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Bonkian Research on Wikibookians and YouTubians: Take our YouTube video survey at: http://www.surveyshare.com/
Thursday, August 30, 2007
1. Wikibookian Research Results: My Wiki-RIKI ("Wikis for Research on Intercultural Knowledge and Interactivity") research team (see http://wiki-riki.wikispaces.com/) and I just wrapped up a study of 80 Wikibookians (i.e., those who edit, write, or contribute to Wikibooks) from the Wikibooks Website (see http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page) and sent off a paper for review and hopefully publication. Here are a few of our interesting statistics (you will have to read the paper for more--some of which is at the Wiki-RIKI site): Wikibookians tend to be men (97 percent in our study) who are under the age of 35 (83 percent; only 5 percent over age 51). In addition, roughly half do not yet possess a 4 year college degree. Nearly 1 in 5 were under age 18, so that is not too surprising.

Depsite pervasive criticisms of incomplete books at the Wikibooks website, most respondents deemed their most recent Wikibook activity as successful and that a Wikibook could be completed. While the development of a Wikibook was a challenge, in terms of coordination, few were frustrated with the Wikibooks environment and nearly everyone felt that a Wikibook type of environment that promoted online collaboration. For instance, one participant stated that “…people can work together on a wiki and come up with a result that is better than something written by one or a couple of "experts." …There is not one person in charge who can make the hard decisions that everyone will respect.”

There are many things one can do to contribute to a Wikibook and make a difference in the world. For instance, some Wikibookians perceive themselves as authors who write chapters or modules, others as readers who lend feedback to others, and still others as coordinators or contributors to a Wikibook project. No matter the role, few claim ownership over their final Wikibook product(s)--a Wikibook is a community created and used product. It is a prime example of participatory learning. In regards to their motivation to create a Wikibook, most were interested in making a learning contribution and sharing knowledge as well as personal growth, not a publishing outlet. These are young people making an attempt to better the world! Finally, from their perspectives, a Wikibook environment lends itself well to sociocultural learning pursuits since it entails informal learning (not formal) and is geared for collaboration, exploration, self-discovery, and socially interactive learning situations (see sociocultural pedagogical ideas from Alex Bruns and Sal Humphreys: Bruns, A., & Humphreys, S. (2005). Wikis in teaching and assessment: The M/Cyclopedia project. Paper presented at the WikiSym 2005. Retrieved March 5, 2006, from http://www.wikisym.org/ws2005/proceedings/paper-03.pdf ).

A Wikibook stands in stark contrast to the forms of writing to which I was exposed growing up a Catholic grade school oh so long ago. Collaboration when writing my 5 paragraph essays? Negotiating ideas with others? Changing anyone text without them knowing? Working with people all over the globe?

Face it--wiki environments such as Wikibooks foster a new form of learning and human knowledge generation and interaction; one in which anyone who has the time, insights, and inclination can participate in. Wikibookians are part of this change toward a participatory learning society--through analysis of Wikibook document history as well as Wikibookian interviews, surveys, focus groups, etc., we are provided with a window into online collaborative writing, idea or knowledge generation and negotiation processes, and the modfication, extension, and use of such knowledge. You will have to wait for our final journal article to be published for more or see the Wiki-RIKI site for our conference paper from AERA as well as Wikibook-related papers from Dwight Allen's team at Old Dominion University.

Future Wikibook Research: We will soon conduct a 2nd phase of this Wikibookian research and explore the apprenticeship process in becoming a Wikibookian. There is research on how one becomes a Wikipedian (see Bryant, S. L., Forte, A., & Bruckman, A. (2005). Becoming Wikipedian: Transformation of participation in a collaborative online encyclopedia. In M. Pendergast, K. Schmidt, G. Mark, & M. Acherman (Eds.); Proceedings of the 2005 International ACM SIGGROUP Conference on Supporting Group Work, GROUP 2005, Sanibel Island, FL, November 6-9, pp. 1-10. Retrieved February 7, 2007, from http://www-static.cc.gatech.edu/~aforte/BryantForteBruckBecomingWikipedian.pdf

Now we will follow-up that research by looking at Wikibookian apprenticeship. We hope to extend our sample size, of course. My Wiki-RIKI research team is also exploring 2 Wikibook projects in my class this semester; one on learning theories: the Practice of Learning Theories (POLT) and one on "Web 2.0 and Emerging Learning Technologies (WELT). These should be fun since we have colleagues at other universities participating. So, let me know if you want to join up!

2. Current YouTubian Research: Before we do that, I am now exploring educational and motivational aspects of popular YouTube videos in a study to which anyone can contribute: http://www.surveyshare.com//. This is a video survey research--the type of research that is perhaps more in line with the Web 2.0. And, yes, you can contribute! Just click on the survey link and watch a YouTube video embedded in a survey and answer some questions about the Web 2.0 and participatory learning. Why do people watch, share, subscribe to, or create them? What instructional design factors make them more or less appealing? Why do people comment on them? etc. This research study just started and you can help by taking 10-15 minutes to complete one of them. In return, you will be entered into a drawing for free iPhones and iPods. In addition, you will get to use SurveyShare Pro yourself and create unlimited surveys for 90 days for FREE!!!

Ok, final reminder--you can YouTube too! Whether you are a YouTubian or not, you can take our survey on one of 60 of the most popular YouTube video surveys at http://www.surveyshare.com/. (some are educational videos, some entertainment, some political, some are sports related, some comedy, some are on emerging technologies, etc.). Take a random survey on one of these and get a chance to win an iPhone and an iPod. We hope to post some results soon!!!!!!
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Are you a video nomad or just mad about video in international education?
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Seems like international and global education online is hot today. I thought it was hot decades ago but, in comparison to today, I was wrong. Over ten years ago I created The Intaplanetary Teaching Learning Exchange (TITLE) where preservice teachers could discuss problems of students in schools using online cases. We had universities from Peru, the UK, Korea, and the USA involved. Here was one resulting publication, among many:

Bonk, C. J., Hara, H., Dennen, V., Malikowski, S., & Supplee, L. (2000). We’re in TITLE to dream: Envisioning a community of practice, “The Intraplanetary Teacher Learning Exchange.” CyberPsychology and Behavior, 3(1), 25-39.

And a decade earlier, I had one of my first major scholary publications on social cognition and writing in a journal called Written Communication. See (Happy to send these to anyone who asks.):

Bonk, C. J. (1990). A synthesis of social-cognition and writing research. Written Communication, 7(1), 136-163.

This article discussed some of the possibilities for technology to enhance global perspective taking. To stand in someone's shoes is central to elevating social cognition and ultimately empathy, understanding, and the cooperation. In the culture of today, we need such skills even more.

But that research was primary text based. Today web-based videoconferencing and video production, sharing, and commenting is become much cheaper and common. We are now sharing global views and ideas using video. And anyone can personally create and than share international news. We are definitely in a participatory age of education. Each day new tools for participation seem to pass by the screen as I work.

For instance, this morning I was also sent to look at a new site like CurrentTV or YouTube is called http://nomadsland.com/. Nomad contains videos about social and political issues, international cultures, and global issues created by the citizens of the world—short films, documentaries, and creative travelogues, etc.). Today I watched several including ones on the problems in Darfur, poaching in Zimbabwe, problems in Palestine, etc. On the whole, they are extremely well thought out, professionaly, and educational. Captivating stuff! Some of these have previews and you have to pay to watch the entire episode and others appear to be entirely free to watch (though I am still not certain). My point is that cultural, social, political educational, and environmental issues around the world are being shared online through video and no longer just text.

Think of all the educational ways in Nomadsland and CurrentTV and YouTube can be used; especially for global and international education. Someone should be doing research on this! Well, I am currently doing a study of the educational value of YouTube videos. More on that in one of my next blog posts.

That link was sent to me this morning. Tonight, I got a news article from the George Lucas Education Foundation (GLEF) related to videoconferencing and global education of K-12 children. They have an article on the Global Nomads Group (GNG) (http://www.gng.org/) where students learn about world cultures through videoconferencing (see: http://www.edutopia.org/global-nomads-group-worldwide-videoconferencing). Here, children in K-12 classrooms in the USA can find out about Brazil, China, Honduras, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, the Sudan, and Vietnam. They might learn about geography, politics, cultures, religions, the military, and government. These interactive programs have exposed students to issues that the traditional curriculum did not teach.

We have had a similar videoconferencing program at IU for more than a dozen years. This program is called ISIS or International Studies in Schools. ISIS creates similar programs to the GNG mentioned above. Topics here include:
• What do you want to know about Iraq?
• East European Origins: Focus on Hungary
• Islam in Africa: Niger
• Meet the Mongolian Throat Singers
• Daily Life in the Netherlands
• Burmese Students: Perspectives of Refugees

The goals are respect and appreciation of differences, learning about different cultures, understanting the issues of equality in society, and fostering a sense of tolerance and openness. These goals can lead toward the development and empowerment of individuals as thoughtful and active participants of the 21st century--where we can educate all people of this planet. Former IU student, Dr. Mimi Lee at the University of Houston and Deb Hutton from IU, have just finished an article on it called: "Using Interactive Videoconferencing Technology for Global Awareness: The Case of ISIS" which is in review. They studied an implementation of ISIS in a rural Indiana community. If you want a copy, let me know. My colleague, Professor Merry Merryfield at Ohio State University also does extensive research in this area. If interested, See her work at: http://www.coe.ohio-state.edu/mmerryfield/
http://ehe.osu.edu/edtl/faculty/MerryfieldMerry.htm
Merry is an IU alum!

But my point is that video--both canned content put up in places like CurrentTV, YouTube, and Nomadsland, as well as synchronous videoconferencing experiences are becoming increasingly popular and effective means for international and global education and awareness. And it is about time! Perhaps you might try it! My Wikibook ideas in the blog post below have similar goals.

Finally, this morning I was sent a free Webinar for Thursday, September 6th at 1 pm your time on Wikis and Web 2.0 is noted below. social networking expert Howard Rheingold and Boston College's Jerry Kane
See http://www.1105info.com/igdkfde_ehmuaur.html. I highly recommend it and will be lurking in the audience somewhere. I recently talked to Jerry Kane (see my blog post below--item #10 for his Wikibook ideas) and I met Howard Rheingold last spring when he visited IU. This should be a good one. Enjoy.
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What's all the buzz about Wikibooks? I found at least 10 examples.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
What is going on with free books? Below I list just a few things that I am aware of. There is much more but I do not want to post too much here. I am writing about this in one of the chapters of my WE-ALL-LEARN book. Here are 10 examples that I am aware of.

Example #1. Ok, I have been researching Wikibooks (and the developers of Wikibooks--called Wikibookians) for a couple of years now. Recently, Wikis and Wikibooks have been getting a lot of attention as ways to avoid using textbooks. My friend, Professor Dwight Allen at Old Dominion University, has his students develop a book on social and cultural foundations of education instead of buying one (http://www.odu.edu/educ/dwallen/). Students write 1,000 word chapters on different topics (3 students per topic) and they vote on which one goes into the final Wikibook. The best ones are on display at the Wikibooks Website (see http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Social_and_Cultural_Foundations_of_American_Education). The students write the book for 4 weeks and spend the remaining 10-11 weeks reading the book that they wrote. How ingenious! This is a form of granting power to the students and building a curriculum around participatory learning.

Dr. Allen and his colleagues are on an AERA (American Educational Research Association) proposal with me on Web 2.0 technologies; actually 2 of them (NY City March 24-28, 2008). The abstract to one of them is below:
"The Wikibooks project initiated at Old Dominion University (ODU) is now one year old. During that time, course developers have come to several important conclusions – the most important of which is that undergraduate students are highly engaged and motivated by the Wikibooks process as it has been applied in ODU’s introductory course in education. The fact that students are collaborating with their peers on their own course text (i.e., in this course, students read the book that they write online), empowers students to a much higher degree than most traditional instructional methods that emphasize passive consumption rather than active creation and synthesis of knowledge. Likewise, the fact that the students’ articles are read and rated by their entire class (or others), rather than just by their professor, has motivated the students to more effectively write and take ownership of the content of their articles. In addition, the students are excited by the notion that their wiki articles can be cited as electronic publications on their resumes. This process and final product has both impressed many ODU faculty members and been warmly received by the participating students who find the Wikimedia software extremely easy to use. Just the same, previous research indicates that many questions have yet to be answered with respect to the applicability of wiki technology in other educational settings. Will wiki-based instructional models work in K-12 education as well as graduate college courses, and if so, in what subject areas? Further, at what age can students be trusted with the responsibility of creating a major instructional tool for their peers? Next, can a Wikibook created for one class be used in other courses to achieve some other instructional goals? In this discussion, we will explore the breadth of applicability of Wikibooks technology and wiki-based instructional methods. In addition, we will discuss some of the possible boundaries beyond which wiki technology is either no longer appropriate or requires additional consideration."

Exciting stuff! Come to our session at AERA.

Example #2. Also at AERA will be Michael Orey at the University of Georgia. With combined interests in free online books and participatory student learning, researchers at the University of Georgia are working on many Wikibook projects. For instance, Michael Orey at the University of Georgia has been doing something similar in having his students write a book on see the Emerging Perspectives on Learning, Teaching and Technology (EPLTT); http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt. He has been working on this project since 2001 as an HTML document and later ported it over to a Wiki environment. The EPLTT book started with 12 chapters and currently has 32 chapters containing animations, narrated presentations, graphics, videos, and other media that now support the understanding of the content in those chapters. Now this book includes chapters on such as cognitive tools, reciprocal teaching, motivation, creativity, scaffolding, and behaviorism. This book is so well done that AECT (Association for Educational Communications and Technology) is marketing it off their homepage.

Example #3. Michael Orey is also creating a Wikibook for the world on educational technologies. In fact, it is "The World Almanac of Educational Technologies' and you can sign up to write a chapter for it about ed tech in your country (see http://www.waet.uga.edu). This also started out in HTML but was soon converted to a wiki. Chapters completed include those from Brazil, Korea, China, and the U.S. while many others are under contract (e.g., Rwanda, Ghana, the UAE, Taiwan, etc.) It seeks to examine applications of technology around the globe, thereby impacting teaching and learning in many perspectives.

Example #4. Orey's last Wikibook project, “Foundations of Instructional Technology” (http://projects.coe.uga.edu/ITFoundations), was just initiated. Some things are started on the current state as well the history of IT. You might help there too.

Example #5. In addition to these 3 wikibooks at Georgia, a recent project at the University of Georgia, the Global Text Project (GPT) (http://www.globaltext.org/). This GPT project was spearheaded in January 2004 by professor Richard Watson at the University of Georgia (he is an MIS professor in the Terry College) whose graduate students wrote the first version of the book, “XML: Managing Data Exchange.” Students both at Georgia and at other places around the world have continued to enhance and extend that book. According to Watson, with $200,000 of funding from the Jacobs Foundation in Switzerland, some initial piloting of the ideas are about to be tested in Ethiopia, Uganda, and Indonesia. Textbooks already have been developed in business, agriculture, education, and science (Garrobo, 2007); including ones in Classical Mechanics, Introduction to Physical Oceanography, Principles of Toxicology, Introduction to Economic Analysis, and Social and Cultural Foundations of American Education. Two new books in business fundamentals and introductory information systems will soon be available in English, Chinese, Arabic, and Spanish.

It not only has students contribute to the writing of an online text in a collaborative and participatory learning experience, but to solve other problems such as localization, English-centric content, and prohibitive costs of traditional texts (i.e., these books are free). According to Michael Orey, "One of recent successes of the GTP is the authoring of several texts by faculty from the University of Chile." As a next step, the GTP is working with a university in China and the Middle East to translate these books into Chinese and Arabic. Their initial goal is to have every book available in Arabic, Chinese, English, and Spanish; translations would be adapted to the local culture, thereby addressing the localization problem. GTP is now working to establish name recognition and quality controls.

Instead of a portal of online free books, the Global Text Project intends to develop more than 1,000 free open-source digital textbooks for the people of this planet. The goal is to help educate disadvantaged populations and those in third world countries who simply cannot afford paper-based books or access the ones they need. And students are helping in the process. Remember final assignments in school that you put a lot of work into? Now think about the final course projects and other scholarly work conducted by graduate students around the world in their various classes that is often discarded when the class ends. Now instead of the semester wasted efforts, their examples, glossaries, exercises, sample tests, and other resources generated might serve as supplemental materials for a free book that a professor is writing. Or perhaps have the students themselves write the chapters. Colleges and universities could not complain that the professor is using the students for material gains since the books are free. And, equally importantly, the students would gain from a real world experience. And their creative energies and talents would be set free rather than contained or confined to a single course or program.

There is more. I will stop on that one here...let's talk about my classes and wikibooks for a moment.

Example #6. Orey is looking for critiques of his learning theories Wikibook and so my fall P540 Learning and Cognition class will be doing that (see http://php.indiana.edu/~cjbonk/P540_syllabus_fall_2007.htm). Dr. Mimi Lee's class at the University of Houston (she is a former IU IST student) will be joining in. Students will be paired to give feedback to each other on their Wikibook chapter critiques. Then we will post their final critiques to Wikispaces at my Wiki-RIKI research site (http://wiki-riki.wikispaces.com/). These posted critiques will be a Wikibook of sorts.

Example #7. The next step, our students will edit an existing learning theories (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Learning_Theories) or learning theorists (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Learning_Theorists) from Dr. Dale Fowler's class at Indiana Wesleyan University. Minimum of a 3 sentence post since my research shows that American students tend not to think until the third sentence (sentence #1 is usually I agree with so and so, sentence #2 is usually, "I think," "I believe," or "In my opinion," and in the 3rd sentence, they finally have something to say worth reading.)

Example #8. In the 3rd phase of the project, they will create their own Wikibook on the Practice of Learning Theories (POLT). Students will again be matched up across sites for feedback purposes. I have 8 students from Afghanistan in this class (they are visiting IU this year) and so I thought this might be fun for them to write about and share. The best chapters (and ones that students permit) will be ported over to the Wikibooks Website (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page). We plan an ending awards ceremony and to designate best chapters for "Wikibook Outstanding Work” (WOW) awards. WOW Chapter authors will receive “Oscar” awards for their outstanding performances. Judges will select up to 12 outstanding performance awards at the end of the semester. There will be 6 categories with 1-2 awards per category (Most Practical, Most Complete, Most Interesting, Most Creative, Most Inspiring, and Most Media Rich).

Dr. Lee and I attempted a Wikibook a year or 2 ago and it did not go too well since we did not plan it out as well ahead of time and we lacked experience in it. We also made it optional. This time is it required and we have more scaffolding.

Example #9. I am also doing a Wikibook in my Web 2.0 and Participatory E-Learning course (see http://php.indiana.edu/~cjbonk/Syllabus_R685_Fall_of_2007.htm) with classes from Indiana State University, Kyung Hee University, and I hope 1-2 other places. This book is tentatively labeled Web 2.0 and Emerging Learning Technologies (WELT). Let me know if you have a class that is interested in joining in.

Example #10. Yesterday, the Chronicle of Higher Education today noted one professor who is tossing his books in favor of Wikis. See: http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=2315?=atwc

“Students have turned to wikis — Web sites edited by members of the public — more than most professors would like. Now at least one professor has tossed out textbooks in favor of the controversial Web medium. Gerald C. Kane, an assistant professor of information systems at Boston College, encourages his students to use a commercially provided wiki for conducting research and collaborating with other students, reports Computerworld." In his course on Computers and Management, students do not buy paper books but simply use his Wiki where they post papers and can read each others' works. They can also suggest test questions. Kane indicates that this allows him to be more of a guide than a lecturer. Here are the other references to his work:

See more in articles about him in Computerworld:
1. Wiki becomes textbook in Boston College classroom: IT prof says Web 2.0 technology boosts collaboration among students (August 15, 2007)
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyId=16&articleId=9030802&intsrc=hm_topic

2. "My wiki is my textbook," by Heather Havenstein on Wed, 08/15/2007 -
http://www.computerworld.com/blogs/node/6036

According to Kane, “The class is organized around Thomas Friedman's book "The World is Flat," and offers special emphasis on Web 2.0 tools.” I like that idea, since I am writing a book that is extending Friedman's World is Flat book to education.

For more on Gerald Kane, see http://www.socialtext.net/cim/index.cgi?dr_jerry_kane
His class wiki: http://www.socialtext.net/cim/index.cgi (I cannot find his wikibook)
Wiki homework information (job aid): http://www.socialtext.net/cim/index.cgi?wiki_homework

So those are 10 wikibook examples--they indicate that learning is changing. There is more focus on students contributing to and participating in their own learning. It is about time! Sure questions abound here in many areas including the reuse of content, the accuracy of said content, and how to identify the contributors of the content so that grades can be posted. But do we really need grades anymore? I am serious--why do they exist today?

Ok, many more Wikibooks are being built by people like you. I am sure that there are hundreds more. Please share more with me via email or in responding to this post. Thanks so much!
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3 P's of Professional Writers--Purpose, Passion, and Pleasure
Thursday, August 16, 2007
As my last blog post noted, in academia, the 3 P's of writing are Persistance, Patience, and Push (i.e., push out, push on, and push back). That is scholarly writing. In professional writing, the 3 P's would likely be totally different. Here are 3 possible P's for Professional Writers:

1. Purpose--unlike many academics who simply write for the sake of having something published on their resume, professional writers typically have a purpose for spending hours, days, weeks, or months penning something. This is not to say that academic scholars do not have a purpose, it is just that they are often involved in a very silly system of promotion and tenure. Purpose might be in seeing a series of writing episodes such as a series of books, papers on a topic, or short stories. Purpose might come from being the only person who has read extensively in a particular area. Purpose might come from knowing you only have so much time to get a writing task done and many people are relying on you to do so since you are the expert. Purpose might come from a growing audience for your work who has read previous articles, books, reports, or blog posts. Gosh, to have a purpose for one's writing...now one can make a mark or a dent (i.e., an impact) in society and not just create more paperweights.

2. Passion--of course, if one has a purpose behind his or her writing, then there is a chance that he or she can be more passionate about it. Stephen Downes reminded me in an earlier blog post of mine that writing without passion is probably not something that will be worth reading. As I note above, too often in higher education, we write for the sake of writing. But to be passionate about something is central to actually completing it. We tell our doctoral candidates to find a topic in which they are passionate for their dissertations since they will live and breath the topic for a year or 2 or 3 or more. I think the Web 2.0 opens up many routes for one to be more passionate about writing with colleagues who are genuinely interested in said writing.

3. Pleasure--One must not only have a purpose and passion, but feel some joy or pleasure from the writing event. Life should have pleasures and if one's life is being a professional writer, then pleasure must occur at key moments or nearly all the time. There should be fun moments when one plays with words, when new words are found, when analogies are made, when ideas are shared and new ones are returned, when old notes combine with new thoughts in ways not previously contemplated, when new acronyms or ideas are conjured up, and even when penning a unique or catchy title. Pleasure occurs when writing is thinking as well as when thinking leads to new writing. Reflection on one's idea generation processes should be pleasurable, not always an arduous process.

Who wants to add stories about their writing purposes, passions, and pleasures? You?

These 3 P's might be combined with the other 3 P's of my last post to truly build a writing persona in higher education. And then there are always other P words that are of import such as polish, personalized prose, and peak experiences! Now we are getting somewhere. Can someone be a successful scholarly or academic writer as well as a professional writer? Humm... Of course, the P words come and go as culture and society changes. For instance, P words that no longer apply include penmanship and pencil and paper. The Open Educational Resources (OER) movement is likely to alter the P words of importance to posting within professional networks, participation, and personalized writing.

Ok, I must P on my way!

(Sidenote: Four years after drafting this blog post (it is now April 2011), and this one remains among my most popular posts.)
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3 P's of Publishing = Professorship--Keep Pushing On!
Saturday, August 04, 2007
My son and I are on a trip in California from San Fransisco to Monterey to LA to Long Beach to San Diego. We visited the summer of love (1967) scene in San Fran yesterday when walking around Haight and Ashbury streets. What a great even that was. I will try to post some pictures in my FLICKR account when we return from the Pipe Dreams shop we stopped by. Currently, we are in Monterey. We heard REO Speedwagon's rock classic from the 1970s called "Keep Pushing" while driving into town from San Fran. This reminded me to post my 3 P's of publishing advice (for new professors) that I shared with a former student last week.

Keep 3 “”P’s” in mind:

1. Persistence: to get published, you have to keep making revisions that the editors want and detail what you did or find a new journal. Last week, Dr. Yun Jeong Park and I got wonderful reviews on a paper on Macromedia Breeze (now Adobe Connect Pro) which was rejected 2 times previously. But we did not give up. Since I decided to persist on all articles about 10-12 years ago, most, if not all, papers have been published.

2. Patience: to be published, one also needs some patience. (Note that I have a paper that took my 8 years to publish in the Journal of Accounting Education. It sat on the editor's desk for 3 years on 2 separate occassions. Many book chapters can take years to get out. Most of my stuff is publishing faster today than before since I know how to tweak the system a bit and which journals move quicker. But sometimes patience is needed—Vanessa Dennen and I just had a book chapter for Badrul Khan’s Flexible Learning book that took 4 years to come out. And now the publisher wants to publish it in another book. Our patience led to this appearing twice in print.

3. Push
a. push-out: try to get as much out as possible as more is more;
b. push back: know when to take a paper back and submit elsewhere (when the review process is dragging on and on)
c. push-on: move on when you sense you are at a deadend or the work is too extensive for the writing benefits.

Of the 3, push is important daily, though persistence may be slightly more important. If you persist, anything can be published (if it is unique or original in some way). Strive for something unique or original in each article. I always ask myself that before submitting for publication.

These lead to the 4th “P” of Publication and the 5th “P” of Professorhood.

And, no matter what, Keep Pushing, Keep Pushing, Keep Pushing On!!!
The internal person in your head will help you to push on! Push and you will succees. Good luck.


More REO Lyrics here: http://www.19.5degs.com/lyrics/Keep%20Pushin

Goin through all the changes i made so many mistakes, oh yes i did
Tryin to leave behind the heartaches
And sometimes i think i was a little bit crazy, oh yeah
Whoa, i keep pushin on

Keep pushin, keep pushin, keep pushin, keep pushin on

Keep pushin, keep pushin, you know you have got to be so strong
Keep pushin, keep pushin, well even if you think your strength is gone
Keep pushin on
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About Me

Name: Curt Bonk
Home: Bloomington, Indiana, United States
About Me: I am a former accountant and CPA and a former educational psychologist. I am now Professor of IST at Indiana University and also adjunct in the School of Informatics. I founded and later sold SurveyShare. As president of CourseShare, LLC, I run around the world training instructors to teach online and give motivational talks about emerging learning technologies. I also write and edit books related to e-learning and blended learning. See bio and vita.

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Click here for information about my recent book, The World is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education.

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