Free Range Learning

We in Learning Design & Technology (LDT) can often be implicitly accused of promoting technological innovation as a be-all, end-all solution to problems in education. And while none of us fully believe that myth, we do take technology seriously. Web technologies can open up possibilities that were not present in the past. Social media can bring a diversity of voices and experiences to the table that may not have been previously heard. These are beliefs we hold dear.

But what happens when we …

This week, in conjunction with the Library , we are excited to begin new, bi-weekly Tech Talks . These thirty-minute talks will cover some new or exciting aspect of technology and will be offered Tuesday mornings and Thursday afternoons, every other week.

We'll spend the first few minutes of each talk providing a very high-level overview of the technology and then open it up for discussion to generate ideas about creative and useful ways to use the technology.

Having people from all sides of the …

If you have not yet used iGoogle , Google's customizable homepage, you're missing out. It's been around for a few years now, but continues to be improved.

iGoogle is a really easy way to have important information that you are interested in all in one place. There are many different gadgets to choose from. You can have local weather, news sources, blog readers, daily comics or games all on one page.

But the really cool thing that has happened lately with iGoogle is that a bunch of new themes have …

I finally had 1:20 free to watch the Google Wave demo. It looks like it is going to be a very powerful communication and collaboration tool that combines, email, chat, wiki, and photo / video sharing all into one open source tool. I'm excited for it to be released so we can see how it might be useful for us here at Luther.

Tomorrow's Professor has a great article on e-portfolios and their usefulness in student learning.

The practices associated with e-portfolio-e.g., designing "authentic" assignments, using engaging and active pedagogy, periodic self-, peer- and teacher-formative assessments, and requiring students to reflect on their learning-help to move both professors and students into a teacher/learner relationship where "guiding" really works. Emphasis shifts from delivering content toward …

I saw this in my blog roll this morning, from Making Light (via Boing Boing). What does this have to do with learning and technology? Not much, other than, because of blogging tools, I can find out about such places in Brooklyn, and through the comments on the story, learn about a halal butcher in Minneapolis that prepares halal Swedish meatball mix.

I recently watched Benjamin Zander's TED Talk (video below), in which he talks about music and passion. One of the things that really struck me is when he talks about how "everyone loves classical music - they just don't know it yet." The passionate walk is emblematic of the hope and life he finds in music.

It's not unlike how many of us feel about the Gospel. That hope and life is what motivates us to do what we do: preach, teach, draw, write. It got me thinking, "what if we walked around with shining …

The LDT staff and some other Luther folks are out here in Washington DC this week at the Jenzabar Annual Meeting. (Jenzabar is the software company that makes the program that runs MyLutherNet.) We've been learning a great deal about what is possible with the program. So far the most inspiring has been a presentation by Sarah Lawerence College who have extensively modified the software to look like this.

I'm a big fan of how clean they have made the interface and they've also created …

The only addition I'd offer, is to point …

Authenticity is a word that is probably over-used these days, especially in many church circles. But there is still something powerful and true about the concept. Yesterday, at JAM , the keynote speaker talked about the Internet revolution in politics and about how authenticity played a great role in the last presidential election. Andrew Rasiej is the co-founder of techPresident , an award winning group blog that covered how the 2008 Presidential candidates used the web, and how voter generated …