what is blended learning?
TRANSCRIPT
But technology is everywhere...
‘We are not rethinking some part or aspect of learning, we are rethinking all of learning in these new digital contexts’ (2007)
But technology is everywhere...
For a physical space of learning to exclude the virtual, digital devices would have to be banned, switched off or inoperable. Otherwise the assumption must be that learning in real space is penetrated with information and conversations from elsewhere, and that real world learning events can be captured and amplified into virtual spaces. (2014)
What is ‘blended’ learning?
Independentstudy
Guided/supportedlearning
accessing online content
computer-based tutorialsand tests
producing digital artefacts
collating, curating, note-taking
reviewing, reflecting attending, apprehending
recording, note-taking
virtual tutoring/mentoring
referring to content
accessing virtual communities participating, interacting
presenting, sharing ideas
What is ‘blended’ learning?
Independentstudy
Guided/supportedlearning
accessing online content
computer-based tutorialsand tests
producing digital artefacts
collating, curating, note-taking
reviewing, reflecting attending, apprehending
recording, note-taking
virtual tutoring/mentoring
referring to content
accessing virtual communities participating, interacting
presenting, sharing ideas
All settings are ‘blended’...
Settings are ‘porous’ or leakyBoundaries between personal/institutional are blurring
(time, space, technology, content/services, tasks)
‣ learners are continuously connected
‣ technologies are immersive and intimate
‣ realworld locations aredata nodes
‣ continuous record -> ‘instant memorialising’
What (else) is blurring/blending?
independent taught/guided personal public/institutional informal formal real time record/representation ...? ...?
New things to know‣ (Sub)disciplines: web science,
digital media, internet culture,animation, digital humanities...
‣ Interdisciplinary problems:digital bodies, globalisation,communication design, privacy...
‣Professional issues: ‘What does it mean to be a lawyer in this new ethical space?’
‣What new areas are emergingin your subject or profession?
New ways of knowing
‣ Data collection, analysis, management, re/use:what can be (done with) data?
‣ Secondary research: what andwhere is legitimate knowledge?
‣ Design, inc. research design
‣ Collaboration, inc. remotely
‣ Modes of representation, e.g.data visualisation, animation,virtual worlds, hypermedia, digital presentation...
‣Digital/information literacy is fundamental
New motives for learning‣ fewer traditional graduate jobs,
more informal ‘knowledge’ work
‣ most high value jobs involve digital technologies
‣ 7-10 career changes, loose ties, portfolio careers
‣ constant upgrade (the capable self as lifelong project)
‣ alternatives to a degree: informal learning, online credits, OERs, MOOCs, TED talks, Kahn academy, Google...
‣ Digital/information literacy is fundamental
New practices of learning
social media practices -> new assumptions about sharing, openness, credibility, authority...
personal apps/services -> new practices of collating, collaborating,
writing, referencing...
New practices of learning
reliance on image-based media & graphical interfaces -> new practices of searching, finding, visualising, communicating, managing info
experience of gaming -> high expectations of simulation
environments, micro-reward structures, assessment tasks (coding
as communication of ideas? )
New practices of teaching?
Borderless, blended, flipped classrooms Networked, connected, rhizomatic learning
Open, public, massive, online courses
New practices of teaching?
1. Students locate, evaluate and work with information2. Students collaborate using virtual tools 3. Students communicate ideas in a variety of media4. Students create digital artefacts and leave a digital trace5. Real time is precious: students are prepared, teaching is responsive6. Authentic (academic/professional) tasks: authentic digital practices7. Engagement and feedback from beyond the classroom/cohort8. Students’ digital resources - tools, services, skills, identities - are recognised and valued
Everything must change?
Independentstudy
Guided/supportedlearning
accessing online content
computer-based tutorialsand tests
producing digital artefacts
collating, curating, note-taking
reviewing, reflecting attending, apprehending
recording, note-taking
virtual tutoring/mentoring
referring to content
accessing virtual communities participating, interacting
presenting, sharing ideas
Against the myth of digital ‘natives’‣ Students fundamentally divided
on uses of technology in learning
‣ Learners are different! May have limited or negative digital experiences
‣ Some enjoy virtual engagement, others see it as poor substitute
‣ Learners have difficulty transposing digital practices from social to professional/academic contexts e.g. evaluating information
‣ Creative production and knowledge sharing are minority activities to which most learners are introduced by educators (Selwyn 2011-14)
‣ NetGen (<25yo) use internet more for social/leisure but older, better qualified people use it more for study and self-advancement
‘Digital’ learners still want...shared places and spaces of learning
shared time-of-life, cohort experience
transformational encounters with inspiring teachers
sense of belonging
Universities still make a unique offer ...shared places and spaces of learning
shared time-of-life, cohort experience
transformational encounters with inspiring teachers
sense of belonging
high quality academic content
specialised digital practices
space to play: fluency, resilience, repertoire
‘a professional reputation, carefully managed’
... and must now reframe it in the digital space
A blended curriculum...
Independentstudy
Guided/supportedlearning
... demands that students have information literacy...
... and relevant digital learning experiences