11th Sloan-C International Conference on Asynchronou

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11th Sloan-C International Conference on
Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALN)

• November 17-19, 2005
• Orlando Florida

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By Golly,Boys and GirlsareDifferent!!!
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An Overview

• What Makes Them Different?
• Now wait a minute..!
• How Do They see the World of Learning?
• Some Ideas to enhance the Learning Process
• Implications?

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What Makes Them Different?

• Our Perceptions
• The Science of the 90s
• The Biology of the Brain

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Brain Growth

• Cerebrum
• (Intellectual Capacity)
• Limbic System
• (Seat of Emotions)
• Brain Stem
• (Survival)

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20 year Growth Cycle

• Birth to 10 years
• (One Pound)
• How to be a Human
• learning to move
• learning to communicate
• learning basic social skills
• automatic responses

• 11 to 20 years
• (Three Pounds)
• How to be a productive and reproductive Human
• planning vocation
• exploring emotional commitments
• exploring sexuality
• exploring options and social implications
• Delayed and reflective responses

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What controls What?
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What controls What?, (Continued)

• Left Hemisphere
• Verbal/Language Skills
• Speaking
• Reading
• Writing
• Math
• Logic

• Right Hemisphere
• Spatial/Perception Skills
• Measuring/Perceiving Directions
• Working with Objects
• Visual Imagery
• Music
• Intuition

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Gender Difference

• Female
• tend to be Left Brain
• Male
• tend to be Right Brain

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Connecting the Hemispheres

• The corpus callosum tends to be larger in
• females leading to greater coordination of the
  hemispheres.

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And be aware of exceptions

• Those who tend to use both sides of their brains
  equally
• The Bridge Brains
• Michael Gurian, Boys and Girls Learn Differently,
  2002

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Levels of Response

• In the Brain
• The Neural Systems responsible for the
  intellect and emotions are separate, but
  interwoven.
• SoHow do we respond?
• Lets examine how our emotions and intellect
  work together

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At the highest level of intellect in the
neocortex

• The left pre-frontal cortex (left brainright
  body) tends to reflect first, then act
• The right pre-frontal cortex (right brain-left
  body) tends to act first, then reflect.

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Brain Response

• Cerebrum
• (The ability to think, reflect and react)
• Limbic System
• (Center of Emotional Responses)
• Brain Stem
• (Basic survival/self preservation and aggression)

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The Trigger Point for the Emotions

• The Thalamus and the Amygdala
• The centers for the identification of danger
  and, when triggered, initiates the flight or
  fight response.
• They are also the pipeline to the intellect.
• The Hippocampus
• Manages the formation and preservation of long
  term memory.

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The Pre-frontal Circuitry

• The left pre-frontal cortex the amygdala tend
  to quiet feelings and frustrations.
• The right pre-frontal cortex the amygdala tend
  to excite feelings and frustrations.

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Can we manage our Responses?

• External stimuli comes into the brain stem to the
  Limbic system and to the cerebrum through the
  thalamus and the amygdala.
• How will we Respond?

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The Open Loop System

• Scientists now consider the Limbic system an
  open loop.
• A closed loop system (such as the circulatory
  system) is self-regulating.
• An open loop system depends largely on external
  resources to manage itself.
• We rely on connections with others for our own
  emotional stability.
• Primal Leadership, Goleman, et.al

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Implications

• Our learning skills can be hampered or shut off
  by an emotive response in the Limbic system.
• Our emotional dance of the amygdales with
  another person (or group) creates (limbic)
  dissonance or resonance in the relationship.

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Now wait a minute..!?

• What about the US Public Education System?
• Everyone should be taught the same!
• Girls are Under-served!
• What about all the sociological and psychological
  studies?

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How do they see the World of Learning?

• The Six-Sided Box
• A Change of Language
• New Learning Methods
• Brain-based Research
• Emotional Intelligence
• Learning Process Applications

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The Six-Sided Box

• Learning is not
• A straight-line logical-sequential
• (or logical-mathematical) process
• Delivered by an personal expert with
• god-like power who lectures
• while students are imprisoned and held captive in
  a six-sided box called a classroom

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The Six-Sided Box, continued

• Learning is viewed as
• a large body of knowledge
• as a large ball-shaped figure
• With no beginning and no end.
• The Millennials are very comfortable coming at
  this ball from any direction at any time from any
  place!

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Consider multiple intelligences

• Musical
• Bodily-Kinesthetic
• Logical-Mathematical
• Linguistic
• Spatial
• Interpersonal
• Intrapersonal
• Naturalistic
• Howard Gardner, Multiple Intelligences, 1993 and
  The Disciplined Mind, 1999

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What if?

• We Change our Language
• and Substitute
• Learning for Education
• Learner for Student
• Facilitator for Teacher
• Learning Process for Higher Education

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Consider new learning methods

• Brain-based research?
• Females tend to have 25 more interconnectivity
  between the hemispheres aiding in the
  multi-tasking skill
• Michael Gurian, Boys and Girls Learn
  Differently,2001

• Females tend to be left brained
• Verbal/Language skills
• Speaking
• Reading
• Writing
• Mathematics
• Logic

• Males tend to be right brained
• Spatial/Perception skills
• Measuring/perceiving directions
• Working with objects
• Visual Imagery
• Music
• Intuition

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Examples ofLearning Process Applications

• Some caveats
• Early concepts
• Model T stage
• Try and re-try
• Lots of room for improvement
• Were workin at it!

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Some ideas

• The Course Syllabus
• A Concept Map
• Hyper linking
• Written and Verbal

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Concept Maps
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Poking at the Knowledge BallHyper linking
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Anytime-Anywhere

• Digital Devices
• Remote Accessible Field Trips (RAFT)
• using
• e-Learning and m-Learning
• (PDAs, cell phones, pod-casting, GIS, laptops)
• To create the opportunities for collaborative
  learning, cooperative learning, peer-assisted
  learning
• Rantoul, Hine, Specht and Kravik, 2001

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Anytime-Anywhere, continued

• Online Libraries
• Questia
• http//www.questia.com
• Course Monitoring
• Take Time and Re-focus
• Open the Gate

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Anytime-Anywhere, continued
Situational and Vicarious Learning
through Simulations and Gaming Rantoul, Hine,
Specht and Kravik, 2001
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Some Additional Implications

• Attention Spans
• Elaborate rehearsals
• Chunking
• Emotions
• Immersion
• Patterns
• Processing Downtime
• Nutrition

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Additional References

• Intuitive Management, Weston Agar
• Managers, Not MBAs, Henry Mintzberg
• Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman
• Primal Leadership, Daniel Goleman, et.al
• Frames of Mind, Howard Gardner
• Multiple Intelligences, Howard Gardner
• The Disciplined Mind, Howard Gardner

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Additional References (continued)

• Brain-Based Learning Possible Implications for
  Online Learning, Stephanie Clemons (Contains
  excellent web-sites)
• Triarch Theory of Intelligence, Robert Sternberg
• Boys and Girls Think Differently, Michael Gurian
• What Could He be Thinking, Michael Gurian
• The War on Boys, Christina Hoff Saunders

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And finally

• I had this dream
• While walking to a classroom at Johns Hopkins,
• I suddenly realized that it was gone.
• Funny thing I woke up to discover that it wasnt
  a dream at all.
• William R. Brody, President, John Hopkins
  University

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For questions and comments,please contactBill
Frantz atwfrantz9_at_charter.net