Rethinking Learning

Rethinking Learning

conversations about the future of teaching and learning

Barbara Bray

be creative, innovate, take risks, unlearn to learn

Oakland, CA

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Generations Use of Internet Explained
By Barbara Bray December 3, 2009 -- 08:21 AM
From the report, Generations Online 2009 from Pew Internet and American Life, they found that over half of the adult population ages 18-44 are involved in internet use. Generations Explained It's interesting to find that the biggest increase in an age group is from the 70-75 year olds from 26% to 44% increase. I'm an older boomer who lives online and there are lots more like me. What does this report mean about the Gen X and Gen Y generations? What I see is that more of all age groups are finding that the internet provides more for us now. It seems to me that in just two more years, social networking ... more...

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The Web as Acts of Kindness
By Barbara Bray September 21, 2009 -- 08:28 AM
Jonathan Zittrain suggests the Internet is made up of millions of disinterested acts of kindness, curiosity and trust. People like to solve problems. Wikipedia is just 45 minutes away from destruction. The readers care about it to create a counter-vandalism unit. I am finding this same thing happen with My eCoach. People are checking links, submitting websites and images, and coming up with new ideas all the time for My eCoach because they care about the community. They are also supporting each other on their teams. We started My eCoach with the idea we would help eCoaches support their communities. A little different than wikis and blogs. What I am seeing is that more members are contributing, learning from each other, and wanting to support what others are doing. Zittrain's speech gives us hope for the Internet but how can we use this to stop cyberbullying, stalking, and concerns about predatory acts. Rekindling acts of kindness where each of us fight for each other and stop viral acts that harm anyone. Right now, we created My eCoach with the idea of an eCoach supporting, protecting, and facilitating the work of their members; pointing to other members' work and connecting people with similar interests. The power of many of the social networking tools is how they connect people. The viral manner of the Internet is that if something harmful is posted about you on the Internet, your friends and colleagues will be there to support you. This means that there has to be a feeling of trust that you won't be similarly attacked. I found that to build trust on Facebook or Twitter is not that easy. You probably have people following you that you don't know. You can block them, but if you have alot of people, how do you know what the connections are, what they are saying, unless it comes back to you? We also are identified by the people we are associated with. If you are part of a larger community and some of the people (you don't know) have completely different interests (be they political or religious), will you be branded one way or another? Are you a lurker and uncomfortable about standing up for your rights? Will you defend someone else and use your name or post anonymously? more...

Comments: 1 Last Comment By Cheryl Vitali September 21, 2009 -- 06:17 PM

Reviewing the Past
By Barbara Bray March 8, 2009 -- 09:40 PM
Before discussing the future of learning and elearning, I want to review the past. I�m going to write a few posts about learning, teaching, and the Internet. This post is about how the Internet began from Aarpnet to the present with some background information with the following eight minute animated documentary. History of the Internet from PICOL on Vimeo. I started using computers in the early 80s. Think the first was a TRS-80 and a portable Compaq with 5" floppy disks using 64K memory. I was hooked. Started using FrEDMail and AT&T Learning Circles with students so we could connect online. ... more...

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Can kids teach themselves?
By Barbara Bray September 2, 2008 -- 09:17 AM
Watch this video from Sugata Mitra from the Lift Conference about his "Hole in the Wall" theory and the absence of formal teaching: 20 minutes but worth watching if we are part of the global society and want to reach our at-risk students. He shares his "Hole in the Wall" experiment. Can kids teach themselves? more...

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Growing Up Online
By Barbara Bray January 21, 2008 -- 11:58 AM
Tomorrow night (Tuesday, January 22) on PBS Frontline is showing "Growing Up Online," where they peer inside the world of the cyber-savvy generation through the eyes of teens and their parents, who often find themselves on opposite sides of a new digital divide. FRONTLINE producer Rachel Dretzin investigates the risks, realities and misconceptions of teenage self-expression on the World Wide Web. . Here�s a trailer: If you watch it or see archived versions, share your comments on teens today. more...

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