LearningTimes Green Room

In this episode, Susan and Dan converse and share a relaxed view of what they're thinking about learning. The show offers an opportunity for all of us to pause and reflect on how our current personal and professional activities influence our understanding of the learning process.

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Show Notes:

Susan and Dan offer their reflections and observations about learning. This episode is a relaxed view of what we’re thinking about learning.

Susan has been thinking about the importance of offering “interval training” in terms of offering more intense activities and some easier activities within a learning unit.

Dan went to a workshop about performance conversations. He took away a nugget of giving feedback focused on a common theme – meaningful to the employee and related to where the organization wants to go. Susan sees the connection to giving learners feedback. “The conversation is the relationship” made Dan think about the quality of his relationships at work.

Susan thinks about patterns and connections. She has been observing learners recognizing themes and the importance of that to their learning. Helping learners see the relevancy of your class content to their lives strengthens and reinforces learning. She’s now thinking about how we can help younger learners with this.

Dan attended a different workshop how the brain works in transfer of learning. What he learned was that what tests tell us might be the quality of short term memory. It doesn’t tell how the person will perform. Situation based learning was highlighted. All that reminds Susan of The Outcomes Primer.

“Learning takes time” is Susan’s last thought. She’s concerned about how we have condensed online courses.

We’d like to know what our listeners are thinking about. What themes are rising to the top? What has captured your fascination and what has triggered you to thinking about learning?

You can respond using the “Comments” link below or talk to us in LearningTimes. Or call us at 1-800-609-9006 x8055 (US and Canada) or 678-255-2174 x8055 (outside US and Canada). Join us!

Susan and Dan talk with John Walber and Jonathan Finkelstein of LearningTimes (LT) about virtual worlds. This is an update from a prior episode on Second Life (SL).

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SPECIAL NOTE: Alliance Library System, in cooperation with LearningTimes, is offering one-day conferences exploring the possibilities of using virtual worlds to teach history and to promote its appreciation. The conferences, titled “Stepping into History: Exploring the Past through Virtual Worlds” are held entirely in the virtual world of Second Life, allowing participants to attend from any location with a computer and a broadband internet connection. Registration is available at the website www.steppingintohistory.org. Conference dates: June 10, 2008 and June 24, 2008.

Show Notes:

Susan and Dan talk with John Walber and Jonathan Finkelstein of LearningTimes (LT) about virtual worlds. This is an update from a prior episode on Second Life (SL). Susan mistakenly described LearningTimes’ involvement in virtual worlds as ‘creepin’g, when in fact, they’ve been establishing a presence for almost two years.

Susan recently read … “Second Chance for Second Life“, which stated:

“In reality, Second Life doesn’t work. As the firm itself admits, the system crashes constantly and the steep learning curve for anyone entering Second Life puts off all but the hardcore.”

LearningTimes comes from a background focused on live interaction and how that relates to learning and asks the question, “When is it supposed to be live?” Jonathan says we are starting to see a tipping point of more meaningful live events online in webcasting, but we’re not quite there in the 3D virtual worlds.

John humorously describes online SL conferences; Susan admits those sleeping avatars might be her!

Recently, Lancelot (online language learning) took a series of museum field trips in SL with John and Jonathan.

Virtual Starry Night (VanGogh)

International Spaceflight Museum

If you are an organization, how much do you want to spend for land, development, sims, etc.? This has led them to look at stand alone 3D environments.

Susan describes the challenges for income-challenged part-timer, and John points out the community nature of SL. LearningTimes.org maintains Squirrel Island, a SL location members can use for free. The Green Room has its own space!

A new world to consider: Open Croquet movement, a way to do stand alone worlds that can launch off your web site (kind of like the Moodle of virtual worlds).

LT is finding all sorts of ways to use tools. For example, Jonathan describes the use of Google Sketch Up as the New York Transit Museum and Center for Architecture asked students to develop a new museum entrance that is handicap accessible.

Qwaq first commercial application of open croquet. LT is working with Qwaq to offer live demos every other week. To learn more about demos, co-sponsored with Alliance Library System (out of central Illinois), go to http://www.learningtimes.net/3d.

What are some ways LearningTimes would encourage educators to use virtual worlds? Jonathan gives the example of mock trials. Anything that involves exploring something you can’t do or see from your desktop. John describes the use of immersive environments for using languages, going through customs, interacting in a town, and so on. He then tells about training for homeland security.

Listeners, tell us whatever virtual worlds you’re involved with!

The demos are available at http://www.learningtimes.net/qwaqdemo and keep up at http://www.learningtimes.net/3d.

NOTE: Check out ALS and LearningTimes’ one-day conferences exploring the possibilities of using virtual worlds to teach history and to promote its appreciation. Registration is available at the website www.steppingintohistory.org. Conference dates: June 10, 2008 and June 24, 2008.

You can respond using the “Comments” link below or talk to us in LearningTimes. Or call us at 1-800-609-9006 x8055 (US and Canada) or 678-255-2174 x8055 (outside US and Canada). Join us!