The End of Education

UBC - Global Citizenship Seminar Series - January 2006 (Click to Play)

This podcast is a powerful address by Dr. David W. Orr, Professor and Chair of Evironmental Studies at Oberlin College in Ohio. His topic does not target medical education or even distance education in general, but his message on the environment has such global impact that it really needs to be considered in regard to everything we do at the university and elsewhere. I found it on Burks Oakley's Selections blog (see link in sidebar) but it was originally posted on the Global Citizenship Seminar Series site at the University of British Columbia after he delivered his address there on January 13, 2006.

As stated in the notes about his address on the UBC site Dr. Orr "is best known for his recent work in ecological design including his efforts to build a $7.2 million Environmental Studies Centre at Oberlin College. He also maintains a presence in the environmental literacy scene with four books and over 120 articles in scientific, social science, and popular journals."

The notes add that "Dr. Orr's talk is intended to be a follow up to one of his famous essays, 'What is Education For' (published over 20 years ago). This essay was based in part on a commencement address to a graduating class at Arkansas College, and explored 'six myths about the foundations of modern education, and six new principles to replace them.' His talk will seek to connect sustainability, education and politics through careful consideration of how and what the university community learn in an effort to achieve “ecological literacy” for all."

I found this address to be both scary and inspiring. I hope you will find it interesting as well and I welcome your comments.

To listen or download the audio file, click the subtitle in italics above. Note that this address is more than an hour long so it is a large file. You can subsribe to this podcast by clicking the orange "Pod" icon in the sidebar.

Connecting Learners in the Digital Classroom

Wikis, Blogs, Podcasts, and Other Tools for Communicating and Collaborating (Click to Play)

DME Seminar Series (February 2006)

In the UIC Department of Medical Education's February 2006 monthly seminar, I had the opportunity to talk with my colleagues at UIC and others who joined us online about some of the new Web tools educators are using to communicate and collaborate with learners in their online and face-to-face courses. Many of us have generally thought of these tools as social software best suited for entertainment or keeping up with friends, but have not really considered the possibilities they offer for learning communities. While I spent most of my time just introducing the tools for those who were unfamiliar with them, the fun part of the seminar was hearing some of the interesting ideas from my colleagues on how they might be used in the classroom.

You can click the subtitle in italics above to download the mp3 file or go to http://www.uic-dme.org where you will find other seminar archives in mp3 and streaming videos as well listed under "Educational Programs."

Easy podcasting for your students

The following is a sample audio file I recorded using my free cell phone minutes and AudioBlogger which enables one to create a five minute mp3 and automatically uploads it to your blog. Wouldn't this be a great way for students to introduce themselves in your online courses? If you have used this tool already, I'd appreciate any comments and ideas on how others might use it.