Monday, February 1

Learning in 3D! Why? How?



“Content is King, but Context is the Kingdom.”
- Tony O’Driscoll




WHY ME?
Thanks Karl Kapp and Tony O’Driscoll for inviting me to participate in a Blog Book Tour to discuss their new book "Learning in 3D: Adding a New Dimension to Enterprise Learning and Collaboration" and be part of a global discussion regarding learning in virtual worlds and 3D learning spaces (Facebook Group). How could I say no! Actually, I am kind of embarrassed, because I was even invited as one of the special guest, but then after looking at all the learning giants that have already shared their reviews and comments, I feel kind of: I am not worthy, but thanks!

Forget you, What about the book? Now we're talking!

So, why would anyone spoil a 3D virtual world with some serious learning? Have you heard of the term ‘Serious Games’? Only some nutty dude would come up with such a dreadful term for educational games. Back to 3D, I mean if you ask any sane dude, he would 'rightfully' (or wrongfully) argue that Second Life is dreadful and lame. No game-play, no fun! Just people walking around, flying a bit, teleporting, chatting, and then sitting down to watch some dude talk/sing/dance you to sleep.

What do teachers do besides sitting around tables and talk in Second Life. Your thinking, what (that is not what I want)?


TRUTH
When it comes to 3D learning, virtual worlds, and Second Life, I am simply a ______! I have tried it, and every time I have promised myself to build something there and explore its possibilities... Reality check! Never happened! My computer specs (graphic card) and network just spoils the fun (Second Life, is there a light version?). That is one of the reasons I liked Google Lively, but Google probably realized that it was too costly and no hope, so they pulled the plug (Google Goggles here I come!).



HOPE
However, when you have amazing learning dudes like Karl and Tony around to inspire you with real ideas and stories on how to transform a lame 3D world into a 3D learning adventure, there is hope. I have to admit that I have showed Tony's video entitled “Virtual Social Worlds and the Future of Learning” (7 Sensibilities) in most of my presentations during the last couple of years.







So, what is so special about this ‘Learning in 3D’ book? Well, I suppose the previous bloggers on the tour have dissected it too many ways to mention here, so I am thinking...

I had the opportunity to read this book in 3 countries (Malaysia, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia) as I traveled, and between countries on flights using my IPhone. I read the chapters according to some funny fuzzy logic (1,9,2,4,3,5,7,8,6) without any special plan, and the whole learning experience was captivating and enriching. Alright, I would have preferred to read it on an ‘IPad’ with interactive teleports to Second life, but Apple is not ready to launch that learning device yet (and my wallet is not so sure either!).



THE BOOK?
So, what about the book? I thought I had it covered!

This is what I liked about it:

It tells you what, why, when, where, how, and provides a whole chapter (6) exploring numerous real success stories in using virtual worlds or 3D learning spaces beyond sitting around tables. The chapters flow beautifully from possibilities and today’s learning needs, to providing an easy-to-understand implementation framework supported by real examples, and then gives us a glimpse of how the future learning world is unfolding or going to unfold (as the Japanese say ‘ Innovate or Die’).

Although, I read the book in a weird flow (fuzzy logic), it was easy to make sense of what I read, as the authors have used simple language and minimized the jargons (at least to me). As the authors say, “…this book can be summarized in ten simple words: Progress, Problems, Possibilities, Principles, Archetypes, Examples, Processes, Adoption, Rules and Future.”

My favorite chapters are 6, 5, and 4, which provide a ‘Blueprint’ to get one started with building 3D learning spaces that meet our learning objectives and needs. Especially useful, is the eleven 'Learning Archetypes' that form the so called basic building blocks for creating 3D learning experiences. The eleven learning archetypes include role play, scavenger hunt, guided tour, operational application and conceptual orienteering. In a 3D shell, these chapters (and book) provide an excellent framework to get one started.

The final three (3) chapters explore what lies ahead for 3D Learning, and you might wonder what that may be. Not revealing! Just get the book :)

Though, at times when reading the book, you feel as if 3D learning is the ultimate future of learning, but I am pretty convinced that the 2D and 1D and 0 D are still going to be needed as much as 3D in the future, so we should not get too carried away with the new immersive 3D bells and whistles, even though they could be used to facilitate the most amazing learning experiences.



FUTURE
If you ask me, I am looking beyond Second Life, and reflecting what a Third Life would look like. Well, you certainly won’t be using the mouse, keyboard or joystick like now. I would actually argue that it won’t really be immersive until these three navigation tools are immersed into the 3D or augmented learning world (or immersed into the physical world). Project Natal is a glimpse of what to expect in the near future. In short, you become the joystick.

Also, building our 3D learning spaces to fulfill our learning outcomes and needs will become increasingly easier to accomplish in the near future. There will be more templates and ready-made labs/devices to use-on-the-spot, without needing to invest in designers and programmers to make it happen. In other words, there will be purpose-built 3D Learning spaces for any knowledge or learning domain one could think of, ready to be used, requiring just a tiny learning curve to adopt or adapt. If they are already there (and kind of free!), please share them in the comments section (PLEASE!), especially anything to do with medical education.

The present and future learning possibilities are amazing, and Tony and Karl has provided us with tons of 3D learning juice, and a very useful framework to get us started. So, that is it! As my last 3 weeks have been super hectic (Learning adventure in Saudi Arabia), I didn’t have enough time to really sit down and reflect this book as much as it deserves, so I am certainly going to revisit it again and again…

I was thinking of continuing here, but my 3rd baby is Insha-Allah coming soon (in the next few days hopefully), and I am looking forward to focus more on the good old physical world in the coming months, spending hopefully more quality time with my family and kids. When the 3rd baby has settled down (say 6 months), I will hopefully take up more time to explore deeper into the immersive 3D learning world. Until then, the physical world is my main immersive 5D learning adventure :)

Let's end this post with Karl Kapp's inspiring Learning in 3D presentation:

Learning in 3D
View more presentations from kkapp.
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Thursday, December 24

The Very Best From ZaidLearn!



“Strange as it may seem, no amount of learning can cure stupidity, and formal education positively fortifies it.”- Stephen Vizinczey


Actually, as you learn and acquire knowledge and skills, your ego might amplify your confidence, ignorance and pride, which again could hinder you from going beyond what you have already learned. You become stubborn to try new ideas and approaches, because you have reached a level whereby you are comfortable with what you are doing, and it works perfectly fine to you.

 After all these years of exploring and settling down with your own style, certainly you don't want to risk exploring new ideas, and perhaps making a fool of yourself. If you have reached such a stage in life or at work, it is perhaps time to rethink yourself. I am kind of referring to myself, too...

REFLECTING BACK
Since middle 2007, I have posted exactly 360 posts (including this one), and I suppose it is time to reflect back, and share with you a list of those posts that are probably the best from ZaidLearn. So, if you like ZaidLearn or new to it, I suppose this list would be an excellent starting point. Previously, I created a master list and stories collection, but this time around it will include the best of the best, according to my own little formula, which is certainly not scientific.

After more than 2 years of blogging, including studying other learning blogs, I have come to realize that producing 'hit sensations' is not that difficult. If you really want to generate a lot of hits fast, start talking about celebrity trash, controversy, politics, making big bucks, gaming, cars, hate, religion, race, naughty stuff, etc. If you are reasonably smart you can become a 'Britney' hits sensation in no time (please don't be upset! she can't sing!).

What about education? Tough! What about Higher Education? Are you ____!

However, if you do create relevant monster lists of this and that, you can still be a hits sensation reasonably quickly. Also, many people can benefit from your efforts to summarize the best resources out there into juicy lists. I did that a lot in 2007 and 2008, and a few times in 2009. During the process I discovered and learned plenty, and visitors discovered and learned, and seemed to repay back by returning, referring, tweeting, bookmarking, etc. Great!

However, these days there are so many juicy lists around, and excellent educational bloggers that can swoosh them in no time. So, I am not going to feel guilty about focusing more time on sharing my deep thoughts about learning and education (and posting 1-2 times a month) instead, although my hit rate might be affected. So what!

It has been fun, but life must go on. Interestingly, since ZaidLearn started, it has had visitors from 199 countries and 8,387 cities, which just shows how interconnected our world is today. I thought that there were only 195 countries in the world, but according to Google Analytics there seems to be more than 200. Google has always been innovative, so why not here, too.

ZaidLearn has connected me to many learning professionals around the world, and has been an amazingly enriching learning experience beyond any lecture, tutorial, assignment, project or exam could ever achieve. But, what has been most thrilling, is the conversations sparked from some of my blog posts, which have been conversed in other blogs and sites, and sometimes beyond English in the form of German, Polish, Finnish, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Italian, etc. Luckily, Google language tools has helped me interpret and learn from these interesting conversations.

During this enriching learning process of blogging, I have even angered and insulted female bloggers (unintentionally), slammed CEOs and learning tools, hurt Moodle fans, and even published an e-book consisting of juicy blog posts from ZaidLearn (+119,000 hits!), but that is something to expect if you are really honest about what you think.

In short, ZaidLearn has been a wonderful learning adventure, and below are a juicy selection of the best blog posts from ZaidLearn.



THE BEST FROM ZAIDLEARN
View more presentations from Zaid Alsagoff.


1) 1st E-Book
  • 69 Learning Adventures in 6 Galaxies (E-book)
    A collection of 69 learning nuggets (articles) from ZaidLearn compiled into an ebook. This ebook is divided into six learning galaxies (or themes), which are: Learning, Teaching, Stories, Free e-Learning Tools, Free Learning Content and Free EduGames.


2) Learning & Facilitation
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicx0TEGZYj1UXscRrXsRVW0-1qBGXXdSGV3XZAeaTsB-0Z3KdrxoDJ8c4BfPb-1WWXmhBogx0PjoW5zZbET2aveqqHGumvwNm6xq1Ea60bQhTymgWDuAJMEG-rPGxh1939Z1r4VlTYxTQ/s1600/pencil+and+paper.JPG
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylyOi4qBwDuku2TXYxbF_UVxc7U8VqjSffKNeI4F7sTqy8XgRjLK9Sgy-zRj-OUnHA5ujVxH8LaWdDeRSO-0EpntpVF0NQFVDyAVY9BeWfeyOwvO3HsWKLfK0awPnsuU0Wd_VjzkdId8/s1600/PowerPoint+animation.JPG
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEWUv10_uw4kQKpNYz24tXXJHZCc1pG_i0ir4zxV_fOGseI1CQjiFSW5odnNumKy8CHTkmt4Obz-164LE-RF6OSLe1C3fHdE3BBPksmxYSXfQ2AxVq1mophTDlEF81Ssi7TwT7xPFcTWk/s1600/E-Learning_Estonia.JPG
  • E-Learning 2.0 Workshop (Stephen Downes)
    "It would be pretty hard to write a more comprehensive (and kind) summary of my workshop than this by Zaid Ali Alsagoff, who deserves by thanks for acting as my videographer and assistant during the strenuous two-day event. What I like about this post was that the lessons were 'meta' - not so much the bits about web 2.0 technology discussed during the session, but rather about the attitude and perspective on teaching their deployment represents. In my own mind, what we accomplished was best represented in two photos, this one at the beginning of the first day, where everything was ordered and proper, and this one near the end of the second day, where real learning was happening." - Stephen Downes
  • Learning Notes From an E-Learning 2.0 Implementation Workshop
    The main objective of this hands-on practical workshop was to develop an understanding of the implementation and application of e-learning technologies within an institution of higher education. Also, it explored several web 2.0 technologies that participants could use to develop a collaborative online learning space.

  • Salman Khan Uses Microsoft Paint to Inspire Learning


  • Crashing The Workshop To Capture A Great Learning Moment!

  • 10 Secrets To Great Teaching (SlideShare presentation with audio narration)



3) Resource Lists
  • A Free Learning Tool for Every Learning Problem?
    A collection of the best free learning tools using a Q&A approach.     It has proven to be the most popular post on this blog, and has been featured in more than a hundred blogs and sites around the world. Also, you might want to check out the delicious version, which includes more tools, but does not filter them out using a Q&A approach post.
  • University Learning = OCW + OER = FREE!
    A compilation of 250+ University learning related OpenCourseWare (OCW) and Open Educational Resources (OER).



4) Fun!


Yep, this is basically the outline to my 2nd E-Book. Just need to add an introduction and conclusion and it is ready to be published to the world (or whoever is interested!). It is certainly an enhancement to the first one (filtering out really crap, adding it with better crap!).

Finally, what learning tool should I use to publish it (Scribd again)? Wouldn't it be cool, if we could simply add the blog post links, and on-the-fly an e-book will be generated, which we could then edit, add, and fine tune further. Do such publishing tools exist? Any suggestions?




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Thursday, December 10

Go Online! Go Mobile! Lost in Space!




THINKING!
So, when you prepare your curriculum, learning environment, or course content, do you develop everything yourself (Me, Myself and I)? Or are you good at using whatever you can find? Or perhaps you combine the best of both worlds to mash-up amazing learning experiences for your students.

So, what is your secret recipe to constructing effective learning content and activities?

To succeed today and increasingly in the future (unless you know and can do everything!) being a chef-minded thinker will be crucial.

Actually, if you think about it, being a Chef-minded thinker (unless you have assistants) might not be the ideal analogy for developing learning content and activities in today's disruptive inter-galactic information flowing world. If the future's information flow and rapid change becomes as disruptive as I am imagining right now, we would most likely need an army of self-directed and motivated students (learners) to collaborate and co-create learning environments and experiences to stay intact with the learning domain we are facilitating and learning (Already dizzy, just thinking about it!).

I suppose, the history of KuKu land would not be so affected, but most learning domains will, so we better change our mindset or...



ICEL 2009
On December 1st and 2nd, I attended the 2nd International Conference of e-Learning hosted by UiTM (in cooperation with AKEPT and MEIPTA as joint organizers). The theme was:

Go Online! Go Mobile!

It was a great opportunity to discover some of the learning innovations going on in Malaysia. Also, they had a couple of great keynote speakers in Marc J. Rosenberg and Lucifer Chu, and finally a great opportunity to network and exchange some thoughts and ideas.

Besides that, I experimented with using Twitter to take learning notes, and share my discoveries and thoughts beyond the walls of the conference (check the tweets for 1-2 Dec.). By the time the conference was over, I had swooshed out 140+ tweets of ideas, frustrations, reflections, distractions, and resources (URLs).

I suppose I have a long way to go before I master the art of tweeting an event, but it certainly kept me awake throughout the conference. Also, since you only have 140 characters for each tweet, it forces you to be more concise and precise with the words you choose (Not like here!). Though, I have to admit that on certain tweets, it just spilled over to the next one. I am still learning.

Also, while I was tweeting away, others (from who-knows-where!) joined in, and added their reflections and suggestions. And then you have those tweets that spark a bit of incidental learning, which is often fun and enriching.

Finally, learning notes does not look neat in Twitter (at least mine don't!), but then again I hardly ever recap such things (Do you?). But the act of reflecting and taking notes certainly stimulates the brain to learn (and stay awake!).

So, what did I learn? Here are the highlights...


"Educators are terrible managers of technology!"
- Marc J. Rosenberg


MARC J. ROSENBERG
His keynote was entitled 'Beyond E-Learning', and it was great to see him in action, and learn lessons from his vast experience in education and e-learning. I suppose the moment of shock and joy came when one of his slides showed a screenshot of my 'E-Learning in Malaysia' blog (why not ZaidLearn?).

He was basically showing some of his Malaysian e-learning discoveries since his arrival, and that included one of my blogs (Yep, if you search 'e-learning Malaysia' it is No.1 on the list, including when you click 'I'm Feeling Lucky'). Anyway, it was a nice surprise, and free promotion, so thanks for that.

So, what did I learn from this e-learning gladiator. His e-learning definition was alright:

"The use of internet technologies to deliver a broad array of anytime, anywhere solutions that enhance knowledge and performance"


In a learning shell, Rosenberg emphasized to look beyond formal online education. He argued that we need to also infuse performance support, information repositories, communities of practice, access to experts/expertise (online), simulation/games, etc. to enhance and enrich our and students' learning experiences. He argued that we need to look beyond the 'course centric' view to the 'knowledge centric' view of learning domains, arguing also that we need to look beyond the LMS to manage it all (Amen to that!).

In the future, the focus will increasingly move from instruction to information (access), course scarcity to information abundance, learning center to workplace, learning management to knowledge management, classes to communities, teaching to coaching and collaboration, authoring to blogging, documents to wikis, presentations to podcasts, push to pull, course catalogs to information repositories, and so on.

Yes, he also said that educators are terrible managers of technology! And I certainly can testify to that (Though, there are exceptions)! However, Rosenberg also said that the classroom will never go away, but that we need utilize our learning time with students more effectively, changing the classroom into a center for inquiry, discovery, activities, team collaboration, engagement, etc.

In addition, he talked about the new learning paradigm, which he has coined 'Learning 2.0' (learning using a fusion of formal and informal learning tools and approaches to facilitate effective and update-to-date learning).

Some of today's challenges include using wrong content, ignoring pedagogy and instructional design, and too much focus, or too little focus on technology. Also, to make e-learning work, you need to have the appropriate incentives (value, purpose, relevance, etc), and efficient methods, or the grumpy old professors are going give you trouble (been there!).

Also, you need good user support and leadership, and finally you need to have a strategic plan. Well, that is where he comes in, and can perhaps save Malaysian higher education from losing out on the learning possibilities that the learning world really offers us today and increasingly in the future (if we only open our eyes).

He is great talker, but taking a deep look into his online presence, he is very much a learning 1.0 type of user (here is my bio, presentations, a few videos, and contact details). Where is his active blog, Twitter space, social bookmarks, etc? Not much activity there (to my knowledge), but I suppose he is too busy to really engage with learning 2.0 tools.

In short, Malaysia could do with some of his ideas, but we really need practitioners who practice what they preach, and can facilitate and inspire beyond the babble.

The slides Marc Rosenberg shared were not made available online (to my knowledge), but click here for an older presentation found, which includes most of what was shared during this keynote.


"Let Your Students Be Teachers!" - Lucifer Chu


LUCIFER CHU
Oh boy, this is a six foot Geek Gamer (referred to as 'Crazy guy'), you just have to see present. This dude comes to present at an International conference wearing a black t-shirt (with 'Proud to be a geek' slogan at the back), jeans, and chilled sneakers. Why should he care anyway! Mr. Chu has become a millionaire by creating Chinese translations of fantasy novels. Using much of the $1 million in royalties from his versions of “The Lord of the Rings,” Mr. Chu says he devotes himself to distributing free translations of material from a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Web site (Opensource Opencourseware Prototype System).

So, what did I learn from his keynote?

He uses videos (mostly available from YouTube) to make a point, he wonders mentally and physically around the hall, while engaging and chatting with the audience (very informal!), and he speaks his mind using visuals (slides) with strikingly few words and large fonts. Pictures speaks louder than words, videos speak larger than pictures, and he speaks loudest of them all!

I suppose the moment of truth came when he asked in a joking manner to higher officials at UiTM, why they have blocked YouTube at the campus. The crowd was craving for an answer, but none came (at least loud enough to hear). Anyway, he being himself, kind of joked his way out, and moved on to the next issue.

Mr. Chu started of his presentation reflecting briefly the wisdom of 'Art of War', and the importance for educators to know their enemy: Students! He basically wanted to share his understanding and insights of how the X and Y generations think, live, and what motivates them to learn.

In the process, he showed several mind-blowing videos (e.g. Did You Know 4.0) to inspire us think beyond our comfort zones, and embrace the new world learning order (Geeks rule the world!). Let's not complain about our students! If you can connect and find the right flavor, surely you can inspire anyone, including inmates (Thriller - 1500+ inmates dance 'Thriller' at a Detention and Rehabilitation Center in Philippines).

He also talked a lot about how mobile phones will increasingly have a huge impact on the way we learn, and that we should embrace it to facilitate learning. For example, he looked at Google Latitude (location based service) and QR Code (generator), and asked the audience how we could use this to facilitate learning. He shared with us possibilities, but argued that the educators (not him with a big smile) should figure out how they could use such tools to construct more dynamic learning environments.

Mr. Chu, also emphasized that today's youth go online to socialize, compared to the old generation who actually go out to socialize. And finally, he talked about games and game addiction (e.g. Scribblenauts and Brain Age), and argued that we should learn from them instead, and apply some of the success factors to facilitate learning. Have you ever heard about learning addiction or education addiction? Now, that would be a serious problem :)

Besides that, he also said that (watching) 'videos' is the only method to make today's students focus on one window (So, use it a lot in class!). Finally and importantly, he argued that teachers should move away from the 'Farmer' mentality to the 'Chef' mentality (discussed above).

Mr. Chu sums up his talk with 'Whatever, Whenever, Wherever!', when it comes to learning. Learning follows you, not you follow it.

You might also want to check out Mr. Chu's OCW Blog.



LOST IN SPACE!
The last keynote speaker discussed some of the challenges in online and m-Learning Practice in Malaysia. It explored mostly OUM's e-learning initiatives to make learning more accessible and engaging, including iRadio and the Math Learning e-Resource Center, which is their latest innovation. Interestingly, both projects are open to anyone to explore. In addition, several lecturers at OUM are exploring mobile learning (SMS) and web 2.0 tools like Facebook, YouTube, Blogs, and Twitter to spice up their learning environments, and should be applauded for that. Interestingly, one of their mobile learning projects utilizes SMS to share content nuggets, start forum questions, and provide tips, motivation quotes, and exam/assignment submission schedules.

Besides attending the keynote talks, I did attend several paper presentations during the parallel sessions, and there were some sparks here and there, such as one lecturer using Elgg to facilitate a post-graduate course. But overall, it was a shocking and boring learning experience.

It was boring, because most presenters I listened to spent too much of their 15 minutes given to talk about e-learning theories and concepts, rather than talk about their contributions, ideas and projects (practice). If you only have 15 minutes to present, why not start with the end (solution and findings), and then speed through the middle and beginning (theory and concepts). Focus on your contribution!

It was shocking, because several of the presenters seemed totally out-of-sync with the disruptive learning innovations available today and how today's youth learn (Hopefully Mr. Chu introduction has changed that a little bit). During these two conference days, I heard a lot of who-ha about Learning objects, learning management systems, storyboard templates, instructional design, and of course SCORM.

One presenter was talking about developing quality learning content and related that to SCORM, as if SCORM guarantees quality (Absolutely crap!). First, most e-learning authoring tools publish SCORM-compliant content on-the-fly anyway, so who cares. Secondly, what has content quality to do with SCORM? Alright, you want it to be reusable, accessible, interoperable, and durable, and SCORM caters to that and other technical specifications (though not very well), but that is not 'content quality', if you ask me. In other words, you can produce SCORM-compliant content, but your content could still be crap.

The essence of quality content, lies in its substance (the way it is articulated and visualized, and the learning activities encapsulating it), not in the technical specifications (SCORM). Though, it is good to have substance quality and SCORM-compliance, but SCORM-compliance is not actually necessary for content to be of quality. YouTube Edu, TED Talks and Academic Earth should ring a bell!

So, is SCORM relevant anymore in Higher education? Should we care about it? Unless you need to track every click and test item in a learning object, then don't make SCORM a requirement (or a must have feature!). Why? Because, most of the amazing learning resources for higher education are not SCORM-compliant.

Beside the SCORM obsession (some vendors are making a lot of money on that obvious crap!), there was one presenter who was so excited to have a WYSIWYG online content editor in his University's LMS, and insisted that all content development should go through that WYSIWYG window. Perhaps he should explore Prezi and thousands of other possible learning tools, before coming to such a conclusion (shocking!). In short, use a variety of rapid e-learning and web 2.0 tools to develop your content and learning environments.

Another presenter seemed frustrated with lecturers' participation in story boarding using an authoring template, which required them to enter or copy paste their content into boxes. Why not instead use a tool which lecturers are familiar with, such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Word?

Although, there were some really interesting initiatives (wikis, mobile learning, gaming, blogging, etc.), I felt that several of the presenters seemed totally out-of-sync (perhaps it was acting) with the amazing learning possibilities we have today, and mostly focused on developing CONTENT, CONTENT, CONTENT.



MOVING FORWARD
So, how can we (Malaysia) move forward in terms of e-learning, or using digital learning tools to transform the way we learn?

First, we have to encourage more academics to read EduBlogs (and follow Twitter streams). Here are 100 featured learning professionals to get you started. It is alright to read e-learning books (free e-books), and published journal articles, but if you want to keep track of the latest disruptive learning innovations and learning ideas, excellent EduBlogs will serve you much better.

Secondly, we need to establish informal and formal learning sharing clusters consisting of learning professionals and academics. It could take place online (e.g. webinars and online communities), or through face-to-face gatherings.

Finally, we have to look beyond just developing quality content for students, because in the future everyone will have free access to 'World Class' content (already!), whether you are a student or not. Meaning that you need to focus more time on nurturing the ability to construct relevant and engaging learning activities and environments for your students.

The future living and working environments will require you to master the art of thinking, doing, mashing-up, innovating, connecting, networking, communicating, collaborating and learning. People will not be interested in what courses you took, but what you know, what you can do, and your ideas to innovate and make things happen.

In a sentence, we need to lifelong learn, embrace change, be adaptable/flexible, think innovativelly, and continuously explore and discover. However, to do that, Universities need to allocate educators more time to explore and discover each learning domain they facilitate (Business aside!). If not, we will end up having educators that are out-of-sync with their learning domains (experienced that!). As a result, it will be more effective to learn outside the University system.

It is already happening! And unless we innovate, adapt and change fast, our Universities will face extinction much faster than we realize. Universities will still be around, but which sane learner would want to go there, unless they simply want the paper qualification(s). Again, let's get together and transform! It can be done, but time is running out (drama!) :)
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