IMU E-Learning

IMU-LS-04: Facilitating a Massive Open Online Course (Stephen Downes)

2012-01-30T20:25:00.000-08:00

(100 Free slots made available to Public! Running out fast!)

IMU LEARNING SERIES

Welcome to the IMU Learning Series (Round 4)…The most electrifying webinar series on the planet (by 2013)!

We are thrilled to announce that our second invited International speaker is Stephen Downes…Simply WOW!

Title : Facilitating a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)
Date : 22nd February, 2012
Time : 10.00 AM, Kuala Lumpur (Check Time Differences)
Venue : Online (WizIQ)

Description:

In this talk Stephen Downes, one of the originators of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) format, describes the organization and management of a MOOC, beginning with the arrangement of technology, organization of learning materials, communications with students, support tasks, and interaction with guest presenters. This talk is based on fifteen years’ experience designing and delivering web-based instruction, as well as knowledge amassed though the delivery of six MOOCs to almost ten thousand students since 2008.

Speaker:

Stephen Downes works for the National Research Council of Canada where he has served as a Senior Researcher, based in Moncton, New Brunswick, since 2001. Affiliated with the Learning and Collaborative Technologies Group, Institute for Information Technology, Downes specializes in the fields of online learning, new media, pedagogy and philosophy.

If you have any questions that you would like to ask Stephen Downes before the webinar, please do it in the webinar registration form or the 'comments' section below.

RECORDING

The webinar will also be recorded and be made available here after the event. So, should you miss this 'NO WAY AM I GOING TO MISS' webinar, you will be able to view (and even download) it right here.

UPCOMING WEBINAR?
Too exciting to mention... CLICK HERE!

IMU-LS-03: How to Become a Rapid E-Learning Pro (Tom Kuhlmann)

2012-01-19T19:39:00.000-08:00

Title : How to Become a Rapid E-Learning Pro
Date : 8th February, 2012
Venue : Online (WizIQ)
Time : 10.00 AM (Kuala Lumpur Time)

Description:

Many developers work with limited budgets and resources. How can they build effective elearning courses with these constraints? Tom Kuhlmann shared in this webinar some practical tips on getting the most out of the resources you have to build engaging and interactive elearning content.

Speaker:

Tom Kuhlmann is the author of the Rapid E-Learning Blog, which has over 85,000 subscribers each week. He shares practical tips and tricks to help people learn more about elearning. He also manages the Articulate user community. He holds a Master's in Education Technology from Pepperdine and is very passionate about learning and technology.

Yes, the actual session turned out to be an enriching and engaging WOW session for learning how to convert your boring PowerPoint slides into sizzling e-learning content.

RECORDING

You are recommended to skip the first 30 minutes of the recorded webinar, so that you can get right into the action. The actual session starts roughly 30 minutes into the recording. If you have any problems viewing, try updating your Flash Player.

CLICK HERE

(To view the recorded online webinar)

*The edited and downloadable versions will be made available soon.

PRESENTATION SLIDES

Rapid Elearning Pro

View more presentations from IMUelearning

Click here to access the full list of recorded and upcoming webinars for IMU Learning Series.

IMU-LS-02: Web Conferencing for Teaching, Learning and Meetings

2012-01-11T23:02:00.000-08:00

Date: Wednesday, 11th January 2012
Venue: Online (WizIQ)
Time: 2:15 - 3:30 P.M. (Malaysian time)
Facilitators: Zaid Ali Alsagoff and Fareeza Marican

AGENDA

Can we use Web Conferencing (WizIQ) for teaching, learning and meetings? This online session will explore the basics of using Web Conferencing and how it can be used for teaching and learning. By the end of this session, participants shall be able to use Web Conferencing for teaching, learning, meetings, etc.

RECORDING

You are recommended to skip the first 22 minutes of the recorded webinar, so that you can get right into the action. The actual learning session starts roughly 22 minutes after the recording. If you have any problems viewing, try updating your Flash Player.

CLICK HERE

(To view the recorded online session)

* Currently, WizIQ (the version we are using) does not have a post-editing feature for webinar recordings. Also, there is no 'pause' button to use while recording a webinar. Please skip the first 22 minutes of the webinar above to really enjoy the learning session.

PRESENTATION SLIDES

The presentation slides for this webinar is only available for IMU staff (from the e-learning portal). However, here are similar presentation slides from WizIQ, which basically covers what we covered during the webinar.

Wiziq training material

Uploaded by Sunil on WizIQ Tutorials

IMU Learning Series 01 - Facebook for Learning and Teaching?

2011-12-27T19:35:00.000-08:00

Date: Wednesday, 28th December

Venue: Online (WiZiQ)

Time: 2:30 - 3:30 P.M. (Malaysian time)

(GMT + 8 Hours: 6:30 - 7:30 A.M)

AGENDA

Can Facebook be used for teaching and learning? How can it be used? In this online session we explored how it can be used for teaching and learning with a specific emphasis on using Facebook Groups and Pages.

FACILITATORS

Zaid Ali Alsagoff
Fareeza Marican

RECORDING
You are recommended to skip the first 10 minutes, so that you can get right into the action. If you have problems viewing, try updating your Flash Player.

IMU Learning Series 01 - Facebook for Learning and Teaching?

CLICK HERE

(To view the recorded online session)

PRESENTATION SLIDES

IMU Learning Series 01 - Facebook for Learning and Teaching?

View more presentations from Zaid Alsagoff.

Stay tuned for the upcoming online session, which will be revealed soon :)

The Most Influential Doctors on Twitter!

2011-12-07T18:26:00.000-08:00

"Twitter Doctors is a new site that lists and ranks all the doctors who are active on Twitter based on number of followers, retweets, etc."
- Bertalan Meskó

In short, a directory of the most influential doctors on Twitter. I love it :)

Join the #IMUshare Twitter Stream!

2011-12-02T00:26:00.000-08:00

"The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages" - Source

IMAGINE

Imagine if you could be updated with all the latest happenings at IMU conveniently from one unified (Twitter) stream of messages. Imagine you want to share something interesting with the IMU community (both staff and students) without any hassles and barriers. Better yet, imagine you want to share your great idea(s) with IMU, but you are too lazy to do it formally.

Welcome to the #IMUshare, the Twitter hashtag (not case sensitive) that ASPIRES to empower you to share interesting ideas, events, resources and conversations with the IMU Learning community.

If you are clueless with what a Twitter #hashtag is, please watch this video tutorial first:

HOW DO I SHARE/PARTICIPATE?

It is really simple, as long as you are using Twitter. How? Simply tweet anything you want to share with the IMU community, and include the #IMUshare (or #imushare... not case sensitive!) hashtag somewhere in the tweet. That's it!

HOW DO I FOLLOW #IMUSHARE?

If you notice, the latest #IMUshare tweets are now shown on IMU E-Learning portal homepage (using a widget). Though, I am sure you would like to follow this hashtag from your Twitter account (or mobile app), too. There are several ways to do it, but if you want to simply follow (save) the hashtag from Twitter itself, you can:

Copy/Paste the hashtag into Twitter Search (Or simply click the hashtag on your Twitter page) and then Search.
Then click Save this Search.
Click Home.
Select the hashtag from your Searches... Done!

HOW DO I ADD #IMUSHARE WIDGET TO MY BLOG/SITE?

Click here and follow instructions. Remember to add #IMUShare to the Search Query. When you are finished adding and customizing your Twitter widget, grab the code and embed it on your blog/site.

This is how it really looks like (the real thing!):

Yes, you can customize the Twitter widget, especially the colors, title text, width, length and so on.

HOW DO I GET LIVE UPDATES STREAMING DOWN?

Tools like Monitter, TweetGrid and TweetChat are awesome for exactly that. For example, you might want real-time Twitter updates during an event, or learning session on a big screen (or projector), meaning you can reflect and discuss on the spot issues streaming down the screen (no refreshing needed!).

HOW DO I CREATE MY OWN HASHTAG?

That is so easy! Just remember to keep it unique, short and simple, because we only have 140 characters to make a point, and we certainly don't want the hashtag itself to take up too many characters.

Also, try to avoid commonly and widely used terms like '#elearning', because then you're learning stream could be diluted and overwhelmed with too many non-related tweets. For example, the 'Connectivism and Connective Knowledge 2011' hashtag is shortened to #CCK11.

So, say that you want to have a Twitter stream dedicated to Medicine at IMU, why not call it #imumed? Unique, short and simple. Done!

MORE?
Finally, if you want to know more about using Twitter for learning and teaching, start here:

IMU Twitter 101 Learning Workshop

View more presentations from Zaid Alsagoff

Good Luck :)

Medical Pearls - One Essential Lesson Each Day!

2011-11-09T17:56:00.000-08:00

“Medical Pearls teaches one essential lesson each day.”

WHAT?

Medical Pearls are a collection of free, email-based educational services for medical trainees (including medical students, medical residents and clinical fellows) that are designed to be used as an adjunct to a clinical rotation.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Each day, students and instructors will receive a different clinical question by email whose answer represents a ‘Pearl’ of knowledge in a given field. Students will work out the answer and then review the answer with their clinical supervisor. At the end of each week, they email you their proposed answers.

You can work alone or with a group to learn 40 core concepts in each medical specialty. Current medical specialities available are:

Those who sign up will receive an email each weekday that contains a clinical question and/or problem. The questions cycle is 2 months, which coincides with the length of many clinical rotations. The answer to each question, or the thought process that leads to the answer, represents a topic or concept which might otherwise be missed during the course of a clinical rotation.

Students are expected to try solving the question independently, and then review the answer with their clinical supervisor. At the end of each week, students will receive an answer set to the week’s questions.

As the instructor, you should subscribe to the appropriate list – the emails you receive will be slightly different and will provide more details about the program and suggestions on how best to use it as an educational tool.

CLICK HERE to Explore!

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Do you think this educational learning tool (or approach) could potentially be useful for IMU medical students and staff?

Are we doing something similar now? We can certainly learn more about their approach to engage the students to learn and reflect (collectively) through essential clinical questions (core concepts), which might otherwise be missed during the course of a clinical rotation.

Interestingly, they are using WordPress (free and commercial blogging platform) to empower their Medical Pearls site.

Anything is possible!

Medicles - Bitesize Self-Assessment in Medicine

2011-08-22T19:54:00.000-07:00

EXPLORE MEDICLES

WHAT
Medicles is a great website for medical students, intended to provide short, clinically relevant self-assessment tests and tutorials. They are a growing community of users, all submitting and sharing their own content, tracking their scores, and identifying areas of weakness to work on. Medicles aims to make the painful process of exam revision simpler, quicker, and perhaps even a bit more fun!

HISTORY
Medicles was founded in 2009 by two students from Bristol Medical School. They felt that there was a gap in the market for short but structured revision sites for medical students.

While full-length tutorials are great for learning concepts from scratch, they are time consuming and therefore not great for covering large amounts of territory quickly (such as when revising or recapping). At the other end of the scale, many sites offer MCQs, which while they are quick, lack any comprehensive teaching or explanation (plus there's always that temptation to guess!).

With Medicles, they're trying to fill the void between these two resource types by providing focused, clinically-relevant, assessments which won't take all day, but cover the key points. Best of all they're doing it for FREE.

HOW IT WORKS
Each assessment on Medicles is designed to teach a very specific subtopic in less than 15 minutes. To avoid the temptation of guessing that arises with multiple choice, assessments take the form of short-answer questions. These are then marked as you go, allowing you to rethink incorrect answers, rather than simply being told you're wrong, and what the correct answer was.

Possibly the most important feature of an assessment, though, is the teaching that accompanies it. Every answer (where appropriate) comes with an explanation as to why it is correct, and every assessment as a whole features both introductory and concluding teaching remarks and tips to really solidify the material.

If you want to save or print the material for later, every Medicle can be viewed as a summary pdf file, to put in your notes.

CO-CREATE
One of the best things about being a medical student is that everyone has slightly different knowledge and experience, and can teach it to their peers. At Medicles, they're opening up assessment creation to all our users...anyone can sign in and turn their idea into a great assessment to share with the rest of the community.

Their tutorial creation software is flexible and really, really easy to use. Even better, it requires no computer know-how - simply log in and get designing.

All their content is peer-reviewed by a team of both students and doctors, ensuring everything is factually accurate. This means that a submission doesn't necessarily equal a published assessment, but if it's well thought out and relevant to the average medic, there shouldn't be a problem!

Source

Let's embrace the idea that students should get more involved in co-creating content with lecturers... Why not?

How do Students Use Technology?

2011-08-10T23:29:00.000-07:00

Via: OnlineEducation.net

According to one survey only 8% of students use social sites to contact their teachers. Most seem to use e-mail (91%) to seek extra help from teachers. Well, if that is the case (here, too!), then e-mail is certainly still an important e-learning tool.

Interestingly, 38% said they (students) couldn’t even go 10 minutes without switching on some sort of electronic device. That does not surprise me as I am typing this post! Also, I am surprised to learn based on this infographic that students spend more time texting messages and searching compared to Facebooking. I suppose Google will be happy with that (For now!).

3 out of 4 students say they wouldn't be able to study without technology. I would like to know how those other 1 out of 4 students are able to study effectively without technology. We could certainly learn some creative techniques from them. Check out the rest (infographic above)!

Well, that is how students in the USA use technology! What about IMU? Any input to share? Need to do a survey on this soon... :)

A Useful Free Human Anatomy App for Your iPad/Phone/Pod

2011-07-10T17:56:00.000-07:00

Click here to download for your iPad/Phone/Pod

WHAT?

This free Human Anatomy application is an ideal application for students, who would like to learn the names of various body parts, organs and other terminologies related to the human body. Although, the illustrations are not great and the information is limited, it is still a useful mobile educational quick reference app that contains the information of fifteen different biological systems:

Cardio Vascular System
Digestive system
Endocrine - Central Nervous
Endocrine - Reproductive
Endocrine - Alimentary
The Eye
Female Reproductive System
Lymphatic System
Male Reproductive System
Muscular System - Back
Muscular System - Front
Nervous System
Skeletal System - Back
Skeletal System - Front
Urinary System

FEATURES:

Illustration of each biological system that can be zoomed using pinch touch.
Description of each element represented in each biological system.
Reference links to wiki for more thorough descriptions.

In other words, great for learning on-the-fly.

ANOTHER OPTION?

If you find this app too limited, you could always fork up $1.99 and explore this improved Human Anatomy app (screenshot below), which also has an option to take tests on how far you are progressing with each lesson (e.g. Click on each number to type in the name of the body part). Each body part has also a full description.

Click here to know more

If you know of any other Human Anatomy apps ideal for mobile learning, please feel free to share. Thanks!

Seminar - Transformative e-Learning in Higher Education

2011-05-25T03:51:00.000-07:00

Click here to download the Brochure

Facebook Event Page

The International Medical University (IMU) is organizing an e-learning seminar on July 5 (2011), entitled "Transformative e-Learning in Higher Education". It will be held in the Senate Room, 2nd Floor, IMU Campus, Bukit Jalil.

OVERVIEW
This seminar brings together five experts in education and e-learning to share their ideas, experiences and best practices on how we can use e-learning to transform the way we learn and teach in higher education. They will explore a variety of areas essential to construct transformative learning experiences covering instructional design, online facilitation and assessment, personal learning environments, and e-learning quality and governance.

Date: 5 July, 2011 (Tuesday)
Time: 8.30 am – 5.15 pm
Venue: IMU Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

SPEAKERS

Prof Dato’ Dr Ansary Ahmed
President / CEO, Asia e University
Assoc Prof David M. Kennedy
Director, Teaching and Learning Centre, Lingnan University
Prof Rozhan M. Idrus
Professor of Open & Distance Learning & Technogogy, USM
Prof Dato’ Dr Jai Mohan
Director, Learning Resources, International Medical University
Zaid Ali Alsagoff
E-Learning Manager, International Medical University

KEY TOPICS

Instructional Design
Personal Learning Environments
Curriculum Design & Management
E-Learning Quality & Governance

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of this seminar, you will be able to:

Apply effective instructional design principles to your learning environments.
Adopt effective online facilitation and assessment strategies to engage and assess your learners.
Build your personal learning environments using social media and web 2.0 tools.
Identify and discuss essential e-learning quality and governance issues.

TARGET AUDIENCE

Academics
E-Learning Professionals
IT Professionals
Instructional Designers

Registration Fee: RM650
Early Bird Registration: RM500
(Before 8 June)

If you are interested to attend, please download this form. It includes all the registration and contact details required to attend.

Transformative e-Learning in Higher Education

Looking forward to your participation!

How Do I View Articulate Presentations On an iPad?

2011-04-28T01:01:00.000-07:00

Watching or playing with anything in Flash Format on an iPad (iPhone or iPod) was impossible (as far as I know) in the past. Well, now you can at least view Flash stuff on an iPad using the app called iSWIFTER (Source).

HOW?
Here we go:

Click here to keep yourself updated with latest discussions about Articulate on iPads.

STILL TROUBLESOME!
Alright, it is still troublesome, but I suppose within the next few months Steve Jobs will figure out that supporting Flash is not so bad after all (Otherwise most e-learning content in Malaysia will be useless on an iPad). Or perhaps Adobe (behind Flash) figures out a way to please all Steve Jobs requirements to make Flash safe and smooth in an Apple world.

As for now, you will have to use apps like iSWIFTER to explore your i-Lectures (Articulate presentations) on an iPad. Let's hope that Apple embraces Flash fully in the near future. If not, then we have to find creative solutions, because certainly it will be tough to learn without an iPad or iPhone in the future. But, how do we view Articulate presentations on an iPhone? Can anyone enlighten us with possibilities? :)

E-Learning Trends and Challenges in Malaysian Higher Education Institutions

2011-04-24T17:21:00.000-07:00

"MEdO will make Malaysia a leading brand in Asia for online higher education services and a one stop centre for learning, education and the administration of international students."
- Datuk Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin (Minister for Higher Education)

Last Saturday (16th April, 2011), I attended the "Majlis Pelancaran Dasar e-Pembelajaran Negara (DePAN), Buku-Buku e-Pembelajaran dan Malaysia Education Online (MEdO)" event launched by Datuk Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin (Minister for Higher Education).

It turned out to be a very exciting and enriching learning experience for me, and here are my discoveries and reflections...

MALAYSIA EDUCATION ONLINE (MEdO)

Malaysia Education Online (MEdO) is part of the Malaysia Government Transformation Plan (GTP) to expand international distance learning. MEdO is an online learning platform delivering education programmes from Malaysian universities, colleges, polytechnics and training institutes. It is the gateway for them to extend their global outreach whilst each participating institution is able to maintain its identity and uniqueness (more).

MEdO is initiated and led by Asia e University (AeU), which is the selected gateway university (by PEMANDU) for international education for distance and online learning. Six other Malaysian universities and institutes have already signed up to offer programmes on MEdO.

The MEdO platform itself is based on a fusion of Joomla and Moodle with some customization to suit its needs and requirements. As many universities are already using Moodle, it could speed up the learning curve (familiar environment) and adoption by educators that will be required to use it.

It will be interesting to see how this project unfolds. Let's be positive about it :)

E-BOOKS
Besides MEdO, the National E-Learning Policy (Dasar e-Pembelajaran Negara) for Higher Education Institutions, and two books (and one translation) about e-Learning in Malaysian Higher Education were launched.

Here we go:

National E-Learning Policy for Higher Education Institutions
(will add the link when made available)
e-Pembelajaran di IPTA Malaysia (Issuu version)
This e-book provides great insights into how especially public Universities in Malaysia are using e-learning to facilitate learning and teaching. It includes 20 University papers sharing their e-learning stories.
Amalan, Keberkesanan & Cabaran Pelaksanaan e-Pembelajaran di IPT Malaysia (Issuu version)
The English version is below...
e-Learning in Malaysian Higher Education Institutions: Status, Trends & Challenges (Issuu version)
Will be discussed next...

Unfortunately the National E-Learning Policy (No link yet) and e-Pembelajaran di IPTA Malaysia are not yet translated (or published) into English. Anyway, you could always use Google Translator Toolkit, and then decipher the parts that are poorly translated into English.

E-LEARNING IN MALAYSIAN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
I have to admit I was thrilled to discover the e-Learning in Malaysian Higher Education Institutions: Status, Trends & Challenges publication during the event. Actually, I couldn't wait and was reading it furiously during Datuk Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin's speech (please don't tell!), and what struck me most was all the juicy statistics (Yes, I just love that!) about what was going on in Higher Education in Malaysia, and the simple language used to describe the survey results and findings.

Also, the three (3) questionnaires (E-Learning Admin, Lecturer and student) used for this research were comprehensive and easy to understand (Check Appendices/page 123). The findings in the book is based on 7,962 survey respondents (26 e-Learning administrators, 1,635 lecturers and 6,301 students) from a sample of 30 Malaysian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), comprising of 20 public HEIs, 7 private HEIs, and 3 polytechnics. As four (out of 7) e-Learning Admins from the private Universities did not participate, I suppose we could generalize that the findings mostly represent what is going on in the public HEIs in Malaysia.

Before I dwell more, I would like to introduce you to Prof Dr Mohamed Amin Embi, who was the chief editor for all the three books mentioned above. He was also the first recipient of the prestigious National Academic Award 2006, and the recipient of the distinguished ISESCO Science Laureate 2010. In other words, he is a pretty interesting guy to know. So, next time you want to know more about e-Learning in Malaysian HEIs, who are you going to call? Simple answer: Prof Dr Mohamed Amin Embi

We have met a couple of times, but I suppose I need to bug him more from now on. Actually, I bugged him through e-mail a few days back to publish these 3 books on Issuu or Scribd, and within a couple of days they were published on both. Great guy!

Yes, he has also summarized nicely the key findings of each chapter in the book, and then published them on SlideShare. So, instead of summarizing the book, I can focus next on providing some of my own insights and reflections to what has been published.

Let's rumble...

Chapter 2: e-Learning Policy

e-Learning policy

View more presentations from Mohamed Amin Embi

Here are few questions we should perhaps ask before even thinking about formulating or requiring HEIs to have e-learning policies:

Do we need to have e-learning policies to make e-learning work for us?
Who should be involved in formulating e-learning policies (all stakeholders, including students)?
How detailed should e-learning policies be (any template)?
Can e-learning policies have a negative impact on implementing e-learning?
Should the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) have a mechanism to enforce all HEIs to have e-learning policies?

Dealing with e-learning policies is a very tricky issue, and cannot be taken lightly. Actually, sometimes e-learning policies can be self-destructive and curb innovations in teaching and learning. Imagine if we have an e-learning policy stating that, "All e-learning content must be SCORM-Compliant". A few years back, this might sound totally reasonable, but any enlightened learning professional today would know that a lot of amazing learning resources (and top Universities) don't care much about SCORM, and are shared in the spirit of Open Courseware (OCW) or Open Educational Resources (OER).

So, e-learning policies is something that all HEIs should explore, but we have to be careful, and strive to find the right balance so that they empower people to learn and innovate, instead of becoming an obstacle to moving forward.

Chapter 3: e-Learning Governance

e-learning governance

View more presentations from Mohamed Amin Embi

According to the survey results, the two main challenges related to the e-Learning governance are shortage of staff (84.5%) and lack of incentives provided by the HEIs to those responsible for implementing e-Learning (69.2%).

So, no doubt HEIs need to invest more in quality staff, and be creative about providing incentives (e.g. less administration and more time to think!) that inspire educators to take the effort to transform their own learning and teaching. It is strange that institutions can spend millions and millions on hardware, networks and software, but when it comes to investing in quality people and paying competitive salaries with the industry; It is so difficult!

In short, HEIs need to rethink their hiring and salary policies to capture the great talent that is out there, but are very reluctant to work in HEIs. Also, HEIs need to learn from creative companies like Google, Apple and Zappos on how to build working environments that empowers and inspires people to express their potential. Challenging, but certainly possible :)

Chapter 4: Learning Managements Systems

Learning Management Systems

View more presentations from Mohamed Amin Embi

Interestingly, All (100%) HEIs that participated had their own Learning Management System (LMS), and more than half (57.7%) of the HEIs used Open Source Platforms, while 34.6% used purchased commercial LMS, and the remaining 15.4% were developed on their own. In this survey, Moodle beat Blackboard (12 - 2) impressively, but if we were to include more private HEIs the results would be a bit darker :)

Though, from a learning point-of-view, we need to increasingly look beyond the LMS (they just cannot keep up with disruptive innovations taking place), as increasingly learning will take place outside in the web 2.0 (3.0/x.0) and social media worlds in the form of personal learning environments tailored to what learners and educators really want. Here is a crash course:

Social Media & Web 2.0 for Learning (2nd Edition)

View more presentations from Zaid Alsagoff

Chapter 5: e-Learning Training

e-learning training

View more presentations from Mohamed Amin Embi

Sadly, only one-third (34.6%) of the HEIs provide exposure to Web 2.0 applications. Though, I foresee a huge growth in the coming years of educators using Social media and web 2.0 (3.0 and x.0) beyond the LMS to facilitate more engaging and relevant learning with their students.

It will also be interesting to see how institutions deal with copyright and privacy issues, when educators and students increasingly use tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, YouTube, Wikis, etc.

Are you prepared for that? Don't wait! It is happening already!

Chapter 6: e-Content Development

e-content development

View more presentations from Mohamed Amin Embi

The main applications used for e-Content development are Flash (92.3%), followed by Articulate (46.3%), Adobe Captivate (38.3%), Camtasia Studio (30.8%), Lecture Maker (15.42%), and Interactive Raptivity Builder ( 15.4%).

One word: Ouch! Hopefully, Apple will come to its senses and allow Flash to run smoothly on an iPad, iPod or iPhone. Unless Steve Jobs retires soon that might take some time. Though, let's hope that browsers will have auto-converters, or that Flash is updated to meet all Steve Jobs requirements, otherwise e-content developed in Flash would be useless on Apple-based mobile devices. Luckily, Flash-based content works on Androids :)

The five major challenges faced by most HEIs are lack of motivation among the academic staff (65.4%), lack of specialists (53.80%), lack of a dedicated team to develop e-Content (53.8%), lack of commitment among academic staff (46.2%), and lack of funding/budget (46.2%).

Why are not academic staff motivated or committed to develop e-content? If you are already overloaded with administration, research, publication and teaching obligations, you are not going to be inspired to develop e-content for your students without some seriously good reasons.

Incentives could help (e.g. one e-content module = 1 publication in a high impact journal), but you still need to find the time. In Chapter 10 (page 119), it is proposed that common university courses could be developed jointly by a centre under the Ministry of Higher Education, as this is a more efficient use of resources, time, money, and manpower, while maintaining an acceptable level of quality.

In a nutshell, we could establish Malaysia's first official ‘Open Courseware’ initiative, which would enable all HEIs to have access and reuse (hopefully remix) freely common University courses. By doing so, then HEIs can streamline their resources to build unique e-content for their unique courses.

Based on the survey, the copyright issue is also a big problem faced by the majority (80.8%) of Malaysian HEIs in the development of e-Content. What to do? Forget Copyright, Practice Copyleft Instead!

Actually, we need to rethink our obsession with e-content development, and be more obsessed with designing relevant and engaging learning environments/spaces, where authentic learning activities play a larger role than (spoon-feeding) e-content and courseware.

Instead, HEIs students should be empowered and nurtured with the necessary learning skills to find their own content based on the learning outcomes set, or we could expose them to a variety learning resources (for each topic) and then require them to analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and then create their own contextualized meaning.

We want to develop independent lifelong learners. The e-content or courseware (spoon-feeding) model is an easy shortcut to enable them to pass the exam, but perhaps not the best way to nurture the necessary skills required for them to thrive in the 21st century.

Finally, educators need to learn the art of aggregating, filtering and remixing content from a variety of resources using a variety of learning tools out there. In a nutshell, think beyond e-content development, and focus more on nurturing educators to build sizzling learning activities and spaces for students.

In short, only develop e-content when it does not exist, or it can be synthesized or presented in a more engaging and meaningful way :)

Chapter 7: Integration of e-Learning in Teaching & Learning

integration of e-learning in teaching & learning

View more presentations from Mohamed Amin Embi

According to the survey findings, lecturers' two major challenges to integrate e-Learning in their teaching and learning, is trying to balance between teaching and research (59.8%) and time constraints (54.9%). Interestingly, technophobia (13%) was the least responsible challenge among the challenges faced by lecturers in order to integrate e-Learning.

For students, the two major challenges is lack of access (53.4%), and feedback from lecturers takes too long (42.8%). By focusing less on developing e-content, lecturers will have more time to interact with their students, and construct more interactive and engaging learning environments. If we can be replaced by a courseware, then we should be replaced.

To no surprise, most lecturers (50.1%) prefer to upload materials on a weekly basis before the classes begin. Noteworthy, most students (84.7%) prefer to read the materials offline rather than online. The challenge comes when students have printed out the uploaded slides before their class (often weeks in advance), and then find out during the lecture that the slides have been updated. What do you do? Establish an e-learning policy forcing them to upload their slides at least one week before...Not a good idea! Call me to elaborate :)

On a positive note, this is a problem of today, and probably won't even exist in 3-5 years' time. Why? By then most students will be reflecting their slides on their mobile devices in the form of iPads, Kindles, Galaxy, etc.

Chapter 8: Quality Assurance

Quality Assurance in e-Learning

View more presentations from Mohamed Amin Embi

How do we ensure that our e-learning implementations are of quality? How do we ensure that our conventional learning approaches are of quality? Do we look at the drop-out rates? Or perhaps the students satisfaction levels? What about using the students' assessment results as a measure of success?

On page 119, the guidelines on e-Content standards that were developed collaboratively by CEMCA (Commonwealth of Educational Media Centre for Asia) and MOHE is recommended to be distributed and followed by all Malaysian HEIs in order to control the quality of e-Learning materials available at the tertiary level.

I disagree in using these guidelines as the standards, but it could be used as a good reference guide, like so many other guidelines out there. Personally, I don't even like the expression 'Best Practices', but instead prefer 'Good Practices'. The reason is that there is simply too much innovation and exploration still needed to be done, before we can settle down with any form of standards in E-Learning. Let's celebrate 'Good Practices' out there, and learn from them to create our own contextualized 'Good Practices'.

We want standards, but standards are often the biggest enemy to creativity and innovation. Let's not forget that!

THE FUTURE?
Not surprisingly implementing mobile learning is a priority (92.3%), according to the survey findings. Interestingly, lecturers (67%) and students (76.8%) believe that HEIs should give priority to Intelligent Tutoring Systems as compared to other applications.

Strangely enough, lecturers (23.4%) and students (19.4%) place podcasting applications as the lowest in terms of priority. Maybe it is just me, but I would prefer listening and reflecting to a great lecture over a courseware anytime of the day, no matter how interactive it may be. I suppose I am a bit weird!

If you don't have time to read the whole book, just read chapter 9 (summary) and 10 (recommendations), which will provide sufficient insights to see the big picture. Though, I would strongly recommend to enjoy all the diagrams, charts and stats spread over 120 pages.

So, what can we expect next?

Based on the suggestions given in the book (page 120), MOHE will probably soon establish 'The National Institute of e-Learning', a centre of excellence for e-Learning, that can conduct and coordinate research on e-Learning, particularly in terms of the impact of e-Learning on student achievement.

Let's hope the National Institute of e-Learning becomes an inspiring light that empowers and sparks sizzling e-learning at all HEIs.

Will I be involved?

Only God knows at this moment :)

If Only I Had Discovered Namechk Earlier!!!

2011-04-13T03:48:00.001-07:00

Namechk

Namechk empowers you quickly to see if your desired username or vanity URL is still available at dozens of popular social media tools. You simply need to enter the desired username into the 'chk' box and then click. Voila, let the magic begin! WOW!

In short, you can promote your brand consistently by registering a username that is still available on the majority of the most popular sites without wasting too much time. NICE!

Although, I don't care too much about branding, this tool is really useful to speed up the process for checking available usernames on dozens of social media tools. I suppose the next time any marketing consultant charges you a bomb to check such stuff... tell them to fly a kite! :)

Use Backupify to Backup Your Social Media Stuff!

2011-03-07T17:36:00.001-08:00

Backupify

"Backupify is an all-in-one archiving, search and restore service for the most popular online services including Google Apps, Facebook, Twitter, Picasa and more."

If you are looking for a tool to backup your social media stuff (Google Docs/Sites, Twitter, Blogger, Facebook, etc.), Backupify is a pretty cool tool. Though, you need to keep in mind that the free version is currently limited to 2GB storage, so the idea of using it for backing up for example your Gmail would also probably require you to invest in the commercial version, unless your Gmail account is below 2 GB (Very unlikely!!!!). Though, the current pricing is reasonable (Pro 100 version - $4.99/month), so it might be a good idea to consider such an option if your Gmail is critical to your work, studies and life.

Putting Gmail aside, I would recommend using the free version of Backupify to backup your blog, Twitter, and other social media stuff that are reasonably light. The free version does weekly backups of up to 5 accounts (e.g. Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, Google Docs, and Google Calendar). If you want to backup more accounts on a daily basis, then you need to subscribe to the commercial version.

If you are wondering how Backupify works, then watch this video tutorial:

Cool! But, are there better social media backup tools out there?

Or tools that enable you to backup unlimited social media accounts providing unlimited storage space? Now, that would be AWESOME :)

Use Twitter #Hashtags to Amplify Your Learning!

2011-02-24T16:53:00.000-08:00

Today, I don't spend much learning time following people or particular lists on Twitter, but I do spend time following, reflecting and interacting with relevant learning hashtag conversations (streams) taking place around the world.

If you are confused about what Twitter hashtags are, you have come to the right place to understand the power and possibilities that these learning conversations can do to amplify your learning!

WHAT ARE HASHTAGS?

"The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages" - Source

For example, #edchat is a well-known and influential hashtag used by many to discuss educational or learning related issues on Twitter. By following (saving) this hashtag you will be able to see all the tweets shared on Twitter including the #edchat hashtag.

Also, please keep in mind that Twitter hashtags can occur anywhere in the tweet, and that they are not case sensitive, as shown in the example below (#cck11 or #CCK11 = No difference):

Today, Twitter hashtags are widely used for conferences, events, courses, topics, trends, etc. enabling people to easily follow and participate via hashtag learning streams relevant to them.

WHERE DO I FIND JUICY HASHTAGS?
Actually, if you are looking for global (or country) trends you can for starters discover some on your Twitter homepage, which will display the top 10 trends at that particular moment.

If you are looking for (#hashtag) trends, then tools like What the Trend?, Twitterfall and Tagalus should be useful.

But then again, I give two hoops what 'Lady Gaga' and 'The Bebiers' tweets, and instead I am looking for educational and learning streams (hashtags), which will most likely never appear on my Twitter homepage. Of course, you could start using Twitter Search, but that is perhaps not the best place to start (unless you know what you are looking for).

Actually, sometimes you can discover enriching hashtags by accident, when reading tweets from people you follow. However, the fastest way (to me) is to Google up educational hashtags and find a gold mine like this one: Educational Hash Tags (Cybrary Man)

Here some interesting learning hashtags that you might want to follow (Save):

#edchat - Education
#CCK11 - Connectivism and Connective Knowledge 2010 Course
#edutech - Educational Technology
#web20chat - Web 2.0
#hsc – Homeschooling
#ecosys – Changes in public education
#DistEd – Distance education and e-learning
#innochat – Innovation in education
#Lrnchat – Learning issues for educators
#ellchat – English Language Learners
More... :)

HOW DO I FOLLOW (SAVE) A HASHTAG?
There are several ways, but if you want to simply follow (save) a juicy hashtag from Twitter itself, you can first:

Copy/Paste the hashtag into Twitter Search (Or simply click the hashtag on your Twitter page) and then Search.
Then click 'Save this Search'
Click 'Home'
Select the hashtag from your 'Searches'... Done!

However, many today hardly spend time on the Twitter homepage itself, and prefer using their mobile devices and tools like TweetDeck to check Twitter updates regularly (every 3o seconds!).

In addition, some prefer real-time updates on tweets and hashtags (a flowing learning stream), and tools like Monitter, TweetGrid and TweetChat are awesome for exactly that. For example, you might want real-time Twitter updates during an event, or learning session on a big screen (or projector), meaning you can reflect and discuss on the spot issues streaming down the screen (no refreshing needed!).

Besides real-time updates, some might prefer getting daily updates from the hashtag(s) they are following in the form of a sizzling self-organized online newspaper. paper.li could do that without you basically doing anything, except for signing up and feeding it your hashtag (e.g. #CCK11 Daily). Really cool!

If you find your Twitter homepage messy for having conversations, you could try Twitoaster, which threads and archives your conversations in real time. This tool could help you improve the way you communicate with your students or connections (followers).

Using Twitter to Transform the Classroom!

HOW DO I CREATE A HASHTAG?

That is so easy! Just remember to keep it unique, short and simple, because we only have 140 characters to make a point, and we certainly don't want the hashtag itself to take up too many characters.

Also, try to avoid commonly and widely used terms like '#elearning', because then you're learning stream could be diluted and overwhelmed with too many non-related tweets. For example, the 'Connectivism and Connective Knowledge 2011' hashtag is shortened to #CCK11.

Finally, once you have created your unique, short and simple hashtag you need to promote it to your target audience, and here are a couple of articles on how that can be done:

Using Twitter to Amplify Connective Learning and Sharing at ICEL 2010

Join the #moodlewish Twitter Stream!

Now, that you know how to find, follow and create Twitter hashtags, you have a powerful...I shall say no more!

Other excellent resources that explore Twitter hashtags:

WOW! That wasn't so difficult, was it? :)

A Sizzling Collection of Anatomy Games & Resources!

2011-01-23T23:26:00.000-08:00

It is amazing how much knowledge, skills and attitudes a medical student must internalize (memorize, understand, apply and practice) before he or she can graduate, and making that learning journey a bit more engaging and exciting would surely not hurt. Personally, I would probably need brain shock therapy before even grasping the basics of Anatomy during the first semester. The language used for anatomy is way too complex for my impatient and simplifying brain to learn.

Interestingly, a pro-active IMU student (Ibnu Haniffa) shared an awesome Anatomy Arcade Games site on IMU E-Learning Facebook page recently (22/01/2011), and that just sparked me to an unexplored galaxy of great anatomy games and resources. In other words, unless you are using some of the sites coming next, why not spice up your Anatomy learning activities (or reading list) with some of the sizzling resources shared right here:

WebAnatomy
A collection of study aids and games from University of Minnesota for entry-level anatomy and physiology students. For example, the Anatomy Bowl multiplayer games could be used to spark the class to life learning different aspects of anatomy in a competitive, but exciting manner.
Anatomy Arcade Games (Ben Crossett)
This mission was born of frustration with what he saw as a lack of truly engaging material in the area of anatomy and also a frustration as a teacher catching students wasting class time playing flash games every time they were in a computer lab. The catch phrase "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" sums up the decision he made; to investigate the potential of these "pesky" little games to invigorate the delivery of anatomical material to the teenage audience (Source). Use some of these awesome anatomy games in your class (collaborative fun!), or at least share these games with your students where relevant.
Visible Body (3D Human Anatomy)
Visible Body is a content and software development firm that produces award-winning interactive and visual content. Visible Body's clients include many of the world's top pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and educational publishing companies. The revolutionary Visible Body web application is a 3D human anatomy visualization and learning tool available by subscription.
BBC Interactive Body
A sizzling free 3D animated anatomy resource that even includes interactive games to explore the senses, organs, skeleton, muscles and the nervous system.
Get Body Smart
Visually learn about the human body through beautifully detailed and interactive Flash animations.
The Virtual Sports Injury Clinic
Covers interactive information on over 100 sports injuries.
TeachPE
Check out the anatomical section especially on bones, muscles, the heart, lungs and energy systems.
Human Embryology Animations
It explores General Embryology, Cardiovascular Embryology, Development of the Head and Neck, Gastrointestinal Embryology, Development of the Limbs, and Urinary and Reproductive Embryology. Amazing stuff!
Think Anatomy
Is the creation of Vanessa Ruiz, art director, medical illustrator, blogger, and all out anatomy fanatic. This great site links, categorizes and discusses the best anatomy resources on the Internet.
Street Anatomy
Covers the use of human anatomy in medicine, art, and design (Vanessa Ruiz again!).
To be Discovered!
If you have any other excellent (free) anatomy online resources that you want to share, please share them in the comments section, and it will be added (if appropriate). Thanks :)

Ibnu Haniffa, thank you for being a pro-active students sharing your learning discoveries, and hopefully more students (lecturers and learners) will participate in sharing their learning discoveries on IMU E-Learning Facebook (or here!).

Finally, now we should not have any excuses in making our anatomy classes (or courses) boring, because with physical anatomy tools (at the medical museum), and sizzling online resources above, we have tremendous opportunities and possibilities to engage and inspire the medical students' mind, body and soul like never before :)

IMU Student Blogging Project to Promote a Healthy Lifestyle!

2011-01-10T09:01:00.000-08:00

"Every blog has a story behind it."

- Teenage Advisor

THE STORY

In late October 2010, Sheba DMani, the coordinator (facilitator) for the 'A Critical and Reflective Response to Media' (Medical Humanities Selective) course (at IMU) explored with me the idea of assigning students to work in groups to develop blogs addressing important issues and promoting a healthy lifestyle.

Of course that made me excited, as I have been promoting the usage of web 2.0 and social media for learning ever since I joined IMU (June 2009). And having already been through one cycle assisting Prof. Khoo Suan Phaik with her students' project using Google Sites, I was quite confident it would be an inspiring and valuable learning experience.

Interestingly, both these inspiring lecturers are not exactly IT-savvy, but they were willing and open to explore possibilities, and with a bit of assistance they managed to get through both projects successfully without too much hassle. As today's Y-generation (Most IMU students) is already quite IT-savvy, you don't exactly need to train them, but instead explore and empower them with creative ideas and possibilities.

A CRITICAL & REFLECTIVE RESPONSE TO MEDIA
This module facilitated by Sheba DMani focuses on connections between media and health within socio-cultural contexts. Media in the form of text and graphic presented through visual and audio modes from magazines, television and internet will be explored. These may include advertisements, films and music videos related to themes on health and healthcare. Students will approach these media texts through critical interpretation, reflective thinking and creative presentations. Upon completing this course, students will have learned that the media constructs views of the real world and that these views have been mediated to provide filtered and partial meaning of health belief and behaviour.

THE PROJECT & EVALUATION PROCESS

So, instead of writing a group assignment (using Microsoft Word/PowerPoint) to impress the lecturer, students were assigned to create a blog and promote their mission to the world. Surely that is more inspiring and exciting, right?

The students were assigned randomly into groups (consisting of 10 or less) and had three weeks (29 Nov-17 Dec) to prepare the blog, before presenting their project to the class and a selected group of evaluators. The blogs purpose was to promote health information to a specific audience (i.e. children, teenagers, adults, special needs and pregnant women).

The blogs would be evaluated based on their originality and creativity (title, tag-line, content, etc.), and the blog had to include at least 3 articles/columns and/or editorials that convey messages on the chosen topic. Finally, each blog had to include at least one video or audio message developed by the group.

Strong emphasis was given on originality, and students were reminded the importance of avoiding plagiarism and dealing with risk communication. In other words, it is important to acknowledge and appreciate authors and sources (re)used to develop the content for the blogs.

Overall, the blogs were assessed for accuracy and relevance of information, creativity, interactive features and the use of media techniques. To make it more exciting and competitive, each group did not make their blogs available to the other groups (or public) before their group presentation on the 16th December (2010).

Each group was given 30 minutes to present and defend their blog on the 16 December. Interestingly, Assoc. Prof. Dr. SriKumar Chakravarthi (IMU lecturer) whom was one of the evaluators was in India during this period, but still managed to watch and participate in the evaluation process using Skype. In addition to getting feedback from other class mates and evaluators, students voted for their favorite blog (using the Moodle poll feature) after the group presentation.

So, what was my role besides being one of the evaluators? As Sheba DMani is not too familiar with blogging, I handled a Q&A session on creating a blog with the students on the 3rd December. No, I didn't present any PowerPoint slides! I simply came to class, asked them relevant questions, and explored possibilities from this awesome list of free learning tools they could use to create or reuse sizzling content for their blogs.

So, how much did this project cost? In terms of technology, all the online tools they used to spread their message to the world cost.... ZERO! Not bad!

STUDENT LEARNING OUTPUT?

Nutrition 101 in Pregnancy

"Healthy foods for a healthy baby"

This blog aims to guide pregnant women through the process of making a positive change in the diet. It discusses and explores nutrition tips, delicious recipes, common myths, pregnancy tips and no-nos, useful links, and a few cool widgets, including the 'Weekly Pregnancy Calendar'. Overall, the blog is well-designed providing the user with a visually soothing and user-friendly navigation experience, which is certainly a requirement for any pregnant woman.

The project team (Amelia, Melisa, Moushini, Natasha, Ray, Shahira, and Sharon) did a great collaborative effort. Congratulations!

In one word: Wonderful!

Teen Advisor

"Teenage Life is Never Black & White"

This blog focuses on adolescent issues aimed at the teenage population of 13-19. It explores in an emotionally creative, but informative way common youth challenges such as alcohol, drugs, relationships (family/friends/girlfriend/boyfriend), stress and smoking.

To really connect with the youth in an inspiring and engaging way, this hard working project team mashed-up their own original graphics, directed and recorded a short Abstinence Educational Video, set up a Facebook page, and used Xtranormal to create this cool animated video:

In one word: AWESOME!

Pink Awareness

"BIG or small, We Save them All"

This blog aims to provide a one stop avenue for information on breast cancer in an easy way to understand. Its' combination of stylish (pink) and interactive design, easy navigation, and relevant topics makes it a great place to discover more about breast cancer, which include symptoms, risk factors, preventive measures, test and diagnosis, and alternative medicine. In addition to developing a great website, the project team (Qi Quan, Melody, Wern Ching, Shariffa and Praveena) developed a very informative 'Breast Self-Examination' video...

In one word: INSPIRING!

Understanding Asperger’s Syndrome

This blog focuses on Asperger's Syndrome, which is often misunderstood among people. Asperger's Syndrome is an autism spectrum disorder that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. The project team has done a good job in designing and structuring the few (identified), but relevant issues regarding this disability, which include helping people to recognize it, statistics and epidemiology, books and resources, and famous people with it. Did you know that Albert Einstein had Asperger's Syndrome? Now you know!

In one word: INTERESTING!

An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

"Don't Forget to Brush Your Teeth"

This blog provides some useful tips on how to take care of your health, including brushing your teeth, eating oranges and carrots, and washing your hands. The highlight of this blog has to be the creatively designed video developed by the project team (view contributors), entitled "The story of Bluey and Pinky'.

In one word: CREATIVE!

LESSONS LEARNED

From my experience working with students involved in projects requiring them to develop a website (using web 2.0), often complain that it is time consuming and that it requires a lot of work. But by knowing that their work will continue to live on (more meaning), and that they are publishing it to the world (instead of only to the lecturer), they are willing to take up the challenge and put in a greater effort. In other words, their motivation often goes beyond grades, and that is very exciting and encouraging.

Though, we still have to work on their fair use or reuse of external content and graphics, and teach them proper online referencing procedures, which is something we have to continue to work on. It is alright to quote and reuse (if permission is given), but we must appreciate and recognize other people's work. As such we have already setup a site for IMU staff and students (only) exploring project based learning (in the e-learning portal), including proper online referencing procedures.

Although, our e-learning portal (using Moodle) is wonderful for uploading and organizing course content, linking online resources, online discussions, assignment submissions, online quizzes, and so on, we should also encourage and empower students to use other web 2.0 and social media tools for creating creative content and informal learning. For example, several lecturers from the School of Pharmacy use Facebook for communicating online with their students, and have experimented with conducting Problem-Based Learning (PBL) sessions using Facebook Groups.

I have noticed that some Universities in Malaysia ban the usage of Facebook and YouTube at their campuses, and use the excuse that they encourage poor learning/working habits and clog up their network (bandwidth) for other usages. That might be true, but if staff and students learn how to discipline themselves using such tools (no choice!), they will actually have access to some of the most amazing learning resources on the planet (for free), and be able to interact with experts and students from all over the world through Facebook groups/pages (e.g. Harvard University - Facebook). I can't think of a better investment for learning than boosting the network (bandwidth) to support online learning in all forms. The Internet is the heart, blood circulation, and oxygen of learning in the 21st century.

More importantly, today more than ever, it is critical to encourage students to nurture their communication, collaboration, creative and analytical skills using the web and multimedia tools. Increasingly in the future, people in organizations will be working and collaborating online using the cloud, so it is important to encourage and necessary to prepare our students for this new world.

Also, it is important to highlight here that the quality of the students' output (results) at this stage is not as important as empowering their passionate and inquiring mindset to explore possibilities and ideas, and continuously reflect, learn and improve from these learning experiences. In short, focus more on the learning process than the output (results). Results will come as they learn. Some are early bloomers, others are late bloomers, and that is something we should never forget.

Can you imagine hiring a graduate that cannot communicate and collaborate online? Try asking that same question in four year's time :)

ICE Breakers - A Fish That Barks and The Moonwalking Bear!

2011-01-03T18:31:00.000-08:00

When the cat reaches the fishbowl, then pause the video and ask your Students/Participants (S/P) to figure out what happens next. Most likely you will get S/P's attention, and stimulate their minds to think creatively about what happens next in a competitive but enjoyable way. If you break S/P up into groups, and then give each group say 2 minutes to come up with their answer, you will get collaborative fun.

WARM UP S/P FIRST, OR THEY WILL ________!
Using short videos found on the Internet as icebreakers to stimulate thinking and help people to get familiar with each other in new situations and environments is today easier than ever, because of the millions (I mean billions!) of videos freely available on sites like YouTube.

More importantly, before you engage your S/P to learn and interact with the subject matter in a face-to-face session (or online session), it is important to warm them up first, or awaken them from their sleep (or whatever they are doing/thinking). It is obvious in sports that we need to warm our relevant muscles before playing a particular activity; otherwise the likelihood of getting injuries increases significantly. Though, strangely enough not all lecturers/educators/facilitators apply this common sense idea to learning. Let's not forget that our Brain is also a muscle that needs to warm up too, or it would probably fall asleep (not literally!), or be in another dimension beyond the subject paradigm.

AWARENESS TEST

Remember to pause after the first scene when the passes have been made, and then ask 'How many passes does the team in white make?' Most S/P will probably answer correctly, and then you ask 'Did you see the Moonwalking bear?' And unless they have already seen this video (12+ million have already on YouTube alone!), they would have ignored that particular incident. Although, this is labelled as an awareness test, it is also a great short video to warm up students' minds before getting them busy with the subject matter.

IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE SKILLS

This one is a classic, which I commonly use to emphasize the importance, relationship, and connection of language with understanding and thinking. Instead of being really serious about it, and making people uncomfortable when talking about such matters, you could use videos such as the one above to make a point (that probably sticks better, too).

I have watched this scene (above) from 'The Pink Panther 2' a bazillion times, but I still laugh every time I watch it. I have used this video in several workshops to indirectly encourage S/P to work on their English accents as that might hamper their communication with others (e.g. lectures and discussions), and that new accents can be learned (although it could take time).

These are just four examples of using short videos (less than 5 minutes) found on the Internet to stimulate S/P to think, and break down communication barriers. The best part is that there are thousands, if not millions of freely available videos ready to be plucked from video sharing sites.

If you have any experiences, or discovered some mind stimulating short videos to share, please share it in the comments section (That would be great!).

HOW TO DOWNLOAD VIDEOS FROM YOUTUBE?
I knew that question was coming (obviously!), and here is the answer (link below):

The Real Way to Download-Convert-Insert YouTube Videos into PowerPoint!

What about downloading and copyright? I discuss this issue a bit here.

Don't worry, be happy, and take calculated risks using short videos to stimulate thinking and breaking down communication barriers (though, please consider sensitivities to religion, culture and race).

It is amazing how fun a learning session can become by taking a few risks in the way we facilitate learning :)

Islam, Higher Education & The Virtual Campus!

2010-12-03T20:19:00.000-08:00

"When the son of Adam (human being) dies, his deeds are stopped except for three things, namely, his good deeds, his knowledge, and his pious child who prays for him."
- Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

In this context, 'his knowledge' means knowledge that benefit others (including written materials such as articles, papers, books, etc.). Not only what has been learned, but more importantly what has been shared. So, sharing knowledge is not only a good thing to do, it is a form of worship in Islam. So, let's practice it sincerely (whether we are Muslim or not)!

TWO CONFERENCES

A couple of weeks back (9-11 November), I attended and participated in two (2) very interesting conferences (Oops, I mean one conference & one forum!):

International Conference On Islam And Higher Education (8-9 November)
Future Campus Forum Malaysia (10-11 November)

As for the first conference, I could only attend the 2nd day (9th November), as I was stuck with other work commitments. Overall, these two events where enriching and enlightening (in their own ways), and now I will share some insights (lessons learned) and explore how we could face some of the challenges ahead.

ISLAM & HIGHER EDUCATION

Actually, I was invited to moderate the e-learning session just a few days before the conference. For whatever reason that may be (the original moderator pulled out, poor planning, etc.), I don't care, except that I was delighted to get the call, and obviously agreed to take up the challenge. As I have never moderated a session at an International Conference, how could I say 'NO' to such a great challenge.

9th NOVEMBER
I attended all the sessions at the International Conference On Islam And Higher Education (download the presentation slides) on the 9th November, as I was interested to listen and get some insights into how different countries and communities are struggling to infuse more Islamic teachings and values into their mainstream education models. Of course, if FOX News was here, they would paint a different picture saying ______, and I would be on CIA's most wanted list.

But, getting back to reality, it was heartening and enlightening that most have realized that investing in education and moving forward is NON-Brainer. I had the opportunity to listen to speakers discuss Islam and (mostly Higher) education in India, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Iran, Tanzania, Kazakhstan and Malaysia.

No doubt, we (Muslims) have many challenges ahead, but investing heavily and smartly in education could do wonders to deal with many of them. No doubt, dropping bombs from 30,000 feet is not going bring Muslims closer to the West (or accomplish the mission, except amplify hate. Obama, time to wake up!), but also Muslims have to realize that there are plenty of peaceful loving people in the West, and just brushing everyone under one monster roof is not the solution. We both have to do some soul searching (Including me!), and educating and connecting people (besides using Facebook!) is a great way to infuse greater understanding and move forward.

GLOBAL WARMING!
Yes, moving forward together to solve mission nearly impossible, which is mankind's authentic TERRORISM AGAINST MOTHER EARTH! Whether 'Global Warming' is a fact or myth, I cannot verify, but what I do know is that mankind is abusing the Earth beyond its capacity (by __%), and unless we change or transform the way we live soon, we are not providing much hope for our future generations. But, on a positive note this disaster in the making (or made!) will increasingly bring us together around the world, and eventually we will have to put our differences aside (for a while), so that we can clean up our own mess. Shame on mankind, shame on me! I suppose I am dreamer, but why not? I am still learning! Let's get back to the conference...

HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE MUSLIM WORLD
Although, some might argue that Universities will be extinct soon (like the dinosaurs), unless they transform the way they facilitate and assess learning, they are still very much needed (for reasons also beyond learning), an e-Learning can play a vital role to empower more people to be educated. As you see in the diagram below, we have a long way to go to ensure that all in the Muslim world (15 selected countries) have the opportunity to continue their education:

Professor Dato’ Dr. Ansary Ahmed's insightful an stimulating talk (PDF) during the e-Learning session (which I moderated) went beyond wishful thinking, and provided us with hardcore (sad) numbers and some excellent thoughts on moving forward.

The other speaker during the e-learning session, Professor Dr. Ahmad Memariani Azizolah from Iran (FOX News, please chill!), explored Payame Noor University (PNU), Iran: A Universal Distance-Based University in the Islamic World, which I found truly mind boggling. For example, The University has 485 centers throughout the country supported by 3500 teaching staff and the student population exceeds 1,100,000, which means roughly 314 students to one teacher. WOW! To put this into perspective, Oxford University has a ratio of 3 students to one teacher. How can one ensure quality University education with such a student-teacher ratio (314 to 1)? Any magic formulas to share?

In 1979 the access to higher education in Iran was just 5% . Today the PNU and Islamic Azad University (1,200,000 students in regular programs!) cover approximately 65% of the students. And Al-Mustafa Open University (a virtual Islamic University) attracts more than 18000 international students from more than 100 countries. Again, WOW!

Having also witnessed (2 trips) the tremendous growth and emphasis on education and e-learning (e.g. National Center for e-Learning & Distance Learning) in Saudi Arabia over the last two (2) years, it is an exciting time to be working in the education world. I was fortunate to be part of the first e-Learning audit team that visited eight (8) Universities earlier this year, and it was very encouraging to see the passion and drive in Saudi Arabia to transform the education system (more input here). Actually, the whole Middle East is going through a massive transformation, and education and e-learning is increasingly playing a critical role.

MOVING FORWARD?
But, we still have a long but exciting way to go, and here are three (3) transformative things that I recommend that we should focus on to really take-off:

Source - ZaidLearn

Free Internet Access is a Fundamental Human Right!
Internet is the oxygen of learning in the 21st century, and without it we are denying millions (1.57 billion Muslims around the world) of people access to learn (e.g. free learning resources), even if educational institutions have no space for them. Also, the Internet provides people an amazing platform (ecosystem) to connect, network, innovate, and do business directly and indirectly.

As of 1 July this year (2010) "every Finn will have the right to access to a 1Mbps (megabit per second) broadband connection. Finland has vowed to connect everyone to a 100Mbps connection by 2015 (Source)." In short, we must realize the importance and the empowering impact the Internet can have on society and education, and therefore should do everything possible to make it happen. Of course, the Internet can be used to do negative stuff, but that is a challenge we have little choice, but to face. If that means sometimes censoring sites, fine, but do not censor the Internet itself, which is probably the surest way to self-destruct in the 21st century. Let's think beyond, and envision Internet (and learning devices) for all! It might sound impossible now, but it is not! We, just need to rethink the way we think, and put our energies and passions in the right direction(s)!
Forget Copyright, Practice Copyleft Instead!
Isn't it weird that we can actually copyright and sell knowledge that was created by others, but synthesized, paraphrased, and mashed-up by ourselves. Oops, I forgot, we contributed say 5% originality. What right do we have to copyright and sell such knowledge? We can argue that we invested time synthesizing it, referenced resources used, but does that take the fact away that many academic textbooks today are often just a collection of other people's work wrapped nicely up into a sizzling cover, which we glorify and sell as if we are the masters of the universe. Some people do actually make a (necessary) living from it, fine! But, to the rest who already make a decent living, let's practice the greatest passion of a true academic, which is to share what we learn to as many people as we possibly can. Today with the Internet and tons of amazing free learning tools we can reach anyone in the world that has access to the Internet without needing to invest much, except our time.

Maybe I am wrong here, or maybe it is that I am left handed, and as a result I find copyright so difficult to appreciate (especially in the academic world). Anyway, now that we can easily Copyleft (Confused? Click the link!), or use Creative Commons, we should think beyond copyright, and explore sharing more for the benefit of everyone (except the publishers). Also, if we argue that a University would lose its competitive edge by sharing learning resources (courses), I disagree. If your real competitive edge is content, I suppose you need to rethink your learning model, because content can easily be duplicated within seconds. Having awesome content is not a sustainable competitive edge, but infusing and nurturing learning models that use content to apply learning and transform learning minds is. You can duplicate content easily, but a learning model and culture takes time to nurture. Many top universities around the world know this, and don't mind sharing their educational resources? It is also great branding for a University to be part of the Open Educational Resources (OER) or Open Courseware (OCW) movements.

Moreover, if you are a Public University funded by citizens (tax money and endowment), you should share back whatever you can. Although, Public Universities cannot enroll every potential student due to obvious limitations (facilities, teachers, car parks, etc.), they can still share at least their courses and learning resources, empowering hungry minds to learn on their own. Also, the public should have the right to check the quality of their investment. In short, we won't lose much by sharing learning resources (not like money!), but the community at large can benefit tremendously by creating a learning sharing ecosystem (reuse, remix, adapt, contextualize, mash-up, etc.) that is potentially sustainable beyond physical barriers, providing everyone the potential to learn. But, how do we then make money? You can make money through teaching, coaching, online facilitation, consultations, workshops, site advertisements, funding, endowment, etc. There are so many ways to still make tons of money, if we really think about it!

Finally, by focusing on researching, constructing and innovating the missing links, instead of wasting too much time reinventing content that already exists (reuse/remix existing OER/OCW), we become more valuable as a teacher and educator. This is the only way to catch-up and lead the way in the 21 century where 'Zorro' bytes of new learning content is created and made available only (mostly for free) every day.

Build Learning Networks!
Having free Internet access and free learning resources is not sufficient to transform us into a learning and innovation society. Learning resources usually don't inspire people into action or learning (if they did, libraries would be crowded beyond reach!), but inspiring and knowledgeable people can. We all know that the Internet can also be the biggest waste of time creating an amusing life out of basically doing nothing (in the real world). We have to get out of our University cocoon nests and interact beyond. We need to create learning communities and networks where we share and discuss trends, issues, resources and ideas, and are receptive to criticism and disagreements. It is amazing how powerful group and network learning can be, if we embrace it and participate.

Finally, we should increasingly explore the idea of facilitating 'Massive Open Online Courses/Environments (MOOC)' where we get together to share, discuss and reflect important topics and issues. If you are looking for a good example, try PLENK 2010. Imagine having educators from say 78 countries explore together important issues using a variety of free learning tools.

That brings me back to this conference, and the problem with most conferences (that I have attended) is that when completed, I suffer from information overload and exhaustion. In other words, how can we transform conferences to become less bla, bla, bla... to be more engaging & interactive?

In other other words, conferences should perhaps emphasize 'Less is more' for presenters, and encourage them to focus on key points/issues, so that we can have more time to discuss and network.

And that is what I experienced at the...

FUTURE CAMPUS FORUM MALAYSIA

The 'Future Campus Forum Malaysia' took place at Westin Hotel (Kuala Lumpur), and there were roughly 100 participants. The forum hall was a perfect fit for a stage and 10 discussion tables (with 10 seats each). Besides the amazingly small prayer room (only 4 could pray at once), Westin is a reasonably good place to conduct a forum with this context.

Although, this forum did not have any particularly enlightening or inspiring speakers (got quite high expectations, usually!), the whole format was really built around networking and sharing ideas (and capturing them). My role was to be a participant only...

DISCUSSION TABLES
Even though the presenters or the panel discussion was not too enriching, the real fun was the 10 30-minute interactive discussion sessions. So, basically for 6 hours during the 2-day forum, we were in intensive discussions covering 10 different relevant topics:

Measuring Effectiveness
Remaining Competitive
Gaming & Immersive learning
Content Development
Future Learning Styles
Creativity & Innovation
Public-Private Partnerships
Connected Campus
Continuous Professional Development
Choosing Classroom ICT Equipment

Each discussion topic was facilitated by an international or local expert who initiated the discussion and captured the interesting ideas and experiences shared (1 facilitator + 9 participants). The 10 interactive discussion sessions were organized according to 10 different colors, and each color was associated with a number, too. Every participant was given a color (on the name card), and would then start from the table with the same color, and then move from table to table after each discussion session. I was black (my name card!), meaning I would start at table 1 (Black). Since some people might be color-blind, it is good to have numbers besides colors to refer to. After 2 or 3 sessions, we would be enriched (discussion break!) with a talk or coffee (networking) break.

To manage time (and speed up the discussion), they projected an Interactive Discussion Table Timer (starting at 30 minutes), which was kind of cool, but at times also made you feel like you were taking an exam. As they were going GREEN (Yeah, whatever!) they would not hand out web resources, and instead we needed to participate in all activities and submit the forum evaluation before getting the password (and certificate of attendance) to download all the presentation slides. Did all, but yet to receive the password (by e-mail)!

Overall, it was an interesting way to encourage participation, discussion and capturing of ideas. Though, you are stuck with the same group (of 9) throughout all the 10 discussions, and that is where they could have innovated more. Surely, it would have been fun to mix-up perhaps after two 30-minute discussion sessions, and then challenge your ideas with another group of people. By the time my group had reached session two, everyone realized I was the only E-Learning professional (or whatever!) in our group, meaning from then onwards I became the automatic choice to be the first participant to share ideas and experiences.

In conclusion, the forum setup was perfect for discussions, networking, sharing ideas and learning; though it would have been even cooler if we didn't have to stick with the same group throughout the two days. Don't get me wrong, my group was a lot of fun, but just something to ponder, if we were to adopt such an approach for our conferences or forums in the future.

LESSONS LEARNED
To be honest I didn't learn that much new, except from the way the forum was dynamically facilitated. But there were a few new nuggets of wisdom and resources shared during the two days, which I will blast away in the form of bullets here:

Check out the Digital Education Revolution (New South Wales) resources and information.
DER-NSW research focuses on how educational technology (or their programme) is influencing teacher pedagogy, students and the consequences of it on the students’ educational outcomes (3 key research questions).
Digital Citizenship (8 free lessons to download).
Amazing to learn about Fung Kai Innovative School from Ma Siu Leung (CEO), who is a lively & engaging speaker, too! He shared with us tricks on how to create win-win public-private partnerships, and how to trick (smartly) vendors to sell you great technology for bargain prices, and then make them feel like they have a bargain, too (win-win).
There are now 9 million Facebook users in Malaysia alone...Now that is connectivity :)
In a connected campus, student traverse formal, informal, & virtual learning space towards learning outcomes in a seamless manner (Whatever!)
How to develop authentic learning experiences? Prosumer? Produce and consume your own learning!

Not much to scream who-ha about, but I did really enjoy listening to Dr. Stuart Lee (Director, Computing & Services, Oxford University) over the Skype session to us. Now, that was the highlight for me (without doubt!). For example, I learned that Oxford University embraces open source and tries to use it where possible (according Dr. Stuart Lee). Interestingly, some Oxford University building walls are up to 7 meters thick, so it can be a challenge to drill holes to wire the network. Dr. Stuart Lee seemed very conscious that Oxford University is an old University, and that it takes sometimes centuries to change things there (or more than a lifetime).

Then Melissa Highton (Head of Learning Technologies Group, Oxford University) took over the Skype session and shared with us that Oxford University uses Sakai for VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) and invest a lot in video recording lectures and increasingly making them available online for free (something to ponder!).Oxford University also embraces mobile technologies and learning to support their 3 students to one lecturer ratio (Small group teaching).

Interestingly, Oxford University rejected Blackboard as they didn't understand or support the needs of Oxford University's need for a free roaming kind of learning environment (not necessarily course-based)...Ouch! Was it just poor marketing, or could it be that Blackboard is simply not up to mark (yet)?

When we came to the Q&A session with the Oxford 'Twin Tech Terrors', silence from the participants continued. However, that did not stop me from asking whether Oxford University uses Moodle or not. It was revealed that Oxford University has embraced Moodle for distance education, and mostly use Sakai to support face-to-face learning and online research activities. In short, who needs Blackboard?

Finally, I visited Taylor's University (our group) new campus, as the 2nd part of day 2 was a field trip to one of three chosen locations. Tailor's University new campus is pretty impressive, and their 5 (or 4) floor state-of-the-art (whatever that means!) library, which had sizzling noise, collaborative, quiet and sleeping learning spaces, was certainly my favorite highlight. The library even had a mini orange cinema, which included sand bags perfect for falling asleep. I took tons of pictures with my IPhone until it fell asleep (too early!), but I promised not reveal their secret spices.

So, please visit the place yourself to experience a trendy mini-city kind of campus, which looked more like an outdoor version of KLCC (shopping mall) rather than a typical campus you would associate with a University (Certainly hip with Starbucks, Baskin-Robbins, Famous Amos, restaurants, cafes, cinema, hotel, etc). In short, they are making tons of money also by renting out spaces beyond the hostels.

Anyway, since their student population (around 9000 at that campus) are mostly young and trendy, this outfit is perhaps a perfect match. Interestingly, when I came to Tailor's University new campus, I had trouble finding a car park. Later I found out that they actually had 3000 parking spaces (according to their tour guide), and ironically I still had problem finding a car park (at 2 pm). I suppose most students today have cars!

Overall, I learned a lot during those three (3) days and three (3) major events (conference, forum & Field trip).

If only everyday could be like that! I wish :)

Using Twitter to Transform the Classroom!

2010-10-10T20:44:00.000-07:00

"Whereas people might spend a long time composing a comment to a blog post or engage in lengthy, in - depth conversation on a discussion board, Twitter invites more in - the - moment interactions. It provides an easy way to maintain connections, share thoughts, or ask for advice." - Jane Bozarth

BLOG BOOK TOUR

While I was on holiday with my family in Sabah, I got a wonderful surprise tweet message (above) from a famous author called Jane Bozarth. Interestingly, I was picture-tweeting my holiday during that period using TwitPic (on my IPhone). So, perhaps my interesting family or baby photos sparked her to invite me to be part of the blog book tour for her new book entitled 'Social Media for Trainers'. Or perhaps it was Karl Kapp who recommended me, as I was also part of his Blog Book Tour earlier this year with this post: Learning in 3D! Why? How?

Whatever sparked her to invite me; I surely didn't need any spark to accept the invitation :)

SOCIAL MEDIA FOR TRAINERS

If you already don't know, Jane Bozarth is the author of several relevant and useful e-Learning related books. I have previously explored E-Learning Solutions on a Shoestring and Better than Bullet Points, and you can actually find them in our University library (IMU), too. In short, I was already familiar with her great work before exploring her latest master piece.

Her latest book, 'Social Media for Trainers' basically explores in depth the essential social media tools to facilitate sizzling (online) learning environments and experiences, using learning tools such as Twitter, blogs, wikis, Facebook, YouTube, Google Docs, SlideShare, Flickr, etc.

What makes her latest book so special (to me) is that it uses a non-jargonized conversational language style, meaning even my mum could understand and enjoy it. The book is not obsessed with showing us where to click, but instead explores how we can use these learning (or social media) tools to enhance and transform our personal and social learning environments. Not only do you get the 'WHY' and 'WHY NOT', you also get tons of excellent stories and tips on how to get started and sizzle your way to sizzling e-learning. Although, the book uses the word 'Trainers' in its title, this book is also a perfect read for anyone involved in education (Period!).

To find out more about Jane Bozarth's latest book, visit the Social Media for Trainers Facebook page and/or follow Twitter on @SoMe4Trainers.

Having said that, social media has its dark sides, too. But, like most things on planet earth; we can use it to transform, or destroy life. It is really up to us to make that choice (unless we are 'Under 13'). Right?

For this post, I am only going to focus on Twitter (Chapter 2), and explore how we can use it to transform our classroom or face-to-face learning. Sometimes you need to infuse learning tools into the classroom for stubborn educators to really see the variety of amazing possibilities such tools could bring to our learning and thinking.

Are you ready?

TWITTER

Actually, I should first thank Patricia Donaghy for inspiring me to take up Twitter as a learning tool. THANK YOU! Although, she didn't introduce me to Twitter, she did provide the initial spark needed for me to take this learning tool seriously. I mean seriously, who cares reading tweets where persons are pondering upon whether they should go to the toilet or not, or reading millions of tweets cursing Tiger Woods. Why should I bother reading what people are thinking now, such as reading Paris Hilton's struggle to patent 'That's hot!' It is ridiculous, and for sure a waste of time.

TRUE, using Twitter could be a waste of time, but it could also be used to connect and interact with educators and learners from all over the world. Imagine filtering 90 million daily tweets from 145+ million registered users down to who is talking about 'e-learning', or your specific research area. What a wonderful learning stream that would be. And did you know that 25% of the 90 million daily tweets contain links. Meaning people are not only talking crap, but also sharing juicy links, including articles and papers that sometimes even Google can't spot for you.

If you are interested to know dozens or even hundreds of ways to use Twitter to learn, teach and interact, these 55 great twitter articles should be a good starting point (I mean starting points!). Besides that, you might want explore my first three (3) journeys to explore Twitter for learning. Here we go:

Using Twitter to Amplify Connective Learning and Sharing at ICEL 2010
Join the #moodlewish Twitter Stream!
iTunes U Services For ALL! Join the #itunesuwish... (Failed project, but fun!)

Fine, but how can we use Twitter to spice up classroom learning?

Let's focus on that now...

TWITTER FOR LEARNING

First, you need to make sure that all your students are using, or have a Twitter account. Most students should have little difficulty (especially X, Y and Z generations) with signing up for Twitter by themselves. To avoid any hassles, I would recommend that you specify in your course plan/guide that you will be using Twitter as one of the learning tools for the course.

As Twitter is a perfect communication tool for mobile devices (e.g. IPhones, Blackberries, Androids, IPads, smart phones, and notebooks), you only need to ensure a decent Wi-Fi enabled environment, and most, if not all students can participate during a face-to-face learning session. If not, let's imagine and be a bit futuristic, because in 2-3 years time, I believe most students will have some form of Wi-Fi enabled mobile device (Well, at least at Universities in Malaysia). No rocket science required to come that prediction.

Secondly, you need to establish a unique hashtag (#) for your course, which will make it easier for your students (and you) to follow and participate in the course conversation. If it becomes really active, it will evolve into one enriching and inspiring learning stream (e.g. #plenk2010). However, some students might prefer getting daily updates in the form of a sizzling self-organized online newspaper. paper.li could do that without you basically doing anything, except for signing up and feeding it your hashtag (e.g. PLENK2010). Awesome!

To promote the usage of Twitter and your unique course hashtag (e.g. #plenk2010), you might also want to create a video tutorial (e.g. using Screenr). Here is an example, where I promoted the usage of Twitter during the ICEL 2010 conference using the '#icel5' hashtag:

Besides starting and facilitating a Twitter learning stream, you will probably want to capture and archive the evolving learning conversation, which could sadly get lost over time (Done that, been there!). For that, you could for example use Twapper Keeper.

If you are too busy or quite IT illiterate, and still want to use Twitter for your course, ask someone from your University/College's e-learning (or educational technology) team to conduct a Twitter session with the students. If they are not capable of that (or lazy), they should (all) be fired on the spot! Learning has evolved since the Courseware development era!!!!

Here are a few tips on facilitating the use of Twitter for classroom learning:

BEFORE CLASS
Before every Face-to-face learning session you might want to encourage students to ask questions regarding the upcoming topic/module/lesson, or perhaps what kind of expectations they have, or even what they really want to learn, and suggest things to discuss. By doing so, you might get a clearer view of what really matters to students, and as a result your learning session might evolve into a sizzling learning experience. If students prefer sharing and discussing in private, you could use GroupTweet instead of a hashtag (which can be viewed by public). GroupTweet helps groups communicate privately via Twitter.
DURING CLASS
Twitter is an excellent venue for students to ask the lecturer questions during the learning session, especially if you are in a large lecture hall (200+ students), and the student is a bit shy. To keep track of the flow of questions visually (for everyone to see), you could use Monitter or Hootcourse (or even TweetDeck), which will update as soon as the tweet (question) has been posted.
Hootcourse's Classroom Mode feature allows course tweets to show up in real-time on a projected screen.

Besides using Twitter for questions, you could even conduct polls (use Twtpoll, Poll Everywhere, or SAP Web 2.0) during the class, and the results can even be displayed live in your PowerPoint presentation (or the web. Yes, even in Keynote, too!). Lecturer's love to ask students, "Do you understand? Is it clear?", and everyone says 'Yes' loudly (or silently with a nod). And the lecturer feels comforted with his masterful lecture. Sadly, the truth might indicate otherwise, and by using a poll, we could more easily gauge whether students understand or not, with some real stats to refer to. We could basically test them directly in class on something, and then if for example the majority is clueless of the right answer, we could revisit that component, and explore simpler ways to explain and inspire them to learn it. Now that is cool for learning!

AFTER CLASS
We could ask them to tweet questions after class regarding what they have learned, or related things they would like to be clarified. Also, we should encourage students to answer other students questions, and by providing some incentive for the most active students (e.g. bonus marks, praise, or perhaps a Mars bar), should not be so hard to do. Also, you might want to ask students to provide short comments on how the learning session was, and how it can be improved further. If your ego is receptive to constructive (and destructive) feedback, you are going to win the next 'Best Lecturer Award', trust me! Anyway, we lecturers are noble people, and the reward of experiencing students' learn, or getting those 'AHA' moments are awesome rewards in themselves that even money can't buy (Well, it depends!).

These are just a few possibilities for using Twitter to enhance your face-to-face learning sessions, and of course sizzle it beyond the classroom. I hope you realize by now why Twitter is the number one ranked learning tool among learning professionals around the world (Facebook is number 10!).

Besides the Twitter apps mentioned above, click here for a comprehensive list of other learning possibilities.

THINKING BEYOND

However, Twitter alone is not going to transform the students' learning experience. If you ask me, we should also encourage students to continuously reflect (deep thinking) their learning in their own personal blog(s) (using Blogger or Wordpress).

They should work on course projects using wikis (or collaborative learning tools), such as Google Docs, Google Sites, Wikispaces or Wetpaint. They could use Facebook to set-up and establish learning/interest groups, and promote causes they strongly believe in.

All students (and lecturers' of course!) should know, or learn how to use RSS readers (e.g. Google Reader) to enable them to efficiently access relevant information (updates come to you, instead of you needing to visit the actual sites) about what is going on in the world, especially in their learning domains.

Besides these essential learning tools, there are many more possibilities to interact with and filter our learning world to be more efficient, effective, interactive and inspiring.

Let's explore how we can use Social Media to transform the way we connect, learn, interact, share and facilitate. Today, we have amazing learning possibilities, we just need to (I would say 'MUST') find time to explore them :)

The Real Way to Download-Convert-Insert YouTube Videos into PowerPoint!

2010-08-25T23:52:00.001-07:00

HOW DO YOU...

1. DOWNLOAD YouTube videos?
2. CONVERT YouTube videos into a format supported by PowerPoint?
3. INSERT YouTube videos into PowerPoint (and run it offline smoothly)?

Since I am always asked those three (3) questions above, why not screencast it once for ALL! This screencast explores these questions:

(Click here to download this screencast)

TOOLS?
Tools recommended:

RealPlayer - Downloading videos from YouTube and Converting them into other formats (e.g. wmv).
Format Factory - Converting videos to any other video format you can imagine.

If you are using PowerPoint 2003 (or 2010) no worries, because inserting videos into PowerPoint is as easy as toasting...Insert > Movies and Sounds > Movie from File (2003)...

You might also want to check out my previous article entitled 2 Juicy Ways to Insert YouTube Videos into PowerPoint, but I believe the tips shared above is even juicier. Trust me!

Finally, if you have a cooler or more efficient way of doing it for free, please share it with us. Now that would be AWESOME :)

Top 10 Learning Sites for ________? Yours? #T10LS :)

2010-08-05T17:18:00.000-07:00

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school."

- Albert Einstein

"See, here's the thing, though. I don't want 99 mind mapping resources, tools, and tips. I want one. That works. Really well. "
- Stephen Downes

CLUELESS?

To cut the crap short, and get to the point... It is amazing how many educators (that I have crossed path with) until today (Yes, already 2010!), who are clueless or know little about the amazing world of Open Educational Resources (OER)/Open Courseware (OCW) and learning tools. There are probably many reasons for that, so I am not going to go into that.

But, what I find even more shocking and troubling is educators who are also clueless about the amazing learning possibilities (tools and resources) within their own field/area/specialization/learning domain. I just hope you are not one of them.

No doubt we can't know and do everything, and there will always be new tools and resources blazing through in an ever growing global learning sharing stream. But, we should have some idea, or be open to explore new and innovative learning possibilities within our learning domain(s), because our students deserve it (or they will eventually desert us...).

WHAT TO DO?
So, how can we motivate or inspire educators to find and explore these new learning possibilities?

Peer pressure? Peer recommendation? Now, we are getting closer (I think!). Of course mambo jumbo lists are useful (e.g. OER), but for a busy educator it might be.... No time for that! Stephen Downes's quote above makes sense!

But, what if we filtered out the juiciest learning resources and tools, and stamped our validation for use (or recommendation). Now, that would be interesting, wouldn't it? Instead of 1000, 100, it is narrowed down to digestible portions (unless you are Takeru Kobayashi!).

To set a digestible portion criteria, we could use the magical number of seven, but I am going to suggest no more than 10 for whatever... Anyway, we don't have to be too rigid on such things, but just be reminded that Less is often more (especially for learning). Look who's talking :)

For example, I am looking for excellent resources or tools to explore critical thinking, where to start? I know Stephen Downes is facilitating a Critical Literacies Online Course, and has published a widely used 'Guide to the Logical Fallacies'. So, wouldn't it be great to have a juicy Top 10 (or anything less, or perhaps a bit more!) list of excellent critical thinking resources recommended by Stephen Downes as a starting point.

Of course, there are many more sites to explore, but having a great starting point validated or recommended by an expert won't harm anyone (would it?).

So, let's think bigger! What if more experts shared their filtered and recommended learning resource lists for their particular specializations or areas. Imagine great contextualized learning start points for Psychology, Medicine, Biology, Law, English, Creative thinking, critical thinking...(perhaps a bit more micro) you name it. Now, wouldn't that be useful?

MY TOP 10 LEARNING SITES FOR PERSONAL LEARNING
Here are 10 amazing learning resources to explore for personal learning, especially if you are into e-learning and learning (Not ranking, just numbering):

Einztein
A wonderful starting point to find free online courses with a bit of spice from top Universities. Also, the Academic Porthole is a great starting point, as it also includes OER guides to several learning domains.
iTunes U
Here you can find more than 250,000 free lectures, videos, films, and other resources from many of the top Universities around the world. Since I am using an IPhone (and IPod), it is such a wonderful resource to feed me with recorded lectures for my long traffic jams every working day.
YouTube EDU and Academic Earth
YouTube has aggregated all of the videos from its college and university partners - including luminaries like Stanford, Harvard, and Dartmouth - in one place. Academic Earth is an educational video website with the goal of enhancing the usability and expanding the awareness of OER, focusing first on video lectures. Since most of its resources are aggregated from YouTube, I have mashed both into one. Also, you can even grade the lectures (A to F) on Academic Earth. Cool!
TED Talks
Hundreds of inspiring talks by the some of the most innovative and amazing thinkers and doers the world has to offer. And 95.5% of these talks are 20 minutes or shorter, meaning they are perfect for mobile learning. How on earth can we ignore such a resource (after discovering it)?
OLDaily (Stephen Downes)
If you are looking for the latest news, trends, reflections, etc. in the (online) learning world, Stephen Downes is the ultimate synthesizer (that I have come across) of what is going on. I love the way he reflects and extracts the essence (or what he finds interesting) of all the articles, sites, tools, resources, etc. he discovers in his daily online newsletter (excluding weekends!). You might also want to also check out his homepage to discover all the other stuff he is doing, including his other excellent reflective blog (Half an Hour) and video recordings of all his presentations. While talking about Stephen Downes, we cannot ignore George Siemens and his elearnspace. He is the mastermind (together with Stephen Downes) behind Connectivism, the only learning theory that makes sense in the online learning world. His reflections and ramblings will keep you updated with e-learning, knowledge management, networks, technology, community development, and corporate learning.
Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies (Jane Hart)
If you want to find or know more about learning tools and how to use them to facilitate online learning that sizzles, then this site will serve you amazingly well. Jane's E-Learning Pick of the Day is awesomely useful, and you won't be disappointed with her Tools Directory and Top Tools for Learning 2010. In addition, I love the fact that she provides us with a weekly round-up of the new learning tools added to the tools directory. Besides that you just have to check out her social media guides:
These social media guides are simply a goldmine for anyone who is clueless, or wants to learn how to implement social learning in their teaching and learning environments. Also, don't miss her 100 Featured Learning Professionals, which will provide you with information, inspiration and/or interaction on a range of educational and workplace learning topics from around the world - via their blog, on Twitter or on other social networks. A life time worth of learning!
The Rapid eLearning Blog (Tom Kuhlmann)
When you think about improving your rapid e-Learning, instructional design, PowerPoint or graphic creation skills, Tom Kuhlmann's Rapid eLearning blog provides you with a lot of great advice, tips, examples and short-cuts. Also, don't forget to get his free elearning ebook while you’re there. In short, this blog is easily my favorite 'Rapid e-Learning' learning blog! No doubt about that!
ELearningLearning (Tony Karrer)
It is not really a list, but an amazing aggregator of excellent workplace or corporate learning blogs and posts filtered out by Tony Karrer. Just subscribe to this one, and you are basically subscribing to tons of great corporate or workplace learning blogs out there. Actually, it is a blog post repository in itself, and you will find the indexing, Monthly top featured posts, best from.., etc. very exciting (Well at least I did!). It uses the Browse My Stuff technology to create this topic hub. Topic Hubs are sites that aggregates content from a variety of sources, organizes that content around keywords in the topic domain, and supports both manual and social curation of that content.
Kapp Notes (Karl Kapp)
If you want a blog that explores 3D learning, Second Life and learning games in general, this blog is certainly one of the best that I have come across.
iLearn technology (Kelly Tenkely)
This blog is dedicated to giving teachers practical tips for integrating technology into the classroom. The learning stories are short, sweet and digestible. Perfect for the busy educator. Kelly you rock!

Besides these awesome learning sites, there are tons of other outstanding bloggers, sites, tutorials, learning games and tools to explore, but having a good starting, or knowing what sites that consume most of my online learning time should not be any harm.

YOUR TOP 10 LEARNING SITES FOR _________?

Alright, that was my top 10 learning sites for personal learning. What about you? Do you have any amazing sites to share from your learning domain? If you are interested to participate, simply share your Top 10 list through your blog, or using any learning tool convenient for you. Then, either blast me a comment with a URL to your list, or perhaps tweet the URL to the list using the following Twitter hashtag:

#T10LS

If many of you want to participate, I will setup a wiki (using Google Sites), whereby we all can collaborate to build. Actually, it would have been cool if someone like Jane Hart could use her magic to create something similar to the Top Tools for Learning 2010 for learning sites. Now, that would be awesome!

If no one is interested, too bad! At least you can enjoy my top 10 (personal) learning sites list above. Perhaps, whatever I have said, already exists. What do you think? :)

Using Twitter to Amplify Connective Learning and Sharing at ICEL 2010

2010-07-18T19:41:00.000-07:00

"If only one person knows it, nobody knows it!"
- Ludwig Wittgenstein

#ICEL5

I have already written a post about the story behind this Twitter experiment, but if you missed it, here is a visually stimulating clarification:

If the picture above makes no sense, then perhaps you can find some time to watch this 5-minute video tutorial:

Besides this, I would like to highlight that if you are an active Twitter user, Monitter might not be the ideal tool to monitor/track a word, phrase or hashtag (e.g. #icel5). Instead, you might as well use the 'Search' function in Twitter, and then save the search, which you can follow.

Another tool you might want to consider (among several) is TweetDeck, which provides you a host of excellent features to track whatever you want, and also enables conveniently to update your own Twitter world. If you are using an IPhone, you are probably going to love the TweetDeck application.

Alright, so did the #icel5 learning stream idea work?

THANK YOU!
But, before going into that, I would like to thank everyone involved with the 5th International Conference on e-Learning (ICEL 2010) for making it a sizzling learning adventure (Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia 12-13 July 2010).

Also, I would like to give a special thanks to Prof. Rozhan M. Idrus (Conference Chair) for inviting me personally, and making it a memorable and exciting learning adventure throughout, starting from Japanese sushi to promoting my blog (Say no more!).

In addition, Frashad Shah deserves a big thank you for picking me up from the airport and making my trip to the hotel smooth and easy. Yes, he will be joining IMU e-Learning team next month, and I am sure we can fuse our brain waves to innovate and inspire our University's e-learning ambition to new heights. Can't wait!

Besides this, Sue Nugus (Organizer), Issham Ismail (Programme Chair), David M. Kennedy (Keynote Speaker), Laura Czerniewicz (Keynote Speaker), Brant Knutzen (Best Speaker and Swimmer!!!), and Ben Archer (Best Twitter #icel5 user, heads down!) were amazing. In addition, I got to tickle Philip Balcaen's 'Critical Thinking' brain a bit, which was kind of fun.

There were around 100 participants from 19 countries that attended, and that certainly made it more exciting. I probably chatted with at least 60% of the participants, and learned too much to babble it here...!

SO, DID #ICEL5 WORK?
Out of around 100 participants at the conference, only nine (9) joined (including me) or shared tweets using the #icel5 hashtag. I believe many in the audience were kind of new to Twitter (or were clueless). Prof. Rozhan Idrus did a great job in promoting the #icel5 hashtag (and my blog) during his opening speech.

However, next time we should perhaps facilitate a 10-15 minute Twitter tutorial (unless everyone is already using Twitter) to get more participants involved.

Here is a sizzling visual illustration of all the people that contributed to the #icel5 learning stream:

If you notice, you will actually notice that around 30 people (3 times more!!!) from the Twitter world (gray icons) also contributed to the #icel5 learning stream, one way or the other. Did we invite them to join? Of course not! They probably saw some interesting tweets while following our tweets, and then simply gave us their piece of mind, or retweeted interesting stuff here and there. Interestingly, a few of the tweets were even translated into Spanish (example).

So, was it a success?

Difficult question to answer! Below is a bird's eye view of all the #icel5 tweets (230+) shared over the 2-day e-learning conference:

Cool graphic, but I want to review and learn something from these 230+ #icel5 tweets; Not just bells and whistles (and a octopus!)? No, problem! Here we go:

#ICEL5 Learning Stream

Not, bad! Surely, it could have been more participation, but overall it did generate some really interesting connections, ideas, reflections and resources. From a personal learning point-of-view, tweeting kept me busy thinking and pondering throughout the conference. I only felt sleepy towards the end of the whole conference. Usually, you will see me practically sleeping before the 2nd speakers is done (unless the presenter is awesome!).

So, what did I learn?

10 LEARNING NUGGETS
Here are 10 interesting things I learned during this e-learning conference:

Paul was right!
Yeah, Paul the octopus (above) guessed 8 out of 8 matches during the 2010 World Cup, but would he have predicted that we would start an e-learning conference four hours after the World Cup final. What were they thinking? Luckily, I managed to survive the first day, thanks to a bit of yoga breathing exercises and a 1000 ml Vitamin C tablet.
IPhone is a sizzling mobile learning device!
Alright, I am surely going to pursue an IPad once the price goes down a bit, but the IPhone is not a bad alternative. I did actually bring along my notebook, but it was never used, because I was able to do all the necessary learning and sharing activities using my IPhone. For example, I used the IPhone to tweet, take pictures (upload them using Twitpic), reply e-mail, read online newspapers, play games, listen to podcasts, search, moodle, etc.
Might not make the British swimming team for 2012 Olympics!
I got hooked on swimming last year (2009), and have ever since been swimming 2-3 times week. For the sake of fun, I have set an audacious goal (Nothing is impossible) to make the British swimming team for the 2012 Olympics. And I thought I was on track (seriously!), but then I got into a 50 meter freestyle race with David Kennedy (Australia) and Brant Knutzen (USA) at the hotel (Equatorial). They were going to race (for fun), and I thought why not test my ability against these two 50+ year old dudes. This should be easy, right? I went all out, but within 25 meters, Brant 'Phelps' Knutzen was propelling his feet past my face, and I was crushed as badly as England was against Germany during the 2010 World Cup. I suppose I'm kind of British after all! Anyway, I am not targeting to make the sprint team, but instead I will go for the ultimate manhood test: 15oo meters. The world record is around 14.35 min. and I am currently capable of 36.53 min. (was 50 min in April, 2010). It looks bad, but I still got two (2) more years to go. Yes, I am certainly British :)
Mahoodle could rock!
What? You get a Mahoodle, when you mash-up Mahara with Moodle. In pedagogical terms, you combine these two tools to facilitate both teacher (Moodle) and student centred (Mahara) learning, according to David Kennedy. It looks promising, and if you want to know more, just CLICK HERE.
Free Internet Access is a Fundamental Human Right!
Actually, I have been babbling about this before, but after listening to presenters from several so called 'developing countries' it would simply be amazing if we could make Internet as easy to access as National radio and TV channels. Or think of it as a Digital Democracy, whereby not only do we have a right to vote, but also a right to free access to the Internet, or learning resources around the world (Explore Laura's reflective Keynote: Digital Native in a New Era: Apartheid or democracy). Why not? Within five (5) years, I believe the world will be fully wired, but will it be a better one (or more learning friendly)? With an accessible free global network, we might be able to do some amazing things together. What do you think?
Resistance to E-Learning is still Global!
You would think that lecturers in countries like England and Australia would not be so resistant and negative to implementing e-learning at their learning institutions. But, the truth is that it is probably as common there, as it is here in Malaysia. But then again, if they have been exposed to crappy e-learning content and environments, how can we blame them (or us)? So, who do we inspire first to adopt e-learning, the students or the lecturers? Do we really need e-learning? Perhaps, we should just call it LEARNING. What do you think? I got some great ideas (I think), but let's discuss them in another post.
Highly interactive discussions through small learning groups!
In the past we wanted to use self-paced e-learning to train millions at a time. But, today we are increasingly realizing the power of learning through small groups, whether online or offline. Brant Knutzen discovered through his research that 4-5 members per group is ideal for facilitating dynamic online discussions in terms of getting more responses and replies. Any thing to add?
Be PREPARED! Seriously, be prepared!
Besides listening to some amazing keynotes and paper presentations, there were a few that made me wonder...What were you thinking? For example, one presenter shared her findings exploring Mobile learning with 20 students, by simply showing a table with 20 rows of raw data (comments by students). And she summed up that most of the participating students didn't like mobile learning. Interestingly, a person sitting next to me, summed up within seconds that 70% of the students didn't like mobile learning, by simply looking at the table. Worse yet, when I asked her what kind of mobile devices these 20 students were using during the research, she couldn't even answer that question accurately, and fumbled... 'I think... Worse yet, when you look at the first student's comment in the table, it basically noted that the student had no Internet coverage. I mean, who would enjoy mobile learning without Internet access. Worse yet, the presenter was an Associate Professor, and you would expect that if you have reached that level, you would have at least an analytical or scientific mindset, but I suppose that is not necessarily the case. In short, if you are going to present anything, be prepared, and try to explore all possible scenarios and questions for whatever you are researching. If you question yourself and what you are doing, it is not so difficult. Oops, I might be wrong!
Prezi is not so great after all!
Interestingly, three (3) of the presentations I attended used Prezi to present their story or research. Yes, it is really cool, trendy, and you kind of get swooshed away with no slides and amazing zoom-in-and-out elevations through a big learning map, or may I say a Picasso painting. However, after viewing a few Prezi presentations, you kind of get bored with it (They all look the same, just like PowerPoint!). Well, I do. And one presenter summed it up nicely, by saying, 'It is a real headache developing one" (if I heard it correctly!). Whatever tool you use, the bottom line is substance. If you have substance, then design makes sense. But design without substance, is a joke. But, if you have both substance and design, then WOW! And I would argue that PowerPoint (2010) is a more complete tool (including picture editing) to sizzle. I know, Apple dudes are going to scream, 'Keynote'... Whatever! It is fun experimenting with tools like Prezi, but until they have real Power, like PowerPoint 2010, then forget it. I am not joking!
Mobile Learning is the FUTURE!
Period...! We should not ignore this, but instead embrace the amazing possibilities to reach out to billions of people out there around the world. I used my IPhone for all my learning and sharing activities during this 2-day e-learning conference, and it was simply an amazing tool for learning. I am now dreaming of an IPad, and imagine students not needing to carry a heavy bag full of books, and having instead an A4-sized learning device enabling them to read, interact, play and connect with learners all over the world. What are we waiting for?

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, I have to admit I didn't learn so many new things during this conference. I suppose when you subscribe to OLDaily and RSS most of the top learning professionals around the world that is a difficult prospect and mission.

But then again learning is so much more than simply learning new knowledge and following trends, whether it Web 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 or 10.0. Looking back, I am really excited to have connected with some amazing learning professionals, and hopefully I can continue to learn from and interact with these geniuses.

Finally, you can say what you want about Twitter, but for me, it rocks for learning! Why? It rocks, because it empowers me to connect, interact, and learn from people all over the world. And using a hashtag (#) to connect and collectively think (out loud) makes it even more convenient and dynamic. What do you think? Any better alternative (besides a Facebook wall!)? :)

IMU Learning Series 05 - Coaching Critical Thinking to Think Creatively!

2010-07-01T17:09:00.000-07:00

“We want the development of modal insan, students who can think critically and creatively, who are able to solve problems and have the ability to adapt themselves to an ever-changing global environment.” - Blueprint for Education Development, Malaysia (2006 – 2010)

ONCE UPON A TIME ….
A long time ago (early 2007) in a galaxy far away (Malaysia), there was a little boy (33 years old) who happened to be me. This little boy was suddenly entrusted to transform a dying course at the University entitled ‘Critical Thinking’. Here I was leading a Learning and Teaching Unit (in the Quality Assurance department) facilitating change and improvements to our e-learning approach, and managing a University wide ‘Thinking Skills Infusion Programme’ (TSIP). Although, I had trained many lecturers, senior lecturers and professors in using technology to facilitate learning, I had ironically never had any real experience in managing an actual course at the University.

Now, one of the leaders from our academic world figured rightly out that perhaps I needed some real experience to understand what it is like to be a lecturer, before having the right to lecture to lecturers on how to teach and facilitate effective learning (which makes perfect sense!). Also, since I had been managing the TSIP programme for over six (6) months, the “Critical Thinking’ course would be the perfect challenge and opportunity to test all my untested theories and suggestions on effective learning.

In a nutshell, I was asked to lead and transform the ‘Critical Thinking’ course, which is a requirement for all undergraduate students.

THE UNITAR WAY!
Although, Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNITAR) is currently becoming a more conventional University, it used to adopt a blended learning model, which usually included courseware, online forums, online tutorials (OLT), and Face-to-Face (F2F) tutorials. Every course is led by a course leader supported by tutors who facilitate their own sections. The course leader is responsible for guiding the tutors, and preparing the course plan, course materials, assignments, quizzes and exams. In addition, the course leader is responsible for correcting the final exams (40% - 50% of the course assessment evaluation), and giving the students’ final grade for all sections. The tutor’s role is to communicate with the course leader, facilitate the course for their section(s), and grade the coursework (50% - 60%).

COURSE REENGINEERING NEEDED?
Based on my initial unscientific findings, students found the course difficult to understand and the overall students’ satisfaction rates were lower than in other courses for the undergraduate level. In addition, both students and tutors complained that the lecture notes were not sufficient.

Although, the past course leaders seemed to have a done a good job facilitating their own sections, they failed based on my understanding to communicate and facilitate consistent quality to all the sections. Overall, students and tutors seemed frustrated with ‘Critical Thinking’, and some even questioned the relevance of this course. They argued that this course focused too much on theory and memorization, and failed to actually help students develop fundamental thinking, reasoning and language abilities that are needed for academic success.

Although, UNITAR had developed a reasonably good page tuning critical thinking courseware, the existing curriculum of the critical thinking course seemed to be mostly (80-90%) based on John Chaffe’s famous book “Thinking Critically” (6th Edition, 2000). Even the course objectives and topic outline seemed to be paraphrased out of the book. As UNITAR’s self-developed courseware was structured very differently from the course outline, it was hardly reflected or used by either the educators, or the students.

So, I began to read John Chaffe’s famous book “Thinking Critically” to get better feel of what the students were learning. Strangely, I kept on falling asleep while reading this book, and although the content is relevant and useful, the writing style and design of that book (I suppose the later versions are more engaging!) did not appeal or inspire my thinking mind. So, if I am falling asleep reading this book, what about the students?

In addition to this book, the course also recommended students to read another book entitled ‘Critical Thinking: A Student's Introduction’ (G. Bassham & Co., 2007). So, I explored the book, and found it more activity-oriented, engaging, and inspiring. However, I still felt that something was missing to spark the ‘Critical Thinking’ course to life.

So, I explored our ‘Critical Thinking’ courseware again, and was actually positively surprised with the quality of the content. However, since it was structured very differently from the course outline and it did not have a search function, naturally students found it quite frustrating to use.

Based on these surface level reflections, I felt (based on my limited knowledge) that I needed to revamp the whole course to really make any difference. However, I also decided to take advantage and extract the learning juices from the three original main course resources just mentioned. Based on my understanding, the problem with this course was not so much the content, but the process on how it was facilitated. Based on my findings, too little focus was given to engaging the student’s learning mind to question, analyze, synthesize, reason, problem solve, and make better decisions, which I believe is the essence of this course. Finally, and importantly for most of our students, English is their second language, and the student population consists of a colourful inter-religious/cultural/racial blend (Indian, Chinese, Malay, etc.), which especially the two recommended critical thinking books are not really tailored to.

Although, I was no master in ‘Critical Thinking’ (still the case!), I believed that I had enough reasons to take the risk to reengineer the course to make it more relevant and effective.

COURSE PLANNING & PREPARATION
Although, I was planning to reengineer the course, I felt that the original course objectives would remain the same, with just a minor twist. The role of the lecturer coaching ‘Critical Thinking’ is to:

Teach the fundamental thinking, reasoning and language abilities that a student needs for academic success.
Engage students in the active thinking process.
Integrate the development of thinking abilities with the four skills: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening.

As students seemed to fear the word “Critical’ more than thinking (tough one, too!), I suggested to change the name of the course to just ‘Thinking Skills’, but that was firmly rejected. Then I had this crazy idea to simply develop the course outline (modules and topics) and learning objectives, and let the students discover, explore, organize, adapt and construct the course content based on existing materials available on the web (User-generated content). This idea was totally rejected. Finally, I suggested to include a ‘Creative Thinking’ topic, which I felt was missing from the course, but that was also rejected. Creative thinking is different! So, instead I decided to infuse creative thinking into every single module of the ‘Critical Thinking’ course.

In the end, just before the semester started we managed to agree upon the course outline, which was:

Introduction to Critical Thinking

View more presentations from Zaid Alsagoff.

Introduction to Critical Thinking
Thinking Tools
Arguments = Part I + Part II + Part III
Fallacies
Language
Decision Making
Problem Solving

(Click on the course outline links above to view the slides)

Due to limited time, I constructed the content for each module during the 15-week semester, usually a week or two ahead of schedule. As our University was increasingly becoming more conventional, we were required to conduct a 2-hour F2F tutorial every week with our students. Although, we could use OLT, I decided not to, due to the nature of the course (real-time activity-based), number of students (300+), students status (mostly full-time), lack of broadband Internet access (for some), and that the group of tutors facilitating this course were reasonably experienced (more than me, actually!) and were fully capable of managing their own section(s) without my interference. As a course leader, I was also assigned to manage three (3) sections (90+ students).

However, to improve the possibility of consistent quality, I did prepare lesson plans (and student activity sheets) for the tutors, which gave them some idea on how I would conduct my tutorials. The lesson plans also included answers (if any), tips, and resource links to some of the puzzles, questions, and videos (YouTube) discussed in the presentation slides. In short, I provided them with some ideas on how I would facilitate the tutorials, but empowered them the freedom to think and do it their own way, as long as they covered the syllabus.

COURSE CONTENT
The main focus of the revamped course would be on students’ practicing, reflecting and improving their thinking skills, and less emphasize would be given to exploring critical thinking theories, concepts and the endless definitions associated with it. What is critical thinking anyway?

With this in mind, the course content was constructed focused on engaging the students to reflect and improve their ability to question, analyze, synthesize, reason, problem solve, and make constructive decisions.

To deal with the students fear and motivation to think critically, I decided to put Aristotle, Plato and Socrates on the bench, and introduce my new dream thinking support team led by Master Yoda, Mr. Bean and Inspector Gadget. They play a critical role in relaxing the learners’ mind to laugh, think, discuss and reflect their own thinking. If Mr. Bean can think critically, why can’t I?

Finally, to engage students to think, the content or presentation slides included a lot of thought provoking questions, puzzles, cartoons, pictures, quotes, and group activities to continuously spark the desire to explore the content further.

In short, I extracted and mashed up past learning references, added my flavour, and brought in assistance from another galaxy (e.g. Master Yoda) and Earth (e.g. Mr. Bean) to reengineer the content.

F2F TUTORIALS
I made it a point from day one that students will have to think-out-loud in this class, and no one will be able to escape this. Of course to loosen up the overall fear, I would first gently force the most nervous or scared looking student in the class to answer an open-ended question with their own opinion. By giving this person encouragement and support to whatever the answer may be, the other students in the class might feel safer to participate. It actually works, even in Malaysia were students are often scared to talk and share their ideas in class.

Every F2F tutorial is broken down into four (4) sessions:

Warm Up (5 – 15 minutes) – To awaken the students’ minds and bring the class to life, I would begin each class with a few brain stimulating activities, which could be a/an puzzle, question, picture, issue, or a quote.
Lecture & Discussion (30– 40 minutes) – This session is very much like an interactive lecture, whereby I would explain, reflect and discuss together with the students the ‘Thinking Menu’ of the day.
Group Activities (45 - 55 minutes) – In this session students are broken up into small groups (4- 6 participants) to collaborate on some relevant thinking activities. Each group have to choose their leader, and are given specific time frames to complete particular tasks (or using specific thinking tools), and then they need to summarize their answers or findings in writing, and finally one (or more) of the group representatives have to present and discuss the group’s output with the class.
Sum Up (5-10 minutes) – Summarize the module and synthesize/evaluate/reflect the group activity findings.

Students are also required to share and rotate task duties, which will ensure that all students at least once or twice will have the pleasure to present the output to the class during the semester. By having such group activities in each class, students also get to practice their teamwork, time management, communication, listening, writing, and presentation skills while collectively thinking about important issues.

To make the group activities relevant to their learning, I tried to select interesting and meaningful discussion topics. For example, during the first F2F class group activity, students were asked to reflect what it means to be an excellent student and lecturer. They were asked to discuss, identify and rank the “Top 10” characteristics/traits/behaviours of an excellent lecturer and student. By the end of the class we together had actually negotiated what to expect from one another throughout the semester. I told them that I will try my level best to be an excellent lecturer according to their terms (caring, punctual, open minded, effective teaching, etc.), and that I hoped that they could be an excellent student accordingly (hard working, self-disciplined, active participation, honest, etc.).

By the end of the semester we had managed to discuss and reflect collectively a lot of interesting and relevant topics including global warming, great thinkers and inventions, whether entrepreneurship is genetic or can be learned, the essence of beauty, whether all-star wrestling is real or not, and much more. During the learning process students had also managed to explore several useful thinking tools including mind mapping, six thinking hats, CoRT, and SWOT Analysis.

ONLINE FORUMS
Students were required to participate in two (2) online forums scheduled during the semester. Each forum carried 2.5 percent (total = 5%) of the course assessment evaluation. Assessment scheme for each forum was:

1.0 % - For your reflective response to the forum issue.
1.0 % - for reflecting, adding value or challenging at least one of your classmates’ responses.
0.5 % - for submitting your 1st response within the first week of the forum.

The assessment scheme was set to encourage early participation and threaded discussions (not just a list of short essay answers!).

In the first online forum, students were asked to argue who they thought was the greatest thinker of the 20th century, and in the second forum students were asked to discuss an invention (and the thinking process behind it) that had an influential impact on mankind.

Both forums turned out to be informative and dynamic. Especially, the first forum, where approximately 300 students joined one mega discussion, was a huge challenge beyond the capability of our in-house developed learning management system (LMS), and my browser. After having several mega headaches trying to manage and reflect hundreds of posts, I made sure in the second forum to chunk the discussion into groups based on the course sections, which were facilitated and marked by each individual tutor.

The good thing we can take from the online forums is that most students know about Wikipedia. The not so good thing was that many of the students simply copy/pasted from it without giving much thought, or any reference or credit to the source. Interestingly, a few students managed to copy/paste Aristotle, Plato and Socrates from Wikipedia (No comment!). There was even one case of a student copying another students’ excellent reflective answer from the forum itself, and then pasting it as his own answer with a minor change to the introduction and conclusion. Luckily, the student being plagiarised informed me about it, and I did the necessary to teach the plagiarizer a lesson he probably won’t forget.

Overall, it was a thrill to engage and discuss about great thinkers and inventions (and the struggles they went through) with the students, and many of them took these forums quite seriously, and some of their reflections and arguments were quite impressive. I was also impressed with some of the students’ reflective arguments for why they should get a better grade.

ONLINE QUIZ
Students had to take three small quizzes, each carrying five (5) percent of the course assessment evaluation. One (1) quiz was conducted during a F2F class and two (2) quizzes were conducted online. I gave the students the opportunity to do each online quiz (multiple-choice) from any place within a one week period.

In the first online quiz, I used randomization of questions (from a question pool) and shuffling of questions/answers, and I had deliberately created a tough one to awaken and challenge the students to think early on in the course. Interestingly, only 3 out of 272 who took the first online quiz got 100%.

The second online quiz was based on the module 4 (Fallacies). This time around I did not use randomization of questions, but I did continue with shuffling of questions/answers. 60 out of 285 managed to get 100%, which was an astonishing result (and perhaps a much easier quiz!). Interestingly, I had constructed a ‘Two Wrongs Make a Right’ fallacy in module 4 which says,

“I don’t feel guilty about cheating on Zaid’s online quiz. Half the class cheats on his quiz.”

Strangely enough, in one section a whopping 20 out of 42 got 100% correct. The results were impressive, but something was not right. Then I discovered that 17 out of these 20 with full marks had completed the quiz in less than 3 minutes. Other students who did the quiz took on the average more than 10 minutes to complete. Also, one of the students had come to my office during the quiz period with a friend (in a giggling mood!), claiming that someone else had logged in as her, and done her quiz (and gotten only 90%!). She asked me to reset her quiz. So, to give her a second chance, I reset her quiz. She took less than 2 minutes to get 100%.

I told the students in the next class that some of them had cheated on the online quiz, and asked those who had done it to come forward and admit their wrongdoing. I also told them about the quiz completion time discovery, and that I had a list of all those that are likely to be guilty, and that this was also a test of integrity and character. After the class, the guilty came forward one by one to apologize for their wrongdoing. Although, they did something wrong, they showed great character to come forward and admit their mistake. To my astonishment, one student made it clear to me that they did not cheat, but instead argued that they had collaborated together to succeed. Now, that got me to think that perhaps we could also conduct online group quizzes in the future, which could be useful to facilitate collaborative learning in a quiz competitive mode. I suppose we all learned a few lessons from this incident.

Finally, if you are planning to conduct online quizzes, keep in mind that you will never know who is actually doing the online quiz, unless you have a witness (proctored exam), or it is done in a computer lab with surveillance, so that you can verify who is actually doing it. But then again if students really want to cheat, they will find a way. Besides minimizing the possibility of cheating, it is perhaps more useful to encourage and practice good values and behaviours during the learning process. In short, we need to practice good values and behaviours ourselves first, before we can expect such things from our students. Look who’s talking!

GROUP PROJECT & PRESENTATION
In addition to three (3) quizzes, two (2) online forums, and group activities in each F2F session, students were required to work on a group project, which would be presented to the class some time during the last four (4) weeks of the course. They were required to research a problem or issue of their choice, and then write a recommendation report with constructive suggestions on how to deal with it. Interestingly, I made it compulsory that everyone in the group had to present some portion of their project during the group project presentation. While all shared the same grade for the group project (15%), each student was evaluated individually for the presentation session (10%).

Although, there were many interesting projects and engaging presentations, I suppose the video showed by one of the groups of a person dying from AIDS (last moments!), is something that until today still lingers in my head. Overall, it was good to see that most of the students were confident enough to present and not chicken out. Although, many of the presenters perhaps faced the slides and notes more than the audience, we have to give them credit, because they were also presenting and articulating their findings in English, which is their second language. I suppose with more practice and encouragement, they can master the ability to present confidently with less supporting aids.

FINAL EXAM
The final exams (50% of the total course evaluation) are conducted F2F at the students’ respective study centres. The ‘Critical Thinking’ course exam included a mixture of short essay and discussion type of questions. The final exam was divided into two sections:

Section A (20%) – They were given five (5) questions (answer all) to check their understanding on the core concepts learned in this course. They were required to (depending upon the question) identify, describe, differentiate, and give examples.
Section B (30%) - They were asked to identify the purpose (or main-point), analyze, evaluate and/or give their opinions/reasons/suggestions on an article, advertisement and a quote.

Having punished the students mentally to think-out-loud throughout the course, I suppose I made the final exam reasonably easy to pass (including juicy examination tips!), testing all the six (6) levels of Bloom’s taxonomy.

To be honest, I have never been a fan of final exams. If I had the choice I would instead add at least 30% of these marks for class participation (Currently only 5%). If I was to take any of those final exams I took during my undergraduate and graduate studies, I would surely fail this time around (Even if I got ‘A’ previously!). So, what are final exams measuring anyway? Then again, we cannot blame it on the final exam mode, but instead we should question those asking the questions.

RESULTS
Were students satisfied? It was encouraging to know that I averaged approximately 90% (you need at least 85% to me nominated for best lecturer award!) in the teaching/course evaluation survey over three (3) sections. However, it was more encouraging to learn that the total average for this course was around 85% (including the tutors’ results).

However, did learning take place? It is difficult to verify this one, but I know for sure that 92.9% of all the students taking this course (316) managed to pass it. I do have some positive and constructive comments to share here from a few students and tutors.

“(Student)…Thank you for your guidance and not forgetting your lively classes. It's been a month since the exam and I must say all the fallacies learnt remain and is being applied in everyday reading materials and at workplace with…”
”(Student)…Last but not least I would like to thank you for being "the teacher that inspires". I truly enjoyed myself in your class and would really look forward to being your student again (No.no.. I don't want to repeat Critical Thinking ..maybe for other subject)…”
"(Student)…Thank you very much for your quick reply. You are certainly a very good, efficient and helpful lecturer. From my experience, you are the second lecturer who have answered my questions during the holiday but for this semester the only one. They should be more lecturers like you…”
”(Student)… honestly I have learned a lot from this course, not only in thinking, but more than what I could describe here. Really enjoyed your class and the way you teach has definitely changed the way I looked at learning myself...”
“(Tutor)…Your Forum 2 question is very interesting and the rules and regulations suggested are good. That will make the students send in their answers earlier…It’s nice having you as the course leader. You are so efficient and informative.”
“(Tutor)…I must let you know that I am very happy with your approach to the critical thinking course. It has such a fresh and imaginative look. The slides are so attractive and I like the F2F Lesson Plan. It keeps us aware on how you (as a course leader) look at things. Please keep that up…”

Now this is pleasing to my ego! As for Kirkpatrick’s levels of evaluation 3 and 4, it is difficult to provide any concrete evidence, except for comments such as the ones above. But let’s hope that students can apply some the thinking skills learned during the course and gain some positive results in their studies, work and life. Actually, I should track these 316 students down and find out!

AREAS TO IMPROVE?
One year has passed since I revamped the ‘Critical Thinking’ course. I only managed to facilitate this course for one semester, and then the top management argued that I could be more effective to the University doing other things than actually teaching students. Luckily, the course is still being taught and that they are still using my little contribution to ‘Critical Thinking’ at the undergraduate level.

However, having become one year wiser (or dumber!) and discovered through reading what is needed to survive in places like Microsoft or Google, I believe this ‘Critical Thinking’ course needs to be constructively destroyed and reengineered.

Here are a few things that I would do, if I had the chance to revamp it again:

Challenging Puzzles/Exercises – I would add new puzzles and thinking exercises to challenge the students’ analytical, imaginative and problem solving skills to the level they can expect from a Microsoft or Google interview. Give them a taste of it, which might actually accelerate their motivation to learn.
Leaner Modules - Streamline the modules to consist of fewer topics and concepts, and instead spend more time on each element, enabling students to have more time to learn, practice and reflect before moving on. Especially, the 'Arguments' module would be totally revamped (simplify and focus), which was too much based on the book (Critical Thinking: A Student's Introduction’), due to my lack of knowledge in this area.
Online Tools - Would use more tools such as online surveys/polls (to gather students' opinions and collectively reflect) and perhaps LAMS (Learning Activity Management System), which could be useful for sequencing and managing thinking activities such as Six Thinking hats. Also, I would request students to use wikis to work on their group projects, enabling me to follow the progress of the project. In addition, it would be interesting to explore 3D virtual worlds like Second Life and examine how it can nurture and motivate students to think-out-loud in such environments. In short, I would use more online learning tools to facilitate thinking beyond the physical classroom.
More Videos – Although, I did use a few YouTube videos to stimulate thinking during the first round, I would probably embed more short videos this time around to engage the mind and bring the class to life.
New Dream Thinking Team – Although, I would probably keep Master Yoda and Mr. Bean in my team, I would try to include local cartoons, such as LAT (if possible).

To improve my coaching or facilitation skills I would explore, study and reflect videos of well-known educators in formal and informal education around the world, which can today be easily accessed for free through YouTube channels (Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, etc.) or other video sharing sites (e.g. VIDEOLECTURES.net). In short, the only thing stopping us from becoming a good educator is our reluctance to learn, explore and challenge ourselves continuously (and a good Internet connection!).

In short, the ‘Critical Thinking’ course would be revamped again to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

CONCLUSION
Oh man, you are still reading! Alright, I will have to say a few more things before I take off to my next learning adventure. First, if you ask me, I would not get so obsessed in trying to differentiate critical, creative, innovative or inventive thinking (learning and thinking prefers no human constructed borders!) during class, but instead focus increasingly on finding new ways to nurture and infuse more thinking into the students’ learning process for all courses, so that when they graduate it has become a habit for life.

Also, I would strongly recommend that we continue to have at least one or two courses that explore thinking and thinking tools intensively, enabling us to flex our imaginative, creative and analytical thinking muscles (e.g. using six thinking hats, SWOT, Disney Creativity Strategy, and ‘Five Ws and H’). In addition, we could always use our analytical imagination to create new thinking tools.

If you ask me, I would argue that the essence of all thinking boils down to asking QUESTIONS. And we all can do that, and therefore we all have the ability to think. Which fallacy did I just commit?

If we can encourage students to ask more questions, going beyond the compartments of their disciplines, and increasingly nurture the courage in them to explore new ideas, we are probably on the right track.

I remember way back in 1992, I had just finished my high school certificate (similar to A-Levels) at Ullern Gymnas (Oslo, Norway), and had just managed to scrape through. I was so sick of formal education that I made a promise to myself to never study again.

Here I am in 2008, sharing my experiences on facilitating “Critical Thinking’ to undergraduate students at UNITAR, in Malaysia. You just never know :)

Original Post

Coaching Critical Thinking to Think Creatively! (March 12th, 2008)

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IMU Learning Series 04 - The Art of Diagnosis

2010-06-23T23:30:00.000-07:00

I teach medical students in the IMU Clinical School at Batu Pahat. These students are in their final semester of the MBBS program. They undergo their senior clerkship training here before appearing for their final examination. The senior clerkship program is designed to train these students make the transition from medical student to doctor.

3 GUIDING PRINCIPLES

My job here is largely to show them how to blend their scientific knowledge with the art needed to practice the discipline of internal medicine. Three principles guide me in this role.

The first is not to be a trader. Traders, as you know, sell in retail what they have bought wholesale. If I catch myself merely dishing out information from books and journals, I know I have violated this principle.
The second is to always remember that what the student does for learning is more important than what the teacher does for teaching. This comes in handy whenever I plan my classes.
The third is to be aware that the learning process is akin to the lighting of a candle and not to the filling of an empty vessel.

THE ART OF DIAGNOSIS

The art of diagnosis in Internal Medicine is in many ways similar to that of putting together the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. I show students the mental processes involved in fitting together the clues they get from the history, physical examination and investigations of their patients. To put it another way, if the knowledge these students already have from their books can be compared to alphabets, my job is to teach them how to form words and meaningful sentences.

I try to impress on my students that understanding involves more than simply hearing the spoken words of their patients. I emphasize the importance of listening with both ears and eyes, for body language is important too. As Wilfred Trotter, an English neurosurgeon once said – “diseases often reveal their secrets in casual parenthesis”. What patients say, and how they say it, can both provide clues to the diagnosis.

The hospital environment is filled with disease, death and suffering. It is not uncommon for health care workers to be adversely affected emotionally because of it. I make my students aware of this and I encourage them to find ways to develop that protective space within them which Dr. Stephen R. Covey has called ‘the space between stimulus and response’ in one of his books. For it is in that space that we can choose our responses to what we see and find around us.

When I teach these young medical students, I am often reminded of these words from a poem by Khalil Gibran: Your children are not your children for they are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you. And though they are with you yet they belong not to you…… You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday……

As a coach, I am therefore always aware that the students under my care have the potential to reach heights that I cannot. That, paradoxically, makes me both humble and proud.

Velayudhan Menon, MD

MedTutor - Learning to Think!

IMU Learning Series 03 - My Experiences as a Lecturer

2010-06-14T00:27:00.000-07:00

MY FIRST FEW YEARS…

I remember my first few years as a lecturer between 1995 and 1998. I entered the classroom ready to go! I enjoyed lecturing the students and sharing knowledge with them. I saw them struggle and succeed. I loved being in the classroom! I woke up each morning, excited to go to university. The hardest part of my first few years as a lecturer, was not what happened in the lecture hall. The hardest part was what took place after a grueling university day - the preparation. My life consisted of two parts: at university, and preparing for university.

The paperwork was overwhelming for me. Letters from the office room, notes from parents, queries from the students, papers to mark, mail of every sort, articles someone found interesting, fundraisers, permission slips, purchase forms for the lab materials, and my own lists. In addition to the above schedule was my regular pathology hospital work every morning from 8 am to 10 am.

In the evenings, if I were able to go back in time, I would tell myself to relax! While teachers are amazing, and somewhat resemble superheroes, we don't have to do everything! Decide what is important and don't stress over the rest!

LEARNING EXPERIENCES

Coming to think of it, I have had several moments of experiences during these 15 years: the best, the worst, the funniest, and the most embarrassing experiences of my teaching career.

During my first year as a regular medical lecturer, I was teaching in a dental college, in a class that had managed - with their attitudes and behaviors - to drive out their former pathology lecturer. One day, in a burst of rage and frustration, I uttered the words “Jesus Christ!” Soon after, someone left a picture of Jesus Christ himself on my desk. It was a humbling lesson in self-control and in not letting students get the better of me.

What did I learn from the experience? That you're never too old to learn!

One day, I explained a concept to one of my post graduate pathology classes. That afternoon while reviewing what I had done, I realized that I had made a mistake in my explanation. The next day, I started class with the words 'I am sorry,' and then I gave the correct explanation. Instead of being angry, the students clapped and thanked me for acknowledging my mistake!

Lesson learned: Do not be afraid to accept responsibility for your errors.

WORST EXPERIENCE?

One of my worst experiences as a lecturer to post graduate medical students on Pathology was a senior student who just didn't want to learn to use technology – computers, microscopes, histokinete, immunohistochemistry, etc (We had to train these PG students to be future lecturers too, in addition to being specialists). He had made up his mind that technology was something he was not going to get involved with. Moreover, he was rude. He talked when I was talking, did everything except what was asked of him, and basically refused to be part of the class. I tried standing close to his desk, asking if he needed help, ignoring him… It was hopeless. To make matters worse, he was a doctor in his mid-30s whom many others looked up to.

During one histopathology laboratory training session, I reached a point where I couldn't take it anymore. I asked the class to stop and listen. I told them I understood that some people didn't want to be there and if they didn't want to participate, they should leave so others could learn. I didn't have a problem with them leaving, I told them - although I would be required to note down their names - but if they stayed, I said (looking directly at the offender), they had to be quiet and participate. I also pointed out that if their students acted the way some of them were acting, they would be assigned punishment. Then I stood behind the person causing the problems. He quieted down after that; although he didn't always follow the assigned tasks, he did stop complaining. Later, though, I heard him talking in the hall about how I was treating him like a child and had embarrassed him in front of the rest of the class.

About five years later, he went on to lecture in the same University, while practicing in the same hospital. When he met me, he chuckled about the episode. He now is a big user of technology. He never actually apologized to me, but when other lecturers had problems, he helped them and told them they should pay attention to what he was saying.

BEST EXPERIENCES?
The best teaching experiences occur when you see the light bulbs flicking on and know they understand. I have had the pleasure of training many people, some with weak thinking skills and so scared they are going to break something that they are afraid to do anything. When they learn that they can do something they never imagined they could do, or realize that the science and technology will save them time, a wave of enthusiasm washes over them. It is such a nice thing to be a part of.

The very best moments are when someone you've taught tells you that you are extremely patient (I am not normally a very patient person, but add critical sarcasm in my lecturing conversations!) or comes back later to tell you how much they've used the skill you taught them, or how what you taught them has helped them be a better doctor.

Another great moment is when they are so excited about what you are teaching them that they constantly comment about how much it will help them, or how much fun they are having.

Those are the lessons you wish you could repeat over and over. They are what keep us doing what we do!

The Vanishing Art of Lecturing (Prof. K. Ramnarayan)

2010-06-09T03:01:00.000-07:00

PURPOSE OF A LECTURE?

Inspire
Influence
Inform

On the 24th May 2010, Prof. K. Ramnarayan (Vice Chancellor of Manipal University) conducted an inspiring lecture entitled 'The Vanishing Art of Lecturing' at the International Medical University (IMU), Bukit Jalil (Main Campus).

To cut the story short, let's enjoy and reflect this amazing and inspiring lecture below, chunked into three (3) parts:

PART I

PART II

PART III

To summarize in his own words, lectures should be:

Lively
Educative
Creative
Thought (provoking)
Understandable
Relevant
Enjoyable

Let's scrutinize and reflect his lecture a couple of times (or more), and then ask ourselves, "How can I be more inspiring uncovering what I am covering in a more exciting manner..."

Click here, to discover and enjoy IMU's inspiring e-Learning stream on Facebook :)

IMU Learning Series 02 - Enthusiasm is Contagious...

2010-06-07T04:03:00.000-07:00

CONTAGIOUS?
Enthusiasm is contagious, but so is the lack of it.

When Zaid approached me to share my teaching experiences and thoughts on the e-Learning Blog, I was hesitant. With two (2) years of teaching experience under my belt, I’m not exactly an ‘old-hand’ at teaching. What can I possibly share that will benefit the person reading this blog?

PERHAPS THIS:

It’s been commented that I’m rather enthusiastic when giving a lecture. When I’m enthusiastic about my teaching, my enthusiasm persuades the students that the learning session is worth their time. With persuasion comes action. When the subject matter grabs the students’ attention, it encourages them to think for themselves while exercising intellectual humility. Enthusiasm is contagious, but more dangerously so is the lack of it.

ENTHUSIASM TO INSPIRE
In my enthusiasm to inspire learning, I try to:

Keep my lectures real
I feel that it is important for the student to see the relevance of the subject matter they seek to understand. To create relevance, we have to tie in textbook to real-life. For example, during a lecture on proteins I brought in a can of Diet Coke and started the lecture learning process by asking my students what connection they see between the canned beverage and my lecture. Proteins became intriguing.
Introduce some form of ‘theatrics’
For lectures involving a dry subject matter I sometimes bring in a bit of drama. During a lengthy lecture series on human lactation, I brought the students’ attention to news about a lactating father who breastfed his infant. This bit of news made the students suddenly interested in the physiology of lactation.
Engage student participation
During each first meeting with my students, I stress that there is no such thing as a stupid question during my watch. If there are no questions from the students, I will ask the questions. Once a student answers the question, the class indicate their agreement (or disagreement) with the given answer. Lucky students are then nominated to explain why they agreed, or disagreed with their classmate.
Include a commercial break
Someone once told me that the human mind can only take so much of non-stop information after which it gets saturated. Once saturation sets in, minds start to wander. This is when I see a yawn here, a glazed look there and a private discussion at the back of the classroom. Depending on the length of my lecture slots, I try to introduce a form of commercial break in feasible intervals. Recharge sessions can come in the form of a 5-minute bathroom break, a video screening or even a group activity.
Stay motivated
This motivation is for me. Having to teach the same subject matter over and over again, takes its toll. Having to lecture while other job responsibilities weigh heavily on my mind, takes its toll. I constantly source for motivational quotes and stories that keep me positive and enthusiastic about what I do.

That’s about all I have to say.

IMU Learning Series 01 - That is Soooooo Mr. Alex!

2010-05-31T19:10:00.000-07:00

My name is Alexius Cheang and I am a Psychology lecturer at IMU. I also work part-time as a Sport Psychology consultant to the national athletes at the National Sports Institute. I find these two (2) jobs to be very rewarding for me as I can guide students and athletes alike in becoming better people and assisting them in reaching their true potential.

In all honesty, I don’t like to teach. Neither do I like to lecture. In fact, I resist doing these 2 things. What I do instead is to try to make every class session a learning opportunity that challenges the mindset of the students. Sometimes it works (Hooray!) and sometimes I end up with egg on my face (Aaargh!). But I keep on trying with the aim of achieving at least one “A-ha!” moment in each class. By the way, an ‘A-ha’ moment is best described as when a light bulb goes on in your head, where an insight into a previously murky concept suddenly becomes crystal clear. This is quite difficult to achieve all the time but when it does happen, it feels so rewarding.

What then do I do in class, you may ask? Well, my educational philosophy has been to create a safe environment in the classroom in order to encourage interaction and sharing of experiences. It can either be from my perspective (fortunately I have a lot of life experiences) or from among the students providing their own unique take on life. My goal is to make whatever material I have to cover for that day come to life, so that its not just some theory or fact that we have to learn (or memorise!), but instead an opus of discovery that we journey on together.

HOW?
How do I do that? First and foremost, I use a variety of audio-visual aids to attract (and hopefully sustain) the attention of the students. I have been known to use video clips, music videos, various graphics, and even subliminal message audio clips playing in the background! Don’t worry, I was just trying to demonstrate that they don’t work ;-)

I then use my PowerPoint slides to focus their attention by incorporating at least 1 picture per slide that figuratively sums up the information on that slide. For example, if I am talking about Freud’s concept of the unconscious, I will incorporate a picture of an iceberg as it sums up the idea that we are only aware of the top 10% that is above water while the remaining 90% below water level represents our unconscious desires that are hidden from view. This visual representation really helps the students to understand concepts better. In fact, some pictures may generate discussion on their own among the students which is great for class interaction, especially since I do not limit myself to using only ‘safe’ pictures.

In order to reinforce the aspect that the material covered can be applied to everyday life and is therefore relevant, I may assign students to answer questionnaires, both paper and pencil and online versions (they love to discover a bit more about themselves), do presentations that allow them to express their creativity and understand others (such as acting that they have a personality disorder like Monk), or challenge them to write in-depth analyses about themselves after priming them with movies that for the lack of a better word are ‘weird’. This last strategy has even led to students to comment, “That is soooooo Mr. Alex!” when describing the types of movies I show them. That of course just makes me happier and reinforces in me that I am on the right track in challenging them and getting them out of their comfort zones.

However, if I were asked which one strategy I have found to be the most effective, I would have to say that treating students as equals works best. When due respect is accorded to them, being open minded and non-judgmental to their thoughts and sharing becomes second nature. In this environment, I believe real learning takes place where equality is not just a concept but a reality. There is much to learn from students. After all, I don’t have all the answers… I just guide them on their journey.

SUMMING UP!
All in all, I really do find meaning in what I do. I find that the students sustain me and keep me going. Despite the hours of preparation involved for each class, I thoroughly enjoy the process of continually challenging myself to reach greater heights and try out new ways of doing things for the students. Incorporating technology into my classes has always been my style. In fact, I have been saving all sorts of odd and funny e-mail attachments for years now in the hope that one day I can spring it on my unsuspecting students and hear them cry out, “That is soooooo Mr. Alex!”

Einztein - Find FREE Online Courses!

2010-05-31T00:00:00.000-07:00

Einztein

"Openness plants seeds for future innovation. The work of many universities around open content has contributed to an ecosystem for innovation. Einztein is the latest company to try and add a value layer to freely available educational material. More and more of these companies will appear in the near future offering a combination of aggregation of open content, a central place to discover courses, tools to run aggregate courses, discussion forums for learners, and general course management tools (enrolling, sharing with other profs, grading, etc.). " - George Siemens

WHAT?
Einztein, a non-profit headquartered in Santa Monica, California, is the brainchild of three democratizers of education who believe in a world where learning should be a function of desire not privilege. Einztein serves as a one-stop campus from which online learners can easily explore the universe of free online courses delivered by any combination of text, audio, video and other media. Whether you already know the course you’re looking for, or you just have a general idea, the purpose of Einztein is to make online courses easy to find. All courses featured on Einztein are hand picked, by their PhD level editorial team, based on their completeness and quality (Source).

In short, Einztein is a great starting point to find free quality online courses. Though, I would like to note that I did find broken course links and courses with no substantial content, so the editorial team needs be 'more picky'. Perhaps, include a few non-PhD level e-learning professionals (such as myself...) to ensure more completeness and quality :)

Discover IMU E-Learning on Facebook!

2010-05-18T19:48:00.000-07:00

CLICK HERE to discover IMU E-Learning on Facebook!

WHAT?

Facebook will be one of the main tools that we (IMU E-Learning) use to connect and share our e-learning adventures and stories as we explore, learn, share, facilitate and reflect together with IMU (International Medical University) educators, staff, and students regarding the amazing learning possibilities we have today.

As we are in the early stages of exploring social media (social networking, wikis, blogs, podcasts, Twitter, etc.) for learning at IMU, we hope that by openly sharing our learning stories, we will increasingly encourage more to participate and share. More and more universities or educational institutions around the world are exploring social media for learning, and we hope that our experiences shared can benefit others out there, especially new comers. Also, we do hope that this sharing initiative will lead to more connections and discussions with educators and students at IMU and beyond.

We have so much to learn, and by sharing and connecting with great people like you, we can learn faster and more effectively using our collective intelligence, or wisdom of the crowds (Oops, a few big words!).

Some might argue that you lose your competitive (e-learning) edge by being open and willing to share. I would argue that if you want to be leader in any field, you have to share your work and efforts, and be open to feedback and criticism. If you reflect and act upon these nuggets of feedback and criticism, you are probably going to improve faster than sticking to the old paradigm emphasizing indirectly that 'Hoarding Learning (knowledge, competencies and skills) is Power!'.

It should be 'Sharing Learning is Power'. Not much can be done alone, but it is amazing what we can do together collectively.

INGREDIENTS
We are using the Facebook Page feature to share our e-learning adventures and stories. Here you will find the following tabs (sections):

The Wall
Enjoy the learning stream, and please share your ideas, feedback (Like!) and comments, too.
Blog
Here you can get easily access all the learning stories and resources explored on IMU E-Learning blog.
Discussions
Here you can participate and share your thoughts and ideas on how we can improve learning at IMU, or anything related to learning, facilitation, creativity, innovation, etc.
Video
For now we will mostly upload screencasts exploring the different learning tools explored during the workshops, and discuss how we could use them for developing more sizzling learning environments or content.
Pictures
Pictures from all e-learning related events and workshops. So, if you have attended one, we might have caught a nice picture of you learning, or perhaps ______ :)
Links
Resource links (URL) to amazing learning resources from around the world. Most of these amazing learning resource links are shared through IMU E-Learning blog, which collects and tries to make sense of them via refreshing resource collections.

IMU E-Learning Facebook Page is still very much under construction, so you can probably expect some interesting surprises as we explore and discover further.

MOVING ON!

Currently, most of the learning stories and resources shared on the Facebook Page are from the e-learning team, but we are working with several lecturers to share their learning stories, and will soon be encouraging several students to share their learning stories, too.

We are also working on a website (using Google Sites) entitled the 'Learning Innovation Lab', which will enable...(still under construction). For this social media learning sharing initiative we will be mostly using technology that is free and reasonably easy-to-use, meaning that anyone interested in doing something similar (or better!) to what we are doing, can do that without needing worry too much about hardware, software and hosting budgets (big zero!). Though, you would require time to do it, but if you see the value and have the passion, you will most likely find the time.

The good thing today, is that we have so many learning tools and possibilities to potentially use to facilitate learning. The sad thing is that due to that fact, many of us are obviously facing information (and tools) overload, and are clueless where to start.

In a learning shell, how do we use emerging (and old) learning tools to facilitate sizzling learning environments? How do we use learning tools and open educational resources to nurture students to ask deeper and more reflective questions, master their learning areas, think more creatively and innovatively, discover their passion, and eventually inspire them to become, or achieve their ultimate dreams (even the impossible)?

Let's explore the possibilities together :)

172 Interactive Health Tutorials and 32 EduGames!

2010-05-03T20:44:00.000-07:00

How Does Your Brain Understand What Your Ear Hears?

Answer: Learn Genetics

Not sure if that was correct, but the two (2) links or resources above are certainly worth exploring. I just came across a very interesting blog post by Jeffery Goldman exploring e-Learning and Games in Healthcare, and from there I extracted some very interesting resources, and mashed them up with some other Medical online resources discovered earlier...

172 Interactive Health Tutorials

If you haven't seen this amazingly healthy resource repository yet, it is about time! Just CLICK HERE to access 172 interactive health education resources (might have increased since I counted!) from the Patient Education Institute. Using animated graphics each tutorial explains a procedure or condition in easy-to-read language. You can also listen to the tutorials, and access the text summaries. Not bad!

NOTE: These tutorials require a special Flash plug-in, version 8 or above. If you do not have Flash, you will be prompted to obtain a free download of the software before you start the tutorial.

To get a taste of what I mean, here are 10 relevant interactive health tutorials (from the 172) to get you going and excited:

Back Pain - How to Prevent (Need that one!)
H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu)
Breast Cancer
Migraine Headache
Diabetes - Introduction
HIV and AIDS
Malaria
CT Scan (CAT Scan)
Managing Stress
Exercising for a Healthy Life

However, please keep in mind the terms of use if you are planning to share some of these tutorials with your students. In short, these tutorials can solely be used for our personal education... To be on the safe side, just link them to the repository page, and avoid deep linking, which the Patient Education Institute is terrified of.

Oops, I might have broken the law here, but if so, please correct me.

32 EDUGAMES

Now, what about free EduGames (Educational Games) related to Medicine and health (without needing to worry about deep linking)?

Here is a sizzling collection of free EduGames related to health, medicine and life (more EduGames!):

Deep Brain Stimulation
Help Dr. Vanessa Mei cut, probe and drill her way to helping her patient cope with a movement disorder through brain surgery!
AIDtoCHILDREN
The game will help to expand your vocabulary and help children in need while doing so. For every correct answer they will donate .25 cents to children in need.
Re-Mission
Understand cancer better and develop a positive attitude toward defeating it.
WFP Foodforce
Understand world hunger and efforts to alleviate it.
The POD Game
Dispense drugs and medical advice to people during an emergency. Using this game, you can enhance your efforts to teach staff and volunteers to work efficiently and sensitively with the public to maximize throughput in times of crisis.
Blood Typing
In this game you have to blood type each patient and give them a blood transfusion.
Virtual Hip Surgery - Total Hip Replacement Surgery
Take on the role of the Surgeon throughout a hip replacement surgery!
Virtual Knee Surgery - Total Knee Replacement
Take on the role of the Surgeon throughout a total knee replacement surgery.
The Ear Pages
Sound is caused by changes of pressure in the air that is transformed into nerve impulses in the inner ear. Explore "The Ear Pages" and collect the snail shaped symbols to gain points in the quiz!
NANOSWARM
The NANOSWARM’s story is set in the year 2030 — a time when there is no war, no crime and no hunger. The reader meets five teenagers interning at MECHS, the world’s leading research center. Each struggles with MECHS’ stringent diet and exercise requirements. Scientists there are on the verge of eradicating all disease when a mysterious infection becomes an epidemic. After one of the interns is stricken, the other teens pilot a miniaturized vessel inside his body to discover the source of outbreak.
Immune Attack
An educational video game that introduces basic concepts of human immunology to high school and entry-level college students. It aims to excite students about the subject, while also illuminating general principles and detailed concepts of immunology.
The Immune System Defender
Ilya Mechnikov, inserted a thorn into a larva and noticed strange cells gathering around the thorn. The cells were eating any foreign substances entering the ruptured skin (devouring cells). Play the game to learn more!
Whack TB (Tuberculosis)
There are almost 9 million new cases of TB each year; about 500,000 of these cases are resistant to the best TB drugs available to fight them. Play this game and learn more about fighting TB!” From the Families USA Global Health Initiative.
Escape from Diab
Is a serious videogame adventure in healthy eating and exercise. It puts players inside a sci-fi action and adventure where healthy lifestyle choices are the keys to winning.
The Incredible Adventures of the Amazing Food Detective
There has been a mysterious outbreak of unhealthy habits among kids, and we need to solve these cases. All junior food detectives will get secret training on how to eat right and exercise. Have fun playing the game!
The Food Detectives Fight BAC!
The game gives kids a fun way to learn about foodborne illness. From New Mexico State University.
Snacktown Smackdown
In this game, the player takes on the identity of a Kid Wisdom "agent" in a race to save the town from the evil Mayor's plans. After gathering healthy snacks for ammo and traversing a treacherous playground, the player must battle three possessed vending machines.
Fatworld
A video game about the politics of nutrition. It explores the relationships between obesity, nutrition, and socioeconomics in the contemporary U.S.
WaterBusters!
A game to teach tips for water conservation around the home.
Energyville
It’s up to you to provide enough power to meet the energy demands of your city’s 3.9 million people while keeping them prosperous, secure, and living in a clean environment. The implications of the energy decisions you make today for your city in 2015 are based on the current lifestyles and the projected energy demands and costs for developed countries throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
ElectroCity
ElectroCity is a new online computer game that lets players manage their own virtual towns and cities. It teaches players about energy, sustainability and environmental management in New Zealand.
Ayiti - The Cost of Life
What is it like to live in poverty? Find out now in this challenging role playing game in which you take responsibility for a family of five in rural Haiti. From UNICEF with Microsoft support.
Stop Disasters
The online game aims at teaching people on how to build safer villages and cities against disasters. Multiple languages. Good teacher resources.
Real Life Simulations
That let you experience life as, for example, a peasant farmer in Bangladesh, a factory worker in Brazil, a policeman in Nigeria, a lawyer in the US, or a computer operator in Poland, among others.
3rd World Farmer
It 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.
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.
Global Warming Interactive
Is a web based multi-user educational game which explores the relationship of global warming to economic, political and science policy decisions (intended for the high school user).
Quest Atlantis
Help students understand social studies, environmental concerns, current events, and scientific standards.
Deliver The Net Game
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.
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.
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.
FreeRice
Give free rice to hungry people by playing a simple game that increases your knowledge (vocabulary, language, maths, geography, chemistry, etc). For each answer you get right, they donate 10 grains of rice through the UN World Food Program to help end hunger.

These e-learning resources (above) should keep us busy for a while, learning healthier ways of life, and hopefully the EduGames can offload some of the information overload :)

Facebook for Learning? Boleh!

2010-04-20T00:35:00.000-07:00

Click here to view the Articulate version

DOWNLOAD

MP3 and Articulate Version (Unzip before viewing)
Slideshare Version

LEARNING SESSION
This week's learning session explored Facebook and how we can use it to facilitate learning. As expected, thanks to the juicy topic 'Facebook', we had a full house (e-learning lab, I mean!). Only 25 were allowed to register, but we ended up with 32 participants, which just illustrates that Facebook is an interesting topic.

For those of you who missed the learning session, here is the slidecast version from SlideShare:

Facebook For Learning? Boleh!

View more presentations from Zaid Alsagoff.

LET'S DO IT!
Based on our recent poll the majority of both Academic staff (66.7) and students (67.8) that participated think that IMU should use Facebook for e-learning.

But, where to start?

To get your Facebook social learning space moving, why not for starters create a 'Facebook Group' (especially if you want to have a closed group)?

STEP-BY-STEP
Here are two screencast tutorials exploring how to create a Facebook Group and how we could use it to facilitate learning:

Part 1 - Creating a 'Facebook Group'

Part 2 - Exploring Facebook Group Features

But...

Why not combine Moodle (E-learning Portal) and Facebook to facilitate online learning environments that sizzles :)

REFLECTION
If you are wondering how long it took to record the narration (audio) for the 'Facebook for Learning? Boleh!' presentation (41 min) and the two (2) screencast tutorials (5 x 2 min = 10 min), it took actually a whole day. I started 9.30 am in the morning, and completed all recordings by 7.30 pm in the evening. If we minus the lunch break and prayers, I probably spent 7.5 working hours to record the above.

The toughest part was recording the 2 screencasts, because I initially had no clue of what to record or say, and I didn't finish them before 4 pm. I used Screenr (a free tool) to develop the two screencasts, and it is a very user-friendly tool to record anything happening on your screen (other screencasting tools).

Though, Screenr has three (3) major minus points. One, is that you are limited to recording 5 minute sessions (perhaps positive in terms of instructional design and forcing you to be more precise and concise), and that can get annoying if you are recording and just cannot make the 5 minute time-line. If you listen carefully, you will notice this on both the screencasts I recorded. I had to also re-record twice, because I just missed the time line. I suppose I need to chunk it up more in the future, and perhaps use an audio script.

Now, that leads us to the 2nd minus point, which is that you cannot edit what you have recorded. Meaning basically that you have to perfect your recording, or keep on recording until you are satisfied. Post-editing, ability to zoom, adding annotations, and desktop version (offline) would be great, but I suspect Articulate is saving that for the commercial version in the near future. Let's hope I am wrong :)

Thirdly, you cannot record another screencast, while you are uploading and publishing the first one (please correct me if I am wrong!). And if you have a slow connection, now that gets annoying! There should be a feature allowing you to record another screencast, while waiting for the first one to be uploaded. Now that would be useful!

But, besides that Screenr is great. Alright, let's move on! As for recording audio for the presentation slides used during our Facebook workshop, I used Articulate. Since the slides were ready, and I had some idea what to say (no audio script though, which is obvious!), so I managed to record the narration for the presentation (including adding animations and annotations) in roughly three (3) hours. Meaning, it took roughly 4.4 times longer to record, compared to the presentation's actual length (41 min). Not bad, but certainly I would love to do it faster. Practice, Reflect, Improve, Practice, Practice...

Besides publishing the Articulate version, I published the podcast version, and extracted the audio, which was uploaded and synchronized to the SlideShare version, to create a screencast. Finally, I uploaded both the MP3 and Articulate version (Zip format) to the Internet Archive enabling anyone to download both formats and explore them further offline.

A quicker approach would be to simply video record the workshop and dump the recording on the web. The approach I took was certainly more exhaustive than simply video recording the workshop, but in the long run this approach could perhaps add more value (learning) and spark more interest to whoever is exploring.

What do you think? :)

Used Articulate (I-Lecture) to Present in Estonia

2010-04-18T17:30:00.000-07:00

Click here to view the talk (in Articulate format)

DOWNLOAD

Articulate & MP3 versions (ZIP format)
Slideshare version (include audio)

CONFERENCE

Part 1
On Sunday evening (11/04/2010), I got this interesting e-mail from Marko Puusaar...

Great! But he forgot to tell me when (which he did in the next e-mail), and after checking the website, I realized my short talk was scheduled on 16th of April (anytime between 4pm - 6pm Malaysian time). Luckily (this time around), I am supposed to present online and not in Estonia.

And then I was thinking, what should I talk about? This is an International e-Learning Conference in Estonia, entitled: E-Learning - A Serious Game. My 15-minute talk (during a parallel session) needs to explore the theme: Searching for Inspiration.

"Creative and "out of the box" thinking is a valuable asset for everyone. During this two hour TEDx style session we will try to see what inspires us and how does it make us creative even in the most limited situations and environments? Speakers from all over the World will share their experiences about being creative and free of limitations."

Yes, I certainly need some quick inspiration, that is for sure! But, then on Monday evening I got a spark of inspiration to talk about Creativity and how I have tried to infuse some of it into my blogging adventure at ZaidLearn. If you think about it, it was ZaidLearn that got me into trouble (in a positive way), so why not use it to perhaps get me out of it.

By Tuesday early afternoon, the presentation slides were finalized, and then another spark of inspiration just popped into my mind.

Instead of conducting a live online talk, why not record the talk using Articulate, and then they can watch the presentation whenever they want. And by doing so, I can instead spend more time to interact with the participants to share ideas and experiences.

By Wednesday (14/04) morning, my Articulate presentation was completed and sent to Marko Puusaar (links above). Also, I published the podcast version (MP3) using Articulate, so that they have access to both formats. We all know how Steve Jobs feels about 'Flash' content :)

Then, I uploaded the PowerPoint slides and audio to Slideshare to create a 'slidecast', and here you can enjoy (or bore) yourself with my so called TED(dy) talk, entitled 'Creativity and ZaidLearn' :

Creativity & ZaidLearn

View more presentations from Zaid Alsagoff.

Part 2
Here is the breakdown of the parallel session (full programme) I participated in:

Searching for Inspiration
16th April 2010 11:30 - 13:30

11:30 -Moving Windmills: The William Kamkwamba Story (video)- 6 min
11:40 - Zaid Ali Alsagoff - Creativitiy and ZaidLearn
12:10 - Richard St. John's 8 secrets of Success (video) - (video) 4 min
12:20 - Erkki Pung - Creativity and inspiration in the design world
12:40 - To be updated!
13:00 - Jüri Vilipõld - Teaching programming through games by using Scratch
13:10 - Ken Robinson says schools kill Creativity - (video) 20 min
13:30 - We are done

An action-pact 2 hours session, including three (3) inspiring videos (links above). Here is a screen shot from the parallel session (small group) from my Skype view:

Luckily, they watched a recorded (Articulate) session, because the audio connection was not too good, and the video buffered consistently (meaning the screen-sharing option would have been a disaster!). Though, I have to admit it is more stressful watching people watch me talk than actually doing a live talk. After the talk, we had a Q&A session via Skype (only one question: What do you think is the future of Blogging?). Then I watched the rest of the parallel session through my Skype view. The other two (2) presenters were very interesting.

REFLECTION
Of course, it is always tough listening to our own voice (unless we are used to it!). However, listening to our own voice talking about our own work is even more difficult. I have always preferred to talk about other people's achievements and innovations. So, listening to myself talking 20 minutes about my learning blog, was really tough. The picture above, basically sums up how I felt during the parallel session.

Anyway, I enjoyed the whole learning process. In addition, I should keep in mind that this 22-minute Articulate presentation (from slide conceptualization to publishing, including no audio script) was developed in roughly 10 hours (working hours!), so I can't complain too much. Also, the learning experience has inspired me with tons of new ideas on how I can improve further.

Meaning, you will hopefully see many more Articulate presentations and screencasts (examples) from the E-Learning Department to educate and inspire more IMU staff to explore and use e-learning to teach, engage, and inspire... :)

Should We Use Facebook for E-Learning at IMU?

2010-04-06T20:43:00.000-07:00

Next Wednesday (14/4/2010), we will be conducting a workshop for faculty and students (only 25 participants) exploring how we could use Facebook for learning (or e-learning). For example, lecturers could use Facebook (Groups or Pages) to facilitate online discussions, sharing links and resources, conducting Q&A sessions, uploading field trip/project photos and videos, and much more. Using Facebook for e-learning, is not about replacing existing e-learning platforms at IMU (e.g. Moodle), but about empowering educators and students with more tools to engage, interact, share and learn.

But, before exploring the possibilities (discussed in the next post), it would be great to know (in general) how academic staff and students at IMU feel about using Facebook for e-learning. So, to get some idea, we have created two polls below asking the same question (check below), one for students to answer, and the other for academic staff to answer.

If you answer yes or no (only options), it would be great (if time permits) if you could also add your reflections and reasons for your opinion in the comments section below.

STUDENTS

Please answer this poll:

ACADEMIC STAFF
Please answer this poll:

Hopefully, this poll and discussion (in the comments section) will provide some insights into how people at IMU feel about using Facebook for e-learning.

The next stage, would be to do a more scientific research regarding using Facebook for formal learning (at IMU). What do you think? Anyone interested :)

TEDMED Lectures Innovations in Healthcare and Medicine

2010-04-05T18:26:00.001-07:00

Via Dr. Neelesh

TEDMED?

TEDMED is a yearly medical technology and healthcare conference celebrating quality conversation as it relates to personal and public health. It celebrates conversations that demonstrate the intersection and connections between all things medical and healthcare related: from personal health to public health, devices to design and Hollywood to the hospital. Together, this encompasses more than twenty percent of the GNP in America while touching everyone's life around the globe.

You can keep yourself updated with TEDMED on their Facebook Group site (+2000 member), including their upcoming 2010 conference.

Even more interesting, you can watch all the talks (lectures) from the 2009 conference via the TEDMED YouTube Channel. This video collection should provide some interesting insights to some of the latest innovations in Heath and Medicine.

To give you a taste, let's watch David Blaine's story about how he broke the world record for holding his breath. But, he is not a doctor. Now, that is an Inno...

Here is Dean Kamen's passionate talk about the most advanced prosthetic arm and the people it is helping:

That was two (2) mind boggling talks, but we still have another 11 amazing TEDMED 2009 talks to view and reflect. CLICK HERE to discover the remaining 11 talks :)