ONLINE KEYNOTE
“The World is Open: Now, WE-ALL-LEARN with Web Technology!”
with Curtis J. Bonk, Ph.D.
Description: According to Thomas Friedman’s book, The World is Flat, worldwide economic trends are flattening. In education, however, opportunities for learning are actually expanding or opening up through a myriad of emerging distance technologies. These opportunities can be seen in ten technology trends that spell the acronym: “WE-ALL-LEARN.” From online content in the form of e-books, podcasts, streamed videos, and satellite maps to participatory environments such as social networking, wikis, and alternate reality worlds, technology-based learning continues to open new learning pathways. At the same time, more instructors are sharing their course materials and teaching ideas globally, thereby expanding learning opportunities and resources. And the software used to deliver such online learning contents and experiences is increasingly available as open source. Naturally, many questions surround such systems, sites, and resources. For example, how can instructors and learners in developed and developing countries take advantage of these trends? For what purpose will people share? How can these trends converge to address individual learner’s needs worldwide? Curt Bonk will address these issues while enticing participants to think of implications for their organizations, countries, and regions of the world as well as for themselves as leaders and learners.
About the Presenter:
Curtis J. Bonk, Ph.D., is Professor of Instructional Systems Technology at the School of Education at Indiana University. Curt is Founder and President of SurveyShare and CourseShare. He is also a former educational psychologist and before that a CPA and corporate controller. His master’s and doctoral degrees in educational psychology are from the University of Wisconsin. He is the author of The World is Open: How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education (Jossey-Bass, 2009; see World is Open book Website) and coauthor of the Handbook of Blended Learning, Empowering Online Learning, Electronic Collaborators, and is a popular and highly engaging keynote speaker on technology in education.
