Monday, December 7, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
The different dimensions of open content and resources
Structure of the internet is anti-pre-packaging
George Siemens, Socializing Open Learning, Barcelona, 30 November 2009
Whilst listening to Harriet Wakelam, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework's Toolbox Business Manager, talk about the need to re-think how 'content' is presented in Flexible Learning Toolboxes it made me ponder about the different ways 'open content and resources' are readily available on the web, but in different ways:
Open quality controlled | Open non-quality controlled |
MIT OCW (Massachusetts Institute of Technology Open Courseware), USA Open Learn, Open University, UK | Some Creative Commons content/resources |
Provide quality assured resources from 'expert' sources | Non pre-packaged resources from the 'masses' |
I'm sure there's room for both types of content on the anti-pre-packaging net, as perhaps they serve different purposes/needs?
Thursday, November 26, 2009
New Ways of Learning (Conceptual & Technical) - Interesting points from "Handbook of Emerging Technologies for Learning"
- education is currently facing "a duality of change - conceptual and technological" (pg 1)
- "Our learning and information acquisition is a mashup" (pg 1)
- "not everyone has aspirations of creating content, (but) everyone has interest in organising and packaging information" (pg 2) - which is where 'e-portfolios' would work well
- "Instead of content being pre-packaged, information can today be packaged according to the needs and interests of each individual learner" (pg 2) - ie moving away from the 'default LMS' mode to where the LMS meets 'Open Social'
- "Making sense of fragmented information through networks of peer learners offers an indication of future learning tasks and even pedagogical models" (pg 2) - where sensemaking is making sense of fragmented information through networks of peer learners
- "validation of information has also experienced change ... " (pg 3) - where we are moving from information validation by some (experts) to the many (communities, networks) and we are seeing a democratisation of information validation
- "content co-creation and re-creation (is) becoming the norm for online participants" (pg 3)
- "Unfortunately, ..... "web technology ... (is) ... primarily used for support of logistical processes rather than for pedagogical change" 12 Collis B & Moonen J (2008), Web 2.0 tools and processes in hihger education" (pg 3)
- "networked models of learning will replace existing curricular models" (pg 7) - ie moving from a 'regurigated' (epistemology - knowing) to creating and understanding (ontology - being), where learners ""forage for knowledge", instead of passively consuming knowledge" (pg 17)
- there is a movement (back) to 'guild learning' were "increased assistance (through tutors or instructors) (is) provided to learners", and greater emphasis on
- self-governed problem solving and collaborative learning processes (pg 10);
- active learning vs knowledge acquisition (pg 21)
- "the notion of start/stop learning" (pg 36) is investigated
- one of guiding, directing, and curating the quality of networks learners are forming" (pg 13),
- helping learners "stay connected to a community even after completing a course or program" (pg 18)
- I - Innovation - What's possible? - (idea, need for change, change agent)
- R - Research - How does it work? (existing models, theories)
- I - Implementation - What is the real world impact? - (trial, test & evaluate - re-assess - re-research)
- S - Systemisation - How do we duplicate it? (replicating, contextualising the model, communities of practice, sharing, professional conversations)
- the process of selecting the right media type to achieve learning outcomes involves (pg 22):
- clarifying the learning intent (outcomes)
- determing and evaluating the media's functionality (product selection matrix)
- selecting the media (based on criteria, policy, network input etc)
- in the new ways of learning, "many learning objectives can be achieved without direct guidance" (pg 29), with the "demarcation between what learners can (and should) do for themselves and what the instructor (and designer) should do for learners" (pg 35) being realised through the use of technology ie viewing 'how tos' videos on YouTube, user created content etc
As well as providing information about the "new ways of learning", this handbook also describes the e-tools available for teaching and learning (pgs 43-50)
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Who is controlling and managing your personal data online?
“One of the main reasons for (a) lack of trust in the Internet is the fragmentation of personal data and the lack of control, by individuals, on how it is being stored, secured, transported and exploited.” (www.iosf.org)
Personal hosting systems like 'Google e-mail' track, 'mine' and exploit personal data. Have you ever noticed that the 'Google Ads' on the right hand side of your g-mail are very much 'related' to the topic of conversation in the actual (personal, and some might consider, private) email communication. I first noticed this during an email communication about 'restaurants' and I had responded about 'Indian restaurants', only to be presented with 'Google Ads' about 'Indian Restaurants'.
As more interest and acceptance is gained in the use of technology in health care (e-health) and our interaction with the government (e-government or government 2.0). Married with our existing experiences with e-learning (e-education) and e-business (e-commerce, online banking etc), we are moving further and further towards an 'e-ecology' which requires digital literacies (and some say all literacies) to be effective global e-citizens.
There's no escaping the fact that we need to have secure online spaces where we can store our e-lives, without the side effect of having this information utilised (or exploied) by the storage host.
The Internet of Subjects (IoS), an independent not-for-profit organisation dedicated to making the internet a more secure place, is working towards creating a trustworthy internet (IoS) architecture, “based on a clear separation between hosting and exploitation of personal data”. IoS architecture aims to end the fragmentation of personal data and improve internet data security.
The IoS architecture will require “personal data stores (PDS)”, which enable individuals to take control of the storage and transportation of their own personal data, while being able to monitor its use by others. The IoS architecture aims to provide “interoperability across heterogeneous services and organisations”, enabling individuals to unify their personal data.
"The components of the IoS architecture will require:
· independent Personal Data Stores (PDS) to securely store and share personal data
· Personal Circles of Trust (PCT) to securely share personal data within communities
· Citizen Dashboard to control and monitor how personal data is secured and exploited by service providers
· Service Providers to provide services based on data collected from and written to personal data stores, with respect to the policies defined by their owners
· IoS Foundation to provide the architecture's framework and the means to control the contractual relationships between the different stake-holders
To achieve its mission the IoS will create the conditions for a trustworthy internet by:
1. providing a citizen dashboard to help individuals have a unified view of their fragmented personal data in the current architecture, currently not possible by existing internet architecture
2. implement a reference model of a person-centric architecture, the IoS architecture, with a complete separation between the hosting and the exploitation of personal data, under individuals' full control
3. work with technology service providers to join and benefit from the IoS architecture federation.
IoS aims to create “an open and trustworthy architecture based on the strict separation between hosting of personal data and their exploitation by web services. This will require system architects, decision makers and business leaders to change their vision of the Internet to move towards a person-centric architecture."
IoS states that this type of internet architecture provides a more person-centric internet and enables an individual to create personal circles of trust with whom they choose to interact with.
This type of internet architecture provides a potential model to ensure that we as e-citizens can effectively operate in the 'e-ecology' we are moving towards and manage our:
- social networks, user created content and online identities
- e-portfolios, personal learning environments (e-learning) for life long learning
- personal citizen information (e-government), and
- personal e-health and e-business records
IOS is scheduled to be launched in January 2010, during MISC 2010 (www.miscforum.eu)
Monday, November 23, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Open Courseware (OCW) and Open Educational Resources (OER) – the pros & cons
Open Courseware (OCW) and Open Educational Resources (OER) – the pros & cons
Based on “Get it out in the open” Times Higher Education http://bit.ly/1XLGXz) -24 September 2009 -
Advantages of making educational courses and resources open and freely accessible:
- supports self-motivated learners and provides pathways between informal and formal learning (accredited)
- increase the quality of teaching resources and ensures information is up to date as the information is “on show” to the world, including other teachers, trainers and academics
- this in turn provides a 'free' peer review process
- allows learners to 'try before they buy' or enrol in a course
- reduces replication and duplication of resources as teachers, trainers and academics can use, re-use and re-purpose existing quality resources
Disadvantages of making educational courses and resources open and freely accessible:
- the expense of updating existing resources to suit an online environment
- identifying copyright issues
Monday, November 9, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
I'm still active but in new spaces
My e-portfolio - this is where I'm writing, reflecting and sharing - http://eportfolio.vetsa.net.au/user/view.php?id=24
My Facebook - this aggregates my Twitter, Flickr, Delicious etc - http://www.facebook.com/theother66