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A Partnership for Learning Environment Design

Early last August, I attended a workshop on Learning Environment Modeling (LEM) and was inspired...

A Bright Future for Faculty Development Training in Oklahoma

I have enjoyed teaching and have celebrated good teachers as long as I can remember. Not...

Connected Learning as a Solution for Occupational Shifts

Still fresh off a great learning experience at last week’s digitalNow conference for...

Parable #11: The Invisible Lesson

The Prime Minister for a certain country had just returned home from the most important event...

When Content Is No Longer the Product: Part 3

This is the third article in a three-part series on shifting product models in Higher...

Parable #10: The Two Dresses

The Queen of a certain kingdom, needing a new evening gown by the end of the month, decided to...

Weekly Update: It's an Open and Closed Future

When I write a weekly update like this, I always begin by looking for a theme in the articles...

Open, Closed, Or...?

There are times when I think all the tactical talk about Open and Closed learning environments...

Parable # 9: The Story of the Beautiful Meal

The beautiful meal A wise woman was making her way through a distant land and she came upon a...

When Content Is No Longer the Product: Part 2

(This is the second article in a three-part series on shifting product models in...

When Content Is No Longer the Product: Part 1

What do publishers – whose stock and trade has always been content – do when content is no...

One Key to Ubiquitous Affordable Content: Metadata Designed for Distribution

Much of our current work with Oklahoma universities and colleges on behalf of the Oklahoma State...

Connecting the Dots for Affordable Content in Oklahoma

Over the past week, there have been a string of intersecting articles on OER and digital content...

Ten Reasons to be Excited about Open and Affordable Content in Oklahoma

We’re starting our #Open TeachingOU / #OpenOK Twitter chat series for the semester this Friday...

Santa Fe South — A Vision for Eliminating Math Remediation in Higher Ed

It takes a village, or better yet, a community. Chris Brewster, the Superintendent at Santa Fe...

Making Learning Content Affordable in Oklahoma

(Note: Within the context of this post, affordable content is defined as “free, at-no-additional...

From Cohort Learning to Alumnification at Oklahoma Christian University

Recently, I’ve started sharing concrete examples of how we at NextThought are using a...

The Power of Collaboration for Advancing Online Education in Oklahoma

For almost six months, NextThought has been working with the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher...

NextThought Announces The Family Network

(In the initial version of this post back in February, we introduced our vision with the title,...

Are Our Content Models Worthy of Binge-Learning?

A recent New York Times article talked about the new streaming entertainment channels created by...

Oklahoma State's Farm to Fork: A Modest MOOC Proposal

Oklahoma State University is gearing up to offer, for the second time, its Farm to Fork course –...

Learning Efficacy through #Growthmindset and Connections

Last Friday I was flying back from the Online Learning Consortium in Orlando and – hooray! – my...

Selected Resources for Promoting Student Engagement

My recent work on student engagement – including our NextThought Power of Connections course...

Creating Powerful Learning Experiences: Big XII TLC Keynote

[The following is the script from my keynote address delivered at the Big XII Teaching and...

Connecting Learners to the Real World

Dan Myer wrote a nice post this week on modeling with mathematics. In his post, he designed a...

Six Important Tips for Designing Student Engagement Activities

Currently, there are a number of effective models circulating that show how easy it is to offer...

Connected Learning Is Mobile Learning

Connected learning is about placing learners at the center of their learning networks and...

Reinforcing Collaborative and Connected Learning with Social Media

Join us for our #NTPoC Twitter chat this Thursday at 10:00 AM CDT. We'll discuss re-imagining...

Weekly Briefing: Interesting Back-to-School Trends

My wife recently went to the law school bookstore to purchase a book she'd studied while in law...

Connected Learning Through Community

The participants in our Power of Connections learning experience are exploring student...

Opening up Our Conversations for Student Engagement

I wrote a post yesterday on our Power of Connections course blog about how we're exploring...

Teaching Engagement by Teaching out Loud

This week marks the kickoff of our Power of Connections open course on student engagement.

Branching Narratives, Interactive Learning, and Open Storytelling

Reading about the new full-motion video (FMV) gameHer Story this week, definitely set me on a...

What Do We Talk About When We Talk About Student Engagement?

This is an honest question because, listening to people in education circles discuss the topic,...

Custodians of Connections

Two weeks ago I interviewed the inimitable Kerry Magruder for our upcoming interview series, ...

Creating Communities Beyond the Class Cohort

In the first part of my career as an educator, I was preoccupied almost exclusively with a...

e-PD Episode 11: Time Management 1

Easy tips to follow to help you manage the time you spend on your online course well!

Parable #8: The Man with Two Sons

A certain father wanted to provide his son wise counsel for choosing a profession in life. With...

Designing for Connection: Helping Students Get Lost

For anyone with a smartphone or a smart watch or smart glasses, or anyone who is attached in...

The Serendipity of Connection

Learning. The serendipity of connection. Like the kind that happens when you head to New York to...

e-PD Episode 10: Color Choices

This video will assist you in making color choices that will make your video more visually...

Weekly Briefing: Is the Future About Technology or Learning?

In January, 2003, I was sitting in a hotel lobby in New Orleans talking to Jon Stowe (now...

The Promise of Connected Learning

Rob Reynolds, Ph.D. Chief Product Officer, NextThought

Dark Matter and the Uncertain Future of EdTech

My experience at the 2015 ASU+GSV Summit last week reminded me of this great post on Dark Matter...

e-PD Episode 9: Imagery and Animation

This video helps you with using imagery and animation to make your video great!

Weekly Briefing: Mapping the Future of Higher Education

Wouldn't it be great if we had a complete map that shows the future of Higher Education?...

A Textbook, What Is It Good For?

On Friday, we'll have our next #OpenTeachingOU Twitter Chat. The topic for this session will be...

What Is Connected Learning?

As a company focused on Connected Learning solutions, it's not surprising that the most common...

Parable #7: The Best Bread in the World

A certain young woman lived at the foot of the Pyrenees in a small village in Southern France....

Making Learning Content Affordable (Part 2)

In Part 1 of this series, I identified what I believe to be the primary obstacle to reducing or...

Requirements for Making Great Connections

Last Friday, I participated in a panel on "Creativity and the University" as part of an event...

e-PD Episode 8: Video Styles

Weekly Briefing: The Price of Learning Materials

Evidently content is still king when it comes to education. But what does or should it cost? ...

Parable #6: The Little Stream

There was a certain man who owned a large farm and, in one section of that farm, ran a sizable...

Making Learning Content Affordable (Part 1)

Affordable content is a choice. It's a choice that many students have made in recent years as...

How Learning Connections Extend the Traditional Boundaries of a Course

This power of learning connections was re-emphasized for me this weekend when I read Phil Hill's...

e-PD Episode 7: Quality Video and Sound

In this episode we share a number of helpful tips and tricks to help make your educational...

Parable #5: The Woman and the New Bicycle

A certain woman decided one day that she would begin competing in triathlons. She had been a...

Three Priorities for Sustainable OER in Higher Education

Last week's inaugural OpenTeachingOU conversation was a big success, and we're looking forward...

Unlocking the Potential of Connected Content

Nick Shackleton-Jones references this image to talk about the future of learning. In it, we...

Join Us Today for #OpenTeachingOU

Open is a celebration of choice, and a triumph of community. It's about the freedom to create,...

e-PD Episode 6: Struggling Students and Creating Mentors

This video is designed to provide useful tips to help struggling students become successful in...

New Land Academy: Connecting Learners to Personal Freedom

When I was a child, I loved it when my mother sang to me, and one of my favorite songs was, " I...

Retouching Education

We live in a world of retouching. We boost and smooth photos. We enhance audio with sonic zones....

e-PD Episode 5: Meaningful Interaction and Rewards

This video will help you create and maintain meaningful relationships with your online students,...

Weekly Briefing: What do We Keep and When do We Innovate?

I like new, shiny objects as much as anyone, and the current object of my eye is the ...

Parable #4: Your Time is Now

The Starship Intrepid has just left dock for open space. The captain stands on the bridge. An...

The UnTextbook as a Path to Open Pedagogy

Some days, "open" means that someone left the cover off the rabbit hole and you go tumbling down...

Making Great Connections through Production

One of the key learning and design principles of connected pedagogy is "production" — learners...

Know Thyself, EdTech Product!

We dream. We design. We code. We market. We innovate. We project. We tweak. We hire. We evolve....

e-PD Episode 4: Availability and Feedback

Being available and providing meaningful feedback are two key elements in creating a successful...

Parable #3: Knowing Your Store

It's a beautiful day. On the corner sits a candy shop. Outside the shop is a neatly-painted...

Eight Qualities of Open Pedagogy

A week ago, I got into one of those spontaneous Twitter discussions with two of my good friends...

The First Connection

Great connections happen when people are willing to share honestly and truthfully, when they...

e-PD Episode 3: Student Relationships Part 2

This video presents useful strategies for developing positive relationships with students in an...

Parable #2: Rearranging the Furniture

A certain woman received a letter saying that she had inherited a house from a distant...

Important Themes and Dreams for Open Content

There are strong indications that the various components of open education will continue to gain...

The Unbearable Messiness of Learning Connections

"When the heart speaks, the mind finds it indecent to object." ― Milan Kundera, The...

e-PD Episode 2: Student Relationships Part 1

This episode will provide you with strategies to develop positive relationships with your...

Weekly Briefing: Pivots, MOOCs and the Difficulties of Change

Watching companies pivot or change their business models can be fascinating.

Parable #1: Getting out of the Way

Imagine a man driving a rented moving van down a major highway that leads toward the downtown...

What I Got Wrong (and Right) about Digital Learning Materials Back in 2012

Back in 2012, I released a book with the auspicious title, The Future of Learning Content ( ...

Weekly Briefing: Is This Change Real or Just Another Prediction?

It's that time again. Everyone is squeezing in their predictions about the three, or five, or...

Weekly Briefing: Interesting Futures for Education

It seems that Chegg has decided to ditch the textbook rental business in favor of its...

e-PD Episode 1: Overview

In this first episode, trainers Meleah Meadows and Chris Kalinski provide a brief overview of ...

Five Assumptions about Why Learning Connections Matter

Certain aspects of the human journey are universal enough that we generally place them in the...

At NextThought, Learning is about Connections

Welcome to the NextThought blog. My name is Rob Reynolds and I want to welcome you to our...

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