What is it with me wanting to end every post title with ‘by Alison Ruth’?  Am I 5? (Your answer to that is irrelevant, I know I’m a growed up).

I’ve told my students that tonight

we will be investigating some of the challenges that technology poses to business.  We will start with a story from the 17th century and end in 2019 with a view of things to come.

I’m going to use all the power of the Internet to bring a this to life.

I’ll be starting with the Button Maker’s Guild from the 17th Century, thanks to TechDirt. The obvious implication is that innovation threatens established business.  This basically sets the scene for the rest of the lecture which is about the Internet and computer technology, in particular.  The good thing about this lecture is no powerpoint!  YouTube FTW!

History of the Internet – 8:10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hIQjrMHTv4

This is a good overview of the global development of the Internet.  Contributions to how it works came from many places.  This is perhaps one of the best overviews of the technology that doesn’t try to explain the bits and bolts, just the general trends.

The Internet in 1969 – 1:57

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0pPfyYtiBc

This video is classic for the way it conceptualised a networked world.  The reality shown here is far from our small devices and multiple connections.

Early Internet discovery – 6:21

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klvWk8tN4s8

This video depicts a classic golden era of ‘Internet’ where “There’s not a lot of cursing or swearing… there’s not a lot of personal put-downs”.  How things have changed.

1981 primitive Internet report on KRON – 2:17

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WCTn4FljUQ

The current problems the newspaper industry face is set in stark contrast to the view demonstrated here.  Their attempts to engage with the public and ‘not make much money’ are in direct opposition to the current belief that every click should earn money.

DEC – Glimpse of the Future, 1994

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1l6aBgX5UY

This video shows how businesses approached the Internet as it started to become mainstream (or at least available to commerce) – same day service in a nano-second world!

The Evolution of Digital Communities – 7:13

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7O4uMRADB8

Ethan Zuckerman talks to broadcast media people about the shifts that the Internet has brought to community.  It’s a fast-paced glimpse of how we got here.

Sixth Sense Projection Technology Demo – 4:40

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLEEiQZOYDs

The future of technology is portable. And clever. (Predicted to be available around 2019.)

I’m looking forward to having one of those!

I’m putting a prezi together to try to edge out the competition for a job in teaching and learning.  I figure the prezi should be different to your standard CV, and include all the things that get left out of a traditional job app.  One thing that I never seem to include in the usually 10+ page applications is my philosophy of teaching/learning.  So now I’m trying to write one and every time I sit down, all the wonderful words I had in my head as I paced around the room disappear.  It’s a tragedemy!

…

See, I got nothin’.

…

One of the key findings from my doctoral studies is that student engagement often depends upon how well we frame a learning activity, be it online, face-to-face or as an on-your-own reflective activity. A classic error made by many is that we must mandate (and grade) participation.  But, students often do not engage with ‘busy work’, seeing it as not contributing much to their learning.  And while it may seem to overcome the problem of attendance, it does not really encourage engagement.

For us to capture the hearts and minds of our students we must be clear about the value of the activity to their learning.  We must be sure of the purpose and the outcome of exercise.  To do this, we must connect with them on multiple levels.

It helps that I am a multi- and inter-disciplinary scholar with a love of learning.  My philosophy of teaching speaks to this love. I teach from a systems perspective. I use multiple connections between ideas to engage students.  I engage them with the purpose of the activity and try to be clear of the outcome for them.  This provides a solid basis for their engagement.

I believe that learning stems from the heart and the mind, not just the body, although it, too, plays a significant role in learning. We judge students by their actions, by the way they engage in the classroom, but this is only the body.  Their hearts and minds may well be elsewhere, but with joy and encouragement, we can bring them all together.

I believe that education is an interaction, between what is past and what is to come, what is known and unknown – meeting roundly in the middle.  This is a challenge for some, wanting only to know what is, to give back what they get, to pass the assessment.

It was Socrates (apparently) who first stated: Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.  This is the purpose of learning, of connecting, of dreaming.

Too much?

I’ve just realised something.

A few months ago, I bought a bar table from Ikea to act as a standing desk because sitting all day created a certain pain in a certain part of my anatomy.  It’s been great, for most things, but I moved back to the desk and sitting because, it occurs to me, I’ve done significantly less writing while standing than sitting (and I really need to finish this job app).

I tend towards starting things and not quite finishing them, but lately, I have barely even started anything.

Perhaps sitting reduces the blood flow from my brain.  Make of that what you will!

I’m putting a job app together and one of the criteria is ‘significant experience in higher education’.  I know I’ve missed something from this list, but I’m thinking this is getting close to ‘significant’, although it is over a short period of time. Read more of Significant experience in higher education