Innovation and Online Higher Education

In this Management Innovation and Online Higher Education Part 2: Management Innovation “New services are emerging that allow prospective students and their parents to hear from existing and former university students. As more information becomes available, online programs will need to be ready to demonstrate superiority. Those that produce content according to the ‘cottage model’ (described above) will appear amateurish.”  Well said.

Will “superior content” and/or content based online programs be good enough to demonstrate superiority? Would a learner-centred approach towards learning be an alternative way of satisfying the students (and the stakeholders too) needs? What is expected from our learners and society? Would the emphasis be based on the education and learning process? The current Web 2.0 is still not yet integrated into the LMS, and so it becomes a struggle between professors and lecturers in the classroom trying to capture the attention and interests of students, versus students going everywhere like MIT open course ware, Standford University and various university sites and resources, wikis, blogs, Delicious, social networking sites – Youtubes education, etc for the most up-to-date knowledge and information. So, how about the integration of PLN/E with LMS based on learners’ needs and expectations? Would this be the fundamental strategic move that educational institutions could consider? Would this allow for a big leap in both teaching, learning and research that would benefit both educators and learners, and the institutions?

Replacing the old wine skin with a new wine bottle would help in solving the problem, rather than pouring the new wine into the old wine skin, where the new wine would soon leak out. Here the old wine skin and the old wine  is the traditional classroom approach to education and learning and the rigid and static course content, the new wine bottle and the new wine is the heutagogy, social media learning and LMS/Web2.0 with educators, experts and c0-learners as resources and support.

CCK09 Future of Education

In this Future of Education: Is it Possible to De-School Society? George highlights the importance of school, and the reality that most parents have to face: one can’t take their children to work, as the parents are working with institutions.

According to George Siemens                                , you and I are so used to living our lives in such kind of “social installments” that we do not even realize how everything we experience is compartmentalized. Parents go to work and kids go to school because they are supposed to. NOT because this is the best option they have.

Sure, smart parents can  homeschool their children. Parents do have this option (at least in some countries), but it does not mean this is an easy decision to make.

He cites examples from his own experience: that his daughter could spend time and enjoy in networking last year, whilst he could only spend time in the beach whilst he was young.

I think schooling is still important in kid’s formative learning stages of life, where scaffolding of learning and zone of  proximal development is critical to future success in education and learning.  It would be more enriching if the learning at school is both relevant to life and fun to the child, so he/she could enjoy learning  whilst at school. 

However, the reality is that in the senior years of year 9-12, and/or post secondary - college and higher education, there are expectations from the institutions and potential employers on what would be required in terms of competency and capability at work or in the profession.  Are educators responsible for such education and training for their future work?  This is surely the case when it comes to vocational education and training, where pragmatism is vital to the development of competency- learning by doing, with the “construction” of underpinning skills and knowledge by the learner.

So learning could be fun in social networking after “school”, but not necessarily at school, as such networking hasn’t been integrated into a formal education system as yet.  Whether the incorporation of Web 2.0 tools could be integrated with the school system would also depend on the curriculum, learning context, unit content and how the units delivery are being facilitated or taught by the teachers, lecturers or professors. 

So rhetoric and reality is different when it comes to personal learning.

Would future education still be based on schools?  Yes, I think it is still a trend, and would even be more “schooling” in the years to come.  Why? School is where rules and regulations are “learnt”, and where the social behaviours are normed.  Our emphasis is still on collaboration, collective wisdom with team working in society, and organisation performance are based on “networks,  groups and teams”, not only individuals.   Would that be what industry and institutions are looking for from the individuals? 

Would that be what a civil and social education mean?  More research based on reason rather than emotion on our future education may help. See my other posts on future and higher education.

CCK09 Social Skills Training

Enjoy this:

CCK09 Be a geek and a nerd

Enjoy this

Be a geek and a nerd.

Nerds run this planet.

If you can combine passion with expertise, and couple it with continuous curiosity, you will become an educated person.

Only talent we have is our intelligence.

Good food for thoughts, and reflection.

John

CCK09 Next Generation Learning Space

Enjoy this Next Generation Learning Space, though it was more than 1 year old, and there has been a lot of changes.

Comments?

CCK09 What is the desired outcome of Connectivism?

Hi Kerry,

Thanks for your response. “What is the desired outcome of Connectivism?” Great question! 

I think each of us has our own answer, especially when it comes to informal learning.  What are your passions?  What interests you most?  What makes you feel more confident, more competent, and more rewarding when learning in the network(s)?  Could Connectivism help you in fulfilling your goals?

Most of us have been involved in our formal education for decades, and at times after graduation,  we often found the skills that we have acquired are often not be good enough in tackling the challenges at work or in our daily life, especially at this time of great changes.   So this new era of informal learning could stimulate us to be more connected to the networks,  through our PLE/N or the Virtual Learning Environment, and the tools and media, that would help us to learn more effectively and efficiently as an individual or as a network, through sensemaking, wayfinding, skills building, and mutual sharing.  

We could harvest our fruits of learning through such navigation, recognising of patterns of “knowledge” and thus develop a diverse area of interests that fulfill our curiosity to learn, and learning to be “a life long learner”- as part of our vision.  We could also engage more deeply with the weak ties in this network, and broaden our perspectives as we reflect personally and together in the network in an open, autonomous manner. 

We could also be inspired by each other’s enthusiasm in networking, to become our leaders of the future, to solve problems both individually and in the network, to support each other with the use of tools and media, and to be more connected in this world of networks.  This will also help us in adding value to ourselves, our network(s), community and the social capital.  A win-win to all.

CCK09 Education and learning

In this Where have all the people gone  in CCK09 Moodle forum, Ulop says:

“It doesn’t matter if people leave the course, and go off and study on their own. That would be their option, and the connections will re-form and the networks will form elsewhere, if the ‘course’ is not serving the needs of the people. Otherwise, are we forcing people to take and remain in the course?”

Would this be of great interests from an educational authority or administration point of view?  What are the roles of educators and learners in a course? What happens if the course is not serving the needs of the people in an education institution?  What happens if the network is not serving the people it is supposed to serve?  Yes, people have a choice.  We can’t force people to remain in a course.  So, what are we going to do?

What should we do as an educator?  How could we improve our support to our learners? How could we ensure the course is run more effectively and efficiently (on a learning and cost basis)?  How could we achieve the institution goals and individual goals?  These are the sort of questions typically asked by educational leaders and educators. 

In a corporate world of education, there are intense competition between different education providers, so which is more important for surviving or thriving?  Teaching? Learning? Education? or Customers (learners) first?

CCK09 Is the future a race between education and catastrophe?

In the words of H.G. Wells: The future is a race: A race between education and catastrophe 

We Are The People We’ve Been Waiting For is a full-length feature film on education which was inspired and guided by Oscar-winning producer Lord Puttnam. The film is supported by various sponsors including independent education foundation, Edge. The film follows the experiences of five Swindon-based teenagers. What unfolds during the course of the film is a very inconvenient truth about education. It concludes that, while there are signs of spring, a transformation of the education system is vital if the UK is to continue to compete effectively in an era of globalization the world has changed enormously but our education system has not kept pace. We need to recognise that there are many paths to success for young people and provide the right support and opportunities for them to develop their individual talents.

Globalization has exploded the Information Age. Yet our education system isn’t preparing our children for how to compete in the Global Economy. America is a nation in crisis. Did you know how little media attention this very real crisis receives?

Instead of teaching information that’s quickly obsolete, teaching students how to take standardized IQ tests and achievement tests, labeling our children with learning disabilities and prescribing ADHD, ADD and Dyslexia medications, we should be celebrating and building the brainpower of each individual child.

Back to school is a nightmare for many parents – watching their child fall further behind – when we can identify learning weaknesses and FIX learning problems at the brain level. Brain fitness is the #1 competitive edge in the 21st century and our children’s brainpower is America’s future.

This new brain development science is both effective and affordable. Join the Learn To Learn Revolution – a Parents Revolution today. http://www.LearnToLearn.com

Comments?

CCK09 About openness via questions and responses

There seems to be a difference between Eastern and Western cultures when it relates to openness via questions and responses.

In the West, to ask a good question, in the East, to think and reflect about a good question – silence and meditate. In the West, to respond to a good question, in the East, to think and reflect about a good response – silence and meditate. Does it reflect what social networked learning is all about? Have I thought and reflected about questions and responses?  Have I asked a question?

CKK09 Can Learning Networks (partly) replace the teacher?

This is my response to Can Learning Networks (partly) replace the teacher? as posted in the Hot seat of Networked Learning Conference 2010.  I wasn’t able to participate in the conversation.

Here is my last year’s post (CCK08) in response to George’s question. 

I suppose that’s what George and Stephen would like to see… we are actively building up the connections through forums, blogs, wikis and other various tools, which is all part of the learning process.  And we are proactive in peer teaching as practising “teachers”: to explore what is distributed in the web and networks and people, to be inquisitive, to challenge each others’ perspectives by postings and responses based on reasons (not just passions – with emotional control) in a network.   Some of us have used our own writings, postings, others have used podcasts, videos on Youtubes, pictures, powerpoints, and mind maps etc.  to share the knowledge and learning.  In order words, modelling and demonstration as a teacher and connecting and practice as a learner (as cited from Stephen in various forum discussion). 

When such connections and exchange of perspectives are coupled with personal reflections, I think it could generate powerful learning amongst the individuals – with valuable emergent knowledge shared and developed.   For me, it has already changed the way I learn. 

In the forum I often like to learn the views of the participants, mainly because here you are: George, Stephen, Jon, Frances, Bob, Lisa, Old Socs and others… the lively ones whose quotes and perspectives are more relevant and important than those quoted in “theories” in OUR discussion.  Your views are based on years of experience and knowledge, and are equally valuable when compared to those findings coming from applied research done by great educators, researchers and professors. 

In this connection, I think the exploitation of ICT in the mining of distributed network knowledge and network sharing and discussion could often outperform that of an individual “teacher” or “professor”, as the process could more readily crystallise the essence of connected knowledge, which is emergent. 

Such deep learning is often more valuable to the participants because the emergent knowledge is a result of ”co-construction” by its network individuals.  The diversity, autonomy, interactivity and openness, in a connective knowledge network is both encouraged and forged under such learning ecology (adapted from Stephen).

So in this network, is everyone a leader and instructor in learning?  If you want to enlighten and share the learning, what are you going to do about it?  Lead from the front?  Keep each other excited! Stay current with knowledge upfront!  Is it what most professors are doing? Isn’t it in line with the principle of life long learning?  Is that the spirit of emergent leadership – exploiting the learning via technology and network (artefacts and people) ? Sorry too many questions already.  Your turn…

It seems a similar learning pattern has emerged in CCK09, though there are significant differences in terms of forum participation.  There were some CCK08 participants joining back in CCK09, and I noted a few have acted in the role of “helpers” or “mentors” to each other rather than “teachers” in the blogs, twitters, forum, Ning and various other media.

Can I come to the same conclusion as that in CCK08?  I think I still need more time to observe and reflect….

If I were to answer the question in general, then my response would be: it depends on the situations.  Under certain circumstances, learning networks could replace the teacher partly for some learners, but not all. 

I think it depends on (a) the learning context (formal, informal or non-formal learning, or a hybrid/blended learning or institutional learning, (b) the curriculum or learning outcomes required, (c) the roles of the “teacher”, (d) the expectation of learners, (e) the skills, expertise, experience, and learning styles of the learners, (f) the tools and technologies and connections that are available to the learners to support the learning, and (g) the time factor.

Though the learning network may be able to provide guidance, facilitation, mentoring and even expert advice on ICT tools and techniques for the learners, it is important to realise that we have made huge assumptions here.  

What sort of learning network is the learner engaged in?   Are the  networkers coming from a diverse field of interests or expertise? How about the learning readiness of the learners?  Are the network members ready to support each others?  Have the learners mastered certain metacognitive skills (including technology literacy, critical thinking and communication skills)?  Would the network be able to provide the emotional support that some learners need on a confidence and trustful basis?  Does the learning network fit into the learners’ needs?  

Due to the complexity, changing and emergent nature of learning in networks, there are difficulties in guaranteeing the results of learning.  

Can a network of individuals replace a teacher or professor?  Your conclusions…..