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Bogues 2001: A-2: Campus numériques - Digital campus - Campus numéricos 1

Alexandra Bal Paris 13, SIF, France

Ryerson University, New Media,Toronto

L’autonomie de l’apprenant

Un enjeu pour la globalisation de l’éducation virtuelle

The Learner’s Autonomy

A strategic tool in the globalization of virtual education

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The promotional context of experimental technological trials in higher education

The enhancement of learners’ autonomy is often central to the modernization discourse of university based pilot projects:

Society is changing : Promotion of Post-Industrial and Knowledge Based societal models

The Educational system has to adapt: Since Innovation requires the development of personalized learning skills Learning strategies that promote learners’ autonomy are required.

The technologisation of education can help as it is considered : To be able to personalized diverse student motivations To be inherently user-centred, therefore a tool for active learning To be able to increase student autonomy in the learning process

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The Pedagogical Paradox

The promoted new pedagogical practices are not often present in new applications.

The learner’s autonomy is assumed to be pre-existent, while it needs to be fostered (Linard, 2000)

The conceptual framework of many educational application often neglects the mental work required from the user and the gradual learning curve of the processes.

The fact that the evaluations of experimental trials rarely discuss these findings points to the fact that the improvement of the educational process is not central to such projects. What is then at stake in these trials?

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Theoretical Framework

incorporating actors’ strategies to the analysis of such projects, it is noticed that: These trials tend to regroup actors possessing diverging industrial and

pedagogical objectives, who need to collaborate to evaluate potential implementation methodologies and usage of educational innovation (Tremblay, 1998)

The technologisation of learning requires the standardization and rationalization of its processes, and leads to the reorganisation of the teaching profession. Manifestation of a certain re-industrialisation of education (Moeglin, 1999)

In this context, the user’s autonomy can be a means to justify the priority given to the development of industrial learning technologies (Combès et Payeur,1997)

These findings point to the fact that technology, not learning, is being studied in experimental trials.

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Hypothesis

The learner’s autonomy is a prerequisite to the industrialisation of learning processes, as it is essential to the mass distribution of virtual educational applications and to the promotion of user-centred products adaptable to a diverse client/learner base.

By analysing an experimental e-learning project, we are trying to apprehend

1. the diverse forms of autonomy experimentors refer to. 2. the value assigned to e-learning as a pedagogical, industrial and social

tool.

This second level of questioning is important as while our actors all consider e-learning as a requirement of a global economy, their individual professional bias motivates conflicting and incompatible social and ideological finalities.

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An Ontario experimental trial in e-formation

Ontario based experimentation regrouping industrial and university actors exploring: The capacity of Telecommunication systems to support large

scale virtual offerings. The capacity of different mediation models to create adaptable

content Applicable to diverse subject matters Responding to the needs of both the university and private sectors

The offering of educational applications that personalize the learning process while being transmitted in mass to diverse student populations.

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Three levels of analysis

We analysed three aspects of the actors logics:II. Pedagogical: Their conflicting theoretical positions affect

how the notion of autonomy is to be translated in the application

III. Socio-economical: some actors support knowledge globalization others free distributed knowledge sharing, which fuels their conflicting definitions of a pre-existant learner’s autonomy.

IV. Industrial:All looking for a way to standardise active learning, they rationalize the use of incompatible educational forms.

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I. Pedagogical logics

Paradoxal use of the concept of autonomy : defined as a constructivist concept but utilized within a behaviorist or cognitive framework and assumed to be pre-existent.

Opposite visions of the virtual system: conflicting views as to what structure (open or close hierarchical architecture) should be utilized to create the system’s infrastructure and for the codification of content

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Conflicting views: Learning as conditionment or bricolage

Personnalisation: Customized curriculum. The learner can structure and develop his/her own curriculum

individualisation of learning rhythms and conditioning activities

Learning objectives

Facilitates the learning experience

Controls the entire learning process

Teacher

Responsive, assist in Self-directed learning

Pre-programmed: Tutorials / individualized linear training

Applications

Innate ability. Learners is a bricoleur who controls all aspect of learning

Limited, the learner must be guided in the learning process

Autonomy

The inneist logicThe materialistic Logic

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Opposite system design principles

Information « pull »: the content adapts to the « bricoleur » user.

Information « push »: the learner adapts to the content

System supports

Flexible codification of informationNon-linear and modular configuration for real time manipulation. Transmission of adaptable knowledge maps.

Systemized codification of informationLinear and fixed (non editable) configuration of information

codification

Open ended, Distributed access to learning resources, communication system and Customized learning tools

On demand Mass distribution system of standardised educational products

Personalized through a tutor and Indirect communication (via maps)

Mass transmission of the same message to many. Use electronic email lists.

Communication

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Hybridization

From these two incompatible models, emerges a third

The user chooses the application that suits his/her motivation and learning objectives.

Some time this means pulling and sometime pushing information

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Obstacles to the creation of the system

The user’s autonomy is not longer an objective of the learning process but assumed to be pre-existent

No discussion of the learning curve required to familiarize individuals to the complex technical system.

The system does not contain much human interaction, since it is difficult to utilised in a massive system.

Learning is considered to be equivalent to the mechanical structure of the information system. Priority is given to the structural, not the relational, aspects of learning.

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2. socio-economical references

Why are educators interested in a technical system that does not necessarily enhance learning? The analysis of their social and economical

references reveal that the social mutation they envision can not exist without a virtual educational system.

The pre-existing autonomy of the user becomes an important predefining element of virtualisation

The technologisation of the system is indeed central to their preoccupation.

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globalisation versus world based knowledge sharing

User-centred. Active learning.

Knowledge centred as knowledge is a commodity

Learning

Virtual community connecting individuals and information. monopoly nor control of information

economical system that develops world markets by selling standardised products

Virtual education

Individual is free to participate to discourse and debate

Individual is free to choose how to better his/her human capital

Autonomy

brakes from the industrial model

evolution of the industrial model

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Which logic dominates?

The experimentators ignore these ideological difference by positioning innovation at the heart of the educational system.

They implicitly give priority to economical not social objectives since they have to produce standardized learning applications. Need to decrease production and usage cost Need to create applications adaptable to many

disciplines.

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3. Industrial logics: Standardization of knowledge or of tools?

Two type of standardization are present: Information “push”: Creation of standards

educational products for a segmented market Information “pull”: Creation of standards educational

“dialogical” and virtual tools, services for a personalized education

Digital campus: hybrid forms in a self-service Products: varied forms of content (modular/linear) Services: open and closed. Information and

communication Based

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Rationalization of teaching

In all cases: Teachers become content producer Their relationship to students decreases Their role in the learning process becomes

oriented towards information processing. The ccontrol of the learning process goes to

other players (tutors, external experts, machine)

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Conclusion

The wish to the see education respond to today’s societal needs requires it’s technologisation.

An economical, not pedagogical, framework tries to legitimize the technologisation of knowledge through experimental trials.

The fact that learning is not the central preoccupation to these projects, explains the existence of pedagogical inconsistencies: Non existence of highly promoted active learning methods, too

difficult to standardize Use of the concept of Autonomy without its constructivist

framework helps to facilitate the introduction of self-service in education

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questions

Paradoxe: The mandate of the present educational system is to develop the intellectual autonomy of the learner. Within a standardized virtual educational system, the learner`s autonomy needs to be pre-existent. What will the university educational mandate become?

If we move towards a virtual system where teachers are no longer directly involve in students’ learning process, who will become responsible for their autonomisation and with what consequences?