I just wanted to take a moment to let all of my Full Sail colleagues know that I am in the process of withdrawing from the EMDT-MS program - at least for now. I have enjoyed getting to know many of you and learning from you over the past four months of this journey. If you would like to know more about the motivation behind my decision, please visit my personal blog for more information.
I'd also like to thank Tom Lucas and Camaal Moten for their support, encouragement and commitment to helping all of us become better teachers. I wish you much success in the program and hope you are successful in fulfilling your dreams. Take care.
Dr. Jude
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Comment on Tom Turner's Blog
Follow this link to view my comments on Tom Turner's review of Animoto.com http://tomturner19.blogspot.com/2010/10/bp4.html
After reading Tom's post on Animoto I decided to create my own 30 second video capturing highlights of my recent visit to Growing Power, an urban farm in Milwaukee, WI that has been getting some national attention lately. It was really easy to do and I think the video turned out great - check it out and let me know what you think -
Slatebox
Slatebox is a Web 2.0 tool that was created to replicate a practice in the olden days in which children brought small slate chalkboards with them to school and used them to communicate ideas, learn new concepts and share information with each other. Within the Slatebox tool, a slate is a draggable, virtual canvas that can be used to create mindmaps, diagrams, flowcharts and other visual images. Users can collaborate with others and receive live updates to the shared canvas or slate. Slates use open source coding and can be enmeshed easily into a users website. Users can also change background images and colors and customize the look and feel of each slate in a variety of ways.
Slatebox uses comet technology to push edits from a central server to all client computers that are connected as collaborators. The server knows when any edits or updates are made on the slate and pushes the changes to all users at the same time. There is no limit to the number of collaborators that can be working on a particular slate at the same time, however in the free version of Slatebox, all slates are open to the public by default. The only way to have control over who is included as a collaborator is to purchase the PRO version and grant individual access to other Slatebox users. Unfortunately, since Slatebox is currently in beta form, the only version available is the free public version, but according to the website the ORG, PRO and BASIC subscription accounts are being released sometime in the near future.
While I can see the potential for educators to use this tool to create minmaps, concept maps and other examples of visual thinking in action – the tool itself is rather clunky and difficult to use, especially compared to the ease of use offered by Dabbleboard. There are only a few example slates available on the site, so it was a bit hard for me to imagine how I might use this tool to guide brainstorming or other kinds of collaborative idea generation. It is also hard to figure out how to change the color of backgrounds, shapes and fonts. I would probably elect to use Inspiration or the free Cmap tool before adopting Slatebox.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Diigo Group
For this post I have been asked to create a Diigo group for my action research project. I am still trying to figure out how to use this resource to support my research and facilitate collaboration with my critical friends. For now, I have created my account, set up my first Diigo group and asked to join the Ripples group sponsored by Rena. Here is a screen shot of my groups page.
As I reviewed the video tutorials (e.g. tour, research, share, collaborate) on the website at www.diigo.com/education, I realized that the notion of collecting resources on the web, highlighting and annotating them with sticky notes and then sharing them with others - feels like another opportunity for me to come to grips with my digital immigrant status and make some choices about I how want to do my work in the future. I am fairly committed to reducing my use of paper in my teaching and rarely print out handouts to distribute to students. Yet when it comes to conducting research on a topic or reading articles and taking notes, I prefer the old fashioned use of paper, pen and highlighter - at least I think this is my preference. But, as I have discovered so far in this EMDT program, my preferences are, for the most part, habitual methods of doing things that have brought some success in the past. But my habits aren't necessarily the best way to accomplish tasks - so I will invest some time and energy into using Diigo to see if I can become comfortable with moving more of my research and note-taking into an online environment.
Another thing that I realized in the middle of the night, is that for much of my 20 year career in academia, I have operated as a sole practitioner when conducting research and writing papers or case studies for publication. In my professional environment, I have been expected to demonstrate that I am an independent thinker who can clearly express my ideas in ways that add new knowledge to management practice and education. While I have collaborated with others on a few projects, most of my scholarly work has been done in isolation, only consulting others to review a draft or provide feedback on a paper before submitting it for publication. The thought of sharing resources that I found on a topic and my annotated notes, feels like a foreign concept to me and has challenged me to think differently about how I do research and scholarly writing.
Another insight that has emerged throughout this Full Sail journey, is the fact that in the traditional model of academic research and publishing, most researchers have no clue how many people read their work or consider it valuable. Sure I can use the Social Science Citation Index to get some data about how many times a paper has been cited in someone else's published writings, but that number doesn't tell me how many other people have viewed my work or had my thoughts influence their thinking about the subject. I have been amazed by the emotional impact that posting a blog has had on me, especially when I look at the statistics and see that 3000+ people have read an entry that I posted less than a week ago. I still don't know how my writing has influenced how people think, but the fact that 3000 people cared enough about the topic to click on the link to my blog, has opened my eyes to the power that the Web has to build knowledge and spread influence.
I don't know whether or not I will choose to use Diigo beyond the requirements for this class, but I am willing to give it a try and see if I can use it to increase my productivity and effectiveness throughout the action research project. I am also curious to read about how others are using this tool, especially those in the program who are growing up digital after 50, like me. Stay tuned for future postings on my reaction to using Diigo in my research.
As I reviewed the video tutorials (e.g. tour, research, share, collaborate) on the website at www.diigo.com/education, I realized that the notion of collecting resources on the web, highlighting and annotating them with sticky notes and then sharing them with others - feels like another opportunity for me to come to grips with my digital immigrant status and make some choices about I how want to do my work in the future. I am fairly committed to reducing my use of paper in my teaching and rarely print out handouts to distribute to students. Yet when it comes to conducting research on a topic or reading articles and taking notes, I prefer the old fashioned use of paper, pen and highlighter - at least I think this is my preference. But, as I have discovered so far in this EMDT program, my preferences are, for the most part, habitual methods of doing things that have brought some success in the past. But my habits aren't necessarily the best way to accomplish tasks - so I will invest some time and energy into using Diigo to see if I can become comfortable with moving more of my research and note-taking into an online environment.
Another thing that I realized in the middle of the night, is that for much of my 20 year career in academia, I have operated as a sole practitioner when conducting research and writing papers or case studies for publication. In my professional environment, I have been expected to demonstrate that I am an independent thinker who can clearly express my ideas in ways that add new knowledge to management practice and education. While I have collaborated with others on a few projects, most of my scholarly work has been done in isolation, only consulting others to review a draft or provide feedback on a paper before submitting it for publication. The thought of sharing resources that I found on a topic and my annotated notes, feels like a foreign concept to me and has challenged me to think differently about how I do research and scholarly writing.
Another insight that has emerged throughout this Full Sail journey, is the fact that in the traditional model of academic research and publishing, most researchers have no clue how many people read their work or consider it valuable. Sure I can use the Social Science Citation Index to get some data about how many times a paper has been cited in someone else's published writings, but that number doesn't tell me how many other people have viewed my work or had my thoughts influence their thinking about the subject. I have been amazed by the emotional impact that posting a blog has had on me, especially when I look at the statistics and see that 3000+ people have read an entry that I posted less than a week ago. I still don't know how my writing has influenced how people think, but the fact that 3000 people cared enough about the topic to click on the link to my blog, has opened my eyes to the power that the Web has to build knowledge and spread influence.
I don't know whether or not I will choose to use Diigo beyond the requirements for this class, but I am willing to give it a try and see if I can use it to increase my productivity and effectiveness throughout the action research project. I am also curious to read about how others are using this tool, especially those in the program who are growing up digital after 50, like me. Stay tuned for future postings on my reaction to using Diigo in my research.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Google Reader
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| Dr. Jude's Visual Thinking Wordle |
I have subscribed to the RSS feeds of five different websites and/or blogs that are related to visual thinking, which is the topic of my action research project at Full Sail Online. In this blog post I will offer a short description of each site/blog and explain how the site/blog might provide value to my AR project.
The first site is Garr Reynolds' Presentation Zen blog, which I have been following since I first read his books Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery and Presentation Zen Design: Simple Design Principles and Techniques to Enhance Your Presentations. For the past three semesters I have been gradually revising my in-class presentations so that they reflect the principles of simplicity, restraint and naturalness that Reynolds advocates. This semester I am teaching the Presentation Zen approach to approximately 400 students who are enrolled in my large lecture sections of organizational behavior, my senior seminar in strategic management and my executive MBA course in strategic thinking. Garr's website/blog provides examples of presentations that employ the Presentation Zen approach, as well as helpful hints on how to improve my use of visuals to support the core message of each presentation I deliver. A few days ago I posted a comment on Garr's blog that linked to my review of Reynolds' Presentation Zen Bento Box - so far 1800+ viewers have viewed my review, including Garr, himself. Talk about the power of the Internet and a personal learning network in action!
The second site that I hope will help me improve my visual thinking skills, is sponsored by Duarte Design in Mountain View, CA. Nancy Duarte is a master storyteller and the author of two of my favorite books - Slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations and Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences. The Duarte blog is actually written by various designers at Duarte Design, so readers can get a variety of perspectives on how to improve their presentations. Nancy is also giving a free webinar on visual storytelling on Thursday September 30th – I know I will gain some interesting insights on how to combine visual imagery with storytelling techniques that will help me make a difference in the lives of my students.
My third RSS subscription links to Seth Godin’s blog, not so much because it is related to visual thinking, but because he is a thought leader on how to help people become remarkable. I was able to leverage my Full Sail student status into a $19 ticket to see Seth in action at the Harris Theatre in Chicago on September 16th. If you are not familiar with his work, I recommend taking a look at his latest book Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?, as well as Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us. Seth has a very clear vision about what is wrong with our current educational system because it focuses on training people to be cogs in an industrial or factory based economy that no longer exists. I am searching for ways to help my students become linchpins who make a difference in the world – but it requires becoming a different kind of teacher than I have been in the past. Since my action research project is also about changing my teaching practice, I know I can find inspiration in reading Seth’s blog on a daily basis.
The fourth RSS subscription on my list links to Dan Roam’s blog that supports his books on visual thinking - The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures and Unfolding the Napkin: The Hands-On Method for Solving Complex Problems with Simple Pictures. I have been fascinated by Dan’s ability to show business executives and managers how to use visual thinking strategies to solve problems and grow their businesses. Dan’s books and blog provide great resources to connect my action research on visual thinking with the content areas I teach on strategic thinking and problem solving.
And last, but not least, is my RSS subscription to Simon Sinek’s blog called RE:Focus – Simple Ideas to Help You Thrive. Not surprisingly, Simon has also written an interesting book called Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, but my first exposure to the ideas expressed on his blog and in the book came from watching his TED video from September of 2009. You might be wondering what Simon’s work has to do with visual thinking and that is a fair question, since I indicated at the beginning of this post that all of the RSS subscriptions I selected would add value to my AR project on visual thinking. Well Simon’s work has inspired me in a number of ways. First of all, his fundamental question focuses on starting with why – why do I think it is necessary to shift my teaching practice to focus on visual thinking strategies? I guess you’ll have to visit my AR website to find out the many layers of my answer to that question, but the short answer is that my students are much more visual in their learning preferences than I am – so rather than making them change and adjust to me, I feel an obligation to change how I teach so that I can connect with them more effectively and enhance their learning. But Simon’s blog also gets at the heart of what my AR project is about – refocusing my career so that I can simplify the core messages I share with students and inspire them to take action that will change the world in a positive way.
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