Feedback welcomed on research questions #heutagogy #MOOC

Sharing some of my concerns/doubts/directions on my PhD. Feel free to provide your insights or remarks. 

After considering heutagogy as an addition to my PhD frame, and revisiting potential research questions based on the two pages shared previously and resulting comments , I would like your feedback on the next potential research questions (and dilemma’s).

The provided research questions are followed by a very brief rationale, to (hopefully) allow you to see why I am making certain choices for my research.

Central research question

How do experienced online learners manage self-determined learning when engaged in a MOOC?

Sub-questions (I want to cover: peers/people, technologies/objects, leading to learning success with my sub-questions, as I think those make up the parts of the central question).

• ·         What (if any) are the objectives (question Inge: goals more linked to andragogy, on the other hand goals are broader than objectives) of the learners during their learning journey?
• ·         How do adult learners reach their SDL goals? (question Inge: or should I use more enquiry driven vocabulary for this question, maybe: which personal interests guide SDL?)
• ·         Which technologies do learners use in order to attain SDL success? (e.g. online content, objects, devices)
• ·         Who do learners connect with to reach successful SDL?
• ·         How do learner goals relate to learner outcomes?
• ·         What is the MOOC delivering answers versus outside MOOC delivering answers for SDL ratio? (question Inge: not sure if this question is relevant for SDL, but I cannot dismiss it yet, as I feel there is something of interest in relation to MOOC and SDL, and successful interaction provision)

Brief overview of content that drives my choices for the research question

I have tried to share some brief content here to sketch the background of my research questions.

Central idea

Central to the whole research is the idea put forward by Hase and Kenyon (2001): “the learner decides what and how to learn”. Which brings the learner into a central position and makes the content and actions offered by any one teacher or any one institute outside of the learner secondary to what the learner wants/needs. This consideration makes me think that learning moves even more towards informal learning, as only curricula/courses/modules made by the learner her/himself would ever allow formal learning to answer the learner’s need.

Heutagogy and need for experienced learning

A next step in reformulating the central research question is based on the path moving from pedagogy, to andragogy, to heutagogy. This overview gives rise to my doubts on which vocabulary to use for my research question, as different words are used and they can have different meanings.

The overview below is provided by Lindy McKeown (http://www.blog.lindymckeown.com/?p=52) :
Columns 1 and 2 from Burns, R. (1995). The adult learner at work: a comprehensive guide to the context, psychology and methods of learning for the workplace (1st ed.). Chatswood, N.S.W: Business and Professional Publishing.Column 3 from Hase, S., & Kenyon, C. (2000).

This means the learner is increasingly more in control of what is learned, and particularly why they want to learn it, and which effort they are willing to put into it.

But the learner can only be in control if s/he has the capacities to do so, which brings me to potential research boundaries for this PhD. Canning (2010) shared a diagram regarding learner expertise for heutagogy. This would offer part of the basis for my decision to only use research participants that have 1 or 3 years or more online learning or social media experience

Target audience selection

The research participants will be selected on the basis of prior experience (rationale briefly mentioned above). Learners that have been using social media or have been engaged in online learning for 1 year or more (I might pull this up to 3 years, but still trying to find more data to support a more specific choice (1 year covers experience, but maybe 3 years indicates online experience having been built up that can be transferred to new learning environments or settings).

In self-determined learning, it is important that learners acquire both competencies and capabilities (Hase & Kenyon, 2000, 2007). Competency can be understood as proven ability in acquiring knowledge and skills, while capability is characterized by learner confidence in his or her competency and, as a result, the ability “to take appropriate and effective action to formulate and solve problems in both familiar and unfamiliar and changing settings” (Cairns, 2000, p. 1, as cited in Gardner, Hase, Gardner, Dunn, & Carryer, 2008, p. 252). Capable people exhibit the following traits:

• ·         self-efficacy, in knowing how to learn and continuously reflect on the learning process;
• ·         communication and teamwork skills, working well with others and being openly communicative;
• ·         creativity, particularly in applying competencies to new and unfamiliar situations and by being adaptable and flexible in approach;
• ·         positive values (Hase & Kenyon, 2000; Kenyon & Hase, 2010; Gardner et al., 2007).

(the above mentioned paragraph comes from the Community of Practice Heutagogy site). But if self-determined learning acquires competency and capability, researching experienced learners and their SDL in MOOC will give insights in how other MOOC learners might guide their SDL to become more experienced learners.

Next steps

Once the research questions are chosen, I will review the used methodology and see if that needs to be adapted and I will write out the questions/instruments to be send to the ethics board.

In parallel I am writing an additional section into my literature review on heutagogy.

References

Blaschke, L. M. (2012). Heutagogy and Lifelong Learning: A Review of Heutagogical Practice and Self-Determined Learning. International Review of Research in Open & Distance Learning, 13(1).

Canning, N. (2010). Playing with heutagogy: exploring strategies to empower mature learners in higher education. Journal of Further and Higher Education,34(1), 59-71.

Gardner, A., Hase, S., Gardner, G., Dunn, S.V., & Carryer, J. (2008). From competence to capability: A study of nurse practitioners in clinical practice. In Journal of Clinical Nursing, 17(2), 250-258. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.206.0188.x

Hase, S., & Kenyon, C. (2000). From andragogy to heutagogy. In UltiBase Articles. Retrieved fromhttp://ultibase.rmit.edu.au/Articles/dec00/hase2.htm

Hase, S. & Kenyon, C. (2007). Heutagogy: A child of complexity theory. Complicity: An International Journal of Complexity and Education, 4(1), 111-119.

Kenyon, C., & Hase, S. (2010, August). Adragogy and heutagogy in postgraduate work. In Meeting the challenges of change in postgraduate education (pp. 165-177).

Writing social sciences #research paper #phd

Again reaching for content that helps me keep an overview when wanting to write a paper. The best online resource for me is still the one provided by the University of Southern California. It provides so many useful tips for each section, just have a look and see for each section of a classic research article. So thanks to USC libraries ( @USCLibraries )Even just reading through their brief description of each section gets my mind oriented:

Abstract

An abstract summarizes, usually in one paragraph of 300 words or less, the major aspects of the entire paper in a prescribed sequence that includes: 1) the overall purpose of the study and the research problem(s) you investigated; 2) the basic design of the study; 3) major findings or trends found as a result of your analysis; and, 4) a brief summary of your interpretations and conclusions.

The Introduction

The introduction serves the purpose of leading the reader from a general subject area to a particular field of research. It establishes the context of the research being conducted by summarizing current understanding and background information about the topic, stating the purpose of the work in the form of the hypothesis, question, or research problem, briefly explaining your rationale, methodological approach, highlighting the potential outcomes your study can reveal, and describing the remaining structure of the paper.

The literature review

A literature review surveys scholarly articles, books and other sources relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, and by so doing, providing a description, summary, and critical evaluation of these works. Literature reviews are designed to provide an overview of sources you have explored while researching a particular topic and to demonstrate to your readers how your research fits into the larger field of study.

The methodology

The methods section of a research paper provides the information by which a study’s validity is judged. The method section answers two main questions: 1) How was the data collected or generated? 2) How was it analyzed? The writing should be direct and precise and written in the past tense.

The results

The results section of the research paper is where you report the findings of your study based upon the information gathered as a result of the methodology [or methodologies] you applied. The results section should simply state the findings, without bias or interpretation, and arranged in a logical sequence. The results section should always be written in the past tense. A section describing results [a.k.a., "findings"] is particularly necessary if your paper includes data generated from your own research.

The discussion

The purpose of the discussion is to interpret and describe the significance of your findings in light of what was already known about the research problem being investigated, and to explain any new understanding or fresh insights about the problem after you've taken the findings into consideration. The discussion will always connect to the introduction by way of the research questions or hypotheses you posed and the literature you reviewed, but it does not simply repeat or rearrange the introduction; the discussion should always explain how your study has moved the reader's understanding of the research problem forward from where you left them at the end of the introduction.

The conclusion

The conclusion is intended to help the reader understand why your research should matter to them after they have finished reading the paper. A conclusion is not merely a summary of your points or a re-statement of your research problem but a synthesis of key points. For most essays, one well-developed paragraph is sufficient for a conclusion, although in some cases, a two-or-three paragraph conclusion may be required.

#CALRG14 Maseltov project and mobile incidental language learning for immigrants

The Maseltov project on mobile incidental learning services to support language learning and the social inclusion of recent immigrants was presented by Mark Gaved  .

Particularly interested in lower education people, which has an effect on employability and all the other challenges faced by immigrants moving from their original country to other countries.

Maseltov project site: http://www.maseltov.eu/project/

Incidental learning is described as “… unintentional or unplanned learning that results from other activities”. It can also be event-driven, or can lead to structured learning, it is peer based teaching and learning that is highly relevant, and there is an ongoing development of a framework being made.

They want to move beyond solve immediate needs/immediate situations. So can we move from fragmented, immediate solving to durable, new behaviours, building their confidence.
Maseltov is into its 3 year, and they are building services: finding local help, social network connection, information resources, translation, navigation guide, language learning and serious games (e.g. fun, but results in purposeful reflection and need).

All of the used services (all applications or apps) should result in more permanent learning

Why smartphones as central device:

• Majority have smartphones
• Social and community contact are more relevant
• Getting around more relevant use
• Language learning

Technology uncertainty period

• Many purchase phones in anticipation of travelling
• Initial downgrade
• Multiple phones
• Transition period
• Android phones the most popular

Challenges
How do we enable the transition from immediate problem solving approach to reflective learning
Relating immediate situation…
location accurately identified
timely recommendations
ethics of tracking user activities and locations
overhead of defining rules
extending context based learning experience into a more prolonged/reflective learning experience
overcoming barriers to practicing just in time oral language skills.

No slides up yet, but related slides on the talk can be found here
http://www.maseltov.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/OU-17_MASELTOV-location-based-services-to-support-the-social-inclusion-of-recent-immigrants-into-the-EU.pdf 

#CALRG14 #heutagogy as option & thoughts on learners and education emerged

During the #CALRG14 conference, something emerged in my minds eye: fluidity and the move from fixed learning outcome driven education to more fluid information sharing and resulting knowledge. The Open University, and all universities for that matter, are traditionally interested in providing information to construct field related knowledge, which is assessed, and possibly results in some sort of certification that can be used for personal satisfaction or professional enhancement. But during CALRG14 the focus on informal learning, and specifically the move towards students (e.g. students linked to the NQuire project using informal learning with young k12 students) and adult amateurs (= this term was used most of the time to describe adults that are interested in a particular field but did not (yet) have the opportunity to become expert in it) producing not only content, but also their experiences as they get more experienced in either the learning platform, their collaborative capacities, and their content insights. So in a way I got the feeling that education, or what is taught, is moving from expert stages towards experienced peers with certified experts guiding the peers that want to enhance their field of expertise in a certain topic. What Bernard shared coming from just one really prolific MOOC learner covered this personal drive towards knowledge that we - as learners - are willing to access and embrace. 

Another big strand of what was shared during this conference, was the increased use of meaningful analysis tools: best example I heard was the Juxtalearn approach which looked at concept coverage and connected it to actual assessments (which were any types of quizzes), as well as concept hurdles that were self-reported by teachers/students.

We live in such creative times! As the rigid printed books are being exchanged for continuous beta content (great share on the subject of Dialogic by Rupert Wegerif on how printed books might have been the reason for closed education as born during industrial era), and as such the books make room for beta status learning platforms and even mash-ups that can be built or designed based on participatory input to improve learning as expected by different learners and their contexts.

The ideas that stuck in my mind all evolve around similar key words like: personal path finder, learning goals, learning journey, meaning making, shared meaning, ... personal learning goals and how to reach them as a learner whether expert or not in a specific field. 

Looking at all these changes, heutagogy becomes even more important as a learning concept to me. In an ideal world learners would find their place in this world based upon their interest, and their interest could be explored, absorbed, and take shape by means of connecting to others (chosen by the learners, not necessarily related to co-course participants and such), learning those topics that fit personal learning goals and/or interests. This diversity of learning paths could result in complimentary knowledge that makes up the whole world, and makes every member of the world important as we will all understand that complimentarity connects all of us. Well, idealistic but nice thought. (image from: http://www2.hcs.sa.edu.au/en-us/curriculum/seniorschool/year10/personallearningplan(plp).aspx )

#call for cases on #mLearning and #STEM

Anyone having a case or project involving mobile learning (mlearning) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in K12 or other, use this wonderful opportunity to reach a wider audience by sending in your case for the upcoming publication edited by the inspiring Helen Crompton and John Traxler.
They are looking for studies on the use of mobile learning and STEM that combine two or more subjects in one study. All accepted cases will be published in a Routledge book.

This is the full link to the call for cases:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/thobgaykmotcdt4/ML%20STEM%20Call%20for%20chapters.doc

Deadline for one page summary of the study is to be submitted by 1 July 2014, so it is quick, but feasable for a one pager summary. If your summary is accepted for publication the full article needs to be in by 1 October 2014, so you will have ample time.

The call is for contributions from across the globe. Chapters will undergo a peer-review process for
quality contributions and this will involve authors reviewing no more than two chapters each. The
target audience is K-12 Practitioners, K-12 Specialists/consultants, educators in higher education, and
scholars. We envisage the book to have a total of 30 chapters with 4,000 words per chapter. The 30
chapters will be case studies. These studies must provide replicable, informative components. In other
words, educators worldwide will be able to envisage similar activities being used in their local schools. 

#CALRG14 Strategies for Successful #MOOC learning @Nkbe1 Bernard Nkuyubwatsi

Next talk was on strategies for Successful MOOC learning: the voice from the World Record Breaker by Bernard Nkuyubwatsi.(and on twitter here)
I saw Bernard at the EU MOOC in Lausanne, Switzerland, where his then talk was already of interest, so I was looking forward to this new talk here as well. And indeed Bernard again provided a great talk, as it provided practical insights into successful mooc learning from a practitioner.

Conceptual framework: less 10 percent complete MOOCs (Daniel, Breslow et al. 2013, Graigner 2013, Kizilcec et al, 2013) and other references (got lost typing there :-)

His focus is again heutagogy (what I am also looking at): self-determined learning or heutagogy (Canning, 201; Canning and Callan, 2010, Anderson 2010, Blaschke, 2012), so again this term has potential (we can all feel it).

This case focuses on AB from Bangladesh who followed 32 MOOCs successfully (passing, getting a certificate for 28 MOOCs, and browsing meaningfully for others) in 1 year. He is a college student. This means he was in college and took MOOC on top of what he was learning.

This is a single case study, interview based on phone and skype interviews. Everything was transcribed, and shared with participant for meaning.

Changes as result of learning MOOCs

• Dramatic development of English language ability
• Dramatic increase in understanding physics, mathematics, and chemistry
• Social recognition: appreciation from teacher and peers
• “when I showed certificates to my teachers, they appreciated me, … I became an important person to my class… I was given honour”.

The cost

• 3 – 3,5 hours of sleeping time
• Sacrificing some college class sessions to complete MOOC assignments 
• Sacrifice some of social activities to find time for learning MOOCs

Preliminary findings

• Decision making: learn something new
• Focus: choose 1 platform = Coursera, and make own specialization (sciences, related to his courses in college)
• Prioritizing: make a list of things and work on most important ones first.
• Using learning planning and management tools

Google calendars: record important dates with alarms
Notice board: notes on deadlines, important information, weekly plans
Evernote: notes on important dealines or information that needed further research

All through: with passion and perseverance: he retook the first MOOC, as he failed it at first, because he needed to move to a different village for internet access. Which is why he failed, and wanted to take it again.

Discussion

• The learner demonstrated a high level of capability of controlling and managing his own learning:
• He made decision to learn something new
• He chose 1 platform and created own specialization
• Used tools to plan and manage own learning
• He prioritized his daily/weekly activities

The study agrees with findings that MOOC student who want certificate from the course start tend to perform highly (Cisel, 2014)
The study shows that although MOOCs have mostly been beneficial to highly educated learners from developed countries, this case shows also opportunities to specific learners. 

#CALRG14 impact of #OER and #open course by @BeckPitt & @philosopher1978

From theory to practice: can openness improve the quality of OER research? By Beck (Rebecca) Pitt, Beatriz de-los-arcos, Rob Farrow (twitter Rob here) and (twitter Beck Pitt)

A GREAT session on OER and their impact. Two year project, which partnered up with other foundations. They have a fellowship scheme.

And for those interested in OER research hub videos, look at their YouTube channel (nice list of relevant multimedia content).

How can we make research better is a central question (and nice set of actions, that could be related to any open science/research as a practitioner I think - Inge note)

• all outputs from the project are CC-BY licensed
• share our data and evidence 
• blog progress of research and collaborations
• blog research findings
• use twitter to connect, network and disseminate
• continuous evaluation of work 

Research instruments available in the open

• ethics manual
• interview and focus groups
• sharing practices
• survey questions, etc.

And as such they also only publish in open access journals (hooray!).

OER impact map

School of Open course in progress
P2PUniversity / Creative commons initiative
courses include copyright for educatiors (both AUS and US)
Get CC savvy, open habits: making stuff with the daily create, intro to course.

They made a 4 week course on the subject of OER
based on participation (asking what people wanted to see)
interviews on open research practices and challenges
Course underwent an OU style review
Overall course review and check for consistency, use of external materials, etc.
After that an open review process (note to myself: of interest as a course development/assessment for open MOOC): community review.

course start date: 15 September 2014, and you can take all the materials as a third party and use the course inside your own institution (with CC and BY).

Course composition (one topic, each of the 4 weeks)

1. Week 1 =>what is open research?
2. ethics in the open
3. dissemination
4. reflection

Sharing two slidedecks: one from the talk by Rob Farrow (followed the one from Beck) and one from Beck.

Starting with the slidedeck from Rob on real OER impact (great slidedeck)

Open Research into Open Education: The Role of Mapping and Curation from Robert Farrow

This is not the actual slidedeck of this presentation, but with lots of slides that came up. My notes above hopefully compliment some of the ideas shared by Beck.

The Impact of Open Textbooks in the USA and South Africa: When? Why? How? from Beck Pitt

#CALRG14 The OpenupEd quality label: benchmarks for #MOOC, by Jon Rosewell

In his Jon Rosewell's talk on the OpenupEd quality label: benchmarks for MOOCs, he covers some reasons and practical benchmarks currently used to assess quality in MOOCs that are on the OpenupED EU MOOC platform. (nice sidenote: the first EU MOOCs rolled out on the platform did not go through the complete process, as people wanted to get the MOOC out there, and they came from institutions with strong quality assessment in their set up).

Learners have a variety of ideas on what it is to follow a MOOC, which results in mixed emotions in terms of usefulness of the MOOC they followed.

So why bother with quality?

• Students: know what they are committing to
• Employers: recognizing content and skills
• Authors: personal reputation, glow of success
• Institutions: brand reputation
• Funders: philanthropic, venture caps

Other issues of quality
Reported completion may be very low (1 – 10%)
Does that matter? With very large starting numbers, there are still many learnes copleting and maybe learners achieve personal goals even if they do not complete.
Can MOOCs encourage access to HE if >90% have an experience which is a failure (note from myself: the same can be said about any institutionalized education, many young pupils are unhappy with education as well, so what is new?).

Often MOOCs come out of HE at this point in time, which means the approval pattern of these moocs are related to Quality assurance linked to the university that wants to roll them out. User recommendation is also coming into the evaluation of a MOOC.

OpenedUP benchmarks: benchmarking as an improvement tool:

• Quality enhancement
• Identification of weaknesses and strengths
• Action plan for improvement
• It is not expected that every institution will achieve every benchmark or feature

more benchmarks OpenUpEd in slidedeck.

How to benchmark quality in MOOCs - the OpenupEd label from Jon Rosewell

#CALRG14 Eileen Scanlon narrates her journey of MOOC-in-the-Now

From the CALRG conference in the Open University, Milton Keynes, UK. A conference on sharing latest ideas in online learning related fields (broad and interesting). 

First session by EileenScanlon on what she learned as she went on a journey of MOOC-in-the-Now

Eileen is a tower of power and vision, as she is always ready to share latest ideas and insights, amongst who wants to listen. Her talk was of interest. 

My notes are live blognotes with its resulting short or quirky sentences.

Learningat scale (Atlanta)

(in case you want to join the next Learning at Scale (Vancouver, Canada 2015), look at their site here.

Single track conference (so you could go to all the tracks, which was really nice).

Chris dede keynote New wine in no bottles: immersive, personalized ubiquitous learning: thinking outside the box of teaching is essential to realizing learning at scale. Virtual worlds and augmented realities can complement digitized classroom instruction through simulated apprenticeships, embedded support for learning everywhere, and transformed social interactions. Going big also requires thinking small: analyzing diagnostic mircropatterns to customize individual learning, sifting through millions of participants to find the ideal partners to aid each other's growth. To reach massive with universal access and powerful outcomes, we must creatively expand our visions of platforms, pedagogy, and financing.
used metaphors from film and learning sciences

Very lively conference, as people were voicing their ideas, felt they could, all had experience.

Scanlon, McAndrew, O'Shea contribution: distance learning, OER and MOOCs, case study: the open science laboratory

osl cofuonded by the OU with support from Wolfson foundation, built a collection of tools to combine remote access, virtual experimets and citizen sciece into the curriculum

39 applications across the board.

Case study Ednburgh: ESSQ was shared.

Onlinelearning summit (Berkeley)

Invitational only summit (but 150 people)

opened with a conversation between presidetns of Berkely and STanford

John Hennessy We're going to invent the future

Colleges will be taking a more scinetific approach to online learning than in the past relying on their schools of education to measure student learning and provide feedback.

Great session: Eric Grimson (MIT) reflections on EDX: Expand access to education for students worlwide through online learning

while reinventing campus education through blended models

and learn about learning

gave example of undergraduate physics course transformation (also see Breslow et al. In ACML@s - Eileen has the pdf of all the presentations (but not open yet)

Undergraduate required physics course: TEAL style classroom teaching

Group problem solving interspersed with mini

Shared detailed stuff on forums, and other data. Results that it is not a residential experience (a MOOC), if you want to find out what happens in EdX, you can just google report and get it. Very open with detailed information. So seems that there is a difference once something is not for profit.

KenKoedinger was another highlight

Pittsburgh Science Learning Centre, LearnLab

Part of the Simon initiative at Carnegie Mellon University 'exploring the mystery and potential of human learning'

Built on the core principles of learning advanced by CMU's Nobel Laureate and pioneering educator, Herbert A. Simon, whose work linked cognitive models of learning with computation tools, the Simon Initiative makes the learner its focus and measurably improving learning outcomes its goal. The Simon Initiative will harness the university's vast technology-enhanced, educational ecosystem, which goes beyond the university, embraces the whole of society, which makes universities move beyond their individual concerns, very interesting.

Carnegie cognitive tutors KK: makes money from prior research, they kept faith in individual tuition. (Inge look up on Web)

Lyticslab (Stanford): 4 or 5 postgrads got together in september 2012 with focusing on what was needed for them to research MOOC. They ended up asking two main professors to head the lab. So it came from the students.

Candace Thile: new associate professor moving from Carnegie Open Learning Institute

Project to use learning science with open educational delivery

"She will complement the strengths we have in studying the effect of context in learning and research on the role of technology in education, and can tie a lot of these things together. She can help us transform what would otherwise be independent, somewhat fragmented efforts into systematic improvement of this kind of pedagogy' Steele Head of GSE.

At this point the Lytics lab did transform, but it is still of interest.

Guest speakeer at Lytics

Carolyn Roose

Education'sdigital future (Stanford)

Mitchell Stevens (director of digital education)

"With the arrival of online education, the world is on the verge of a "epochal and pivotal moment' in the history of higher education on a scale of importance as deep as the expansion of higher education after World War 2 with the GI bill".

In stanford it looks as a much more instruction led approach, more then EdX. Academically driven.

From this conference, people went to:

Dagstule (where Mike Sharples went), Germany

LAK14

EU MOOCs conference (Lausanne)

coursera conference (London)

FutureLearn Academic Network (FLAN) Led by Eileen, Mike Sharples and Russel Beale

Collaboration between partners

ESRC proposal on the future of higher education

Centre for Open Adaptive Connected Higher education (COACH)

Partners:

University of Edinburgh (Bayne and Heywood)

Carnegie Mellon University (Koedinger and Rose)

Oxford University (Pullman).

New directions, new partnerships

Things are moving very fast, and you need to visit people in order to understand what they are doing, in terms of vision, of research, and look for international partnerships. To infinity and beyond.

Looking forward to @EmotivInsight for self-determined learning

Brainwear that would enable enhanced learning monitoring? Oh, I would love to get my hands on that, so I immediately registered for the Emotiv Insight headset that is said to come out around summertime 2014 (new release date April 2015).

The US based design teams who wanted to work with the Emotiv Insight headset got together during a Designathon in February 2014, which led to 20 projects being selected that could promote an innovative use of the upcoming Emotiv Insight headset. No European event set up as yet it seems. The inventor is Tan Le, an Australian innovator with a growing impact and interest. Tan Le and her team have been working towards the emotiv insight brainwear for years, a first notion of this type of headset was featured in a Ted Talk of 2010, which already featured the Epoc headset that allowed users to move objects in the virtual world. 

So, waiting patiently for any message from the Emotiv team coming my way. In the meantime, let me share why I find this bit of brain gear of interest for research and (online) learning. The basic set up is: a portable EEG that allows the user of the brain-wear to better understand their own brain functions (all be it, brainwaves), which can be connected to focus, state of creativity, suggestions (telekinetics), and such.
The nice hook of the Emotiv Insight headset being developed, is that its predecessor the Emotiv Epoc can now be bought for less money (if you add the promotional code mentioned on Tan Le's Facebook page - Emotiv-FB-14  for a 100$ discount on the Epoc).  

Practically, what does it say it can do: 

"Emotiv Insight is a sleek, 5 channel, wireless headset that records your brainwaves and translates them into meaningful data you can understand. Designed for everyday use, Insight has advanced electronics that are fully optimised to produce clean, robust signals any time, anywhere. We've also developed cutting edge, dry polymer sensors that give you the same great electrical conductivity without the setup or saline"

You just pop the headset on your skull, and you can start monitor your brainwaves, and from their build options to either research your brainwaves, use them to guide objects, or simply look at what specific emotions trigger in your brain. The Emotiv Insight was funded through Kickstarter and reached well over its target funds. And I must agree that I wished I had known about this a couple of months ago, as the research Insight gear set could be bought for 399$ through Kickstarter (really sorry I missed this opportunity!). 

Would love to get my hands on an Emotiv Insight brainset, as it would allow me to test out the research SDK and investigate learning patterns connected to informal learning, procrastination, creation, knowledge resolution... Would need to dig into the SDK, but I can see how this might link in with the Quantified/qualified input I was looking for in a previous post. 

Nice stuff it seems.