Weekly Spark: mLearning

This week's Spark* is presented by NUTN's Corporate and Military Resource Group (CMRG). If you're interested in issues related to corporate and military partnerships in distance learning and educational technology, please be in touch with the CMRG chairs to let them know of your interest: Betty Keese (betty.keese@navy.mil), Carol Thompson (carol.r.thompson1@navy.mil), Theo Stone (tstone@umuc.edu).

Since the CMRG is presenting a Phone Forum this week on Mobile Learning ("mLearning") in higher education, here are a few mLearning resources to "spark" your thinking on the topic:

A good place to start is the Wikipedia entry on mLearning:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-learning

Going Nomadic: Mobile Learning in Higher Education, by Bryan Alexander, in EDUCAUSE Review [pdf]:
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0451.pdf

Learning on the Move: mLearning is Next, from Robin Good's blog
http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2006/01/17/learning_on_the_move_mlearning.htm

Don't forget to register for Thursday's Phone Forum, during which your colleagues will be discussing questions like Does mLearning (mobile learning via cell phone, iPod, or PDA) have a place in higher education?; Is mLearning working? If so, what seem to be best practices? Feel free to respond to this email with your thoughts on any/all of these questions!

More information, including how to register, can be found at:
http://nutninteractives.blogspot.com/2007/11/mlearning-in-higher-education-thursday.html

-The NUTN Interactives Team
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* What is The NUTN Weekly Spark? Each week, via the NUTN email list, one of our NUTN Resource Groups will send out an idea, a resource, a discussion starter, a challenge, or something else to get you thinking. We invite you to jump in and respond, or just glean whatever ideas and resources you can from each week's Spark.

Learner-Focused Assessment: Wednesday, November 28

Register now for Learner-Focused Assessment, a NUTN Phone Forum
Wednesday, November 28, 4:00 pm Eastern Time

How can we conduct assessment to find out how courses or programs actually impact students? Feel free to share your questions and experiences during this informal conversation.

Please join us to discuss:

• How can we move away from traditional, teacher/institution-centered assessment?


• What's involved in making assessments more valuable for students as well as faculty?


• How will administrators benefit from "impact assessment"?

It's free to participate for NUTN member institutions! (Long distance charges to Dallas, TX apply)

To register (NUTN members only): Send an email to nutn.interactives@gmail.com, indicating the title of the event (above).

Accessibility and Mobile Technologies: Wednesday, November 28

Register now for Accessibility and Mobile Technologies, a NUTN Phone Forum
Wednesday, November 28, 2:00 pm Eastern Time

In this Phone Forum, we'll explore the issues of accessibility as they relate to students at a distance who use handheld and wireless devices. Starting our discussion will be Ian Webber, Interactive Media Developer for RIT Online Learning.

Please join us to discuss:

• What do we need to know about accessibility as we port learning content to mobile devices?
• What are some of the technical challenges?
• What can we expect in return for our efforts, in terms of learning gains and access?

It's free to participate for NUTN member institutions! (Long distance charges to Dallas, TX apply)

To register (NUTN members only): Send an email to nutn.interactives@gmail.com, indicating the title of the event (above).

Online Student Services: Thursday, November 15

Register now for Online Student Services, a NUTN Phone Forum
Thursday, November 15, 4:00 pm Eastern Time

Find out how other institutions are designing, implementing and evaluating online student services, and for what purposes.

Please join us to discuss:

• Why are online student services necessary?
• What kinds of opportunities and challenges are presented by deploying online student services?
• How can we gauge the effectiveness of online student services?

It's free to participate for NUTN member institutions! (Long distance charges to Dallas, TX apply)

To register (NUTN members only): Send an email to nutn.interactives@gmail.com, indicating the title of the event (above).

mLearning in Higher Education: Thursday, November 15

Register now for mLearning in Higher Education, a NUTN Phone Forum
Thursday, November 15, 2:00 pm Eastern Time

Find out how other institutions use handheld devices to create mobilelearning ("mLearning") opportunities beyond the classroom. Please join us to discuss:

• Does mLearning (mobile learning via cell phone, iPod, or PDA) have a place in higher education?
• Is mLearning working?
• If so, what seem to be best practices?

It's free to participate for NUTN member institutions!(Long distance charges to Dallas, TX apply)

To register (NUTN members only): Send an email to nutn.interactives@gmail.com, indicating the title of the event (above).

Weekly Spark: Assessment Issues

The NUTN Weekly Spark for this week explores assessment issues in higher education. This week's Spark is presented by the Assessment and Evaluation Resource Group. If you're interested in assessment and evaluation issues, contact the AERG co-chairs Gary Brown (browng@wsu.edu) and John Sener (jsener@senerlearning.com).

Here's the Spark posted by Gary Brown:

While we've been busy in our jobs, a No Child Left Behind-College Edition has slipped into the higher education tent. I find it particularly disconcerting that it has been ushered in by a few of our own leaders. We heard the warning: "We'd better assess ourselves before somebody comes in and does 'it' to us." Unfortunately, the "it" in this case is the Voluntary System of Accountability. Not to be outdone, distance education has been invited to do something similar.

The problem here is that the "it" that we are talking about looks to me pretty much like what we would expect from whoever it is we might expect would be coming in to do "it" to us--a recommendation that we volunteer results so others can make simplistic comparisons between institutions.

I don't have a problem with the idea of accountability in principle.There are many stakeholders who are rightly asking us to be transparent in our work. But we shouldn't have to acquiesce to dumbing down the complexity of the educational enterprise for a few important reasons:

1. There is always more variance within institutions than between. Students, especially distance students, are taking courses from multiple institutions simultaneously, are variously prepared and motivated,working more, studying different things for different purposes, etc. In this reality, what do comparisons among institutions really tell a consumer? (And who is the final consumer or beneficiary of education,anyway?)
2. There is scant evidence that comparative assessments in isolation improve learning.
3. Testing isn't teaching. "Weighing the lamb doesn't fatten the lamb," as Jonathan Kozol says. (Incidentally, I believe Kozol is still on a partial hunger strike in protest over the deep damages to elementary schools resulting from the No Child Left Behind act.)
   
   All that said, I would like to suggest we adopt and promote the following assessment principle:
   
   Assessment that is based on embedded, authentic daily learning activities and that engages the judgment of the faculty and students(and sometimes other stakeholders) involved in those activities is almost always useful for promoting improvement. Assessment which does not do this is seldom useful and is often even dangerous.
   
   But what do you think?

NUTN members receive The Weekly Spark via the member listserv. Find out more about membership at the NUTN web site.

About NUTN Interactives

NUTN is the National University Telecommunications Network. NUTN's focus is on leadership development for innovation in higher education, especially innovation in distance learning and educational technology.

"NUTN Interactives" are NUTN's membership and outreach activities--events and tools that bring together NUTN members and other professionals in the field. NUTN Interactives are designed to support professional networking and engagement around issues of importance to higher education leaders. Participants in activities hosted by NUTN Interactives gain deeper insight into such issues and are better prepared to lead change.

NUTN Interactives include:

• Phone Forums
  Get together with other NUTN members in one of these bi-weekly, lively audio conferences, each focusing on a different topic related to leadership and strategy for innovation in higher education. A guest kicks off the discussion by briefly describing one institution's experience with the issue at hand, and then the conversation opens up for all participants on the call. Grab a cup of coffee or tea, pick up the phone and dial in, and get ready to share your own questions, ideas, and stories! View descriptions of upcoming and recent phone forums.

• The Weekly Spark
  Each week, via the NUTN email list, one of our NUTN Resource Groups sends out an idea, a resource, a discussion starter, a challenge, or something else to get our members thinking. Members are invited to jump in and respond, or just glean whatever ideas and resources they can from each week's Spark. See some recent Sparks.

• NUTN Radio
  In this series of audioconferences--open to NUTN members and non-members alike--we talk about current issues in online and distance learning. The audioconferences are done in a radio talk-show format. We interview a couple of guests, engage them in a dialogue, and participants are able to ask questions and join the conversation "live on air." The programs are recorded and made available as podcasts. Listen to some past NUTN radio programs.

• Web Conferences
  NUTN Resource Groups plan and present occassional web conferences featuring higher education innovators--people leading change at their institutions and beyond. Watch for new NUTN Web Conferences in Spring of 2008.

• Resource Pages
  The NUTN Member email list is hosted at Google Groups. Inside our NUTN Google Group, each of our resource groups has set up a a resource page with links to information and resources about that group's particular focus area. These resources are reviewed and refreshed regularly.

NUTN Interactives will continue to grow to serve the needs of our members and the interests of all higher education innovation leaders. We're investigating how social networking and other Web 2.0 tools can be deployed to help our constituents to connect, learn and lead. Your ideas area always welcome! Just send us email at nutn.interactives@gmail.com.

NUTN Interactives are designed and organized by NUTN's Resource Group chairs, NUTN members who've taken the lead to help focus our members on topics of particular interest:

• Assessment and Evaluation
• Corporate and Military
• Distance Learning
• International
• Strategic Partnerships
• Technology and Applications

Learn more about NUTN's Resource Groups at the NUTN web site.