The World is Open

Last year I attended the CAP (Commission for Accelerated Programs) Accelerated Online and Blended Learning Workshop in Denver, and was lucky enough to see Curt Bonk’s presentations and then share these with my Livescribe Pulse Pen (the complete details and links are on my blog). Little did I know that the experience would turn up in Curt’s next book… Curt kindly sent me a copy this past week. I appear on page 302. You can read the excerpt whilst listening to the recording. The book ("The World Is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education") operates as a response to Thomas Friedman’s “The World Is Flat” - demonstrating how learning has been flattened in such a way that "anyone can now learn anything from anyone at anytime." This is both revolutionary and evolutionary. The concepts of traditional education are challenged, as is the role of the university. Curt positions his argument with ten openers (WE-ALL-LEARN): Web Searching in the World of e-Books E-Learning and Blended Learning Availability of Open Source and Free Software Leveraged Resources and OpenCourseWare Learning Object Repositories and Portals Learner Participation in Open Information Communities Electronic Collaboration Alternate Reality Learning Real-Time Mobility and Portability Networks of Personalized Learning There are two versions of the book: currently available is a dead tree version, available soon will be the ebook. The ebook will have same chapter sequence and same size, but different content (including a prequel and postscript). The ebook will be available from https://worldisopen.com in two months (or less). Here is what Curt has to say on the ebook: “With the firm belief of open education and open access, there will actually be a 2nd free e-book extension (same chapters, same size, different content) since I wrote too much as well as a prequel and postscript. https://worldisopen.com/. This will be out in 1-2 months.” I highly suggest you take a look at the book, ebook and blog.

Curt Bonk Keynote on Livescribe Pulse

Curtis Bonk gave an energizing keynote presentation at the 24th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning in Madison, Wisconsin. I have uploaded the Livescribe Pulse recording of “Technology trends opening access to education worldwide: Now, we all can learn!” The Pulse pen records audio and synchronizes this recording with what I noted in my journal. The shared recording is converted to an Adobe Flash file. You can view the recording on my Livescribe community pages. WE-ALL-LEARN Web Searching in the World of e-Books (i.e., Darwin) E-Learning and Blended Learning Availability of Open Source and Free Software (e.g., Moodle) Leveraged Resources and OpenCourseWare (e.g., MIT) Learning Object Repositories and Portals (i.e., shared content) Learner Participation in Open Info Communities (YouTube) Electronic Collaboration and Interaction (sync and async) Alternate Reality Learning (Online Massive Gaming, Simulations, and Virtual Worlds; e.g., Second Life) Real-Time Mobility and Portability (e.g., iPhone) Networks of Personalized Learning (Blogs, RSS) 15 Predictions Five Billion “Have-Nots” Have at It! Emergence of Lifelong Super E-Mentors/Coaches Quarter-Century Learning Clubs Terabyte Learning Access Points The Veneration of Learning Personalization+ Portfolios The Selection of Global Learning Partners The Shared Learning Era Teaching-Learning Perpetuities Teachers, Teachers The Rise of the Super Blends Self-Determined Humans Free Learning Zones Authentic Learning Amalgamations Alexandrian Aristotles I was pretty impressed with the quality of the recording. However, I have noticed a couple of things I would like to change: Typically I take a second or two to cogitate after I hear something profound. Thus, clicking on my notes plays back the audio from a few moments after something of importance has been said. It would be nice to easily jog back 10 seconds from that point (rather than messing with the navigation). I wish I could charge/sync the pen with a mini-USB cable. I forgot to bring the dock to Madison. The pen’s batteries ran out at the end of the first day (a better battery indicator would be nice too). The pen does not have a clip. If I set it down on a fat surface it does have a tendency to roll (typically covering the microphones in the process). UPDATE: PDF handouts from the keynote presentation can be found on Curt Bonk's TraningShare website.

First full day of conference

Full day of events at the 24th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning. Managed to pack in as many presentations and workshops as I could following a 6:45 a.m. working breakfast (scary). Met many interesting folks. Filled my brain with ideas. Still testing the Pulse Livescribe pen here - unfortunately I neglected to bring a charger with me and the pen died during a Penn State presentation.... Somewhat ironic. Curtis Bonk kindly agreed for me to share my Livescribe recording. This should be up Friday night/Saturday morning. Hope the audio came through.