I don’t have any data on overall effectiveness, but englishcafe.com’s approach to teaching English can certainly be quite entertaining. Here’s the start of a new series that leverages the legacy of King of Pop Michael Jackson to expand the English learner’s vocabulary. It’s a thriller. (Click through if you don’t see the video.) Jeff Cobb Mission to Learn P.S. If you enjoy what you read here on Mission to Learn, I encourage you to subscribe to the RSS feed or use the e-mail subscription form at the top right side of this page.

This is a guest post from Karen Schweitzer. Finding ways to stretch and exercise your brain is important for a long happy life. Fortunately, the Internet is flush with games, tools, and web apps that will boost your mental power and leave your brain sweating. Here are 25 sites to try today: Brain Games BrainBashers - BrainBashers are a collection of brain teasers, riddles, games, puzzles, and optical illusions. This impressive brain game site updates games and puzzles regularly. BrainDen.com - This brain teaser site provides a variety of games and trivia to challenge your mind. BrainDen.com offers jokes, puzzles, trivia, riddles, games, and optical illusions-all designed to exercise your brain. Sharp Brains - Sharp Brains provides 50 top brain teasers and games everyone will enjoy. These games help to work your language, logic, math, memory, and attention skills. Braingle - With over 17,000 user-rated brain games, Braingle is the perfect place to boost your brain power. As an added bonus, this site also offers exercises to increase memory, vocabulary, creativity, and stress management. Brain Metrix - Brain Metrix is designed to build brain fitness. The site can increase your memory, reflex, and concentration through a collection of activities. Brain Teaser Central - Brain Teaser Central is a good place to stretch your brain with logic, math, illusions, games, puzzles, trivia, and more. Fit Brains - Fit Brains is a site with fun, free games that exercise five key cognitive brain areas: memory, executive, visual-spatial, concentration, and language. Brain Teasers Network - With daily brain teasers and an assortment of popular and challenging games, Brain Teaser Network is a handy site for building mental capacity. Oxbrain - Oxbrain offers lateral thinking puzzles and crossword puzzles. These custom-made crossword puzzles are entertaining and educational. Thinks.com - Thinks.com offers several fun games to challenge your brain, including crosswords, word searches, jigsaw puzzles, chess, and brain teasers. Brain Boosting Techniques Speed Reading - Speed reading is a great way to boost your brain power for sales, education, and careers. This free speed reading course builds memory and comprehension. Increase Brain Power - Increase Brain Power offers five simple and easy-to-use techniques for increasing your comprehension and memory. About.com - This site features 10 useful strategies for improving your memory. These techniques are simple to incorporate into everyday life. Illumine Training - Illumine Training offers workshops to increase creativity, mental agility, and concentration. The workshop on mind mapping is an excellent way to expand your mind and organize ideas. Fun-with-words.com - This mnemonics page from Fun-with-words.com offers three different mnemonics to retain important information like words, numbers, and names. Web Apps Flash Card Machine - Flash cards are a super way to study and retain important information. Flash Card Machine features a free web app for creating and sharing your own flash cards. OuTWIT me - This free Twitter app contains games for improving and exercising your mind. OuTWIT me features games like Code cracker, Tweet word, Tweet quiz, and Story teller. Imagination Cubed - Looking for a way to exercise your creative side? Check out this free app from GE. It allows you to illustrate and share your ideas with free drawing tools. Mindmeister - Mindmeister is a brainstorming app that increases your brain power through creative thinking. The app allows you to organize and visualize your ideas through mind mapping. Twivia - Twivia is a Twitter app that exercises your memory through daily trivia questions. Misc Tools LibriVox - Books are an excellent way to keep your brain fit and active. LibriVox offers lots of free audio books to keep your mind moving. Visuwords - Visuwords creates a visual neural network to demonstrate how words associate with one another-a great way to exercise your memory and build your vocabulary. Creative Writing Prompts - Creative writing makes connections with your thoughts, ideas, and the world around you. This site of writing prompts will give your creative side a major workout. Popling - Popling is a desktop app for people who want to learn without studying. It regularly displays small windows with questions on your computer screen so that you can learn languages, chemistry, geography, and more without really trying. WebMD - Exercise is the best way to keep your body and mind healthy. WebMD illustrates how exercise can make you think clearly and perform better. Guest post from Karen Schweitzer, the About.com Guide to Business School. Karen also writes for OnlineCollege.org an online college resource. P.S. - If you enjoy what you read here on Mission to Learn, I encourage you to subscribe to the RSS feed or use the e-mail subscription form at the top right side of this page

In part of a desperate effort to dive back into the blogosphere and try to get caught up on my reading, I came across this interesting little tool recently released to beta by the Open Knowledge Foundation: Weaving History. The gist of the tool is that it enables you to create what the foundation calls ‘factlets‘ that contain "information about historical events, persons, and so on, which you can string together to create historical ‘threads‘. These threads can then be visually represented on maps and timelines." You can only get a partial feel for the result through a still image, but here, for example, is a screen shot of the factlet for Shakespeare’s Works. Image of Shakespeare Factlet Weaving History struck a chord with me because it was precisely this sort of activity that, as a teacher of great books of the western world, first opened my eyes to the power of computer-based multimedia as a teaching and learning tool. Of course, back in those days I was using CD-ROMS on my Mac to put together the same sort of ‘factlets’ that Weaving History facilitates and would then use them in conjunction with teaching The Inferno or Madame Bovary to help put the works in context. (Context, of course, is such an important part of learning on so many levels!) If you are trying to get a quick, high-level sense of context and timeline around a person, event, or place about which you are learning, this may be a good tool to have in your learning mix. Jeff Cobb Mission to Learn P.S. - Follow Mission to Learn on Twitter at http://twitter.com/missiontolearn Want to learn history from some of the best thinkers and writers on the topic? The Great Courses on DVD, CD, and Audio Download. Save 70%!

This is a guest post from Dena White. Open courseware collections focusing on health and medicine assist students and healthcare professionals learn more about their particular field, further their careers, and increase their learning potential without enrolling in and commuting to expensive continuing education organizations or colleges. Health and medical open courseware collections are available free of charge and are accessible any time and any place, as long as you have a connection to the Internet. Counseling Counseling professionals and psychology students can find training guides and other educational resources on the Internet via open courseware classes. These courses provide students with a broad-based perception of all of the different kinds of counseling. In addition, they also help students determine which sector of the field they would most like to pursue. These courses also provide working counselors and psychologists with access to cutting-edge theories and practices within the field. Anyone taking these courses will be able to build strong interpersonal, communication and decision-making skills as well as a firm understanding of the social and scientific issues that surround the field of health and medicine. Classes in the counseling open course collection are provided by several fine schools such as the University of Massachusetts Boston, Utah State University, The Open University, the University of Michigan and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health. Dental Hygiene For a basic background on dentistry and human biology, in addition to specific training in public health, denture care, and geriatric dentistry, students can use open courseware classes to build on their education and dentistry skills. Tufts University School of Dental Medicine offers classes in this collection covering topics such as cancer, dentures, elderly patients, public healthcare and water fluoridation. The open courseware classes related to dental medicine and dental hygiene is effective in preparing students of advanced programs in the dental field as well as help professionals learn even more about the dental industry. Emergency Management Disaster relief, emergency management, and terrorism response are all rising fields in the healthcare industry. Respected institutions such as Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health allow students to use educational resources online that teach skills in making decisions, responding to terrorist acts, analyzing public health policies, treating mass populations, as well as treatment in a wide variety of conditions and symptoms. Food And Nutrition Science This open course collection features topics such as the basics of human nutrition, bioterrorism, official food policy and agricultural science. Schools such as the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Tufts University and the University of California Berkeley provide a wide range of resources and courses that will assist students in understanding farming and economics, environmental systems, the effects of terrorism and so much more. Students will learn all about crop breeding, biology, plant infestation, healthy living, human metabolism, natural nutrients, as well as poison in public water and food supplies. Relevant classes are available for farmers, nutritionists, agricultural leaders, emergency management professionals, healthcare professionals and scientists to help them stay up to date in their specific fields. Gerontology Healthcare professionals who work with elderly or aging patients are able to increase their educational training with online classes through schools such as MIT and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The topics covered in these courses include Medicare, the aging process, nursing homes, mental disorders, health care policies, and neurological conditions in elderly patients as well as many more helpful subjects. Rounding out the top ten free health and medical open courseware collections are courses in Health Care Administration, Occupational Safety and Health, Pharmacy, Public Health and Radiologic Science. Open courseware collections offer students and professionals with a unique opportunity to learn all kinds of relevant information to help keep them on top of their field. Stay tuned for more on these! DENA WHITE is a freelance writer and covers topics such as nurse assistant and medical careers, health care topics, and more.

This post is in the process of being restored after a massive server failure at Bluehost. The 5th annual Games for Change Festival is coming up soon, and while I don’t think it is in the Mission to Learn budget for me to attend, it seems like a good time to poke around and see what sorts of games might be out there that are geared towards teaching people something that will make a difference in the world. Fair warning, you could easily eat up a big chunk of your day following the links in this post. Buy hey, you’ll be helping out the world a bit in the process. Here’s what I found : Browser-based and Free Deliver the Net Deliver the Net "….a cool new game created by the UN Foundation to commemorate World Malaria Day, April 25th. The challenge: race the sun and hand out as many insecticide-treated bed nets as you can to African families. The more nets you deliver - before the mosquitoes come out - the more lives you save. Once you’re done playing the game, sign up, confirm your email, and a life-saving bed net will be sent on your behalf!" (Nearly 2 million nets sent as of this posting) Karma Tycoon Developed by DoSomething.org "rocks the gaming world by offering you a thrilling ride through the world of social entrepreneurship as you earn Karma in virtual communities across the US." Also offers a teachers curriculum Ayiti: The Cost of Life "What is it like to live in poverty, struggling every day to stay healthy, keep out of debt, and get educated? Find out now in this challenging role playing game created by the High School students in Global Kids with the game developers at Gamelab, in which you take responsibility for a family of five in rural Haiti." From UNICEF with Microsoft support. 3rd World Farmer "3rd World Farmer … aims at simulating the real-world mechanisms that cause and sustain poverty in 3rd World countries. In the game, the player gets to manage an African farm, and is soon confronted with the often difficult choices that poverty and conflict necessitate. We find this kind of experience efficient at making the issues relevant to people, because players tend to invests their hopes in a game character whose fate depends on him. We aim at making the player "experience" the injustices, rather than being told about them, so as to stimulate a deeper and more personal reflection on the topics." Free Rice An addictive vocabulary game that promises "For each word you get right, we donate 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program." More than 29 billion grains donated as of this posting. Go Goat Go "Get a goat to help you grow more food! They eat weeds, their milk is magic and plants love their poo…" Just one of a number of games featuring Christian Aid’s Global Gang http://www.globalgang.org/funandgames/games/Default.aspx Darfur is Dying "Darfur is Dying is a viral video game for change that provides a window into the experience of the 2.5 million refugees in the Darfur region of Sudan. Players must keep their refugee camp functioning in the face of possible attack by Janjaweed militias. Players can also learn more about the genocide in Darfur that has taken the lives of 400,000 people, and find ways to get involved to help stop this human rights and humanitarian crisis." From mtvU in partnership with the Reebok Human Rights Foundation. Whack TB "Can you whack TB off the face of the earth? Play our game and learn more about fighting TB!" From the Families USA Global Health Initiative. My U.S. Rep: Role Play Congress "Now’s your chance to role play your favorite(or not so) House of Representative and help them become more popular! Based on real voting data, My US Rep allows you to discover your Rep’s hopes and dreams within an engaging game experience. Help your Rep become the most popular, look for bills to vote on, interact with in-game characters, collect cash and buy media time." eLections: Your Adventure in Politics "Inspired by the classic board game "The Game of Life," players will role-play their own virtual candidates running for President. The one or two-player game is both genuinely entertaining and genuinely educational - with emphasis on delivering a fun learning experience. Kids can play with parents, students with teachers, users of all ages with a friend, classmate, or with a computer-generated opponent. The latest edition of eLECTIONS also offers a computer-generated Third Party candidate. Created by the cable industry’s non-profit education foundation, Cable in the Classroom, in partnership with CNN Student News, C-SPAN and HistoryTM. Good teacher resources." Nuclear Weapons: The Nobel Peace Prize "Take on the mission to disarm the world of nuclear weapons with the help of eight "Peace Doves!"" There are also five other educational games at this site. Global Warming Interactive "CO2FX is a web based multi-user educational game which explores the relationship of global warming to economic, political and science policy decisions. The game is driven by a systems dynamics model and is presented in a user friendly interface intended for the high school user." Supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Climate Challenge "A game where you are president of the European Nations. You must tackle climate change and stay popular enough with the voters to remain in office." From the BBC. Wasteland Adventure "Time: 3010 AD. After humans destroyed the ecosystem. The earth lost the ability to heal and the environment continues to get worse. The freash air and clean water are polluted. People have to wear breathing masks lest the toxic air rots their luncks. Human beings encounter a next critical crisis. The son of a scientist, BOBO is very interested in the garbage that has polluted the earth. He collects all kinds of usable garbage to make into his toys. However, BOBO has an evil self. Sometimes he will become lazy. One day BOBO falls asleep in the garbage…" World Without Oil "WORLD WITHOUT OIL is an alternate reality event, a serious game for the public good. It invites everyone to help simulate a global oil shock. People participate by contributing original online stories, created as though the oil shock were really happening. The game’s masters rank the participants ("players") according to their contributions to our realistic portrayal of the oil shock. The game also places value on player-created communities, collaborative stories, and collective efforts. Each contribution helps the game arrive at a larger truth. No team of experts knows better than a given individual what effect an oil shock would have upon that individual’s life, or what action he or she will take to cope. Personal reactions to our simulated oil shock, placed in context with many other points of view, will help us all realize what’s at stake in our oil-fired culture." Stop Disasters! "The on-line game aims at teaching children how to build safer villages and cities against disasters. Children will learn playing how the location and the construction materials of houses can make a difference when disasters strike and how early warning systems, evacuation plans and education can save lives." From the United Nation/International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. Multiple languages. Good teacher resources Stop Whaling Game "Steer the Greenpeace inflatable boat around the seas and intercept the dangerous harpoons from the whaling ship. To make the whaling ship stop whaling, you must try and get your activists on board the whaling ship. Good luck!" From GreenPEace UK Food Detectives Fight BAC "The Food Detectives Fight BAC!® game gives kids a fun way to learn about foodborne illness. More and more, foodborne illness is making news headlines. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), foodborne illnesses in the United States affect millions of people and cause thousands of deaths every year. The CDC says 300,000 people are hospitalized every year." From New Mexico State University. The Incredible Adventures of the Amazing Food Detectives "There has been a mysterious outbreak of unhealthy habits hitting too many boys and girls. If we don’t solve these cases, and fast, kids might not make the right food and exercise choices as they grow, and that could be trouble! All junior food detectives will get secret training on how to eat right and exercise. You can investigate fun games like Whack A Snack, Soccer, and Zap the TV. Plus you can print out classified clues on ways to be healthy, then share them with your parents, teachers, and pals." From Kaiser Permanente. Good teacher resources. McDonald’s Video Game "Making money in a corporation like McDonald’s is not simple at all! Behind every sandwich there is a complex process you must learn to manage: from the creation of pastures to the slaughter, from the restaurant management to the branding. You’ll discover all the dirty secrets that made us one of the biggest compan[ies] of the world." Multiple languages. Offline version available. From La Molle Industria. http://www.molleindustria.org/ Desktop/Free Free, though in most instances donations are encouraged. Food Force "As team rookie you have six missions to complete. Each mission represents a part of the process of delivering food aid to an area in crisis. The final mission shows you how food aid can help people rebuild their lives in the years following a disaster." United Nations World Food Programme. Multiple languages. Good teacher resources. Fatworld FATWORLD is a video game about the politics of nutrition. It explores the relationships between obesity, nutrition, and socioeconomics in the contemporary U.S. The game’s goal is not to tell people what to eat or how to exercise, but to demonstrate the complex, interwoven relationships between nutrition and factors like budgets, the physical world, subsidies, and regulations. Existing approaches to nutrition advocacy fail to communicate the aggregate effect of everyday health practices. It’s one thing to explain that daily exercise and nutrition are important, but people, young and old, have a very hard time wrapping their heads around outcomes five, 10, 50 years away. WolfQuest "Learn about wolf ecology by living the life of a wild wolf in Yellowstone National Park. Play alone or with friends in on-line multiplayer missions, explore the wilderness, hunt elk, and encounter stranger wolves in your quest to find a mate. Ultimately, your success will depend on forming a family pack, raising pups, and ensuring the survival of your pack." From the Minnestota Zoo and eduweb under a grant from the National Science Foundation. Harpooned "Harpooned is a free game for Windows. It is a Cetacean Research Simulator, where you play the role of a Japanese scientist performing research on whales around Antarctica." See also the YouTube trailer for Harpooned. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR4KN6EfX6M Re-Mission The result, a game called Re-Mission (featuring Roxxi, the intrepid nanobot), is a challenging, 3D "shooter" with 20 levels that takes the player on a journey through the body of young patients with different kinds of cancer.  Created by leading video game developers and animators in collaboration with scientific and medical consultants and HopeLab staff, this state-of-the-art game is designed to be cool and fun, while helping players to increase their personal knowledge about cancer and improve their confidence in their ability to manage their cancer. Watch the trailer Desktop/Paid PeaceMaker "PeaceMaker challenges you to succeed as a leader where others have failed. Experience the joy of bringing peace to the Middle East or the agony of plunging the region into disaster. PeaceMaker will test your skills, assumptions and prior knowledge. Play it and you will never read the news the same way again." $19.95 (Arabic, English, Hebrew) Note: I had recently updated this post to "36 Games…" before a massive server outage at Bluehost erased the newer post. I will add back the additional 10 games soon, along with some others. If you have games you would like to see here, please comment and include a URL. Jeff Cobb Mission to Learn P.S. If you enjoy what you read here at Mission to Learn, please subscribe to the RSS feed. No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

It’s been far too long since my last round-up of learning games, but I have been squirreling away quite a few. Here’s a list of 12, with a bonus thrown in at the end. Most of these have to do with environmental issues, but there are also some that address the digital divide, microfinance, and helping kids deal with divorce. Except for any text in italics, all of the descriptions come from the game site. Also, unless otherwise noted, all of these are free! 51Tree.org 51 Tree is a new online computer game (social issue game) that lets players plant virtual trees in the country(ies) of their choice. It is great fun to play and teaches players all about the importance of tree planting, forest coverage and carbon offsets. EnerCities Are you ready to take on the challenge of running your own virtual city? Do you have the skills to create a solid, sustainable energy strategy? Will you build a nuclear plant or go solar? Whether you are an industrial tycoon or treehugging hippie, join the exclusive EnerCities beta program now. Your citizens need you! Catchment Detox Play Catchment Detox to see if you can repair a damaged river catchment and create a sustainable and thriving economy. It’s an online game where you’re in charge of the whole catchment. You get to decide what activities you undertake - whether to plant crops, log forests, build factories or set up national parks. The aim is to fix environmental problems and provide food and wealth for the population. LogiCity LogiCity is a fun interactive computer game with a difference.  Aimed at young people under 25, it’s a game set in a 3D virtual city with five main activities where players are set the task of reducing the carbon footprint of an average resident.  As players work their way through the game they will pick up information about Climate Change, and some of the main ways in which everyone is currently contributing to the emissions of the main greenhouse gas (CO2) that causes Climate Change. Climate Challenge A game where you are president of the European Nations. You must tackle climate change and stay popular enough with the voters to remain in office. Connect2Climate Connect 2 Climate comprises of five different applications on the mobile - three mobile games involving different mindsets and psychologies of mobile users, and two mobile learning applications on climate change. The games are being deployed on low-end and low cost handsets to sophisticated high-end devices. Copenhagen Challenge The game "Copenhagen Challenge" … aims to create awareness among school children and youth on issues related to climate change - renewable energy, energy efficiency and reduction in greenhouse gases.Download the English and Hindi versions of "Copenhagen Challenge" game from the links below. Install it on your desktop, play the interesting game, and learn more about Climate Change and related issues. V GAS V GAS aims at making the connections between individual lifestyles and greenhouse gas emissions, gauging personal contributions to global emissions. V GAS will try to help the user to answer the question ‘how does my lifestyle relate to the global problem?’, as well as ‘what options are there to reduce my contribution to the global problem?’ Earthquake in Zipland Help your child cope with the challenges of divorce through a fun and interactive video game, designed specifically for children of divorce and legal separation. Earthquake in Zipland takes your child on an exciting adventure that will enable you to sensitively deal with the psychological effects of divorce on children. (Note: This one cost $29.99, but there is a free demo available.) MiniMonos MiniMonos is a virtual world for children: a place of fun, beauty, discovery, generosity, sustainability and friendship. We created MiniMonos so that children could have a place of their own, a place that allows them to explore and grow without constant pressure to buy stuff. We also wanted them to have a place that embodied core values like sustainability and generosity, without turning those values into a boring lecture. One Hen Interactive activities and games to teach kids about microfinance. This is intended to complement a book on microfinance that currently sells for $12.89 at Amazon.com. The Cuckoo of the Computers "The Cuckoo of computers" consists of two parts that can be used together or separately. On the one hand an animated video presentation, playing with any fear, explains what is a computer and what can serve to. As the second block are the exercises that users need to be overcome that fears. Bonus: It would be hard to argue that the games at Games That Give have a great deal of educational value, but they are free, and the 70% of the revenue that the site collects from ads goes to charity. Have fun. Learn a little. Change the world. Jeff Related posts:5 Learning Games for Climate Change - Blog Action Day26 Learning Games to Change the World7 More Learning Games for Change

Today is Blog Action Day, an annual event that unites bloggers across the world to raise awareness about an important issue. This years’ issue is climate change. Mission to Learn has participated in Blog Action Day since it began in 2007. Last year, when the issue was poverty, I posted 5 Games Against Poverty and Hunger. So, in that same vein, here are five learning games for climate change. Climate Challenge A game where you are president of the European Nations. You must tackle climate change and stay popular enough with the voters to remain in office. Connect2Climate Connect 2 Climate comprises of five different applications on the mobile - three mobile games involving different mindsets and psychologies of mobile users, and two mobile learning applications on climate change. The games are being deployed on low-end and low cost handsets to sophisticated high-end devices. Copenhagen Challenge The game "Copenhagen Challenge" … aims to create awareness among school children and youth on issues related to climate change - renewable energy, energy efficiency and reduction in greenhouse gases.Download the English and Hindi versions of "Copenhagen Challenge" game from the links below. Install it on your desktop, play the interesting game, and learn more about Climate Change and related issues. LogiCity LogiCity is a fun interactive computer game with a difference.  Aimed at young people under 25, it’s a game set in a 3D virtual city with five main activities where players are set the task of reducing the carbon footprint of an average resident.  As players work their way through the game they will pick up information about Climate Change, and some of the main ways in which everyone is currently contributing to the emissions of the main greenhouse gas (CO2) that causes Climate Change. V GAS V GAS aims at making the connections between individual lifestyles and greenhouse gas emissions, gauging personal contributions to global emissions. V GAS will try to help the user to answer the question ‘how does my lifestyle relate to the global problem?’, as well as ‘what options are there to reduce my contribution to the global problem?’ Learn and make change, Jeff P.S. - If you are interested in learning games, you may want to check out other posts on serious games here on Mission to Learn, and particularly 26 Learning Games to Change the World. Related posts:12 More Learning Games for Change - and a Bonus5 Games Against Poverty and Hunger26 Learning Games to Change the World

I was reading Hal Crowther‘s recent article on how America is losing its conscience, brain, and heart when I noted mention of a study by the National Civic Literacy Board.  A few Googly-seconds later I wound up at the Civics Quiz, a 33-question online assessment taken from the 2008 Civic Literacy Exam developed by the conservative Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI). I couldn’t resist. Before taking the quiz, I was intrigued to learn that the average score for all 2,508 Americans who took it in 2008 was 49 percent. For college educators the average jumped - by a whopping 6 points - to 55 percent. Yikes! What questions were being asked, and what were the chances I would fare any better? As it turns out, the questions seemed mostly reasonable, and I did do quite a bit better than the 2008 average (though I definitely did not ace the quiz). That got me thinking about why I did better as well as about the value of these types of quizzes. As for why, I’m certain one key reason is simply that I care. I’m sure I picked up some of the factual knowledge tested by the quiz during my schools days, but much of it I know or have retained because I have been involved in a variety of civic activities - from politics to volunteering for nonprofit organizations - since college. My content knowledge is a reflection of experience, motivation, and engagement. (A view the ISI’s nemesis, John Dewey, would have supported.) The history of my coming to have this knowledge - of my learning - is essentially a history of how I came to care. The flip side of the coin - and part of the reason these types of quizzes have some limited value, in my opinion - is that the lack of content knowledge is often evidence of a lack of engagement, or at least a lack of thoughtful engagement. It doesn’t strike me as too much of a stretch to suggest that people who care about the effective functioning of our democracy should possess some basic knowledge of its history, major concepts, and founding principles. By that measure, the ISI has some grounds for sounding the alarm. And so do all the folks who are bemoaning our lack of content knowledge in any number of other areas. But, of course, content does not equal engagement, and neither content nor engagement is sufficient in and of itself for "literacy," in my opinion.  A person could ace this quiz and be declared civically "literate" while doing nothing to contribute positively to civic life (and, of course, remaining entirely ignorant of other areas of civic knowledge not tested by the quiz). Likewise, there are plenty of ways to engage in civic life without mastering the types of content covered by the quiz. Many of these forms of engagement are entirely positive, but as Crowther’s suggests in his article, many are not. In general, I’d say tools like the Civics Quiz have a place in gauging broader societal issues so long as they are recognized as only one tool among many and plenty of critical thinking skills are brought to bear in using them. On the other hand, they can be quite useful in measuring your knowledge as an individual learner and potentially setting some personal learning goals. What do you think? Jeff P.S. - I can’t help but wonder how readers here at Mission to Learn score on the quiz.  If you take the quiz and are willing to share your score (anonymously, of course), please enter it in the poll below. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. No related posts.

A 100 Thousand Poets for Change poster by volunteer designer Odysseas Milios (info@ijustdesign.gr) This is a guest post by Celisa Steele. What will you be doing this Saturday, September 24, 2011? How about taking part in what’s billed as the biggest poetry event in history? 100 Thousand Poets for Change is the unifying force behind the widely diverse and decentralized endeavors to take place on September 24. Some 600 events in 450 cities and 95 countries are planned, and the numbers are growing daily. The movement is radically inclusive—the only requirement for an associated event is that it promote some kind of environmental, social, or political change "within the framework of peace and sustainability." In the big bucket of change, the poets and others participating decide what to do. As a sampling: People will chalk the sidewalks with poems in Wilmington, North Carolina. A dance party is planned in Greece, and drum circles will beat out hope for peace in California, New Mexico, Nigeria, Jamaica, and Gambia. A poet will sit at a typewriter in an independent bookstore and produce poems on demand—while dressed as the Poetry Fox. (Don’t worry if you aren’t sure what a Poetry Fox looks like. My understanding is they’re exceptionally rare.) At least two poets are planning to read poems while flying commercially (on different flights). Another poet plans to read a poem to an Eastern seaboard marsh she’ll drive past on that Saturday. And there are literally hundreds of readings, slams, open mics, and workshops around the world. While I’m hoping to do more on September 24, I plan at a minimum to participate in an effort to inundate with poetry the inboxes of state and local government offices in North Carolina (where I live). Poets and poetry lovers are encouraged to e-mail poems to their elected representatives. Poets Joseph Bathanti and Kathryn Kirkpatrick, North Carolina organizers of the mass e-mailing effort, explain the details: Please use the poem’s title for the subject line, and place the poem itself in the body of the e-mail, with your name and the town you live in at the bottom of it. No additional message should be inserted. Our aim is for the poems themselves to be the message. The poem you elect to send does not have to be political, per se, though it can be argued that all poems are political. Of course the subject matter remains solely your choice. We request, however, that this action be one that underscores our dignity as poets and the integrity of our art. Our intention is not to shout at our politicians, or in any way insult them, but to present a powerful united advocacy for change—and to alert them to our constituency. I already have my poem picked—it’s one I’ve had memorized for years, and it seems to fit the bill. (Be sure to read Jeff’s "7 Reasons to Memorize Some Poetry," if you haven’t already.) In Place of a Curse by John Ciardi At the next vacancy for God, if I am elected, I shall forgive last the delicately wounded who, having been slugged no harder than anyone else, never got up again, neither to fight back, nor to finger their jaws in painful admiration. They who are wholly broken, and they in whom mercy is understanding, I shall embrace at once and lead to pillows in heaven. But they who are the meek by trade, baiting the best of their betters with extortions of a mock-helplessness, I shall take last to love, and never wholly. Let them all in Heaven—I abolish Hell— but let it be read over them as they enter: "Beware the calculations of the meek, who gambled nothing, gave nothing, and could never receive enough." So what will you be doing September 24? Whether you live in North Carolina or no, whether you’re a poet or not, you can e-mail your legislators a poem. Or you can find some local happening at http://www.100TPC.org. Or you can organize your own. We’d love to hear what you plan to do—so let us know by leaving a comment. This guest post is by lifelong learner and poet Celisa Steele. Emrys Press published her first chapbook, How Language Is Lost, in May 2011. You can find out more about her poetry at www.celisasteele.com. Related posts:Remember 100 Thousand Poets for Change So easy a three-year old can do it 7 Reasons to Memorize Some Poetry

Map of cities and countries participating in 100 Thousand Poets for Change (from www.100tpc.org) This is miniature guest post by Celisa Steele. Just a quick reminder that 100 Thousand Poets for Change is happening tomorrow, Saturday, September 24. Whether you’re a poet or not, I hope you’ll take a few minutes to e-mail your elected representatives a poem or otherwise participate in the biggest poetry event in history. (My post "100 Thousand Poets for Change-and You" tells more about the day’s purpose, origin, and manifestations.) I’ll be sending "In Place of a Curse" by John Ciardi to my elected representatives on Saturday. This mini guest post is by lifelong learner and poet Celisa Steele. Emrys Press published her first chapbook, How Language Is Lost, in May 2011. You can find out more about her poetry at www.celisasteele.com. Related posts:100 Thousand Poets for Change—and You How Language Is Lost So easy a three-year old can do it

The "why" of self-directed learning is survival—your own survival as an individual, and also the survival of the human race.  Clearly, we are not talking here about something that would be nice or desirable….We are talking about a basic human competence—the ability to learn on one’s own—that has suddenly become a prerequisite for living in this new world. - Malcom Knowles, 1975 While lifelong learning and self-directed learning are not equivalent, they overlap substantially. I think the following points apply equally to both: 1. Takes initiative This first one is core to the entire concept of "self-directed."  The successful self-directed learner does not wait for someone else to say "you must learn this."  2. Is comfortable with independence Self-directed learners do not always act autonomously or independently. Indeed, increasingly they must cultivate their networks to learn effectively. Nonetheless, successful self-directed learners know how to be self-reliant. 3. Is persistent Learning takes time, it takes repetition, it takes practice. Successful self-directed learners stick to it. 4. Accepts responsibility The successful self-directed learner embraces responsibility for doing the work of learning and doing it well  5. Views problems as challenges, not obstacles The successful self-directed learner embraces a growth mindset and is not easily thwarted when the going gets tough. 6. Is capable of self-discipline Even when learning is enjoyable (which, for the successful self-directed learner, it usually is), it often requires discipline. The self-directed learner knows (or learns!)  how to develop and maintain discipline. 7. Has a high degree of curiosity Successful self-directed learners have a high propensity for asking why - and lots of other questions. 8. Has a strong desire to learn or change The successful self-directed learner is intrinsically motivated. She has a will to learn and sees learning as a positive path forward.  9. Is self-confident Successful self-directed learners have a solid sense of "self-efficacy" - the belief that one is capable of performing in a certain manner to attain certain goals 10. Is able to use basic study skills As I have said here before, skills like taking notes effectively are useful for a lifetime. The self-directed learner knows this. 11. Organizes his or her time While self-directed learning does not require the obsession with productivity that seems to be everywhere on the Interweb, the successful self-directed learner nonetheless knows how to find and manage time effectively to allow for learning.  12. Sets an appropriate pace for learning The successful self-directed learner recognizes that learning is as much (if not more) about the process than the outcome and doesn’t try to do too much too fast. 13. Develops a plan for completing work Setting a plan is part of setting the pace and ultimately reaching the destination. The successful self-directed learner recognizes this. 14. Has a tendency to be goal-oriented While not all self-directed learners consciously set goals, they nonetheless tend to have an end in mind when they start down the learning path. 15. Enjoys learning The proverbial bottom line: the successful self-directed learner simply likes to learn. ** How well do these points describe you as a learner? How effectively are you cultivating these ways in those you teach (your children, you members, you employees, your students - you name it.) Please comment and share Jeff P.S. - These "ways" have been extracted from a description in a 1977 survey that ultimately led to development of the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale, which was subsequently renamed the Learning Preferences Assessment. In the post above, I have expanded upon the characteristics highlighted in the description with my own comments. A highly self-directed learner, based on the survey results, is one who exhibits initiative, independence, and persistence in learning; one who accepts responsibility for his or her own learning and views problems as challenges, not obstacles; one who is capable of self-discipline and has a high degree of curiosity; one who has a strong desire to learn or change and is self-confident; one who is able to use basic study skills, organize his or her time and set an appropriate pace for learning, and to develop a plan for completing work; one who enjoys learning and has a tendency to be goal-oriented. (Guglielmino, 1977/78, p.73) Related posts: 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner: No. 1 - Growth Mindset 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner: No. 6 - Practice, Deliberately 10 Ways to Be a Better Learner: No. 7 - Be Accountable

A while back I noted that working memory may, it turns out, be a more important factor than deliberate practice in achieving greatness (or at least as important a factor). More recently I came across this addictive little test of working memory capacity on the GoCognitive Web site. While there is currently no information on how to use the feedback you receive from the test, I found going through it several times to be enlightening nonetheless - if only because it breeds humility! (Apparently a manual for this and other tests on the site are on the way.) I haven’t played much yet with the other tests on the site, but they cover areas like: Memory for lists Selective attention Change blindness Implicit memory Have fun. And if you pick up any insights from these cognitive tests, please share them here in the comments. Jeff P.S. - Have you told your colleagues and friends about Mission to Learn? I’d be grateful if you did and asked them to subscribe by RSS feed or e-mail. No related posts.

Our pilot roll-out of Google Apps is going well.  To date we’ve invited 12,000 students and nearly 2,000 of them have signed up.  At the moment it’s up to students what they do with the tools and we’re staying out.  The possible uses for formal learning though are intriguing and I just had a chat with Rhodri Thomas about the next steps. We’re looking at replicating our tutor group structure within Google apps.  That would have two initial benefits: You could email those in your group more easily You could share documents with them easily too It also might make you feel some affinity with those in your group I suppose and be more likely to share things.  Some students of course might not want to be emailed by members of their group or to have documents shared with them so we’ll need to think about that. Sharing documents with the wider world outside the University is also likely to be of interest.  Currently we’ve locked down the ability for users to share documents outside the my.open.ac.uk domain but there will soon be pressure to open this up.  You might have a collaborative project with people elsewhere or wish to share eportfolio content with a future employer.  There are also third party applications such as DocsToGo which apparently won’t work unless this option is switched on. Our exploration of the use of Google Apps as an eportfolio system continues.  Eportfolios sometimes need to be assessed, and one of our key requirements will be to ensure that any content that is submitted for assessment is preserved in that state.  Another option would be to export it into our assessment handling (eTMA) system however the alterations to formatting when transferring out of Google Docs and into Word may mean it’s better to keep the documents in Google and invite the tutors to go there instead.

Jisc, Apereo and the Lace Project held a workshop in Paris on 6th February to discuss the ethical and legal issues of learning analytics.  The focus of this meeting was the draft taxonomy of issues that I prepared previously.  It was extremely helpful to have comments from experts in the area to refine the list, which is forming the basis for Jisc’s Code of Practice for Learning Analytics.  I have subsequently reworked the taxonomy based on the group’s comments. Re-ordering I’ve now re-ordered the table to reflect a slightly more logical lifecycle view of learning analytics moving from issues of ownership and control to seeking consent from students, ensuring transparency, maintaining privacy, ensuring validity in the data and the analytics, enabling student access to the data, carrying out interventions appropriately, minimising adverse impacts and stewarding the data. Type I’ve added a "Type" column which states whether the issue is primarily one of ethics, legalities or logistics.  It’s become clear to me that many of the issues in the literature around ethics and privacy for learning analytics are more about the logistics of implementation than about doing what’s right or keeping within the law.  I’ve therefore renamed the taxonomy to reflect the fact it’s about logistics as well. Rank The Paris group suggested scoring the issues on the basis of their importance and we began to rate them on a scale of 1 to 5, highlighting the most important ones.  I have subsequently reduced the scale to three points, roughly equating to: 1 - Critical; 2 - Important; 3 - Less important / may not arise.  I have reflected the views of the group in the rankings but have had to make many choices as to their relative importance myself.  I’d like to find some more rigorous way of rating the issues though the ranking will always be dependent on the nature and priorities of the institution. Responsibility The group added a stakeholder column.  Subsequently I divided this into Stakeholders most impacted and Stakeholders responsible.  I then found that the most impacted stakeholders were almost always students so the column wasn’t particularly helpful and I’ve just included a Responsibility column which shows who is primarily responsible for dealing with the issue. Again there’s a level of subjectivity here on my part and these roles will be constituted differently depending on the institution. I’ve listed six stakeholders: Senior management - the executive board of the institution. Analytics committee - the group responsible for strategic decisions regarding learning analytics. This might be a learning and teaching committee, though some of the issues may be the responsibility of a senior champion of learning analytics rather than a more representative commmittee. Data scientist - while the analytics committee may decide on particular issues, there is a need for data scientists or analysts to advise on issues relating to the validity of the dataset and how to interpret it. Educational researcher - some issues would be best dealt with by staff with detailed knowledge of the educational issues who are able to monitor the impact of analytics on students.  This role may be carried out by teachers or tutors or those more dedicated to educational research. IT - the institutional information technology department will take primary responsibility for some aspects of the analytics processes. Student - while students are potentially impacted by almost every issue here, they are primarily responsible themselves for dealing with a few of them. Group Name Question Type Rank  Responsibility Ownership & Control Overall responsibility Who in the institution is responsible for the appropriate and effective use of learning analytics? Logistical 1 Senior management Control of data for analytics Who in the institution decides what data is collected and used for analytics? Logistical 1 Senior management Breaking silos How can silos of data ownership be broken in order to obtain data for analytics? Logistical 2 Analytics Committee Control of analytics processes Who in the institution decides how analytics are to be created and used? Logistical 1 Analytics Committee Ownership of data How is ownership of data assigned across stakeholders? Legal 1 Analytics Committee Consent When to seek consent In which situations should students be asked for consent to collection and use of their data for analytics? Legal / Ethical 1 Analytics Committee Consent for anonymous use Should students be asked for consent for collection of data which will only be used in anonymised formats? Legal / Ethical 3 Analytics Committee Consent for outsourcing Do students need to give specific consent if the collection and analysis of data is to be outsourced to third parties? Legal 3 Analytics Committee Clear and meaningful consent processes How can institutions avoid opaque privacy policies and ensure that students genuinely understand the consent they are asked to give? Legal / Ethical 1 Analytics Committee Right to opt out Do students have the right to opt out of data collection and analysis of their learning activities? Legal / Ethical 1 Analytics Committee Right to withdraw Do students have the right to withdraw from data collection and analysis after previously giving their consent? Legal 3 Analytics Committee Right to anonymity Should students be allowed to disguise their identity in certain circumstances? Ethical / Logistical 3 Analytics Committee Adverse impact of opting out on individual If a student is allowed to opt out of data collection and analysis could this have a negative impact on their academic progress? Ethical 1 Analytics Committee Adverse impact of opting out on group If individual students opt out will the dataset be incomplete, thus potentially reducing the accuracy and effectiveness of learning analytics for the group Ethical / Logistical 1 Data scientist Lack of real choice to opt out Do students have a genuine choice if pressure is put on them by the insitution or they feel their academic success may be impacted by opting out? Ethical 3 Analytics Committee Student input to analytics process Should students have a say in what data is collected and how it is used for analytics? Ethical 3 Analytics Committee Change of purpose Should institutions request consent again if the data is to be used for purposes for which consent was not originally given? Legal 2 Analytics Committee Legitimate interest To what extent can the institution’s "legitimate interests" override privacy controls for individuals? Legal 2 Analytics Committee Unknown future uses of data How can consent be requested when potential future uses of the (big) data are not yet known? Logistical 3 Analytics Committee Consent in open courses Are open courses (MOOCs etc) different when it comes to obtaining consent? Legal / Ethical 2 Analytics Committee Use of publicly available data Can institutions use publicly available data (e.g. tweets) without obtaining consent? Legal / Ethical 3 Analytics Committee Transparency Student awareness of data collection What should students be told about the data that is being collected about them? Legal / Ethical 1 Analytics Committee Student awareness of data use What should students be told about the uses to which their data is being put? Legal / Ethical 1 Analytics Committee Student awareness of algorithms and metrics To what extent should students be given details of the algorithms used for learning analytics and the metrics and labels that are created? Ethical 2 Analytics Committee Proprietary algorithms and metrics What should institutions do if vendors do not release details of their algorithms and metrics? Logistical 3 Analytics Committee Student awareness of potential consequences of opting out What should students be told about the potential consequences of opting out of data collection and analysis of their learning? Ethical 2 Analytics Committee Staff awareness of data collection and use What should teaching staff be told about the data that is being collected about them, their students and what is being done with it? Ethical 1 Analytics Committee Privacy Out of scope data Is there any data that should not be used for learning analytics? Ethical 2 Analytics Committee Tracking location Under what circumstances is it appropriate to track the location of students? Ethical 2 Analytics Committee Staff permissions To what extent should access to students’ data be restricted within an institution? Ethical / Logistical 1 Analytics Committee Unintentional creation of sensitive data How do institutions avoid creating "sensitive" data e.g. religion, ethnicity from other data? Legal / Logistical 2 Data scientist Requests from external agencies What should institutions do when requests for student data are made by external agencies e.g. educational authorities or security agencies? Legal / Logistical 2 Senior management Sharing data with other institutions Under what circumstances is it appropriate to share student data with other institutions? Legal / Ethical 2 Analytics Committee Access to employers Under what circumstances is it appropriate to give employers access to analytics on students? Ethical 2 Analytics Committee Enhancing trust by retaining data internally If students are told that their data will be kept within the institution will they develop greater trust in and acceptance of analytics? Ethical 3 Analytics Committee Use of metadata to identify individuals Can students be identified from metadata even if personal data has been deleted? Legal / Logistical 2 Data scientist Risk of re-identification Does anonymisation of data become more difficult as multiple data sources are aggregated, potentially leading to re-identification of an individual? Legal / Logistical 1 Data scientist Validity Minimisation of inaccurate data How should an institution minimise inaccuracies in the data? Logistical 2 Data scientist Minimisation of incomplete data How should an institution minimise incompleteness of the dataset? Logistical 2 Data scientist Optimum range of data sources How many and which data sources are necessary to ensure accuracy in the analytics? Logistical 2 Data scientist Validation of algorithms and metrics How should an institution validate its algorithms and metrics? Ethical / Logistical 1 Data scientist Spurious correlations How can institutions avoid drawing misleading conclusions from spurious correlations? Ethical / Logistical 2 Data scientist Evolving nature of students How accurate can analytics be when students’ identities and actions evolve over time? Logistical 3 Educational researcher Authentication of public data sources How can institutions ensure that student data taken from public sites is authenticated to their students? Logistical 3 IT Access Student access to their data To what extent should students be able to access the data held about them? Legal 1 Analytics Committee Student access to their analytics To what extent should students be able to access the analytics performed on their data? Legal / Ethical 1 Analytics Committee Data formats In what formats should students be able to access their data? Logistical 2 Analytics Committee Metrics and labels Should students see the metrics and labels attached to them? Ethical 2 Analytics Committee Right to correct inaccurate data What data should students be allowed to correct about themselves? Legal 1 Analytics Committee Data portability What data about themselves should students be able to take with them? Legal 2 Analytics Committee Action Institutional obligation to act What obligation does the institution have to intervene when there is evidence that a student could benefit from additional support? Legal / Ethical 1 Analytics Committee Student obligation to act What obligation do students have when analytics suggests actions to improve their academic progress? Ethical 2 Student Conflict with study goals What should a student do if the suggestions are in conflict with their study goals? Ethical 3 Student Obligation to prevent continuation What obligation does the institution have to prevent students from continuing on a pathway which analytics suggests is not advisable? Ethical 2 Analytics Committee Type of intervention How are the appropriate interventions decided on? Logistical 1 Educational researcher Distribution of interventions How should interventions be distributed across the institution? Logistical 1 Analytics Committee Conflicting interventions How does the institution ensure that it is not carrying out multiple interventions with conflicting purposes? Logistical 2 Educational researcher Staff incentives for intervention What incentives are in place for staff to change practices and facilitate intervention? Logistical 3 Analytics Committee Failure to act What happens if an institution fails to intervene when analytics suggests that it should? Logistical 3 Analytics Committee Need for human intermediation Are some analytics better presented to students via e.g. a tutor than a system? Ethical 2 Educational researcher Triage How does an institution allocate resources for learning analytics appropriately for learners with different requirements? Ethical / Logistical 1 Analytics Committee Triage transparency How transparent should an institution be in how it allocates resources to different groups? Ethical 3 Analytics Committee Opportunity cost How is spending on learning analytics justified in relation to other funding requirements? Logistical 2 Senior management Favouring one group over another Could the intervention strategies unfairly favour one group over another? Ethical / Logistical 2 Educational researcher Consequences of false information What should institutions do if a student gives false information e.g. to obtain additional support? Logistical 3 Analytics Committee Audit trails Should institutions record audit trails of all predictions and interventions? Logistical 2 Analytics Committee Unexpected findings How should institutions deal with unexpected findings arising in the data? Logistical 3 Analytics Committee Adverse impact Labelling bias Does labelling or profiling of students bias institutional perceptions and behaviours towards them? Ethical 1 Educational researcher Oversimplification How can institutions avoid overly simplistic metrics and decision making which ignore personal circumstances? Ethical 1 Educational researcher Undermining of autonomy Is student autonomy in decision making undermined by predictive analytics? Ethical 2 Educational researcher Gaming the system If students know that data is being collected about them will they alter their behaviour to present themselves more positively, thus distracting them and skewing the analytics? Ethical 2 Educational researcher Abusing the system If students understand the algorithms will they manipulate the system to obtain additional support? Ethical 3 Educational researcher Adverse behavioural impact If students are presented with data about their performance could this have a negative impact e.g. increased likelihood of dropout? Ethical 1 Educational researcher Reinforcement of discrimination Could analytics reinforce discriminatory attitudes and actions by profiling students based on their race or gender? Ethical 1 Educational researcher Reinforcement of social power differentials Could analytics reinforce social power differentials and students’ status in relation to each other? Ethical 2 Educational researcher Infantilisation Could analytics "infantilise" students by spoon-feeding them with automated suggestions, making the learning process less demanding? Ethical 3 Educational researcher Echo chambers Could analytics create "echo chambers" where intelligent software reinforces our own attitudes and beliefs? Ethical 3 Educational researcher Non-participation Will knowledge that they are being monitored lead to non-participation by students? Ethical 2 Educational researcher Stewardship Data minimisation Is all the data held on an individual necessary in order to carry out the analytics? Legal 1 Data scientist Data processing location Is the data being processed in a country permitted by the local data protection laws? Legal 1 IT Right to be forgotten Can all data regarding an individual (expect that necessary for statutory purposes) be deleted? Legal 1 IT Unnecessary data retention How long should data be retained for? Legal 1 Analytics Committee Unhelpful data deletion If data is deleted does this restrict the institution’s analytics capabilities e.g. refining its models and tracking performance over multiple cohorts? Logistical 2 Data scientist Incomplete knowledge of data sources Can an institution be sure that it knows where all personal data is held? Legal / Logistical 1 IT Inappropriate data sharing How can data sharing be prevented with parties who have no legitimate interest in seeing it or who may use it inappropriately? Legal 1 IT      

STEM Design Experiences empower students to be creators in the fields of Technology, Science and Engineering through hands-on learning. Throughout the school year I will work with teachers to create STEM experiences aligned to district curriculum for students. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The goal of STEM is to provide students with real-world problem solving opportunities. STEM allows students to think outside the box with project-based learning. STEM experiences are about collaboration, teamwork, problem-solving, delegation responsibility, and innovation. They are designed to help our students become 21st century digital age learners by creating, inventing, and designing through challenge based learning activities, and exploration.These experiences have completely transformed learning in the classroomWhy Do We Need STEM?Lesson Objectives: Students will understand empathyStudents will understand the Design Challenge ProcessISTE STANDARDS: 1) Creativity & Innovation2) Communication and Collaboration4) Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision MakingScience: Impact of Science, Technology, and Human Activity- Identify a question that was asked, or could be asked, or a problem that needed to be solved when given a brief scenario (fiction or nonfiction of people working alone or in groups solving everyday problems or learning through discovery)Work with a group to solve the problem, giving due credit to the ideas and contributions of each group member.Communicate the procedures and results of investigations and explanations through: oral presentations, drawings and maps, writings, etc...Design and construct a machine, using materials Health: Demonstrate decision-making and problem solving skills. Demonstrate appropriate ways to solve conflicts with peers.Communication Arts: Read and follow simple directions to perform a task.Listening and Speaking Read and follow three-and four-step directions to complete a task.I enjoyed spending time this week working in classrooms to share STEM experiences with students. Since this was a new concept for most students. I started by explaining to students what STEM meant. Students very first challenge was the 30 Circles Challenge.Directions: 1 minute to turn as many of the blank circles as you can into recognizable objects Each student chose a group 4-5 students to work with. Each team member has a role. These roles can be shared.TECHNOLOGISTS- Work with the iPads to complete portfolio using the Seesaw APP or Book CreatorBUILDERS- Assess Materials and Build PrototypeWRITERS- Complete written journal, and empathy mapPRESENTERS- Share the group accomplishments and final prototypeNext, was the Thingamob Challenge: On this new science entertainment series on the History channel show, ThingamaBob's task is to use seemingly random objects to create never before seen inventions. I showed students this 30 second screwdriver challenge:Each team was given a random object to find other uses for. They brainstormed ideas for one minute. (ex: toothbrush, battery, sponge, and other everyday objects)I gave the students simple objects; and they came up with some pretty interesting new uses.The next part of the lesson required students to understand empathy.The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.2nd Grade Empathy Lesson involved... Listening to the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, and completing an Empathy map (similar to this one) for Jack What is Jack feeling, seeing, doing, hearing, saying?Option: Or use a mind mapping apps like these 3rd/4th Grade Empathy Lesson Empathize with a pizza delivery driver.Empathy questions: What does a delivery driver see, do, hear, say, feel?  What is the best and worst thing about being a pizza delivery driver? The students then apply their empathy mapping skills to complete a map for their assigned user, then design a prototype. After completing an empathy map students in 2nd grade had the challenge of building the highest tower for Jack using pipe cleaners. Each group received 15-20 pipe cleaners. We measured the tallest tower, compared the sizes of our towers, and then declared a winner.3rd Grade Challenge Experiences:Challenge: Create a solution for a problem for the pizza delivery man.Students got to spin the wheel using the random name picker app to choose their group challenge.Example challenges : I need to protect myself from the rain, I need to take multiple items up several flights of stairs, or I need to keep the pizzas warm. More ideas hereStudents were given a STEM Journal, their challenges, and 5 minutes to brainstorm their ideas, explore their materials, and sketch out an idea.Each group was given a bag with different materials. Each bag contained two or three fastener items, two or three surface items, and two or three secure items.After the 5 minutes, the technologists in the group were given a short tutorial on how to either use the Seesaw App or BookCreator APPPortfolio Requirements4th Grade Challenge Experiences:We used The Extraordinaires Design Studio Kit. Students had 15 minutes to design, and build a prototype, and create a portfolio for their user.From the website: The Extraordinaires Design Studio is the creative thinking game for problem solvers aged between 8 and 108. If you've ever wondered what it's like to invent a music player for a robot, a remote control for a pirate, or cooking utensil for a vampire teen, this is definitely the game for you. Each set includes dozens of design challenges.The students learned a lot about working together, time management, and they produced some fantastic projects.Each student earned their STEM challenge stickerIt is important to remember:STEM is not a curriculum.STEM is a culture that can happen in all classes, all grade levels.STEM is a way of thinking. It has to be fostered.STEM needs to be relevant.You need resources to facilitate the culture of STEM.Items that would be great for STEM activities: cereal boxes, empty tissue boxes, oatmeal boxes, paper towel tubes, paper grocery sacks, colored tissue paper, shoe boxes with or without lids, scrap pieces of cloth, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, coffee filters, straws, tin foil, string, brown paper bags (lunch), cardboard, glue scissors, paint, glue sticks, tape.Special thanks to Andrew Goodin , Mr. Makerspace for the inspiration :)

"Why should I use custom content?" Probably a thought every learning and development professional has considered. Off the Shelf content libraries provide resources with a lower initial price tag and time commitment over a massive number of subjects. Why spend the money developing custom content for your business? While both off the shelf and custom content have their place, custom content provides a level of agility and performance indispensable for many companies. Here are the top 4 benefits you gain by using custom content. 1) Combats Disengagement One of the biggest reasons employees disengage from training is because they do not feel that content applies to their job. Real world examples, industry relevant terms, learning games , and workplace simulations capture the attention of the learner by creating a more personal connection. As a result, custom content designed to fit your company generates greater engagement and makes the most of every minute devoted to training. 2) Content Optimization Custom content gives you the ability to update and edit content to best fit your needs: while developing, after initial results, and throughout the lifetime of the content. Change the font, change the look, and change the feel to best match your company culture. In addition, custom content can be updated in response to employee feedback and changing business environments, keeping the content up to date, and strengthening the connection between company and employee. 3) Greater Return on Investment Custom Content requires more time and money up front than off the shelf content, but over the lifetime of the content, custom content creates a higher return on the investment. When you purchase custom content, you own the content. The high initial investment pays off because updating content is often much less expensive then reoccurring fees from content libraries. For many businesses, custom content actually saves money in the long run. 4) Decrease Formal Training Time Although custom content takes longer to develop than pre-built content, you will gain this time back in the efficiency of custom content. The 70/20/10 framework tells us that we need to shrink the amount of formal training and the best way to do that is with content that leaves out all of the fluff. This fluff shows up in pre-built content to successfully create mass appeal, but if it doesn’t relate back to your specific needs, it is a waste of time. Custom content allows your message to be hyper-targeted, which is the best use of your limited time dedicated to formal training (10%). Custom content requires a larger initial investment, but using agile content development and management practices, you can shrink this investment and achieve a higher lifetime value. Of course, pre-built content will never go away completely, but with over 2.5 million pieces of content being produces every minute on Facebook alone, you need to be sure your content is relevant and engaging enough to maximize your investment. If you can accomplish this with pre-built content and save some money in the process, go for it! About the author:Marketing Coordinator for the US, Robert focuses on exploring and creating impactful material. He has a passion for researching and sharing L&D topics, with a particular interest in learning strategy, mobile technology and anything innovative that changes the way we think about learning. The post Here are the top 4 benefits you gain by using custom content appeared first on .

Do you remember your first job? The young age and the foreign surroundings. No comfort around you. No familiar faces. No information on what would happen next? Unpredictable and unknown. That’s right, most of us remember our first day at work with the "fear of the unknown". Sometimes this fear can overtake all rational thought processes and really impede our well-intended performances. And what about the "first impression is the last impression?" Pardon us for the cliches, but employee onboarding programs are in place to alleviate these very regressive feelings. And much more. In this article, we share with you some innovative ways to use your company’s online portal to change the way employees are brought into a company. Gone are the days when individuals would feel lucky to be part of a successful organization. With the proliferation of dot com and brick and mortar companies all around us, companies consider themselves lucky when a new employee accepts an offer and continues to stay with them beyond six months! Companies now offer sign-on bonuses, yearly bonuses, a percentage of stock, competitive health and tuition benefits to attract the top talent. The hiring and recruitment to the final selection process is time, resource and budget consuming for companies. And they face grave losses when an employee decides to leave within six months (or less). Most firms believe that the employee onboarding are the activities taking place on the first day of work. On the contrary, business research indicates that the employee onboarding begins on the day the employee accepts the offer and goes well into their first year in the company. Employee onboarding is an employee acclimatizing program! And would it be possible to cram all company information, its culture, business processes and unique individuals into the new hire, in one day? We wouldn’t agree if it was even one week! Many of us have been through an unorganized and mismanaged onboarding process. All we wanted was the right information at the right time without asking around too much. Let us tell you that the tolerance for such lack of information is lowering in today’s corporate environment. Employees need information at their fingertips. Emails and phone calls run out of their welcome and colleagues are also tired of repeating the same information for new faces each time. The employee onboarding process is another application of new-hire related knowledge management. Up next, we explain how your learning management system or learning portal can be employed to manage new knowledge for new hires so that it is available when needed. Create an in-house Online Support for New Employees Onboarding training software is not the only solution to this entire new-hire scenario. A learning portal or a learning management system needs to emphasize knowledge management. Instead of repeating themselves over and over again, senior and experienced employees need to share their wisdom in an organized manner in the form of a Wiki. The commonly asked questions need to be answered by the right personnel, signed off with their screen name. This adds to the confidence of the new employee, while involuntarily introducing the person who answered the question. Specific questions are for specific time frames. First day questions are different from questions the new-hire may have during their fourth month. All possible issues need to be documented within the discussion area of the learning management system, TalentLMS in our case. This is also a great area for addressing performance concerns and sharing "lessons learned". Encourage key employees to maintain a "reflective practice" journal and share with peers and juniors. Imagine the amount of time and resources saved when a new-hire works proactively and is alert of potential pitfalls. New employees need to learn and adapt to a new workflow and new software. These training programs include screenshots or videos of software used by the company. These include the regular database management software, the CRM, the LMS software and so on. All training tutorials need to be visible and available for use when the new employee is ready. Online support questions need to be answered and mentored in a "community of practice" manner. HR related questions need to be portrayed on the learning portal too. A bundle of click-and-read interactive information articles should be available on the following: Your company’s basic products or services Size and general organization of the company An overview of your industry and where your business fits into the overall picture Your competitors Your company’s mission statement and values Company goals and strategic objectives Your organizational culture Mandatory learning programs available for employee development Create an Online Position Profile Managers need to describe in detail the entire job description, expectations and behaviors expected from the employee under the specific position profile. This area needs to be updated as the need arises. Any new requirements are directly conveyed to persons holding the position. This keeps everyone in the loop, including the new employee. Job expectation transparency is the key to earning the new employee’s trust. Have all formalities completed online Create an automated task list for new employees. This list gets checked as soon as a task is completed. The related knowledge base for the task is also available as a link. Orders for stationary, software and other utilities can be made online too. Forms can be filled and signed electronically and sent for processing. Having all workflows online helps create a knowledge sharing environment. It also demonstrates a need for an online training program for the new employee. Get Social Online Welcome messages and walking around on the first day is a great way to introduce the new employee. When things get busy, help may not be available for the new employee. Introduce them to the social groups in the online portal. The social group can be gamified to motivate peers to help each other, with bonus points to help the new employee. Quick questions can be answered without leaving the desk! Undivided attention can be provided when busy managers chat with new employees. This is also a great way to remove the culture shock experience. Invitations to casual meetings are also best when shared on the social network. Provide Online Feedback Managers and peers who receive work from a new employee can rate the performance, offer feedback and provide some improvement pointers. Real-time feedback that is provided online is more sincere, honest, constructive and discrete. The new employee can immediately adjust performance according to unique expectations. The best part? No fears of the unknown! When it’s time for the 90-day review, the new employee is confident about their capabilities and the managers are aware of the new employee’s capacities. Any online training programs for professional development can also be recommended easily. Your online portal, particularly the learning portal, is the ideal place for the new employee to turn to for guidance, advice and information. Stock it with organized and categorized knowledge throughout the year. Mentor it carefully to weed out any unwanted content. Add recommended professional development tutorials, job-aids and eLearning programs for new employees. Gamify the entire onboarding process to help the new employee catch their bearings and contribute in their successful entry and acceptance. The post Successful Online Employee Onboarding Strategies appeared first on TalentLMS Blog.

An instructor with a monotone voice that just wouldn’t stop talking. Photocopies with the day’s lesson. A projector showing some awful PowerPoint presentation. Keeping notes on a notepad while bored to tears. All the familiar ingredients of an enterprise (offline) training session circa 2000. The stuff nightmares are made of. No wonder most enterprises have since embraced online training with both arms. Not all of them, of course, and not in equal measure in different parts of the world, but any business that has seen the advantages that web based LMS platforms bring to the table in terms of time, cost and training efficiency is not going back anytime. As for the rest, we hope that by the end of this blog post we’ll have them convinced, if not to immediately adopt eLearning, at least to start evaluating the available options. Offline training is costly Let’s be clear about the biggest pain point with offline training first: it’s expensive. You need to pay instructors, buy course books, print and distribute hardcopies, and find a classroom, which usually translates to devoting some (precious and costly) office space for training purposes — space which you of course need to furnish with desks, chairs, whiteboards, projectors and all these kind of things. What’s worse is that those costs only go up as the number of learners increases and you need to have more instructors, textbooks, teaching materials, and training spaces. Contrast with eLearning, where, in the case a web based LMS platform like TalentLMS, you just need to pay a monthly subscription that’s good for hundreds of students, or -in case you need to cater to thousands or even hundreds of thousands of students-, a small flat per-user fee. Plus, thanks to the way eLearning works in general, but also thanks to the powerful automation features in TalentLMS, a single instructor is often enough to create and manage all your different courses and to supervise all your learners — even across different departments, branches, offices and countries. Offline training is a disruption What makes offline learning expensive is not just the costs inherent in maintaining a training space and paying for instructors, hardcopies and the like. Also expensive, and perhaps even costlier than the above, is the fact the offline learning, due to its synchronous nature, disrupts your normal business hours and operations. "Synchronous", in case you’re wondering, is a fancy IT term meaning: "students have to be there at a specific time to take the course". With offline learning enterprises either have to devote working hours to training their employees, or keep them late after work (when they’re exhausted and can’t wait to get back home) to attend their classes. In both cases productivity plummets. This, of course, gets even worse if the training has to take place in some remote location away from the office. That’s why one of the best features of online learning is its asynchronous (the opposite of "synchronous") nature. You just need to put the material up there, and your learners can go through it at their own convenience and at their own pace. And if you go with an always available and accessible from everywhere web based learning management system, employees can not only study from their home but even go through their lessons while commuting to the office, through the magic of "mobile learning", which makes eLearning content accessible to smartphones and other mobile devices. Offline training is ineffective If offline learning was vastly more effective than online learning, it might be worth paying more for it. But, as you probably expected, that’s not the case. In fact a recent meta-study led by researchers at the Imperial College of London concluded, after examining the results of a total of 108 scientific studies, that students acquire knowledge and skills through eLearning as well as or better than they do through traditional teaching. For enterprise training it’s of course even worse, since it’s often performed in an ad-hoc manner, by instructors who lack pedagogical skills and/or teaching experience (e.g. senior employees assigned by upper management with the task to train new hires), and with low quality (and, dare we say, boring) training material, dreadful bullet-laden PowerPoints, hard to read lecture notes written the night before the lesson, etc. A web based learning management system allows instructors to prepare and plan a course in advance, and enables them to incorporate all kinds of supplementary material in it, such as PDFs, images, videos and web content, but also interactive elements, tests and quizzes. This way online lessons can provide a far more rich and rewarding experience compared to having to squint at some PowerPoint slides across a room, or having to endure the slow pace of some instructor repeating the same things over and over. Offline training is hard to evaluate What’s worse about the low quality of offline enterprise training is that enterprise managers are none the wiser about it, as it’s hard to evaluate its efficiency. Online training again comes to change that. TalentLMS for example, the popular web based LMS platform whose blog you’re reading, comes with advanced built-in reporting capabilities that let instructors track the training progress of individual students as well as groups of students. From test scores to lesson attendance and skills acquired, everything that can be measured is, and is made available in the form of easy to comprehend charts, tables and lists of information. Offline training has slow reflexes The difficulty of updating your training content when doing offline learning is perhaps a minor point for businesses whose training needs and materials rarely change, but it can be of big importance to more fast-paced industries and organizations. If your enterprise training needs are frequently changing (e.g. having to quickly adapt to updated industry regulations or to train your users to new technologies and products as they arrive in the market) then offline training, with its ties to the physical world, just doesn’t cut it. As with "snail mail" vs "email", manipulating and distributing bits is way faster than manipulating real physical objects. Or, to use a concrete example, a single instructor can update online course materials and have them made available to all your learners in less than the time that it takes your photocopier operator to prepare and bind 50 copies of the handouts for a single lesson (and with much less waste for the environment, which counts for something too). Offline training is not standardized If you need to have multiple teams of employees, across different branches, offices and even cities and countries, go through offline training, you inevitably need to employ multiple instructors, which in turn might give more emphasis on different things, and generally teach in their own different ways. Sometimes that’s OK, as it’s not a big deal to have some employees in one of your enterprise office learn this, while others in another office learn something slightly different. Other times, as when you’re dealing with delicate processes, precise regulations, and important procedures, that’s not OK. With online training you can be sure that all your students have seen the exact same training materials, presented in the exact same way by the same instructor. What’s more, standardized and automated tests used across all your offices and employees (even if they reside in different continents) ensure that all the important parts have been absorbed. Offline training is offline (duh!) Perhaps the worse offense of offline learning in today’s interconnected world is its "offline" nature, which makes it an isolated island out of reach from your other business activities and systems. A web based learning management system, on the other hand, is in perfect tune with today’s increasingly online (and web-based) business workflows. It can connect to your back office apps, it can share training statistics with your other systems, it can be accessed globally through a simple web browser and it can even connect with your legacy infrastructure through various APIs. Offline and online training are not mutually exclusive Of course not all businesses can totally ditch offline training. When training needs to convey practical (that is, physical) skills to employees, offline training is often the best way. That’s just a small part of enterprise training, though — for all other needs online training is just as good, or, in terms of cost and flexibility, even better. Besides, it’s not like it’s an either/or proposition between offline and online training. TalentLMS, for example, offers "blended learning" functionality, allowing instructors to combine physical classes with online ones, and even manage all of them, regardless of type, from the same web-based user interface. Blended learning, or instructor-led-training as it’s also known, let’s you have the best of both worlds: asynchronous, cost-effective and flexible online training for most things, combined offline (classroom based) training when the latter is called for. In fact TalentLMS also supports a third possibility, "webinars", which are real-time seminars that take place online (e.g. through teleconference). Conclusion In this post we had a look at the benefits that a web based learning management system has compared to the traditional, classroom based, offline training, and especially as it pertains to enterprise training. But don’t take our word for it. Take TalentLMS for a test drive with your free account and see for yourself how a modern web based LMS platform can take your enterprise training to the next level. The post Can web training software replace your offline training? appeared first on TalentLMS Blog.

Who hasn't heard about Brandon Hall Awards? Every year I check out the list of winners which typically includes Allen Interaction Inc., A.S.K Learning, Enspire Learning and so on. I consider these companies to be the best in the industry. Well, that's why they are on the list right? This year, Kern (we have always been dreaming of entering) sent in an entry in the Best Use of Blended Learning category. We knew our work was good because we used our very own learner-centered methodology for this project.Getting to the point, we have won a bronze award for this entry! This year, our name will appear on the list of who's who and someone else will look at it in awe. Kern Communications getting its due recognition through this award... We are now officially (I believe we always were) in the same league as the best in the industry!I am extremely proud to have been part of this project, which was Geeta's brainchild btw, and to belong to this organization that continues to strive for the best.Please read the official press release here.

I am hooked to Clark Quinn's blog posts on ID. When reading one such post, I came across another article, The Case Against Pre Testing for Online Courses by the same author. This had me thinking, when do I use pre-tests in courses?When there is a discrepancy between what the learner knows and what he/she thinks he knows. It is a dangerous situation when the learner thinks he/she already knows what you are about to teach him/her but from your research you know otherwise.If the learners' profile shows discrepancy in prior knowledge, pre tests help identify which path will be best suitable for the learner. For example, the pre test shows that the learner is good at communication skills but poor in active listening, he/she will be directly taken to active listening.To help the learner understand which areas need more focus.To help the learner understand more about themselves. For example: You have a personality test to help the learner understand his/her personality type.This being said its not necessary to have a pre test in all courses. Pre test should not be used for the following:To judge where the learner is; we should have already done our research to identify thisWhen motivation to learn is high; it may be demotivating to continue with the course if the feedback is not encouraging To set expectations; your objectives screen and gain attention screen should be sufficient to set expectationsPre tests are effective tools when used correctly. Pre tests should be designed carefully. These are very useful for soft skills such as communication, personality types, and so on. Well designed pre tests are non-judgemental and encouraging.

I met a few training professionals who use DISC, a personality assessment to analyze people. They observe the person for sometime and then come to a conclusion about which personality traits (combination of D, I, S, and/or C) they portray. I asked one of them how this information helps them. He explained that knowing a personality helps me deal with the person at work. As a trainer, I answer a query/response based on the personality that my learner depicts. I also know that I need to have a high 'I' for my audience to 'like' me. They have to like me to want to listen to me. Makes perfect sense, doesn't it.How are personality tests useful in learning? When can they be used? Here are my thoughts:Personality tests are extremely useful when you want the learner to reflect on his/her own personality.These tests are useful when you need to bring about a behavioral change. For example: For a salesperson, there are a list of attributes that he must have and others that are undesirable. We can use personality tests to check where the learner is, deliver learning, and check where the learner to identify if a behavioral change has taken place. These tests will definitely help us understand the learner profile better. We can design courses keeping the dominant characteristics in mind.Some thoughts that follow these points:Does a behavioral change mean a personality change? Do we understand the deficiencies in our personality and consciously work on them? I guess, personalities are also outcomes of a person's socio-historic context (the environment). This would mean that our personalities are constantly changing based on our experiences. Will the audience show a specific personality pattern? This could happen. If we take the salesperson's example again. When a company hires their sales executives, they look specific characteristics features. How confident is this person? Will he/she be able to hold my attention for long? Will he/she be able to convince/persuade me? So, they may show a specific pattern. (If anyone knows for sure, please share.)Would it be more useful in classroom training? You interact with the learner directly. Based on how they behave, you quickly categorize them and respond accordingly. It sounds like a tough job.

Testing E Learning ProductsView more OpenOffice presentations from Kern Learning solutions.A presentation by Kern Learning Solutions.

I was reading Dave Ferguson's post, Resisting change: a phone-y example. This had me thinking. How do people in the training/learning field resist change? (These are only generalizations.)Clients:Avoid trying news modes of delivering training.Refuse to understand that a learning program that is fun, can also be serious.Spend money on things they have been spending money on for so many years.Being part of the brainstorming session which will help them contribute and stay in the loop.Refuse to treat their learners as responsible adults and are always suspicious of their intentions.Trainers:Refuse to let go. They have to have the power and control. (Read Jane Bozarth's post) Resist innovative ways of teaching.Insist on sticking to the content centric outlook.Think they know what is best for the learners. Hate to say 'I don't know.'Instructional Designers:Stick to Gagne's nine events without trying anything new.Include assessment questions right at the end of the course.Overuse right image-left text templates.Think they know what is best for the learners.Design for themselves rather than for the learners.Have an irresistible itch to design even before they have the information.Do not do enough research to identify interesting videos, example, and case studies.Do not network and prefer to interact through e-mails only.Do not wish to stay in touch with news and events.Think it is not necessary to learn about new technology. SME:Refuse to treat ID's as experts and learners as adults.Refuse to make learning interesting.Refuse to take responsibility for their role.Do not play a more pro active role in the design phase. IDs have to haunt them to get something out of them.They only validate, but add no value to the program.Continue to have a content centric outlook.People, being people, resist change. All of us do. What makes us change is a powerful, positive or negative experience. Keep the following in mind:If you wish to change someone else's life through training, remember to make it a high impact, powerful learning experience.And, keep your mind open.Look for opportunities to try something different.Do not stick to things you are comfortable doing.Read a lot and form your own opinions!Network, you will learn a lot from others.Always remember that you can always do things better. Easier said than done! But, let us give it a shot.