Silver Lining for Learning

Preparing Children in Africa for a Fast-Changing World with  Ms Shirley Eadie, Ms Salome Wenyaa, and Ms Hana Yoshimoto The world is undergoing rapid changes across multiple sectors, driven by trends such as digitalization, migration, automation, and societal polarization, among others. This volatile and uncertain context presents society with complex and interconnected social, economic, environmental, and political challenges. These circumstances require a broad range of social, emotional, and cognitive competencies to successfully navigate and transform the world for a more just and sustainable future. In this context, there is growing recognition of the integral role that education can play in enabling young people to fulfill their individual potential and aspirations, to think critically about the world in which they live, and to participate meaningfully in society as empathetic, ethical citizens with a concern for the ‘common good’.In this episode, we are joined by Shirley, Salome, and Hana, who will share their experiences in developing a breadth of skills in students across Kenya, South Africa and other countries in that region, to better prepare them for the fast-changing world. Shirley will provide insights into efforts by the South African Education Ministry to incorporate a breadth of skills more deliberately and systematically in the taught curriculum in schools. Salome will share lessons learned in Kenya, following their transition to a competency-based curriculum in 2017. Hana will share how UNICEF is working in the region to collaborate with countries in designing and implementing the Life Skills and Citizenship Education (LSCE) framework.More about our guests below the video https://youtu.be/BuXmc_IUGFI Episode GuestsShirley Eadie (South Africa)Shirley Eadie founded and leads the EdHub, the Education Innovation Unit at the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT ). Shirley is a technical advisor to the Department of Basic Education on their integration of skills and competencies for a changing world in basic education.Shirley has an M.Ed in International Education Policy from Harvard University. Her career has focused on education innovation and research. Prior to her work in education, she was founder and CEO of Pondering Panda - Africa’s first quantitative mobile research company, and was Business and Research Director of Instant Grass International, ethnographic youth research agency.Salome Wenyaa (Kenya)Salome Wenyaa  is a Regional Director Quality and Standards, Nairobi Ministry of Education, state Department  of Basic Education, Kenya. Salome is an expert in ECDE, Kiswahili, National Master Trainer of Trainers in Competency Based curriculum and Seasoned Quality Assurance and Standards.Salome has M.A Kiswahili and B.ed Arts from Kenyatta University. Her career has had a great impact in education  through policy development and dissemination. Before joining  civil service, Salome was a teacher as well as an examiner. Besides Education, Salome together with other stakeholders in resolving conflict and conserving the environment, mother 🌎Hana Yoshimoto (UNICEF, South Africa)Hana is Chief of Education at UNICEF South Africa, overseeing programmes related to Early Childhood Development, Quality, and Youth Skills Development. She is a former Regional Chief of Education at UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in the Arab States and co-authored “COVID-19 Learning Losses: Rebuilding Quality Learning for All in the Middle East and North Africa” – a joint report by UNESCO, The World Bank, and UNICEF. Before UNESCO, she served as Chief Education at UNICEF Egypt and Somalia and as an Education Analyst at The World Bank HQ.Hana holds an M.A. in International Education and recently completed her Executive MBA at TRIUM Global EMBA Programme Join the conversation at silverliningforlearning.org 

SLL Ep 155 | Hosts reflect with Chris Dede, Curt Bonk & Yong Zhao Silver Lining for Learning is an ongoing conversation on the future of learning with educators and education leaders from across the globe. Hosted by Chris Dede, Curt Bonk, Punya Mishra & Yong Zhao, these conversations began under the “dark cloud” of the COVID19 crisis and continue today. We see these conversations as space to discuss the creation of equitable, humanistic and sustainable learning ecosystems that meet the needs of all learners. These conversations are hosted live on YouTube every Saturday (typically 5:30 PM Eastern US time) and are archived on https://silverliningforlearning.org Join the conversation at silverliningforlearning.org 

As Martin Weller argued in his insightful free and open book nearly a decade ago, we educators find ourselves in a battle for open. Many of us are contributing to the battle for openness by publishing in open access journals or making our various research reports free and open to the world. Alternatively, we might be contributing an open educational resource (OER) of some type or placing our courses online for anyone to access and learn from, and perhaps even gaining a credential of some type from successful exploration or participation in that course. Others of us are taking the next step in the war with commercial publishers and educational platform vendors by publishing entire books online for anyone to download, use, share, and perhaps even remix. Still others have found the courage, stamina, and dedication to publish a series of such open access educational books or research reports. And then there is Royce Kimmons from Brigham Young University (BYU) who has ingeniously designed and developed a website for free and open educational technology textbooks and journals called EdTechBooks. Royce, along with Rick West and Jason McDonald of BYU have been active in using, promoting, and sharing the award-winning project. Attend this Episode #154 of Silver Lining for Learning and hear stories about their successes, challenges, and work left to accomplish at EdTechBooks. During the hour, Rick, Royce, and Jason will discuss different educational technology topics and trends in some of their most popular books as well as books and journal issues on emerging technology trends and topics that are about to be published. Come learn about this liberating world of open educational resources.More resources and information about our guests below the videoResources:Jason K. McDonald, & West, Richard E. Design for Learning: Principles, Processes, and Praxis (1st ed.). EdTech Books. Available: https://edtechbooks.org/idRichard West, Editor, Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology (second edition in process). https://edtechbooks.org/lidtfoundationsMcDonald, J. K. (2023). The future of the field is not design. In R. E. West, & H. Leary (Eds.), Foundations of learning and instructional designtechnology: Historical roots & current trends (2nd ed.). EdTech Books. Retrieved from https://edtechbooks.org/foundations_of_learn/the_future_of_the_field_is_not_designRichard E. West (@richardewest on twitter) is a professor of Instructional Psychology and Technology at Brigham Young University. He teaches courses in instructional technology, academic research and writing, creativity and innovation, design psychology, and product/program evaluation. He studies how to innovate and advance education through improved and open educational Content, strong learning Communities, and open Credentials that better recognize student learning. He has presented his research in 11 countries, and has over 150 academic publications, along with several open textbooks for undergraduate/graduate students in the field, including:Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design TechnologyDesign for Learning: Principles, Processes, and PraxisBecoming an LIDT ProfessionalFailing Forward: Stories of Academic Rejection and SuccesTeaching with Asynchronous Videos: Strategies for Online PractitionersOpen AIMS: Assessments, Instruments, and Measurements for Educational ResearchHis personal website is http://richardewest.com. Rick's University homepage is at: https://education.byu.edu/directory/view/richardwest.com and his Google Scholar page is at https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KZP3yKEAAAAJ. Rick can be contacted at rickwest@byu.edu.Jason McDonald is currently Professor of Instructional Psychology & Technology at BYU, having started in Fall 2016. He also received his PhD from BYU in Instructional Psychology & Technology in 2006. He currently teaches Introduction to Instructional Design, Project Management, Advanced Instructional Design, Design Theory and Learning Theory. He brings over twenty years of experience in industry and academia, with a career spanning a wide variety of roles connected to instructional design: face-to-face training; faculty development; corporate eLearning; story development for instructional films; and museum/exhibit design. He gained this experience as a university instructional designer; an executive for a large, international non-profit; a digital product director for a publishing company; and as an independent consultant. Dr. McDonald's research focuses on advancing design practice and design education. He studies design as an expression of certain types of relationships with others and with the world, how designers experience rich and authentic ways of being human, the contingent and changeable nature of design, and design as a human accomplishment (meaning how design is not a natural process but is created by designers and so is open to continually being recreated by designers). At BYU, Dr. McDonald has taught courses in instructional design, media and culture change, project management, learning psychology, and design theory. His work can be found at https://jkmcdonald.com/ and university page is at https://innovation.byu.edu/directory/jason-mcdonald and https://education.byu.edu/directory/view/jason-mcdonald. He can be contacted at jason@byu.Royce Kimmons received his Ph.D. in Instructional Technology / Learning Technologies within the curriculum and instruction department at the University of Texas at Austin in 2012. He is currently an Associate Professor of Instructional Psychology and Technology at Brigham Young University where he studies technology integration in K-12/higher education, open education, and social media. His personal homepage is: http://roycekimmons.com/ and his faculty website at BYU is at https://education.byu.edu/directory/view/royce-kimmons. He can be contacted at  nope@roycekimmons@byu.edu. Join the conversation at silverliningforlearning.org 

Guests Fiona Holland, Aasiya Kazi, Katherine Javier, and Yuan Chang GinsbergCredentials discuss the increasing demand for micro-credentials and specializations. They delve into topics like the top countries for enrollment, demographics of participants, opportunity costs, potential payoffs, and future education plans. The podcast also explores the benefits and costs of alternative credentials, program fees, measuring recommendation and networking, and the importance of engagement in education during the pandemic.

Episode #152. Saturday May 27, 2023, 11:00 noon EasternThe notion of open educational resources (OER) as well as opencourseware (OCW) sprung up on April 4, 2001 when Charles Vest, President of MIT, declared let’s make education free and put all our courses on the internet for people to browse and use (see press release). With that one heavily publicized announcement, it seemed that there was a transformative shift or earthquake in the world of education. During the ensuing two decades since that announcement, myriad educational rebels have emerged to develop and promote free and open educational resources (OER) to counter the high price of textbooks, research articles, and courses. They believe that education is a human right, and, as a result, it needs to be more free and open. Two such rebels from outposts in Europe who are experts in the open education world will join us in Silver Lining for Learning on Saturday May 27 at 11 am Eastern. In this episode, we will talk Mark Brown, Chair of Digital Learning and Director National Institute for Digital Learning at Dublin City College in Ireland. We will also be visited by Juliane Granly from Olso, Norway. Juliane is project and development management coordinator with the International Council on Open and Distance Education. She will discuss the ENCORE+ project (https://encoreproject.eu/) which is the European Network for Catalyzing Open Resources in Education. This episode should prove to be informative, lively, and fun.Mark Brown has over 30-years experience of working in Higher Education and has played key leadership roles in the development, implementation and evaluation of several major university-wide digital learning and teaching initiatives. Before taking up his current position, Mark was Director of the National Centre for Teaching and Learning at Massey University, New Zealand. His is a recipient of a National Award for Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Teaching and remains a member of the New Zealand Academy of Tertiary Teaching Excellence. He is an EDEN Fellow and was recognised in 2017 by the Commonwealth of Learning (CoL) as a world leader in Open, Online and Distance Learning. In 2019, Mark was Chair of the ICDE World Conference on Online Learning, which DCU hosted in Dublin. Mark is an active researcher, has a strong publication record and contributes to a number of leading international bodies working in the area.Professional ContributionMark is a member of the Executive Committee of the European Distance and e-Learning Network (EDEN) and previously chaired (2014-2018) the Innovation in Teaching and Learning Steering Committee for the European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU). He serves on the Supervisory Board of the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU) and is a member of the Advisory Board for the US based Online Learning Consortium's Research Center for Digital Learning and Leadership. In Ireland, Mark has previously served (2016-2018) as an Irish Universities Association representative on the Board of the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Mark is past President of the New Zealand Association for Open, Flexible and Distance Learning (DEANZ now FLANZ) and served as Treasurer as well as an Executive Committee member of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education. ASCILITE is known as the peak professional body for blended, online and digital learning in Australia and New Zealand. Mark continues to have strong links down under and in 2019 was elected to the Executive Committee of the Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia (OLDAA), which publishes the journal Distance Education (Q1).Mark Brown homepages: https://www.dcu.ie/nidl/people/mark-brownhttps://www.dcu.ie/nidl/director-nidlMark Brown in LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-brown-dcu/Juliane Granly is project and development manager in ICDE (International Council for Open and Distance Education), the leading, global membership organisation for open, flexible and distance learning. Juliane holds a Bachelor’s in Business Economics from BI Norwegian Business School and a Masters in International Business and Development from the University of London. She is the coordinator for The ENCORE+ Network (European Network for Catalysing Open Resources in Education), a multi-stakeholder, collaborative network responding to the need for increased collaboration, sharing of best practices and coordinated efforts for increased adoption, use and impact of OER and open education. Juliane has a long background from education in development contexts, including as the director of an education NGO in Uganda. Inclusive and innovative education is at the core of her experience and interests, with a strong focus on access to relevant, quality education for all, and skills development for employment. LinkedIn; Article: ICDE page. Join the conversation at silverliningforlearning.org 

Education is typically considered a human right but for 450 million young people living in conflict zones around the world, schooling is an early casualty of war. Online education provides opportunity and hope for some of the world’s most disadvantaged young people and this episode explores one such initiative that began during the pandemic and has grown over the past four years.We feel a moral obligation to challenge inequities. We listen in order to develop understanding which informs our educational designs. We aim to promote hope and empowerment for individuals and, in turn, their communities.Research tells us that geographic remoteness and gender are two substantial factors impacting educational opportunity – particularly in STEM fields. To address this inequality, and to provide professional experience to our pre-service teachers during the covid-related lockdowns, we teamed up with the Invergowrie Foundation to begin a 'virtual' school in Victoria, Australia in 2020.During the first year, 12 of our pre-service teachers delivered senior high school revision classes to 300 school students.In 2022, the Virtual School grew to involve more than 50 pre-service teachers who taught 56 free online STEM classes. Over 25,000 students from more than 200 high schools registered that year. 80% of those participants lived in regional or remote locations, and 87% of participants identified as female. As a result of attending these revision classes, 92% of students reported enhanced self-confidence.The growth of the Monash Virtual School has attracted international attention from others who seek to provide opportunities for pre-service teachers and disadvantaged students. We now proudly support the work of David Falconer and Classrooms Without Walls who provide opportunities for young people in conflict zones, including Ukraine, Myanmar and Ukraine.David Falconer's volunteer work began in March 2022, soon after Russia invaded Ukraine. Witnessing the impact of conflict on students' education, David immediately volunteered to support Smart Osvita NGO, a Ukrainian non-profit organization, to coordinate an international volunteer program to deliver online lessons in English. The support David received from volunteers like retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, the Smithsonian Institution, the Royal Tyrrell Museum, the Edmonton Public Library, Winspear Centre, and teachers and non-teachers from around the world inspired him to start CWW, an organization that currently offers free online schooling to students living in conflict zones.By partnering with organizations such as Smart Osvita NGO, Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan, Ocean Wise, Edmonton Public Library, OverDrive, Monash Virtual School, and hundreds of volunteer teachers, CWW is providing a lifeline to students who have been forced to abandon their education due to conflict. By offering free online schooling, CWW is breaking down barriers and providing access to education to those who need it the most. Most importantly, CWW is letting students in these countries know that the world has not forgotten them and that they can continue to dream, and set goals.Currently, CWW offers three programs for volunteers to join, Teachers for Afghanistan, Teachers for Ukraine, and Teachers for Myanmar.More below the videohttps://youtu.be/EzD7KOAckUkIn the newsThe Guardian, 2 April 2023: ‘Algebra under air raids’: the children in a Ukraine war zone who attend class in AustraliaABC News, 24 February 2023:  Learning During WareLearn Magazine, 25 October 2022: How Monash and a volunteer army is helping Ukrainians meet their educational goals with Michael PhillipsABC News, 31 July 2022:  Monash University joins international effort to educate thousands of Ukrainian childrenAbout our guests Tara Mannix is the Manager of the Monash Virtual School in the Faculty of Education, Monash University. Before managing the Monash Virtual School, Tara was a school leader and an experienced classroom teacher. Tara’s role involves supporting and mentoring teaching staff, developing curriculum programs and fostering a culture of innovation and growth for all students and teachers involved in the program. In 2022 Tara received the Monash Education Faculty Award for Equity and Inclusion, and the Vice Chancellor's Award for Professional Staff in recognition of her involvement in the Monash Virtual School.Mike Phillips is the Associate Professor of Digital Transformation in the Faculty of Education, Monash University and the academic director of the Monash Virtual School. His work aims to enhance teachers’ capacities to understand the opportunities and limitations of educational technologies. By enhancing educators’ critical perspectives of such technologies, Mike’s teaching and research seek to enhance opportunities for all students to receive higher quality educational experiences. Prior to joining Monash University in 2013, Mike was a senior teacher for 15 years in secondary schools and in 2023, Mike won the Outstanding Global Educator of the Year award from the Society of Information Technology and Teacher Education. (Mike's research profile)David Falconer is a name that is synonymous with education, passion, and dedication. With 34 years of experience in the field of education, David is an accomplished educator, a graduate of the University of Alberta, and Gonzaga University. He has served as principal, Head of School and Director in several schools across different parts of the world, including British Columbia, China, Myanmar, Nunavut, and is currently a Principal of a private STEM school in Calgary, Alberta.David's love for education and his ongoing desire to make a positive impact on the world led him to establish CWW (Classrooms Without Walls). A volunteer based non-profit organization dedicated to providing free online education and support to students living in conflict zones. The organization currently has three programs, Teachers for Ukraine, Teachers for Myanmar, and Teachers for Afghanistan, which combined have served thousands of students.LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/davidfalconerkolleCWW: https://classroomswithoutwalls.ca/ Join the conversation at silverliningforlearning.org 

How the Dominican Republic Overcame Educational Challenges of the Pandemic with guests María Waleska Álvarez from EDUCA and Eladio Jimenez from UNICEFThis episode will discuss the Dominican Republic's innovations in education, specifically focusing on three initiatives that were implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first initiative is the virtual training program for teachers and technical-pedagogical personnel that aims to provide the necessary elements for remote teaching. The second initiative is the Multi-platform Educational Content infrastructure, which provides students and teachers with access to educational resources through various digital platforms. The third initiative is the Presidential Project for Educational Excellence, which uses the methodologies of Theory U and Design Thinking to develop an inventive educational management project to improve student learning outcomes. The episode will cover the successes, challenges, and impact of these innovative programs on the Dominican educational system.Readings and Resources: Innovations in education in the Dominican RepublicEpisode GuestsMaría Waleska Álvarez is Executive President of NAP del Caribe and President of the board of directors of EDUCA, which is the leading private-sector think tank in education in the Dominican Republic and one of the most influential institutions in the education policy debate in the country. María Waleska is also a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of AMCHAMDR and member of the board of directors of Adofintech. In 2019, due to her leadership at an early age, she was recognized by the UK Government as part of the International Leaders program, becoming one of the 300 leaders worldwide to be part of this program. Due to her experience and expertise in digital transformation and technology, she actively participated in the negotiation process of the World Summit on the Information and Knowledge Society of the United Nations and the International Telecommunication Union.Dr. Eladio Jiménez, Digital Education Specialist for UNICEF, is an education expert with over 20 years of experience in the sector with a special focus on the intersection of learning and technology integration. Currently serving as digital education specialist for UNICEF in the Dominican Republic, he currently leads the development and implementation of the digital education agenda at UNICEF DR. Previous to his role in UNICEF, Eladio dedicated his time to pre-service and in-service teachers’ professional development and to research focused mainly in the use of technology to bridge STEM learning at elementary school grades. Other areas of research have included MOOCS and teachers’ tech integration skills. Eladio holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, a masters in technology, learning and education and is a doctoral candidate in the same discipline. Join the conversation at silverliningforlearning.org 

Applying Human-Centered Engineering Methods to Learning with Jim Goodell, Janet Kolodner, and Sae Schatz“Learning engineering is a process and a practice that applies the learning sciences, using human-centered engineering design methodologies and data-informed decision-making, to support learners and their development.”In this episode of Silver Lining for Learning, Drs. Janet Kolodner and Sae Schatz, and Jim Goodell discuss the application of learning engineering. As a relatively nascent field, learning engineering extends principles of learning science and combines those approaches with human-centered design, technology, data, and organizational dynamics to scale-up learning to the speed and scope that today’s world demands.A core tenet of learning engineering is the multidisciplinary integration of various tools, and today’s guests reflect that diversity. They have experience from industry, academia, and government as well as different backgrounds in science, technology, and enterprise strategies. They’ll introduce learning engineering from these various lenses and then offer practical take-aways for viewers interested in studying learning engineering or applying it to their own work.Readings and Resources Dede, C., Richards, J., & Saxberg, B. (Eds.). (2019). Learning engineering for online education: Theoretical contexts and design-based examples. New York: Routledge.Goodell, J., and Kolodner, J. (2023). Learning Engineering Toolkit: Evidence-Based Practices from the Learning Sciences, Instructional Design, and Beyond. New York: Routledge.Schatz, S. & Goodell, J (2022). Learning Engineering at a Glance (Infographic). https://drive.google.com/file/d/12tVKiS2VJnT-P9uDLOxibWcOrPbr6w8J/view?usp=share_linkWalcutt, J.J. & Schatz, S. (Eds.). (2019). Modernizing Learning: Building the Future Learning Ecosystem. Washington, DC: Government Publishing Office. ISBN-13: 978-1097414925Episode GuestsJim Goodell is co-editor and co-author of Learning Engineering Toolkit. He is Director of Innovation at Quality Information Partners, where he helps lead development of the US Department of Education sponsored Common Education Data Standards. He is Chair of the IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee, chairs the IEEE Industry Consortium on Learning Engineering Competencies, Curriculum, and Credentials SIG, the IEEE Competency Data Standards Workgroup, the Adaptive Instructional Systems Interoperability Workgroup, and serves on the ICICLE Steering Committee. He supports the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s T3 Innovation Network and co-led development of the Learning and Employment Record (LER) Wrapper Specification. Prior to QIP, he was Executive Vice President at the Center for Educational Leadership and Technology where he led the development of interactive learning technologies and provided information-driven process improvement solutions to state education agencies and school districts throughout the United States.Janet Kolodner is a  Regents’ Professor Emerita of Computing and Cognitive Science at  Georgia Institute of Technology’s College of Computing and Professor of the Practice at Boston College’s Lynch School of Education and Human Development. Her research has addressed a wide variety of issues in learning, memory, and problem solving, both in computers and in people. She pioneered the machine learning method called case-based reasoning, which allows a computer to learn from its experiences, and she used its underlying model to design a project-based approach to education called Learning by Design. She is lead author of a comprehensive middle-school science curriculum, Project-Based Inquiry Science, and is a collaborator on other curriculum design projects. Kolodner was Founding Director of Georgia Tech’s EduTech Institute, and she coordinated Georgia Tech’s Cognitive Science program for many years. She is founding Editor-in-Chief and Editor-in-Chief Emerita of The Journal of the Learning Sciences. She is a co-founder of the International Society for the Learning Sciences and served as its first Executive Officer. Kolodner was a program officer at the US National Science Foundation and led efforts to establish and sustain the Cyberlearning Program (now called SETTL). Currently, she is co-director of Boston College’s MA program in Learning Engineering, and she led its design and development. She is a co-author and co-editor of Learning Engineering Toolkit.Dr. Sae Schatz works at the intersection of learning, technology, and data. She recently founded The Knowledge Forge LLC, a boutique consulting company. From 2015 to 2022, Sae served as the director of the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative, a U.S. Department of Defense program for research, development, and policy stewardship. Under her leadership, the U.S. ADL Initiative sparked the community’s pursuit of the “future learning ecosystem,” in part with her popular book Modernizing Learning: Building the Future Learning Ecosystem.Before joining the civil service, Sae worked as an applied human–systems scientist in both business and academia. From 2011 to 2014, she was the chief scientist at MESH Solutions (a defense contractor), where she led the U.S. Marine Corps’ Making Good Instructors Great project and the U.S. Joint Staff’s award-winning Blended Learning–Training effort. Prior to that, she held an assistant professorship with the University of Central Florida’s (UCF) Institute for Simulation and Training, and she was an instructor in the UCF Digital Media Department. Sae is a prolific writer and professional presenter as well as a graphic designer who often uses those skills to enhance books, presentations, and infographics. She holds a doctorate in Modeling and Simulation (M&S), with an emphasis on human systems. Join the conversation at silverliningforlearning.org 

The podcast discusses the impact of Finland's education system on higher education, the digitalization of teaching due to COVID-19, the transition to online learning, and the importance of phenomenon-based learning. It also emphasizes the freedom teachers have in choosing their teaching methods, preparing Finnish students for a globalized world, and the challenges of retaining international students.

Hosts reflect on the past few weeks and then focus on a deep dive into AI and other forms of alien intelligence and implications for education and educational research  Join the conversation at silverliningforlearning.org