Post on 27-Mar-2015
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
Learning today…
Provincial Territorial Distance Education AssociationSeptember 25, 2006
Iqaluit, Nunavut
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
What is the purpose of education?
• Culture:– To educate in?– Preserve?
• Prepare for employment?• Prepare for life?• To give life?
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
What does it mean to learn?
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
• “…people are actually quite poor at complex logical calculations, but are very good at quickly recognizing patterns, interrupting ambiguous information, and learning”
Beinhocker The origin of wealth
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
What is the nature of change?
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
What is the nature of change?
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
Lifestyle
• Cultural diversity• Students are working more• Learning from multiple sources (and
institutions)• Practical, implementation• Expectation of relevance
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
• "By obsolete, I mean that our high schools--even when they’re working exactly as designed--cannot teach our kids what they need to know today ….Training the workforce of tomorrow with the high schools of today is like trying to teach kids about today’s computers on a 50-year-old mainframe. It’s the wrong tool for the times."
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showstory.cfm?ArticleID=5586
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
How are we reacting?
• Not well…• We are solving today’s problems with
yesterday’s solutions– Duplicating functionality of old tools– Doing more of what’s not working
• Our primary concern is not money or technology: It’s about vision
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
But is this practical?
• Clear aims through decentralized means
• Channels of content delivery must align with the skills of learners (i.e. where they “live” digitally)
• Context-games• Repurpose in multiple spaces• New tools (2B mobile phones, 820M
Computers) (BusinessWeek)
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
What types of tools?
Functionality:Two-way flowBrings in all voicesKeeps people as
individualsAdaptiveNetworked in nature
(scalable, flexible)
Examples• Blogs• Wikis• Podcasts• Social:
– Social bookmarks– Tags
• End-user content creation and classification
• LMS
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
Balance
• Centralization with decentralization• Content with conversation• Self-directed with guidance• Amateur with expert• Individuality with group• Innovation with tradition• Immediacy with reflectivity
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
Balance…
• Requires diversity• Multiple approaches• Valuing uncertainty • Understanding tensions• Knowledge as process/flow…and as
product
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
• World wide enrolment in higher education will almost double in the next 25 years (90 million: 2001, 160 million: 2025)
(As cited by Diana Oblinger: http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI063001.pdf)
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
How do we move forward?
• Public education– Teach learning for life– Teach reflection, critical thinking,
creative thinking– Use technology to augment and extend,
not determine learning (Nunavut, Manitoba, remote communities, Aboriginal
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
We need new spaces and new structures of
learning
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
Our learners need new skills
• To see shades and continuums• To use emergent (not predefined) problem
solving (or opportunity engagement)• To navigate a digital landscape• To accept uncertainty, tolerate ambiguity,
comprehend chaos• To build, create personal learning networks• To be whole (acting in light of entire image)
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
Why not try this…• Let them own the tool (but on open
standards)• We supply content and foster conversation• That’s it.
• Blend eportfolios with education (from an early age)
• Give learners control so they have a life history
• Create our content to fit into their space (RSS feed – they subscribe to each course)
Learning Technologies Centrewww.umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies
• http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=1923618305363771016&pr=goog-sl