This Week's Webinars Begin with Sir Ken Robinson Tonight

Below are this week's public, free, and interactive webinars through LearnCentral.org, the social learning network for education that I work on for Elluminate.

The time of the events below will show up automatically in your own time zone when you are registered in LearnCentral and when you have chosen your time zone in your profile. Event recordings are posted and available after the events if you aren't able to attend them live. Be on the lookout for Australia-time-friendly events as part of the new Australia Series!

I also hope you'll consider hosting your own public webinars using the LearnCentral public room--instructions are available by joining the "Host Your Own Webinar" group on the main announcement tab (http://www.learncentral.org/group/3432/host-your-own-webinars).

Tuesday, March 30th

• FUTURE OF EDUCATION SERIES
  5pm PDT (US) / 8pm EDT (US) / 12am (next day) GMT/UTC (intl times):
  Join me for a live and interactive interview with Sir Ken Robinson, author of The Element:  How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything.   
  LearnCentral Link:  http://www.learncentral.org/event/60493
  

Wednesday, March 31st

• THE AUSTRALIA SERIES
  3am Pacific (US) / 6am EDT (US) / 12am (next day) GMT/UTC (intl times):
  "E-blends and Regional/Remote Students Overcoming the Challenges" with Jo Hart.  This will be an interactive session aimed at exploring some of the challenges (and some possible solutions) of using e-learning blends for flexible delivery to a highly diverse and geographically scattered student group across four AQF levels of literacy, numeracy and study skills.
  LearnCentral Link:  http://www.learncentral.org/event/65232
  
  
• EDUCATION FOR A DIGITAL WORLD 2.0 SERIES
  12pm Pacific (US) / 3pm EDT (US) / 7pm GMT/UTC (intl times):
  "Cultivating Communities of Practice: Analysis of 3 Case Studies Using the 7 Principles" with Sylvia Currie, Patricia Delich, and Paul Stacey.  "In this session we will describe 3 case studies using Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder's (2002) 7 Principles for Cultivating Communities of Practice. This framework provides a close look at how our decisions about community design and technologies to support community activities were made and revised, as well as a consistent and rich view to help those involved in online and hybrid communities learn from our experiences."  30 minutes.
  LearnCentral Link:  http://www.learncentral.org/event/65701
  
  
• EDUCATION FOR A DIGITAL WORLD 2.0 SERIES
  12:30pm Pacific (US) / 3:30pm EDT (US) / 7:30pm GMT/UTC (intl times):
  "Blended Work – Experiences From International Development Project" with Susan Chrichton and Azra Naseem.  "We know about blended learning but what about blended work? When we use learning tools in academic work place applications, what changes and what are the challenges?  This seminar shares the authors’ experiences from the last fourteen months as we’ve navigated the virtual terrain connecting colleagues in Pakistan East Africa, the UK and Canada.  Trust us, time zones weren’t the biggest challenge!"  30 minutes.
  LearnCentral Link:  http://www.learncentral.org/event/65704
  
  
• 4pm Pacific (US) / 7pm EDT (US) / 11pm GMT/UTC (intl times):
  "Blogging for Beginners" with Lorna Costantini and Kim Caise.  Designed for participants new to blogging. Students will create a blog hosted at Weebly.com. Concepts covered - reading and writing a blog post, adding images, embedding video, what is an rss feed, and using a feed reader to monitor blog posts and comments.
  LearnCentral Link:  http://www.learncentral.org/event/65209
  
  
• MERLOT CLASSIC WEBSITE AWARDS SERIES
  5pm Pacific (US) / 8pm EDT (US) / 12am (next day) GMT/UTC (intl times):
  "Connecting Concepts – Biology Classics Award" with Jan Cheetham.  Students play the role of predators on moths on a tree trunk. Then, they play the role of biologist, analyzing the changing gene frequencies of the moth population and determining if the population evolved over three generations. Students will: 1) collect data by “eating” moths; 2) calculate gene frequencies for each phenotype over three generations; 3) interpret graphs of data their data to determine if microevolution occurred; and 4) explain how selection acts on populations.
  LearnCentral Link:  http://www.learncentral.org/event/60496

Thursday, April 1st

• THE AUSTRALIA SERIES
  4pm Pacific (US) / 7pm EDT (US) / 11pm GMT/UTC (intl times):
  "Edublogs Serendipity - Unconference Session" with Jo Hart.  "Join us in our fortnightly unconference sessions. Bring along the burning issues and hot topics YOU would like to discuss. Topic is chosen by poll at the start of the session."
  LearnCentral Link:  http://www.learncentral.org/event/59846
  
  
• MERLOT CLASSIC WEBSITE AWARDS SERIES
  5pm Pacific (US) / 8pm EDT (US) / 12am (next day) GMT/UTC (intl times):
  "Texas Language Technology Center – World Languages Classics Award" with Carl Blyth. The Texas Language Technology Center is a model for innovation in technology-enhanced learning materials to teach languages. Many of its projects have won prestigious awards already and several have received five-star peer reviews in MERLOT, such as Tex’s French Grammar, Le Francais interactif, Ta Falado and Spanish Proficiency Exercises.
  LearnCentral Link:  http://www.learncentral.org/event/60497

Saturday, April 3rd

• MATH 2.0 SERIES
  11am Pacific (US) / 2pm EDT (US) / 6pm GMT/UTC (intl times):
  "MathOverflow." Anton Geraschenko, the founder, will present the research mathematics question and answer community MathOverflow.
  LearnCentral Link:  http://www.learncentral.org/event/63030

Thanks for your attention, and see you online!

[Cross posted from http://www.stevehargadon.com]

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Dr. Robert Epstein on Teen 2.0, Live Tonight

Our "Students 2.0" mini-series starts tonight with a live and interactive interview with Dr. Robert Epstein on his encyclopedic book, Teen 2.0: Saving Our Children and Families from the Torment of Adolescence.

Date:  Monday, 26 April, 2010
Time: 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern / 12am (next day) GMT (international times here)
Duration: 1 hour
Location: In Elluminate. Log in at http://tr.im/futureofed. The Elluminate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Elluminate, please visit http://www.elluminate.com/support. Recordings of the session will be posted within a day of the event at the event page.

From drrobertepstein.com:  Working with colleague Diane Dumas, Dr. Robert Epstein, a longtime researcher and professor and the former editor-in-chief of Psychology Today, has developed a unique and comprehensive test—the Epstein-Dumas Test of Adultness (EDTA)—that measures 14 different competencies that appear to define adult functioning in modern society.

Based on scores obtained from tens of thousands of adults and teens, Dr. Epstein recently concluded that many teens are as competent or more competent than adults—and that adults greatly underestimate the abilities of teens. Epstein and Dumas have also demonstrated a link between "infantilization"—the extent to which teens are treated like children—and behavioral problems in teens.


Praise for first original edition of the book, called The Case Against Adolescence:

ALBERT ELLIS: “...one of the most revolutionary books I have ever read.” (from the Foreword)

NEWT GINGRICH: “If you are concerned about America's young—and about
America's future—this is a must-read.”

M. SCOTT PECK: “...has vast consequence for our society.”

JOYCE BROTHERS: “…a profoundly important book.”

BUZZ ALDRIN: “This book will bring our ideas about teens down to earth.”

DEEPAK CHOPRA: “We need to reexamine our basic assumptions about young people, and Epstein shows us how.”

ROBERT COLES: “Here are America’s youth, regarded keenly, knowingly....”

LEON BOTSTEIN: “...a vital book for parents and policy makers on the state and federal levels”

MARIEL HEMINGWAY: “This book has opened my eyes….”

MIHALY CSIKSZENTMIHALYI: “...a very original approach, sure to ignite discussion and controversy.”

ALVIN TOFFLER: “If you care about the future of our young people, The Case Against Adolescence is an essential read.”

DREW PINSKY: “...a landmark book”

SUZANNE SOMERS: “Dr. Epstein makes a good case for adolescents to be treated not as a group with a formula, but as individual unique people.”

JEAN LIEDLOFF: “...a powerful case”

ELLEN LANGER: “His arguments deserve serious consideration and open debate.”

JOHN TAYLOR GATTO: “Whether you’re a parent, a teacher, a policy maker, or a recovering victim of enforced childishness, you need to read this book.”

CURTIS SLIWA: “…an amazing book, long overdue.”

From drrobertepstein.com:  ROBERT EPSTEIN is an author, editor, radio talk-show host, and longtime psychology researcher and professor—a distinguished scientist who is passionate about educating the public about advances in mental health and the behavioral sciences. The former editor-in-chief of Psychology Today, Dr. Epstein is currently a contributing editor for Scientific American Mind and a lecturer at the Rady School of Management at the University of California San Diego. He is also the founder and Director Emeritus of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies in Massachusetts.

Through 2003, he served as University Research Professor at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University. He received his Ph.D. in psychology in 1981 from Harvard University.

He has hosted a number of psychology-related radio programs, most recently a show called Psyched!®, which aired throughout the U.S. and Canada on Sirius Satellite Radio between 2005 and 2008. In connection with the magazine or his radio programs, Dr. Epstein has interviewed many notable people, including Laura Bush, Jimmy Carter, Tipper Gore, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, Christie Brinkley, Sally Field, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sarah Ferguson, and Steve Allen.

His research on creativity and innovation has been featured in Time magazine, the New York Times, and Discover, as well as on national and international radio and television. He has published nearly 200 articles, including scientific articles in Science, Nature, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Although best known for his work on creativity, Dr. Epstein has also conducted research on adolescent and adult competence, self-control, relationship skills, sexual orientation, and other topics, and a seminal article he wrote for The Washington Post helped stimulate a worldwide call for an armistice on January 1, 2000. He has also developed a number of unique online competency tests which are taken by thousands of people every week.

Epstein's 14 books include The Case Against Adolescence: Rediscovering the Adult in Every Teen; Parsing the Turing Test: Philosophical and Methodological Issues in the Quest for the Thinking Computer (with Grace Beber and Gary Roberts); The Big Book of Motivation Games (with Jessica Rogers); The Big Book of Stress-Relief Games; The Big Book of Creativity Games; Creativity Games for Trainers; Stress-Management and Relaxation Activities for Trainers; Cognition, Creativity, and Behavior: Selected Essays; The New Psychology Today Reader; Pure Fitness: Body Meets Mind (with Lori "Ice" Fetrick of the American Gladiators); Self-Help Without the Hype; and Irrelativity. He is also the editor of two books of writings by the eminent psychologist, B. F. Skinner—Skinner for the Classroom and Notebooks—with whom Epstein collaborated at Harvard.

He has taught at Boston University, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the University of California San Diego, the HAL College of Technology and Design (Japan), and other universities. Dr. Epstein also served as Professor of Psychology and Chair of the Department of Psychology at National University, where he was subsequently appointed Research Professor. From 1990 to 1995, he directed the Loebner Prize Competition in Artificial Intelligence, an annual contest in which human intelligence is pitted against machine intelligence.

Dr. Epstein has been a commentator for NPR's "Marketplace," the Voice of America, and Disney Online, and his popular writings have appeared in Reader's Digest, The Washington Post, Psychology Today, Good Housekeeping, Parenting, and other magazines and newspapers.

His upcoming books include Teen 2.0: Saving Our Children and Families from the Torment of Adolescence, Making Love: How Couples Learn to Love and How You Can Too and Finding the Inner Adult in Your Teen: A Guide for Parents. Dr. Epstein is the father of four children and two stepchildren. An autobiographical essay about his life and work was published recently in Perspectives on Psychological Science and can be downloaded here. Dr. Epstein can be reached at repstein@post.harvard.edu.

[Cross-posted from http://www.stevehargadon.com]

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