Derek's Blog

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Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

A posting I made about a week ago titled Weblogs going mainstream in education? inspired some debate. I criticised the article for being a bit superficial, and failing to explore in more depth the potential value of Blogs in education.
A featured article latest edition of the Educause Review provides some of the background and analysis I find more useful. Titled Educational Blogging it is written by Stephen Downes, and is a longer article, looking at the nature and history of blogging, educational applications, tools and technologies, trends, and early experiences in educational blogging.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Useful article in the recent edition of Educause Review - a paper by Joel Foreman titled Game-Based Learning: How to Delight and Instruct in the 21st Century. Foreman??s article is based on interviews he conduced with five leading thinkers in the field; James Paul Gee, J.C. Herz, Randy Hinrichs, Marc Prensky and Ben Sawyer. Well worth a read to gain an insight into how videogames can be used in academe.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 4:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Interesting feed from "eSchoolNews Online" this morning titled "smartpaper" tech to transform teaching":

"A new textbook publishing method that uses infrared technology to combine traditional books with digital content might ultimately decrease the cost of textbooks, make them much more interactive for users, and remove barriers for students who have difficulty accessing traditional texts."

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 9:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

An interesting article from the New York Times titled In the Classroom, Web Logs Are the New Bulletin Boards.
The writer claims that, with the new school year looming in the Norther Hemisphere, blogging is likely to be the new phenomenon, sweeping up tens of thousands of users in the process.
I'm a little more circumspect - while I can see heaps of potential for the use of blogs in education, this article doesn't really convince me, and conveys more of a 'hype' story than one that really portrays just how effective blogs can be as an online community building tool.
In my blog from yesterday I pointed to the multiple ways in which blogs can be used. In this article, that use seems limited to the writing of journals (probably the least attractive option) and as an alternative to using a discussion forum (although I feel a good old threaded discussion engine would have been a better tool to use in the example given.)
Rather than be entirely critical, let me give two examples from my own experience. Two of my own kids recently asked me to help set up a blog for them.
My son (aged 7) was intrigued to see me write my blog entries and, being an avid computer user, was keen to try it himself. His entries tend to be about one sentence long - but the motivation for him to continue comes from the comments that are provided by his grandparents, uncles, aunts and brothers and sisters. This is an example, at one level, of the blog as a journal, but the richness is in the form of the community that is centred on my son's writing, and the motivation this provides to pay attention to the style and accuracy of his writing.
My daughter (aged 14) discussed with me at some length how she might use her blog, and began with the clear intention of using it as yet another way in which she involves others in her world (adding to her regular use of the cell phone for TXT and the computer with instant messaging.) The first few entries on Madeline's Blog tell a fascinating tale of her sharing her need for assistance in preparing a speech for her English class, then sharing the speech she'd written and finally sharing how she felt the actual presentation of the speech had gone. Not only are her entries interesting, but the comments offered by her peers make for interesting reading, providing some insight into how comfortable these kids are with the technology.
Another interesting thought - all of this happened outside of school hours, and was not suggested or initiated by the teacher!

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 3:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

George Seimens shared the following reference in his latest newsletter:
Distributed Knowledge Management - a paper by Martin Roell, presented to BlogTalk 2.0 , The European Conference on Weblogs, Vienna, July 5th and 6th 2004.

Seimen's notes...

"Improving the productivity of knowledge workers is one of the most important challenges for companies that face the transition from the industrial economy to an economy based on information and knowledge (Drucker, 1999). However, most "knowledge management" efforts have failed to address this problem and focused on information management instead. This paper briefly explores the failure of traditional knowledge management to adress the problem of knowledge worker productivity and argues that a deeper understanding of knowledge work is necessary to improve it. It then explores knowledge work and how it is supported with information technology tools today, focussing specially on the email client as a knowledge work tool."

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 9:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Coronet Conference ended yesterday with a plenary that aroused considerable debate and interest. The plenary panel consisted of Nick Billowes (Ultralab), Mark Treadwell ( Teachers@Work), Douglas Harre ( Ministry of Education ICT Unit ), Margaret McLeod (principal, Wellington Girl's College), John Locke (principal, Alfriston College), Jeremy Kedian (Manager, Educational Leadership Centre, Waikato University) and myself.

Issues raised and hotly debated in the plenary included:

1. funding for schools - where will the money come from to allow schools to continue their professional development and ICT investment beyond the three years funding from the ICT PD contracts?
   
2. ICT infrastructure - how can schools lobby govt./private enterprise to get the appropriate level of infrastructure in place to allow the level of connectivity and interoperability required for participation in the knowledge age
   
3. future of schools - what is the threat to schools of the increased access to learning that students have outside of the school they attend? What will be the future role of schools in the knowledge age, where learning may occur 24/7?
   
4. curriculum - how long will we be able to sustain a curriculum that divides human knowledge into subject areas, and denies the integrated nature of knowledge acquisition and the development of understanding and capabilities?
   
5. Professional development - recognising that the average age of teachers is 47, how can we accelerate the level of adoption of 'knowledge age' teaching practices in order to avoid alienating an increasing number of our students??
   
6. eLearning - need to recognise that there is more to eLearning than video conferencing (or any one element of the eLearning repertoire for that matter).

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 9:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been attending the CoroNet Cluster Conference in Waihi over the past two days - the shot above from a workshop I ran on preparing courses for teaching online.
Jamie McKenzie of FromNowOn was the keynote speaker, presenting two keynotes to the 400 or so attendees from the eight schools in the cluster.
Of interest to me was the mobile computer lab from Wintech . Equipped with a full set of networked computers, this bus tours schools in the Waikato region, providing computer skills programmes for students.



Here's an inside and an outside view of the bus

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 7:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Came across a link to the Building Learning Communities conference that was held in Boston in July. Like Navcon2K4 , this conference had a blog set up for participants.
Some debate has followed this, however, as participants could (for a fee) gain credit for their blog participation. This has sparked a lively debate over the issues to do with "Education for free vs. education for a fee", and the question of whether conference participation like this is a valuable part of academic life???
For comments on this check out what Thomas Burn has to say, or refer to Sebastian Feidler's blog where this discussion appears to have started.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 9:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today I had the privilege of attending a seminar with Stephen Denning , renowned for his work in the area of knowledge management and story telling as an effective tool for leaders to use in bringing about organisational change (among other things).
Stephen reinforced the notion that much of the real value of knowledge within organisations is shared in the form of stories anyway, and that his approach to using story telling to spark change is simply an extension of this.
This links well with the reading I'm doing at present (still) from Carl Davidson and Dr Philip Voss's Knowledge Management book. The section I read on the train this morning dealt with formal and informal knowledge, and identified (like Denning) that it is in the tearoom discussions and casual conversations (ie informal storytelling) that some of the most valuable knowledge in an organisation is shared and developed. You can read more of their work on their No Doubt website.
For more on Stephen Denning, take a look at his recent article titled Telling Tales published recently in the Harvard Business Review (available here from his site as a PDF)
Steve also maintains a blog on which he is currently publishing the draft chapters for his next book.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 9:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

An overview of the Weblog Tools Market
Picked up this interesting article from Elise Bauer's Weblog at Elise.com .
It provides a very good overview of the size and distribution of the weblog tools market (ie the systems that allow you to build a
weblog). Leaders in the field, with about half of all blogs between them, are
Blogger and LiveJournal. Lots of other interesting statistics in the article, and some interesting links to other Blog-related articles can be found in the side-bar of this Blog.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Seems to be a day for discovering all sorts of useful bits - here's a most interesting one from the macupdate site - KidzLog . Having a seven year old sone who is now getting into 'blogging' this product sounds just the thing!

KidzLog is a weblog publishing tool for children. Even children who are just beginning to read and write should be able to create a weblog with KidzLog . A KidzLog weblog consists of chronologically descending posts, each post consisting of a picture, some text, or both. KidzLog provides a canvas and painting tools so that children can paint their pictures directly in the application. Pictures can also be dragged from iPhoto or the desktop to a KidzLog canvas in order to publish digital photos as part of a weblog.

Requirements: Mac OS X 10.2 or later

Is anyone using this?

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 5:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By now you'll have noticed that many web sites (including this blog and the Ultralab South Website make use of RSS (Really Simple Syndication). If you're not familiar with what this is about, here's an informative artice from eSchoolNews explaining how RSS can transorm online communication.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=5211

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 9:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A couple of links here to interesting developments in eLearning software:

1. Blinkx - hailed as a possible successor to Google - or at least will give Google a run for its money!. Provides a full search of your personal files and the web in one sweep. Numerous other features that you can read about on the web site at http://www.blinkx.com/overview.php
   
2. Wordcircle Open source online learning community software (in PHP). Pretty basic
   functionality, allowing instructors to add thoughts, calendar items,
   discussions and files. That said, the foundation seems firm and the code
   could easily be expanded to do more. Code is available at http://sourceforge.net/projects/wordcircle/

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 8:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here's an interesting article that came today via Stephen Downes' OLD which I though is worth distributing...

http://www.utas.edu.au/tl/docs/Flexible_T&L_Impact_report_copy_for_printing.doc
This item popped up in my DLORN Ticker this morning, via EdNA, and while
most definitely not a learning object (properly so-called), it is a useful
and well-structured study of student reactions to flexible learning in
Tasmania. Conducted by telephone interviews with more than a thousand
students, this survey reports a general satisfaction with flexible
learning and a recognition of its benefits (a fair sample said flexible
learning offered opportunities that would not otherwise have been
available, and a good number in the north and north-west (relatively
isolated regions of Tasmania) said that it increased interaction). MS Word
document."

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 8:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Towards an ecology of eLearning
Based ona n anlaysis of the 77 papers in the 2002 ASCELITE proceedings, Alexander is critical of the form and nature of eLearning research reflected there. She asserts that it is time to abandon piece-meal approach to eLearning research
Need for a coordinated research agenda that focuses on the ecology of eLearning.
Proposing a new way of moving forward ?? with a project in mind

From Shirley??s presentation??
Ref ??Thwarted Innovation?? ?? Robert Zemsky and William Massy (2004)
This report asks ??why did the boom in eLearning go bust??? It looks at three assumptions that have proved unfounded or false:
- if we build it they??ll come
- kids will take to it like a duck to water
- eLearning will force a change in the way we teach
analysis of 77 papers in the 2002 ASCELLITE proceedings and asked
- what are the questions being asked by
- what theoretical positions are being used
- what is being found?
What are the questions?
- student experience
- student learning outcomes
- adoption of eLearning
- academic experience
- academic development
- project issues
- student prior knowledge
- only 2 posed questions about learning design
Calls for a case for systematic approach
Shared one framework developed by Keith Trigwell ?? starts with student at centre. Then looks at influences on student learning outcomes
- teacher stragtegies
- teacher planning
- teacher thinking
- learning context
Biggs 3P model of Learning
- students come in with certain expectations, dispositions
- students have a perception of what they will learn (eg complaints from students asked to engage in a simlulation ?? didn??t appreciate the hard work involved, expected simply to be ??fed?? information)
- teaching content (reflect teacher perception)
- task processing is influenced by these perceptions, including perception of contextf.
How students perceive their learning influences the approach they take to their learning. Eg:
- if intention is simply to pass exam, they??ll simply look for the ??delivery of content??
- if intention is to gain deeper understanding, they??ll participate more fully
Problem with research ?? too often research focuses on the discrete areas of the whole process, often ignoring context
Theoretical positions. ?? papers analysed revealed two references to Bloom??s taxonomies, and two others to Diana Laurrilard??s conversational model ?? apart from that, no explicit theoretical underpinnings.
Critical of evidence gathering methodologies ?? papers very weak in this area, with wide array of trying to decide as ??what counts as evidence?? with regards to research into eLearning.
Key findings from this paper were not very encouraging regarding the quality of research going on into eLearning ?? nor of the conclusions and outcomes of the research itself. Paints a picture of students only superficially engaged in eLearning.
Proposed project ?? ASSESSMENT
Shirely and her colleagues have created an assessment simulation tool. Aim of the Sim Assessment project:
- to improve student??s experience of assessment at ATS by providing an opportunity for academics to understand their own practices and reflect on how they might change or improve their practice
NB ?? t his tool will be available to others to use within the next few weeks.
Contact shirley.alexander@uts.edu.au

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 5:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

A framework for learning processes
Member of the eLIG (eLearning Industry Group) in the UK. Presentation gave an in-depth view of what the eLIG is doing to establish a set of standards and architectural principals for an eLearning architecture that will take us forward. Key points include adoption of a web services model, identification of a common set of tools and services that can be used, and the pursuit of a ??semantic?? language model as we look ahead to the future.

ELIG priorites
Focus on the development of eLearning standards and architectures for eLearning
Requirement of eLearning standards for interoperability
Have developed a white paper regarding the architectures for eLearning in the EU
Reference to various standards grups that have been operating in the past few years.
- IMS
- IEEE (USA)
- CEN/ISSS (European)
Various standards bodies developing separate standards
DoD ?? Advanced distributed learning initiative ?? SCORM
- extremely successful in structuring learning materials and looking at interoperability of exchanging learning materials between one system and another
- still need for research and development in the process models associated with the implementation of SCORM
Need some platform independent environment that allows organizations to collaborate and innovate etc in an open standards environment.
Reference to a recent paper looking at an analysis of virtual learning environments, showing a strong trend in the use of these environments in UK universities, but little focus on pedagogical features of these environments and how they are used.
We have an abundance of separate systems ?? but no Process system frameworks that allows for them to be linked together to give a seamless approach ?? eg LMS. CMS, SMS, AdminMS, HRMS etc.
Reference to a systems approach developed in the UK, identifying the relationships and interactions that take place. (Reminded me of the Learning DnA that we developed at the Correspondence School to guide our thinking.)
Emphasis on adopting a layered architecture (Apps, service, core) to enable sharing among a variety of heterogeneous systems. Eg
- SUN eLearning reference architecture,
- Open Knowledge Initiative (MIY)
- MS abstract framework
All about common services!
Architectures must be independent of languages and independent of platform.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 3:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

eLearning ?? it??s not about the technology
The basic premise of Dom??s presentation is that technology alone isn??t what makes eLearning happen ?? perhaps it may assist in delivering content - but he argues the need for a much stronger emphasis on instructional design to ensure that the materials are then ??instuctional??.
Personal comment ?? sounded a little like someone who has come into this field very recently. Surely we??re well past notions of ??instructional design?? ?? replacing it with the understandings of ??learning design?? . The former reflects an ??instructivist?? approach. We certainly have a lot to learn from the former theories and theorists ?? but need to embrace what they have to teach us within the modern, constructivist, learner-centred approaches that have been a feature of so may of the presentations at this conference.

Notes from Dom??s presentation...
why the excitement about eLearning?
- a way to cut costs
- potential to reach a greater number of participants and overcome infrastructure limitations
- significant increase in learner choices and strategies
- studies showing ??no significant difference?? between eLearniing and classroom instruction when each is ??done correctly.??
problems persisting with some of the current solutions
- not all students thrive
- not the great cost savings that had been hped for
- many students and instructors feeling isolated
- learning suffer if material is not designed correctly
why technology and content are enough:
- What the technology offers??
1. faster chip speed
2. better storage-personal and server
3. more broadband access
4. enhanced wireless technologies (EvDO)
5. improved voice over IP)
Dom then demo??d a number of online ??courses?? that illustrated the content only approach, but lacked any ??instructional organization??
Then went on to use Cagne??s 9 steps of instruction and how these are (or are not) taken into account in the instructional design of online courses

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 2:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A virtual presentation. Prof Fryer challenged:
Thriving in ??Risk?? society ?? Challenges and possibilities for e-enablement
How can eLearning and e-enablment help people navigate their way through a very difference world?
What kind of learning society is emerging ?? what kind of people will we need?
Many references to the UK eLearning Strategy ?? many of the diagrams and quotes in his presentation came from that document.
Presented lots of research to show that there are widening gaps between groups in society regarding who has the skills and capabilities to navigate life in the ??risk society??
Key Message = ??Put The Learner at the Centre of Learning!!!

Notes from Prof Fryer??
Those who live in a learning culture
Learning culture will exist everywhere ?? work, home, school, everywhere
What will learning society be like?
- changes in family structures, roles, aspirations,
- restructuring of work
- people wanting to exercise more choice
- information and knowledge revolution
ref. ??Living at the crossroads?? ?? Bauman, The individualized society, 2001
What is going on in work?
- demand for new skills
- challenges of greater competitiveness
- new technology
- flatter structures
- boundaries between organizations ??fuzzier??
- decline in trade union influence
- inter-generation unemployment and under-employment
- need for workers to be much more flexible
Towards ??Risk Society?? (Ulrich Beck)
- uncertainly
- multiople and contested knowledge
- old structures no longer hold good
- unsustainability
- unreliability
- rules unclear
??Turbo-capitalism?? ?? an age of uncertainlty and insecurity ?? Sigmund Bauman (Postmodernism and its discontents)
Emergent model of learning
- Education to learning
- School ?? everywhere
- Teacher centred to student centred etc
- Move towards a ??constructivist theory of learning??
Key finding form UK study ?? high correlation between level in socio-economic scale and opportunities for learning. This, in the knowledge economy they are aiming to challenge the existing situation where success in the ??risk society?? is limited to those who are already demonstrating learning behaviours.
Fryer??s big focus ?? ??let??s put the learners, their needs and their hopes, aspirations etc at the centre!!!?? Personalised learning.
A framework for what e-enablement offers digital learners
- Email, web access
- Virtual classes
- Self paced ??bite??
- Self paces course
- E mentoring
- Peer-to-peer collaboration
Big problem ?? deepening digital divide
- who has the online skills, access, high levels of engagement? = the well-off, male, European etc.
ref Mossberger et all with seven point test for e-engagement ?? showed that the low income, etc are under-engaged.
In a time of extreme change in society we give learning to people for three reasons
- for making sense of change
- for adapting to change
- for shaping change (not become mere victims of change)
This is what e-enablement must do for citizens
The promise of eLearning ?? to make learning normal
- beyond fear and dread
- based on confidence and self esteem
- promising achievement and progress
- linked to own life??s priorities
- where, when and how you like
- woven into everyday life
- supported by advice and guidance
- driven by new methods of credit and funding

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Learning in a digital world
Began with a reflection on the movie ??Shrek??, and how far we??ve come with the area of visualization. Main focus of his address was in how we might work towards creating the classroom of tomorrow, empahsising HPs commitment to providing solutions that are:
- high tech
- low cost
- provide the best customer experience

From Michael??s talk??
Market challenges
- shrinking budgets
- security
- addressing new learning stuyles and needs
- supporting anew market every year
o 24/7
o huge appetite for data
- transforming teaching
Education shifts
- all processes and content will be transformed from physical to digital, mobile and virtual
- the demand for simplicity, manageability
ASK ?? how much has the classroom changed in the last 100 years? HP engaged in project to look at how to do this.
Areas to focus on..
- gaming/simulation
- wireless ?? collaboration, mobile
- web ?? access
- video ?? visualization and narrative
Kids today want to be connected?? in a digital world!
Students are driving this change ?? and are becoming less tolerant of anything that doesn??t meet these expectation
Where will the technology go in order to meet these demands?
- high tech
- low cost
- best customer experience
What will tomorrow??s classroom look like, and how will we prepare for it?
- kids already coming into classrooms digitally literate
- need to focus on faculty/staff (this will be HPs focus)

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 2:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Content Challenge ?? Why it finally matters
Presentation focused strongly on the notion of Knowledge Management, and the adoption of BPM (business process management) systems to ensure that organizations are able to ensure that the knowledge doesn??t get lost, that it is being kept within the organization and leveraged to provide better efficiencies and economies of scale.

From Dean??s address??
Knowledge and knowledge management are the cornerstones of eLearning
The world is slowly returning to growth ?? will take some time before it??s felt across the board.
Australia spending more on ICT than all other ASEA countries combined,
BUT ?? combine all of Australia, NZ and ASEA would equal something like the state of Florida!
In 2003 50% of all intel servers sold into China
Three key ares
?? Relentless growth of content creation and addition of types
?? Integration requirements are becoming paramount for enterprises
?? Compliance requirements
Drivers:
- Integration/collaboration
- Fear, uncertainly and doubt
Knowledge workplace hype cycle:
?? Technology triggers
?? Peak of inflated expectations
?? More failures
?? Trough of disillusionment
?? Slope of enlightenment
?? Plateau of productivity
Organisation is the key ?? control chaos or it will control you!
Integration challenges
- need for a global content perspectives
- focus on web services
disruptive effects of the multi-channel environment
Promoting the ??smart enterprise suite?? ?? portals, collaboration and content
The connected economy opens the door to new dependencies and new threats ?? how do you then ??police?? this capability?? (est. 2004 $15Billion lost through this)
How to address this ?? most businesses now adopting BPM ?? (Business process management) to manage security, ownership, rules engines etc.
Drivers for moving this way ?? workforce optimization, ensuring that the knowledge doesn??t get lost, that it is being kept within the organization and leveraged to provide better efficiencies and economies of scale.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 2:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The quality issue in the development of the eLearning marketPresentation refrred to the results of the L-Change and SEEQUEL projects supported byt eh European Commission.

Key findings from his project:
- quality is a priority recognized by everyone, but with a variety of different meanings, roadmaps and priorities
- eLearning survived the collapse of the ??e-bubble??
- education and training brands vs learning brands
- growing importance of services
- ??blended learning?? trends favour reputed (established) E&T providers
- converging policy aims at European level, and increasing need for strategies adapted to national markets
- the eLearning professionalism challenge
- globalization vs anti-globalisation ?? from consumption to participation
- improving transferability of skills and competencies seen as strategic role for eLearning.
References:
http://www.education-observatories.net/seequel/index
http://www.education-observatories.net/lchange/index.pt

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Using activity theory and learning theory to map eLearning curriculum development in order to expand its object
Following the trajectory - eLearnng has now matured to the point where it is set to re-define what we mean by learning, rather than simply adding to or augmenting what we already do.
John has created a model that allows him to map the elements of the activity system, and also to identify where the tensions in that system lie.

Existing set of tensions??
Innovation vs learning benefits
Innovation vs standards
Playing with toys vs pedagogy
Training vs education
Disaggregation vs learner-centredness
Commodification vs constructivism
Manageability vs complexity
Enertainment vs authenticity
Entertainment vs depth
John has created a model that allows him to map the elements of the activity system, and also to identify where the tensions in that system lie.
Key components of the system:
Instruments
Subject Object -??outcome
Rules communities Division of labour

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Choosing learning designs for eLearning settings
A long-time proponent of learning design, Ron??s presentation brought the discussion back to a pedagogical focus, with an emphasis on student activity and a constructivist pedagogy as the basis of effective learning design.

Gem??s from Ron Oliver??
Need to challenge our assumptions about why people undertake learning..
- seeking knowledge
- become better informed
- gain qualification
Definition of ??learning design??
- learning activities that seek specific outcomes??
- comprised of tasks, resources and supports.
- Focus on higher order thinking etc.
Key issue ?? if assessment requirements don??t promote higher order thinking then it won??t happen ?? ask ??how much of what happens in classrooms is simply ??busy time???
How do people learn?
- knowledge construction
- through practice, reflection
- working collaboratively
Ask ?? ??How do our teaching models relate to what we understand about how people learn??
Tension exists between knowledge acquisition vs learning that is experiential
Information access --- organisaing information --- processing information
Need to spend most of our time at the right hand end of this
Useful URL ?? http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/toolbox - contains lots of information relating to these ideas (NB series 7 has info on SCORM compliant RLOs)
What we know about effective learning designs:
- mush be task based
- form of the task is linked to intended outcomes
- product oriented
- few common understandings exist
- often missing from traditional instructional design
- often mistaken for teaching design
For more background on learning design refer to
A href="http://www.learningdesigns.uow.edu.au">http://www.learningdesigns.uow.edu.au

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Setting the scene with two themes ?? an overview of global trends and some perspectives about online delivery by foreign providers ?? adapting to local markets.
Standout session, for me, of the conference ?? brilliant overview of the ??big picture?? that has provided a reference point for nearly all the other presentations. Ron??s presentation was a fast-paced overview of what??s happening across the world, supported by data, and more data and more data??!

Notes from Ron Perkinson??s address??
Six converging forces of change in higher education at the moment..
- explosion of knowledge
- globalization
- competition
- internationalization
- ICTs
- Sourcing alternative funding
Key issue for education ?? exponential growth in demand and enrolments, but huge gap between this demand and the drop in expenditure from government sources.
Globally, Higher education is a FAILURE! Private higher education has now become a dominant payer in the education marketplace.
Largest growth area in tertiary is South East Asia
Distance education is the fastest growing sub=-sector of education in the world today
BUT ?? eLearning is still in its infancy ?? immature market, need for content customistation and low social/cultural confidence.(esp in developing countries)
Beginning to see development of ??For Profit?? entities ?? more attractive to private investors
Private sector wants governments to put in rigorous regulatory standards ?? this levels the playing field
Statistically, the private sector is getting approx 35% better results over the public sector in terms of retention and completion of courses.
Challenges:
- pre-derterminates of success of eLearning in developing countries:
o fitting and blending to local policy
o rigor and accuracy of local data and information
o revelvance of programmes to local context
o ICT infrastructure
??Does a forum exist to look at the setting of minimum standards for trans-national education??

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Challenge ?? ??Has the bubble burst on eLearning??? ?? with the failure of many high profile eLearning projects to ??deliver?? on their promises, we need to be looking more critically at what we are seeking to do and to accomplish.
??High speed capabilities meeting low speed needs?

Gems from Glyn Davis??
- eLearning is a marriage of information and technology
- student-centredness is the key to the future of eLearning!
- Need to focus on what eLearning does best ?? reach out (access) and enrich (quality, relevance etc.)
- there are many who got enthusiastic about the eLearning ??Goldrush?? ?? but it has left behind a number of ghost towns
- time now to move beyond this ?? initial enthusiasm is giving way to a more moderate approach grounded in educational theory
- in terms of the production life-cycle (introduction ?? growth ?? maturity ?? decline_ Davis considers eLearning is somewhere between the growth and maturity phase
Some recent ??failures?? in eLearning??
- SUNOIKISIS ?? collaboration of classics teachers ?? launched early 1999, claims that this heralded the beginning of a huge change in education ?? death to lectures etc.
- ??Fathom?? ?? an eLearning company established by Comombia University ?? ended up being shut down in 2003
Alternatives
- MIT with its ??anti-Fathom?? project ?? ??Open Courseware??
- Democratic approach is compelling ?? but the financial model that enabled it to happen is unlikely to be available to universities in Australia ?? so a different model is required
- At Griffith the emphasis is now on meeting student needs ?? one instance, all of the enrolment process is now online, reducing a lot of the frustration and barriers of access to learners
- Griffith research into their eLearning approach revealed students choose to study in two complimentary ways; (a) face to face and (b) accessing materials and forums online (eg a blended provision)
- Griffith has built a number of study centres ?? lots of study around the design of these centres. Compares with the way libraries have been used by students ?? very communal, social/interactive ?? not studying in isolation. Students use the room to meet, chat etc ?? rooms used to ??slow learn?? alongside the ??fast pace?? of the online environment.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What the millennium sparks did to eLearning
Fantastic address - challenges about the future of eLearning, using an ecological metaphor of a 'map' to describe what is being faced currnetly within the higher ed. sector.

Of note - Gilly is currently at the Open University UK, but is about to leave to take up a position as professor of eLearning at university of Leicster from Oct.1

- Challenges ?? we are all going to be facing choices about what we do in eLearning
- In the future ?? need to look at how we can work together to exploit our research findings rather than simply report on them!
- Need to move beyond looking at the immediate, and look at what is happening higher education has fallen foul of not having a map to follow
- Few countries around the world have a well developed map to describe where they??re heading
- Very little collective vision ?? lots of accusation
- The ??Island of eLearning??
- Providing an idea of where we might be heading in the next ten years or so
- - many tribes on this island ?? can be subject to invasions and takeovers from them
o shadowlands technology jungle ?? eg language spoken behind the firewall, inside it??s familiar, but from the outside it is frightening (all in ??hunter??s language??) Within the firewall there??s constant challenge to the biodiversity that academics are familiar with. Has proved inprenetrable for many managers and teachers too.
o Templeof pedagogy ?? at threat of being over-run by the creepers of the jungle of shadowlands. Many of the treasures and amazing opportunities lay buried in the jungle ?? need to get in there with a pretty big sword
Features on the map
o Mount of administration
o Peaks of duty
o Isle of ??instead of??
o As well bay
o Cragters plain
o Management camp
o Opporutity falls (as with early adopter ventures which have fallen by the way)
o Research heights
o Management camp
- NOTE ?? children born in the 21st century will not know a world without the WWW etc. ?? will these moves towards ??constantness?? keep new generation constantly in the present without opportunity for reflection ?? or will they develop new cognitive abilities?? What kind of teaching will they need to make this happen?
-
Power of value given to research in our tertiary institutions provides an enormous barrier to adoption of new approaches by faculty
To address the change we need more than half-day workshops in Blackboard
To bring about really deep and meaningful change we need to ??shuttle them back and forth?? between what they know and what the opportunities are.
Need to get beyond the idea of prescriptive management ?? need for a central vision achieved through delegation.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 6:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Delivering audiences relevant, engaging and integrated education content across multiple platforms
Lynley's address provided a stimulating insight into what the Australian Broadcasting Corporation are doing to create and make available high quality digital resources to support teaching and learning. A key point from her address: "The ABC's focus is on providing online learning resources - not trying to become educators".

Notes from Lynley Marshall
- Focus on providing an online learning resources ?? not trying to be educators
- How to continue to deliver educational content that is relevant, engaging and available across a range of digital platforms
- Current research on young people??s use of media provides insights??
o High level of use in their bedrooms
o More open to exploring technologies
o Interested in what the technology can do
o Open to exploring content in no0n-traditional devices (PDAs)
o Want to be in control of their learning environment
- 95% Australian homes have internet connection ?? last year first year that Aus kids accessed internet from home more than from school
- ABC aim to provide content across multiple platforms
- Responding to opportunities with new technologies and changing use patterns
- Eg http://www.wingedsandals.com - developed by ABC in collaboration with University of Melbourne.
- Site features detailed history section, online stories and games, who??s who database
- Available as full flash or html only ?? missed media ?? audio, cartoon/video, text etc. Great online video clip presenting traditional story then in contemporary context with modern music.
- Big Question ?? what is the contribution of this sort of online content to learning outcomes?? (ie is this entertainment or education? How do children learn from engaging with games and interactive content of this nature??)
- Feedback extremely positive about the use of a variety of genres to engage learners (music, games, text, database, ??ask an oracle?? etc.)
- Second area ?? science-related content. Ref site http://www.abc.net.au/science/planetslayer/ - an irreverend look at environmental issues ?? introducing issues and themes related to environmental issues through games, fun ?? but depth of authentic information contributed from collaborative partners (universities)
- Working with Murdoch University to look at interactive television use in education ?? focusing on opportunities arising from uptake of digital television sets.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 5:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm attending the eAgenda Roundtable in the Gold Coast at present - hugely stimulatiing event, with a series of speakers addressing issues and concerns to do with eLearning from the perspectives of education, business and gevernment contexts. I'll attempt to keep updates on my blog while I'm here, but a lack of power outlest in the venue together with poor internet connection in my hotel room makes things a bit difficult. Thanks to the kind folks in the Apple stand, however, I'm able to hook into their network via their airport during the breaks. What will follow will be a series of my notes and recollections from the various keynotes.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 5:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Some interesting ideas emerging from recent posts in other blogs regarding a panel discussion held recently at Brainstorm, the annual conference jointly run by FORTUNE and the Aspen Institute.
The full text of the Fortune Magazine article has been posted by Robert Paterson on his Blog, and commented on by Jonnie Moore on his Blog.
I found the perspectives of the different CEOs etc refreshing really ?? that they were able to succinctly describe what the new organisational model is ?? or will become! Key characteristics of that model that I could identify in the article include

• networked structures - with individual members of the network focusing on their core business and outsourcing the rest
  
• democratisation - made possible by the transparent exchange of ideas via open communication channels (eg Blogs!)
  
• balance of power shifting from management to employee
  
• process oriented architecture (as opposed to top-down systems) - promoting collaborative approaches to develop products in shorter periods of time
  
• Perception of the "big company" that is really a veneer over a whole range of smaller, interlinked businesses and enterprises.
  

"My comment is related to my role as board member at Wal-Mart. Even if decentralization and localization is the right business ethic and strategy, corporate boards and CEOs need to sign off on financial statements. Sarbanes-Oxley [the congressional act that requires companies to document their actions much more carefully] has pushed it the other way. It forces boards and CEOs to take much more of a command-and-control perspective, when in fact a decentralized perspective is the right way to build a business."

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 9:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Just when you think they've thought of everything!

My friend Chris in Christchurch sent me a this link to the full story.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 3:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A colleague of mine at The Correspondence School recently asked if I could help him set up a blog before he travelled overseas to attend a series of conferences. Ricky Utting is the manager of Media Services at the school, and wanted to provide immediate feedback to his team back at the school during the time he was away, to begin the discussions about key ideas and issues then rather than wait for the traditional "brain dump" when he returns.
Ricky is doing a really great job at using his blog for this purpose - and his team appear to be taking a real interest in what he has to say - take a look at Ricky's Blog here.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 10:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)