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Avoid the confusion of generational cusps!

A little generational analysis goes a long way in managing teams of disparate ages. But the edges get kinda blurry. No two sources can quite seem to agree when the precise cut off dates are, which is only right given all the factors that can make one either at the heart or the toenails of…

How reliable are multiple intelligence ‘quick’ tests?

Note: This text is from a larger dissertation. Labeling of figures retains original system. One of the legacies of prevalent learning styles theories on Multiple Intelligences Theory is the assumption that a student’s MI profile can be uncovered by the use of a quick test or checklist. The central challenge of applying MI theory to…

Open badges – giving is as good as receiving.

One of the less mentioned but absolutely integral aspects of the Open Badges concept is not simply that it rewards learners, or rather ‘earners’ for their ‘non-formal’ learning endeavors, but that it rewards the ‘issuer’ that is the organization or business that creates the course of learning leading to the award of the badge. This…

Discourse analysis in the classroom?

Discourse analysis in the classroom? I think that, at best, discourse analysis in class will be fragmentary and inconsistent because this field cannot be/ is not adequately covered in realistic teacher education, and at present it is under-represented in teachable materials or accessible methodology. As a practical example I would like to examine some materials…

10 simple suggestions for online instructional design

Simply, I feel that online learning should be: community anchored peer assessed and peer negotiated expert assessed and expertise driven human as well as automated lateral as well as linear now as well as then brought to you, not you to it both map and terrain graceful, simple and beautifully connected beyond LMS There is…

Natural online learning is just natural learning

Online Community Enthusiasts Vancouver Gathering June 14, 2012 I posed the question of what constitutes natural online learning to an open space session during a SCoPE event at SFU recently. What emerged to me was an over-arching and very simple commitment – that good practice is good practice. Good practice physical equates to good practice…

A Permaculture of online learning

I’ve been trying to identify a ‘natural’ approach to the design and facilitation of online learning. That is, how does learning most naturally take place in real world and how would this look within the emerging sophistication of the web? The stumbling block is that we have barely been able to answer this question pre-web…

Dealing with difficult customers

I just facilitated a short communication strategies course for working professionals for a business training firm. The second day was a dream with real discovery of attendees’ communicative bottlenecks, uncovering of Johari ‘blind spots’, and some real and actually quite thrilling transformation. The first day was blighted by an attendee who, well … , we…

The beauty and absurdity of duolingo

Fascinating talk by Luis von Ahn on TED. I had no idea about the scope of CAPTCHA, or rather RECAPTCHA, in helping to interpret text in printed sources too old for Optical Character Recognition to accurately decipher. So all the time wasted typing in those wobbly words presented to you when trying to authenticate something…

Do teachers act on the findings of educational research?

Do teachers act on the findings of educational research? The divide between research and application was brought home to me recently in a 2 day meeting in which a discussion of the role of grammar played a large role. On the flight I lapped up parts two and three of Ellis, only to find that…