The Wales-Wide Web

incorporated subversion » Un-Managing Learning Management Systems - A possible future for online learning:

Interesting debate opening up on Scott Wilson's first piece on Learning environments of the future. This is James Farmers take on the question - followed by a reply I have left on his site .....I am still trying to write a substantial post but will keep posting bits until I finally get it together.

James says "Take, for example, a typical tertiary student. In any one semester they may well be enrolled in four units each with an online presence each lasting effectively 13-14 weeks… now if each unit has a community and you ask that student to join these communities and keep a blog in each one… the question arises as to whether they would or not… and I’m betting that they wouldn’t (I certainly couldn’t be bothered). Factor into this the matter that they don’t ‘own’ their blogs (the community owns them), they most likely will just get archived / put away somewhere after the term has finished and the fact that probably (certainly presently) their ability to format / develop their bog individually is limited to, if their lucky, a new banner… and I think you’ll get some pretty unmotivated learners.

However, if that learner has their own blog ‘outside’ of the central, managed environment then things can start to look a bit different. Let’s say that in this case they are studying four units and they can simply create categories for each one (so postings relevant to that unit can go there and to their main blog if appropriate), that that category is then aggregated into the ‘central’ area (where unit guides, copyrighted study materials, core materials etc. can also be found) and that this blog also serves as a portfolio cum social tool for the student in question (as each learner has also been furnished with their own aggregator). The student in question owns the content, they are able to develop their blog as they choose and do with their content as they please, they are able to develop an online presence over an extended period of time and become parts of communities through their blog (communities that will form as naturally as communities form in f2f college) and they are able to subvert the technology in many wonderful ways (podcasting, photoblogging, vogging etc. etc.). It’s also their responsibility… and that is a great teacher in itself."

My reply follows:

Extended text for this entry:

Missed this strand somewhere…..Scott’s post has certainly struck a cord…

Two things - first lets not get overhung up on th technology - the point is that the use of blogs does potentially add a little subversion in the system - but what we are really looking for is to free or subvert the whole system of e-learning and we need to extend the idea of blogging (in terms of individual expression and creativity) - across the whole ed-tech range of applications.

Secondly - what I think is missing from Scott’s ideas, although maybe is implicit - is not just that students may be enrolled on one or two or three modules and courses - but that they may combine a formal learning programme with self directed or supported learning from a wide range of different sources including the workplace (which once more may or may not be structured learning) or excternal web sites, bulletin boards, disucssion lists, video and other conferences etc.

This means we need to look again at tools which can allow leaners to yes aggregate their learning experince but at the same time reflect and structure those experiences - that is what will lay at the heart of any Personal Learning environment. Somewhere else Scott says this might look a bit like iTunes (and he makes the excellent throw away remark that we have overemphsised reliance on on-line environments - a future application should work on and off line).

I reckon this would be pretty different form anything we have got at the moment and would cots a lot to build. I reckon it should be a biggggg Open Source project - the firsts tage to agree the educational design.

Anyone any ideas how to organise (not manage!) this?