Runtah

• Link to SciVee & Overview of SciVee (Video)
• Via Tom Hanson through e-mail (Editor - Openeducation.Net)

SciVee?
SciVee is an online science research sharing portal that invites scientists to make their research known by combining their published scientific article with a corresponding video into an online presentation called a “SciVee pubcast.”

FEATURES & BENEFITS?

"Pubcasts enable scientists who view them a deeper comprehension of a publications teaching points than would be possible from reading an abstract alone. Scientists can gain a quicker comprehension of more publications in substantially less time with the aid of a video presentation provided directly from the author. Once a large database of pubcasts are made available on SciVee, viewing multiple pubcasts on the same topic will enable scientists to gain access to a broader sampling of relevant research thereby possibly expanding their breadth and depth of their scientific understanding (Source)."

According to SciVee, a pubcast of your research paper (peer reviewed scientific journal publication?) can increase the breadth of your audience, readership of your paper, feedback from peers, and possibly the likelihood of citation(s).

EXAMPLE?
Here is the cream example of success at SciVee: Structural Evolution of the Protein-kinase Like Superfamily was one of their first posts on July 19, 2007, and since then it has been viewed (or clicked on) more than 100,000 times.

REFLECTION!
According to YouTube viewing standards the cream example would probably be considered a disaster, but then again if say 5-10 of these viewers would actually cite the paper in theirs, it can be considered a great success from an academic research point-of-view.

Anyway, researchers should not be too concerned about the viewing numbers, popularity, ratings, and other ego-boosting activities. If the research can benefit mankind or nature in any way, we should have enough motivation to do our thing, and with tools like SciVee we can share, promote, discuss and reflect our research with the SciVee world. If we are lucky it will spark more interest here and there. You never know, someone like Bill Gates might be willing to sponsor millions of dollars if he believes in your work.

On the other side, I really found SciVee to be a really slow learning adventure! I am not sure if it has something to do with my PC and network, or with their server capacity and user traffic, or perhaps they are using some form of poor video compression technology. Whatever it is, it would probably be a good reason for why I will probably not access this site again (unless I discover a great SciVee research project searching in Google!). Perhaps, all the videos could be hosted on YouTube, and embedded in SciVee, so that SciVee could be lighter and easier to access for other important research activities such as discussion and reflection. Imagine exploring SciVee with a Google speed factor. Now that is something that gets me excited. In other words, SciVee has interesting content and discussions, but it needs to speed up the access factor to have my vote of approval (Who cares about your vote!)! Just making a point!

ORIGIN OF YES, WE CAN ?
I am not sure if Bill Gates will invest millions of dollars in my important non-scientific "Origin of Yes, We Can!" weekend project. I am in the midst of researching the origin of Obamas (or his team) inspirational and successful Yes, We can! slogan and campaign (Example: Yes, We Can song). Ever since I heard Obama say those three famous words, I felt that I had heard it before somewhere. And this weekend I got the AHA-moment while listening (actually singing along! Great song!) to my 2 1/2 year old son singing the famous Bob the Builder song (or chorus), Bob the builder, Can we fix it? Bob the builder, Yes we can!

Could it be that Obama was inspired by Bob the Builder? If this is the case, he should give due credit to Bob the Builder for his contribution. If not, shame on Obama! Hmm, lets give Obama the benefit of doubt for now. Perhaps, also Bob the Builder is guilty of plagiarism. Therefore, I believe that this project is of great significance. Why? Because we need to know the truth and origin of this motivational and inspirational Yes, We Can! phrase. It could be worth millions!

Boss: What nonsense! Get back to work! We dont pay you for researching such rubbish!
Me: Just trying to be creative and funny!
Boss: CREATIVE AND FUNNY!!!! Pay me your salary, and then you can be creative and funny!
Me: Ooops, this post is getting me into trouble, so I better stop here :)

• Link to Google Guide
• Using the Google Guide Effectively (FAQs)

WHAT?
"Google Guide is an online interactive tutorial and reference for experienced users, novices, and everyone in between. I developed Google Guide because I wanted more information about Googles capabilties, features, and services than I found on Googles website." - Nancy Blachman

"Google is so easy to use, why take this online tutorial? If you’re like many people, you use only a small number of Google’s services and features. The more you know about how Google works, its features and capabilities, the better it can serve your needs (Source)."

JUICE?
I found this useful Google guide when I was snooping around in Jane Knights super blog. When you first look at this Google Guide, you might be thinking this is just a simple HTML page with a few plain non-attractive graphics. Though, simplicity is one of Googles secret weapons and this is what I like about this guide, too. Anyway, do we really need any Superman or Batman animations to engage our minds to explore it? Where am I going? Wake up! In short, this guide can help us improve our skills and speed to find the learning juice we are Googling for (if indexed by Google!). The guide can for example be explored according to three (3) levels:

• Novices - Explains how to write a query that will help you find just what you want.
• Experts - (or Experienced users) Appear to describe basic concepts, but if you read carefully, you’ll discover helpful insights into how Google works and how to use it more effectively.
• Teens - Provides a lot of different types of sample queries and exercises (Get straight to the point, I am a teen!).

In addition, you can easily jump to different sections (e.g. Query Input and Search Tools). Yes, it even gives you tips on how to develop a search-friendly Website (or improve your PageRank). Also, if you have time (or no time!), check out the Cheat Sheet (2-page quick reference) and Calculator Cheat Sheet (Solve mathematical problems with Googles built-in calculator function!) . Cool stuff to learn! Yeah, I really like the fact that the guide looks like a blog (Is it a blog?). It gives you a more relaxed and informal learning touch to it!

Although, it also has a Google Guide search box, it does not appear on the guides home page, meaning it will only appear on pages within the guide (upper-left corner!). I suppose I would prefer that the search box is also accessible from the homepage. Anyway, this is a small matter which takes a few seconds to change, if they really want to. What is important, is that this guide can assist us in improving our Googling ability, so that we can find the juice we are looking for :)

Link to full article

"In muted tones, Microsoft?s chairman (Bill Gates) warned governments and companies that open source software is not the way to go if they are in the business of creating jobs and intellectual property. "

Below are Tony Bailetti, Ph.D. comments on the article about Mr. Gates speech in Asia.

1. Bill Gates is correct when he says that open source does not create jobs. He was, I am sure, referring to open source jobs in Puget Sound, Washington State, USA. This is the place where the bulk of Microsofts employees work. Surely Bill Gates knows that open source is creating thousands of jobs all over the world. Today, IBM and many of the largest companies in the world employ thousands of people to work on open source projects and fund hundreds of external open source projects that employ many more thousands of people. IBM and other companies have made millions, if not billions, from open source. In addition, many non-profit organizations such as governments, associations, universities, etc. all over the world pay people to develop open source software, install it, maintain it, support it, extend it, fix it, etc. Hundreds of small companies and individuals generate income thanks to open source. Worldwide people are creating wealth thanks to a business model enabled by open source. I agree that relatively few of these open source jobs have been created in Microsofts Puget Sound, Washington State, USA. This is quite unfortunate for Puget Sound.
   
2. Bill Gates is correct when he says that open source does not create IP. He is obviously referring to the IP that people pirate (i.e., copy a Microsoft CD without paying for the CD). There is no incentive to pirate open source software. You can get it for free (or near free). The success of open source is not based on the protection of proprietary technology, however, Microsoft?s success is. Microsoft makes billions selling proprietary software. Open source does create a different type of IP. This threatens Microsofts business model. Open source shifts the IP from product to service (or a complementary product). In other words, the value does not reside in the software product; the value resides in the service (or in a proprietary product that complements the software. E.g., a book that carries inside a CD with open source software in an attempt to sell more books at a higher price). The open source model has emerged as a viable alternative to traditional proprietary software. Today, open source, not Sun, Oracle, IBM or any other company, is the most serious competitor to Microsoft.
   
3. Bill Gates is correct when he says that open source products do not guarantee upward compatibility. However, Microsofts products do not make this guarantee either.
   
4. Bill Gates is correct when he points out that Windows has contributed to the Asian economy. However, so has open source! There is an important difference between Microsoft?s contribution to Asians and open source software?s contribution to Asians. The contribution to the Asian economy that open source has made will never make Asians dependent on the software from an American supplier headquartered in Washington State, USA.
   
5. Bill Gates is correct when he says that open source is developed at night and not during the day. You see, when its night time in Puget Sound, its day time in many other places in this world where people are busy developing high quality open source software.

• Link to ELI Podcast: Connectivism & Video
• More ELI Podcasts
• Knowing Knowledge (His book)
• Via Stephen Downes

In this 58 minute podcast, George Siemens, Associate Director for the Learning Technologies Centre at the University of Manitoba, discusses "Connectivism" (recorded at the ELI 2008 Meeting in San Antonio, Texas).

"The waves of technological and social change have eroded the effectiveness of traditional views regarding what, how, and why to educate. To effectively educate learners, fundamental assertions need to be rethought: the design of schools and curriculum, the nature of knowledge in a connected world, the relationship between educator and learner, the means and methods of authenticating information and knowledge, and, perhaps most significantly, what it means “to know” in complex, rapidly developing, and chaotic environments. This session will present connectivism as a theory of learning that can bridge the rift between traditional and new educational approaches to prepare learners for the tomorrow they will inherit."

OTHER PODCASTS?

Here are a few other ELI Podcasts (conversations) you might want to explore:

• The 2008 Horizon Report (in Second Life!)
• George Siemens and Michael Wesch Talk About Future Learning.
• Web 2.0 Learning Tools- What are they? What is their role in higher education?
• Accountability in Higher Education
• Technology and the Conative Learning Domain in Undergraduate Education
• Human Futures for Technology and Education
• Teaching Metacognition
• What Wikipedia Can Teach Us About the New Media Literacies
• ...More

WOW! So, if you want to know more about the present and future learning tools and where learning (or education) might be heading in the future, these podcasts might just give you some good ideas on how to move forward. I am certainly looking forward to an increasingly more connected open global learning network where I can communicate directly and often with experts like George Siemens (in addition to reflecting their presentations and writings). I am not sure if experts will have time for (or want to engage with) all the hungry learning minds connected to this growing open global learning network, but they will probably also have less opportunities to escape :)

"Gapminder is a non-profit venture for development and provision of free software that visualise human development. This is done in collaboration with universities, UN organisations, public agencies and non-governmental organisations. Gapminder is a Foundation registered at Stockholm county administration board (Länstyrelsen) (reg. nr. 802424-7721). It was founded by Ola Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund and Hans Rosling on 25 February 2005, in Stockholm. Gapminder Foundation will advance software development that have been done earlier by the non-profit company Gapminder Ltd. Funding has been and is mainly by grants from Sida for the Trendalyzer project. Being a producer of global public goods Gapminder benefit from free and creative inputs from pilot-testers and other end-users in many institutions and organisations."

"Why are Gapminder doing this? Gapminder work are due to a feeling of filling a gap. There has been a market failure in distributing global data. A lot of people are interested in the data, but do not get access to it (if they manage to access the data, they need to be advanced skilled statisticans to analyse it). Gapminder want´s to make the data more accessible and easier to use for instant analysis. There is no political agenda behind the work. The idea is that all people, independently of their political agenda, can use of this tools to easily improve their understanding about the complex society

Gapminder visualizes and brings life to human development data over the last decades, and you can actually download the the different tools, presentations and documents (for free), which can for example be used in class to engage your students into understanding and caring more about this vital topic. It is simply awesome!

1. SOFIA (Sharing of Free intellectual Assets)
2. Encouraging Creativity in Student Online Work
3. Flash Film Festival Award Winners 2000-2004
4. Gilbane Reports for free (Technology & Trends)
5. ItrainOnline (Sharing Internet Knowledge)
6. FOSS: Its Relevance for Engineering Colleges
7. Top 6 Keys to Being a Successful Teacher
8. E-Learning and Sustainability Report (416 KB)
9. E-Learning Case Studies 2004 - 15 real-life e-learning journeys
10. Transforming CMS into Effective Learning Environments (260 KB PDF)
11. Creating Flexible E-Learning Through the Use of Learning Objects
12. Game-based Learning: An x-Learn Perspective Paper (620 KB PDF)
13. Quality in e-Learning from a Learners Perspective
14. 21st Century Skills:The Future of Technology and Education
15. Visions 2020: Transforming Education and Training (2.96 MB PDF)
16. The BELLE Project (Broadband Enabled Lifelong Learning Environment)
17. Wikiversity (Collaborative content development)

Free-Tool-of-the-Month: PLUCK

1) SOFIA (Sharing of Free intellectual Assets)
Author: FoothillURL: http://sofia.fhda.edu/
The Sofia project is an open content initiative launched by the Foothill - De Anza Community College District with funding support from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Under the leadership of Foothill College, Sofia promotes faculty and institutional sharing of online content.
Modeled after MIT?s OpenCourseWare Initiative, Sofia encourages the free exchange of community college-level materials on the World Wide Web. It is our hope that Sofia will lead to the exploration of ways of supporting instruction and student learning using web-based resources..."
They are initially offering eight (8) courses in the Sofia Course Gallery: Creative Typography, Elementary Statistics, Physical Geography, Enterprise Network Security, Introduction to Java Programming, Introduction to Macromedia Flash, Musicianship II, and Webpage Authoring. Have Fun!
(Yes, the Open content initiative is certainly making inroads in many places. Perhaps we in Malaysia should get together and show our force in this open content era. We have been talking about it, doing some, but not much to be proud about yet (to my knowledge). Lets change this as a team!)

2) Encouraging Creativity in Student Online Work
Author: Brent MuirheadURL: http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Dec_04/article05.htm
"Teachers will need to develop a class structure and online teaching style that encourages creativity, reflective thinking, and self-directed learning. It is important that teachers enable students to have the freedom to ask questions and take intellectual risks in their written assignments and discussion groups. Teachers can provide valuable guidance by keeping dialogues focused, relevant and probing deeper into issues. This will require moderating discussions and creating a list of key ideas, references and student contributions.
Distance educators can pose a diversity of questions to foster reflective comments. Collision, Elbaum, Havvind & Tinker (2000) have created five types of questions to encourage richer student responses that are called full-spectrum questions:

• Questions that probe the so what! response- relevance, interest level, urgency and context.
• Questions that clarify meaning or conceptual vocabulary- ambiguity or vagueness and common concepts
• Questions that explore assumptions, sources and rationale- qualities assumed and study evidence.
• Questions that seek to identify causes and effects or outcomes-primary or secondary and causes, internal or external factors.
• Questions that consider appropriate action- weigh different courses of action (p. 143).

Teachers should view the full-spectrum questions as a tool for enhancing dialog. The choice of questions can be used to guide the discussion and help energize online interaction. It is wise not to overuse a particular question approach because students will begin to lose interest if the process becomes too predictable or even annoying."

3) Flash Film Festival Award Winners 2000-2004
Authors: Flashforward conference and Flash? Film Festival URL: http://www.flashforwardconference.com/default.asp
The Flashforward conference and Flash? Film Festival attract world-class developers and designers who are working in Flash and the Macromedia? SWF? format. Their goal is to provide an educational environment that generously shares techniques, inspiration and community. They support and address the needs of a broad audience, from large production companies, advertising firms, film and video studios, to freelance animators, educators and student designers.

4) Gilbane Reports for free (Technology & Trends)
Author: Bluebill Advisors, IncURL: http://www.gilbane.com/articles.html
As of January 1, 2005 all Gilbane report articles are available free of charge! If you register, there are special offers and conference discounts, and you can sign-up to be notified of new reports, case studies, events, etc.

The Gilbane Report is the most widely read newsletter covering content management technologies. It was founded by Frank Gilbane in 1993.

5) ItrainOnline (Sharing Internet Knowledge)
URL: http://www.itrainonline.org/
"The ItrainOnline initiative aims to assist civil society organizations (CSOs) and other development actors in developing countries to confront the challenges posed by new information and communications technologies (ICTs).
In seeking to overcome skills gaps in development, it connects people and know-how with the needs of ICT learners and trainers. ItrainOnline aims:

• To provide a selection of the best and most relevant computer and Internet training resources for development and social change.
• To provide access to high quality and appropriate information that is suited to the ways development organizations and civil society groups in the South learn about and use ICTs.
• To concentrate on training and "how-to" guides for development organizations and civil society groups.

In this site you will find materials and annotated links to high-quality resources in English, Spanish, French and other languages, on topics ranging from computer and Internet basics to highly technical areas and the ways that civil society and development organizations can increase their impact using these tools.

This Open Content site (ItrainOnline) is committed to the free and fair sharing of development information. The information and annotations on their site are free, and can be reproduced, translated, and disseminated without restriction. Most of the material described in the collection is free. Please respect the copyright restrictions on the external sites described on this site."

6) FOSS: Its Relevance for Engineering Colleges
Author: Laxman MohantyURL: ELC
"In recent times we get to read a lot about the increasing importance of Linux operating system. This software other than Oracle or any other proprietary software is giving sleepless nights to the software czar Microsoft. Microsoft is not hesitant to either give its software free or at a much reduced price to arrest the increased popularity of Linux and host of other software known as free software or open source software (OSS). In fact, now Microsoft is ready to share its closely guarded source code of Windows and MS Office software with government organizations of various countries in the world. It will be interesting to know if these software have any implications for technical institutions of higher learning or engineering colleges. As is evident, free software or OSS is emerging as a mass movement and there is a lot of excitement about these software in the computing world..."

7) Top 6 Keys to Being a Successful Teacher Author: Melissa KellyURL: http://712educators.about.com/od/teachingstrategies/tp/sixkeys.htm
"The most successful teachers share some common characteristics. Here are the top six keys to being a successful teacher:

• Sense of Humor
• A Positive Attitude
• High Expectations
• Consistency
• Fairness
• Flexibility

Every teacher can benefit from focusing on these important qualities. Success in teaching, as in most areas of life, depends almost entirely on your attitude and your approach."

8) E-Learning and Sustainability Report (69 pages)Author: Graham AttwellURL: Word Document (416 KB)
"The brief for the study was ?working out an analysis of how to manage a virtual learning environment in different countries and by different types of organisations (universities, SMEs, primary schools, international associations) in a sustainable way?. The report focuses on five aspects of sustainability (1. Learning platforms and learning software. 2. Institutional responses to the use of e-learning. 3. E-learning materials development. 4. Pedagogic approaches. 5. Teacher and trainers skills.)

9) E-Learning Case Studies 2004 - 15 real-life e-learning journeysAuthor: Australian Flexible Learning Framework URL: http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/casestudies/#all
"The Australian Flexible Learning Framework (Framework) is a unique, world-class initiative designed to create and share knowledge about flexible learning and to support its take-up in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. Ultimately, by making the VET sector more flexible, the Framework is contributing significantly to Australia being a global leader in education and industry.
Be inspired by snapshots of individuals and organisations making inroads into flexible learning. Find out how they got started, the challenges they faced and their plans for the future."

10) Transforming CMS into Effective Learning Environments Authors: Colleen Carmeen and Jeremy HaefnerURL: PDF file (260 KB)
"Effective use of CMS (Course Management System) bundled technologies should enable students to experience "Deeper Learning" or the learning environment which students can "learn much more, learn it earlier and more easily, and fundamentally, learn it with a pleasure and commitment that only a privileged few now feel toward school learning (Andrea DiSessa)"
According to the authors there are five (5) core deeper learning principles. Deeper learning is:

• Social
• Active
• Contextual
• Engaging
• Student-owned

When well-constructed practices around these deeper learning principles are used within a CMS, incredibly robust and effective learning environments are created...The possibility of deeper learning lies with both students and instructors: When they understand their diverse needs and requirements and bring these to the CMS, they can create their own effective learning environment."

11) Creating Flexible E-Learning Through the Use of Learning Objects
Authors: Marie Lasseter and Michael RogersURL: http://www.educause.edu/apps/eq/eqm04/eqm04410.asp
"...For our purposes, we use the definition of learning objects offered by David Wiley as ?any digital resource that can be used to support learning.? We chose to store the learning objects in WebCT Vista, since it was the course management software already in use throughout the USG (University System of Georgia).

Lessons Learned

• Plan: Identify teams, processes, timetables, and milestones and review procedures in advance. Anticipate that the project will take longer than you think.
• Distill: Consider granularity up front. We chose two levels of granularity based on our materials and the advantages offered to us by the program already in use?learning objectives and media components?on which to anchor our course transformation. Organizing learning objects around the learning objectives they map to works for us; it is straightforward in empirical courses such as math and science, but can be complex with more abstract subjects such as history and communications.
• Design: The quality of a courses instructional design will dictate the success of object-to-objective linking. Ideally, you will find at least one learning object and assessment per objective. Unfortunately, it doesn?t always work out that way. Even in well-designed courses, you may find learning objectives with no content to back them up. We?re also applying what we?ve learned in deconstructing courses to support effective online instructional design for new courses.
• Describe: Every learning object needs a name of its own. Files in WebCT Vista cant have duplicate names or title tags. When you start your project, you?ll likely find a host of files named introduction and chapter 1. One of the most important things to do is to enforce a naming scheme that conveys the course, the topic, and the learning objective and that provides a name referring to the lesson (for example, precalc_equations_01_polynomials).
• Research: Make sure your faculty are ready, willing, and able to take advantage of learning objects. We tested the precalculus pilot prototype with a small group of faculty who responded enthusiastically. With that faculty feedback, we confirmed we were on the right track and could proceed with the rest of our courses.
• Market: Faculty need consistent reminders that learning objects are available and that the benefits of using them can be significant. It is important to market the merits of learning objects to faculty regularly.

Taking these steps will dramatically increase your chances of success with learning objects. Best of all, successful use of learning objects translates into increased faculty productivity and new, higher-quality educational opportunities for your students."

12) Game-based Learning: An x-Learn Perspective Paper
Author: Kurt Squire (Funded by the e-Learning Consortium)URL: PDF file (620 KB)
"Executive Summary:Interactive digital media, or video games, have emerged as a powerful new economic, cultural, and now educational force. Games are now a multi-billion dollar industry, and new conferences, journals, and research initiatives are all competing to become the home of ?serious gaming.? But when most people think of educational games, they think of Reader Rabbit, Math Blaster, or quiz games. Others see today?s games and assume that they?re primarily about ?fancy graphics.? In truth, games are much more powerful; they provide situated experiences in which players are immersed in complex, problem solving tasks. Good games teach players more than just facts; they provide ways seeing and understanding problems and, critically, supply opportunities to ?become? different kinds of people.
This study takes these theoretical notions of situated learning through game play and shows how a new generation of ?serious games? coming out of (perhaps oddly) business strategy, ?advergaming,? and entertainment gaming all share common features that point to a future paradigm for e-Learning. Most critically for instructional designers, the movement toward ?serious games? challenges us to rethink fundamental assumptions about instructional design."

13) Quality in e-Learning from a Learners Perspective
Author: Ulf-D. EhlersURL: http://www.eurodl.org/materials/contrib/2004/Online_Master_COPs.html
"...In the discussion about the best strategy for e-learning it becomes more an more clear that e-learning has to be based on the learner. This includes the necessity to postulate in a clear way that the needs of the learners have to be determined in a concrete manner before starting the project. Important aspects are therefore the awareness of the learning biography, of individual learning preferences and of social needs. It is important to acknowledge that quality of a learning process is not something that is delivered to a learner by an e-learning provider but rather constitutes a process of co-production between the learner and the learning-environment..."

14) 21st Century Skills:The Future of Technology and Education
Author: Louis LoefflerURL: http://webpages.charter.net/ljloeffler/wasb05/index.htm
"...Without 21st century skills, students are being prepared to succeed in yesterdays world?not tomorrows. Schools must do more to keep pace with rapid technology, research, and societal changes. To ensure that students will be ready to thrive in todays knowledge-based, global society, three significant things need to occur:

• The public must acknowledge 21st century skills as essential to the education of todays learner.
• Schools must embrace new designs for learning based on emerging research about how people learn, effective uses of technology, and 21st century skills in the context of rigorous academic content.
• Policymakers must base school accountability on assessments that measure both academic achievement and 21st century skills."

What a great site or presentation by Louis Loeffler discussing the 21st Century skills required to thrive in the Digital Age (e.g. inventive thinking, effective communication, high productivity), learning and the influence of technology. While you struggle through all the layers in this site (a bit messy), you will find all sorts of interesting content in regards to learning, skills, and technology. Great stuff Louis Loeffler! Thanks for sharing this presentation to the world"

15) Visions 2020: Transforming Education and Training
URL: PDF File (2.96 MB)
"Visioning exercise about the future of e-learning, primarily in the area of K - 12. Wide range of contributors from George Lucas Educational Foundation, Harvard, UC Berkeley, HP Labs, Maxis, and an introduction by Bill Gates."

"The way we (USA) organize schools and provide instruction is essentially the same as it was when our Founding Fathers went to school. Many education and training institutions have simply applied technology on top of traditional teaching practices, rather than reinventing themselves around the possibilities new technologies present.

Even more powerful technologies are under development by U.S. businesses, universities, and government that could be harnessed to transform education and training in ways previously unimaginable. Rapid advancements in the years ahead could enable new learning environments using simulation, visualization, virtual worlds, personal intelligent tutors, learning and collaboration unbounded by geography, vast digital libraries and museums, and more. The technologies that are coming could create compelling learning opportunities that help students of all ages reach their potential through individualized learning and progression, provide knowledge and training when and where they are needed, while boosting the productivity of learning and lowering its cost..."

Yes, USA is certainly preparing for an educational world beyond our imagination. Lets spend some time with those collection of articles (PDF above) and please visit the site, as it will be real eye opener to the potential future. We can learn so much from these articles and of course all the reports found on the site. It is certainly the most interesting site I have visited this year in terms of education, technology and e-learning.

16) The Belle Project (Broadband Enabled Lifelong Learning Environment)Author: CANARIE Learning ProgramURL: http://belle.netera.ca/
"BELLE (Broadband Enabled Lifelong Learning Environment) is a $3.4 million shared-cost project funded under the CANARIE Learning Program. BELLEs objective is to develop a prototype educational object repository.
Over the course of two years, BELLE is exploring the critical aspects of building object repositories. Specifically, BELLE is investigating four interconnected aspects of establishing this repository. The CANARIE Learning Program is a $25 million shared-cost funding initiative, was launched in September 1999. This competitive program was established with funding support from Industry Canada to encourage the development and use of broadband networks in education and training."

17) Wikiversity (Collaborative content development)
URL: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikiversity
Wikiversity is a free, open learning environment and research community. Online courses are being created as a form of co-operative and interactive exchange of knowledge. It is the home for wiki development of all kinds of learning materials.

Wiki community methods might be used to develop traditional textbooks, the Internet and Web facilities could also be used to support new or different models for delivery of educational material.

One of the goals of Wikibooks is to support the use of resulting books through related materials that would help an instructor to tailor the book to a particular course, or provide additional exercises and answers, drill material, etc."

Thats All Folks!

Warm Regards & Sincerely,

Zaid Ali Alsagoff

Link to site
"Eduforge is a virtual collaborative learning and exploratory environment designed for the sharing of ideas, research outcomes, open source educational software, and tools within a community of learners and researchers. It is an open access resource allowing anyone with an interest in the exploration of teaching and learning to join the community.
Eduforge encourages cross-institutional collaboration among individuals within an independent environment outside the normal boundaries of organisational infrastructure and resources. The Eduforge community is well supported by online communication, content and management tools, including Wiki tools, project management, forum, surveys, Current Versions System (CVS), and document uploading and sharing.

Eduforge was founded in January 2004 as part of the New Zealand Open Source Virtual Learning Environment (NZOSVLE) project. The project?s goals are to adopt, adapt and develop open source e-learning infrastructure for its consortium members, composed of polytechnics and universities. The software developed will be made available on Eduforge under the General Public Licence (GPL) for members of the community and the greater public. The underpinning philosophy of Eduforge can be described as ?open access and sharing?. The ?openness? of Eduforge is derived from its positioning as an open source educational software development community, which results in low barriers to enter and participate in collaborative development. As a matter of policy, Eduforge is not tied to an institutional agenda or commercialisation model. "
The biggest problem with these kind of projects, is to maintain the momentum, so we need to keep the "Buzz" buzzing. For those not interested, please share the URL: http://eduforge.org/ with others. I am sure people out there are interested to participate, but are simply not aware of such great projects.

This article by Craig Lambert discusses some interesting secrets behind the mind of a super learner or what I like to call a potential or evolving genius. Also, to become a great teacher you must first learn the art of learning (or Learning how to learn, unlearn, relearn, etc.), and the more passion you have for learning (and welcome criticism) the more likely you will improve your ability to become a great educator.

• Wonder - I remember a friend of mine more than two decades ago used to joke "I am Stevie Wonder and I wonder where I am" (That might sound like an insult to a blind person, but that phrase some how has been lingering in my thoughts for decades, and perhaps there is a reason for it, or perhaps not.). However, the quality of always being curious and wanting to find out more about something is critical. In other words, one continues to ask Why?, How?, What?, Where?, When?, Which?, etc. trying the get a deeper understanding of something (e.g. Life and Death) . Interestingly, often when you think you got the answer, you realize that you havent got it. What do you do? Give up, accept it as it is or continue searching for it?
• Humility - "One primary trouble with the American educational system is its concern with answers, as opposed to giving students questions", says C. Roland Christensen. Actually, we should not even give the students the questions, and instead facilitate them to figure out the questions themselves (and guide them if necessary). It might take a longer time (Time Vs Process), but to be a great learner (and teacher) you must master the art of asking questions (zooming in on the root cause, problem, or issue), because you surely do not want to answer correctly to the wrong question. Jorge Dominquez puts it nicely by saying, "the student who is a better learner will have a clearer sense of his or her own weaknesses." James Wilkinson goes on to say that "good learners know what it is that they dont know, and can ask questions about it." So, do you show humility and recognize that you are not always right? Or is your ego too big to be wrong? Actually, I should be asking these questions to myself.
• Synthetic Thinking - Super-learners arent passive; they dont simply absorb information but actively reconstitute it into meaningful patterns. Professor Starch emphasizes that "Good learners see the difference between relevant information and irrelevant information". Yes, they are also good at distinguishing between facts and opinions, recognizing fallacies, and are good at analytical or critical thinking.
• Patience - Wilkinson argues that "there is a myth that good student have photographic memories and dont work hard...Actually they are quite hard-working, but dont feel that they have to understand everything the first time through...(do not give up until the AHA-moment). Allthough, there is nothing wrong in being impatient to learn, you just got to realize that you sometimes need to be patient to get it right (or reach a deeper level of understanding).
• Relishing Mistakes - "Good learners make lots of mistakes, just as poor learners do, but they learn from their mistakes." Have you ever heard the famous or infamous statement "The secret to my success is failure". Actually, if you have not failed during your studies, you simply have not tried hard enough (or "You have no guts!" in plain English). Coming to think of it, the word "Failure" is relative, and has only real meaning when we put a criteria to it. In other words, some might scream of joy for a B+ result, while others might want to jump of a building (Disaster!). However, what is important is that the thought of failure should not stop you from trying to reach your targets. As a great Malaysian Army General said recently, "Do it now!" (Which I find more stimulating than Nikes "Just Do It!").

Yes, this article is simply juicy, because it engages my mind to think deeper about what it takes to be a super learner. If we want to become a super teacher, we must first master the art of learning (or at least understand more about ourselves and how we learn). Also, our dear Schools, Colleges and Universities, must not see student failure as a burden, but an opportunity to help students to succeed. The key is not whether we fail or succeed during our studies, put how much effort and attitude we put into it. If the effort and right attitude is internalized into the students mind (becomes a habit) during the learning process, he or she will eventually succeed (Trust me!). Hmm, again another funny word ("Succeed" or "Success"), where the criteria I suppose is continuously changing or adjusting (as we succeed). Interestingly, when we meet our initial target, it might feel like failure, because our targets have evolved.

So, are you a super-learner?

Lets end this post with Michelangelos famous quote "I am still learning!" :)