BUILDING NEW PROGRAMS IN EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND LEARNINGSUNY, Empire State College

Engaging in the Conversation

SCENARIO

Develop a Graduate Degree to serve the needs of individuals responsible for

enhancing learning in various contexts, using new technology tools.

(public & private K-12; higher education; private enterprise; not-for-profits)

What content is key? How should students be engaged their own

learning in digital, online environments? What strategies can be used to help

students(and instructors) modify their expectations and behaviors as learners in new online environments?

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Our context

Our learners

School for Graduate Studies

New York

MODEL OF LEARNING POWERED BY TECHNOLOGY

AIM: DEVELOP A COMMUNITY ENGAGED IN EXPLORING AND RESEARCHING THE LEARNING PROCESS,

SPECIFICALLY WITH EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

Consider the social, ethical and legal impacts of new technologies on our lives, individually and collectively.

Explore the multiple, unfolding political and economic impacts of digital media as a transformative agent in the global civic and market arenas.

Develop an understanding of how people learn in technology-mediated environments.

Examine and evaluate learning that occurs in technology mediated environments, and the impact of digital tools, resources and pedagogical methods in these settings.

Acquire the skills and capacity to identify, employ and evaluate technologically supported tools and methodologies.

Conduct original research projects both individually and in collaborative faculty-student teams in order to expand knowledge in the field.

LEARNING

social (knowledge emerges from interpersonal interactions)

situated (occurs in specific contexts) reflective (requires time and space for

reflection and exchange before internalization)

multifaceted (involves varied means of engagement).

leaves open for inquiry: learning in new digital environments involves a process of making connections across various networks – representing a new process of knowledge creation in distributed environments

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

“tools, concepts, innovations and advancements utilized in diverse educational settings to serve

varied education- related purposes. Emerging technologies(1) may or may not be new technologies (2) can be described as evolving organisms that

exist in a state of ‘coming into being’ (3) experience hype cycles (4) satisfy the ‘not yet’ criteria of: not yet being

fully understood, and not yet being fully researched, or researched in a mature way

(5) are potentially disruptive, but their potential is mostly unfulfilled.”

Veletsianos, George, ed. (2010). Emerging Technologies in Distance Education. AU Press: Edmonton, Canada.

BUILDING THE COMMUNITY

FOCUS: NEW MEDIA, NEW LITERACIES

Core Course –Content -Engagement -Strategies

(Donna)

(or, should we move directly into the “spaces and projects” sections from here? )

SPACES & PROJECTS

exploring/testing new ways of interacting and learning (Denise/Hope) – image + demo?

T4 Goingon.com Moodle Digication Elluminate Mindmeister Starfish Second Life/other virtual External?

PROJECT: THEMATIC BASED, NON-LINEAR

COURSE

American Popular Music (Lisa) - “sexy” images?

PROJECT: VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS (AN EXAMPLE)

New approaches for online* Teacher Education in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math) Since 2007 the instructor has integrated Second Life into

online courses; areas have included: Whole class meetings for discussions, presentations, field trips, and

guest speakers Student teams meetings for planning , collaborating, & networking

In 2010, the instructor developed SER/VE, STEM Exploratory Read/Virtual Environment, a private research island a study was conducted with K12 students who were guided to science

research and theoretical game development that they presented in SER/VE– students responded well to this learning environment

These students, who are teachers, are developing their own science activities in SER/VE

* Students are working from home computers across the state

O'Connor, E. (2011). Migrating Towards K12 in Virtual Spaces: Second Life Lessons Learned as Higher Education Meets Middle School Students. In Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2011 (pp. 2192-2198). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

O’Connor, E. (2011, in press). Practical considerations when using virtual spaces for learning and collaboration, with minimal setup and support. In H. H. Yang, & S. C. Yuen (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Practices and Outcomes in Virtual Worlds and Environment. Hershey PA: IGI Global.

O’Connor, E.A. (June 2010) Using Second Life (a virtual reality) in Language Instruction: Practical Advice on Getting Started; published with the proceedings of the 4 th International Scientific and Methodological Conference on "Information and Communication Technologies in Foreign Language Teaching”  O'Connor, E. A. (2009). Instructional and Design Elements that Support Effective Use of Virtual Worlds: What Graduate Student Work Reveals about Second Life. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 38(2), 213-234. doi:10.2190/ET.38.2.j

O’Connor, E. A. and Sakshaug, L. (2009) Preparing for Second Life: Two Teacher Educators Reflect on Their Initial Foray into Virtual Teaching and Learning, Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 37(3), pp. 259-272.

O'Connor, E. (2008). Becoming a Virtual Instructor: How Can Higher Education Faculty Prepare for Second Life?. In G. Richards (Ed.), Proceedings of World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education 2008 (pp. 1144-1149). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

Peer Reviewed Publications Related to Second Life

SCHOOL FOR GRADUATE STUDIES EMPIRE STATE COLLEGE

INFORMATION ASSURANCE AND SECURITY POLICY

Immersive Learning Experiences for MBA CoursesImmersive Learning Experiences for MBA Courses

PROJECT: VIRTUAL TEACHER INCUBATORS

(Donna) -- add on SimSchool for classroom mgmt? -- as a “simulation” project attached to the incubator spaces?

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Open Access Journals

Open Educational Resources

Simulations for Training

Gaming & College Math

Connecting with International Programs

WWW & EDUCATION =A MODEL FOR

BetterInteractiveInnovative

Peer-directedProblem solvingProcess oriented

(forms of)Inventive

ImaginativeLEARNING

-Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee

DIANE GAL DONNA MAHAR

EILEEN O’CONNOR HOPE ADAMS LISA SNYDER

DENISE SNYDER

Thank you, and please feel free to contact us!

MAETAL@esc.edu