Tuesday 31 July 2012

Are practitioners roles changing?

From ‘sage on the stage’ to ‘guide on the side’
Haythornthwaite, C. (2008) ‘Ubiquitous transformations’, Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Networked Learning, Halkidiki, Greece, 4–7 May 2008; also available online at http://www.networkedlearningconference.org.uk/ past/ nlc2008/ abstracts/ PDFs/ Haythornthwaite_598-605.pdf (last accessed 30 July 2012).
Haythornwaites paper looks at transformations in learning – who learns what, where and when, focusing on the changes that technology brings – conversation, participation and community.
Is the balance changing?
It is suggested that there is an imbalance of who does the work and who benefits, and the work of ‘verifying’ sources has fallen to the uses. (pointing out that 71% use ineternet for convenience). New media literacies = social skills. Ways of interacting with the larger community.
Technology changes relationships.
Leaders and concurrent learners:
·         What is expertise? (from the learners)
·         Fear that teacher will be obsolete (from leaders)
·         Will learners think experts unnecessary? (personally I think this is highly unlikely if the experts are also good at engaging)
·         To whom will the uni degree matter?
·         Online learning has seen evolution and re-negotiation of roles, where students have to be more responsive. The learner is no longer the ‘empty vessel’ but the learning leader.
·         ‘co-learning’ pedgagogy. From one to many transfer of knowledge to many to many, exchange of knowledge. Noted that the shared coming to of knowledge through novices helping each other, is mirrored in the behaviour of experts. (so does that mean that we are now creating new experts?)
I also found it interesting to note that there have been changing in the way online behaviour is managed. From having to manage behaving appropriately, to now getting people to participate.
Relationships with past learners – “joining a community is negiotiating current and historical discussion”. The internet stays there, even if people more away. Therefore the path of these discussions can be traced back.
Relationships with documents – what’s in a name? Can we trust sources? Is there a mutability of online resources? Does there need to be a new media literacy?
Relationships with local community and networks – meaning of local changes online and we need different skills for global practices (like managing time distributed conversations.)
There is a need for social boundaries in place of the physical.
Activity 1
What evidence is there of this shift towards taking responsibility for learning by the learners themselves? I don’t have much experience within the education system, but I am sure I can draw on many of the papers and stats we have seen over the module that give examples of learners taking responsibility. Traditionally this may have been more of a focus in higher education. But when educating volunteers about young people and the internet, time and again I hear that schools are giving young people homework that involves searching on the internet. One could say that most homework is about taking responsibility for ones learning, but I remember homework mostly being the things we didn’t finish in the day.
In my professional life I deal with informal learning. Professional development for volunteers to ensure that they understand what’s going on in the world an how that affects their roles in Scouting, and thus young people. Very much you have to inspire to get attention, or have learners who are truly motivated about your subject. They don’t get qualifications – but they do get better relationships and activities with the young people they volunteer with.
Is Haythornthwaite’s account an idealised version of learner behaviour in your view? I see traits of this in many learners and often a dichotomy of approach. You have those who relish the collaborative elements and for whom the best bits are learning from each other. And others who get frustrated when there is not enough from the expert at the front – they don’t see themselves as experts and want to know the answers. In some ways the best learners are the best facilitators/trainers. They use the opportunities to learn and are motivated.
In the light of your own responses and experience, does this ‘new paradigm’ indicate the redundancy of the practitioner? Absolutely not. In many ways I see myself as encouraging others to be practitioners. Practice is about how we do things – and that changes as we learn, build relationships, meet new situations. In some ways it’s a bit like Seely-Browns cognitive apprenticeship. For lifelong learners it is a constant cycle.
Or, on the contrary, does it indicate the need for a practitioner with in-depth knowledge of how new technologies can be harnessed and with the time to provide facilitation and support to students as they take on these new responsibilities? Most probably!

What has Twitter given me this week?

The Merging of innovation, technology and change Jeffrey Vargas gives us a glimpse into the future. (courtesy of Microsoft)
·         Interactive whiteboard....using the cloud
·         Gaming tools enhancing work experience
·         The ‘all screen’ desktop
·         The super device
Also this film takes it a step further....




Mobile technology at the heart of personal computing. John Naughton’s “informed bewilderment”.  So many numbers we don’t know what to do. He picks out some key findings from Ofcom report:
  • Home internet access rose by 3%  from 2011 – 2012. 80% of homes have internet access.
  • 76% home have broadband connection
  • 65 – 74 yr old showed largest rise, 9%, in internet access
  • 2/5ths of UK adults use Smartphone’s
  • 4 in 10 Smartphone users say phone most important device they have for accessing internet
  • Volume of calls made from mobile phones fell by 1.1%
The internet is now part of normal life....the future’s mobile?
Do you know the history of online education? Why do we all love an infographic?!


Data Changes Everything: Delivering on the Promise of Learning Analytics EDUCAUSE Starting to see several threads emerging in regards to learning analytics – friend or foe? This was also something that has graced the Horizon reports for a couple of years now.

“Can't get enough of these infographics—this one is on the future of education technology http://bit.ly/Qjjldx  #edtech
'Workplace Learning: New Thinking & Practice' output from the Workplace Learning group at the EFMD . The report makes for an interesting read, and probably no surprises.
“people learn mainly through doing rather than through knowing”
Work-life was much simpler in the last century. Information work entailed following instructions and procedures, and logical analysis. Today’s concept work is improvisation. Learning leaders must deal with situations that aren’t in the rule book. Concept work relies on pattern recognition, tacit knowledge and the wisdom born of experience. You can’t pick this up in a classroom or workshop.”
Addiction to work, not gadgets, is bringing us down. A counterpoint to the argument that technology makes us addicts. Alexis  Madrigal considers whether it’s changes in work practices  that bring us down – i.e. our devices enable us to work 24/7 so we perpetuate the assumption that we will. Alexis argues that we need to change our approach to work.

The numbers are 20 million minors on FB / 7.5 million younger than 13 and 5 million 10 and under - Consumer Reports . An article more focused on my role and research at work with young people, but interesting none the less. Some interesting guidance as well. We are often beset with the moral dilemma – do we not allow under 13s a FB account or do we educate them how to be safe online. I always advocate openness and trust, exploring these things in partnership, rather than outright banning. After all, kids growing into teenagers like to break boundaries and take risks – that’s what they do. We can be their ‘guide on the side’.
New survey provides insight into who enrolls in online programs, and why: http://bit.ly/MVZV7O  An interesting survey that sees woman as the main enrollers in online learning courses – although many of these seems to be business based.“When choosing an online institution, the respondents said they value reputation above all else, with price tag coming in a close second.”
Steve Wheeler asks have you subverted the rules? A reminder of the need for a sense of wonder, spirit of discovery and individual progress. I often remember the side alley that a few of us used to wait in during street running. We had to do circuits so we would wait until the others had been round several times. No one checked on us, and I think that may have instilled in me a sense of challenge for unnecessary rules. However I also remember many moments of going to teachers and asking for help, both financially and other. This certainly instill in me the idea that you are no worse off if you ask, or the old phrase ‘don’t ask, don’t get’. We go back to this idea of pushing boundaries – this is what helps young people to discover their own identities – so sometimes, we should help them break the rules – after all there is a guilty pleasure in breaking rules together!
Because it's important...What to do if you’re being bullied on Facebook - the official guide: http://on.fb.me/LLoSqm  So Facebook are starting to get things right. There’s also another interesting take on how employees manage this....
The usefulness of useless knowledge – a must-read circa 1939, timelier than ever http://j.mp/LTi2KG 
Institutions of learning should be devoted to the cultivation of curiosity and the less they are deflected by considerations of immediacy of application, the more likely they are to contribute not only to human welfare but to the equally important satisfaction of intellectual interest which may indeed be said to have become the ruling passion of intellectual life in modern times. “
Fascinating insights into the link between economic growth and test scores, in 49 countries, and the 50 US states
Social Media and the Art of Being Interested  It’s incredibly rare – and becoming more so – to find someone who’s truly interested in others.”

Tim O’Reilly Faire PlayNew industries start with people having fun”
Why social networks are different from other types of networks. http://www.mendeley.com/research/why-social-networks-are-different-from-other-types-of-networks/ …  Interesting read after talking about ‘network’ metaphors last week.

Thursday 26 July 2012

Metaphors for describing the digital world.

These little things crop up all over the place. When is a Metaphor not a metaphor?
(Well my other half thinks that the ‘network’ metaphor for technology is not a metaphor as the internet is a ‘network’ and it’s too closely related.)

There is some interesting stuff out there on this, some of which is a bit out there but you may find interesting to broaden the context (if you have the time).
This is a paper that looks at research on conceptions of internet.

“The way we describe something can affect the way we perceive it and way we perceive it can affect the way we use it”

The key message here is about finding out how users describe the online environment, and why they describe it this way.

“Metaphors from novices often bear a sense of confusion, complexity or frustration while experts are much more anchored in reality.”

Metaphorik “What can Internet metaphors reveal about the changing perception of the Internet?” Is an interesting look at metaphors and in summary how internet is now part of the world rather than different world

Six metaphors This is a left-field entry, with an interesting take on looking at the metaphors we could use for the internet. (Shank 2001) Thought-provoking stuff!
 “To our knowledge, none of these metaphors have ever been used before to describe the Internet or Internet Culture”

Albatross  We talk about the soaring potential of the Internet to teaching and learning. The future promises to be a graceful one.  Bringing it down to earth, apply in to the classroom and we’re witness to the potent structure stumbling along its way in the present.”
When developing our learning theories we should look at where they have to land.

Chiaroscuro (use and interplay of light and dark) “…out of the darkness at the edge where the network of connections emerges the Internet is taking on its new form. Between the time we access a web page and the time we finish reading it, someone somewhere in the world has uploaded yet another web page that will change the nature of what we have just read.”

When teaching we are reminded to give up our search for absolutes. We should seek the yin to the yang of each and every one of our theories and findings on teaching and learning using technology.

Diadem -   “If the Internet is a diadem, then it is a crown designed by M.C. Escher and crafted by Moebius.  It is a crowning adornment of culture but there is no centerpiece, no privileged spot……as the Internet has grown, and as various branches of Internet Culture have taken form, then the formlessness of the Internet has oscillated into branches of hierarchical structure and order almost inevitably…..There are sick people, and crazy people, and misguided people, and stupid people, and hate-filled people out there making web pages and chatting and posting messages that mimic the trappings of civilized thought”

“When teaching and learning we must define which people can wear the crown and how to find the and we must make it clear to our young learners that the diadem they reach for is poised on the top of thorns.”

Saprogen (organism living upon nonliving organic matter and capable of causing it’s transformation)
“The Internet is spreading its influence nourished by the decaying methods of didactic information….although shaped by literacy, the Internet manifests the "other" of literate behavior”

“Staying current requires the actions of teachers and learners to recognize and become familiar with the saprogenic nature of the Internet.  It is a simple concept with complex consequences.  It is scalable, malleable and all very adaptable.”

Shibboleth (something that reveals group identity).
“The Internet is a shibbolethic sea, a medium where use virtually signifies access, class, cultural identity, and profession. On one level it is a way to transform impressions into stereotypes; it used to be that you could tell what someone was like by their record collection, but now all you have to do is look at their bookmarks. And yet, the concept of the shibboleth goes well beyond the idea of just places and passwords. Its very intonation is whispered, speaking of private access to those inner circles characterized not only by privilege but also by committed belief.”

“The distinction between teacher and student based on authority over content is blurred and those that are part of a learning community cannot belong in the same way as before. It begs the question, what is a student or a teacher?”

Zebra
“The most interesting things about the zebra are those things that it is not.  It is not a type of horse, even though it looks like one. Why is it, even though we realize that the zebra is not a horse, do we persist in thinking of it as a horse? It is not white with black stripes.  It is black, with white markings.  How is it that these white markings, which accentuate the zebra, take over and define its basic color as a form of markings?”

“The zebra is our metaphorical marker on the persistence of appearance and tradition, and how these factors can interfere with understanding what it is that we see right before our eyes…education must accept what technology is and not what it’s thoughts to be.”

Shank ends by telling us that he is leaving us with a sense of incompleteness.
“ We need to leave the reader with a sense of incompleteness in our resolution of the metaphors…. you need to work with the tensions in meaning created by our lack of resolution.  How have we not understood, or misunderstood, Internet Culture from your vantage point?”

Summary

Metaphors also come with their own conceptions and perceptions. When using them we need to know what are learners and teachers get from them – do we need to be explicit about them? But does that explicitness negate the mystery and personal exploration of the metaphor? Do we need to construct our metaphor, as with the learning environment to guide people.

For me some clear points stand out:

  • How we describe something may affect how it is used
  • Understanding personal metaphors may help us understand motivations and feelings about technology
  • When developing learning theories we need to be grounded
  • We need to recognise the changing nature of the internet and what that means
  • We need to accept what technology is and what it can do

Saturday 21 July 2012

Personal Knowledge Management

I have been following the blog, and tweets of Harold Jarche for a while now, and thought that I need to make a start on my knowledge management. In particular, I have been reinvigorated with twitter as sharing and finding out about news, articles and info around things that interest me. Jarche talks about the need for managing/curating your knowledge . In essence how do you put it into place.
Anyway...some highlights from the last month of tweeting. Maybe I will make this a Weekly thing?!
Differences between Literacies, Skills and competencies I like listening to what Doug has to say in his blog.
"The important point to make here is that whilst competencies can be seen as ‘bundles of skills’, literacies cannot. You cannot become literate merely through skill acquisition – there are meta-level processes also required. To be literate requires an awareness that you are, indeed, literate."

Alex Williams talks about moving data....in homage to johnny Mnemonic...and another film reference in Possibly Minority report
Four billion smart phones will be sold between 2011 and 2015...  I guess mobile technology is changing our lives....

Mathew Ingram raises the question once again about mobile technology distracting our lives? I agree with the arguments against  it makes us less social.
"The democratization of connections, collisions and therefore thinking is historically unprecedented. We are the first generation to have the information equivalent of the Large Hadron Collider for ideas. And if that doesn’t change the way you think, nothing will."

Paul Prinsloo has a fab blog post about independent learners (I may have been hooked by the use of the lone ranger and don Quixote). An interesting post which reminded me of the acquisition and participation metaphors.

"...a more pertinent question is whether independence and autonomy are still valid characteristics of learners in the 21st century where collaboration and connected knowledge's are required and valued."

I have also giggled at maslow, social media style (A favourite of ours).
Steve Wheeler, another favourite blogger also kickstarted a week of looking at education in his stuck in the past blog. It picks up on some of the creativity and innovation that the vision of future learning in my last post highlighted.
The guardian offered some sobering food for thought  on graduates of 2012....
"This is the first generation able to treat knowledge like software: available for upload, use, upgrade and eventual disposal. They are able to start with levels of knowledge previous generations had to learn through a long process of ingestion and skill acquisition. Now all they need is for the economic model to catch up with the human potential technology has created."



We have had some positive stories about young people
ban on mobiles at school lifted

along with some negative or questioning ones,

which makes one wonder, especially when you work with developing young people, about how we have managed to get such varied perceptions.

 But finally my favourite tweet...


'knowledge is like love.you can give it all away but you still get to keep it.'


The future of learning?

Part of last week's tasks was to look at the horizon report 2012.


Since Sylvia introduce them to me last year in H807, I have been looking at these and it's always interesting to compare to other research going on, like the Towards Maturity Benchmarking. (what's interesting is that both organisations have used videos alongside the reports this year.)


Horizon 2012 Key Trends
People expect to be able to work, learn, study whenever and wherever they want to.
  • The technologies we use are increasingly cloud-based, and our notions of IT support are decentralised
  • the world of work is increasingly collaborative, +driving changes in the way student projects are structured.
  • The abundance of resources and relationships made easily accessible via internet is increasingly challenging us to revisit our roles as educators
  • Education paradigms are shifting to include online learning, hybrid learning and collaborative models
  • There is a new emphasis in the classroom on more challenge-based and active learning.
Technologies to watch
  • mobile apps
  • tablet computing
  • gesture based computing
  • the internet of things
Interestingly if you look back over the Horizon report, you will find many of the trends are the same - which means we are still talking and thinking about the same things. In 2011 electronic books and mobile technology were the technologies to watch, and you can see how these have moved on to apps. Game based learning has also been on the horizon since 2005 in some shape or form, alongside the challenge of digital literacy. It makes one wonder what we have been doing to improve digital literacy if it has been a challenge for over five years.
I also took a wider look at the future of learning and what innovation may be. I came across a number of resources on the European Commission Institute for prospective technologies.

The future of Learning 2010 is a vision from Teacher of what learning will look like. There are some interesting insights in the report including:
  • Learning objectives to focus on competencies rather than knowledge
  • learning to be tailored to the needs of individual
  • learning to be more active and connected to real life
  • technologies to be an integrated part of learning and life
  • teachers to become life-long learners themselves.
Challenges echo some of those in Horizon. Education needing to respond to the needs of economy and society, with teachers being encouraged to be part of implementing change, where organisations allow innovation to happen in education. More knowledge needed around ICT as already impacting changes in learning and policies need to be better linked to developing practices.

The competencies talked about were:
  • traditional basic skills
  • communication skills
  • digital competence
  • transversal (learning to learn, innovation and creativity)
  • social and civic skills
The new elements included more problem solving and ability to express effectively, as well as being able to respond to change and establish identity, of self, digitally and culturally, and more inks to environment and nature.

It's interesting that establishing and developing oneself, living and working with others and coping with change seem to be prime focus - areas that probably sit comfortably in the life-long learning sector.
We can't say that technology isn't changing the way we learn. We have more access to information and more need to make sense of it - but in an increasingly social online world, it's interesting that core personal and identity development seems to be a key driver in the perceptions of teachers. It's also interesting that some of this echoes the practices of some breakaway educational movements like that of Montessori.



Tuesday 17 July 2012

Conole notes

(sorry just some notes here for my benefit)

Conole, G. (2011) ‘Stepping over the edge: the implications of new technologies for education’ in Lee, M.J.W. and McLoughlin, C. (eds) Web 2.0-based E-learning: Applying Social Informatics for Tertiary Teaching, Hershey, PA, IGI Global;

Key points
Evolution of technology:
Rise of PC > Internet > uptake of LMS in institutions > social networking tools

(Pea,2008) 5 stages of change
  1. Cultural mediation (f2f comms)
  2. Symbol  mediation (text/letters)
  3. Communication mediation (Phone, radio, tv)
  4. Network mediation (networks and the internet)
  5. Cyber infrastructure mediation (cloud computing, ubiquitous access, constant contact, smart techs)
Development of technologies is linked with the co-evolution of tools and users – Pea argues that as a result of these, learning has evolved. Such ‘ripples of change’ impact on individual practices and roles.

Web 2.0 – the classification of its functionalities is different because they are multifaceted by nature. Moved from desktop tools to web tools....”consume information at location and in formats we choose”

Technologies in Education
  • Web 2.0 = new forms of dialogue and communication, co-construction of knowledge and reflection.
  • Used in different disciplines to foster specific learning approaches and address educational challenges (like diversity and access).
  • Dilemma of free resources – finding appropriate resources and knowing how to use them is specialist knowledge.
  • “Boundaries between roles is blurring as user adopt multiple and complex identities in the digital environment”
Learners:
  • Technologies core tool for learning – PC/laptop complemented by mobile devices
  • Appropriation of tools to preferred way
  • Internet primary information resource
  • Uptake of social networking tools rising
  • Some argue way in which learners learn is changing/different
  • Others lack skills to harness technology for academic purpose.
Implications for teachers and support staff:
  • Use of technology not ubiquitous
  • Mostly populated by those with interest in technology and not just academics
  • Teachers already juggle complex range of duties/boundaries of role not clear/threat of change in role as ‘teacer’
  • Most institutions don’t give professional support to professional development
  • “students increasingly developing their own sophisticated PLEs, while teachers grapple to keep up with latest technology”
  • Cultural context – research over teaching, investing time in technology low priority
  • Peer networks not as developed through teachers
  • Support has a frustrating battle to convince of importance of technology; are often unclear of the balance of support needed and there may be a requirement for constantly changing support structures
Institutions:
  • Most working with inappropriate and outmoded legacy systems and environments that are at odds with new approaches
  • Tools available only while a ‘student’
  • Low data limits of student accounts
  • Often students using own tools and those on offer inferior

Making sense of complexity
  1. New design, new pedagogy (teachers cannot be expect to remain up to date – need for collective wisdom)
  2. Navigating digital space (holistic view of technology and users together, change in metaphors)

Digital space as : spatial, temporal, functional, connected
Metaphors (drawing on Morgan 1986 organisation metaphors) to help explore the understanding of different practices and values and the power relationships.
  • Machine
  • Brain
  • Organism
  • Culture
  • Political system
“providing a narrative path through digital space”

“living in environment of constant flux....no individual can be master of all...need to harness network approaches of new technology...tools and users need to co-evolve.”