Academic Computing Blog

Planning for Neomillennial Learning Styles [1]

Shifts in students’ learning style will prompt a shift to active construction of knowledge through mediated immersion

Rapid advances in information technology are reshaping the learning styles of many students in higher education. The standard “world to the desktop” interface is now complemented by

Higher education institutions can prosper by using these emerging technologies to deliver instruction matched to the increasingly “neomillennial” learning styles of their students. Based on “mediated immersion,” these emerging learning styles include:

Many faculty will find such a shift in instruction difficult, but through professional development they can accommodate neomillennial learning styles to continue teaching effectively as the nature of students evolves. Beyond this professional development, to fulfill their students’ evolving needs and interests, colleges and universities must reconsider their investments in physical plant, technology infrastructure, and research. Further, in the long run the mission and structure of higher education might alter due to the effect on civilization of these new interactive media.

[1] Chris Dede, Planning for Neomillennial Learning Styles, Educause Quarterly, Volume 28, Number 1, 2005.
http://www.educause.edu/pub/eq/eqm05/eqm0511.asp

Beyond Computer Literacy: Implications of Technology for the Content of a College Education
Stephen Ehrmann
Liberal Education, Fall 2004

Computers and the Internet already play several important roles in liberal education.

• Computer literacy and fluency: the ability of students to use computers and the Internet as tools for general purposes
• Effectiveness: the use of technology to foster faculty-student connections, student-student collaboration, active learning, and other practices that can improve outcomes
• Access: the use of technology to support programs and practices that are fully available to nontraditional learners who would otherwise be unable to enroll and excel

All three of these applications are well established and growing. Now there’s another application of technology to liberal education to consider:

• Content: Computers and the Internet, as they’re used in the larger world, have implications for what all college students, by the time they graduate, should have learned from their majors as well as from general education requirements. These implications go far beyond computer literacy.

More … http://www.aacu-edu.org/liberaleducation/le-fa04/le-fa04feature1.cfm

GoKnow is a University of Michigan spin-off that produces a Palm or PocketPC keyboardless learning environment.

The device bridges the “cool gap” — Elliot Soloway, co-founder of GoKnow, and a professor in U-M’s electrical engineering and computer science department, said data show peer pressure works against academic achievement in school in inner cities, particularly among African-American males.

In Oklahoma, Bob Melton, a science curriculum specialist with the Putnam City Schools, a district of 28,000 students, has seen the difference GoKnow software can make. GoKnow technology boosted students’ scores on a standardized state test administered at the end of eighth grade.

“Over the last two years, the two middle schools using handhelds have improved at a faster rate on the test than the three other middle schools,” he said. “It was a significant increase. They’re now on a par with the other three schools.”

The GoKnow software package incoludes:

• Cells spreadsheet program
• FlingIt (web viewer)
• FreeWrite (word processor)
• iKWL (learning management)
• Locker (an organizer)
• PicoMap (concept mapping tool)
• Sketchy drawing and animation tool
• ViewPoint (presentation)

[1] Tom Henderson. Innovative software paves way for learning. Ann Arbor firm hopes to set up program that runs on Palm Pilots in Detroit Public Schools, The Detroit News, Sun., Feb. 20, 2005. http://www.detnews.com/2005/technology/0502/20/D05-94768.htm

The term Disruptive Technology was coined by Clayton M. Christensen and described in his 1997 book The Innovator’s Dilemma.

In considering the nature of the Wiki Gerry Gerry McKiernan (Disruptive Librarian, Iowa State University) has begun [1] to speculate further about the Wiki as *the* platform for The Next Generation e-Journal [2] and the transformation of the review process.

In celebration of which, the Disruptive Technologies Blog Site has been created: http://disruptivescholarship.blogspot.com/

[1] http://mail.asis.org/pipermail/asis-l/2005-February/001841.html

[2] http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Web4Lib/archive/0408/0173.html

Version 57 of the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography is now available. This selective bibliography presents over 2,325 articles, books, and other printed and electronic sources that are useful in understanding scholarly electronic publishing efforts on the Internet.

• Html : http://info.lib.uh.edu/sepb/sepb.html
• Acrobat: http://info.lib.uh.edu/sepb/sepb.pdf

The HTML document includes three sections not found in the Acrobat file:

(1) Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog (biweekly list of new resources; also available by mailing list–see second URL)

• http://info.lib.uh.edu/sepb/sepw.htm
• http://info.lib.uh.edu/sepb/sepwlist.htm

(2) Scholarly Electronic Publishing Resources (directory of over 270 related Web sites)

• http://info.lib.uh.edu/sepb/sepr.htm

(3) Archive (prior versions of the bibliography)

• http://info.lib.uh.edu/sepb/archive/sepa.htm

From: Charles W. Bailey, Jr., Assistant Dean for Digital Library, Planning and Development, University of Houston. http://info.lib.uh.edu/cwb/bailey.htm

Just installed WordPress 1.5 on “zoo.” Installation was almost automatic.

1. mySQL database form correctly created a new database for me.

2. edited wp-config.php

3. ran the install script. There were some file permissions that had to be set for subsidary directories (755) and files (644 *.php) solved the problem. My guess is that I untarred things with an incorrect option.

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!