Aaron's Hub

How many new apps have you put on our phone this year?  How many technologies have you used today that you didn't even know existed a year ago?  Many technologies that were considered the most popular among people few years back might be facing extinction or actually extinct today. Blockbuster video is a cool t-shirt with youth today yet most have never rented a VHS tape.  This technological evolution does not happen due to natural or human influenced disasters but rather because of the advancements and innovations of the cutting-edge parallel and alternative technologies (Pathan, 2018).  The same evolution of technologies exists within education for the adult learner.   Technologies  used to support learning also have a lifecycle and are continuously being challenged and replaced by new technologies.   D2L, Angel, Turning Point and other educational software platforms have come and gone.  This rapid evolution of lear...

Technology is an integrated part of our daily lives- love it or hate it.    31% of U.S. adults now report that they go online “almost constantly,” up from 21% in 2015 (Perrin and Atske, 2021).  Neilson Media (2018) reports that the average adult use of technology per day (including screen time, apps, or other interactive technologies) is exceeding 11 hours!  My blog and other technology related activities are now exceeding the amount of sleep I get.  Technology impact and our interaction with it is growing each year.  Technology influenced learning is equally growing within education.  So how can adult learners make the most of the educational technology takeover (Beringer, 2015)?  Let's consider a couple of ways. Let's start with our attitude toward learning technologies.  Our attitude certainly shapes our willingness to let new technologies creep or "bull rush" into our learning opportunities.  The Techno...

  Is blogging and using a discussion board within a learning management software really the same?  Research certainly supports these are accepted very differently by the self-directed learner.    Blog-based learning activities seem to resonate differently with adult leaners than a traditional discussion board threaded activity.   My blog can be seen more as my voice and my opportunity for interaction versus simply posting information in a sterile academic platform.  The waiting for a forced response.  Always complimenting me on my thoughtfulness.   Ugh.   Discussion board interactions seem instructor directed, scripted, forced by format in contrast to using blogs to learn.   Discussion boards have been used as an attempt to spark conversation and discussion but have historically not done well as a learning method.   If two people can meet and fall in love online through conversation, why can’t discussion boards equally be mor...