In my relatively short time in the consulting world, I’ve unfortunately already encountered the stalwart of entrenched, outmoded school policy that effectively undermines attempts by teachers, however well-intentioned, to pursue a pedagogy centered on increasing media literacy.  Far from being a tech evangelist, I do think thoughtful uses of technology (esp. in the classroom) can [...]

Henry Jenkins of MIT’s Comparative Media Lab discusses how many of our students today are being de-skilled as they enter schools where the digital tools they are using outside of the school environment are invalidated.  Not only are many critical online resources blocked by crude filters but  “[teachers] tell kids again and again that what [...]

From Beyond Culture Citing Washburn (1973) on the importance of play in learning “Through play (emotional, repetitious, from within) children prepare for the adult life of their culture.  Separation of education from life…is new in the history of primates.  In the American school there is no view of adult life…In schools discipline is substituted for [...]

Do Computer -Based Games Facilitate Knowledge Acquisition and Retention? Katrina E. Ricci, Eduardo Salas, and Janis A. Cannon-Bowers Military Psychology, 8(4), 295-307 The motive of the present research was to augment the breadth of literature in the field of computer-based gaming.  At the time of this study, the majority of literature in this area either [...]

Communities of Practice and virtual learning communities: benefits, barriers and success factors by Pat Gannon-Leary, Northumbria University, UK & Elsa Fontainha, ISEG – Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal. This article discusses the factors important to the development and maintenance of virtual communities of practice, or  “network[s] of individuals who share a domain of interest about [...]

Last week marked the start of my work for Sun Microsystems.  I’m being dubbed an “instructional designer” and I’m charged with researching social learning and virtual environments.  At the moment we are working on a couple initiatives, one which includes facilitating knowledge allocation and sharing among Sun employees.  I imagine an environment similar to Netvibes [...]