Innovate (www.innovateonline.info) is published bimonthly as a public
service by the Fischler School of Education and Human Services at Nova
Southeastern University and is sponsored, in part, by Microsoft.
The October/November 2008 issue includes a landmark interview
describing important developments in technology-enhanced learning,
plus two articles on e-learning, experiential learning, and reflective
participation. Our remaining articles report on a study on the use of
student response systems to increase classroom engagement and describe
an analysis of student assessments of important elements in department
Web sites.
In the opening interview, Vijay Kumar describes network-enabled open
education, a fusion of distance education with open courseware and
other freely available resources that catalyzes new opportunities in
endlessly customizable education. With the number, quality, and
variety of freely available educational resources growing
exponentially, Kumar argues that the combination of open education
with the technological tools of distance learning can produce an
educational experience at least as good as, and in some ways better
than, traditional classroom education.(See
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=657&action=article)
The webcast is scheduled for November 6, 2008, at 11:00 AM EDT.
The second article explores the notion of participation and its role
in creating rich, engaging experiential learning experiences. Sandra
B. Schneider and Michael A. Evans suggest that a sociocultural
understanding of the concept of participation could help instructional
designers and instructors to combine experience and technology more
meaningfully. (See
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=511&action=article)
Their webcast is scheduled for November 14, 2008, at 12:00 PM EDT.
In our next article, Margaret Farren takes a related approach,
discussing how a reflective action research process can engage
students meaningfully in their professional communities as they learn
and help them define a learning process that reflects their values.
(See
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=543&action=article)
Her webcast is scheduled for October 21, 2008, at 11:00 AM EDT.
Next, David J. Radosevich, Roger Salomon, Deirdre M. Radosevich, and
Patricia Kahn describe a way to engage students in the traditional
classroom setting, using student response systems (also known as
"clickers") to allow students to provide feedback during the lecture.
This kind of instant input helps reinforce key concepts and gives
instructors an opportunity to gauge understanding while the lecture is
in process, leading to more-targeted teaching. (See
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=449&action=article)
Finally, Trevor Hall, Ryan Jensen, and Daniel McLean assess students'
feelings about department Web sites, producing a hierarchy of
information that most students want to see and suggesting more complex
organizational structures to meet the needs of different students.
(See
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=416&action=article)
Their webcast is scheduled for October 21, 2008, at 12:00 PM EDT.
We have two columns this month. In Places to Go, Stephen Downes
describes an intriguing experiment in open education: Connectivism &
Connective Knowledge, a massive open online course offered by Downes
and George Siemens through the University of Manitoba. Practicing what
it preaches, Connectivism & Connective Knowledge engages 35 enrolled
and over 2,000 auditing students through the networks and virtual
communities that it studies. It is truly an innovation that
illustrates the potential of open education and Web 2.0 social
applications for learning. (See
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=668&action=article)
And we introduce a new column, Innovate-Ideagora, based on Innovate's
new Ning network. As a "marketplace for ideas," Innovate-Ideagora lets
readers participate directly in conversations about education and
information technology 24/7, thereby representing an important step in
our ongoing mission to inform the educational community about
innovative uses of educational technology to enhance the educational
process. Membership is open to all and registration is easy and free.
Read this month's inaugural column for more information, then head to
http://innovate-ideagora.ning.com, create your profile, and join the
conversation! (See
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=653&action=article)
If you are considering submitting a manuscript describing how you use
Microsoft technology to enhance the educational experience for
publication consideration in the From our Sponsors section, please
make sure that it conforms to the publication guidelines described at
the Contribute link on Innovate's navigation bar. The senior authors
of the top three papers published on the Microsoft site at
http://www.microsoft.com/education/highered/innovate.aspx will be
invited to attend the Microsoft Global Exchange summit in July 2009 to
make a brief presentation of their paper. All related expenses will be
paid by Microsoft.
We hope that you enjoy this issue of Innovate. Please use the
discussion board within each article to raise questions or provide
additional commentary. Your comments will be sent to authors for their
response, which will become part of the record for their article.
Also, please ask your organizational librarian to include Innovate in
their section for open-access journals.
Thanks!
Jim
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James L Morrison
Editor-in-Chief, Innovate
http://www.innovateonline.info
Fischler School of Education and Human Services
Nova Southeastern University
http://www.schoolofed.nova.edu/home.htm
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