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Social Bookmarking 2: Connectivism

The last information point about social bookmarking from the ELI is #7 from ELI's web page:

What are the implications for teaching and learning?

Tagging information resources with keywords has the potential to change how we store and find information. It may become less important to know and remember where information was found and more important to know how to retrieve it using a framework created by and shared with peers and colleagues. Social bookmarking simplifies the distribution of reference lists, bibliographies,

papers, and other resources among peers or students.

This explanation reminded me of the work George Siemens is doing at elearnspace on Connectivism, posted on the Friday Report in January of 2005.

Here is a brief definition from his article in the International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning:

Connectivism

Connectivism is the integration of principles explored by chaos, network, and complexity and self-organization theories. Learning is a process that occurs within nebulous environments of shifting core elements – not entirely under the control of the individual. Learning (defined as actionable knowledge) can reside outside of ourselves (within an organization or a database), is focused on connecting specialized information sets, and the connections that enable us to learn more are more important than our current state of knowing.

Connectivism is driven by the understanding that decisions are based on rapidly altering foundations. New information is continually being acquired. The ability to draw distinctions between important and unimportant information is vital. The ability to recognize when new information alters the landscape based on decisions made yesterday is also critical.

Clearly, George has put a name to the phenomenon we all face in the digital age: what is information when it is not stored in our own minds?

You can read more of his thoughts at his blog on Connectivism:

http://www.connectivism.ca/blog

Social Bookmarking 1: Del.icio.us

I'm giving del.icio.us a twirl around the dance floor, and I like what I see.

For background on social bookmarking, visit the this informative document:

http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7001.pdf

It's a great overview, which means that I am just going to add my personal thoughts.

The number one reason for me using it is that I can tag. This means that if I have an article on assessing the quality of portfolios, I can put all those key words in as tags.

So, in three weeks when I am looking for links on portfolios, all I have to do is to type "portfolio" in my search and the links with that tag will pop up. Of course, the down side is that if I type in "quality" I'm going to get this article too.

If i add another identifier, I still get all of the same links, but the order of the links displayed changes to put the link with both tags on top.

Sharing would have to be the second reason for using del.icio.us. I am hoping that as the ELI site becomes more mature, I'll be able to look up what others in the organization have bookmarked. It will save me time for searching. Will I miss something because some one used a tag I did not? Probably, but when I do a search on the "cost of course delivery" in Google, I get 17,000,000 responses. I anticipate finding helpful information that is tailored to higher education and technology. The likely hood of getting a good match is increased when you go to an individuals page. At this point, you can see their list of tags. The list will guide you in your choice of search words.

I've still got lots to learn about del.icio.us, but I think it's worth my time and effort. Please take a moment to see what I've posted. I am working my way through my large bookmark file and transferring and tagging them, so I'll have new stuff every week.

http://del.icio.us/christycain

NLII is now ELI

The NLII has changed its name to reflect the focus on Learner Centered use of Technology.

Educause Learning Initiative (ELI).

Jarret is working day and night to change the web site to refelct the goals of the mission. Here is a link to their new strategic plan:

http://www.educause.edu/NLIIStrategicPlan/5272

Here are other happenings at the ELI:

THE INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP PROGRAM-- First ever!!!http://www.educause.edu/Registration/6279

2005 SUMMER FOCUS SESSION ON INTERACTIVE LEARNING (Sallie Ives and I are attending. You should join us) http://www.educause.edu/NLII053

There is more going on, inculding the Southeast Regional Educause meeting which will

NLII SPRING FOCUS SESSION PROCEEDINGS: See what happened at the last Focus Session. We brainstormed ideas that will help us all introduce the use of new technologies into the classroom. http://www.educause.edu/Proceedings/6448

The Importance of Matrices 3

Matrix³

The Importance of Matrices

Here is a quote from Joanne Martin in her book on Cultural Theory. She talks about the importance of using a matrix to understand and decipher information.  It’s well written and to the point.

“When content themes are combined with cultural forms and formal and informal practices, we have the pieces of a cultural puzzle. We can explore how interpretations of these cultural manifestations relate to each other by summarizing the results of a cultural study– the pieces of the cultural puzzle, in one or more matrices. Columns in a matrix are types of cultural manifestations (such) as rituals or stories) and rows are types of cultural manifestations, are context specific content themes (such as the need to take a long term perspective or the company’s concern for employee well being). A matrix is useful because it shows precisely how culture has been operationalized… Such a matrix clearly exposes what a given researcher has actually studied when he or she claimed to be studying culture. A matrix is useful for summarizing the results of other people’s studies, or it can be used to summarize the results of your own culture research. It is meant as a supplement-not a substitute-for a full description of research results, whether theirs results are written in prose (as in an ethnographic portrait) or represented in statistics.

Such matrices are also useful because too often a cultural study is just a richly detailed description; the underlying patters of interpretation and theory of culture are difficult to decipher. When such a study is summarized in a series of matrices, theoretical assumptions become easier to see because the patterns of interpretations, across manifestations are made evident. The cell entries in such matrices, and the underlying patterns of interpretation of those cultural manifestations, show how a researcher has answered the following questions:  What is culture? What is not culture? Often, it is the empty cells and omissions that will be most important in making this diagnosis. Used in this way, a matrix is a prompt for deductive theorizing: You can see what has been studied, and how it has been interpreted, to determine what theory is in use.”

Joanne Martin, (2002). Organizational Culture: Mapping the Terrain. Sage Publications. (126-127)

The Importance of Matrices 2

Matrix²

The Importance of Matrices

Matrices make a great tool to design a comprehensive assessment. When matrices are used in assessment, they are generally called Rubrics. Rubrics provide for a much more in depth look at not just the assessment, but the depth and complexity too.

Here is a nifty site I found by typing in “rubric for biology” into Google:

http://www.instruction.greenriver.edu/avery/Faculty/pres/biology.htm

(Julie Barclay,

ESL

Instructor

Green River

Community College

, accessed April 14, 2005)

The rubric demands that the student look beyond the obvious towards synthesis and evaluation. Here is an example of one of the matricides:

4	3	2	1
Introduction includes a full and complete definition of both types of determinism	Introduction includes a definition of both types of determinism.	Introduction includes a partial or incomplete definition of both types of determinism	Introduction includes a definition of only one type of determinism or incomplete definition of both types of determinism that contains errors.

You can quickly see that the author has created a set of expectations that mirror Blooms taxonomy. She has a couple more examples that provide greater detail, and one that is set up to help students learn how to critique.

You will notice that within these matrices, there is no mention of biology itself. The rubrics are not designed to provide information on a topic, they are designed to provide process.

At the bottom of this teacher’s page is a link to the Chicago Public Schools, which provides a very comprehensive over view and instructions for rubrics.

http://intranet.cps.k12.il.us/Assessments/Ideas_and_Rubrics/ideas_and_rubrics.html

The Importance of Matrices

Matrix¹

The Importance of Matrices

My MOST favorite Carl (that would be Berger) loves using Matrices and so do I.

No, not THAT Matrix. I am talking about the one that you use to organize information.

I use matrices in tow ways, for organization of content and for assessment. This posting will speak to organization.

If I am really lost in a text book, I open Excel and start categorizing content like crazy.

• It’s like reading the knower’s notes. All of the important stuff is right there.
• It is like a double check for the doers. They can confirm that yes, they did get the material.
• For the thinkers, it helps define relationships, and it shortens the material, which makes it easier to gather thoughts.

I cannot over emphasize the importance of the last statement. When someone does not understand what they are reading, a big block of text is like, well, like Matrix Reloaded. It just goes on and on and you are really trying to figure out what is going on and make some meaning, but you can’t. In the case of Reloaded, there was no point. But in your course, there is. The images below are from the Organization Culture by Joanne Martin. BTW, it’s a very good book. The example I chose defines three theoretical perspectives that can be found anywhere, but the words she wrote resonate in the halls of academia: (the scribble scrabble is mine. I’ll talk about writing in the margins soon.)

Straight Text:

Organized text:

I am sure you are saying, “No DUH”,  but take time to look at the text books and articles you assigned and see if they use matrices as a way to convey the same knowledge in a different way.

You need to help your learners find meaning; to do this you should, where possible, provide the same information over and over again. This repetition helps learners shape the meaning and understand it from different perspectives.

What’s the Workbook Connection? Matrices can co-exist with text.  It’s “OK” to repeat information, especially when it can be presented in a different way. Workbooks should be full of, among other things, matrices. If you feel that it is “cheating” because you are “giving” the students the “answer” don’t fill in all of the spaces, or present a blank matrix and have them create their own categories.

9 Principles of Good Practice for Assessing Student Learning

The 9 Principles are timeless, and have helped me shape the way I think about assessment. AAHE is closing it's doors soon, so I thought now was a good time to look them over again, and even save a copy.

Press Release:

9 Principles of Good Practice for Assessing Student Learning

1. The assessment of student learning begins with educational values. Assessment is not an end in itself but a vehicle for educational improvement. Its effective practice, then, begins with and enacts a vision of the kinds of learning we most value for students and strive to help them achieve. Educational values should drive not only what we choose to assess but also how we do so. Where questions about educational mission and values are skipped over, assessment threatens to be an exercise in measuring what's easy, rather than a process of improving what we really care about.
2. Assessment is most effective when it reflects an understanding of learning as multidimensional, integrated, and revealed in performance over time. Learning is a complex process. It entails not only what students know but what they can do with what they know; it involves not only knowledge and abilities but values, attitudes, and habits of mind that affect both academic success and performance beyond the classroom. Assessment should reflect these understandings by employing a diverse array of methods, including those that call for actual performance, using them over time so as to reveal change, growth, and increasing degrees of integration. Such an approach aims for a more complete and accurate picture of learning, and therefore firmer bases for improving our students' educational experience.
3. Assessment works best when the programs it seeks to improve have clear, explicitly stated purposes. Assessment is a goal-oriented process. It entails comparing educational performance with educational purposes and expectations -- those derived from the institution's mission, from faculty intentions in program and course design, and from knowledge of students' own goals. Where program purposes lack specificity or agreement, assessment as a process pushes a campus toward clarity about where to aim and what standards to apply; assessment also prompts attention to where and how program goals will be taught and learned. Clear, shared, implementable goals are the cornerstone for assessment that is focused and useful.
4. Assessment requires attention to outcomes but also and equally to the experiences that lead to those outcomes. Information about outcomes is of high importance; where students "end up" matters greatly. But to improve outcomes, we need to know about student experience along the way -- about the curricula, teaching, and kind of student effort that lead to particular outcomes. Assessment can help us understand which students learn best under what conditions; with such knowledge comes the capacity to improve the whole of their learning. 
5. Assessment works best when it is ongoing not episodic. Assessment is a process whose power is cumulative. Though isolated, "one-shot" assessment can be better than none, improvement is best fostered when assessment entails a linked series of activities undertaken over time. This may mean tracking the process of individual students, or of cohorts of students; it may mean collecting the same examples of student performance or using the same instrument semester after semester. The point is to monitor progress toward intended goals in a spirit of continous improvement. Along the way, the assessment process itself should be evaluated and refined in light of emerging insights.
6. Assessment fosters wider improvement when representatives from across the educational community are involved. Student learning is a campus-wide responsibility, and assessment is a way of enacting that responsibility. Thus, while assessment efforts may start small, the aim over time is to involve people from across the educational community. Faculty play an especially important role, but assessment's questions can't be fully addressed without participation by student-affairs educators, librarians, administrators, and students. Assessment may also involve individuals from beyond the campus (alumni/ae, trustees, employers) whose experience can enrich the sense of appropriate aims and standards for learning. Thus understood, assessment is not a task for small groups of experts but a collaborative activity; its aim is wider, better-informed attention to student learning by all parties with a stake in its improvement.
7. Assessment makes a difference when it begins with issues of use and illuminates questions that people really care about. Assessment recognizes the value of information in the process of improvement. But to be useful, information must be connected to issues or questions that people really care about. This implies assessment approaches that produce evidence that relevant parties will find credible, suggestive, and applicable to decisions that need to be made. It means thinking in advance about how the information will be used, and by whom. The point of assessment is not to gather data and return "results"; it is a process that starts with the questions of decision-makers, that involves them in the gathering and interpreting of data, and that informs and helps guide continous improvement.
8. Assessment is most likely to lead to improvement when it is part of a larger set of conditions that promote change. Assessment alone changes little. Its greatest contribution comes on campuses where the quality of teaching and learning is visibly valued and worked at. On such campuses, the push to improve educational performance is a visible and primary goal of leadership; improving the quality of undergraduate education is central to the institution's planning, budgeting, and personnel decisions. On such campuses, information about learning outcomes is seen as an integral part of decision making, and avidly sought.
9. Through assessment, educators meet responsibilities to students and to the public. There is a compelling public stake in education. As educators, we have a responsibility to the publics that support or depend on us to provide information about the ways in which our students meet goals and expectations. But that responsibility goes beyond the reporting of such information; our deeper obligation -- to ourselves, our students, and society -- is to improve. Those to whom educators are accountable have a corresponding obligation to support such attempts at improvement.

Authors: Alexander W. Astin; Trudy W. Banta; K. Patricia Cross; Elaine El-Khawas; Peter T. Ewell; Pat Hutchings; Theodore J. Marchese; Kay M. McClenney; Marcia Mentkowski; Margaret A. Miller; E. Thomas Moran; Barbara D. Wright

This document was developed under the auspices of the AAHE Assessment Forum with support from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education with additional support for publication and dissemination from the Exxon Education Foundation. Copies may be made without restriction.

http://www.aahe.org/AAHEClosingPressRelease.pdf

http://www.aahe.org/AAHEClosingPressRelease.pdf

Personal learning

This is from Knowledge at Work

My thoughts around learning have been profoundly altered by reading Wenger, Brown & Duguid and von Krogh and focus on collective workplace practices. Have come to appreciate the role, value and importance of social learning, situated learning, learning in community and culture. That more is learned on the playing fields and in discourse with peers than from the sage on the stage. Even in very structured training situations, it is the breaktime conversation, the secondhand explanation from a colleague that situates the new concept, validates its importance and sanctions its legitimacy.

The key to learning is not the medium nor the message, it is the quality of the dialog with your peers that really matters

http://denham.typepad.com/km/2005/03/personal_learni.html

The Workbook as a Strategy

Using a workbook is an example of a strategy that can be used to assess knowledge.

For instance: if each student used a workbook, by the end of a topic, the student and the educator would have a portfolio of sorts. The student can see progress of knowledge of the topic, and the educator can correct misconceptions at an early stage.

If the student retains the workbook, then they can use it as a reference tool. If the school keeps the work book, then the need to write progress reports is negated, as a history of the student's progress would be available.

If the workbook is only used one time then the student can write all over it. White space reserved for summarization can be provided. Information can be presented spatially, allowing students to trace relationships. Tear out cards can allow the student to assemble the important topics in a way that makes sense to them. Students would own their work.

I could go on and on about the benefits of this strategy, but it is important to not fill in all the blanks for each strategy, so the educator can think of their personal uses for the strategy.

Getting the assessment piece right

Getting the assessment piece right is more than just evaluating the student, it is also letting the student know that they KNOW what they have studied.

Why......

• It builds self confidence
• It makes them know they are smart
• It helps them build on what they know

When educators assess students in only one way, students who do know the answer don't get to prove it.

Here is my personal example. (feel free to overlay with a bitter tone)

• I cannot spell well. I am also not that good at math.
• In grade school we sat in straight rows, in alphabetical order. I am a "W".
• Every week we had spelling words, spelling tests, and if it was a bad we for me, spelling bees.
• In Junior High, entrance into advanced sciences was based on math ability.
• I never thought I was smart.
• Had those times gone beyond the multiple choice, fill in the blank and short essay questions, I might have realized I was smart.

Helping a student realize they are smart is no minor task in the educational experience. It is incumbent upon the educator to help the student understand that assessments may not prove knowledge, and help the student figure out how they can show they know.