BuzzLion for Week of October 19

Posted on October 24, 2008 
Filed Under Uncategorized

Welcome to this week’s BuzzLion, from the suddenly chilly environs of Happy Valley. Before we get into this week’s edition, BuzzLion would like to say that there is something profoundly weird about scraping off your windshield before work and then arriving on campus to the sight of students in shorts and flipflops. Oh, if only their mother could see.

Anyways, lots going on this week, so let’s jump right in. Cole Camplese, ETS director, has been prolific in his blog writing this week, with three very interesting blog posts.

Cole wrote about a recent blog post by Dr. Michael Wesch of Kansas State. Dr. Wesch’s students produced a provocative video last year about their attitudes and experiences regarding higher learning. Wesch updates his thinking on this video, and Cole puts in his two cents on the matter.

Cole also blogged on the Blogs at Penn State project, and raised a question - is it simply blogging…..or something more? Cole explores the possibilities that the Blogs project may have in the future.

And finally, he issues a call for courseware to be put into iTunes, in the spirit of open education.

Elizabeth Pyatt, ETS instructional designer, is talking about embroidery. Really? What can that have to do with learning? Well, Elizabeth notes that embroidery involves a lot of math, and talks about how embroidery gave her a very cool teaching moment.

Brett Bixler, ETS lead instructional designer, recently discussed machinima in the Educational Gaming Commons. What on earth is machinima? Find out and see a great example (be warned, an R-rated one at that).

Yvonne Clark, ETS instructional designer, recently posted on the eLearning Guild 360 report on Web 2.0. You can both read the report and view a Webinar on the report in Yvonne’s post to the Learning Design Community Hub.

Okay, now for a bit of news about a very cool event - the Digital Commons Tailgate:

On Friday and Saturday, November 7th-8th at Penn State Schuylkill campus, Teaching and Learning with Technology will be hosting the Digital Commons Tailgate, the first of a series of community-designed unconferences* aimed at exploring all aspects of digital media in teaching and learning. Topics include (but are certainly not limited to) ePortfolio, digital literacy, and design and assessment of multimedia projects, and will delve into both pedagogy and technology. Sessions will be driven by attendees and everyone’s expertise will enrich the conversation. Our goal will be to share ideas and collectively develop a series of best practices which will inform how we all use digital media in the classroom.

If you were able to attend the Learning Design Summer Camp this August, you’ll be familiar with how this event will be run. Creativity and conversation are paramount, and the mood is intended to be relaxed but intellectually stimulating. Since this is a Fall weekend we’re going with a Tailgate theme, so expect lots of good food, and dress appropriately (i.e. however you want!).

You are invited to attended this free two-day event starting with an optional day of workshops and dinner on Friday November 7th, with the main conference sessions on Saturday November 8th.

You are also invited to help design the conference! Check out the wiki at: http://ets.tlt.psu.edu/wiki/Digital_Commons_Camp. Anyone with a PSU access account can edit this. So if you have an idea for a session, or you want to expand on what’s already been suggested, just hit the [edit] button.

I would also like to announce the Digital Commons Research Partner program: http://ets.tlt.psu.edu/wiki/DC_Research_Partner. This is an opportunity to obtain funding to cover all of part of your travel expenses. Available spots are very limited, so send an email to digitalcommons@psu.edu ASAP if you are interested.

Please pass this invitation along to any faculty or staff who may be interested in this opportunity!

To register, simply jump to the Registration section of the wiki and add your name to the list.

That’s all for this week for the BuzzLion. Thanks for reading!

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