Trocaire College’s Lifelong Learning Office offers non-credit classes and certificate programs for the professional and personal development of alumni and the community. These courses are available on campus and through the Online Instruction Center. With an emphasis on Nursing, Allied Health, Business, Education, and Technology, Trocaire’s wide range of alumni services are aimed to provide lifelong success.

Trocaire’s Lifelong Learning Office also offers a variety of services available to alumni. With unlimited use to the Rachel R. Savarino Library, Alums can take advantage of a multitude of library services as well as selected online databases. Trocaire College also offers a 30% reduction in tuition for alumni for up to six credit hours per academic year. This is for Associate Degree graduates. For more information, contact the Student Services Office. Another benefit that Trocaire alums enjoy is receiving the Trocaire Trends newsletter twice annually, which keeps alumni updated on current events and news within the college community. Trocaire alumni are always invited to college events and enjoy the opportunities to take advantage of seminars, cultural events, and fundraisers, as well as the opportunities to reconnect with previous classmates

By taking advantage of the Lifelong Learning Office, alumni will experience the lifelong experience and development that only Trocaire can offer.

Thursday, 19th November is the 100th anniversary of the birth in Vienna of Peter Drucker (died 11th November 2005). Generally regarded as one of the founding fathers of modern management principles and practices, Drucker’s thinking and influence is marked by the widespread publication of his quotes and sayings. Many such quotes can be found, unfortunately mostly unreferenced, via a quick Google search (1).

Some of these thoughts are pertinent to anyone with an interest in teaching and learning today, including:

• On developing professional practice – “Teaching is the only major occupation of man for which we have not yet developed tools that make an average person capable of competence and performance. In teaching we rely on the “naturals,” the ones who somehow know how to teach.”.
• On life-long learning – “We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn.”.
• On reflection, review and evaluation – “Checking the results of a decision against its expectations shows executives what their strengths are, where they need to improve, and where they lack knowledge or information.”

And also – “Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.”

Some of the key enabling technologies available today did not exist when he published much of his thinking. However, the advent of modern e-learning and learning technologies arguably has made Drucker’s work more, not less, relevant and the potential of his thinking remains valid. While it is sometimes fashionable to overlook management as a social science, the legacy and value of Drucker’s work lies in its utility across disciplinary and contextual boundaries and in its wider lessons for organisational and professional life today. Interestingly, in the age of e-book readers, only one of Drucker’s many publications - “Managing the Non-Profit Organization” (2005) – is available as an audio book, no doubt including some lessons for educational institutions.

A celebration of the life and work of Drucker is the subject of two-day conference being organised by the Peter Drucker Society of Austria. It is ironic perhaps that his reputation was established by his work for General Motors in the late 1930s and 1940s. Yet today, as the 100th anniversary of his birth is celebrated, the company that provided the impetus for much of his life’s work is in deep trouble, partly on account of external forces, some admittedly beyond its control, but for which management ultimately must bear the responsibility that goes with that role.

Roger Dence
17th November 2009

(1) For example,
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/p/peter_f_drucker.html, accessed 17th November 2009.

Αναζητώντας στοιχεία για την επαγγελματική ανάπτυξη των εκπαιδευτικών βρήκα τις ακόλουθες αρχές που πρέπει να πληρούν τα σύγχρονα επιμορφωτικά προγράμματα, για να είναι αποτελεσματικά:

1. Να διευρύνουν και να εμβαθύνουν τις γνώσεις του αντικειμένου του εκπαιδευτικού
2. Να στηρίζονται σε γενικές και ειδικές (ανάλογα με το μάθημα) παιδαγωγικές αρχές
3. Να παρέχουν γνώση για τις διαδικασίες της διδασκαλίας και της μάθησης
4. Να στηρίζονται σε βέλτιστες και διαθέσιμες έρευνες
5. Να ευθυγραμμίζονται με τα πρότυπα που χρησιμοποιούν στο αναλυτικό τους πρόγραμμα οι καθηγητές
6. Να συνεισφέρουν σε μετρήσιμα αποτελέσματα βελτίωσης των μαθητών
7. Να ανταποκρίνονται στην περιπλοκότητα της διδασκαλίας
8. Να προσφέρουν επαρκή χρόνο, υποστήριξη και πόρους, προκειμένου οι εκπαιδευτικοί να κατακτήσουν και να εφαρμόσουν το περιεχόμενο των προγραμμάτων στη διδακτική τους πρακτική
9. Να σχεδιάζονται από εκπαιδευτικούς σε συνεργασία με ειδικούς του μαθησιακού αντικειμένου
10. Να συνδυάζουν ποικιλία μορφών, πέρα από τις υπάρχουσες συμβατικές (π.χ. εξ αποστάσεως επιμορφώσεις)
11. Να εντάσσονται στο επάγγελμα και να έχουν συγκεκριμένη αναφορά.

Αν οι παραπάνω αρχές σας φαίνονται πολύ γενικές, μπορείτε να τις διαβάσετε με αναλυτικά σχόλια από την παρακάτω πηγή: AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS (2002) AFT’S GUIDELINES FOR CREATING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE

When I was a young pastor, 24 or 25 Years old, my denominational supervisor offered me a book on theology by Karl Barth. I declined his gift and said that I didn’t need it. “And why is that?” he asked. “Because,” I replied with all the confidence of youth, “My theology is set.” “Then,” he said, “I fear for your people.” He was correct of course. Life is much simpler when you already know everything, as I did in those days. Now, it seems, there’s much more that I don’t know.

Some years ago, I preached a sermon on the subject, “Smells and Bells, Incense and Other Nonsense,” poking fun at liturgical churches and proclaiming with great wisdom the folly of such practices. Now, in our 10:00 a.m. morning worship service, we have—you guessed it—smells and bells, the smells coming from incense and the bells being rung at Holy Communion. There is the occasional nonsense, but most of that comes from my trying to be humorous or clever. God does, indeed, have a sense of humor.

I have learned over the years some valuable truths. Education, for example, is extremely important. But we clergy study not to impress people, to garner academic awards, or to be able to converse with other educated people. We study, as the scripture says, to “gain God’s approval.” We study to know Him, His ways, His character, His purposes, His will, and His nature. We study also to help others who are spiritually struggling to find the way, the truth, and the life.

I have learned that we who are of the local church are not academics (at least I am not) whatever degrees we may hold. We are workmen. We toil in the fields that are ripe unto harvest. We are in the hospitals, the jails, the nursing homes, the funeral parlors—we baptize, we teach, we counsel, we hold hands, and occasionally, we rebuke, admonish, and exhort. We participate in innumerable meetings, attend conferences, read books and listen to other pastor’s sermons trying to be better at what we do. We are there at the births and we are there with the dying and we are there at all the places of life, however honorable or horrific, in-between.

If we are doing our job, we nurse and we nurture. We are available 24/7 and we dare not lord it over anyone. We wear any titles we have very, very lightly—for there is only One who is worthy of praise—we are the servants of all. Yet, wherever we go, we also bring the Presence of Christ in human, fragile, fallible vessels. It is amazing and humbling but, yes, God uses us.

I have also learned that we pastors and priests are, as St. Paul said, to be “workmen.” We are to be prepared workmen, knowledgeable workmen, capable workmen, compassionate workmen, dependable workmen—and those who are not willing to work should have no part in this thing we call “ministry.” Paul also says that we are to be workmen who need not be ashamed because we are, or should be, workmen who do not neglect our times of study in the Word and our times of prayer. We are, as the Contemporary English Version of the Bible says to be one those who “teaches only the true message.”

So, the longer I live, the more experience I gain, the more I study, and the more I pray, I am convinced that I know far less now that I thought I did when I was 24. A mother in our church asked her child a few weeks ago, “Do who know who died for your sins?” The little girl instantly replied, “Father David.” I was deeply touched and emotionally moved but I quickly asked the mother to set the record straight. I’m just a helper—one of the workmen. Not as smart as I once thought I was but, hopefully, more faithful and more committed to the task. Maybe I should read the Karl Barth book—it’s never too late to learn something.

David Epps is the founding pastor of The Cathedral of Christ the King, 4881 Hwy 34 E., Sharpsburg, GA 30277 between Peachtree City and Newnan. Services are held Sundays at 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. He also serves as the Bishop to the Mid-South Diocese (ICCEC) and is the Mission Pastor of Christ the King Fellowship in Champaign, IL. He may be contacted at frepps@ctkcec.org. A website is available at www.midsouthdiocese.org.

I get wisdom from all over the place: my parents, family, friends, co-workers, advisers, church leaders, books, lectures, etc.  I am pretty blessed to gain insightful, thought-provoking wisdom on a daily basis.   I know that seems hard to imagine, but in all the advice, rebuke, “talks” I have with people, I try to learn something from it.  It’s what I have been learning in school called the “Life Long Learning” process or being a “Life Long Learner.” Being a lifelong learner means, listening to others stories, learning from their mistakes and accomplishments, appreciating the value of others lives through interaction, and ultimately sharing it with others to learn.  A life long learning process

Anyway… today was no different.  I was having a very meh day with lots on my mind and God blessed me with some AWESOME girlfriends in my life, and two of them were just shooting wisdom left and right.  Some of the things they said were like “dah Briana, everyone knows that” and other were like… “WOW!” and eye-opening  I wanted to share these things with you, so you can share it with others.  I hope you are blessed by it.  (Disclaimer: they are in no real order, and they are from two conversations, so it is a bit random)

• Don’t ever forget the kindness someone shows towards you, even if its decades later.
• Christ would never guilt trip you at your weakest point.
• Prayer is the answer to everything.  When you pray it’s not to inform God something He doesn’t know already but its our form of submitting ourselves in His hands.  The more we rely, the more sincere we become, the clearer the answers will be,
• God wants us to fight for justice… always.
• Open up your eyes.  When your eyes are focused on your frustrations, they are not focused on where YOU CAN do something.
• When all the chaos in this world in our lives seems impossible to deal with, you have to realize that the answer isn’t you, the answer is Jesus.  Jesus in a broken situation, in broken trusts in broken relationships.  We have to love people like God loves us.

You girls know who you are!  Thank you for making my night make sense again in the midst of my frustrations and weakness.  I will not share their names cause they are ALL MINE! *insert evil laugh here* That is right, I am selfish about my girls

Don’t forget to subscribe and comment on the blog… I’d love to hear from you!!!

I reckon that i am a Life long learner. Point 5. Learning tool box – get yourself some mentors, and point 7. Teach and mentor others are the two life long learning points i rely on the most. Point 1. Determine your goal, is the point i have the most difficulty with, my goals definitely vary in priority if not disappear over time. The point i most admire in others is 3. View problems as a challenge, i find these people to be extremely positive and a joy to work with.

Halloween Brain Cactus photo JParadisi

       But, I bought him a brain cactus, and it’s cool. I remember my grandmother’s Christmas cactus and African violets, when I was a child. By the time I was in junior high school, I had my own collection of over 50 houseplants in the 8′ x 11′ bedroom I shared with my younger sister. To hear her tell the story, you’d think I was Seymour Krelborn  from the Little Shop of Horrors. It wasn’t that bad.  She exaggerates. She likes a good story as much as I do.

“Se non e  vero e ben trovato.”

(“Even if it is not true, it is a good story.”)

                                                        Italian Proverb

     At 1o, this boy is pretty interesting. What’s interesting about him, is his curiosity about the people and world around him, whether they relate directly to him and his life, or not.  He’s interested in things beyond his own desires and centric self, and that makes him interesting.

     I read somewhere it’s what we’re interested in that makes us interesting, and I think this is true. One of the many things I enjoy about nursing is the opportunity to hear other peoples’ stories about who they are, when they are not a patient. Frequently I am surprised by the accomplishments and talents of the people I meet. It’s the same curiosity that impels artists and writers to ask questions and observe the people and world around us, feeding our creativity.

     My father used tell me, in his Italian accent, “Sweetheart, never stop to devil-up (he meant develop, English was his second language) your mind. Stay cue-rious (curious).” It is good advice, and I hope I haven’t disappointed him as I’ve grown.  I don’t think I have.        

Happy Halloween!                                                                                                                       

Brain Cactus photo JParadisi

Tips for your personal leadership growth:

Become a Life Long Learner!

The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live.  ~Mortimer Adler

No matter who you choose to learn from, (and there is plenty of amazing resources available to learn with, no matter where you live) they will all tell you the same thing – you must become a life long learner!

What does this mean?  To me it means learning formally and informally.  Formally,  through reading great books, listening to downloaded information, attending seminars and workshops, and even formal learning qualifications.  Informally, through learning from our mistakes / experiences, listening to others, and through mentoring relationships.  There is probably plenty of other ways that you can think of also…

One of my favourites is to find someone whose information and ideas I value, and subscribe to their newsletters.  I usually find them by reading their book.  Lots of business and motivational authors will have their own website where you can subscribe to their newsletters.

To grow ourselves, we must be like sharks when it comes to learning….and always moving forwards!

Maggie from the Get Stuffed Olive Company

Chick from the Sticks Profile :

Maggie Edmonds – The Get Stuffed Olive Company

I am a ‘Chick from the Sticks’ because I am a farmer, I work with my husband on our passionfruit and olives (and my wildflowers), and I like being close to the earth.   I like creating and growing – and the most pleasure I can have is if others enjoy what I produce.

By the way, ‘Old Chook’ would be more appropriate…

3 things I contribute to my rural background are a love and respect for the land, and integrity in what I do.

Currently, I am working on our farm in Gingin, WA, and producing value-added products such as flavoured olive oils and passionfruit spread;  I also run a farm stall every week-end in the Swan Valley, a popular tourist destination, called Maggie’s Place @ Edgecombe Bros.  Here, I sell fresh, local and seasonal fruit and veg and champion small producers.

I am about to open up the farm stall to include a Tasting Shed on a Sunday where people can try before they buy.

In my career I have learned that consistency of effort and attitude are very important – look after these aspects of your career and the rest will come. Keep focus – if you deviate from your concept, “regroup” as my friend Marie would say and stick to the vision. Genuine interest in other people is important in what I do, together with a love for – and pride in – the products I sell. Simplicity is important – there is no place for arrogance – and only undertake what you can fulfil to your highest standards.

My favourite quote is from Warren Buffet:

“Price is what you pay, value is what you get”.

4 people I would like to have dinner with are

• Warren Buffet as he is such a wise financier
• Barak Obama as he was born in East Africa as I was
• Nelson Mandela as he is the most outstanding human being I know of
• The Queen of England as she retains standards of behaviour and is so broad-based in her experiences of meeting people

Learn more about Maggie at:

www.getstuffedonline.com

A word from Wendy

I don’t know about you, but I am loving the profiles.  I am finding the insights inspiring and uplifting….would love to know what you think, and also if you know a ‘chick from the sticks’ who you think other women would love to read about also.

I hope that you are getting some of this great rain that has been around.  We have been under about 40 mm so far, and are, of course, hoping for more!

Until next week,

Wendy

clip of the week: Black Adder on clever ideas!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhX3wuWfTys&feature=related

quote of the week:

Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.

~Oliver Wendell Holmes

I haven’t yet read Chesley Sullenberger’s book, Highest Duty, but I was inspired by Jeffrey Brown’s interview with the pilot-author on The Lehrer Report on October 23. Hero? To those whose lives he saved by landing his flight from La Guardia on the Hudson River on January 15, the answer is yes. To citizens across the country, the answer is yes. But why was he able to perform this incredible feat?

Sullenberger is smart and he isn’t afraid to say so. “I care about ideas,” he says. “I never stop learning; never stop growing…. A smart person learns from his own and others’ experiences.” His mother raised him to value learning. This is the kind of model I want our children and grandchildren to hear, loud and clear. May today’s mothers, like Sullenberger’s mother, be able to reinforce, over and over, that learning is cool. Being smart is cool! Being smart should be every child’s life-long goal.

10. Kembangkan Jaringan yang Luas (Networking)

Jaringan relasi bisnis yang luas merupakan suatu faktor yang penting guna mendorong keberhasilan Anda sebagai pengusaha. Menurut Hofstede (2001), seorang ahli budaya bisnis, secara umum orang Indonesia dapat dikategorikan sebagai orang yang bersifat High Context dan komunal yang berarti membutuhkan interaksi yang lebih dalam guna menjalin hubungan bisnis yang erat.

Dalam pengalaman saya kedekatan kita secara personal dengan calon konsumen akan sangat membantu kita untuk dapat memahami kemauannya sehingga memudahkan kita dalam melayani mereka. Oleh karena itu referensi ataupun rekomendasi dari seseorang yang memiliki keterkaitan dengan calon konsumen kita menjadi suatu hal yang penting daam konteks bisnis di Indonesia. Efek lain dari hal ini adalah tumbuh suburnya peran dari perantara (broker) dalam bisnis di Indonesia yang berpotensi merugikan kita karena akan mengurangi margin kita.

Untuk menyiasati hal ini maka sebaiknya kita berusaha menjalin kontak yang lebih luas dengan berbagai cara, misalnya: aktif dalam asosiasi bisnis, aktif dalam organisasi sosial kemasyarakatan, aktif menjadi pembicara, menjadi anggota komunitas bisnis, dsb. Gunakan setiap kesempatan yang ada untuk menjalin kontak-kontak bisnis baru karena Anda akan merasakan manfaatnya suatu saat nanti. Namun perlu diingat bahwa kita wajib menerapkan aspek resiprokal dalam menciptakan suatu relasi yang sehat. Maksudnya ialah bahwa Anda juga wajib memberi bantuan kepada relasi Anda bilamana mereka memerlukannya dan bukannya semata-mata meminta bantuan dari mereka.

11. Bersikaplah Tulus

Hal ini tampaknya mudah dikatakan namun sangat sangat susah untuk dilakukan. Bersikap tulus dalam setiap kesepakatan bisnis akan membuat Anda menjadi orang yang dapat dipercaya dan pada akhirnya akan mendorong keberhasilan usaha Anda. Semua orang tidak akan suka berbisnis dengan orang yang licik dan memiliki terlalu banyak agenda terselubung dalam benaknya yang ujungnya akan merugikan pihak lain. Ini soal moral dan etika oleh karena itu hal ini sangat tergantung dari diri Anda sendiri.

12. Jagalah Integritas Anda

Integritas dan reputasi merupakan suatu komponen yang wajib Anda pelihara sekuat tenaga sampai akhir hayat Anda. Lebih baik mengalami kerugian finansial dibanding kerugian dikarenakan hancurnya reputasi yang telah susah payah kita bangun. Sebagai pengusaha saya berulangkali mengalami kerugian finansial yang tidak sedikit guna menyelamatkan reputasi dan integritas perusahaan kami. Namun tentu saja kerugian finansial itu tidak sebanding dengan reputasi dan integritas perusahaan yang sedang coba kami bangun.

Meski tampaknya besar tetapi sebenarnya lingkup suatu industri di Indonesia adalah sangat sempit. Kalau Anda sadari, dalam suatu sektor industri maka pihak-pihak yang terlibat (stakeholders) seperti konsumen, pesaing, dan pemasok sebenarnya adalah orang yang itu-itu saja. Maka sekali rusak reputasi Anda maka sudah pasti Anda akan mengalami kesulitan untuk terus bertahan dalam sektor industri tersebut.  Sehingga menjaga kepercayaan dari pihak lain dalam bisnis adalah mutlak adanya. Hal ini terutama berkaitan dengan pemenuhan janji kualitas, janji waktu,  dan dalam urusan hutang piutang.

13. Mulailah Berinvestasi pada Diri Anda

Peter F. Drucker (Guru Manajemen Dunia) dikenal memiliki kebiasaan unik untuk senantiasa mempelajari dua hal baru setiap bulan. Oleh karena itu Drucker memiliki sangat banyak keterampilan mulai dari ilmu pengembangan diri, menulis novel fiksi,  hingga masalah tanaman. Dia sangat menyadari bahwa setiap pengetahuan baru akan sangat mendukung kemampuannya guna menciptakan strategi-strategi bisnis baru yang fenomenal.

Oleh karena itu ada baiknya bahwa Anda sebagai seorang pengusaha juga menginvestasikan sesuatu untuk diri Anda sendiri. Investasi tersebut dapat berupa pelatihan atau kursus-kursus yang dapat membantu meraih tujuan Anda dengan lebih efektif dan efisien. Orang sering salah mengira bahwa pendidikan berhenti setelah mereka menamatkan pendidikan sarjana atau paska sarjana mereka. Padahal pendidikan terbaik itu sejatinya adalah pendidikan dalam kehidupan yang tidak akan pernah berakhir (life-long learning). Dengan mengikuti pendidikan singkat di sela-sela kesibukan Anda maka Anda akan memperoleh banyak perspektif baru yang akan sangat membantu Anda guna bekerja dengan lebih efektif dan efisien.

14. Wujudkanlah Mimpi Anda

Hal ini merupakan hal yang terpenting dalam bagian ini. Adalah sangat tipis diantara “dream” dan “dreamer” atau antara “mimpi” dan “pemimpi”. Seornag pemimpi tidak akan sampai kemanapun karena tidak berusaha mewujudkan mimpi-mimpinya. Sebagai manusia Anda berhak memiliki mimpi setinggi langit, namun tanpa kemauan dan kerja keras guna mewujudkan mimpi itu maka Anda hanyalah seorang pemimpi.

Bila Anda memiliki harapan, maka betapapun sulit tampaknya cobalah untuk menghidupkan mimpi tersebut. Mulailah dengan hal yang praktis dan sederhana namun dijalani dengan konsisten. Bukankah pepatah bijak kuno berbunyi “a thousand miles of journey begins wih a single step”? Buatlah objective (tujuan) yang spesifik lalu ciptakan strategi dan taktik yang tepat guna mencapainya. Ingatlah selalu bahwa semua hal tidak ada gunanya tanpa adanya suatu tindakan atau Action! @Betley-261009

I’m loving this week’s task. I’ve downloaded some fantastic lectures and talks.

I’m currently listening to this fascinating talk by a guy from the Royal Shakespeare Production and the about how the 16th century accent (original pronunciation) would have made Romeo and Juliet at least ten minutes shorter. It’s so interesting! The dialect is almost yorkshire with a mix of Scottish. I’ve heard this before and read things about it. I love hearing Shakespeare spoken in this way. It does give it a far more fast pace and a more earthy feel.

I’ve also got some lectures from Oxford University. I love this! I can learn from home. If only the Post Grad library course was so interesting!

Get ready to see a more enlightened and intelligent Helen walking around from now on.

• First person is really a perception problem.  — Hank Phillipi Ryan
• Dude, I’m making this up. — Harlen Coben
• I write the books I want to read.  — Gary Phillips

There were so many snippets of wisdom to glean from the greatness of BoucherCon.  More to follow!

What a difference a day can make!  This morning I attended a Social Media Symposium hosted by the Business and Professional Women (BPW) of Phoenix, and tonight, here I am writing my first blog.

The presenters and their topics were awesome.  First was Tyler Hurst, VP of Social Media for Amanda Vega Consulting, who spoke about “Social Media Applications Made Fun & Easy.”  Tyler can be reached @tdhurst (on Twitter) and said he will post his presentation on his website, http://tdhurst.com.

The second speaker was Jay Thompson, owner of Thompson Realty, and his topic was “Blogging 101 and Using Social Media for the Small Business Owner.”  Jay can be reached @PhxREGuy, and also said he will post his presentation on his website, http://PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com.

Interesting stats the presenters shared today:

• 173+ million blogsites exist today
• 900,000 blog articles are posted every day
• Twitter usage went up 3200% in one year, from 12M to 40M
• 4pm on Friday – greatest number of retweets
• Facebook usage went up 700%, and now has 300M users
• YouTube gets 1B hits per day

My favorite tips of the day:

• When using social media, be transparent, authentic, and honest.
• Fill out your profiles and use a real photo of yourself.
• Be careful what you post because once it’s out there, it can never really be deleted.
• Use Twitter to add value for your followers; don’t bore people with the mundane details of your day.
• Follow people who tweet or blog on topics you’re interested in.

Well, you may have figured this out, but I’m up for the challenge of creating a meaningful online presence.  Hope to see you there too!

The Governor will recognize the importance of education for all Virginians by proclaiming the week of October 19 – 23 GED and Lifelong Learning Awareness Week.

Who Knew?  Glad to see the word GED in the proclamation title this year!

Here’s the printable pdf document, and a link the Office of the Governor’s website (HERE)

Richard Woods

A few months ago Daniel Conn was scouting the internet wondering how and where he might obtain a degree. At 26, having skipped university when he left school, he was, as he puts it, “a bit unsure of my study skills”.
By chance he discovered a website called Open Learn, an offshoot of the Open University (OU), which is in the vanguard of a new era of education. Short-circuiting tuition fees and over-priced student flats, Open Learn offers expert material, accessible via the internet, free to anyone, anywhere.

Unlike traditional “distance learning” courses, you do not have to register and pay to receive course materials. You just click and pick from a vast array of subjects — say, an introductory course on life in the Palaeozoic era to one on the meaning and value of textiles in Ghana.

Although it is not designed to deliver a degree, it is a start. “I found the material to be very engaging and reassuring,” said Conn, who tried units on IT and computing.

“I wanted to see how I would cope. I studied for about a month. I couldn’t put it down.”

He was so encouraged that he signed up for a full OU degree course, which he started this month. “A week in and I don’t regret it,” said Conn, who plans to study in the evenings and at weekends while continuing to work as an administrator at a garage in Brighton.

While Open Learn is a natural evolution for OU, what is striking is how some of the most prestigious universities in the world are moving in the same direction, making first-class educational resources available for free. This month YouTube began carrying material from 45 universities in Europe and Israel on a strand it has dedicated to education.

“YouTube EDU is a global classroom where . . . everyone can watch and engage with a range of videos that have been uploaded by some of the world’s great universities,” said a spokeswoman.

Even more far-reaching, in many users’ eyes, is the light-speed expansion of iTunes U — a sort of university in the sky hosted by the online music store. There you can find lectures by professors at Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, Stanford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and many others.

Among last week’s most popular downloads were lectures entitled Einstein’s ethics; your brain on jazz: neural substrates of spontaneous improvisation; and building a business: entrepreneurship and the ideal business plan.

In just a year of posting material on iTunes U, Oxford has seen well over 1m downloads of lectures or other academic works. “Podcasts that were scattered on the university’s departmental sites are now on iTunes,” said Carolyne Culver, head of strategic communications at the university. “We are getting many more downloads.”

Word is spreading fast as a glance at Twitter last Friday revealed. Tweeter drdav99 wrote: “just found out about iTunes U. this is incredible”. Another tweeter, known as bfalke, claimed: “iTunes U may be one of the most amazing tools on the internet.”

As governments struggle to fund traditional university places — and this weekend 170,000 UK students starting a new university year are still waiting for loans to come through — is the internet ready to open up the cloisters of academe?

At the very least, it is reinvigorating the idea of life-long learning. If you have ever wondered who Euripedes was or where you might find a quark, you can now find a suitable lecture to listen to on your way to the office or sitting at home in front of your PC.

This time last year Marianne Talbot was embarking on a standard series of lectures on philosophy at Oxford University. Her words are still echoing around the world.

“It was a perfectly ordinary lecture I gave to an audience, but the university asked me if I’d mind if they recorded it and made a podcast,” said Talbot last week. “The next thing I knew it had hit No 1.”

Her talk, “A romp through the history of philosophy from the Pre-Socratics to the present day”, had topped the list of most-downloaded items on iTunes U.

“I got congratulatory e-mails from the techie people and I was tickled pink. I started thinking: how many \ is that? Presumably more than 20, but is it 100?”

Talbot, director of studies in philosophy at the department for continuing education at Oxford, had no idea how far her lecture was spreading. “Apparently the number of downloads is 5,000 a week,” she said.

“It’s extraordinary. It’s difficult to wrap my mind around the fact that throughout the world 5,000 people are downloading my lecture every week.”

Talbot admits she was fortunate to choose an engaging title in a subject of wide appeal. Nevertheless, she describes the potential of such open access as “awesome”.

The government, she notes, is no longer going to subsidise educational courses for people who already have qualifications (unless they are aiming for a higher qualification than they already have). So if you have one ordinary degree, you will get no financial help taking a second one. Such restrictions may well promote the use of open educational resources (OER), as iTunes U and its like are known.

At Cambridge, Nicky Clayton, professor of comparative cognition in the experimental psychology department, has also been surprised by the power of the internet. She was chosen to make a short film about her work as part of Cambridge’s 800th anniversary celebrations.

“The main message they wanted to get across is that although Cambridge is 800 years old and steeped in beautiful tradition, it’s not all old hat and cobwebs,” she said. So she decided to combine her research into animal behaviour with her passion for dance.
The result is Bird Tango, a short film that starts with Clayton dancing and segues into the intelligence of crows (who are arguably as smart as chimpanzees) and the antics of blue manakins, an Argentine bird so fond of dancing that it would have Alesha Dixon, the Strictly Come Dancing judge, lost for words. Since the film was posted on YouTube’s educational channel last month, more than 15,000 people have viewed it.

“I didn’t realise what a success it would be,” said Clayton. “I’ve been thrilled. It seems to appeal on different levels. It’s great for attracting general interest.”

Although OER is still in its infancy, the numbers are already impressive. In little more than a year more than 845,000 people around the world have accessed Open Learn through iTunes U and downloaded nearly 8m items. In the past month downloads have averaged 400,000 a week.

At MIT the Open CourseWare site is attracting 1.2m visits a month — many from students at other universities looking for additional resources, but many also what MIT calls “self-learners”, often working professionals who want to further their education.

One small study, by the University of New York in Fredonia, even claims that downloading a lecture can be more effective than attending one in person. Researchers compared 64 students, half of whom attended a lecture and half of whom received it via a podcast. In a subsequent test, those who downloaded the podcast performed better — possibly because a podcast allows you to replay difficult parts as and when you want.

Where might it lead? Most academics are not inclined towards cannibalism, let alone self-cannibalism. In an echo of the dilemma facing the newspaper industry, the OU is particularly sensitive to the threat of freely available material undermining its fee-paying business. Although it makes thousands of items available through Open Learn and iTunes U, its full courses, with guidance from tutors, remain separate.

Oxford is equally sensitive. “The Oxford education system is very much focused on the tutorial system, usually one or two to one,” said Culver. “You can’t replicate that in podcasts.”

Nor is the university going to make all its lectures freely available. “That’s not an aspiration,” said Culver. “We just try to find things the outside world will be interested in.”

Although some universities see iTunes U as little more than a handy tool to promote their wares, others are going much further. MIT, which charges students more than £20,000 a year, has put almost 2,000 complete courses online. Even though they can be downloaded for nothing, MIT does not believe this will undermine its position. Rather it calculates that the openness will enable potential students to understand the value of its teaching.

Although 40 years old this year, the internet is still in its infancy, according to John Naughton, professor of the public understanding of technology at the OU. When printing was at the same stage — 40 years after the arrival of the Gutenberg Bible in the mid-15th century — nobody predicted what an enlightening, subversive impact it would have on education and many other aspects of life.

Where OER will lead is unclear. All one can say with confidence is that its reach will undoubtedly grow.

Meanwhile, as Conn contemplates his studies in Brighton he is in no doubt about the value of what is already available on Open Learn.

“Okay, you don’t get a qualification from it,” he said, “but if you’ve got enthusiasm for anything you can search . . . And even if you don’t want to pursue a course, you’ll still get a rough understanding of what you wanted to know.” (Richard Woods, The Sunday Times) http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article6869552.ece?token=null&offset=24&page=3

Can you match the line to the puppet?

1. What the hell happened to your hair?
2. This is the way we stir the guac, stir the guac!  (Ole!)
3. She got on her menstrual cycle and ran my ass over.
4. Yes, I am really pissing him off-fa-fa.

The puppets tell it like it is.  And I love every minute of it.  Visit JeffDunHAM.com (and if you’re a fan, you know the right way to say that.)

1. Airports are astounding. How in the heck do they manage to get everyone going the right direction and make it seem intuitive for the first time user?
2. I am not a big city girl. I’ll stick with my hamlet of 60,000, thank you very much.
3. Traveling for work never leaves enough people time. I need to plan better so I have the opportunity to mingle more with the locals.
4. GPS is both a god and the devil rolled in to one convenient and irritating package.

Last week we had 4 International Rural Tourism delegates from 3 countries (Netherland, Bulgaria & Germany) visiting Ireland for a couple of days to work on an international accredited Train the Trainer Course.

From Ireland John Tolan of CMRD, Noelle CMRD and from Athlone Institute Kevin Mc Loughlin had organised the event. The international group is working under the Leonardo da Vinci Partnership.

We facilitated the one day event in the Silver Bear Centre. While I was involved in delivering a hands-on workshop on Entrepreneurship and Train the Trainer core competencies in the morning, the afternoon got us all working hard on the different levels involved to achieve accreditation.

Kevin delivered an inside how it works here in Ireland and what needs to be done to get it approved.

Through activities and lots & lots of discussions I learned a bit more about the status in other countries and the different needs regarding rural tourism and especially rural tourism training.

We like to thank everyone, especially our visitors to Ireland for their valuable and active input all day.

It was great meeting you and we wish you great success.

Thanks for visiting Bear Essentials in the neck of the woods.

Here are Carolien, Paula, Desi and Boris links to rural & Eco tourism.

• Netherland
  
• Germany
• Bulgaria

Read more on the Ruraltourisminternational Blog>>>