The midden » Learning

Martin Bean’s ALT-C talk

Will Stewart — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:10:00 +0000

One of the highlights of ALT-C this year.

Handbook of Emerging Technologies for Learning

Will Stewart — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:15:14 +0000

Billed as “a resource for educators planning to incorporate technologies in their teaching and learning activities”, this handbook written by George Siemens and Peter Tittenberger at the University of Manitoba, is a lot more than this. It starts from the premise that Higher Education, whether individual institutions know it or not, is in the midst of fundamental and large-scale change that will see the transformation of teaching and learning on a scale that we haven’t experienced since the Industrial Revolution.

At the heart of this change is the fragmentation of information. No longer does information only exist in a pre-packaged format, such as books, CDs, newspapers or even as a course. Information is now available in a whole range of formats, and this information can be “personalised” by editing, adding, re-designing so the user ends up with information in a format that makes sense to him.This creation of “personal frameworks of coherence” by users is one of the most important drivers for transformative change within the HE sector. No longer is the creation, delivery, validation and dissemination of information under the control of the lecturer, expert or university. The growth of user-generated content, Google, Wikipedia, Open Educational Resources, Web 2.0 technologies, social software and mobile technologies means that the individual is now in control.

Information Fragmentation and Coherence

The Handbook gives a good overview of the pressures bringing about change and how these impact on the learning process. The discussion on the role of technology in teaching and learning goes a long way to summarising where we are at at the moment and provides some useful guidelines on its effective use. The use of technology by lecturers and departments can help bridge the gap between the traditional and the, as yet undefined, role of education in the future.

The final paragraph really brings home what we in HE are all trying to grapple with:

“Through a process of active experimentation, the academy’s role in society will emerge as a prominent sensemaking and knowledge expansion institution, reflecting of the needs of learners and society while maintaining its role as a transformative agent in pursuit of humanity’s highest ideals.”

Promoting transformative innovation in schools – a model for HE?

Will Stewart — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 11:35:57 +0000

While this handbook from futurelab is aimed at promoting discussion around the nature and purpose of innovation in schools, much of the evidence, ideas and recommendations it presents are equally valid for HE.

Transformative innovation is radical and challenging. It is the kind of innovation that challenges our assumptions about how we do things and causes us to question our accepted notions about education. Although radical and challenging, transformative innovation is informed by knowledge and awareness of the issues facing education, and aims to bring about improvements to the education system.

One of the main drivers for transformative innovation is the need for our education system to respond to the social and technological changes that are happening around us. Creating a culture of transformative innovation within the institution is essential, where the innovations are aligned with cultural values and beliefs of the organisation, and are not seen as being externally imposed.

This model differs from the commonly used “best practice” model which generally promotes a set of ideas originating from outside the organisation itself, rather than ideas that are central to the core goals and values of the organisation and the people within it. The culture of innovation that leads to transformation is built on a cyclical, iterative and reflective process involving:

Insight - identifying a problem, exploring solutions and finding tools to deliver

Invention - thinking out the box, thinking creatively, challenging existing practices

Application – developing strategies and organisational structures to implement new approaches and practices.

Reflection and communication – regularly reviewing and refining strategies to ensure that they are effective. Ensuring that communication networks are in place to ensure that innovation is embedded throughout the system and can be sustained.

Much of what is written in this paper is applicable to HE and could provide a useful model for managing transformative innovation within our institutions.

Half an Hour: The Future of Online Learning: Ten Years On

Will Stewart — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:56:01 +0000

- Half an Hour: The Future of Online Learning: Ten Years On
This posting by Stephen Downes provides a useful summary of where we are at now and how we got here. He re-visits a previous article written in 1998, noting that many of his earlier predictions have been remarkably accurate. The main areas he discusses include:
new technologies in education – the teaching process remains relatively unchanged despite more than 10 years of the Internet
online conferencing – becoming increasing important as a way of understanding communication in an online environment
personalised learning – the importance of informal learning in the online environment is being increasingly acknowledged, where students are not restricted by the constraints of the traditional classroom model
time and place independence – as small, lightweight wireless devices become the norm, online learning and mobile learning become the same
learning communities – the internet has developed into an enabler of communities within which individuals can learn

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Do schools kill creativity?

Will Stewart — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:54:30 +0000

Ken Robinson’s wonderful talk on TED

Visit his website for all things Sir Ken.

Education for a digital world

Will Stewart — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:17:56 +0000

This book gives a detailed and comprehensive coverage of how digital technologies can be used to transform our present, outdated, industrial model of education. Co-published by BC Campus and the Commonwealth of Learning, it is available as a free download. As we are aware, despite the widespread availability of new technologies, their impact on teaching and learning, particularly in higher education, has been minimal. The only measurable impact of the use of technology in HE institutions has been on the administrative side, with admissions, registration and purchasing using new technologies in order to operate within a much more technological-aware, external business world.

This failure to adopt new technologies in order to transform and enrich teaching and learning appears to be a global phenomenon. The book has been collaboratively written and edited by 50 HE practitioners from around the world and covers a wide range of topics on the use of new Information and Communication technologies to support and transform teaching and learning

It is divided into 5 sections:

The impact of instructional technologies
Creating online course
Implementing technology
E-learning in action
Engagement and communication

Aimed at practitioners, administrators, managers, decision-makers, it provides valuable advice, case studies, resources, tools, ideas and reflections on creating socially engaging learning experiences within an online learning environment.

Team Academy – changing education Finnish style

Will Stewart — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:28:33 +0000

Team Academy is now 15 years old. Started in 1993 by inspirational marketing teacher, Timo Partanen, Team Academy offers a Business Administration degree with a difference – students leave the course having learned how to be an entrepreneur. Rather than have traditional lectures and assignments, students work in teams to create and run a real company that sells products and makes money. They have to learn what they need to make the company a success. They are guided by coaches, but need to learn what they need to know from their own experience of being part of the company. They are graded on their business success and on the feedback from their clients. They don’t sit down and do a 3 hour exam!

Inspiration for the Team Academy’s philosophy and values come from Peter Senge’s book Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization.

A model for educational change – for those who have seen the future!
” A shared vision is the prerequisite for every successful organization! ”
- Peter Senge

Top 100 tools for learning

Will Stewart — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 11:25:44 +0000

Jane Hart, head of the Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies, has produced a useful list of the most popular tools used by learning professionals. The list is a mix of proprietary, open source and web-based tools. She has also grouped them by type, and given other suggestions of similar tools in each category.