tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34383852024-02-28T03:18:14.329-08:00Brainstorm in ProgressTHIS BLOG IS HERE FOR HISTORICAL PURPOSES ONLY - IT IS CONTINUED AT WWW.GEOFFCAIN.COMGeoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.comBlogger475125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-57784826092174872792013-02-08T14:02:00.002-08:002022-09-29T15:11:15.135-07:00MOOCs and Other Four-Legged Chickens
I have just moved to Humboldt State University. The college is fairly rural but we get a lot of folks from urban areas. I over heard a very interesting conversation between some students in the cafeteria. One of them was freaking out because there was a rat in the garden outside that they could see outside through the window.
She yelled "what is that hopping around?"
One of her friends Geoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-45880478039524516392011-04-08T20:04:00.001-07:002021-07-24T15:42:55.565-07:00New Education Technology Changes EverythingI am reading a book on a "new" educational technology. Everything in the book is hauntingly familiar. We have heard these warnings about technology and education before. Its "...importance as an instrument of instruction in the common school, has been insisted on in every periodical on education which I have seen, either of this country or Europe; as well as in almost every recent treatise on theGeoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-58952227897991025972014-10-24T21:57:00.001-07:002018-10-29T07:57:36.564-07:00Taking the Red Pill and Reclaiming Hosting
This blog has moved to http://geoffcain.com
Numerous metaphors seem apt here. I have been toying with the idea that Tim Owens and Jim Groom have been promoting for some time now: A Domain of One's Own and Reclaim Hosting. When I first heard the idea, I was not too keen on it because I was working in a community college with students very new to technology and with luddite faculty who wereGeoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-66206922521247383212014-09-15T13:58:00.000-07:002014-09-15T13:58:11.149-07:00mLearning Initiatives at Humboldt State University
This just in from Morgan Barker, an instructional designer at Humboldt State:
Hello Staff & Faculty,
I would like to personally invite you to campus sessions centered around the topic of mobile learning. The eLearning department will be holding a monthly 2014-15 Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) session. Come join us -grab a cup of coffee and a croissant, during the session.
Sessions Geoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-54453079573034647622014-08-29T11:15:00.003-07:002014-08-29T11:16:24.231-07:00Time Saving Tips for Online Teaching (2014)
A clock made in Revolutionary France, showing the 10-hour metric clock. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
We often hear that online learning takes a lot of time for instructors. I have found that it can, but when a course is set up in advance, using the appropriate tools, a lot of time can be saved. A little work and planning in advance can save teachers a lot of time when it will really Geoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-22012757908970582822014-08-22T15:09:00.001-07:002014-08-22T15:12:43.711-07:00Open Textbooks at Humboldt State University
The Jolly Giant Commons (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I presented the other day at Humboldt State University's conference "Institute for Student Success." I was really pleased that the organizers seem to recognize economic barriers to education as a factor in student success. I am also very excited about some of the work already in progress here at HSU with open textbooks. Last year, I Geoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-30778687519969843712014-07-17T15:26:00.001-07:002014-07-17T15:26:37.563-07:00Death of the Book Redux
Wittgenstein (from Wikipedia)
I don't know if this is related to climate change or the polar vortex, but the yearly declaration that the book is dead or dying is early this year. Naomi S. Baron, in her article "How E-Reading Threatens the Humanities" is the latest. Never mind the fact that with every new change in technology, there is resistance to the change. Socrates was Geoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-52399076161639042232014-04-28T16:48:00.000-07:002014-04-28T16:57:35.243-07:00Why Connectivism is a Learning Theory
Domains of major fields of physics (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
David Wiley recently made a comment on his blog, in response to a very succinct posting by Stephen Downes, that the learning theory Connectivism, though he is sympathetic to it, was incomplete. I am not sure what to make of that. I understand David's point that terms need to be carefully defined. A solid theory needs Geoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-25196311357144993372014-04-23T13:56:00.002-07:002014-04-23T14:51:38.295-07:00Connectivism - The First 2000 Years
I would like to highly recommend a book I am currently reading to educators interested in Connectivism. It is called Writing on the Wall: Social Media - The First 2000 Thousand Years by Tom Standage, the digital editor at the Economist. The point of the book is that social media is not a new phenomena but it is something that we have been engaging in for millennia and that it is part ofGeoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-17904801808020025492014-04-21T14:41:00.004-07:002014-04-21T19:21:19.543-07:00Scientific Discovery and the Creative Commons
Tim Spuck's students discuss their search for T Tauri stars with renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson at the American Astronomical Society conference in January 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In a recent episode of Cosmos: a Spacetime Odyssey, Neil deGrasse Tyson spoke of the dissemination of scientific ideas and publishing as part of the scientific method: "Science Geoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-42925099861800215782014-04-11T15:52:00.002-07:002014-04-11T15:52:22.537-07:00Connectivism, Neuroscience, and Education
I have never been comfortable with proclamations by educators or scientists (and yes, there is a difference) about how the brain works. The logical fallacy goes something like this: "we have isolated a mechanism in the brain, learning takes place in the brain; therefore, we now know how learning works." Whenever a psychologist says something smug like "the brain doesn't work that way" (Geoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-2642422132476968812014-04-04T14:45:00.001-07:002014-04-09T15:29:17.719-07:00Reports on the Death of the Book are Greatly Exaggerated
William Shakespeare
I was at a poetry reading at the library a while back and one of the poets had a poem about how lost in cyberspace everyone is and the implication was that he was seeing the end of print culture and the book. Never mind that there was not an empty seat in the house to hear a poetry reading on a Thursday night! But there we have it - technology is phasing out the Geoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-27147144582436221852014-02-11T13:57:00.001-08:002014-02-11T14:01:40.551-08:00When is a MOOC not a MOOC?
Statue of John Harvard Wikipedia
The Comical of Higher Ed has a headline that says "Harvard U. Will Offer Exclusive MOOCs to Alumni." After reading the article, the reader learns that what they are doing is giving alumni access to segments of courses and course content. The alumni are not taking a class. If it is not "massive," if it is not "open," and it is not a "class," it is notGeoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-12771504579235890812014-01-31T19:27:00.000-08:002014-01-31T19:33:34.172-08:00Open Textbooks and Student Success
Cable Green (Photo: Jeffrey Beall)
The tirelessly brilliant and ubiquitous Cable Green sent out today's announcement from Creative Commons about the U.S. PIRG Education Fund report called, “Fixing the Broken Textbook Market: How Students Respond to High Textbook Costs and Demand Alternatives." This report reinforces what the research is already showing - open textbooks can be a Geoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-59877538314433295252014-01-31T19:03:00.000-08:002014-01-31T19:17:59.800-08:00Humboldt State's Moodle Office is Makes the News!
Humboldt State University (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Our own inimitable Bill Bateman's video tutorials for Moodle 2.5 are featured at the Moodle News Website as were four of his videos for 2.3.
Bill is the lead Moodle Support Specialist in Humboldt State University's Moodle Office located on the third floor of the library. Bill's team manages the day-to-day operations of the learningGeoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-34817253772891984332014-01-17T15:39:00.002-08:002014-01-17T15:39:29.672-08:00#Rhizo14: "Cheating" as Learning Modality
I have had to address "cheating" in education is a very real way here at Humboldt State. I have instructors who are new to online learning and that is one of the first things they asked - how do we know the students won't cheat? I usually direct faculty to resources for designing assignments and tests to minimize cheating and how to promote an environment of academic integrity. I Geoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-21734862154151159392012-04-07T10:19:00.005-07:002014-01-17T15:13:05.635-08:00Mobile Learning: Education is Everywhere
This is an article I wrote for the "Tech Beat" column for the Times-Standard:
Darrell is a part-time student who does not own a car. Every Tuesday and Thursday, he takes the hour-long bus ride to school. Like many students at his community college, he works nearly 30 hours a week while taking three classes. Between work, commuting, and attending classes, he is hard-pressed to find time for Geoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-15000942398389349012014-01-16T14:27:00.000-08:002014-01-16T14:32:19.466-08:00Using a Blog-Based Environment to Support a Community of LearnersPresentation notes for: "Using a Blog-Based Environment to Support a Community of Learners"
Institute for Student Success, Humboldt State University
Presenters: Daniel Fiore, Riley Quarles, Claire Knox, and Child Development Faculty
Riley introduced everyone by saying that the network of blogs (Wordpress) created with the Child Development department began with solving a problem: communication. Geoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com2Arcata, CA, USA40.866665505750937 -124.0826797485351640.854658005750935 -124.10284974853515 40.87867300575094 -124.06250974853516tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-75010488922993002462014-01-14T16:40:00.001-08:002014-01-16T13:16:08.377-08:00#Rhizome14: Community as Curriculum
This is my introductory post. I am participating in a MOOC facilitated by Dave Cormier called "Rhizomatic Learning - The Community is the Curriculum." Dave's 2008 article "Rhizomatic Education: Community as Curriculum" has informed many of my education projects since including courses, student orientations, professional development, as well as my own teaching which has included English and Geoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-932288948420826222014-01-02T14:46:00.000-08:002014-01-02T15:11:04.472-08:00Social Networks and The Good Way to Do History
Biblioteque Nationale
There is a fascinating article by Harvard librarian Robert Darnton in this month's New York Review of Books called "The Good Way to Do History." It is a review of Arlette Farge's book The Allure of the Archives. This book was originally written in 1989 before the rise of the internet and ebooks, and yet, as Darnton points out, Farge's work addresses Geoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-76279205643990208502014-01-02T11:19:00.000-08:002014-01-02T11:30:56.533-08:00eLearning 101: Presentation from DET/CHEI went to the DET/CHE conference in November and I had a presentation that I was going to give. What happened at the conference was interesting. After listening to other presentations and listening to the concerns, fears, and needs of other presenters, I wrote a brief "prelude" as a response. I also added more notes in the notes field. I am glad I had the opportunity to do this. Presentation fromGeoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-30405591200122186762013-12-04T13:26:00.000-08:002013-12-04T13:26:00.165-08:00DET/CHE: Cognition, Learning Theory, Backward Design: The importance of instructional design.
Hierarchy of Instructional Design (Photo credit: jrhode)
Jim Monaghan, AVP Academic Technologies/Associate Professor, Educational Technology, CSUSB
Instructional designers take on many roles at campuses. The perspectives of the designers combined with the organizational structure of the campus can greatly impact the results of the instructional design process. This presentation examines the Geoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-50330649563918651512013-12-04T13:18:00.000-08:002013-12-04T13:18:04.398-08:00DET/CHE: Teaching in the Digital Age
Azusa Pacific University (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Mike Truong, Founding Executive Director, Office of Innovative Teaching and Technology, Azusa Pacific University
The demands faculty teaching in the digital age face are immense rom keeping distracted students engaged (high touch) to keeping current on the latest technologies (high tech).
This presentation will provide some proven Geoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-16344586913881944482013-12-04T13:10:00.000-08:002013-12-04T13:10:15.047-08:00DET/CHE: What Students Really Want
California State Student Association (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Anthony Gibson, Chief of Staff, California State Student
Association, CSU Sacramento
James Harrison, Technology Affairs Senator, Santa Clara University
Dwayne Mason Jr., California State Student Association, CSU Fullerton
Brett Roberts, Technology Officer, California State Student Association, CSU Monterey Bay
Specific ideasGeoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3438385.post-8676230878310525952013-12-03T19:08:00.000-08:002013-12-03T22:36:31.055-08:00DET/CHE: Education Nation: 6 Leading Edges of Innovation
Cover via Amazon
From the program:
"Milton Chen, Senior Fellow and Executive Director, emeritus at The
George Lucas Educational Foundation. San Francisco Bay Area.
milton.chen@edutopia.org
Education Nation: Six Leading Edges of Innovation in Our Schools
School systems are reinventing themselves, focusing on their growing
edges of innovation in districts, states, and nations. These Edges Geoff Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06997344068009095701noreply@blogger.com0