Alberta Distributed Education and Technology Association

Education is being enlarged. More choices, more options. F2F, augmented, blended, online learning, etc are enlarging options for learners and educators to deal with individual, personal needs and contexts. Much like content is fragemented from large holding structures (newspapers, books, courses), the entire education system itself is breaking into muliple specialized choices. For example - homeschooling goes mainstream: “Home education is now being done by so many different kinds of people for so many different reasons that it no longer makes much sense to speak of it as a political movement.”

I’ve been suffering connection issues (see my post here). Earlier this year, I was in Accra for Elearning Africa. The connection issues were significant there as well. Participants at the conference knew the importance of connectivity in advancing African economies. Yet the problem was/is huge. Many areas don’t have electricity, never mind internet connectivity. Still, news like this - High-Speed Internet Coming to Africa - is encouraging. While foreign aid and development work are critical for Africa, the long term challenge is one of providing individuals with the tools and opportunities to shape their own future.

The hype around open educational resources (OERs) is growing to the level that web 2.0 inhabited several years ago (I recently posted a short overview of openness in education). The problem with OERs is that they are too often focused on content. More recently, a few educators have been pushing the concept of openness through open teaching and open accreditation. But, as Brian Lamb notes, “if we live in an era of information abundance, why is the primary drive around OERs the publication of more content? And what other activities around the open education movement might be an effective use of our energies? What other needs have to be met?”

Learning happens constantly. The formal education component receives more respect than informal learning. As content and conversations fragment, I doubt existing systems of education will retain their shape. The real opportunity lies in how institutions think about “tying together” the multiple learnings across our daily lives. Canadian Council on Learning introduces the multiple learning domains as “limitless dimensions of learning”. Two approaches are possible to serve as the glue to pull learning together in a manner that can be accredited or evaluated by traditional educational models: eportfolios and personal learning environments. Eportfolios have great potential, but little uptake. Personal learning environments have similar potential, but the concept is a bit difficult for educators to grasp. I would have loved to sit in on a recent session by three individuals who know what they’re talking about…here’s their commentary on the workshop: Jared Stein, Chris Lott, and Scott Leslie. This PLE thing will yet take root :).

With the financial world in turmoil, it’s logical for people to turn attention to other fields that are in need of change. Nothing like a crisis to force introspection that should likely be ongoing. Higher Education is often criticized for its bureaucracy. Now that governments and businesses are in “belt tightening” mode, we’ll see pressure on higher ed as well: Higher Ed: Next Bloated Industry to Go?: “Like so many of our great industries and social sectors, higher education has grown huge, bureaucratic, and in many cases bloated (think 24-hour coffee shops in dorms). The ongoing trends of globalization, technology, and innovation continue to pressure societies and economies and America’s world leading system of higher education is going to have to respond just like other great institutions.”

While it is unsettling to be staring into an uncertain future, times of change offer opportunities for transformation. I’m optimistic that the catalyst needed to foster innovation in education can be found in the current crisis.

Stephen Downes has written an important paper: The Future of Learning: Ten Years On. I need to spend more time reviewing the specifics of future learning, but after an initial read, Stephen has created a valuable document that should serve as a discussion piece for detailing the direction of our field. I suspect this document will be prominent in this week’s CCK08 dicussion on systemic change in education. I’d recommend Stephen arrange a few elluminate sessions in the near future to flesh out his predictions and engage with the online community for feedback (I’d like to see an exploration of data visualization and sensemaking techniques).

Any space in which people can interact (physical and virtual) brings out human nature. Our minds don’t seem to really care if something is real, observed, or imagined (at least this is the suggestion made with the discovery of mirror neurons). Several months ago, I was chatting with an individual who said her location didn’t allow her to see sunrises and sunsets. Instead, she watched them in Second Life while she enjoyed a cup of coffee or tea. The social impact of virtual worlds is not fully understood (especially considering they are still first-generation tools - virtual worlds will continue to get more real, further blurring what we physically experience and what we create online). Second Life & Divorce presents a glimpse of how morals and ethics will be (re)considered online.

While it’s not video conferencing, Google has added video functionality to Gmail. Many tools (notably skype) already offer similar (but superior) functionality. I’m interested in where Google will go with this. It would be exciting to have video conferencing options available for educators who are already using Google Docs, gmail, and other services.

Final week to register for the first course in University of Manitoba’s is offering a Certificate in Emerging Technologies for Learning: Introduction to Emerging Technologies (starts November 17). I’m co-facilitating the course with Dave Cormier…so I’m looking forward to a great course!
From the course description (.pdf): “New technologies offer new opportunities for educators to increase learner engagement and improve the overall value of the learning experience. The last five years have resulted in the introduction of numerous new tools and approaches: blogs, wikis, podcasts, social bookmarking, virtual worlds, and social networking services. This course will explore the development of different technologies and suggest their potential impact on teaching and learning. Focus will be placed on tools
that increase learner control over content, interaction, and the formation of learning networks with peers and experts outside of classrooms.”

When organizations begin planning new ways for employees to share knowledge, the focus is often misplaced on the explicit act of sharing knowledge itself. We cannot meaningfully “force” people to share. At best, we can create situations/conditions/ecologies in which exchange of ideas will occur. Or, more succinctly: “Promoting knowledge sharing is a matter of (a) creating the relational conditions that facilitate interpersonal transfers, and (b) creating the structural conditions that facilitate diffusion.”

According to the Oxford Internet Institute, the use of smart phones (i.e. mobile phones used for multiple activities: browsing, maps, music, video, etc.) is doubling every two years (.pdf). Designers and educators are recognizing that it’s no longer appropriate to think only of laptop/desktop browsing to access learning materials. Major LMS vendors - such as Desire2Learn (see here) are developing mobile functionality with their platforms. As is generally the case, consideration of the medium and its unique attributes is important. Designing Mobile Learning emphasizes this point from the learners perspective: “Before embarking on creation of a mobile accessible course you will want to understand how the learner’s experience changes when they view your course through a mobile device. Mobile devices are typically used in a very distraction-filled environment. Learners may be on a bus, on a train, at the store, eating lunch, or at work. The mobile device screen is very small. This limits what the learner can see and can make it difficult to read a large amount of content, view graphics, or see moving graphics.” (via Workplace Learning Today)

ZaidLearn has been an active blogger, focusing on open learning and open tools. Great to see he is giving (has given) his first keynote address to a Malaysian conference. As Stephen Downes states, it’s great to see people achieving genuine success in the pursuit of new tools/approaches in education. Congrats Zaid!
(On a side note, I’m looking forward to my first visit to Malaysia in December as an extension of a presentation in Singapore. Wonderful things happening around the world in educational technology).

I’ve been enjoying the delightful Australian weather and hospitality for the past week. Today, I presented at Learning Technologies 2008. My slides - Analyzing the Obvious: Technological and Social Connections have been posted. Richard Feynman, the legendary physicist and educator, used to state a concept most students first encounter in physics: everything is made of atoms. The key to understanding learning is similar: connections, and the patterns they create, are the foundation.

Strategy is enacted not by mandate, but by how resources are allocated. Bill Ives suggests leaders need to understand the actual structure of organizations. Organizational structure and information flow is often not what appears in formal policies and org charts. While organizations may not be very adaptive, people are…and people will find ways to address challenges and concerns based on context and need. Unfortunately, planning is future-focused, rather than reality-focused.

Formal education faces some of the most profound changes in its history. Social learning theory, technology, and learner empowerment/engagement are only a few of the change pressures facing education. Times of change, however, reveal our character (wasn’t it Warren Buffet who said something to the effect of “you only find out who is swimming naked when the tied goes out”?). After decades of changes in educational philosophy, divisions are becoming more evident. I’m Leaving is an article that should raise the blood pressure of any educator. The author reveals a disdain for learners and calls for a return to high ideals and expectations of education (can’t we be learner focused and still adhere to high ideals??). The comments further reveal strong divisions. Some educators agree that learners have “become soft” with a growing sense of entitlement. Others suggest the real problem is with the professor.

How are universities likely to be impacted by current technological trends? Two publications seek to address this question:

The Tower and the Cloud:

The emergence of the networked information economy is unleashing two powerful forces. On one hand, easy access to high-speed networks is empowering individuals. People can now discover and consume information resources and services globally from their homes. Further, new social computing approaches are inviting people to share in the creation and edification of information on the Internet. Empowerment of the individual — or consumerization — is reducing the individual’s reliance on traditional brick-and-mortar institutions in favor of new and emerging virtual ones. Second, ubiquitous access to high-speed networks along with network standards, open standards and content, and techniques for virtualizing hardware, software, and services is making it possible to leverage scale economies in unprecedented ways.

The Future of Higher Education:

Technological innovation, long a hallmark of academic research, may now be changing the very way that universities teach and students learn. For academic institutions, charged with equipping graduates to compete in today’s knowledge economy, the possibilities are great. Distance education, sophisticated learning-management systems and the opportunity to collaborate with research partners from around the world are just some of the transformational benefits that universities are embracing.

Both publications are technology-centric. I can understand that emphasis, after all, technology is changing the rest of the world, surely it will soon make a more significant impact in education. A view of educational change pressures needs to be more broad. Economic, societal, population trends, rise of education levels in emerging countries, may all apply as much influence in altering education as technology.

Terry Anderson just announced a new issue of IRRODL focusing on a timely range of issues: transactional distance education theory, student blogging, connectivism, etc. I found the process reengineering article particularly interesting. It’s a bit too narrowly focused for my liking, but starts on a path that will continue to gain explorers; namely - how do we change education? how do we change our systems to account for trends?

If you read this site via RSS, you likely won’t notice a difference. If, however, you visit the site, you’ll notice it’s changed. I finally migrated from Movable Type to Word Press, thanks to D’Arcy Norman. He threatened an intervention and I broke down and faced my problems :). Thanks D’Arcy. You are now officially awesome. You should get t-shirts and caps to commemorate your awesomeness.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that University of Manitoba is offering a Certificate in Emerging Technologies for Learning. The first course - introduction to emerging technologies - starts November 17. From the course description (.pdf): “New technologies offer new opportunities for educators to increase learner engagement and improve the overall value of the learning experience. The last five years have resulted in the introduction of numerous new tools and approaches: blogs, wikis, podcasts, social bookmarking, virtual worlds, and social networking services. This course will explore the development of different technologies and suggest their potential impact on teaching and learning. Focus will be placed on tools
that increase learner control over content, interaction, and the formation of learning networks with peers and experts outside of classrooms.”

Social Networks, the Next Educational Tool?: “At last year’s Educause conference, in Seattle, educators pondered what to do about students’ technology habits. Should they try to change them? Accept that they’re here to stay? Try to co-opt them?
A lot can change in a year. Many colleges seem to have moved on from the question of whether to follow students’ lead on technologies they prefer, from Web-based e-mail to Facebook to text messaging. Now, the dilemma they face is whether to adapt students’ existing habits — of messaging each other, checking each other’s profiles and browsing upcoming parties — to the educational realm.”
The key concept I’m seeing in the use of technology in the service of education is that of enlargement. New technologies are not necessarily replace existing approaches; instead, they are enlarging the range of options for learners. We’re not doing away with email. Or even learning management systems. We’re adding blogs, wikis, social networking, virtual worlds, and numerous other technologies to current practices. And that’s exactly how it should be. It’s difficult to predict which technologies with survive and which will fade. A spirit of perpetual experimentation is needed. Try many approaches. Stick with the ones that demonstrate some promise.