughout a lifetime. This talk presents the report of the National Science Foundation Task Force on Cyberlearning and its implications for higher education.

NLII 2005 Summer Focus Session: Barriers

jcummings — Fri, 08 Jul 2005 16:47:00 -0500

With all the technology for institutions to choose from and utilize, implementing interactivity in the classroom may seem easy. Yet, many are still having difficulties. Throughout this conference, collaboration took place to try and hone in on some potential barriers between educators, administrators, students and technology.

Kate Salvadore, reporting

Calibrated Peer Review: 2005 Summer Focus Session Case Study

jcummings — Mon, 27 Jun 2005 13:16:00 -0500

The attached MP3 file contains the audio from UCLA professor Arlene Russell's presentation regarding Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) at the NLII 2005 Summer Focus Session. CPR engages students in formally reviewing and rating each other's work using a defined set of criteria; a Web-based application is used to support the process.

Dr. Russell's presentation is the second of two case studies presented at the session; the first case study was presented by NC State University professor Bob Beichner, who discussed the SCALE-UP project.

We experienced volume problems in capturing the original audio from which this file is taken, so I had to boost the volume quite a bit in post-production. As with the "Models of Interaction" track, this has led to a file with noticeable background buzz. However, Dr. Russell can be heard throughout the track with little problem, so I've decided to post the file for anyone interested.

SCALE-UP: 2005 Summer Focus Session Case Study

jcummings — Mon, 27 Jun 2005 15:38:00 -0500

The attached MP3 file contains the audio from NC State professor Bob Beichner's presentation at the NLII 2005 Summer Focus Session regarding SCALE-UP. The SCALE-UP project explores the redesign of classroom spaces and teaching approaches for large enrollment classes to generate greater student interaction and engagement with the learning process.

Dr. Beichner's presentation is the first of two case studies presented at the session; the second case study was presented by UCLA professor Arlene Russell, who discussed the Calibrated Peer Review process.

We experienced volume problems in capturing the original audio from which this file is taken, so I had to boost the volume quite a bit in post-production. As with the "Models of Interaction" track, this has led to a file with noticeable background buzz. However, Dr. Beichner can be heard throughout the track with little problem, so I've decided to post the file for anyone interested.

Session Closing - A Student's Perspective

jcummings — Mon, 27 Jun 2005 16:23:00 -0500

Recent NC State University graduate Carie Windham closed the NLII 2005 Summer Focus Session with her "Ten Commandments" for faculty regarding interactive learning and the use of technology to support it. Speaking not only as a recent student but a potential faculty member, Windham also emphasized what she had learned from the session that would influence her teaching in the future.

Summer Focus Session 2005: Student Perspectives

jcummings — Mon, 27 Jun 2005 09:05:00 -0500

At the 2005 Summer Focus Session, Michigan State journalism faculty member Bonnie Bucqueroux developed a video report based on the Student Perspective project parlor conducted by Michigan State student Sarah Marzec and recent NC State graduate Carie Windham. In addition to covering the parlor itself, Bonnie interviewed the students separately to get a deeper understanding of their views.

The attached MP3 file contains the audio track from Bonnie's video report, which focused on the student perspective regarding interactive approaches to teaching and learning.

Video - Student Perspective on Interactive Learning (Flash)

jcummings — Mon, 27 Jun 2005 08:30:00 -0500

At the NLII 2005 Summer Focus Session, Michigan State journalism faculty member Bonnie Bucqueroux developed a video report based on the Student Perspective project parlor conducted by Michigan State student Sarah Marzec and recent NC State graduate Carie Windham. In addition to covering the parlor itself, Bonnie interviewed the students separately to get a deeper understanding of their views.

Note: The video file is approx. 32 MB and provided in Macromedia Flash format (.swf). If you don't already have the Flash Player installed in your browser, you can download it from:

http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash

Models of Interaction - Diana Oblinger

jcummings — Sat, 25 Jun 2005 11:53:00 -0500

On the second day of the NLII 2005 Summer Focus Session, Diana Oblinger engaged session participants in a presentation regarding models for interactive learning. In addition to highlighting various models, she discussed their relative importance to teaching and learning given what we know about learning science and the characteristics of today's learners. The attached MP3 files contains the full audio recording of her presentation (approx. 40-45 mins.).

Due to problems with the initial recording of the session, I had to boost volume levels in post-production significantly, creating a noticeable background hum in certain parts of the file. My efforts to eliminate that hum through filtering without affecting the audio from Diana's presentation were unsuccessful. However, since the hum doesn't present a major distraction or obscure the main audio of the presentation, I decided to post the file for those who may be interested.

Introduction to NLII 2005 Summer Focus Session

jcummings — Fri, 24 Jun 2005 13:41:00 -0500

The NLII 2005 Summer Focus Session took place at Michigan State University on June 15-16, 2005. Co-sponsored by Michigan State, the National Science Foundation, and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI, formerly NLII), the session explored emerging principles and practices in interactive learning and how institutions can rethink their learning environments to be more interactive and engaging.

This podcast report, developed by Michigan State journalism student Kate Salvadore, highlights the major themes of the focus session through interviews with EDUCAUSE VP Diana Oblinger, ELI Associate Program Director Paul Hagner, and ELI Fellow Cyprien Lomas.

ELI would like to thank the podcasting team from the Michigan State for their work on behalf of the focus session:

Darcy Greene, Associate Professor, Michigan State University School of Journalism
Bonnie Bucqueroux, Coordinator, Victims and The Media Program, Michigan State University School of Journalism
Kate Sarah Salvadore, Student, Michigan State University School of Journalism
Matthew Robert Lieber, Student, Michigan State University School of Journalism

The MSU team developed all of the podcast reports for the focus session. ELI staff also recorded the full audio from select focus session presentations, and those files will be made available for podcasting as well.

Student Perspectives on Interactive Learning

jcummings — Fri, 24 Jun 2005 14:03:00 -0500

The attached MP3 file contains the full audio recording for one of the student parlor presentations that took place during the 2005 Summer Focus Session. In the presentation, Michigan State University student Sarah Marzec and North Carolina State University student Carie Windham discuss their views on why the use of interactive approaches to teaching and learning matters, as well as what works and what doesn't. The students also engaged participants in a brief question-and-answer period toward the end of the presentation.

This file also represents my first attempt at post-production on an audio file, so I apologize in advance for any peaks and valleys in volume and sound quality. Some aspects of the original recording couldn't be easily improved, but I took my best shot at them and I'll continue to try to improve my production skills with subsequent recordings.