New Ways of Learning (Conceptual & Technical) - Interesting points from "Handbook of Emerging Technologies for Learning"

The "Handbook of Emerging Technologies for Learning" by George Siemens & Peter Tittenberger was released in March of this year, but I've only just had a chance to read it. Here are some of the points I found most interesting about how the 'new ways of learning' are enabled by technology:


- 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

- "being an educated person means being able to see connections" (William Cronon) and patterns, so the need to eliminate the 'barriers to (connecting) is the greatest systemic challenges our institutions face", with "the role of teaching (being):

• 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)

- Embedding the use of technology in learning involves an "IRIS" model of moving from 'Innovations to Systemisation' (pg 20):

• 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)

- our "brains process different media differently" - audio/visual (video) vs text (books) (pg 21)
- 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)
  

- "Use of aggregators, reading and visualising data, mashing up various types of information, and recognising new patterns in existing informations are key skills", with additional skills of: anchoring, filtering, connecting with others, being human together, creating and deriving meaning, evaluation and authentication, altered processes of validation, critical and creative thinking, navigate knowledge landscape, and acceptance of uncertainty (pg 28)
- 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)

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)

Industry E-learning Showcase and Exhibition - Tuesday 24 November 2009

Learning Technologies 09 - Friday 20 November 2009

Learning Technologies 09 - Thursday 19 November

Edayz 09 - Friday 13 November 2009

Edayz 09 - Thursday 12 November 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

Young people: Finding their way in a new era - Policy forum