Posted 7:37 AM by George Siemens
I'm going to throw out a controversial thought: Most courses need less content and more interaction. Email me if you think I'm an idiot.

Jay Cross had a memorable quote recently on his blog: "I forget what I was taught. I only remember what I have learnt" (Patrick White). As I reflect on my years in a class as a student, I think most courses were made ineffective by the volume of the content. Any course probably has 6 - 8 critical components...the rest is just supporting documentation to prove these components are true. What often happens, however, is learners get lost in the supporting documentation.

As the above quote states...we remember what we learned, not what we read, were lectured about, etc. So, in order for greater learning to happen, instructors online should distill content to focused, critical components, and then develop authentic activities to ensure LEARNING happens. Less content, more interaction=more learning. Agree? Disagree?

Deep Linking
Quote: "Educators should be aware of a brewing controversy that soon could limit how they are allowed to connect students to news articles and other copyrighted materials over the internet: Some online publishers, angry about the practice of “deep-linking” to their web sites, have begun threatening legal action against users of the tactic, calling it a violation of U.S. copyright law."

Comment: Interesting thought. The heart of the Internet is about linking and connecting. Nothing may develop of this, but it does highlight how much we've come to rely on the Internet in seeking information, and how "keepers of information" have a different agenda than educators.

MIT OpenCourseWare
Quote: "MIT's OpenCourseWare project will make virtually all of the school's course content available free on the Internet--and will transform the e-learning industry. In this new e-learning space, companies can add value by increasing interaction; tailoring, assembling, and re-purposing content; becoming certification authorities; innovating with technology; and innovating with pedagogy."

Comment: MIT is in the middle of a mult-year, multi-million dollar project to make their content available for free on the Internet. This initiative caused quite a bit of discussion in academic and corporate circles. What is the value of content? Is content learning? What are online students really buying: content, learning, or the diploma? Or are they buying something more esoteric - increased self-worth and a better quality of life? Schools and training departments often view themselves as creators and distributors of content...is this an accurate model to hold in the new era of "global access" to learning resources? Or does this model need to be refined?

Authentic Design Activities
Quote: "Teachers in a range of disciplines are interested in engaging their students in authentic activities that reflect the experiences of real world practitioners. Adopting this approach requires the design and implementation of learning environments that incorporate and support such activities."

Comment: The author quotes Grabinger, stating: learning is difficult, requiring both context and content, skills/knowledge are more easily acquired in life-like contexts, and assessement should be authentic/realistic. I agree. Truly effective learning should go beyond the "test" and result in increased competencies in real life situations. I guess this brings up the whole concept of alignment...how are course outcomes aligned with industry/on-the-job tasks needed...how effective are learning activities at achieving objectives?...how effective is interaction at achieving life-use skills...etc. Alignment should exist between: industry, program, courses, objectives, assessment, and the student.

Privacy
Quote: "Tollbooths, ATMs, doctors' offices, online chat: You leave critical personal data behind wherever you go. Let's follow one American as he scatters his digital DNA."

Comment: I generally don't focus much on issues of privacy on the Internet. This is an area open to much hysteria and paranoia (if I read another article trying to balance our right to freedom with national security following Sept. 11, I'll scream). Occasionally, however, a good article can cristalyze the current trends and issues relating to privacy. This article details how our daily activities are recorded and observed. Must read.

Effects of Online Learning
Quote: "Online learning requires students to be self motivated and assume greater responsibility for their own learning...the effects of online instruction on learner’s psychological factors have not received enough attention."

Comment: Can learners be taught to take greater responsibility for their own learning? Is learning "how to learn online" a skill that can be developed? The author of this paper seems to think so...learner competence improves significantly as a course progress (assuming you can get students to stay long enough to experience those benefits!).

Wireless
Comment: This article provides a view of what this next year holds according to TechXNY...drum roll....it is WIRELESS! That's right, folks, the future is wireless...and I say, why not? It should be...for a society that values convenience as much as ours does, it is a fairly safe prediction...