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Seven issues in the reuse and sharing of online resources
No full textThis is an era marked by rapid developments in three different educational arenas -- access, lifelong learning and e-learning. In both developed and developing countries there is a growing demand for access to education... Alongside this growing demand for access, increased numbers of adults are returning to colleges and universities for additional education and training (CIHE, 2002). Lifelong learning has come of age, brought about by changes in attitudes to learning and in employment patterns, where jobs and careers are recast many times during a lifespan. Permeating and supporting these first two developments, in access and lifelong learning, are developments in information and communication technologies (ICT). New technologies are beginning to transform how higher education is organized and delivered both on campus and at a distance. E-learning affords new opportunities to increase flexibility in time and location of study, in forms of communication (for example, asynchronous discussions) and types of interaction...
Although e-learning has the potential to provide the kinds of flexibility required by wider access and lifelong learning there are some major obstacles. On the one hand, wider access and lifelong learning require vast increases in specially designed course materials to satisfy the greater range of demands for learning. On the other hand, creating the digital resources necessary for online course delivery requires considerable investment, a factor that makes resource development only viable for courses with large student numbers or sizeable budgets. In order to address this difficulty, numerous national and international initiatives have been funded to investigate ways in which digital learning resources might be developed, shared and reused by teachers and learners around the world (so as to benefit from economies of scale). Behind these initiatives lies a vision of a future in which reusable resources (or 'learning objects' as they are called) could comprise a new currency of exchange within a learning economy. Learning objects, produced by publishers, teachers, support staff and students themselves, would be stored in digital repositories, where they could be easily accessed, recombined and reused within online courses.
However, despite this vision, the idea of reusing electronic resources is more complex than the object economy scenario, outlined above, may suggest. The next section identifies seven issues associated with the reuse and sharing of resources. These sections focus on educational design, the need for standards, and on the culture and organization that would be necessary in institutions (and across institutions) if reuse were to become a reality
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An incremental approach to staff development in the reuse of learning resources
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Massive Open Online Courses: a traditional or transformative approach to learning?
No full textMassive Open Online Courses are viewed by some as a gamechanger, radically shifting expectations around the ways in which people can access education (Daniel, 2012). But there are questions around whether and how MOOCs radically shift learning. A MOOC is an online course, free of charge and open to anyone regardless of their pre-requisite knowledge or qualifications. As such they have the potential to transform – or even destabilise – societies, since learning and education play a central role in societal development (Brennan, King & Lebeau, 2004; Hardt & Negri, 2003).
Many analyses of MOOCs agree that open courses are potentially threatening to current models of Higher Education (OBHE, 2013, p. 5). MOOCs disrupt the traditional form of course delivery to residential campus-based students and open up opportunities for for-profit education providers to offer scaled-up courses (ibid p. 48). The response from universities has been attempts at agile innovation, testing business models and pursuing brand enhancement through open courses. There has been a marked escalation in the number of MOOCs offered by universities over the two-year period 2011-2013. MOOC learner experiences have been reported as (largely) positive, emphasising the expansion of learner access, learner empowerment, relationship building with individuals who may want to extend their studies through enrolment on formal educational programmes (ibid).
Despite the excitement, conflicting perspectives around MOOCs divide education communities. Not all learning professionals agree the value of MOOCs, voicing concerns around instructional design, quality and accreditation (ibid). Learning researchers have evidence of poor engagement in online learning by those learners who have relatively low levels of digital literacies (Kop & Fourier, 2011) and may have limited ability to self-regulate their learning (Milligan, Littlejohn, & Margaryan, 2013). Other researchers are critical that many MOOCs are based on the production and consumption of ‘formal educational content’, missing opportunities to empower learners to self-direct their own learning (see Fiedler, this volume). The ability of learners to direct their own learning could trigger a significant shift in the position of the academy in society, therefore it is not surprising that universities may want to influence the direction of MOOC development.
This chapter examines potential benefits and limitations of MOOCs, using a case example of a major MOOC initiative: edX. The chapter begins by examining conflicting perspectives around MOOCs from the literature. Then the HarvardX course design workflow model is outlined. HarvardX is the centre of a variety of activities at Harvard University associated with Open Educational Resources and open courses. The first five HarvardX MOOCs are described and learner behaviours in these MOOCs are analysed. Finally, the benefits and limitations of open courses are reported
Conclusion: technology-enhanced professional learning: challenges and future directions
No full textThis volume brings together strands of current thinking on workplace learning processes, emergent work practices and the use of digital technologies to support learning and work. These three components – learning processes, work practices and digital technologies - are critical aspects of contemporary work. Yet the discourse and conceptualisations in these areas are largely disconnected, partly because the work seldom crosses the epistemic boundaries of the variety of disciplines that concern themselves with the study of human learning, work and technology. Amalgamating ideas from an international group of scholars from relevant research domains – professional learning, technology-enhanced learning, computer-supported collaborative work, human resources development, and computer science/information systems - this volume provides foundations for the development of a more interdisciplinary understanding of technology-enhanced professional learning and the advancement of the practice of learning in the workplace
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Technology-enhanced professional learning: Mapping out a new domain
No full textWe live in an era where societal and technological changes are transforming the ways people work and learn. Deep, specialist knowledge is needed to find solutions to multifaceted problems. Society is facing complex issues on a global scale, including our growing requirements for energy, our need for improved healthcare and the effects of global warming. The knowledge required to solve each problem is increasingly distributed across a number of specialisms, rather than within a single role. Consequently, people with specific expertise collaborate around work problems in new forms of organisation. These three trends – the growth in specialisation, increased collaboration new forms of organisation – are bringing about an agile transformation, changing the ways in which people work.
Job roles are changing persistently and novel work practices are evolving continually to accommodate the development of specialist disciplines within broad fields. Systemic, new work practices are evolving, brought about by developments in technologies. Some of these work practices use technologies to assemble groups and networks of people to work on specific tasks. Some practices capitalise on the automation of tasks that are repetitive or complex and require computation. Other work practices exploit technologies to enable people to collaborate in radically new ways. Practices that were previously impossible are now possible. In many domains, it is now routine for people to collaborate across conventional geographic, disciplinary organisational, and sectoral boundaries
At the same time professional learning is becoming an increasingly critical dimension of work. Contemporary work practices require forms of professional learning that align with increased specialisation, new forms of organisation and agile transformation. Professional learning has to be continual: as people deal with constant changes in employment and work practices, they need to learn new knowledge to solve the new problems they face at work (Hager, 2004). Learning has to be personalised: as work becomes more specialised, each individual’s learning needs are bespoke. These learning needs are influenced by factors associated with work (environment, role, tasks, culture) and the learner’s personal dispositions (previous knowledge, skills, attitudes). Conventional forms of workplace learning, such as formal training, enable large numbers of people to reach a specific level of competency. However, these forms of learning are unlikely to meet the learning needs of professionals in contemporary work contexts. While learning a standard curriculum may be helpful for some (limited) work tasks, perpetual change at work means that set curricula are no longer an effective means of professional learning. Despite this shortcoming, established forms of professional learning have (largely) not taken advantage of the opportunities around how people collaborate to learn, how feedback can be exploited and the multiple ways in which people and resources can be brought together to enhance learning. Professional learning should be guided by a fundamental rethink of how it aligns with current trends and trajectories in work, technology and society in general.
The co-evolution of work, learning and technology is having a profound effect on society and on work, but is yet to have a significant impact on professional learning. One way forward in advancing professional learning is to integrate three critical dimensions - work practices, learning processes and technologies - within the single domain of ‘Technology-enhanced Professional Learning’ (TEPL)
Introduction: technology-enhanced professional learning: mapping out a new domain
No full textWe live in an era where societal and technological changes are transforming the ways people work and learn. Deep, specialist knowledge is needed to find solutions to multifaceted problems. Society is facing complex issues on a global scale, including our growing requirements for energy, our need for improved healthcare and the effects of global warming. The knowledge required to solve each problem is increasingly distributed across a number of specialisms, rather than within a single role. Consequently, people with specific expertise collaborate around work problems in new forms of organisation. These three trends – the growth in specialisation, increased collaboration new forms of organisation – are bringing about an agile transformation, changing the ways in which people work.
Job roles are changing persistently and novel work practices are evolving continually to accommodate the development of specialist disciplines within broad fields. Systemic, new work practices are evolving, brought about by developments in technologies. Some of these work practices use technologies to assemble groups and networks of people to work on specific tasks. Some practices capitalise on the automation of tasks that are repetitive or complex and require computation. Other work practices exploit technologies to enable people to collaborate in radically new ways. Practices that were previously impossible are now possible. In many domains, it is now routine for people to collaborate across conventional geographic, disciplinary organisational, and sectoral boundaries
At the same time professional learning is becoming an increasingly critical dimension of work. Contemporary work practices require forms of professional learning that align with increased specialisation, new forms of organisation and agile transformation. Professional learning has to be continual: as people deal with constant changes in employment and work practices, they need to learn new knowledge to solve the new problems they face at work (Hager, 2004). Learning has to be personalised: as work becomes more specialised, each individual’s learning needs are bespoke. These learning needs are influenced by factors associated with work (environment, role, tasks, culture) and the learner’s personal dispositions (previous knowledge, skills, attitudes). Conventional forms of workplace learning, such as formal training, enable large numbers of people to reach a specific level of competency. However, these forms of learning are unlikely to meet the learning needs of professionals in contemporary work contexts. While learning a standard curriculum may be helpful for some (limited) work tasks, perpetual change at work means that set curricula are no longer an effective means of professional learning. Despite this shortcoming, established forms of professional learning have (largely) not taken advantage of the opportunities around how people collaborate to learn, how feedback can be exploited and the multiple ways in which people and resources can be brought together to enhance learning. Professional learning should be guided by a fundamental rethink of how it aligns with current trends and trajectories in work, technology and society in general.
The co-evolution of work, learning and technology is having a profound effect on society and on work, but is yet to have a significant impact on professional learning. One way forward in advancing professional learning is to integrate three critical dimensions - work practices, learning processes and technologies - within the single domain of ‘Technology-enhanced Professional Learning’ (TEPL)
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Introduction: Reusing Open Resources for Learning
No full textEvery day, learners use and reuse open, digital resources for learning. Reusing Open Resources offers a vision of the potential of these open, online resources to support learning. The book follows on from Reusing Online Resources: A Sustainable Approach to E-learning. At that time focus was on the creation, release and reuse of digital learning resources modeled on educational materials. Since then the open release of resources and data has become mainstream, rather than specialist, changing societal expectations around resource reuse. Social and professional learning networks are now routine places for the exchange of online knowledge resources that are shared, manipulated and reused in new ways, opening opportunities for new models of business, research and learning.
The goal of this book is to extend the debate of how open, online resources might support learning across diverse contexts. Twenty-four distinguished experts from nine countries distributed across Europe and North America contribute empirical evidence and ideas. Collectively they provide a vision of the potential of open, online resources to support learning across everyday contexts of education, work and life
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Technology-enhanced professional learning: Challenges and future directions
No full textThis volume brings together strands of current thinking on workplace learning processes, emergent work practices and the use of digital technologies to support learning and work. These three components – learning processes, work practices and digital technologies - are critical aspects of contemporary work. Yet the discourse and conceptualisations in these areas are largely disconnected, partly because the work seldom crosses the epistemic boundaries of the variety of disciplines that concern themselves with the study of human learning, work and technology. Amalgamating ideas from an international group of scholars from relevant research domains – professional learning, technology-enhanced learning, computer-supported collaborative work, human resources development, and computer science/information systems - this volume provides foundations for the development of a more interdisciplinary understanding of technology-enhanced professional learning and the advancement of the practice of learning in the workplace
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Open, Lifewide Learning: a Vision
No full textOpen lifewide learning is critical in a world where knowledge, professions and practices are continually changing. It bridges all areas of life including education, work or general interest. Examples are becoming commonplace and are not always recognised as learning: Reviewing new concepts in an open course, building fresh ideas at work through reading and commenting on a blog, or coding an algorithm within an open source community. A commonality across these examples is that the learner, rather than a teacher or instructor, is the active agent.
While there is evidence that society is moving towards open lifewide learning, this chapter provides a vision of its potential over the coming decade, rather than examining current practice. It is suited to a world that has seen a radical change in cultural perceptions of learner agency and learner-teacher roles, associated with changes in technology. Learners are autonomous and able to make choices about their own learning. After completing compulsory education, the focus of each learner ideally moves from learning pre-defined knowledge to filling gaps between areas of knowledge, integrating different areas of expertise, as well as learning new knowledge. People do not turn automatically to formal institutions for large blocks of learning. Instead they consider it natural to make use of open learning resources and open courses, making their own decisions about what to learn, when and how. Learners naturally employ open learning practices, creating new knowledge for future learners to benefit from. They expect to contribute to the learning of others as well as learning themselves, viewing themselves as the experts in their own situation. In some cases they may elect to take a short formal course, but this is always for a specific reason rather than as a cultural norm. Rather than managing multiple identities in the different groups/communities to which they belong, they see their unique identity as a unifying factor that integrates their activities in various groups, including work and leisure groups, that they move easily between. In doing so they accrue new knowledge, integrating it with their current understanding, such that their expertise changes dynamically to match their current needs
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