IL2007, Day 2: Promoting Play Through Online Discovery: Lego Building

Meredith Farkas:

issue - lots of people don’t have access to continuing education programs

hands-on learning is important

online courses can be run cheaply

talked about Five Weeks to a Social Library:

had 40 participants, all kinds of libraries

tools used:

drupal - it allows multiple blogs, all in the same place, and static content, too

blip.tv

opal

lessons:

playing with technology is essential to learning technology

reflective learning makes ideas stick

learning from peers can be more important than learning from a sage on the stage

online learning can be developed on the cheap

Helene Blowers:

Lego Building: Learning through Play

learning 2.0 has been duplicated over 200 times internationally - coolness.

what can you do to continually keep up with changes?

need to think of ourselves as players

(note to self - still print out presentation… Helene had some tech problems)

becomes a knowledge player

• take 15 minutes a day to explore something new
• subscribe to 5 blogs: librarianinblack - sarah does a great job at short informative posts; techcrunch; what i learned today - Nicole does reflective learning stuff; wired; learning 2.0 - 3 new things a month
• tag “play items” in del.icio.us
• create a learning blog
• PLAY!!! give yourself and others permission to play.

become a guide - someone who exhibits and explains points of interest

become a discovery guide:

• it’s about learning
• remove the classroom
• exposure is the 1st step towards learning
• learners have as much to share as guides
• focus on FUN