Randy Fisher - Community-Builder

Leaving an Educational Legacy: Creating a WikiEducator Course or Module

Link: Canadian man becomes oldest N American to climb Everest-The United States-World-The Times of India.

Canadian man becomes oldest N American to climb Everest
8 Jun, 2007 l 0559 hrs ISTlAP

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TORONTO: A Canadian man became the oldest North American to summit Mount Everest and complete the climb of the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each of the seven continents.

Werner Berger, 69, who returned home to Canada on Thursday, said he started mountain climbing just 15 years ago.

He will be putting together a documentary on his adventure.

I'm thinking, as a true inspiration to others, is actually creating a course or module in WikiEducator. He has a lot of knowledge and "how-to" to share with others - be it planning and prep for a major mountain climb; selecting the right team; teamwork in harsh environments; building support - you name it...

Wouldn't a course / course guide to go along with his Mountain documentary be a good idea? Wouldn't it be great to have it reside in WikiEducator? I bet the WikiEducator community would rally 'round this type of effort (and efforts like these) to help him out...

Inspiring Passion and Loyalty in Learners

Can WikiEducator, or using it and other elearning tools inspire this type of passion and loyalty? It depends on who you talk to....(read on)...

Willis Konick, looking a little like Groucho Marx without the cigar, asks a student to slap him. He prances from desktop to desktop. He rolls his arms wildly, screeching a little. And he lures one student into an elaborate discussion about moving with him to a place called "Easy Vista."

Kronick, 77, started his UW undergraduate degree 60 years ago and never really left, save for a three-year spell in the Army. He began teaching at the UW in 1952, and officials think he could be the longest-serving faculty member.

While other professors were squirreled away writing research papers and climbing the career ladder, Konick was reveling in the classroom and his theatrical teaching style. His somewhat obscure classes grew from 10 students to 100 or more and then sprouted waiting lists.

See: Local News | Beloved professor retires after 60 years at the UW | Seattle Times Newspaper.

I think WikiEducator is a very new paradigm, that involves a radical re-think of how to effect learning and collaboration - and this new platform creates a foundation for people to "do" and "experiment" and "learn". It's much more of a peer playing field, where teachers and learners can learn from each other; introverts and extroverts have precisely the same opportunities, and the only barrier is when one is stymied by the WikiSyntax itself.

We have a solution: WikiNeighbours in WikiEducator - there are people roaming about, who will actually help you put up a page, when you're stuck...and the beauty of it is, that once you learn how to do it, you can become a WikiNeighbour yourself.

When I look at the passion and loyalty of the people involved in the WikiEducator peer community, I am struck as to how much opportunity there is for people to express themselves, explore ideas, champion projects, and innovate in a supportive community. There's even room for some drama and theatricality - just check out the whole CC-BY-SA copyright debate!

Conveying Personal Presence for Personalized Learning Enviroments

My WikiEducator colleague Brent Simpson, posts an interesting article / presentation on his blog from James Farmer -  Pedagogy of the Compressed: And on that farm he had a blog

It argues that current discussion-board WebCT, Blackboard Learning Management Systems, were developed with a far greater emphasis on "management" instead of fostering actual "learner" capability. (also, listen to James' presentation - "Blogs as Personal Learning Environments")

Instead, where the real action is, is in terms of each learner developing a personal identity, and aggregation if you wish, around they types of communities, connections, materials and learning resources that s/he is interested in, particularly as collected over time...These are simply not reflected in discussion group forums, which he argues are to some extent "disembodied".

I agree - the future, and we are moving in that direction, is where blogs have become a supplementary resource to existing Learning Management Systems - one can't help but wonder if the open space, or even the corporate space will develop LMS that incorporates, or at the very least links to this extra functionality, and user-driven design.

On a personal note, I am considering pursuing a MA, in Organizational Management & Development, at Fielding Graduate University, and this institution uses a software called "SiteScape". I'm wondering if anyone has checked it out, and if it incorporates some of the features of a personalized learning environment.