estonia e-learning conference 2011 - tartu
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This is an 'evolving" and growing set of slides on Jon Dron and my 3 Generations of Distance Education Pedagogy. Similar to earlier keynotes on 'generations"TRANSCRIPT
Tartu, Estonia, April 2011Technological Challenges and
Opportunities of Three Generations of Distance Education Pedagogies
Terry Anderson, PhD and Professor
Why I am here!
• Why I am Here ??
Feb 1, 2011 Mar 25 2011
Athabasca University, Alberta, Canada
* Athabasca University
34,000 students, 700 courses
100% distance education
Graduate and Undergraduate
programs
Master & Doctorate – Distance Education
Only USA Regionally Accredited
University in Canada
*Athabasca University
• “Canada is a great country, much too cold for common sense, inhabited by compassionate and intelligent people with bad haircuts”. – Yann Martel, Life of Pi, 2002.
The world is moving so fast that there are days when the person who says it can’t be done, keeps getting interrupted by the person doing it.
anonymous
Personally, I’m always ready to learn,Although I do not always like to be taught
Winston Churchill
Overview
• Technology and Learning• Generations and technologies of distance
education pedagogy• Type of knowledge appropriate to each
generation
• Your Comments and Questions!
Values• We can (and must) continuously improve the
quality, effectiveness, appeal, cost and time efficiency of the learning experience.
• Student control and freedom is integral to 21st century life-long education and learning.
• Continuous education opportunity is a basic human right
7Th Grade Learning Today
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEls3tq5wIY• Wendy Dexler – University of Florida
DE/Online/Elearning/Blended Paradigm Wars
Is e-learning just distance education taking steroids??
Is E-learning Distance Education??
Blended or Hybrid Education
Is E-learning Distance Education??
Blended or Hybrid Education
E-Learning
Traditional Technology Generations of Distance Education
Learning as Dance (Anderson, 2008)
• Technology sets the beat and the timing.
• Pedagogy defines the moves.
Social Construction of TechnologyDistance Education is, by definition, technologically mediated and
thus is influenced by technological determinism.BUT…. • Interpretative Flexibility
– each technological artifact has different meanings and interpretations• Relevant Social Groups
– many subgroups of users with different applications• Design Flexibility
– A design is only a single point in the large field of technical possibilities• Problems and Conflicts
– Different interpretations often give rise to conflicts between criteria that are hard to resolve technologically
• (Wikipedia, Sept, 2009)
Bijker, W. (1999). Of Bicycles, Bakelites and Bulbs: Towards a Theory of Sociotechnical Change.
Three Generations of Distance Education Pedagogy
1. Behaviourist/Cognitive – Self Paced, Individual Study
2. Constructivist – Groups3. Connectivist – Networks
and Collectives
1. Behavioural/Cognitive Pedagogies
• “tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em,
• tell ‘em • then tell ‘em what you
told ‘em”
Direct Instruction
Gagne’s Events of Instruction (1965)
1. Gain learners' attention2. Inform learner of objectives3. Stimulate recall of previous information4. Present stimulus material5. Provide learner guidance6. Elicit performance7. Provide Feedback8. Assess performance9. Enhance transfer opportunities
Basis of Instructional Systems Design (ISD)
Enhanced by the “cognitive revolution”
• Chunking • Cognitive Load• Working Memory• Multiple Representations• Split-attention effect• Variability Effect• Multi-media effect
– (Sorden, 2005)“learning as acquiring and using conceptual and cognitive structures” Greeno, Collins and Resnick, 1996
Behaviourist/Cognitive Knowledge Is:
• Logically coherent, existing independent of perspective
• Largely context free• Capable of being transmitted• Assumes closed systems with discoverable
relationships between inputs and outputs• Readily defined through learning objectives
New Developments in Behavioural/Cognitive Systems
• Reflection Amplifiers• Social Indicators
– Global feedback– Digital footprints– Archives– Competition and games
• Multiple Representations• Student modeling and adaptation - analytics
Slide 23
Adaptivity in ubiquitous learning
• Extensive modelling of learner’s actions, interactions, “mood”, trends of preferences, skill & knowledge levels, implicit and explicit changes in skill & knowledge levels
• Real-time monitoring of learner’s location, technology use, and change of situational aspects
Open Student Models
• “the learner model now plays a new role – not only can the learner contribute information to help increase the accuracy and therefore the utility of their learner model for adaptation purposes, but the model can also become a learning resource for the student in its own right. “ Susan Bull et al. 2007
• removing the blindness that has to date prevented educators from viewing and learning directly from learner behaviours
Learning Analytics• Unlike traditional adaptive hypermedia and
intelligent tutoring systems that work on a known closed corpus of material,
• Learning analytics is used across multiple, unknown activities and interactions across the net, mining information about patterns of behaviour in order to extract useful information about learning which can then be applied to improve the experience.
1st International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge 2011
Open Open Content and Open Educational Resources
Because it saves time and money!!!
Issues in DistanceEducation Series
aupress.cawww.irrodl.org
Are you More than Your Content?
• lack of motivation for distance education content developers to use OERs ??
• Many DE developers and Faculty define themselves by the production of quality content – not by the consumption and customization of content created by others.
Cog/Beh teams demand:• Effective Project Management• Synchronous and asynchronous distributed
communications• Archiving, and version control• Interoperability• Reuse• Distribution
Enhancing teacher presence through Voice Annotation of essay and
project assignments.
• Phil Ice (USA) – Increased impact of feedback– Students appreciate voice– Increased amount of feedback– SAVES TIME!!– Using Adobe Acrobat
Ice, P., Curtis, R., Phillips, P., & Wells, J. (2007). Using asynchronous audio feedback to enhance teaching presence and students’ sense of community, 11(2), 3-25. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 11(2), 3-25
Many ways that technologies enhance production and learning
of 1st generation Cognitive/behaviourist pedagogy.
2nd Generation DESocial Constructivist Pedagogy
Social Constructivist Learning Pedagogy
• New knowledge is built upon the foundation of previous learning
• The importance of context• Errors and contradictions are useful• Learning as an active rather than passive process, • The importance of language and other social tools in
constructing knowledge• Focus on negotiation, meta-cognition and evaluation as a
means to develop learners’ capacity to assess their own learning
• The importance of multiple perspectives - groups• Need for knowledge to be subject to validation and
application in real world contexts – (from Honebein, 1996; Jonassen, 1991; Kanuka & Anderson, 1999)
Constructivist Knowledge is:
• Learning is located in contexts and relationships rather than merely in the minds of individuals. Greenhow, Robelia & Hughes
(2009),
Kathy Sierra http://www.speedofcreativity.org/
Constructivist learning is based onGroup Learning Providing:
• Motivation• Feedback• Alternate and conflicting viewpoints
Why Groups?• “Students who learn in small groups
generally demonstrate greater academic achievement, express more favorable attitudes toward learning, and persist …
• small-group learning may have particularly large effects on the academic achievement of members of underrepresented groups and the learning-related attitudes of women…” • Springer; Stanne, & Donovan, (1999) P.42
Impact (Mean effect size) of Cooperative versus Individualistic
Learning contextsDependent Variable
Achievement .64 -88
Interpersonal Attraction .67-82
Social Support .62-.83
Self-esteem .58- .67
Time on task .76
Attitudes towards task .57
Quality of reasoning .93
Perspective taking .61
From Johnson and Johnson (1989). Cooperation and competition. Theory and research
Advances in Social Constructivist Learning Tools
• Collaborative tools– Document creation, management, versioning– Time lines, calendars, – Strong notifications
• Security, trust – hosting on institutional space?– Behind firewalls, away from search engines
• Decision making and project management tools• Synchronous and asynchronous
conversations/meetings
User Model & Adaptation for Groups:
TRAC system “extract patterns and other information from the group logs and present it together with desired patterns to the people involved, so that they can interpret it, making use of their own knowledge of the group tasks and activities” (Perera, 2009).
SNAPP Moodle analytics
Gestures, body language rich human presence tools
• Avatar Kinect
Asynchronous Voice technologies
Problems with Groups• Restrictions in time, space, pace, &
relationship - NOT OPEN• Often overly confined by leader
expectation and institutional curriculum control
• Usually Isolated from the authentic world of practice
• “low tolerance of internal difference, sexist and ethicized regulation, high demand for obedience to its norms and exclusionary practices.” Cousin & Deepwell 2005
• “Pathological politeness” and fear of debate
• Group think (Baron, 2005)• Poor preparation for Lifelong Learning
beyond the course
Constructivist learning in Groups is necessary, but not sufficient for advanced forms of learning.
3rd Generation - Networked Learning using Connectivist Pedagogy
• Learning is building networks of information, contacts and resources that are applied to real problems.
Connectivist Learning PrinciplesGeorge Siemens, 2004
• Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources.
• Learning may reside in non-human appliances. • Capacity to know is more critical than what is currently
known. • Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to
facilitate continual learning.• Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and
concepts is a core skill. • Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities.
Connectivist Knowledge is
• Emergent• Distributed• Chaotic• Fragmented• Non sequential• Contextualized
Networks add diversity to learning
“People who live in the intersection of social worlds are at higher risk of having good ideas” Burt, 2005, p. 90
Connectivist Learning is Emergent
• the very uncertainty and lack of predictability of learning outcomes will be the key factor that adds value to a learning community
• emergent systems will provide the necessary triggers to enhance knowledge and understanding
• emergent learning will be one of the critical triggers to unleash individual creativity (Kays & Sims, 2006, p. 411)
Connectivist Learning designs
Awareness and Receptivity
Connection formingSelectionFiltering
Contribution and Involvement
Reflection and Metacognition
Pettenati, M. (2007).
Special Issue of IRRODL on Connectivism March. 2011
• Editors George Siemens and Grainne Conole
Free Subscriptions at www.irrodl.org
Transparency, Persistence• “shared awareness allows
otherwise uncoordinated groups to begin to work together more quickly and more effectively (forming networks)” Clay Shirky 2008 p. 162
• “adjacent possibilities” Stuart Kaufman – ideas sufficiently close geographically or conceptually to propel interaction, contradictions & adoption
Communities of Practice • Distributed• Share common interest• Mostly self organizing• Open – Learning beyond the course• No expectation of meeting or even knowing all
members of the Network• Little expectation of direct reciprocity• Contribute for social capital building, altruism and
a sense of improving the world/practice through contribution.
• Increases exposure to the adjacent possible
(Brown and Duguid, 2001)
Networks
How do we Build Networks of Practice ?
• Motivation – learning plans, self and net efficacy, net-presence, modeling and exposure
• Structural support – Exposure and training– Transparent systems– Wireless access, mobile computing
• Cognitive skills – content + procedural, disclosure control
• Social connections, reciprocity– Creating and sustaining a spiral of social capital building
• Nahapiet & Ghoshal (1998)
Challenges of Connectivist Learning Models
• Privacy • Control • Dealing with disruptive change• Institutional Support• Sustaining motivation and
commitment
Access Controls in Elgg
Group Network
Leveraging the Collective
Dron and Anderson, 2011
Sets
57
Set
Applying the Generations
Anderson, Krathwohl et al (2001) revision of Bloom’s (1956) model of the cognitive domain
Graphics from Atherton (2010)
Cog/Beh1st Gen
Constructuvist.2st Gen
Connectivist.3st Gen
Ist Gen Cog/Behav is Hard
• Rigid Structures• Increased transactional distance• Scalable• Reduces choice,• Reduces Insecurity
Jon Dron 2011
2nd Gen Constructivist is Softer
• Less Structure -> more dialogue (Michael Moore)
• Doesn’t scale
3rd Generation Connectivist
• Emergent, soft• Scalable• Forces learner control
3rd Generation Connectivist
Soft is Hard
3rd Generation Connectivist
Soft is Hard
Soft is the Real World
What distinguishes humans from other primates?
Laland, K. & Galef, B. (2008)The Question of Animal Culture. Harvard University Press
What Distinguishes Humans from other primates?
• Soul? – pre Darwinian• Culture? - ongoing debate in anthropology• Brain size?
• Relative brain size? homo sabiens compared to extinct primates
Species Simple brain-to body ratio (E/S)[1]small birds 1/12human 1/40mouse 1/40
Humans are Unique
• Unusual ability of non relatives in reciprocal cooperation
• Language as conceptual sharing • Social learning- the ability to copy and learn
from what others are doing- Unique??• Kim Hill cited by Wade, T. NY Times
• How can we socially learn without connecting with the expanding “adjacent other”
Humans are Uniquely Social
• Social learning “is not an individual trait but an interaction” Jim Sterelny, 2008 Peace Keeping in the Culture Wars
Support for Informal Learning on Networks
2010 Survey of 125 US learning and training leaders - CARA
3 Generations of DE Summary
Anderson, T. & Dron, J. (2011) Three Generations of Distance Education Pedagogy. IRRODL
Recommendations for teachers
• Be as fearless as your students.• Seek out and create opportunities to
collaborate with and learn from your peers.• Develop your own personal learning system• Explore, experiment and have fun
Conclusion• Behavioural/Cognitive models are useful for memory
and conceptual knowledge acquisition.• Constructivist models develop group skills and trust.• Connectivist models introduce networked learning and
are foundational for lifelong learning in complex contexts.
• 21 century literacys and skills demand effective use of all three pedagogies.
• Don’t argue quality with those from different generations.
Anderson & Dron (in press) 3 generations of DE Pedagogy. International Review of Research in Distance and Open Learning (IRRODL)
Slides available at http://www.slideshare.net/terrya/hub-de-summit-sydney
Terry Anderson [email protected]
Blog: terrya.edublogs.org
Your comments and questions most welcomed!