Faculty Development News This Week:

PUBLISHING

--Chapter Submissions: Globalized E-Learning

As e-learning is globalized via information and communication technologies (ICTs), consumers of e-learning (purchasers, instructors, and end-users) are more likely to encounter courses intended for another culture. For example, Western cultural groups such as the United States, Canada, and Europe currently produce the majority of e-learning courses; however, the largest, fastest-growing consumer groups live in Eastern countries such as China, Japan, and India. Subsequently, e-learning producers and educators will be challenged with providing courses that

(1) Accommodate the different learning needs of multicultural,
multinational consumers
(2) Promote equitable learning outcomes for targeted learners, and
(3) Promote education and technological literacy which, subsequently,
improves socio-economic opportunities in developing nations

Proposals for chapters must be submitted no later than February 28, 2005.

CONTACT:

Andrea Edmundson, Ph.D.

Director, eWorld Learning

Email: Andrea Edmundson

Voice Mail: 1.520.620.2010

DIVERSITY

--Intercultural Literacy

This blog is rich with resources.

Intercultural Literacy

PEDAGOGY

--Authentic Assessment Toolbox

This site is devoted to showing instructors how to create authentic tasks, rubrics and standards for measuring and improving student learning.

The site has useful templates to assist in course design, too. One example appears below. I found it helpful for a recent qualitative research assignment I designed for English 1108:

Traditional ------------------------------------------- Authentic

Selecting a Response ----------------------------------- Performing a Task

Contrived -------------------------------------------------------------- Real-life

Recall/Recognition ------------------------------ Construction/Application

Teacher-structured ------------------------------------ Student-structured

Indirect Evidence ------------------------------------------- Direct Evidence

Authentic Toolbox Assessment

--The Ten Personae of a Brainstorm Facilitator

Read the introduction to this article:

Facilitating a brainstorming session is a multi-faceted task, requiring a variety of sensitivities. In reality, the skilled brainstorm facilitator is more like 10 people than one, exhibiting a broad spectrum of personalities as needed in order to get the job done. Take a few minutes now to review the following "persona checklist." Note which personas are your strengths and which are your weaknesses. Then rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 to determine which areas you need to work on

The author, Mitchell Ditkoff ,president of IdeaChampions, lists ten:

--Conductor

--Alchemist

--Dancer

--Mad scientist

--Diamond cutter

--Actor

--Environmentalist

--Officer of the law

--Servant

--Stand-up comic.

Intrigued? Read the article:

Ten Personae

--Ten Technologies That Will Change the Way We Learn

According to the author of this article, here are the ten key technologies that will
change the way we learn in the future:

*Search technologies

*Data visualization tools

*Blogs - Direct publishing and content aggregation tools

*Audio and video - increased use of audio and video as communication channels for small publishers

*RSS - content syndication, aggregation, re-use

*P2P - private and public file sharing networks

*Unlimited storage - on the desktop and online

*Unlimited bandwidth - Wifi - WiMax

*Real Time Collaboration Tools

*Collective and Collaborative Filtering - human spontaneous cooperative technology like del.icio.us and FURL.

Read the article:
Ten Technologies That Will Change the Way We Learn

Knowledge Management / Libraries

--Online Computer Library Center (OCLC)Top 1,000 Books

Founded in 1967, OCLC Online Computer Library Center is a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world's information and reducing information costs. More than 50,540 libraries in 84 countries and territories around the world use OCLC services to locate, acquire, catalog, lend and preserve library materials.

This list is the top 1000 titles owned or licensed by OCLC member libraries.

Top 1,000 List

I acquired this resource from Marlaine Block,
NeatNewStuff,23 November 2004.

Campus Culture / Community

--The Return of the Civic Square

When I came across this article, I thought of the new mall at IHCC.

The Return of the Civic Square

GAMING IN EDUCATION

--"But the Screen is Too Small..." Sorry, “Digital Immigrants” – Cell Phones – Not Computers – Are The Future Of Education

This article begins with this quote:

“The future is here. It’s just not evenly distributed”. ~William Gibson

"But the Screen is Too Small

This is a 4-page PDF file.

--Web Site: Social Impact Games

Read about this site's purpose:

The site's purpose is to unite projects, information, and people in a single place and to be a catalyst for ideas and innovation in spreading the wider uses of games as a language for more than just entertainment.

Social Impact Games

--Journal: Game Research

What is this journal about?

Game Research attempts to bring together knowledge on computer games from the areas of art, business, and science. Traditionally such cross-communication has been sparse to the detriment of all involved.

On this site we present short introductions to important areas and provide access to a database of links and references to literature. This database is kept up-to-date with the help of users on this site, who are strongly encouraged to submit references. User-added references are immediately added to the database. We do, however, reserve the right to delete irrelevant entries.

Game Research

--List of Tools for Designing and Building Games

This list includes free software, close to free, and fee software.

List of Tools

This is a 2-page PDF file.

--Interactive Pretending

This is an overview of simulation.

Interactive Pretending

This is an 11-page PDF file.

--The Seven Games of Highly Effective People

This article starts out with the following quote:

“How do lions learn to hunt?” – Chris Crawford, Game Designer.

Intrigued? Read the article:

The Seven Games

This is a 4-page PDF file.

--Online Discussion: What Can Education Learn from the Video Game Industry

Thought-provoking article.

What Can Education...Industry?

STUDENTS

--Twitch Speed

This article provides a valuable perspective on how Generation X and Millenials process information, tackle projects, and interact in the work world.

Twitch Speed

--The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government

According to this site, NASA is one of the best federal agencies to work for.

Read more:

The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government

I acquired this source from LII NEW THIS WEEK, 24 Novenber 2004.

--Online Book: A Student's Guide to Liberal Learning

This book is a free download (58-page PDF file),

A Student's Guide to Liberal Learning

--Online Book: Choosing a College

Here is an excerpt from the Introduction:

With all the college guides already loading down the shelves of bookstores, what excuse can there be for publishing yet another one? This guide does not even pretend to compete with, or substitute for, those huge college guides that are chock-full of statistics about hundreds of colleges. Neither does it attempt to match the vignettes of particular colleges and universities found in some other guides. The purpose of this book is to start you out at square one, before you even know what questions to ask, what colleges to read about, or what statistics to look up. Step by step, it builds up your knowledge of what colleges, universities, and engineering schools are all about, how and why they differ—and, most important of all, what those differences mean to you when choosing where to apply. This is a how-to-do-it book, designed to help you find the kind of college that will fit your own particular goals, ability, pocketbook and way of life. It tells you what to look for during a campus visit, how to read a college brochure so as to get what you need to know out of it, regardless of what message the college itself is trying to send, and—at the end of the process—how to evaluate the admissions and financial aid offers that come in, before deciding where you really want to go.

Download the book for free!

Choosing a College

--The Importance of the Humanities

The author of this article discusses the significance of becoming more fully human through the studies one undertakes.

The Importance of the Humanities

This is a 5-page PDF file.

--Finding and Following the Core

The author in this article offers guidance on choosing college classes wisely and lays out a plan to build a traditional core program that offers a lifetime benefit.

Finding and Following the Core

This is an 8-page PDF file.

MOBILE TECHNOLOGY AND LEARNING

--What Can You Learn from a Cell Phone?--Almost Anything!

The subtitle of the article is "How to use the 1.5 billion computers already in our students’ and trainees’ pockets to increase learning, at home and around the world."

What Can You Learn from a Cell Phone?

This is a 9-page PDF file.

SERVICE LEARNING / CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

--The Ladder of Participation

This ladder conveys the stages of citizen power and control.

Read more about it:

The Ladder of Participation

I acquired this resource from ELearnSpace, 22 November 2004.

--Democracy Lab

Read an excerpt from the introduction to this civic engagement Web site:

Responding to the growing interest in curriculum-based civic education, Democracy Lab helps you integrate a powerful civic education module into a wide variety of existing courses without starting over from the ground up. To carry civic education a step further on your campus, Democracy Lab trains and mentors student leadership teams for local citizen politics.

Find out more:

Democracy Lab

BLOGGING

--Blogging in China

This article, The 'blog' revolution sweeps across China, appears in the 24 November 2004 issue of newscientist.com.

Blogging in China

--Princeton Progressive Review

This is a new student blog at Princeton University.

Princeton Progressive Review

TOOLS

--Google Zeitgeist

Google Zeitgeistis a page devoted to user search patterns, trends, and surprises according to Google.

Google Zeitgeist

--Modding: The Newest Authoring Tool

Read an excerpt from this article:

Modding, or mod-making, provides an excellent opportunity for forward-thinking {instructors} to produce new types of training modules that are likely to draw the interest, and even applause, of {students} in ways that their current authoring tools don’t, and can’t.

Modding

This is a 6-page PDF file.

--Kolabora

Kolabora showcases all of the best collaboration and conferencing and live presentation technologies that offer an immediate access, free-trial, or download of their tools. From this site you can directly try-out and review any of the best tools available in the market.

Kolabora

--Elite Journal

Elite Journal is a new blog platform, although the developer does not like the word blog. Read what he / she has to say:

The goals of Elite Journal are to be a simple to install and use personal online journal (aka "blog", but I dislike that word). Elite Journal is written in Ruby, using the Ruby on Rails framework.

Features of Elite Journal:

Threaded comments

Post categories

Links sidebar

News sidebar

Post drafts

TrackBack pings

RSS2.0 feed

Textile or Markdown, via RedCloth

Free download.

Try it!

Elite Journal

BLOG GRAB BAG

--State by State: The Bill for the Iraq War

This is an interactive map detailing the cost for the Iraq War, state by state.

State by State

--Which State is the Most Libertarian?

See how Minnesota ranks.

Which State is the Most Libertarian?

--The Simple Living Network

Read an excerpt from the Welcome page of this Web site:

Simplicity is not about poverty or deprivation. It is about discovering what is "enough" in your life -- based upon thoughtful analysis of your lifestyle and values -- and discarding the rest.

Tempted?

Find out more:

The Simple Living Network

--Sweet Yumiko

This site showcases the Japanese pop manga art of Yumiko Kayukawa, who is pictured below.

Here is one sample of her work,veggieburger:

Sweet Yumiko

I acquired this resource courtesy of BoingBoing,24 November 2004.

--Web Site: Krappy.com

What is this Web site about? Read on:

Hi! Krappy is a gift shop that celebrates the unpopular. If you're looking for a gift that will raise eyebrows and lower standards, welcome!

Here is a sample of the wares Krappy.com sells:

This is a cigarette lighter. Read the ad copy, which is not politically correct, to say the least.

Hi Ho Eyes-a-glow

Let's face it, smoking can be a real drag, and this 12cm tall x 14cm long cigarette lighter won’t improve things. But if you’re looking for features then hi-ho will light up your life. It’s a fire breathing, eyes glowing, tail moving, gas refillable, fake brass horse jumping over a miniature plastic mountain, that emits horse like sounds when activated. And if you don’t smoke and thinking about colonising a small third world country, then this is the ideal trinket to transfix the natives with [batteries included].

Visit the site for insight into one branch of popular culture.

Krappy.com

Until next week!

Blog editor

Image Credits

--"Cell Phone," 218 x 384 pixels - 29k
www.cellphoneinfo.com/
--"Chinese Blog," http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~takoyaki/imgs/200403.gif
--"Chinese Calligraphy," www.hvzc.org/ images/mujo.gif
196 x 295 pixels - 21k
--"Hi-Ho, Eyes-a-Glow," http://www.krappy.com/product.asp?pID=20&cID=3
--"Jobs," 171 x 145 pixels - 8k
www.york.ac.uk/depts/ maths/geninfo.htm
--"Kolabora Logo," http://www.kolabora.com/tools.htm
--"Ladder of Participation," http://partnerships.typepad.com/civic/2004/11/ladder_of_parti.html
--"Public Space,"www.odpm.gov.uk/.../ odpm_urbpol_027112-6.jpg
631 x 510 pixels - 20k
--"Top 1,000 Books List," http://www.oclc.org/research/top1000/
--"Veggieburger," http://www.sweetyumiko.com/artwork.php
--"Yumiko Kayukawa," 210 x 147 pixels - 20k
www.shootinggallerysf.com/. ../BioKayukawa.htm