International Challenges for Technology Enhanced Learningand how to address them in Europe

Mike Sharples, Institute of Educational Technology

Challenge 1

“There must be an ‘industrial revolution’ in education, in which educational science and the ingenuity of educational technology combine to modernize the grossly inefficient and clumsy procedures of conventional education.”

Sidney Pressey (1933). Psychology and the New Education

Sidney Pressey

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Pressey’s Self-testing machineImage copyright OSU photo archives

Challenge 1

Efficient education

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Example: Active learning

● Problem solving exercises

● Personal response systems

● Studio and workshop sessions

plus

● Lab classes

● Formative assessment

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“average examination scores

improved by about 6% in active learning sections, … students in classes with traditional lecturing were 1.5 times more likely to fail than were students in classes with

active learning”Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., McDonough, M., Smith, M.

K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., & Wenderoth, M. P.

(2014). Active learning increases student performance

in science, engineering, and mathematics. 

Proceedings of the National Academy of

Sciences, 111(23), 8410-8415.

Example: Productive failure

●Students who explored first then watched a lecture performed significantly better than lecture-first

●Learning by productive failure has been implemented in over 26 Singapore schools

Learning by exploring complex problems

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Students explore a problem, producing a

range of answers

Teacherexplains the

correct answer using students’

solutions as examples

Productive failure

Teacher presents the

topic and shows how to solve

problems

Students try to solve problems

related to the topic

Lecture-first teaching

www.manukapur.com/research/productive-failure/

Schneider, B., & Blikstein, P. (2016). Flipping the Flipped Classroom: A Study of the Effectiveness of Video Lectures Versus Constructivist Exploration Using Tangible User Interfaces. IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies, 9(1), 5-17.

Example: Spaced learning

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http://www.innovationunit.org/sites/default/files/Spaced_Learning-downloadable_1.pdf

Kelley, P., & Whatson, T. (2013). Making long-term memories in minutes: a spaced learning pattern from memory research in education. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 589.

Based on behavioural and laboratory studies of how Long Term Memories are encoded (DNA synthesis in the synapses of the brain)

Three short learning episodes spaced by 10 minutes of physical activity (e.g. clay modelling)

A controlled study found similar learning outcomes from one hour of spaced learning compared to a four-month course of classroom teaching

Studies are now being repeated in 15 schools

Teacher-led presentation

Students recall key concepts

10 minuteactive break

10 minuteactive break

Students apply

knowledge

Challenge 2

“…providing the 100,000,000 university places now needed by young people in emerging economies desperate for higher education. … The demand for education will continue to rise; we cannot afford to scale up at the current per student cost, in any sector, in any country.”Diana Laurillard, What is the problem for which MOOCs are the solution? Blog post, May 14, 2014. https://ioelondonblog.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/what-is-the-problem-for-which-moocs-are-the-solution/

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Challenge 2

Cost-effective and open education

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Effective: Online and blended learning

US DoE 2009 meta-study of comparisons of online and face to face teaching in higher education

On average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction

Bigger effect in studies that blended online and face-to-face

Blended conditions often included additional learning time and instructional elements not received by students in control conditions

Distinguish hype from reality

B. Means et al. (2009) Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies. US Department of Education

Blended learning

Blending campus and onlineBlending free and accredited/paid-forBlending across locations and settingsEmbracing multiple cultures and languagesCombining new methods of teaching, learning and assessment

Distinguish hype from reality

Costs of classroom vs online education

Total costs for 20 hours First Run SubsequentClassroom €47000 €10000MOOC €35000 €12000

(Informed estimates)

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Total cost per student for 20 hours

First Run Subsequent

Classroom (200 students)

€235 €50

MOOC (5000 students) €7 €2.5

Total cost per student for 20 hours with tuition

First Run Subsequent

Classroom (200 students)

€250 €65

SPOC (500 students) €80 €35

“Significant innovations [in TEL] are developed and embedded over periods of years rather than months. Sustainable change is not a simple matter of product development, testing and roll-out”Scanlon, E. et al. (2013). Beyond prototypes: Enabling innovation in technology enhanced learning. Open University, Milton Keynes.

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Challenge 3

Challenge 3

Sustained innovation

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Improved Educational

Practices

Objectives and strategies for

institutional change

Learning Analytics

Agile development

Sustained innovationDouble loop organisational learning

Learning design

Learning design

Improved Educational

Practices

Objectives and strategies for

institutional change

Theories of effective education

Theory-informed

innovation

Learning Analytics

Design-based research

Agile development

Educational evaluation and insight

Sustained innovationDouble loop organisational learning

Challenge 4●To remain globally competitive and develop

engaged citizens, our schools should weave 21st century competencies and expertise throughout the learning experience.

●Beyond these essential core academic competencies, there is a growing body of research on the importance of non-cognitive competencies as they relate to academic success.

●Non-cognitive competencies include successful navigation through tasks such as forming relationships and solving everyday problems. They also include development of self-awareness, control of impulsivity, executive function, working cooperatively, and caring about oneself and others.

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US Office of Educational Technology, (2016). Future Ready Learning: Reimagining the Role of Technology in Education

Challenge 4

Develop education for the future

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New landscape for education

Hybrid and blended learning

Connecting formal and informal education

Open social networked learning

Adaptive learning technologies

Learning analytics

Global marketplace

The future will be very different to the past

19https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/meet-the-pilot-smart-earpiece-language-translator-headphones-travel#/

How to address these challenges in Europe?

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Efficient education

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●Replicate promising TEL studies from around the worldProductive failure? Spaced learning? Mastery learning? Dynamic formative assessment?

●Build a European TEL evidence base for educators and policy makersBased on common standards for analysing learning

Cost-effective and open education

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● Now more than ever we need open global education, bringing people around the world into conversations for learning

● Open education platform for blended learning (Open edX?)

● Modern European gateway to multilingual educational resources

Modelled on ClassCentral?

Sustained innovation

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●Sustained programme of funding for European TEL research

● Building on excellence (from ProLearn, Kaleidoscope, Stellar, Orphée networks)

● Network of partner schools and colleges to test innovations

● Focus on interaction of new technology with innovative pedagogy

● Collaborative endeavour of educational technologists, computer scientists, psychologists, neuroscientists, social scientists

Education for the future

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●Engage with TEL as a multi-billion Euro industry

●Develop lifelong learning supportConnect learning in informal and formal settings

●European investment in educational future for a digital world

(guided by best evidence)