Future Directions for the Science of Learning

In the future, I believe that the science of learning will increasingly embrace an integrated management approach that will combine effective learning theories with relevant technological resources to create productive educational environments. For some time, many have expected that technology would eventually provide some sort of educational panacea. When technology did not produce this, many early believers became doubtful. However, technology alone does not improve cognition.

Unlike the skeptics, I feel that a systematic process of integrating appropriate technological tools with constructivist, student-centered instruction can provide efficient, unique, and enhanced learning environments. Furthermore, these environments may potentially produce unprecedented cognitive enhancement. I think that this is especially true for topics, such as science and math that are important but difficult for students to comprehend. Yet, educators must identify, select, and evaluate technological resources that help make these topics relevant, intriguing, and compelling to students.

I envision that subsequently, educators will disseminate meaningful goals, objectives and infuse lessons with valuable learning components, such as generative topics and opportunities for reflection. And, they will provide opportunities for ongoing assessment and feedback. Students will contribute, collaborate, and corroborate using social network applications, such as wikis, blogs, and instant messaging. Unprecedented creative opportunities will follow as students produce videos and podcasts of their schoolwork and proudly share them with everyone. Moreover, the entire world, at least theoretically, can provide feedback. Iterative feedback will enable students to gain a broader perspective, make improvements, resubmit their work, and obtain additional feedback. This process is perhaps the first “perpetual beta” version of schoolwork. While this may seem farfetched to some, it is a familiar scenario for many of the current generation of learners.

Ever the optimist, I hope that education, especially public education, will become effective for all students. I grew up in a relatively complex society. However, it was simple by comparison to contemporary society. To provide a productive learning environment for current and upcoming generations, educators must not only move ahead, but sideways, backward, up, and down, or maybe in an undiscovered dimension. Perhaps the next stage is educational reform based on chaos theory. Scientists and mathematicians find order in chaos. Perhaps someday educators will also find order in chaos.

Future Directions

Due to extensive preparations for the Second Life class tonight this posting will be late.

Technology to Support Learning

For sometime, many have expected that technology would eventually provide some sort of educational panacea. When technology did not produce the desired outcomes, many early believers became skeptics. However, as Bransford, Brown, and Cocking (2000, p. 218) state, “good educational software…developed with a full understanding of principles of learning, [has] not yet become the norm.”

However, I think that it is ironic that the most technologically current software applications, which utilize effective pedagogy, may be videogame applications, not educational applications. Videogames may be effective partly because they are interesting and compelling. Many students, such as my son Jason who have difficulty attending to schoolwork often devote 30-40 hours learning how to play complicated videogames. Interestingly, Gee (2003) suggests that certain videogames are compelling because they employ effective learning theories. Additionally, Gee and other researchers (Pillay, Brownlee, & Wilss, 1999) believe that videogames, even games with violent or other controversial content, promote the use of cognitive skills to solve problems and to comprehend explicit and implicit information.

Therefore, it seems to me that it would be efficacious to incorporate the learning principles, which theoretically make videogames so enticing, into educational software. Unfortunately, from what I have read, companies that produce educational software are unwilling or lack the financial resources to produce comparable programs. In addition, because of a perceived stigma, videogame developers are reluctant to produce programs that have overt pedagogical relevance.

Nonetheless, I believe that other technological resources are relevant, compelling, and pedagogically significant. For instance, students can contribute, collaborate, and communicate using social network applications, such as wikis, blogs, and instant messaging. Furthermore, students have opportunities for unprecedented creative opportunities by producing videos and podcasts of their schoolwork that they can proudly share with everyone. Moreover, the entire world, at least theoretically, can provide feedback. Feedback enables students to gain a broader perspective, make improvements, resubmit their work, and obtain additional feedback. This process is perhaps the first perpetual beta version of schoolwork. While I realize that this may seem farfetched to some, it is a familiar scenario for many students. I cannot help but wonder if we are not playing “catch up” to the present generation of learners.

Ever the optimist, I hope that education, especially public education, will become effective for all students. On the other hand, I find it disconcerting when I compare lackluster educational software to the innovative, exceptional, and exciting products produced by the electronic entertainment industry. Additionally, it is perhaps even more disturbing that apparently videogame software, "developed with a full understanding of principles of learning" is the norm (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000, p. 218).


Reference:

Bransford, J., Brown, A., & Cocking, R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. (Expanded ed.). Washington: National Academy Press.

Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Pillay, H., Brownlee, J., & Wilss, L. (1999). Cognition and recreational computer games: Implications for educational technology. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 32(1), 203-216.

Teacher Learning

The concept that teachers learn informally by parenting their own children (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000) reminded me of Brenda Snyder, a friend from high school, who subsequently became an elementary school teacher. Brenda was amazing. In addition to excelling academically, she was the captain of the cheerleading team, the prom queen, and she had a great personality. After being graduated, Brenda completed her undergraduate degree in three years and immediately found employment as a fourth grade teacher at a local school district. Initially, Brenda was enthusiastic about her job. She designed lesson plans based on what she had learned in college. However, these plans also reflected the creative teaching style of Harry Lake, the excellent teacher who I discussed previously in this blog. Brenda eagerly anticipated providing her students with the similar opportunities that she had experienced with her role model, Mr. Lake.

Her students loved her. Unfortunately, the school administration and the students’ parents were not as enthusiastic about Brenda’s unconventional teaching style. Furthermore, pressure from more conservative teachers began to influence Brenda’s teaching style. Eventually, Brenda’s lesson plans became more conventional. Consequently, she became increasingly frustrated with students’ growing lack of enthusiasm and lack of compliance with some of her requirements, such as timely completion of their skill-and-drill homework.

After five years, Brenda started a family and stopped teaching in the public school system. Once her children finished primary school, Brenda decided to restart her career. However, this time it was different. While, she had lost some of her youthful cheerleader-prom queen effervescence, she had gained maturity, experience, and a new perspective. By the end of Brenda’s first year, I realized that she seemed more content, satisfied, and secure with her job that she did during her initial foray into teaching. When I asked her about it, she told me that my observations were correct. She explained that she was able to interact more effectively with administrators, teachers, students, and their parents. She credited her recent success on her parenting experience.

Since Brenda had been a model student, during her first teaching experience, she could not understand noncompliant students until she witnessed similar phenomena with her own children. For example, despite being creative, bright, and eager to learn, her daughter often struggled with schoolwork. Brenda learned by raising her own children that some people learn differently from others. Additionally, by trying to convince educators of her daughter’s unique educational needs during parent-teacher conferences, she had a greater understanding of parents’ perspectives.

Overall, Brenda’s parenting experience made her a better teacher. While I do not think that teachers have to be parents to excel, I do agree with the authors that parenting can be a valuable experience for educators. If research indicates that this is true, perhaps teachers should receive continuing education credits for raising their own children.

Reference:
Bransford, J., Brown, A., & Cocking, R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. (Expanded ed.). Washington: National Academy Press.

Effective Teaching

“The Effective Teaching” section of the online book, How People Learn, describes the effective teaching methods of Barb Johnson, a very popular sixth-grade history teacher. Apparently, this teacher’s methods were effective because she taught history in a way that made the subject matter relevant to her students. However, I inferred from the article that the authors felt that we should not expect most history teachers to employ similar strategies because they lack the requisite “wide range of disciplinary knowledge” (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2008, p.145). However, I wonder if certain technological tools could help mitigate this problem. For example, I know that the folks involved with the Education Arcade at MIT used the Never Winter Nights game engine to create Revolution, a situation-based, multi-player learning game, based on historical events in colonial Williamsburg (Haas, 2008). As they assume roles of period characters and grapple with major conflicts as well as mundane issues of the period, I can easily imagine that Revolution makes this period of American history more relevant for many students.

Nonetheless, I am also aware of the persistent reticence of educators to employ this type of technology. While attending a class at Bloomsburg University, prompted by a request from a local school administrator, my professor asked our class to contact the administrator if we had any ideas for innovative learning concepts.
After confirming that the local school had an adequate number of computers and unrestricted online access to download the program, I suggested that they use Making History: the Calm and the Storm, a turned-based strategy video game, to teach a component of high school history. Muzzy Lane Software, a well-established educational software company, designed Making History to accommodate the time constraints that are inherent in high school classrooms. Making History also provided supporting documentation that included various resources to augment the material presented in the game environment (Making History, 2008).

I explained to the administrator that, by playing the game, students could investigate prewar scenarios relative to certain European domestic distractions and political policies based on appeasement, non-intervention, and isolationism that contributed to the outbreak of WWII. This historic period included some of the most intriguing, controversial, and repercussive historic events that culminated in a calamitous war. Moreover, this topic is especially relevant to students, since some in the United States government evoked this historic sequence of events to justify engaging in the current war with Iraq.

Initially, the administrator was enthusiastic about the idea. The topic was appropriate, the cost of licensing the program was within the school budget, and the computer hardware was available. Inexplicably, to both of us, the teaching staff in the history department at his school would not even consider the idea. I can only assume that while the teachers said they wanted new ideas, in reality they were insufficiently motivated to act on concepts that were significantly innovative. Therefore, it seems to me that, in addition to student motivation, effective instructional design needs to address teacher motivation as well.

Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L, & Cocking, R. R. (2008). How People Learn: How Experts Differ from Novices. National Academy Press. Retrieved September 12, 2008 from: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6160&page=17

Haas, J. (2008). Revolution. The Education Arcade. Accessed October 25, 2008: http://www/educationarcade.org/node/357

Making History (2008). Making history: The calm and the storm. Accessed October 25, 2008: http://www.making-history.com/

The Design of Learning Environments

The Design of Learning Environments (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2008) article indicated the importance of designing educational environments that comprise learning-centered, knowledge-centered, assessment-centered, and community centered elements. The section about assessments got me thinking about a conversation that I had earlier this semester with Dan, one of the other students in our class.

Our conversation took place the week after we read the How Experts Differ from Novices section of How People Learn, the online book that we have been reading for or class this semester. I expressed to Dan that I thought that perhaps our educational system would improve if we eliminated standardized tests and instead focused on meaningful knowledge acquisition. Dan had reservations about the degree of emphasis that the current educational system placed on standardized testing. Of course, he felt that there was a definite need for some kind of assessment. Nonetheless, I was starting to think that perhaps we did not need to conduct assessments at all, since most assessments did not seem to measure accurately the “degree to which the students’ knowledge is conditionalized” (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2008, p. 31).

Upon reflection, I recognized that it was impractical to eliminate all assessments. For instance, how would universities determine who was qualified to enter academically rigorous PhD programs? Subsequently, while reading a journal article, Assessing Higher Order Thinking in Video Games (Rice, 2007), for another paper, I realized that perhaps more covert assessments methods would be more valid indicators of students’ conditional knowledge. Rice (2007) suggests that certain complex video games that promote higher order thinking possess certain qualities, such as:
 Complex story lines “with characters that users care about”
 Allow “different ways to complete the game”
 Simulate “complex processes requiring adjustment of variable by users to obtain desired results or adjusting variables that produce different outcomes
 Require “synthesis of knowledge in order to complete”

However, by continually adjusting and responding to user input, perpetual covert assessment is an attribute that these games also possess. In effect, players receive assessment results of their conditionalized knowledge when they are promoted to more challenging levels, and eventually win the game.

Conversely, many educational applications contain overt quizzes or tests to assess a learner’s knowledge. Perhaps, embedding covert assessment techniques, which are similar to those used in many video games, would improve the efficacy of assessing conditionalized knowledge in educational applications.


Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L, & Cocking, R. R. (2008). How People Learn: How Experts Differ from Novices. National Academy Press. Retrieved September 12, 2008 from: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6160&page=17
Rice, J. W. (2007). Assessing higher order thinking in video games. Journal of Technology & Teacher Education. 15(1), 87-100.

Mind and Brain

One section in this chapter (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000, p.103) reminded me of an article, which I read years ago, that described a new brain imagining technology called functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). When I saw the images of the brain produced by fMRI that were printed in the magazine, I was amazed. Apparently, Functional MRI produced rapid brain scans, excellent spatial resolution, and provided images that bone tissue obscured with previous imaging methods (RSNA, 2004). I was also surprised to learn that fMRI was completely non-invasive and non-radioactive (Bear, Connors, & Paradiso, 2001 p.177). S. Ogawa of Bell Labs made the first step in the development of fMRI. Ogawa used innovative imaging techniques, blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast, and MRI technologies to measure differences in blood oxygen levels caused by brain activity. (Bear, Connors, & Paradiso, 2001 p.176).

Subsequently, I learned that neuroscientists used fMRI to study brain function and anatomy. The data produced by fMRI technology enabled scientists to “explore the higher level workings of the human mind” (Cohen, 1994). Furthermore, I thought it was interesting that, while even nineteenth century antiquated invasive procedures provided scientists with enough information to locate the brain regions where speech, memory, and other functions were typically processed, the exact location differed among certain individuals. However, the detailed information provided by fMRI allowed radiologists to determine the exact location of neuronal processing within each person (RSNA, 2004). In addition to location, fMRI revealed the timing of cognitive events. This capacity gave researchers the ability to pinpoint and quantify the amount of activity related to perception and memory (NIMH, 1997). To explain the concept, The National Institute of Mental Health (1997) used the following analogy: “Brain circuits, that process short-term information, differ from those that store long-term memory, much as a computer’s random access memory (RAM) differs from hard disk memory.” Short term processing “is used for such tasks as holding phone numbers in mind just long enough to write it down,” as well as for higher cognitive functions, such as planning, organizing, and rehearsing (1997).

Nonetheless, I think that the fMRI may not be the most powerful instrument for studying cognitive function. Rather, it may be what Ogawa and even 19th century researchers, such as Angelo Mosso, used to effectively study the brain: their own “expertise, intelligence, and creativity” (Cacioppo, Berntson, Lorig, Norris, Rickett, & Nusbaum, 2003).

[In Mosso’s experiments] the subject to be observed lay on a delicately balanced table,which could tip downward either at the head or at the foot if the weight of either end were increased. The moment emotional or intellectual activity began in the subject, down went the balance at the head-end, in consequence of the redistribution of blood in his system. (James, 1890).

References

Bransford, J., Brown, A., & Cocking, R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. (Expanded ed.). Washington: National Academy Press.

Cacioppo, J. T., Berntson, G. G., Lorig, T. S., Norris, C. J., Rickett, E., & Nusbaum, H. (2003). Just because you’re imaging the brain doesn’t mean you can stop using your head: A primer and set of first principles. Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology, 85(4), 650-661.

Cohen, M. S., Bookheimer, S. Y. (1994). Localization of brain function with magnetic resonance imaging. Trends in Neurosciences, 17(7).

Bear, M. F., Connors, B. W., & Paradiso, M. A. (2001). Imaging the living brain. In S. Katz & A. Heubeck (Eds.), Neuroscience: Exploring the brain (2nd ed., pp. 173-77). Baltimore:Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

James, W. (1890). Principles of Psychology. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

NIMH (1997, April). fMRI reveals dynamics of working memory. National Institute of Mental Health Retrieved October 4, 2008 from http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/apr97/nimh-09.htm

RSNA. (2004). RadiologyInfo. Radiological Society of North America, Inc. Retrieved October 4, 2008 from http://www.radiologyinfo.com/content/functional_mr.htm

How Children Learn

As I mentioned in a previous posting, my children took violin lessons. During that time, I had the opportunity to meet Julie. In addition to being very personable, Julie was a gifted violinist, poet, and athlete. However, despite her many exemplary extracurricular performances, Julie received demeaning comments from her teacher and below average grades on her fourth grade report card.

Julie’s situation reminded me of Gardner’s (1989) theory of multiple intelligences that a friend of mine had told me about previously. Gardner postulated that musical prowess, interpersonal acumen, linguistic skill, and athletic ability were four of seven distinct forms of intellect (1989). Unfortunately, for Julie and many other children, the school system almost exclusively focused on “linguistic symbolization and logical-mathematical symbolization” (1989). The system did not support Julie’s learning strengths (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000). Furthermore, instead of receiving help working on her weaknesses (2000), Julie only seemed to get perpetual criticism from her teacher. While Julie initially wanted to be a competent student, eventually her interest in school started to wane. Gardner (1999) believed that children who are taught in an environment where disciplines such as music are revered will want to “enhance their own skills and achieve disciplined expertise” (1999, p. 171).

Fortunately, Julie had her parents, music teacher, and coaches, to help guide her development (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000). Yet, Julie may have had a more positive educational experience if a different “teaching and assessment model” (Snowman, McCown, & Biehler, 2009, p. 117), such as Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory, had been utilized. In additional to memorization, Sternberg believed that education should focus on “analytical, creative, and practical” (Snowman, McCown, & Biehler, 2009, p. 117) skills. For example, to support Julie’s creativity, the teacher could have asked Julie to write a poem about one of the founding fathers for a social studies assignment. Undoubtedly, incorporating Julie’s strengths into her educational program would have bolstered Julie’s academic performance.

Bransford, J., Brown, A., & Cocking, R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. (Expanded ed.). Washington: National Academy Press.
Gardner, H. (1999). A disciplined approach to school reform. Peabody Journal of Education, 74(1), 166-173.
Gardner, H., & Hatch T. (1989). Multiple intelligences go to school: Educational implications of the theory of multiple intelligences. Educational Researcher, 18(8), 4-10.
Snowman, J., McCown, R., & Biehler, R. (2009). Psychology applied to teaching (12th ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin , p. 117)

HPL: Learning and Transfer

Interestingly, the learning orientation aspect (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2008, p.49) of the Learning and Transfer paper reminded me of a research study that I co-authored with two of my professors at Cedar Crest College several years ago.

As we hypothesized, our findings suggested that performance-oriented students who were motivated by grades expressed higher levels of computer anxiety and negative attitudes toward learning how to use new computer programs than students who were learning oriented. Apparently, students who enrolled in college courses that contained some sort of computer requirement, such as learning a new statistical package, embraced the challenge of learning and performing on the computer if they took the course to master the material, rather than to just achieve a satisfactory grade,. These performance-oriented students viewed the computer as another tool that enhanced their learning and enabled them to gain transferable skills. However, learning oriented students who attended courses only to fulfill a college requirement did not embrace learning a new technology. Rather, they viewed such course requirements as an unwanted, even feared, encumbrance that likely lacked any lasting value (Scepansky, Baker, & Simonds, 2004).

Therefore, as Bransford, Brown, and Cocking (2008) and the results of my aforementioned research indicate, for teaching to be most effective, it is efficacious to ascertain why certain students are hesitant about vital components of their education. Clearly, identification is a crucial step needed to address and subsequently ameliorate learning transfer impediments based on learning orientation.

References:
Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L, & Cocking, R. R. (2008). How people learn: Learning and transfer. National Academy Press. Retrieved September 12, 2008 from: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6160&page=39

Scepansky, J., Baker, K., & Simonds, R. (2004). The relationship between students’ learning orientation and attitudes regarding use of technology in the classroom. Eastern Psychological Association - poster presentation.

How Experts Differ from Novices

Spelling has never been my forte. Often, I rely on clever mnemonics that I learned in elementary school. For example, I remember in fourth grade struggling to spell the word tomorrow until a sympathetic classmate came to my rescue. She pointed out that chunking the word into tom-or-row made it easy to remember. Since that time, I have often thought that students would learn more effectively if they not only received instruction about what to learn but also about how to learn. Bransford, Brown, and Cocking (2008, pp. 20-21) point out that experts “chunk information into familiar patterns” to augment the capacity of their short-term memories. However, most curricula do little to help students learn how to organize material in meaningful ways (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2008, p. 30).

Furthermore, I have often heard fellow classmates who are teachers complain on the emphasis that is placed on preparing students to take standardized tests. However, standardized tests may not “assess the degree to which the students’ knowledge is conditionalized.” Yet, knowing how to apply knowledge in different situations is an important aspect for effective learning (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2008, p. 31). After reading How Experts Differ from Novices, I cannot help thinking that perhaps our educational system would improve if we eliminated standardized tests and instead focused on meaningful knowledge acquisition.

Rather than be subjected to standardized testing, I believe that each student should have an individualized educational program that encompasses each of the following:

Multidimensional instruction - simultaneously integrates multiple disciplines
Nonlinear instruction –
o adapts to a students competency level
 easier – harder
 simple - complex
Responsive feedback –
o immediate feedback
o elaborate feedback upon request
Purposeful instruction – clearly stated goals and objectives that are meaningful to the student
Student-centered instruction – based on constructivist learning principles
Social learning opportunities
o Peer to peer
o Novice - expert
Integrated assessment – evaluation of demonstrable skills seamlessly embedded within instructional context

When my children were very young they took Suzuki violin lessons that comprised each of these components. Furthermore, I also recognized that similar attributes composed the framework of many of the commercial non-educational video games that my children played.


Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L, & Cocking, R. R. (2008). How People Learn: How Experts Differ from Novices. National Academy Press. Retrieved September 12, 2008 from: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6160&page=17

Emerging Technologies and the McLuhan Tetrad

The current Horizon Report (NMC, 2008) predicts that mainstream educational institutions will commonly utilize several emerging technologies, such as grassroots video, collaboration webs, Data Mashups, and social operating systems to extend learning opportunities.

However, Marshall McLuhan posited the importance of identifying the correspond amputation, which is inherent in every technological extension, by asking the following four questions, which he called the tetrad (Kappelman, 2002):
1. What does it (the medium or technology) extend?
2. What does it make obsolete?
3. What is retrieved?
4. What does the technology revert into if it is over extended?

Grassroots Video (GV)
Clearly, producing GVs, posting them on video sharing websites, such as YouTube, and therefore potentially sharing the work with millions of others will extend the communication capabilities of educators and learners (NMC, 2008).

Low cost, easy to use, and accessible tools, software, and web-based video sharing services will make reliance on “expensive infrastructure” (NMC, 2008), professional video production, and conventional modes of distribution, such as television news broadcasts obsolete.

By generating a two-way flow of information, GV technology will allow people to retrieve the ability to contribute to the knowledge base. For example, many people use cell phone video-capture devices to provide media outlets with material (NMC, 2008).

If over extended, since almost anybody may capture video of anyone at any time (NMC, 2008), and subsequently edit and manipulate the contents, this technology may result in people feeling vulnerable and paranoid due to a real, or perceived, lack of privacy.

Collaboration Webs (CW)
CW, such as 3D virtual environments, extend time and space by allowing disparately located participants to collaborate in real time in ways that would normally be impossible or impractical. For example, they could:
 Explore a piece of equipment, such as the inside of a computer
 Practice hazardous material handling procedures in scripted training simulations

Furthermore, in a 3D CW they may experience a sense of presence and therefore “overcome various communication constraints of time, location permanence, distribution, and distance” (Lombard & Ditton, 1997).

Potentially, this technology may make drawbacks associated with physical travel, such as high cost, inconvenience, and unproductive time, obsolete.

However, while many may retrieve a socially rich mode of communication in this virtual environment, if over extended others may feel intimidated and excluded.

Clearly, the McLuhan tetrad can be a valuable assessment tool for evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of any new technology prior to implementation.




Kappelman, T. (2002). Marshall McLuhan: “The medium is the message”. Retrieved September 5, 2008, from http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/mcluhan.html
Lombard, M & Ditton, T. (1997). Presence: at the heart of it all. JCMC (3)2.
New Media Consortium (NMC). (2008). The Horizon Report. Retrieved September 1, 2008, from http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2008/
Virtual Worlds News (VWN). (2007). Appalachian State and Clemson Universities research virtual worlds. Retrieved September 1, 2008, from http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2007/12/appalachian-sta.html#more

"Shift Happens" video

"An official update to the original "Shift Happens" video from Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod, this June 2007 update includes new and updated statistics, thought-provoking questions and a fresh design. For more information, or to join the conversation, please visit http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com -- Content by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod, design and development by XPLANE."

Journals Important to Educational Technology and to the Learning Sciences

Dr. M. J. Bishop compiled the following list for her Learning Sciences and Technology course at Lehigh University:

Journals Important to Educational Technology
The American Journal of Distance Education
British Journal of Educational Technology
Cognition and Instruction
Computers in Human Behavior
The Computing Teacher
Computers and Education
Computers in the Schools
Education and Computing
Educational Communication and Technology Journal
Educational Technology Research & Development
Educational Technology
Instructional Science
International Journal of Instructional Media
Journal of Computer Assisted Learning
Journal of Computer-based Instruction
Journal of Computing in Higher Education
Journal of Educational Computing Research
Journal of Educational Technology Systems
Journal of Interactive Learning Research
Journal of Research on Technology in Education
Journal of the Learning Sciences
Phi Delta Kappan
Quarterly Review of Distance Education
Technology & Learning
Training and Development Journal

Journals Important to the Learning Sciences
American Psychologist
Annual Review of Psychology
British Journal of Educational Psychology
British Journal of Psychology
Canadian Journal of Psychology
Child Development
Cognition
Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive Science
Communication Research
Contemporary Educational Psychology
Current Directions in Psychological Science
Education and Urban Society
Educational Research

Second Life - Introduction for Businesses...

This is a short video that I have been working on, which provides an overview of SL for businesses and organizations:

Educational Uses of Second Life

This is a video that Mary Ann Mengel and I produced that presents an overview of educational uses of Second Life including educational locations, tools, and learning archetypes that are applicable to Second Life:

2008 METAVERSE TOUR - THE SOCIAL VIRTUAL WORLD'S A STAGE

"Over 50 virtual worlds featured including:
Second Life, HiPiHi, Kaneva, Twinity, ActiveWorlds, LagunaBeach vMTV. There.com, Habbo, Google Lively, FootballSuperstars, Weblin, AmazingWorlds, CyWorld, Whyville, Gaia Online, RocketOn, Club Penguin, YoVille, Webkinz, BarbieGirls, Prototerra, IMVU, Spore, vSide, Tale in the Desert, SpineWorld, Stardoll, The Manor, There.com, ExitReality, Vastpark, Qwaq, PS3Home, GoSupermodel, Grockit, Croquet, Metaplace, Coke Studios, Dreamville, Dubit, Mokitown, Moove, Muse, The Palace, Playdo, Sora City, Voodoo Chat, TowerChat, Traveler, Virtual Ibiza"

Online Books

• Bransford, J.D., Brown, A.L., & Cocking, R.R. (Eds.). (1999). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Available online:http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6160