Learning Portfolio EAD 860

1. Learning PortfolioEAD 860 Kim Luzius Fall Semester 2003

2. DATA: What I did….. What caught my attention…

3. What I did… 1. Read “Growing up Digital” by Don Tapscott 2. Read “Seven Principles for Cultivating Communities of Practice” by E. Wenger, R. McDermott, and W.M. Snyder

4. What I did… 3. Read “Create the Learning Organization” by Lynn Szostek 4. Completed library search assignment

5. What I did… 5. Completed 3 lessons 6. Began collecting and reviewing information for road rally project

6. What caught my attention… While reading “Growing up Digital”: My concern that poor children, which translates into African-American children will be left behind.

7. What caught my attention (con‘t)… With little income it is difficult to afford a computer in the home. These students typically attend schools with few financial resources. If the schools are equipped with computers the ratio of computers to students is probably low meaning students spend little time using the computer.

8. What caught my attention… Softbots, knowbots, or bots Auburn University subscribes to Ingenta, which is a database. The user saves qualifiers pertaining to an information search and the database carries out the search sending the results to the user’s email address on a monthly basis.

9. Associations and Feelings What worked? What energized me? What frustrated me?

10. What worked: My feelings: Reading the assigned articles on learning organizations and communities of practice because they allowed me to relate some of the information presented in this class to my work experience Because I work as a union representative rather than directly with students I felt the Tapscott book failed to apply to me. Because my daughter is not an N-Gener, I felt the Tapscott book failed to apply to me.

11. What worked (con’t)… The articles put into perspective my current employer’s lack of ability to adapt and change to a changing work force.

12. What worked (con’t)… This leaves me with two options: 1. Work to make what changes I can in my current organization such as cultivating a community of practice 2. Find a job with a company that fosters a learning organization

13. What energized me… The library search assignment It made me think about the process I use when searching for information using the library as a resource and question the productivity of those methods. Questioning my methods hopefully will lead to improvement in search techniques which will mean more useful information and little time wasted.

14. What energized me… While sitting at a school board meeting I connected a comment made by the superintendent to this class. He said the system hopes to eventually minimize the use of paper by placing all personnel data from the time a person is hired to the time they retire in an electronic format.They also hope to use real time accountability of finances for all schools ensuring an instant update of transactions as they occur. Tapscott (1998, p. 24) mentioned the fact that technology will change all aspects of life as it becomes central to commerce and the economy.

15. What energized me… The road rally assignment It stirred an interest in me that I failed to recognize – a desire to teach, not only to teach but to teach an online course.

16. What energized me… While reading an article called “A New Technology-first Framework for the Future Design of Online Learning” by Douglas Harvey (2002) for the road rally project I became very interested in the contents and wondered how to use the information.

17. What energized me (con’t)… The article described the need to tailor online learning to the technology allowing software developers to experiment with different designs making online learning more than just a virtual classroom. I was so excited to connect this information to something, anything. I thought “This is good stuff.”

18. What energized me (con’t)… “Hey, look at me! I’m learning for the sake of learning!”

19. What energized me (con’t)… The article stated that “…every person involved in the online course has a valid and somewhat unique knowledge base. Therefore, a designer would seek not to transmit information but to devise ways to share each of these knowledge bases in search of learner understanding.”

20. What energized me (con’t)… I began to connect this information to the adult learning class that I took my first semester in the program where I discovered that combining past experiences into the lesson helps adults to understand the material.

21. What frustrated me… While frantically working to turn in an assignment the morning of the due date, I encountered computer problems. I could hear Dr. Davis’s voice (or at least what I imagined was her voice)… “I encourage you not to wait until the last minute on Wednesday as technology and other priorities often create challenges…”

22. What frustrated me… My husband was still asleep. As soon as he awoke I asked for assistance (more like demanded). It turns out that our home page was somehow switched to some sort of advertisement that prohibited me from closing the window.

23. What frustrated me… Apparently some pop-up ads trick users into setting that advertisement as the home page A click on the yes box indicating closure of the pop-up window also indicates a change of the home page to that of the pop-up ad. How clever!!

24. Reflections

25. Reflections… Significant learnings Connections Effect of learnings

26. Significant learnings… Societal forces that are shaping the emerging Knowledge Age and the vision for continuous learning include the following… N-Geners

27. N-Geners (con’t)… Because they are growing up in a digital society they differ in all aspects of life.. They learn differently They shop differently They play differently As adults they will hold different expectations for employers (Tapscott, 1998).

28. Societal forces (con’t)… Most items from cars, to cameras, to video games, to phones are becoming computerized

29. Significant Learnings… The role of technology as a partner in the learning process and in extending intelligence Technology provides yet another avenue for people to learn. It allows learning to take place anywhere making it convenient for those with access to it and those willing to use it.

30. The role of technology (con’t)… The use of Softbots to search the Internet for information based on a particular individual’s interests (Tapscott, 1998, p. 32).

31. Significant learnings… Emerging issues in a learning society “The N-Gen will cause a rethinking of management’s attitude toward it’s people. Senior management will have to treat people as if they are the enterprises’ most valuable resource, because increasingly in a knowledge economy they are” (Tapscott, 1998, p. 10).

32. Emerging issues in a learning society (con’t)… Despite the lack of face to face contact that computer use dictates, community building must continue to take place through relationship building (Tapscott, 1998, p.61).

33. Community Building (con’t)… “…communities are much more than their calendar of events. The heart of a community is the web of relationships among community members, and much of the day-to-day occurs in one-on-one exchanges” (Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, 2002).

34. Emerging issues in a learning society (con’t)… Institutions that hire employees are moving from “businesses” to “learning organizations”. In a learning organization people come together for a common cause. The environment is proactive because employees constantly challenge themselves and each other to do better (Szostek, 2001).

35. Emerging issues in a learning society (con’t)… Whether or not an organization survives depends on its ability to learn and adapt. A true learning organization develops new capacities and fundamental shifts of mind (Bonebright, 2003).

36. Significant Learnings… The change that educational institutions must undergo to be of service in the knowledge age N-Geners – the way in which they learn differs from students in previous generations Because of their experiences with computers, they yearn for interaction rather than passivity (Tapscott, 1998).

37. Educational institutions (con’t)… “New media tools offer great promise for a new model of learning – one based on discovery and participation” (Tapscott, 1998, p.127).

38. Educational institutions (con’t)… “Developed societies are moving away from the traditional model, where people complete their education at an early age and then dedicate themselves solely to making a living. Desktop computers now function as powerful multimedia interactive communication centers and these capabilities offer rich opportunities for distance education (“Distance Learning”,2003).

39. Connecting the readings and assignments to learning… As a student in EAD 860 I felt largely responsible for my own learning. The instructors assigned only one book, one that failed to gain my full attention. My interests peaked when I read the assigned articles and the articles I researched for the road rally project.

40. Connecting the readings and assignments to learning (con’t)… I chose to read the assigned articles rather than limit myself to the book. The instructors left that decision up to each student. I chose the articles I wanted to research for the road rally project. These decisions gave me great power over my own learning.

41. Effects of learning… This class opened my eyes to changes I can expect in the future as a result of technology.

42. Effects of learning (con’t)… Although I use the computer on a daily basis, I realize that I must continue to improve my skills by experimenting with areas outside of my comfort level, i.e., MSU library system, web development, the many possibilities inherent in PowerPoint.

43. Effects of learning (con’t)… Technology drives society. My father serves as an example of why I need to keep up with technological advances. He continues to search for the any key!

44. Impact How will I be different? What did I learn about… Myself Others Time management

45. How will I be different? Cognizant of the changes that technology is sure to bring in all areas of life. Cognizant of an organization that strives to build communities of learning

46. What I learned about myself… Despite my constant use of the computer (some days looking at it makes me scream!), I need to broaden my horizons in terms of the types of activities I complete via computer.

47. What I learned about myself… The articles I read for the road rally stirred an interest in me that I never knew existed, that of teaching or training adults via the Web.

48. What I learned about others… Very time consuming to read classmate comments. But found myself needing to read comments when I wasn’t sure of a concept presented in the lesson questions.

49. What I learned about time management… I need help in this area!! An assignment due on a day other than the present day takes my focus away from school and moves it to work. I used a calendar and broke down activities into parts scheduling those parts for completion on varying days. Unfortunately, I failed to follow that schedule. My short attention span forces me to change activities approximately every 45 minutes.

50. The End Thank you!

51. References Bonebright, D.A. (2003). Built to learn: The inside story of how rockwell collins became a true learning organization. T & D, 57, 67-69. Retrieved October 20, 2003, from the Expanded Academic ASAP database. Distance learning programs revolutionizing education. (September, 2003). Retrieved October 20, 2003, from http://www.enterprisenetworksandservers.com/monthly/art.php/292.

52. References Harvey, D. (2002). A new technology-first framework for the future design of online learning. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 3(1), 59-63. Retrieved October 21, 2003, from the Academic Search elite database. Szostek, L. (2001). Create the learning organization. Retrieved October 13, 2003, from http://www.businessknowhow.com/manage/learningorg.htm.

53. References Tapscott, D. (1998). Growing up digital: The rise of the net generation. New York: McGraw-Hill Wener, E., McDermott, R., & Snyder, W.M. 92002). Seven principles for cultivating communities of practice. Retrieved on September 27, 2003, from http://hbsworkingknowledge.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=2855&t=knowledge&sid=0&pid=0