About E-Team

The E-Team is made up of 18 members. They work together collectively, as well as in sub teams like Online Language Learning, Outdoor/Adventure Learning, Virtual Education and Social Change/Global. A special sub team dedicate their time to classifying and evaluating the quality of the websites.


Extreme Learning Mission and Vision
This is a project about hopes and a project about dreams. Let's call it Extreme Learning HOPES and DREAMS.
             Extreme? Yes, it is a project tugging at the extreme edges of teaching and learning...

Millions of individuals are bored in their learning. Millions more are not content with their present job situation. Still others have no access to education at all. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, emerging technologies for learning have the potential to change all that. Countless individuals are learning today in ways they never thought possible. As they do, these same learners are finding new careers and professional interests. They are in the midst of life changing experiences through innovative use of online technology tools and open educational resources. The Extreme Learning research and development project is a natural outgrowth of this new learning era and intends to capture many unique aspects of this phenomenon.

The Extreme Learning research team is exploring how people learn or teach with technology in unusual ways; such as from planes, trains, boats, mountain tops, islands, icebergs, space stations, parks, monuments, and war zones. We also are interested in museum-based learning as well as those learning in religious missions, retreats, vacation resorts, submarines, camps, research stations (e.g., Antarctica), outdoor classrooms, grocery stores, zoos, conferences and institutes/summits, cafes, bookstores, nursing homes, hospital beds, and shopping malls. Not done? In terms of emerging learning technologies, extreme learning might take place in virtual worlds, online communities or groups, webinars, webcam experiences, podcasting, text messaging, mobile devices, and virtual schooling. It is also prominent in the open education movement such as open educational resources on nearly any topic imaginable, OpenCourseWare from MIT and hundreds of other universities, massively open online courses from Stanford, the University of Illinois, Athabasca University in Canada, and other places, open universities, free universities or free courses, etc. Yes, we are interested in all of that and much, much more. This is the age of open education. Let’s take advantage of it.

We call this type of learning as “extreme learning” though some refer to it as informal learning or nontraditional learning. That is fine with us. However, we do want to reveal the more extreme side of such learning activities to highlight unusual opportunities made possible by technology and open resources. “Extreme” is outside the “normal” while “informal” is outside of what tends to be “formal” learning. As part of this project, we are attempting to record “empowerment moments” wherein people’s lives, and, in effect, their identities, were changed due to their use of technology. During the coming months and years, we intend to document human development and growth as it pertains to life changing moments involving learning technology. The world is open for learning and it is time to collect stories that prove it and are an inspiration to others.

 

The HOPES and DREAMS of Extreme Learning

Extreme Learning HOPES and DREAMS will characterize the ways people learn with open technology under unconventional conditions. Extreme situations stretch beyond traditional educational contexts (e.g., trains, boats, and war zones) and situations (e.g., aboriginal youth in remote parts of Australia, indigenous populations in Peru, disadvantaged youth in Kenya, etc.) and represent unexamined possibilities for cyberlearning that the project pursues through two lines of inquiry. First, “Humanity’s Open Platform for the Exchange of Stories”(HOPES) will enlist a cyber-infrastructure to organize a suite of narrative tools for both Internet- and mobile-based storytelling. HOPES enables people to share personal stories of life change and learning with technology.

Second, the “Design Research for an Engaging and Active Mobile System” (DREAMS) will leverage the HOPES platform to systematically examine Internet resources and their mediating effects on extreme learning experiences. DREAMS will expand preliminary studies that have already generated an eight-part analytical scheme in the following six areas: social change/global education; online language learning; adventure learning/environmental education; shared online video; virtual education; and learning portals. In our initial years, DREAMS will focus on extreme learning with respect to social change and global education in order to establish a proof of concept—where possible with marginalized populations—while expanding into additional areas such as online language learning, virtual education, and adventure learning later. By collecting and cataloguing stories of life change in various areas of extreme learning using surveys, interviews, focus groups, and document analyses, DREAMS will reveal insights into the ways people utilize extreme learning resources and tools.

We expect that this project can broadly impact ideas about human learning in the twenty-first century. We expect that the resources and stories generated by this project will spur discussion of when, where, and how learning occurs. As part of these efforts, we hope to impact cultural awareness and global perspective taking. These stories will be available for anyone in the future wishing to understand teaching and learning at this point in history. At the same time, they will serve to inspire both teachers as well as learners. Instructors, for instance, should find a rich store of ideas on how to teach with technology. Learners should begin to grasp that they have untold educational opportunities today. And such opportunities can be narrowed to a specific learning path or goals beneficial to each person. Ten such goals are listed below.

Ultimate Goals of Extreme Learning

There are many short-term and long-term goals of the Extreme Learning project. Among them are the ten listed below.

1.      Learner Recognition: Learners whose stories are spotlighted will gain recognition and self-confidence. As such content proliferates and people become more familiar with and accepting of it, self-selected informal learning may be the norm in the coming decade.

2.      Role Models and Career Awareness: The cases will serve as role models and goals for countless learners, young or older. The database of learning cases can help potential students find interesting educational paths to follow.

3.      Multicultural and Diversity Awareness: Raised awareness of different learning needs and situations within and across cultures; similarities as well as differences in skill needs, technology support tools, and learning goals can be shared.

4.      Quality Evaluation Criteria: Quality indicators of extreme learning resources, projects, and activities can help designers and users.

5.      Instruction Ideas: Instructors as well as learners will be able to access and search in our extreme learning cases database for examples of how to use different resources to learn or to teach. These instructors might also share pedagogical ideas with other professors and scholars.

6.      Books and Cases: A set of high profile cases will be written to serve as inspirational models for others. We intend to turn some of the more interesting set of cases into a book of cases or perhaps even a wikibook of stories across cultures, learning situations, and ages.

7.      Historical Account of Learning: The database will serve as a historical marker of the types and forms of learning occurring in the early portion of the twenty-first century.

8.      Extreme Learning Virtual Summit: We will create an Extreme Learning virtual learning summit during this project. Each summit will be intended to inspire participants to celebrate and share their stories of life change. During the summit, we will announce winners of the annual Extreme Learning awards and recognitions. A compilation or medley of participant interviews will make salient the many forms of extreme learning taking place around the globe today.

9.      Human Learning Rights: If successful, this project helps promote learning as a national agenda and human right. It is hoped that a national, and perhaps even international discussion, can commence related human learning and open education. The Extreme Learning Website will also set examples and open discussions about educational possibilities and rights.

10.  Stretching the Edges of What Human Learning Is: It is vital to understand the far edges of learning taking place on this planet given that what is extreme learning today might find its way into the norm of learning in the near future. Such learning takes place beyond more simple forms of blended learning with resource supplements to take into account the ways that can totally transform or rethink education.

 

The Audiences of Extreme Learning

The above outcomes address many audiences. Among these audiences include policy makers making decisions about the coming decades of educational funding and initiatives, learners seeking new degree programs, instructors seeking to enliven their teaching, digital scholars envisioning ways to share their expertise in more impactful ways, and researchers and educators hoping to better understand the mix of resources that can positively enhance human learning. We are attempting to create a resource that can lead individuals to new learning vistas. In addition, we aim to document life changes that can serve as catalysts and benchmarks for others to try out such resources. Imagine the new careers and, accordingly, the contributions that thousands of people could make with such an extreme learning gateway.

Web-based technologies are continuing to push the limits of learning and education. It is time to make sense of the more open and informal education opportunities in front of each of us with both our Extreme Learning HOPES as well as our DREAMS. Global economics may be flatter, but human learning is much more open.

 

Members
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. Curt Bonk is now Professor of Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University and President of CourseShare. Drawing on his background as a corporate controller, CPA, educational psychologist, and instructional technologist, Bonk offers unique insights into the intersection of business, education, psychology, and technology. He received 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. A well-known authority on emerging technologies for learning, Bonk reflects on his speaking experiences around the world in his popular blog, TravelinEdMan. He has coauthored several widely used technology books, including The World is Open: How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education (2009), Empowering Online Learning: 100+ Activities for Reading, Reflecting, Displaying, and Doing (2008), The Handbook of Blended Learning (2006), and Electronic Collaborators (1998). Curt founded SurveyShare in 2003 which he sold in 2010. Dr. Curt Bonk can be contacted at cjbonk at indiana.edu and his homepage is http://mypage.iu.edu/~cjbonk/. Dr. Bonk believes that “anyone can now learn anything from anyone else at any time” and that Extreme Learning is the new norm.
Abdullah is a PhD student in Instructional Systems Technology, Indiana University, Blooimington. He is from an Arabic background and had taught English for college students in Saudi Arabia for two years. He recieved a BA in English from Riyadh Teachers' College in 2004 and a MA in TESOL from West Chester University of Pennsylvania in 2008. At WCU he taught English in the International English Program and worked as a coordinator for the program social activities. Abdullah Altuwaijri can be contacted at heyabd at gmail.com.
Husa Alangari is a former ESL teacher with 11 years of experience. Having just received her master's degree in Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University, she looks forward to becoming a leader in the field of emerging technologies. She has received the 2002 "Innovation in Teaching Award" from the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia and was one of the first teachers to implement a computer-assisted language learning program in Saudi public schools. Husa is also a proud mother of two. Husa Alangari can be contacted at halangar at imail.iu.edu.
Eulho Jung is a second-year doctoral student in IST. He currently works as an instructional consultant in the Office of Instructional Consulting in the School of Education at Indiana University. His research interest centers on sustainable Open Educational Resources (OER) for the underserved with an emphasis on human development issues. Eulho Jung can be contacted at euljung at umail.iu.edu.
Minkyoung Kim is a second-year doctoral student in Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degree in educational technology from Ewha Womans University in Korea. Her professional background includes being an instructional designer and business consultant with more than 8 years in a competitive working environment. As a senior consultant, she engaged and managed a various consulting projects about human performance improvement and corporate learning at global business consulting department of IBM Korea. As an instructional designer, she was involved in planning, designing and developing e-learning courses in more than 20 projects. Furthermore, she is currently working as an intern at World Bank investigating the trends in Open Educational Resources. Her research interests center on informal learning and Open Educational Resources. Currently, she is actively participating in the evaluation quality informal learning websites along with developing 'Extreme Learning' website in the Extreme Learning research group led by Dr. Bonk. Minkyoung Kim can be contacted at kimmink at indiana.edu.
Dr. Sahoon Kim is currently working with Extreme Learning team members as a post-doctoral researcher at Indiana University. His PhD studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison were focused on how technology could support the improvement of educational environments. Using design-based research methodology, his dissertation explored the affordances of 3D virtual worlds for English language learning. With various interesting topics in educational technology, he has published around 10 referred journal articles and co-translated a book ‘The discovery of grounded theory.’ He is also actively participating in a range of professional conferences. You can easily meet him at several conferences, including AACE, AECT, and AERA. Sahoon Kim can be contacted at kimsah at indiana.edu.
Xiaojing Kou, PHD., Instructional Systems Technology Department, Indiana University. She taught two courses on Using Computer in Education to pre-service teachers at Indiana University School of Education. She also taught Advance Web Development and Design at the Ivy Tech Community College for a semester. She used to teach English back in China.Currently, she is working in Wisdom Tools, INC. as a researcher. She focused on writing research grant as well as doing relevant researches for the projects that were granted. The research focused on designing serious games for middle school students to learn STEM knowledge and careers. Her current research interest is in studying how emerging communication technologies can be used in creating and enhancing genuine communication and quality knowledge building/sharing in learning communities. In her dissertation, she developed a discourse analysis method to analyze the process of collaborative inquiry through online discussion. She also has interest in language learning technologies. Xiaojing Kou can be contacted at xkou at indiana.edu.
Mimi Miyoung Lee is Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at University of Houston. She received her Ph.D. in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University at Bloomington in 2004. Her research interests include theories of identity formation, sociological examination of online communities, issues of representation, and critical ethnography. In addition to that, Mimi has published research on how interactive videoconferencing, opencourseware (OCW), and Web 2.0 technology such as wikis can foster global education and the exchange of diverse perspectives. Her other research and teaching interests include multicultural education, teacher training for diversity, discourse analysis and CMC, visualization of learning, communities of practice, open educational resources, new technologies in education, and social networking. She recently was a co-investigator on a 5 year $3 million grant project from the Greater Texas Foundation called iSMART (i.e., “the Integrated Science and Math and Reflective Teaching); a free, award winning online master’s program for middle school math and science teachers in the state of Texas. She may be contacted at mlee7 at uh.edu.
Mina Min is a doctoral student at Indiana University School of Education, specializing in Instructional Systems Technology. She was an elementary school teacher for 5 years after graduating Gyeong-in National University of Education as a homeroom teacher as well as English teacher. While she was teaching students, she made ceaseless efforts to find ways for improving learning through technology. She has conducted research on video conference learning for improving English communication competence for elementary school students. As a manager of Cyber education department, she took in charge of the role of online instructor for English class by developing tools for online evaluation. With innovative and passionate research experiences and developments, she has received awards from superintendent in Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. She is currently exploring informal learning and the way of integrating technology into classroom to improve students’ learning. Mina Min can be contacted at minamin at umail.iu.edu.
Dr. Feng-Ru Sheu recently graduated from Indiana University double major in Instructional Systems Technology and Curriculum and Instruction. In her dissertation work, she studied general understanding and key components of coaching expertise of Olympic/World Class badminton coaching and the implementation of such understanding in learning. Most of her past work experience focused on the integration of information technology into the instructional process across multiple learning contexts, including developing of face-to-face and online learning materials and experiences for the pharmaceutical industry, special education (adaptive technologies), pre-service teachers, and sports/athletic training. Feng-Ru’s current research interests focus on expertise, human performance technology, and problem-based learning, with special interests in cognition, non-formal learning contexts, and social-cultural perspectives on learning. Feng-Ru Sheu can be contacted at fsheu at indiana.edu.
Suhkyung Shin is a Ph.D. student in IST at Indiana University. She previously worked as a research assistant on projects that designed, developed, and evaluated the use of the Digital Textbook in the classroom, and which were funded by the Ministry of Education in Korea. For these projects, she evaluated digital textbook usability and design, and developed a digital textbook platform. She also has experience working as a researcher for the Center for Teaching and Learning at Chung-Ang University at Korea. As a researcher, she designed and developed teaching and learning e-portfolio and user interface for Learning Management System, and managed online courses for students and faculty. Currently, her research focuses on using technology to enhance learners’ understanding in online learning environments. Suhkyung Shin can be contacted at shinsuhkyung at gmail.com.
Donggil Song is a doctoral student at Indiana University School of Education (specializing in Instructional Systems Technology) and an educational research associate of Seeds of Empowerment. He has conducted research on measuring spatial intelligence and other cognitive abilities of blind children in a mobile learning environment and designing educational games as the sub-project of Programmable Open Mobile Internet for Social Cause. He holds an MS in Computer Science and Engineering and a BA in Religious Studies from Seoul National University (SNU), and also completed the interdisciplinary program in Cognitive Science at SNU. He is operating an educational technology website (www.einbrain.com) providing instructional technology resources and educational applications, such as Teachable Agent - Eins. Currently he is working on the Extreme Learning Mobile/Social System project. Donggil Song can be contacted at donggil.song at gmail.com.
Verily Tan is a doctoral student in the Instructional Systems Technology, Indiana University. Her past experience include: Learning & Development Specialist, e-Learning Manager, high school Chemistry Teacher and Staff Training Officer, looking into training needs of teachers. Verily sees educational technology as a means to bridge the digital divide, and is keen to pursue related research in this area. She has been on mission trips to Taiwan, and Myanmar. Verily is part of the Social Change/Global Team. Verily Tan can be contacted at vstan at umail.iu.edu.
Dr. Windy Tingting Wang received her PhD in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at Indiana University. She is now an assistant professor in the Department of Art in Rowan University. Her research interests are in art education technologies, online art teaching strategies, online fan art making, and digital art self-learners. She is also a digital artist. Her current artistic production interests are in the design and production of digital 3D modeling, 3D animations, CAVETM Automated Virtual Environment (CAVE) system, and online casual video games. Windy Wang can be contacted at windywang9 at gmail.com.
Yurong Wang is a doctoral student in Instructional Systems Technology department at Indiana University, Bloomington. Before coming to Indiana University, she had worked as a university teacher and researcher for many years after she got her Master degree in English Language and Literature from Liaoning University, China. She has worked in various educational settings and was awarded "Excellent Teacher" at her university. She also published several papers, taken part in several projects, and collaborated with others in books on instructional methods. Several of her papers and projects were awarded in China. After coming to Instructional Systems Technology department to pursue her doctoral degree, she has collaborated with professors and colleagues on online learning and instruction. Her research interests include online learning and instruction, e-learning, and designing effective online environments for learning with emerging technology. Yurong Wang can be contacted at yurwang at indiana.edu
Justin Whiting is a PhD student in IST, at Indiana University. His research interests focus on motivational factors of online, informal and extreme learning with the use of technology. He loves seeing new and innovative uses of technology to help people learn in new and exciting ways. He also has past experience in corporate learning with Humana, Inc. and Qwest Communications and is interested in technology integration in both academic and corporate settings. Justin is also serving as Co-Chair of the IST Conference 2012. For information about the conference go to istconference.indiana.edu. He can also be reached at JusWhiti at Indiana.edu.
Shuya Xu is a second year master's student from the Department of Instructional Systems Technology, in School of Education, at Indiana University Bloomington. She is interested in technology that promotes learning experience, and prefers viewing the technology from psychological and instructional design perspective. She believes that learning could be great fun! Shuya Xu can be contacted at xushuy at indiana.edu.
Zhizhen Zhang received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Educational Technology, and Ph. D. degree in Developmental and Educational Psychology, all the three degrees are from Beijing Normal University (BNU) of China. He is now an assistant professor in Faculty of Education, School of Educational Technology at BNU. Since Zhizhen Zhang was a graduate student, he was interested in instructional/learning resource design and development. The products he designed and developed including multimedia instructional title (Visual Basic), distributed testing system (Java RMI), teacher professional support websites (C# and ASP.NET), English vocabulary learning software (Python), and desktop classroom video analysis application (C #). Currently, his developmental interests focus on Web/mobile programming technologies (PHP/jQuery), especially in using HTML-related technology to build cross-device mobile applications and cross-platform desktop applications (e. g., Titanium). For now, Zhizhen Zhang’s research focuses on helping in-service and pre-service teachers to learn with technology, and he hopes to provide software tools to enhance teachers’ professional learning. He is now the project principle investigator of a national funded research project and has coauthored one textbook for pre-service teachers: Foundation of Educational Technology (2011). Zhizhen Zhang can be contacted at zzz.bnu at gmail.com

 

Steven J. Zuiker is associate director for research at the Center for Technology in Teaching & Learning at Rice University. As a learning scientist with interests betwixt and between personal and organizational boundaries, he works at the intersections of cultural and learning processes. For example, he examines how groups and communities co-organize environments in order to learn. By the same token, he considers how a particular organization facilitates, and sometimes frustrates, individual and collective efforts to do so. Such dialectics enable him to explore whether and how social ecologies create opportunities to engage disciplines in the sciences and the arts and to advance professional practices in business and non-profit organizations. In both his completed and current project portfolios he enlists and advance insights from the interdisciplinary field of the learning sciences in order to understand and improve learning. Steven J. Zuiker can be contacted at szuiker at gmail.com

 

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