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Keynote Speaker
High Quality Learning: It's about
Nature (technology) AND Nurture (pedagogy)
Curt Bonk
Indiana University, USA
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Abstract:
Emerging technologies - such as electronic
portfolios, blogs, wikis, podcasts, ebooks, digital object repositories,
computer games and simulations, and wireless and mobile computing - are
generating waves of new opportunities in higher education, K-12 schools,
corporate training, and other learning environments. Higher education
instructors, especially teacher educators, are always pressed for time and
yet they encounter new technologies that they might incorporate into their
teaching on a daily basis. Educational technologies, as genes are to human
beings, instill a wondrous nature of possibilities for learning. However,
this is an interactional model and, as any solid teacher educator knows,
nurture is equally important. In fact, the effective use of these
educational technologies involves far more than simply shoveling tutorials,
readings, and slideshows onto a web site or deciding to use a new technology
in one's teaching. Instructors must be trained how to motivate online
students as well as how to address their individual learning styles and
adjust learning methods and assessment to the learner-centered expectations
of Generation X and millennial students. As enrollments in online courses
surge, today's students - immersed in an increasingly digital world - are
seeking richer and more engaging learning experiences. Amid the rising tide
of expectations, instructors are exploring innovative ways to use technology
to foster interaction, collaboration, and excitement for learning. The
current debates about e-learning will not be won by technology advocates,
promoters, and zealots, nor by those who are more hesitant, resistant, and
reluctant to incorporate technologies into their teaching. One may get
excited about nature (technology), while for others it is all about nurture
(pedagogy). But, as this talk will show, it is both that matter. Neither
nature nor nurture can be ignored.
Biographical
Information:
Curt Bonk is a former corporate controller and
CPA, who, after becoming sufficiently bored with that, received his master’s
and Ph.D. degrees in educational psychology from the University of
Wisconsin. He is now Professor of Instructional Systems Technology and
adjunct in the School of Informatics at Indiana University (IU). Dr. Bonk
is also a Senior Research Fellow with the Advanced Distributed Learning Lab
within the Department of Defense. He has received numerous teaching and
mentoring awards from IU as well as the CyberStar Award from the Indiana
Information Technology Association, the Most Outstanding Achievement Award
from the U.S. Distance Learning Association, and the Most Innovative
Teaching in a Distance Education Program Award from the State of Indiana.
During the past two years, Dr. Bonk has presented more than 200 talks around
the globe related to online teaching and learning, including ones at
universities in China, Taiwan, Thailand, Korea, Finland, Ireland, Singapore,
Spain, Iceland, the UK, and the United Arab Emirates. Curt has more than
150 publications on topics such as online learning pedagogy, massive
multiplayer online gaming, collaborative technologies, synchronous and
asynchronous computer conferencing, and frameworks for Web-based instruction
and evaluation. His highly popular “Handbook of Blended Learning
Environments: Global Perspectives, Local Designs,” was published by Pfeiffer
Publishing in 2006. His upcoming book with Jossey-Bass titled, “A Web of
Learning (Part I): 100+ Ideas for Online Learner Reading, Reflecting,
Displaying, and Doing,” will explain his online learning preferences
framework, R2D2. Finally, he is President of CourseShare and SurveyShare
and can be contacted at
cjbonk@indiana.edu or via his homepage at
http://php.indiana.edu/~cjbonk/.
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