Living & Learning | Next Avenue

 Where Grown-ups Keep Growing

America is in the midst of an age boom and with it, an amazing transition. In general, those of us over the age of 50 are expected to live longer than any previous generation.

We're in the process of creating a new life stage that lies somewhere between young adulthood and "old-old" adulthood. This stage doesn't have a name. We call it Adult Part 2. And if you're reading this you're probably smack dab in it.

You're aware that many years of life lie ahead of you and, very likely, you have a different set of expectations for these "bonus years" than you had for earlier adulthood. You sense that you can somehow apply your knowledge and experiences in a meaningful way. Yet you may not know exactly how to achieve this new vision or see all the many possibilities available to you as you navigate the physical, health, work, and financial shifts that inevitably accompany this phase.

Enter Next Avenue. We're a group of public television people and journalists who, for the most part, are experiencing the very same things you are. Like you, we see both challenges and opportunities and we recognize that what we could all use right about now is an abundance of reliable information that can help us figure out what's, well, next.

So we aim to deliver that—in a way that's both smart and accessible.

If you think we could do a better job, we want you to tell us so. In fact, we want your input on a lot of things. There are places throughout the site that let you give us feedback, share your experiences and send us your stories.

Thanks for walking with us down Next Avenue.
Who We Are

We're all passionate about delivering good, solid, trustworthy information and compelling perspectives that can transform people's lives. Most of us are in our Adult Part 2 and on the journey with you. There are a few terrific young adults on our team who are dead set on paving the way for their peers who'll someday turn down this avenue with them.

Content Sources

Next Avenue has developed formal relationships with key content sources that provide articles and video for nextavenue.org. View our list of content sources to learn more about these government agencies, non-profit organizations, independent media producers, and public television stations.

Business School, Disrupted - NYTimes.com

Business School, Disrupted - NYTimes.com
“Do it cheap and simple,” Professor Christensen says. “Get it out there.”

But Harvard Business School’s online education program is not cheap,
simple, or open. It could be said that the school opted for the Porter
theory. Called HBX, the program will make its debut on June 11 and has its own admissions office.
Instead of attacking the school’s traditional M.B.A. and executive
education programs — which produced revenue of $108 million and $146
million in 2013 — it aims to create an entirely new segment of business
education: the pre-M.B.A. “Instead of having two big product lines, we
may be on the verge of inventing a third,” said Prof. Jay W. Lorsch, who has taught at Harvard Business School since 1964.

Starting last month, HBX has been quietly admitting several hundred students,
mostly undergraduate sophomores, juniors and seniors, into a program
called Credential of Readiness, or CORe.
The program includes three online courses — accounting, analytics and
economics for managers — that are intended to give liberal arts students
fluency in what it calls “the language of business.” Students have nine
weeks to complete all three courses, and tuition is $1,500. Only those
with a high level of class participation will be invited to take a
three-hour final exam at a testing center.

“We don’t want tourists,” said Jana Kierstead, executive director of HBX, alluding to the high dropout rates among MOOCs.

The DIY Guide to Converting Existing Content into an eLearning Course

The DIY Guide to Converting Existing Content into an eLearning Course
 Although instructor-led or classroom training still remains as one of
the most common ways to train employees, the opportunity to implement
eLearning to is a more cost-effective and convenient option.
Those new to creating eLearning courses will find this post useful in
answering their questions and providing them with a checklist of things
to consider during the process of converting existing content, which
goes far beyond simply transferring content to an online format.

The promise of peer-to-peer training - The Globe and Mail

The promise of peer-to-peer training

The Globe and Mail

- ‎15 hours ago‎

“This shift in power to the consumer and citizens is not temporary or the product of faddish technology,” writes Simon Mainwaring in his recent book We First. “It is clearly one of the most fundamental and enduring characteristics of the modern digital ...

eLearning Jargon Explained: 5 Terms Every Newbie Needs to Know

eLearning Jargon Explained: 5 Terms Every Newbie Needs to Know: eLearning Jargon Explained: 5 Terms Every Newbie Needs to Know
Posted by Karla Gutierrez on Thu, Jan 16, 2014 @ 11:03 AM

Business owners, managers and executives new to the eLearning field sometimes find it hard to grasp industry concepts and terms. Though most of the times they’re not going to be developing the courses themselves, they need to fully understand industry terminology.

 Authoring Tool
When people hear the term ‘authoring tool’ for the first time they tend to think it refers to an elaborated form of word processing software... or sometimes they really have no clue what it is. Truth is, authoring tools go far beyond writing and word processing.

 Blended Learning
The keyword here is "blended." It's basically a learning approach that combines in-person (face-to-face) and online training. As a hybrid model

  LMS
enables all data, training materials, resources, statistics,
development paths and assessment results to be stored within one central
system.


SHIFT's eLearning Blog http://tinyurl.com/lfydpgh

Avoid Learner Overload: Five Rules for eLearning Course Design

Avoid Learner Overload: Five Rules for eLearning Course Design: Avoid Learner Overload: Five Rules for eLearning Course Design
Posted by Karla Gutierrez on Tue, Feb 04, 2014 @ 10:55 AM on E-Learning 2.0
Imagine sitting down at a computer to complete an eLearning course and instantly becoming confused, overwhelmed, and frustrated with the amount of information that is being dumped on you at once.

Open educational resources (OER

Open educational resources (OER) have been defined by the Hewlett Foundation as teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re - purposing by others. Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge.

 Babson Survey Research Group Higher Education Reports

8 ways to get the job done using Google Glass | PCWorld

8 ways to get the job done using Google Glass | PCWorld: Evernote, the popular note-taking Web service and application, is among the few official Google Glass apps currently available—and Shazafar Khaja, integration architect for The Kroger Company, says Evernote is the most useful app thus far for Glass.

EMR vs. EHR – What is the Difference?

EMR vs. EHR – What is the Difference?: EMR vs. EHR – What is the Difference?
Quoting Matthew Smith on Tue, Jan 14, 2014 @ 12:21 PM

What’s in a word? Or, even one letter of an acronym?
Some people use the terms “electronic medical record” and “electronic health record” (or “EMR” and “EHR”) interchangeably. But at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), you’ll notice they use electronic health record or EHR almost exclusively. While it may seem a little picky at first, the difference between the two terms is actually quite significant.The EMR term came along first, and indeed, early EMRs were “medical.” They were for use by clinicians mostly for diagnosis and treatment.
In contrast, “health” relates to “The condition of being sound in body, mind, or spirit; especially…freedom from physical disease or pain…the general condition of the body.” The word “health” covers a lot more territory than the word “medical.” And EHRs go a lot further than EMRs.

Stephen's Web ~ Stephen's Web The maturing of the MOOC

Stephen's Web ~ Stephen's Web: The maturing of the MOOC: literature review of massive open online courses and other forms of online distance learning
Stephen Haggard, Department for Business, Innovation, Skills, September 20, 2013

This is a very large report and for the most part comprehensive - regular OLDaily readers will recognize much of the literature cited here. To my mind, it focuses mostly on secondary literature - we don't read from MOOC developers or practitioners, but rather, from observers like Shirley, Bates and Daniel, media reports such as Huffington Post and the Economist, and formal objective analysis of MOOCs commissioned by Authorities such as Austrade, SSHRC and JISC. Again, for a complete MOOC literature review,  

E-learning’s most annoying traits : The Educators

E-learning’s most annoying traits : The Educators

Over 100 learning professionals were asked what one thing most annoys them about online learning materials. Their responses were both varied and numerous.

Social networks as learning management systems

Udutu | Online Collaborative Course Authoring:

To create a learning organization where knowledge is passed from experts to newcomers and where personal growth is encouraged, you need to create a social learning network. You can impose your own and hope they’ll participate, or you can leverage the one they already use. Chances are many of your people are already signed up!


Leverage technology!

Our applications can turn existing social networks such as Facebook. Into a powerful Learning Management System, (LMS, LCMS) and retain all the rich communication and scheduling tools that these applications offer.



Better yet, there’s no upfront investment in either infrastructure or software licensing. You can be up and running tomorrow in the interface your learners already know and use.

Advanced Experiments to Education Technical High School Students for Creation of Ubiquitous Networked Society

Advanced Experiments to Education Technical High School Students for Creation of Ubiquitous Networked Society

ABSTRACT

The outcome of the current research on ubiquitous computing and networking affects the next generation. In other words, young generation is in charge of creating ubiquitous network world. In this paper, we describe our technical and educational trials to educate high school students, who will live in ubiquitous networked society. One topic is the experimental activity using IPv6 and remote control techniques. In the experiment, the high school students have developed the virtual environment of a ubiquitous networked society. Another topic is the development of a learning program to educate the students. Expanding the experiments, we are forwarding a plan to make a practical curriculum of the high school to educate the students who have required technology and ability in creation of ubiquitous networked world.

Page 1 College of Education at the University of Illinois Ubiquitous Learning Institut

College of Education at the University of Illinois Ubiquitous Learning Institute Draft – Fall 2006

Page 1
College of Education at the University of Illinois
Ubiquitous Learning Institute
Draft – Fall 2006
Task Force: Chip Bruce (GSLIS), Cynthia Carter Ching (Chair, EdPsy), Michael Peters (EPS),
Vanna Pianfetti (OET), Sharon Tettegah (C&I), Brendesha Tynes (EdPsy)
I. Most critical goals/aspirations
The world is changing rapidly from an industrial to an information and media driven economy. As the
world around us becomes smaller, and communication and media become more global and more diffuse,
the very nature of society and of who we are as human beings is quickly being defined by our ability to be
both consumers and producers of knowledge. The nature of that knowledge, how and by whom it is
created, and the spaces in which it is encountered are all rapidly evolving. Technology developments
make it possible for information to be produced and disseminated by practically anyone, and learning can
occur at any time and any place. This notion of “anytime/anywhere” has often been described as
“ubiquitous” in the IT literature. Ubiquitous computing can mean using technology to bridge distance
and time, the merging of physical and virtual, and bringing computing off the desk into social and public
spaces through wearable and handheld devices. A focus on learning, and on the increasing prevalence of
knowledge construction activities being conducted in online environments by experts and novices alike,
however, suggests that the definition of ubiquitous be expanded to include the idea that learners can
engage with knowledge about “anything,” and that this learning can be experience by “anyone.”
What we mean by learning, however, differs strongly from a common understanding. Traditionally,
learning has been configured as a process whereby the learner encounters and soaks up knowledge or
skill, much like a sponge, from some authoritative source. This definition is no longer sufficient to
describe the convergence of knowledge conditions in the information society. Progressive theories of
learning have long maintained that learners do not passively absorb, but rather actively create personally
meaningful knowledge out of their experiences in the world. Now, however, learning through knowledge
creation is not just about designing the understandings in one’s own head, so to speak. As we use web
technology to make sense of the world around us through blogs, wikis, mash-ups, podcasts, social
software, online worlds, open-source and open-access media, and a whole host of other current and
emergent online practices, the constructions of our own evolving understandings become information in
the public sphere. In essence, the process of learning and the products of learning are rapidly merging
into ubiquitous knowledge engagement. The implications of this profound transformation--for formal
schooling, for online communities, for evolving definitions of public knowledge, and for global
interconnectedness and economic development--can not be underestimated.
The Ubiquitous Learning Institute, a partnership among the College of Education, GSLIS, Computer
Science and other partners at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and beyond, will take an
innovative approach to the study of this new learning paradigm. We propose that the Institute itself will
operate based on ubiquitous learning principles, by engaging in convergent processes of research and
development: encompassing critical and reflective scholarship, key collaborative relationships, and
significant technological exploration. Currently we see the research and development agenda as focusing
on four areas (although the agenda could change as technology and surrounding social conditions evolve

School education in the age of the ubiquitous networked computer

ScienceDirect - Technology in Society : School education in the age of the ubiquitous networked computer

Abstract

The difficulty in understanding the future implications of new technologies in society is seen in the growth of the Internet throughout the world, and, in particular, in schools. As factors such as convergence, increased bandwidth, “edutainment”, multitasking and changes to traditional socialisation modify everyday life, there is a corresponding need to consider the ways in which emerging practices and beliefs challenge traditional assumptions about the nature of school education. Although schools are by nature conservative and can be resistant to reform, the collective influence of an increase in the number of networked computers, improved teacher training, and the impetus of a transformed culture in wider society are likely to lead to a reconsideration of the nature of schooling.

Researcher - Scott Mainwaring

Meet - Scott Mainwaring: "Scott Mainwaring Researcher, People and Practices Research Group As ethnographic researchers at Intel, we explore many aspects of people's relationships with technology, particularly aspects that are not well understood or well supported. I've been working on a series of projects that focus on people's relationships to technology infrastructures, and how public and private domains come together as these infrastructures are actually used in everyday life.

Collaborative knowledge workers use ad hoc and changing work processes « Stronger Teams Blog

Collaborative knowledge workers use ad hoc and changing work processes « Stronger Teams Blog: "A fascinating ethnographic study sponsored by IBM examines the collaborative processes used by knowledge workers to conduct their work. I’m intrigued by a key finding that many of these processes are ad hoc, created uniquely for the task at hand, rather than routinized procedures"

Knowledge at Work - Book Information

Knowledge at Work - Book Information: "Knowledge at Work Creative Collaboration in the Global Economy By: Robert Defillippi (Suffolk University), Michael Arthur (Suffolk University) and VALERIE LINDSAY (Victoria University of Wellington)"


"This book's unique perspective stems from its "knowledge diamond" framework to examine how individuals, communities, organizations and host industries reciprocally influence each other in the course of knowledge work.

* This highly topical book focuses on work-based projects as a focus for organizational learning.
* Establishes the link between individual, community, organization and industry learning.
* Suggests that organizations need to recognise and understand this link if they are to capitalize on project-based learning.
* Incorporates material on project-based learning in virtual communities.
* Refers to different examples, such as the film industry, the software industry and the boat building industry."

Defining Knowledge Work: A Cross Cultural Study

Defining Knowledge Work: A Cross Cultural Study: "Defining Knowledge Work Defining Knowledge Work: A British and Hispanic Cross-Cultural Study University of York ITBML Project Jennifer Waiming Yau, Mar 2003 Abstract Knowledge has become a marketable commodity in the business world. The post-industrial era has arrived, which many have termed the 'Knowledge Age'. A new form of work has been recognised, knowledge work, causing a flurry of interest into its meaning, importance and implications. Knowledge work is seen as imperative to business success and survival, yet given its immense importance it is little understood and poorly defined. This report investigates the key characteristics of knowledge work that ought to be included in any definition of the term. Globalisation and multicultural and virtual teams have all meant that businesses today operate in diverse environments and, therefore, must be sensitive to cultural issues and how these affect knowledge work. Knowledge work will be investigated in different cultural contexts to determine if it is culturally defined, and how cultural factors can affect definitions of knowledge work. Results show that knowledge work is not culturally defined."

pdf full study:
http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~kimble/teaching/students/Jennifer_Yau/Defining_Knowledge_Work.pdf

Knowledge worker - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Knowledge worker - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Knowledge worker, a term coined by Peter Drucker in 1959, is one who works primarily with information or one who develops and uses knowledge in the workplace."

Printing For Less in the middle of nowhere | ScobleShow: Videoblog about geeks, technology, and developers

Printing For Less in the middle of nowhere | ScobleShow: Videoblog about geeks, technology, and developers:


Robert Scoble | September 25th, 2006 2:55 pm wrote:

"This tour of Printing for Less is one of those times when you can see something special: a CEO, Andrew Field, who loves what he does and loves the employees who work for him. 'Oh, hooey Scoble, every CEO says that,' you probably are thinking, right? Well, have you ever met a CEO that built a successful Internet business in the middle of nowhere? This business is the only major Internet business in Livingston Montana. It's small town America. Before he started up his business there weren't any geeks around. There was barely any Internet infrastructure around. You'll see why having a dog policy is helping them attract top-notch talent away from far bigger companies around the world. Not to mention their transparency initiatives (every employee knows exactly how much business they all did - up to the minute). They also show off their brand new building and see why their employees love working there. Printing for Less is the world's largest Internet-based printing company with about $24 million in revenues (all of its business comes off of its Website).

OnDemand Journal

OnDemand Journal: "Widespread print buying over the Internet is an idea whose time has come. According to the December 2006 survey conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 70 percent of American adults use the Internet--about 141 million people. Of those, 78 percent research a product or service before buying it, 71 percent buy products, 63 percent make reservations or buy tickets for travel, and 43 percent do online banking. From the consumer's perspective, why should ordering print be different --or any more complicated-- than ordering a book from Amazon? For the customer, ordering print online only makes sense and saves time, for all the same reasons that ordering airline tickets online has become routine. Remember travel agents? The fact is that print 'on demand' has acquired a much broader meaning than was perhaps originally intended. We are moving toward the day when the vast majority of print products will be produced 'on demand' in small quantities --as needed, and not before."

RSA Brings Web-to-Print to Your Fingertips with iPhone Portal Page at PrintCEO Blog

RSA Brings Web-to-Print to Your Fingertips with iPhone Portal Page at PrintCEO Blog: "RSA Brings Web-to-Print to Your Fingertips with iPhone Portal Page Posted by Gail Nickel-Kailing on October 9, 2007 We’ve seen new technologies implemented in the graphic arts industry faster and faster; and with each wave of new technology comes a certain tension. We should always keep in mind that new technologies do not replace old ones, but that: * New technologies do not change what we do, new technologies change how we do it. * New technologies do not compete with old technologies. * Products produced with new technologies compete with products produced with old technologies. * New technologies do not create demand; new technologies radically change costs."

Bring the Blog

Bring the Blog: "Money spent on something a consumer will ignore or throw out seems like money wasted to me. Money spent on blogging, however, is not. We know it works and we know it's inexpensive. What better marketing proposition could there be?"

Remote Possibilities, from CFO Publishing - Business White Papers, Webcasts and Case Studies - BNET.com

Remote Possibilities, from CFO Publishing - Business White Papers, Webcasts and Case Studies - BNET.com: "‘The recent spurt in terror attacks has made many companies realize the real value of mobile technology. If it were not for mobile phones, they would have been in more trouble. And, even though most employees joined the office within a week, they had been forced to vacate. Thus, technology played the role of perfectionist in bringing people out of the trouble. In addition, the arsenal of mobile technologies available to companies allows the concept of a remote workforce to take many forms, creating efficiencies that boost the bottom line.’ The paper examines the advantages of sound technology in exploring remote workforce methods."