INST 7150

"Is there ever a time when it's just cheaper or faster to develop your own materials, rather than repurposing an existing object?"
Definitely yes when there are copyright issues involved. (It's out there - have to live with that fact! And teach about it!) Might also be faster and easier when you don't have access to the program or code that created the original object....

INST 7150

Big ramble....
In K-12, I would make the assertion that we do more repurposing than reusing. (Especially those of us who teach different grade levels every year.) Each year brings new standards, new content, new students, thus we have to tweak what we have to fit the learning needs of our students and all those wonderful new requirements. Our "catalogs" would be our files - digital or otherwise - to which we add or subtract new items, and change what we have to meet the needs of our students for that year. Not every teacher does that, as I taught next door to one who was a master at "reuse". She had a file folder for each school day, and inside the folder was every ditto for the day. Each year was the same for each group of kids. They did the same dittos, they covered the same topics, they read the same books, they did the same art projects. And the following year, when I got them, there were usually a ton of gaps I had to fill in for each kid, because most of what they had done the previous year had been set in place 10 years prior, therefore very little of what they did had any meaning to them. It might have had meaning to that first class 10 years ago, but now - kids are different, instructional strategies are different, standards are different - you can't continue to reuse something just because you've always used it when it no longer has meaning. (And if tradition has lost meaning - I would hesitate to keep that too....)

Automating or automated systems - considering the type of content assessed on the standardized tests, automated systems would probably prep my students very well - memorize facts, practice skill-based content, pick from multiple choice question - no real thinking involved. If I want them to actually think - i.e. compare and contrast and make a decision about something, synthesize or apply the knowledge they've gained, then an automated system is going to be the last thing I want. (But my stupidintendent, who wants to eliminate teachers from the district with his purchase of Plato and just having to hire "instructional aides" at a cheaper salary than a teacher - thinks automated systems are the way to go!)

Dear Dr. Wiley....

I was thinking about this during my class after 7000. I decided that I disagree with your comments that students should come into a Ph.D program with a topic/specific study area already determined. Sometimes you don't know what you don't know until you start learning more about it - I now have many more areas to explore than I had previously considered. Likewise, in exploring different areas you may come across a different perspective or a different topic that may have more relevance, meaning, practicality, or more "value to the field", depending on where your priorities lie. Granted, there are some students who seem to have a clear idea of exactly what they want to do for their dissertation prior to entering a Ph.D. program, (I have met a few) and with a couple of them, I sometimes have to wonder about what world they operate in, as they frequently know no other perspective, acknowledge no other beliefs, no other focus besides the one that they have...... kind of like our current administration. (You had to know that was coming!)
And now back to the eternal paper writing......

INST 7150

OK - confusion here.
"You just need to transform the content from whatever format you find it in to a format conforming to the standard architecture. Or wrap it in an interface layer."
Speaking as a teacher - would there not be potential copyright issues here?
Or are we ignoring that for the sake of the argument?

And as for this comment:
"The automated system can keep perfect track of every learner's progress. It patiently provides practice and never forgets feedback. And, most importantly, it is completely consistent. It always follows the principles of best practice."
This is the claim my stupintendent made about the Plato "learning" system after he whipped out the district credit card at a conference and stuck us with a nightmare contract that we'll never pay off or get out of.

Now must go find out what the supreme dictator has done recently.....

INST 7150

Post IT Institute/INST 7000/7150 thoughts...with all the emphasis on digital libraries, online resources, learning objects, etc. - perhaps I missed the part about sustainability.... How useful is it for me to get my teachers to use some of these things, when they're going to be unavailable in a couple of years? Eisenhower National Clearinghouse is a good example - once enc.org, home to a plethora of math-based lesson plans, tutorials, java applets, etc. - now a paid subscription site due to the end of NSF funding. Then there's 4teachers.org - another collection of online tools - funding is gone, free access extended by a grant from Altec, but still ending soon...
Granted, given the current lack of support for actual education in this country by a pathetic shrub administration (herbicide, anyone?), this should probably not come as much of a surprise....but it still pisses me off.