Hedgehog & Fox

I recently did a post on virtual worlds that referenced Gary Hayes’ “metaverse” tour. For those interested in this topic, I just came across Virtual Worlds: Comparisons and Overviews, which also references Hayes’ video and includes a wealth of other information and insights. I recommend it.

Note also that Google announced yesterday that it will be shutting down its virtual platform, Lively, by year end.

Finally, it’s worth pointing out my earlier 7 Virtual World Essentials for Meeting Planners post.

Jeff Cobb
Hedgehog & Fox

P.S. - If you enjoy what you read here on Hedgehog & Fox, I encourage you to subscribe to the feed or use the form at the upper right corner to subscribe by e-mail.

One of the comments I got in the evaluations from an open education session I did at this year’s ASAE annual meeting was that it would have been good to have an example from the association world. No doubt I had already put this person to sleep when I got to the slide with the National Science Teachers Association, so I thought it would be good to immortalize that example here as a Web link. Knowledge conveyed during meeting sessions can be so ephemeral.

Of course, part of the point of my session was that only a handful of innovative thinkers like the NSTA have embraced open education so far in the association world - or, for that matter, anywhere outside of academia or the NGO sector. In fact, I am hard pressed to find another example. I am betting, however, that will change in the not-too-distant future. Not because it would be a good thing to do - thought that is certainly a good thing for any organization with a mission related to serving the public good- but because market forces will make it happen.”Opening up” will be a necessary strategy for attracting and retaining customers, and it has the added benefit, when done well, of spurring diversity of input and inspiring innovation.

I’ve written about the topic at some length in Can Open Education Work for Associations, so I won’t dwell on it here. Pointing out the NSTA example, however, also gives me the opportunity to point out a related phenomenon that is bubbling up. Namely, open accreditation.

The wide variety of high quality educational resources now available on the Web for re-use and re-mixing, whether by individuals or institutions, raises new questions about how effective engagement with these resources can be validated. How do I know - as an employer, for example - that you really went through everything Stanford Engineering Everywhere has to offer and actually got something of value out of it?

There are no firm answers to this question yet, but an interesting conversation is under way. Like open education in general, I don’t yet see many signs of this creeping into the association world, but organizations that engage in any sort of accreditation may want to put an ear to the ground. There may be threats here, but more likely I think there are opportunities for those who are thinking innovatively. Here are a few links into the conversation:

• Open Accreditation: A Model 
• Momentum on Open Accreditation
• Imagine There’s No Courses

Jeff Cobb
Hedgehog & Fox

P.S. - If you enjoy what you read here on Hedgehog & Fox, I encourage you to subscribe to the feed or use the form at the upper right corner to subscribe by e-mail.

“Learning” is at the heart of my particular hedgehog concept here at Hedgehog & Fox as well as in my general approach to consulting with organizations.  When I say “learning,” I don’t (necessarily) mean “education,” and these days, I hardly ever mean “formal classroom-based education.” I mean the act of acquiring new knowledge in any way, shape, or form, whether formally or informally. When people are truly learning, they tend to be highly engaged, and that has important implications not just for what we traditionally think of as “education,” but also for nearly every facet of organizational strategy. If you want to engage your stakeholders, it can be a big help to know a thing or two about how learning works.

Learning 2.0 blends traditional approaches to learning with the newer tools and approaches of social media. The combination is quite powerful, as it infuses the possibility for continuing personal and organizational growth into the “aways on, always connected” culture in which we now live. My view is that an understanding of Learning 2.0 is essential not just for educators, but for anyone who hopes to engage productively with communities of users on the Web. This includes, for example, marketers, customer support providers, issue advocates, and as the recent presidential campaign so clearly demonstrated, politicians.

At this point, in my opinion, too much of the thinking and writing about Learning 2.0 is centered on traditional academic and professional development activities. But for those who can extrapolate and think innovatively - and I know my readers here fall in that camp - there are great ideas and dynamic new strategies to be mined from some of the Learning 2.0 conversations going on out there right now. Here are a few places where you may want to dig around with an eye toward innovation:

• Learning 2.0 for Associations
  This being my blog, I’m going to take the liberty of recommending a free Learning 2.0 eBook I put out at the beginning of this year. The contents are relatively high-level and basic - it is intended to be an introduction to the topic -but I think it makes the overall potential of Learning 2.0 approaches clear.  I also did a session recently with Boston Conferencing on Learning 2.0. This draws on a lot of material from the eBook, but also offers some new thoughts and examples. BC’s Dave Will does a good job of asking questions throughout the session and I also answer quite a few from participants at the end. It does have a price tag to it (none of which comes to me), but I don’t think you will be disappointed.
• Work Literacy and DevLearn
  This year’s DevLearn conference has a big focus on 2.0. I won’t be at the conference, but true to spirit, there are a number of ways to follow DevLearn online (a great example for those of you who want to blend social media with your events). Also, in the lead up to the conference Michele Martin, Tony Karrer, and Howard Jarche did an excellent job of pulling together the Work Literacy Ning site as a community for exploring Learning 2.0. Technically, this was a 6-week effort, but initiatives like this never really end. The accumulated conversations and resources are still there, and people can add to them over time.  I have, by the way, started a group their for Membership Organizations. I encourage you to come join me.
• Connectivsm and Connected Knowledge
  For a deeper investigation of all of the many issues that come with learning and knowing in a connected world, check out the Connectivism & Connected Knowledge course being led by Stephen Downes and George Siemens. Like Work Literacy, this is a time-based offering, but I think it too will live on beyond the boundaries of time. A tremendous amount of wisdom has accumulated within the course site (which itself is a great example of blending various social media and more traditional Web-based tools) and across their are inumerable postings across the blogosphere that are tagged with CCK08.
• Social Media Classroom
  Howard Rheingold, well known for his association with The Well, The Whole Earth Catalog, and for his best-selling Smart Mobs, recently launched the Social Media Classroom & CoLab. This is a free, Drupal-based platform that integrates a range of social media tools in a highly usable fashion. Perhaps more importantly for the purposes of this post, the site also is home to a growing list of resources and a community that is engaged in discussing the impact of social media on learning and society.

That’s just a quick list. There is plenty more out there, and all of the resources above are full of links to other resources. If you haven’t been thinking much about Learning 2.0 yet, I’ll go our on a limb and say you will probably be compelled to in 2009 - it’s coming of age. So, check out these resources, and I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Jeff Cobb
Hedgehog & Fox

P.S. - If you enjoy what you read here on Hedgehog & Fox, I encourage you to subscribe to the feed or use the form at the upper right corner to subscribe by e-mail.