I agree that there has to be evolution, not revolution in education and learning, see What comes after this by Deangroom. The challenge is: Who is leading whom? In the education sector, we could see a really interesting phenomena, not only in Australia, but throughout most countries, in that leading authorities and communities in K-12, TAFE (or Vocational/Community College/Further Education) and Higher Education are trying to find pathways to have the “online collaborative creativity”. How should such movement be structured? And where should this lead us to? I have indicated in my earlier post of connectivism that we may be prodding a way similar to the Quality and Customer Service first movement, where pragmatism (collaboration within various sectors, networks, corporations) and economic rationalism are coming the way with technology as the driver.
It’s a challenge to educators, administrators and learners in such education movement. We have come to a multi-mission, multi-vision stage where the orbits are not converging, but diverging. Otherwise we won’t see so many millions of blogs and thousands of communities all voicing with different perspectives and opinions. This is a good sign in that it shows a true sense of democracy in a digital world, where any one or community could comment on the policy of the government, organisation, institutions, communities and society. However, this also implies that it is never easy to satisfy any one (stakeholders) involved in education and learning, as the interests and needs of these parties are different. Under the network phenomena, the movement is both complex and complicated (and “chaos” may be another better word to describe the current status). I don’t think there has been any “tsunami” urge of education reforms or transformation ever recorded in history. So where does this education movement arming with technology lead us to?
The open-source technology is changing rapidly, with new technology coming on board in lightning speed. People in education and business sectors are amazed by such introductions. Training, development programs in education and business are in high demand to keep up with the paces. People are talking about the half-life of knowledge being at most 2 years. And there is a recent trend, that such half life is getting shorter and shorter.
If you check on the computer that you have got (say 1 year old model), and compare it with the one offered on the market now, you could see that the price might have dropped nearly 20-40% within one year, depending on the model. You will also find the latest model is not only better than the previous model in its function, but could also perform a lot faster than any of the computers that you might have. The same thing may be happening to your television set, where the latest models are always cheaper and are having the high definition features that you have always dreamed of. Is this also happening to the knowledge that you possess? So, a renewal of knowledge is important for anyone in the education sector, whether one is a director, an administrator, education leader, educator, or a graduate or a learner. No one can remain expert without a renewal and update of knowledge, by being connected to the digital world on a timely basis.
So here comes the problem of control in education and learning. Controls are perceived as both strengths and weaknesses by educators and learners alike. Everyone is striving for complete control over his/her education and learning, whereas educational leadership is requiring a system control over the education and learning, as expected by the institutions and society.
Where is the leverage point for these “power” control”? Are there any convergence coming out of the institution/network learning? What do you see are the major challenges and barriers to such changes? Will a “grassroot-level” urges for changes provide the impetus for transformation? Will systematic change come from “steering vision and mission” out of educational leadership? Will transformation come from collaborative network’s wisdom of the crowd? What do you think is the “best-practice” approach towards education for your community?
Learner Weblog 
Good thoughts!
I believe you have correctly identified many of the problems that face education today. However, might I pose that pragmatism is not the answer but in fact the very problem.
I would argue that our pragmatic ways actually hinder our collaboratory efforts. As an educator myself, I know that every student learns differently, has different passions, interests, and dreams. In essence there is no “best-practice” that works. This is not to say that I don’t use them; but that every time I teach, I must adapt what I am teaching to each an every student in that room–and while we try and coalesce how we teach into a set of “best-practices,” that which works does not exist.
As for the control that everyone is striving for over their education. I believe that you are right on the mark! I foresee Web 2.0 as the avenue. The ways in which that will take place, remain to be seen.
Thanks Stewart for your valuable insights.
I agree that pragmatic ways actually hinder our collaboratory efforts. And we are no different to our students, in that we are striving to adapt our teaching to suit everyone’s needs, and that none of the “best-practice” works. Aren’t we facing the same challenge as that of our students?
So let’s wait and see.
Cheers.
John