ascilite 2009

I hope to present this small piece of my dissertation at ascilite 2009 if I finish writing it.

Complete a coherent write-up

As I struggle for months over the writing of my last few chapters of my dissertation, I begin to realize that I am actually missing the point. I am overly focus on delivering a perfect final product whereas what is actually required is learning from the process. Because what I am writing now will never be final, it will never be perfect. So, all I need to do at the moment is to focus on completing the task for obvious and various practical and down-to-earth reasons. I got to focus on the goal of writing a 'coherent, logical and hopefully interesting' dissertation and enjoy the process of tying it up. That is and will be my goal until June 2009.

Seth Godin on Tribes

Anecdote

I find plentiful of resources relevant to my studies on collaborations in communities of practice such as the video below.

Building a collaborative workplace using stories from Shawn Callahan on Vimeo.

LMS is dead?

I am not so certain of the hype that is currently being generated by those who are championing the demise of learning management systems (LMS) because of the advent of Web 2.0 technologies. It is said that the use of Web 2.0 will create a more open and democratic personal learning environments (PLE) which will transfer the power of control back to the individual learners.

This may be true for adult learners working in the marketplace where learning largely occurs in informal settings and at the workplace. These adults would have the motivation and discipline to take up the responsibility to learn because it affects their work performance. Learning is not an option for them, but a necessity for personal development and professional advancement.

But for students who have just come out of their high schools, asking them to take up such responsibilities is almost like throwing them into the pool when they do not know how to swim. Some will make it, but many will not. Pushing them too hard may in the end lead to a revolt. 

We also need to think about the teachers. Are they ready for PLE? How are they to function in such environment? What skills do they need? Are they given the chance and time to develop such skills that would allow them to facilitate the PLEs? Barely have they gotten use to the idea of the LMS, now they have to learn how to share, tag, twitter, follow, blog, embed, subscribe  etc. Will they revolt too?

A proper transition is needed. LMSes are catching up too. Blogs, tags, subscription, journals are now making its way into the LMS environment. Perhaps, we could start off on this and allow the students and the teachers the time to be comfortable before moving them on to the next level. Give them time to change. Play too much the hype and the bubble may burst in the end. 

Blink and Reflective Practitoner - an initial comment

As I quickly read through the first few chapters of Blink and its story about the not-so-right statue, and how months of technical analyses could not detect the fraud that a few experts felt the moment they set their eyes on the artifact, I saw the similarities between what Gladwell is writing about the unconscious adaptive and Donald Schon's notion of reflection-in-action. It makes me wonder why we are relearning something that has been said, mentioned, debated and researched by the academic world 20 years ago. It is like this notion is totally new. But it is not. Perhaps it is the failure of academics to write best sellers of theoretical concepts which gives the impression that it is something novel. Perhaps we need more Gladwells and Godins in academic writings to turn important theoretical contructs that might have huge practical implications to education. 

Community and its Analogy

Reading Block's book on community, when he mentioned the need to understand the fabric of community, I started to relate this to the fabric of the universe and how the gravitational pull of large cosmic objects will pull and affect other smaller objects much like how the our sun pulls together the 8 planets to orbit around it. This is because the gravity of the sun shapes the fabric of space into a curvature that forms the orbits that the planets travel on. The sun also nourishes the planets around it and most successfully on earth. So a community of practice is somewhat similar to the solar system where its members interact with each other peripherally from a safe distance, pulling and pushing each other through ones gravity of influence while all the time orbiting in a predictable manner around the core interest of the sun which undoubtedly provide the strongest gravitational pull. Thus, nurturing the 'nuclear force of the sun' is vital for the health and the continuous existence of the 'solar' community of practice. What is this force in terms of a community of practice or a collaborative practice?     

Pushing and shoving do not produce quality uptake

What many senior management in institutions do not realise is that in their eagerness to push through the implementation of online learning and increase its uptake for strategic reasons, this pushing and shoving will eventually lead to a mass adoption in a shallow form that does not necessary guarantee an increase in the quality of learning. The masses will adopt a learning management system or a virtual learning environment simply to ease their current administrative task such as grading assessments and communicating important information to large groups of students. These reasons do not automatically lead to more effective teaching or learning experience. It will make the work of the academics who adopt the technology more efficient in completing their administrative work, but it does not necessary mean that this efficiency will be transferred to teaching and learning practices. 

Quality implementation requires learning about the enhancement that the technology brings. This learning process is achieved through both formal and informal interactions between those who have already mastered certain best practices and understand the affordances of the technology, and those who are just beginning to embark on their journey to explore the possibilities of integrating technology. Thus, the concept of community of practice is well-suited as a model to understand these interactions between the masters and their apprentices that would lead to fruitful collaborations between the two parties.  

Tipping Points??

After reading a posting on Facebook of Malcolm Gladwell's latest book, Outliers (how do your actually pronounce this word?), and remembering several other earlier blogs on the same book in my Google Reader, I decided to check out the book at Borders (Curve). 

I remembered that just a few weeks ago, the book was prominently displayed and promoted at the entrance rack when it was first made available at Borders. So, I was thinking that it would be displayed at the same place. I was even expecting the buy two for 20% discount offer. But to my surprise, the book was no where to be found. After spending 30 minutes searching for it on my own, I decided to ask the support staff instead. The moment I mentioned the title, (that was when I start to wonder whether I had pronounced it correctly because she certainly said it with a different pronunciation than mine) the friendly staff exclaimed that the title was all sold out. She asked me why so many were asking for this book and I explained to her that this could be due to the word of mouth or blogs, in this case, that had been spreading over the Internet. Now, she understood why fifteen copies of the book were sold off immediately after they arrived at her store at Curve. Curious to know more about social networking, I asked her about Tipping Point, and she said they ran out of this title too after checking her computer. I was pretty surprised at this situation because it was not so often that I could not find popular and general book titles that I want at any local book store. This was a first for me.

Then, I thought to myself. Why not check out at MPH since it was also located at Curve and was not far away from Borders? So after a short walk to MPH and with only 30 minutes left for browsing before the store closed, I searched quite quickly at the usual racks where this title would have been displayed. Initially, I could not find any except for Blink (this title was also available at Borders). I thought the sales must really be good for this book to have two stores in the same vicinity selling off their copies of the same title. Then, after a last desperate attempt and a quick check with the sales staff, I actually found both Outliers and Tipping Point. And there were many copies available. So sales was not as brisk  as I thought at this book store. 

I decided to hold off the purchase of Outliers and bought the two older titles instead after a quick glance. After reading a few pages of Tipping Point, I started thinking why the brisk sales at Borders did not 'tip' over to MPH? What prevented it from happening?

• Was the interest on the book not suficient enough to cause the potential customers to check out another store at the same mall?
• Was it because they did not know about the existence of another book store?
• Was it because the location of MPH was much less visible or prominent compared to Borders?
• Was it because of the discount promotions available at Borders (MPH was having sales too)?
• Or were there other hidden reasons that I could not think of?

 Perhaps after reading Tipping Point, I will understand this phenomenon a bit better. 

Strange interest and capability

Often, we would stereotype a person as being interested in either science, or arts (humanities etc.). This is generally how we would look at people's interests or their inclination. Perhaps this is even more true for us in Malaysia due to our intense segregation of the fields of arts and science early in our high school education system. The divide is almost like the incompatibility between quantum physics and general relativity, or the ancient cities of Rome and Jerusalem. 

But strangely, I find myself interested in both science and history. I read books on the elegance of universe and at the same time magically drawn to ancient histories of civilizations long forgotten in the minds of the modern society, engulfed by the huge tidal waves of popular culture and post modernistic thinking. 

It made me think about what is the connection that links my interest to both science and history. Is there an element that connects these fields at a general level? I would think that I would dread to look at the mathematical equations needed to prove and understand all the scientific theories. I think I would dread learning mundanely, the vocabulary and grammar of ancient languages, although in this aspect, I think I will survive and evolve better than learning the arcane equations of mathematics. 

Or, perhaps, the human mind is capable of learning almost everything the human soul puts its energies to? Perhaps learning is more about the intensity or passion of the soul rather than the objectivity and logical reasoning of the mind. Perhaps, learning is utterly subjective in this sense. So, does it make sense to switch to the concepts of personal learning environment  (PLE) and open education. Is there a revolution at hand on the existing educational structures that have become mental barriers limiting our learning or interest to a stereotypical field of either arts or science?

Leaders really need to learn

I was reading the business section of a local newspaper which I seldom do, it dawned on me that perhaps one of the reasons why we are facing so much of bad results in our business or organization operations is because our leaders or decision makes do not listen to those who are below them. Perhaps this should not be generalized, but I think Asian leaders are more susceptible to this flaw because of our culture where respect is automatically given and demanded from once you are placed in the position of leadership. I am not saying that leaders should just do what is popular with the crowd, but they seriously need to learn how to listen to the feedback of those who are actually on the ground, be it their employees or customers. 

Book prints are here to stay

I just bought my first copy of Harry Porter after updating my DVD collection with all five movie adaption of the popular fantasy fiction. Earlier, I had tried to read the e-book version of Half-Blood Prince because I can't wait for the movie at the theatres. It is really an intriguing and inspiring story of the trials and triumphs of nobodies against seemingly powerful adversaries and odds. 

But my point is not about Harry Porter. What I was amazed with is the experience of holding and reading from the hard copy of the book compared with the digital form. The experience was totally lopsided. With the printed version, I could not stop but turn the pages as quickly as I could whereas I did not even manage to get past the first page on my large LCD monitor! The physical experience of holding and reading from a paper-bound print utterly outclass the iPaper analogous to watching a Premier League team against a non-league outfit. The feel, the touch, the colour and the texture of the hard cover were totally irreplaceable by what I saw on the screen.

This personal experience makes me conclude that unless there is a world-threatening and irreversible ecological disaster, printed books are here to stay compared to their digital counterparts.  

Mind mapping

I think one of the greatest drawbacks of mind mapping is its inability to show overtly the relationship between the keywords that it is linking. It is akin to writing down many keywords or subjects in sentences without the predicates that carry the main story of each sentence. This makes the sentences unintelligible and meaningless. The same goes for mind mapping where a mind map may be understandable to the author at the point when it is drawn, but it loses its effectiveness because the meanings or relationships that tie the keywords together are forgotten over time. The author may at the moment of creation of the mind map understand what he is drawing because his mind is constantly processing the links between the keywords, but it becomes unintelligible when the mind forgets these linkages. That is why I always preferred concept map instead of mind mapping. No doubt, the mind mapping process can be very useful while brain storming, but it can become quite lame after this process is over.

Provision does not automatically transform to success

Many people nowadays have the idea that once technology is provided, strange miraculous results will automatically follow without doing anything in between the starting point of provision and the end-point of success. The end-point is paradoxically never an end because success is a process just as much that it is perceived as a state. So I find it strange that the free provision of Internet access is listed as an immediate solution to our current global economic woes as if the provision of the technology alone is sufficient. No doubt it will in one way or another provide relief to the economic strain, but much work still needs to be done to transfer the technological investment to economic gains. A focus on efforts to raise literacy level of the public on the positive use of the Internet might quicken the pace towards the intended goal.

Short comments

• It is really strange for Chrome to not to have any feature to allow the subscription of RSS. 
  
• I think blogging as a tool and activity for learning may not be totally acceptable to some learners, especially those who are less expressive or lacking a good command of language.
• I think that one size does not fit all and the much touted concept of PLE or e-learning 2.0 may still need to be integrated with some of the well-tested teaching approaches over the centuries or more recently, the ones we have learned and used in the so-called e-learning 1.0. 

Game-based learning

Quite often, when I listen to presentations on game-based learning, it is touted as the magical and potent solution for learning innovation. I have never actually question this perception before until I started playing RPG games on Facebook. These games have a tendency to encourage you to gather and link up with other users of Facebook (most likely for the financial gains of the developers) to accomplish the missions or quests. I do not complain about this because I always keep the games from taking anything out of my pocket. ;-) I also like the idea of having a common interest which I can share with peoples from different countries and background. It's kind of like a virtual United Nations.

What I notice from the nature of the gamers is they have different tendencies and methods to solve any gaming tasks or issues they face. These methods and solutions are not much different from what we do when we learn or study for a course as a student. Some are generous and share in detail what they have learned to the point of preparing extensive manual guides to all other gamers. On the opposite end of the spectrum will be those who are quick to start a totally new forum just to get quick answers without even bothering to check whether the questions raised have already been answered by others in earlier forums. Therefore, the knowledge base generated for the benefit of all is not utilized. There are those like me who would take the time to look through the forums to check for possible answers and contribute in meagre ways what we know to the general audience and feeling satisfied and happy when we are given a praise or two.

On how the game is played, some will actually study the details and do the mathematics simply for the fun of learning about the game. These are usually the ones who would also be eager to share what they have learned. On the opposite, some are in it just for the rush of the moment, to complete all the missions and get the emotional high out of it. Knowledge about the game is not important, only the fun element is essential. Of course, sandwiched in between the two opposite ends would be the in betweens like me and many others.

This observation gives me an anecdotal conclusion that despite what is often said about game-based learning, the games do not actually dictate how the gamers will respond. The characteristics and tendencies of the gamers still play a large role on how they will learn from the process. Not doubt, gaming will enhance positive elements of learning but it can also do the same for the negatives. Getting the right mix and hoping for a correct response from the learners will still be an elusive solution that most of us in the educational field hope to achieve.

Resistance against new Facebook?

I am actually quite surprised by the negative reaction from a substantial group of people judging from the number of groups set up just to protest about the Facebook layout and features. Personally I find the new layout extremely practical and easy to use e.g. the ability to make comments to updates as you see it on your wall or in the news. I thought this is really a very quick and good way to directly communicate with the person who has just updated and posted something.

I love the new wall so much until I could no longer remember how the old wall looks like. It allows me to do sending, writing and sharing quickly and efficiently. It tempts me to rethink again why I need to keep my own blogs in another place when the wall itself can function as an effective replacement to my blogs. Writing this note itself feels like I am blogging already. I could easily syndicate feeds from my existing blogs and display them in this area. To me it is really great. The tabs are great too, both at the profile and home page. The location of bookmarks on the right side of the hompage personally works better for me than the old one. And the ease to configure my settings for each application is also great. The applications drop down menu has its strength and weaknesses but overall it works well with me.

So this brings me to think what could be the reason for so many Facebook addicts rejecting the new layout and features. I am contemplating one reason in particular. I am relatively new to Facebook which makes me less difficult to unlearn all the things which one would have picked up after using the old Facebook for sometime. Sometimes what we have learned can be so ingrained in us that we could find it very difficult and uncomfortable when asked to change, especially when we can have no say in the situation or decision making. Could this be the reason? It could be one of the many reasons I guess.

Application shortcuts on Google Chrome

I continue to marvel and find the application shortcuts provided by Google Chrome very useful not just because of its looks and feel (although that plays a big part as well), but its loading speed which allows you to quickly work on the website or web service as if it is just another desktop application (take a look at the quick launch shortcuts screenshot below). Perhaps there is some truth in saying that the browser has now indeed become the operating system.

Cuil's failure to search out Google Chrome

I am utterly shocked that the much touted Cuil search engine could not find entries on the launch of Google Chrome. If this is deliberate, then it is sad. If not, that it has failed my test. 

First impression of Google Chrome

Things I like:

• lightness
• speed of loading and rendering
• Apple-like feel
• browser acting like an application especially when you create application shortcuts (it really does feel and look like an application instead of being in a browser environment and unless my mind deceives me, it loads faster in such a mode than in a normal Chrome mode)
• creating application shortcuts on desktops etc.
• larger viewing space
• history shown in thumbnails
• task manager and stats 
• nice looking Javascript console
• bookmarks as you type at the address bar much like FireFox 3

Things I don't like:

• I miss my Google toolbar, bookmarks, etc
• It actually detects security issues with GMail!
• Some scripts (especially in Facebook which can become quite annoying) and plugins do not work (Quicktime is an example)
• no RSS support .. albeit at the moment
• not being able to use some cool addons in FF i.e. Shareaholics etc. takes valuable points from otherwise a pretty cool browser
• unable to import my vast collection of bookmarks from my Google account
• unable to move backwards and forwards to a few level deep

I will try out a bit more and log down after a night's sleep.

Screenshots