September 2008 Archives

As I've mentioned before, I'm taking a course on lifelong learning: definitions, formats, programs, strategies, etc... It really makes me appreciate the opportunities that I have to learn.  Here are a few examples.

1. I'm taking two official courses this semester.  The one on globalization and lifelong learning.  The other is a methods course: multivariate analysis.  They are about as different as two courses could possibly be.  One is focused on global issues that face humanity and how people approach those issues.  The other is about the right way of collecting data, putting it into SPSS (or other programs), and interpreting the results.  They are also complementary.  You can't solve big problems without reliable data and analysis.  Likewise, research gains value from being applied to important issues.
2. I'm attending a conference this week.  It's the "Midwest Research to Practice" conference in Bowling Green, KY.  While there, I'm presenting a paper that I co-authored with Joann Olson about adults' persistence in formal non-degree courses (i.e. what characteristics influence adults to complete or drop out of work-related courses that aren't for credit or toward a degree)?  This will be my first time presenting at an academic conference, although I have presented at Educause and ANGEL conferences.  I'm also planning on going to Educause 2008 later this month and Northern Voice (an unconference) in February.
   
3. I'm part of the Brainstorming Breakfast Bookclub.  This month, we're reading "Here Comes Everybody" by Clay Shirky.  It's a really interesting take on the collective power that online communities can have when they are focused on a specific goal.  The bookclub is an off-shoot of the Brainstorming Breakfast, where a group of people get together and share ideas about their work, new tools, problems, culture, etc...
   
4. I read blogs - mostly from people at Penn State who are working in jobs that are similar to mine.  These blogs help me understand the issues that other people face and how they deal with them.  I try to learn from the good and bad, and then help when I can.  I have my own blog (which you're reading) and I use it to think through my own issues and share what I can.
5. I have gotten into program planning (local conferences).  At first, it didn't seem to be something I would like, but then the idea grew on me.  I hear all the time how people dislike traditional "sage on the stage" conferences and wondered if we could do better.  It's an interesting challenge, so I started looking into more interactive formats and playing with ideas and bringing in other people who share a vision for creating engaging learning experiences.  Now, I am helping with the Digital Commons Tailgate, the Digital Media Day (at Winterfest), and an assessment conference that the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence is planning.
   
6. This one may seem obsessive: I listen to 25 different podcasts about running.  Each of these is a 20-60 minute recording from people around the world who are running to get in shape or train for a specific event (like a marathon).  There are fat runners, thin runners, young runners, old runners, fast runners, slow runners, short runners, ultra-distance runners, amateur runners, professional trainers, and even a doctor or two.  My running partner (Jeff) and I have our own show.  Mainly, I like doing it because it's a chance to share what we're doing and help motivate some other people who are trying to get a little healthier.  I also listen to "This American Life", "Radio Lab", "The DIS Unplugged", and other programs from NPC, PRI, and the BBC.  Hey, I walk to work and run a lot -- I like to have an iPod full of interesting content.
7. I just started attending a meeting of people who are interested in producing multimedia resources and sharing media-creation tools.
8. As I manage a site about intellectual property (copyright.psu.edu), I learn a lot about free media resources, copyright law, plagiarism, and related issues.

This is just a start and only includes things that I participate in.  If I had twice the amount of time, I could certainly fill that time by participating in more of these kinds of programs -- or start new programs around topics that need to be addressed.

What is my job?  I listen, I take action, I share what I know.  It's not just a technique for learning, it's an approach toward living.

I could go on -- but strangely enough, I need to get to class!

Every once in a while, you read something that rings true.  It explains how you feel about something or has an application that jumps out at you.  Bear with me. 

I'm taking a course on globalization and lifelong learning.  The readings this week include an article called "Three concepts of globalization" (Bartelson, 2000 if you want to look at it).  One of the sections is called "Globalization as Transcencence".  It includes statements like:

• "Globalization is neither about the inside our or outside in but rather a process that dissolves the divide between inside and outside." (p. 189)
  
• "the old world is about to be replaced by 'information and communication structures' thanks to increased mobility, and the global itself is constituted by 'networks of flows' rather than by preconsitituted units or agents" (p. 189)
• "Flows are decentering, despatializing, and dematerializing forces"(p. 190)

Okay, so why does this appeal to me?  First, because this is similar to the framework that I use when thinking about my work and the service of our unit to the university and the public.  It aligns with our discussions of openness and transparancy.  I would also like to add something else to that list -- maybe "permeability" to express the idea that much of what we're doing now is in cooperation with other units, departments, colleges, and campuses.  So when I say sharing "our" work, I mean the work that all of us are doing together, not just the products of my unit.  The idea of permeability fits with the above quotes that talk about decentering and dissolving the divides between outside and inside.

Secondly, this reflects my slightly-Eastern view of the world as a being comprised by processes in motion instead of static things and external change forces that periodcially sweep across the landscape.  I expect change.  I try to anticipate change.  I welcome change.  We cause change.

This gets into the lifelong learning discussion as well.  I would be very frustrated if I thought that I could take some courses and then be "done learning", only to have the world race ahead of me again.  It's also why I think that I tend to volunteer for things. I love the discovery process.  Plus, a good challenge always leads to new ideas.

I subscribe to a podcast called "Best of YouTube" that contains a lot of really interesting clips.  I watched this one today for the first time.  It tries to show what YouTube would have been like if it had existed more than 20 years ago, "back in the day".





What I really love about this clip is that it made me think of other clunky systems that exist now or that existed recently.  One thing that I love about some of the new Web 2.0 tools is that they get rid of a lot of this clunky siloed-information mess.  In the 1990's, this video would show a single employee who would be able to answer all of the caller's questions and requests.  And today, YouTube is both self-service and ultra-personalized. 

It's easy to forget how bad things used to be.  I think we still have systems in place that involve too much manual work, bottlenecks, and work-arounds.  Fortunately, WebAccess is a huge step toward streamlining a user's experience through our systems.

I was listening to an episode of Zen and the Art of Triathlon where the host (Brett) was talking about Alan Watts (a philosopher who studied Zen) who was talking to a small group of people.  He was sitting on a chair and asked "What is this?"  "It is a chair."  Then he flipped it over and threw in a piece of paper.  "Now it is a waste basket."  He turned it back over again and began patting the seat.  "Now it is a drum. It is what it does."  The complete Zentri podcast can be found here:

http://m.podshow.com/media/2245/episodes/123613/zentriathlon-123613-08-24-2008.mp3

I have had similar thoughts about being a vegetarian, but in that case, I feel that you are what you do intentionally.  Here is the difference.  I was recently at a conference and the evening after the first day, the host company bought appetizers for a group of special dinner guests (myself included).  One of the appetizers was spinach artichoke dip.  So I started eating it when I noticed an odd taste and texture.  It turns out it was spinach, crab, and artichoke dip.  But that doesn't mean I'm not still a vegetarian.  Eating crab was accidental.  Had I known, I wouldn't have eaten it and when I did find out, I stopped.  The same goes for someone who would eat meat, but just can't afford it.  They are not vegetarians. They choose to eat meat, but just don't have the opportunity to do so.

There is also a transformative and adaptive elements in Alan Watts's demonstration that I don't want to gloss over.  We technology people are especially good at taking one thing and making it do something completely different.  A blogging platform becomes an ePortfolio system or a content management system because the plaform is maleable enough to be shaped to do those functions.

This idea gets a little trickier when it is applied to complex roles.  Sure, if you want to become a runner, just start running.  If you want to be a blogger, start blogging.  However, if you want to be a doctor, you can't just start cutting people open.  You need to practice medicine and that involves licensing and credentials.  Same with lawyers.  But closer to home, what about instructional designers and programmers?  A lot of programmers that I know do not have degrees in computer science.  I know several instructional designers who have studied some learning theory and have experience working with faculty and creating course materials, but they don't have degrees in instructional design/instructional systems/instructional technology.  Could I be an instructional designer?  Sure.  But my degree is in Adult Education.

So maybe in addition to intentionality, proficiency needs to come into the equation?  After all, I wouldn't be a very good vegetarian if I ate sea cucumber because I thought it was a vegetable, right?

Okay, I need help thinking this through.  For years, I have said that I love teaching.  Why do I love teaching?  I love that moment when the light bulb goes on (ding) and a connection is made.  It could be a realization, new confidence, problem resolved, or the ability to do something new.

Based on this, I have recently written that I really enjoy seeing learning take place, whether it is me doing the teaching or not.  I also like riddles, problem solving, and research.  When I was a kid, I LOVED watching science documentaries - mostly oceanography (Jeaques Cousteau), physics, and space.  My guilty pleasure was Leonard Nemoy's "In Search Of..." Okay, so that makes me a big nerd.  I can deal with that.

But mostly, I was curious about how the world worked.  I shouldn't say "was curious", since I still am.  If I'm flipping through the channels and I see something about the formation of the solar system, plans for slowing global warming, or the search for cold fusion, I get sucked in. "In Search Of..." what?  Knowledge, truth, answers, new ways, solutions, excellence, deeper questions. 

I like to share what I know, with the assumption that other people are also curious and enjoy learning how things work.  When I share something, I offer a gift.  When it is accepted and appreciated, it's like getting a gift back.

Playing politics seems like the antithesis of all of this.  Twisting the truth is like sharing a tainted gift.  Putting your support behind something or someone you don't believe is dishonest and disrespectful.  Discoveries are kept secret.  The reports of government scientists are "edited" to fall in line with administrative beliefs.  What is obscured with politics?  Knowledge, truth, answers, new ways, solutions, excellence, deeper questions.

I have thought about keeping up the one-post-a-day streak into September, but now that Fall classes are in full swing and I'm taking two to complete my residency, I don't think I'll have much time to keep it up every day.  On the other hand, I feel that it's more likely that I'll post more often than my old once-a-month rate.

Today, it feels good to write voluntarily.

There are a couple of people in the office who have talked about starting their blogging streak in September.  I hope they do.  It certainly got me thinking about the work that I do, why I do it, and who it affects.  So I'm passing the torch to them and we'll see who picks it up.  If you're a day or two late, that's fine too.  The point of doing something like this is not the ritual of making the once a day deadline, but what the challenge reveals.