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Using Blogs and Wikis in the 21st Century Classroom: A Study in EvaluationTim Stafford, MS MADirector of Digital Media Center & Sr. Instructional DesignerVirtualis Media Group - Zellwood, Florida

+Introduction: Goals of this Session

Analyze some key elements of adult learning:

Evaluate some technological implications for Bloom’s Taxonomy

Analyze the role of rubrics in subjective learning landscapes

Evaluate the power of wiki’s and blogs to become assessment vehicles, especially in terms of connectivist learning theory.

Questions and answers

+Key Elements of Adult Learning

McClusky’s Theory of Margin

Illeris’s Three Dimensional Learning Model

Jarvis’s Learning Process

Brookfield’s Reflective Teaching Model

+McClusky’s Theory of Margin(Merriam et al. 2007)

The adult learner seeks to strike a balance (L:P) between: The Load of Life (L) which acts like an independent variable The Power of Life (P) which is the power to manage L Impact: Education becomes a load that can become dispensable if

it becomes overwhelming to the power to perform.

+Illeris’ Three Dimensional Learning Model (Merriam et al. 2007)

The adult seeks to strike a balance (C:E:S) between: Cognition – The ability to

understand Emotion – The ability to

maintain balance with personal issues

Social – The ability to ping ideas against cultural norms and more’s and reconcile them. Impact 1: Adults need to

understand the Why of learning

Impact 2: Adults need to understand How it will impact their world

+Jarvis’s Learning Process(Merriam et al. 2007)

A simple world view structure – connected beliefs about:

Politics Education Economics Religion Social Issues

©2011 The Nehemiah Institute Used with permission

+Conclusion: Considering Reflective Teaching (Brookfield, 1995)

4 Critical Lenses of Reflective Teaching The lens of autobiography –

What has been my experience? The lens of the student –

Who am I in the process? The lens of experience in

relation to colleagues – How are others affecting me with what they know?

The lens of theoretical literature – What do I know and where are there gaps in my knowledge? Where are there biases and assumptions in my knowledge?

Brookfield’s Reflective Teaching Model

+SO WHAT?!!?

McClusky’s Theory of Margin

Illeris’ Three Dimensional Learning Model

Jarvis’ Learning Process

Brookfield’s Reflective Teaching Model

B/W allow student access to an evaluation platform that they an engage from any where at anytime – increasing power.

B/W engage students cognitively, socially which helps them emotionally better understand the process of evaluation – feedback is the key

B/W allow students to engage issues from their worldview and gain strength from the diversity of others through the evaluative process

B/W Allow all of the lenses of reflective teaching to exist within the assessment framework – This is a key element of transformative learning (Meizrow, 1997)

TheoryPractical Application through

Blogs and Wikis

+Bloom’s Taxonomy and Rubric Creation

Traditional Bloom’s Taxonomy

An updated version that tackles technological considerations

Creating Rubrics

+Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy

+Expanded Bloom’s Taxonomy

+Blogs/Wikis Use Levels 4 AND 5

+Creating Rubrics

Short Film on Rubrics

Rubrics allow the instructor to give the learner the information he/she needs to control the course of their evaluative process.

Rubrics allow for flexible grading when taking other issues into consideration

Rubrics offer a standardization that can help address individual learner needs by allowing them to interact with the tools and process so as to customize their experience and allow them to set their own goals

Rubistar offers a great help for instructors and Rubric design

+SO WHAT?!!?

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Connectivism

Migrating to Rubrics for Lerner-centered Curriculum Evaluation

Bloom’s confirms that B/W hold the possibility of synthesis or create-level learning.

Rubrics allow us to standardize assessment structures in subjective learning environemnts like B/W.

With e-learning and m-learning well established, a merger toward ubiquitous learning (u-learning) is a new horizon based on the power of social media and B/W can be easily employed in these constructs

TheoryPractical Application through

Blogs and Wikis

+Kirkpatrick’ s 4 Levels of Evaluation (1994)

Reaction - how the learners react to the learning process “Was the learning worth my time?”

Learning - the extent to which the learners gain knowledge and skills What knowledge was acquired? What skills were developed or enhanced? What attitudes were changed?

Behavior - capability to perform the learned skills while on the job “Do people use their newly acquired learning on the job?”

Results - includes such items as ROI, efficiency, morale, etc.

+Understanding the Theory of Connectivism (Siemens, 2006)

Connectivism holds that people are connected through learning, and that a structure can be built on these connections. A node A network A community

Virtually any element that we can scrutinize or experience can become node. Thoughts, feelings, interactions with others, and new data and information can be seen as nodes.

The aggregation of these nodes results in a network. Networks can combine to form still larger networks (each node in a larger network can be a network of nodes itself).

A community, for example is a rich learning network of individuals who in themselves are completed learning networks.

+Key Terms in the Theory of Connectivism Amplification: The connection

of one concept or skill set with another complementary concept or skill set that produces a greater impact than each element could produce on its own.

Resonance: Resonance is capacity for connections to form based on the attributes of connect-able nodes. Nodes that are too unlike each other will not form a meaningful connection.

Synchronization: Nodes/concepts aligning themselves to other agents/concepts (fireflies is a common example).

Enacting new domains of knowledge:. We all possess some levels of knowledge. When that knowledge is connected with the knowledge of other people, we are able to access more complex domains of knowledge

Connected specialization: In complex systems, individual agents/nodes become increasingly specialized. Connections have an impact – but we don’t want random connections for connections sake. We need connections that increase the capacity of a network of individuals to create and grow knowledge.

+Eight Principles of Networked Learning(Siemens, 2006)

+SO WHAT?!!?

Connectivism

Network Learning Theory

Ubiquitous Learning (u-learning: a combination of e- learning and m-learning) (Sung, 2009)

Connectivism harnesses the power to combine the strengths of the learner with the rich networking of social media to create new learning spheres.

NLT give principles by which the complete diversity found in the connectivist theory has the promise to empower.

U-learning gives instructors the ability to facilitate and coach learners towards areas of advancement that intrinsically motivate them. B/W can give each learner a voice in the process and in the ultimate deliverable.

Element of Theory of Connectivism

Practical Application through Blogs and Wikis

+Understanding the Future Learner (Marx, 2006)

Technology will increase the speed of communication and the pace of advancement or decline.

Release of human ingenuity will become a primary responsibility of education and society.

Social and intellectual capital will become economic drivers, intensifying competition for well-educated people.

Greater numbers of people will seek personal meaning in their lives in response to an intense, high-tech, always on, fast-moving society.

+References

Brookfield, S. D. (1995). Becoming a critically reflective teacher. Sab Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, Inc.

Marx, G. (2006). Sixteen trends, their profound impact on our future: Implications for students, education, communities, countries, and the whole of society. Alexandria, VA: Gary Marx and Educational Research Service.

Mayer, R. E., & Clark, R. C. (2010). Instructional strategies for receptive learning environments. In K. H. Silber & W. R. Foshay (Eds.), Handbook of improving performance in the workplace (Vol. 1, pp. 298-328). San Francisco: Pfeiffer, An Imprint of Wiley.

Meizrow, J. (1997). Transformation theory of adult learning. In P. Cranton (Ed.), In defense of the lifeworld (pp. 39-70). State University of New York Press.

Merriam, S. B., Caffarella, R. S., & Baumgartner, R. M. (2007). Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive guide (Third ed.). San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Siemens, G. (2005, November 5). Connectivism: Learning as network-creation [Weblog post]. Retrieved from http://www.astd.org/LC/2005/1105_seimens.htm

Sung, J.-S. (2009, December). U-learning model design based on ubiquitous environment. International Journal of Science and Technology, 13, 77-88. Retrieved from EBSCOhost database.

+Contact information

Tim Stafford, MS, MA

E-mail – t.stafford@virtualismediagroup.com

Phone – 407 703 1319

Website VMG –

www.virtualismediagroup.com Internet Radio – Stating in

September, 2011 – www.blogtalkradio,com/vmg

Twitter - @tmstaffordllc