Twitter!

Confession: I have been avoiding twitter since my 16 year old niece first chirped of its "coolness" several years ago. It's not that I am against new technology, by all means no! In fact, I sport all the latest creations by Apple with pride and current technology is often up for discussion at our dinner table, thanks to my tech savvy husband. For fear of appearing "old," I am compelled to at least investigate these tools regardless of my intent to use them. However, time is precious to me (as it is to all of us) and twitter has not been a social site of much interest to me. So, thank you A ED 814 for sparking an interest and nudging me into this space.

Follow me on Twitter @marteereeg

Down the street from my house is an American Art gem, the R. W. Norton Gallery of Art and Gardens. Established in 1966 as a private collection available for public viewing, this space has been embraced by the local community.  Walkers, runners, horticulture enthusiasts, art and culture seekers can be found along the paths of the gardens and the halls of the gallery all throughout the year. The Gallery and Garden's role as a site for informal learning in the community is the central question for my final project in A ED 814. While the gallery doesn't have a twitter account, there are many similar sites that do. Understanding how they function in this space will help me to gain a better understanding of how the R.W. Norton Gallery could benefit from such a social networking site as well as how informal learning is occurring simultaneously with the formal learning intended by the museum. (Note: the Gallery does have a facebook page)

The following are examples of similar sites that will serve this purpose:

1. The National Gallery of Art @ngadc

2. Americanart @americanart

3. Museum of Modern Art @museummodernart

4. Whitney Museum @whitneymuseum

5. Kimbell Art Museum @kimbellart

Additional sites of interest to me as I pursue this question include:

6. Technology in the Arts @techinthearts explores were art and technology connect and will aid me in gaining insight on how technology is being used in a variety of educational settings.

7. artnet @artnet will expand my understanding of the global presence of the arts

8. Penn State ART Ed @PennStateArtEd is a valuable resource for information on current scholarship is education. 

9. TED-ED @ted_ed offers a variety of engaging educational videos for all learners.

10. Sir Ken Robinson @sirkenrobinson is an innovative thinker in the arts and education.

This list is not exhaustive. As is the nature of twitter, I am daily finding more and more useful organizations and people to follow.

Happy Tweeting!

What is "Informal Learning"?

“Informal learning” is a concept that encapsulates the process by which learning occurs without a planned curriculum or even a clear direction or outcome. The learner seeks to engage a variety of resources within his specific learning ecology to acquire knowledge, expound upon existing knowledge, and share knowledge within this ecology. Informal learning occurs in a variety of spaces and is not mutually exclusive of “formal learning.” Such venues include: work, school, home, community, and among peers. The catalyst for informal learning is a desire to gain a greater understanding in a particular area of interest and a willingness to engage with those already exhibiting interest or expertise in the field, while at the same time seeking out new venues for information exchange. The environment created by this learner is learner-controlled, situational, experiential, social, possibly unintentional, and fluid across the boundaries of available resources. 

Listed above is a variety of sites targeted at the dissemination of information. Consequently, they provide many of the resources necessary for informal learning to occur. Click on the text to link to a blog post offering tech resources for educators. This image was borrowed from this blog.  

As I try to visualize what the process of informal learning looks like, my mind returns to the game of pinball. The ball (represents the learner's interest) is catapulted into the game board (the learning ecology). As the ball hits various points on the game board, points (knowledge) are acquired. The bottom controls (the learner) never know exactly where the ball is going to hit next (or where new information will lead), they just do their best to keep the ball in motion. The path the ball (the learning) takes is not predictable nor planned, but rather naturally occurring and changing with the introduction of new and old points of contact. The more complex the game board (learning ecology) is the more opportunities for contact and to increase point accumulation (information acquisition).

My intention was to include an animated pinball game with this post, but unfortunately I am not tech savvy enough. Here is the best I could do. Click the text below to link to an interactive, simple game of pinball.
Techies, any suggestions?

Canvas Pinball