Just come across a posting from Curtis Bonk about his visit here back in January this year. What an extraordinary man he is! Never stands still, it seems - his blog is called TravelinEdMan, and I guess that does sort of convey his fairly driven approach to spreading the word about blended learning round the world (sort of like Bob Dylan's Neverending Tour, but without the croaking). Curt's talks are insane - cuddly toys, t-shirts, million dollar bills flying all over the place - and just more information than any normal human can absorb in one sitting. But some great stuff: his survey on corporate training in 5 countries--UK, USA, China, Taiwan, and Korea-- is sharp and revealing (you can find it in his Handbook on Blended Learning): especially about what turn out to be major national differences that raise important questions about the realities of globalism. And I love the way he persuades everyone he meets to contribute to his work. As research goes, it is kind of quick and dirty - but it's also really compelling, and he pulls stuff off that more bureaucratic approaches to research could probably never achieve.
What I liked best, though, when I read his posting about that visit just now, is what he wrote about our MSc eLearning students that he met here in Oxford. I couldn't have put it better myself, and it perfectly captures why it is so endlessly rewarding to work with them:
"It is always a delight to present at Oxford. The students have a contagious energy related to research on e-learning. We had students in the audience from Nepal, Taiwan, China, Korea, the UK, and other places. Very enthusiastic people and a lovely setting to speak in!"
Well, you can add Jordan, Pakistan, Denmark, Greece, Turkey, the USA, Azerbaijan and Armenia to that list too, Curt. And every single one of them that turns up here ends up teaching the rest of us something amazing and new about what learning means in their part of the world, and about how technology might or might not be able to help.
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