WEEK 9-BLOG 5

The World is Open: How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education

Webinar with Curtis Bonk December 3, 2009, The Future of Education

I know this webinar is a little dated, but I searched the Future of Education website for any archived webinars with Curtis Bonk, since we are reading two of his books.  I found a webinar in which Curtis Bonk discusses his The World is Open book when it was first released.  I thought it would be a good webinar to view to supplement and enhance my understanding of his ideas.  

First of all, Curtis Bonk is quite a character!  The moderator of the webinar even asked if he had interests in drama since he is very animated and used props during his interview.  He was quite entertaining to watch and listen to!

            Curtis Bonk started the interview with mentioning The World is Open book is available on his website, worldisopen.com, for free as an e-book, but is titled The World is More Open. He states that there is more content in the e-book.  I was wondering this as I was reading his book, “why aren’t I reading this book as an e-book?”  So, it looks as though it is possible to read the book for free online and perhaps it would provide more information that the print book.  It would definitely be worth looking into for more resources and information.

            Curtis Bonk explained that his 10 Openers are a way of opening up education for anyone to learn anything from anyone at anytime.  He says he is not trying to reform or restructure schools, but rather explain what is possible.  He talked about how there are thousands of ways one can learn from a seventeen-year old, for instance, and that people should not be overwhelmed with all the different ways, but instead, focus on understanding at least of few of these options.  If people understand and use the few options, then they can get excited about learning, find new information on their own, be self-directed in learning, and learn in informal settings.

            Curtis Bonk elaborated on how people and companies are moving towards sharing content and collaborating with others.  In his experience, some of his best work has been with collaborating on projects.  He used the example of Best Buy, Intel, and IBM, major companies that were once secretive, but are now fostering collaboration and sharing information and content to attract workers and bring people into the company.  Now, many companies rely on systems such as Google Documents, Ning, WikiSpaces, and PBWiki to share and collaborate.  During 1999-2001 many companies used language like “smart,” “knowledge,” and “collaboration,” but were unable to define these terms and what it meant to learn.  Companies during this time would just throw out terminology to sell a product, but in reality, there was nothing to sell because they did not know what these terms actually meant and entailed.  Bonk stated that he found it “depressing” that many companies use “virtual world” or “social networking,” and they don’t know how to define or use it.

            Bonk also talked about Free Learning Zones, characterized by Opener #10, Networks of Personalized Learning.  He states that the webinar we are participating in now is a Free Learning Zone and the reason why he participates in them is because he likes doing it, builds reputation, builds a brand, and is a way to expand the audience.  He talks about Worldbridges, which provides free Webcasts to connect people in learning forums that want to discuss, interact, and collaborate with diverse people from around the world.  Jeff Lebow started Worldbridges after quitting his job because he wanted people to use the Internet to create global Webcasting, not for monetary gains.  Also, something Bonk said really stuck with me, “you do not need the Internet to be impacted by the Internet.”  How true is that?!  He gave the example of the 1KG Program where kids without Internet access make connections and new careers just from people that visit.

            Bonk states that innovation (dissemination and sharing of ideas) and technology is changing so fast that many people tend to opt-out due to fear.  The WE-ALL-LEARN and R2D2 models are so important because they pull in a new announcement that happens and people are able to find new technology.  Many educators fear what it taking place (technology) but then many think, “heck lets try it and see what happens.”

            Bonk very quickly reviewed some of the 10 Openers (time was running out) and I thought it was interesting that he hesitated even putting the first opener into the book because he thought it was the least important.  He stated he was shocked that it had taken-off (e-books), and in fact, Openers 1,4, and 10 have really taken off since the release of his book, which he didn’t expect.  In discussion of Opener 4, he stated he was surprised when President Obama put $50 million aside for free high school and community college courses.  He thinks this is a smart direction for the country to go because there are so many children, especially males ages 16-22, that are dropping out of high school and college that this is a great way to help prevent students from dropping out.

            Bonk talked briefly about the macro trends: the piping, the pages and participatory culture.  He stated that these trends are converging and if any of the Openers were to happen it would be a revolution and the fact that all 10 Openers are happening is phenomenal.  He thinks this will be a “learning century.”

            During the question and answer session, someone had asked how we deal with the enormous amount of content available.  Bonk stated that it is important to look at the quality of the information and he uses sites that have peer evaluation embedded within the content.  He also thinks that you should provide a guide for yourself, like he provides to his students.  He gives them 10 resources, but gives them the option of choosing 4-5 to focus on; that way they are not overwhelmed and receive a palette of options in which some may be text, video, etc.

            Finally, a question, which I often wondered as well, is how one gets Administrators on board with technological changes in the classroom?  Bonk says that there are four levels the Administrators go through: awareness, resistance, understanding, and usage.  He recommends having the Administrators try the technology out for themselves; have them use WikiSpaces and “feel” the benefits of the technology.  We should show the Administrators what is possible and give them real-world experience in collaborating in order for them to get on board and try something different.

            I really enjoyed this webinar and even though it is from 2009, the information is still relevant and supplements the book well.  I recommend that you check out this webinar; Bonk is pretty entertaining!  I have learned a significant amount from reading his book and now can further tie the elements together after watching this webinar.

WEEK 8-BLOG 4

This week’s discussion was based on Curtis J. Bonk’s book, The World Is Open, covering ten trends that make up “WE-ALL-LEARN” for understanding technology and the impact on learning.  Instead of a structured asynchronous discussion, our class was divided into two groups for a live chat discussion based on three macro trends that provide the superstructure for the ten educational openers (Bonk, 2009).  First, our group defined what the three macro trends are and gave examples of each.  The first macro trend is the availability of tools and infrastructure for learning, or the pipes (Bonk, 2009).  The “pipes” are the online infrastructure, such as Internet access and bandwidth, and “provide the infrastructure for the management, supply, and distribution of free and open educational content” (Bonk, 2009, p.53).  Bonk states the first, seventh, and ninth openers relate to infrastructure issues: web searching in the world of e-books; electronic collaboration; and real-time mobility and portability (Bonk, 2009).  An example of the “pipes” is the convergence of bandwidth, storage, and processing speed, which has “fueled the uploading and indexing of books, articles, videos, audio recordings, and other content online” (Bonk, 2009, p.56).  Google Book Search is an example of the enormous effort for people to access the world of books with just the click of the mouse.  Another project, Open Library, allows one to comment or review books, and the thing that I like about Open Library is there are no links to publishers or advertisements to try to get you to buy the book; it is either available to read or not there at all.

The second macro trend is the availability of free and open educational content and resources, or the “pages” (Bonk, 2009).  Bonk (2009) states “although piping is important, online educational resources must be available, useful, and needed” (Bonk, 2009, p.23).  The second macro trend aligns most closely with the fourth and fifth openers: leveraged resources and open courseware, and learning object repositories and portals (Bonk, 2009).  A good example of open courseware (OCW) is the availability of MIT’s course content and resources online, for free.  By early 2009, MIT had 1,890 classes online, with over 35 million people around the world accessing the content, and 750,000 translated courses (Bonk, 2009).  What a terrific way to provide free, quality educational materials to people all over the world with access to the Internet.  Even if you do not have access, you could find someone to upload the material to CD or print the material and send it to you.  I think this is a wonderful program providing education to people all around the world, where they may not have the opportunity or the access to quality education, or perhaps they are unable to go to school because they have to work, this way they can learn on their own time at their own speed.

The third macro trend is a movement toward a culture of open access to information, international collaboration, and global sharing (Bonk, 2009).  Bonk (2009, p.53) states the third macro trend “is the creation of a culture that collaboratively builds, negotiates, and shares such knowledge and information: a participatory learning culture.”  The sixth, eighth, and tenth openers relate to this trend the most: learner participation in open information communities, alternate reality learning, and networks of personalized learning (Bonk, 2009).  An example of the third macro trend is YouTube.  Bonk (2009, p.208) states “YouTube demonstrates the need for tools that allow individuals to generate content rather than simply passively browse content online.”  Although YouTube is usually thought of for entertainment videos, there is a significant amount of educational and informational videos that are posted to the site.  For example, last semester, I have to present a narrated PowerPoint that included video and interactive quizzes.  I had not a clue how to put this together, and most of the information I found was for a PC, in which I own a MAC.  So, I went to YouTube and found several videos people had posted of them instructing how to add a video to PowerPoint via MAC.  It was great because they went through step by step with the camera pointed at their computer screen.  I could pause and write down the instructions or watch the video several times.  It was helpful that the videos were rated and had comments/reviews so I could quickly decide if they were worth watching or not.  YouTube was an extremely helpful tool and was instrumental in the completion and success of my project.  After I presented the PowerPoint to my class, I had several comments and questions as to how I integrated the video and interactive quizzes into my PowerPoint, so I provided the links to the videos, thus sharing information and building knowledge of the community.

During the chat session, our group also discussed Activity Theory quite extensively, selecting it as the philosophical perspective that aligns the most with the three macro trends.  Farres and MacDonald (2006, p.166) state “activity theory is concerned with the relationship between consciousness and activity and is composed of subject, object, and community and the elements that mediate these interactions (i.e., tools, rules, and roles).”  Activity Theory indicates that context relates directly to the activity and that people are the driving force of the system (Farres & MacDonald, 2006).  There are four main assumptions of Activity Theory: 1) consciousness and activity are interdependent, 2) all actions and behaviors are intentional or goal directed, 3) higher cognitive functioning within an activity system is mediated by tools and signs, and 4) activities evolve over time within a culture, and attention needs to be paid to the evolution of the activities over time (Farres & MacDonald, 2006).  The central component of the framework is the activity that is composed of a subject, an object, actions, and operations (Farres & MacDonald, 2006).  The subject is the individual or group in the system; objects are the physical or mental products being sought (which is being acted on by the subject); and the operations relate to how the actions are carried out (Farres & MacDonald, 2006). 

Finally, our group chatted about how to validate knowledge from open sources. We agreed that a person should check the credentials of the author/owner of the website, cross-check references, identify the source of funding for the site (determine if there is bias), check the date of the information to make sure it is current, and check to make sure the information has a complete list of works cited.

I enjoyed the chat session; it was something different and new.  The only downside was as I was typing a thought, the conversion often veered onto another subject and I missed an opportunity to make a comment or the comment was too late.  Overall, I thought it was a good experience and I still learned a great deal. 

This has been a difficult week for me; we had to put our dog of 12 years asleep (Bailey) due to complications from pancreatic cancer.  Our hearts are truly broken, but I believe he is in a better place.  It was difficult to sit down and concentrate on course work, but in a way it took my mind off of the loss of our dog.  This week’s reading was very engaging and I have explored many of the sites the book has mentioned, adding them to my bookmarks.  So, I’m thankful Spring Break is here...I can take a little break to catch my breath and heal my heart.

References

Bonk, C.J. (2009). The world is open: How web technology is revolutionizing education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Farres, L.G., & MacDonald, C.J. (2006). Activity theory and context: An understanding of the development of constructivist instructional design models. In A. Dias de Figueiredo & A. Paula Afonso (Eds.), Managing learning in virtual settings: The role of context (pp.164-179).