conole hertfordshire

Contemporary perspectives in e-learning research

Gráinne Conole, University of Leicester University of Hertfordshire

21st March 12012

Outline• The e-learning landscape • Affordances of new technologies• From Gutenberg to Zuckerberg• Learner experience• New pedagogies• Open practices• Teacher practice and paradoxes• Strategies for change

– The VLE as a Trojan horse– New approaches to design

• Metaphors

Emergent technologies and affordances

Resources, OER and Pedagogical Patterns

The e-learning landscape

E-pe

dago

gies

, str

ateg

ies

and

lear

ning

des

ign

Interventions

Theo

ry a

nd m

etho

dolo

gy

Evaluations

Technological trends• Mobiles and e-books• Games-based learning &

learning analytics• Gesture-based learning &

the Internet of things• Personalised learning• Cloud computing• Ubiquitous learning• BYOD (Bring your own device)• Digital content• The flipped classroomhttp://learn231.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/trend-report-1/

User generated content

Peer critiquing

Networked

Collective aggregation

Personalised

Open

Social media revolutionThe machine is us/ing us

www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/EvidenceNet/Conole_Alevizou_2010.pdf

Gutenberg to Zuckerberg

• Take the long view• The web is not the net• Disruption is a feature• Ecologies not economics• Complexity is the new reality• The network is now the computer• The web is evolving• Copyright or copywrong• Orwell (fear) or Huxley (pleasure)http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/2617472088/

http://memex.naughtons.org/

Disruptive technologies

• Characteristics– No central ownership– Ecology of abundance

• Examples– The web– Napster– Malware

• Technology immersed• Learning approaches: task-

orientated, experiential, just in time, cumulative, social

• Personalised digital learning environment

• Mix of institutional systems and cloud-based tools and services

• Use of course materials with free resources Sharpe, Beetham and De Freitas, 2010

Learner experience

http://www.educause.edu/studentsAndTechnologyInfographic

Reflection Dialogue

Collaboration Application

The essence of learning

Social

Individual

Informal Formal

Information

Experience

A pedagogy framework

Mapping e-Pedagogies to technologies

Pedagogies• Problem-Based Learning (PBL)• Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL)• Didactic (Did)• Reflection (Ref)• Dialogic Learning (Dial)• Collaboration (Collab)• Assessment (Ass)• Communities of Practice (CoP)• IBL – social• User-Generated Content (UGC)

Technologies• Virtual Worlds (VW)• Google• E-Books• Blogs, e-Portfolios• Discussion Forums (DF)• Wikis• MCQs• Google+• Twitter• Youtube

Social

Individual

Informal Formal

Information

Experience

Social

Individual

Informal Formal

PBL/VWDial/forumCollab/Wiki

IBL/TwitterCoP/Google+Dial/Skype

Ref/BlogIBL/GoogleUGC/YouTube

Ref/e-PortfolioDid/e-BookAss/MCQs

Social

Individual

Informal Formal

Information

Experience

Experience

Information

Informal Formal

PBL/VWRef/e-PortfolioDial/Forum

Ref/BlogCoP/Google+Dial/Skype

IBL/TwitterIBL/GoogleUGC/YouTube

Coll/WikiDid/e-BookAss/MCQs

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Mobile learning

E-booksStudy calendarsLearning resourcesOnline modulesAnnotation toolsCommunication mechanisms Podcasting

The Personal Inquiry projectInquiry-based learning across formal and informal settingsSharples, Scanlon et al.http://www.pi-project.ac.uk

My community

Inquiry-based learning

Virtual genetics lab

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMMfHZUNpZY&feature=youtu.be

The SWIFT project

Promise and reality

Social and participatory media offer new ways to communicate and collaborate

Wealth of free resources and tools

Not fully exploited

Replicating bad pedagogy

Lack of time and skills

20

Pandora’s box

Open resources Open courses

Open scholarship Open research

Open practices

Open resources

http://www.oer-quality.org/

Open courses

http://mooc.ca/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW3gMGqcZQc

MassiveOpen Online Course

• Exploiting the digital network• New forms of dissemination

and communication• Promoting reflective practice• Embracing the affordances of

new technologies

Open scholarship

Weller: http://nogoodreason.typepad.co.uk/

Open research

Citation indicators

Open accreditation

www.p2pu.org/en/

Peer to Peer University

wikieducator.org/OER_university/

OER University

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•Technologies not extensively used (Molenda)

•Lack of uptake of OER (McAndrew et al.)

•Little use beyond early adopters (Rogers)

•Despite rhetoric and funding little evidence of transformation (Cuban, Ehlers)

Pandora’s box

Teacher practices: paradoxes

The VLE as a Trojan horse

• VLE as a safe nursery slope• Shift from content to

activities• Promote reflection and

collaboration• Mobile VLE• Integration with cloud

computing

Blackboard audit

• Data– Online survey (260 returns)– Departmental visits

• Key findings– Used as content repository and

administration– Pockets of innovation– More support needed on

effective design strategies– Tension between teaching and

research– Usability issue

Blackboard+ at Leicester

BB plus Google+Maths video-lets

Prof-casts

History conundrum Voicethread

Learning Design

Shift from belief-based, implicit approaches to design-

based, explicit approaches

Encourages reflective, scholarly practices

Promotes sharing and discussion

Learning DesignA design-based approach to creation and support of

courses

http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/OULDI/

ConsolidateEvaluate and embed your design

ConceptualiseWhat do we want to design, who for

and why?

http://beyonddistance.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/carpe-diem-the-7cs-of-design-and-delivery/

Carpe Diem:7Cs of learning Design

How to ruin a course

http://linoit.com/home

Course features

Group A – not includedGroup B – used to some extentGroup C – significantly present

Course map view

Pedagogy profile view

• Assimilative– Reading, viewing, listening

• Information handling– Manipulating data

• Communicative– Dialogic interactions

• Productive– Creating an artefact

• Experiential– Practicing, mimicking

• Adaptive– Modeling or simulation

http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloud/view/2459

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Collaboration

Metaphors

EcologiesSpaces

Memes Rhizomeshttp://e4innovation.com/?p=489

Ecologies

• Co-evolution of tools and users

• Niches colonisation of new habitats

• Survival of the fittest

MemesAn internet meme is somethingThat spreads like wildfire on theWeb (Blackmore)

To describe the interactionwith digital technologies

What makes us different Is our ability to imitate

The Internet allows forThe unprecedented Spreading of ideas

Issues in terms of convergence of thought

Spaces

Rhizomes

• A rhizome is a stem of a plant that sends out roots as it spreads. Describes the way that ideas are multiple, interconnected and self-replicating. A rhizome has no beginning or end like a learning process

http://davecormier.com/edblog/2011/11/05/rhizomatic-learning-why-learn/

MSc in Learning Innovation

Technology-Enhanced Learning

Learning Design

Research Design and Methods

Case Studies of Innovation

Dissertation

28 – 30th March 2012

http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/beyond-distance-research-alliance/festival

Conole, G. (forthcoming), Designing for learning in an open world, New York: SpringerChapters available on dropbox

grainne.conole@le.ac.uk