Women in ICT & engineering: #Gender barriers & solutions #educon17

At Educon one of the main sessions was focusing on the gendered challenges within engineering, which fits with today's ‘girls in ICT’ day. The educon panel was sharing their own stories (being female pioneers, or lack of role models), the clear barrier related to policies stereotyping gender roles, constructed family values allocated to boys and girls, need for dedicated female networks, and the clear glass ceiling when looking at leadership roles for women in IT and engineering). As the discussion moved forward, I remembered that this is mirrored in a recent book I reviewed. If you are looking for similar stories, and want to learn how women addressed the professional challenges they faced in classically male-dominant areas, this is a good book.

Book: Women’s Voices in theField of Educational Technology: Our Journeys

This book combines the personal and professional journeys of 29 women and two men who all made a career developing and using educational technology (EdTech). The book provides an inspiring account of what the challenges were which the first EdTech women encountered and how they overcame them in order to create a professional space inside an - at that time - male dominant field. The majority of the EdTech women in this book are connected to the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), an organisation founded in 1923 to focus on National (US) Education, division of Visual Instruction.  Each of the chapters of the book is written by the women or men who lived through the actual experience of having to secure a career in the EdTech world. These different narratives provide a rich, at times deeply personal, professional and varied account of what it takes to enter and work within the EdTech field. While reading the book I often nodded as parts of the journeys shared were recognisable and – it seems – universal to all EdTech professionals. The importance of mentorship, leadership and trust emerge clearly from all the journeys. And in many of them the act of accepting your own realities (being different, coming from a variety of backgrounds, overcoming deep personal trauma) and uplifting your own situation as well as others by investing in education, provides an inspiring read.

Overview

Ana Donaldson edited this book. She has been a past president of AECT (the Association for Educational Communications and Technology) and in that position she took the initiative to gather journeys from other women who have had an impact on educational technology anywhere from 40 years ago up until 2016. The book is divided into three parts: individual voices, historical perspective and mentoring. Where the majority of the book is taken by the part on individual voices, providing 150 pages of personal as well as professional accounts of what it takes to enter the EdTech field and becoming a renowned EdTech professional. The historical perspective comprises three additions which cover the history or AECT, some of the lesser known pioneering woman in EdTech covered through short vignettes, and a generational focus on EdTech learners and their distinct characteristics put in their technological context. The final part of the book looks at mentoring, but attention to mentoring is already prevalent in many of the individual voices. The mentoring part is different from the mentoring mentioned in the individual voices, as it zooms in on what it takes to be an effective mentor, the necessity of intentional mentorship and the importance of being a role model to new female EdTech students. Each chapter of the book consists of a personal account of life as an EdTech professional. In some cases this personal account is told chronologically, starting from early life right to current career and status, at other times the focus is more on the professional journey highlighting detailed career challenges and successes. After each account a selection of publications by the author of that chapter is offered. These publications consist of high impact journal articles, clearly emphasizing the importance of publishing in high impact journals if you – as an EdTech academic – want to make a name for yourself or get tenure. At the end of the chapter a brief biography per author is given, highlighting personal achievements and interests.

An inside look

Reading through the stories of the individual voices, the reader soon finds reoccurring themes that impacted most of the women who shared their EdTech journeys. The journeys of the women and their consecutive jobs or career titles also reveal a change in jargon, e.g. at first audiovisual education was used instead of the term educational technology, and the titles covering professional positions involving what is now known as EdTech varied depending on institutes and research programs. From those EdTech experts graduating around the late 60’s or early 70’s, it becomes clear that the audiovisual side of education was a male dominated field, including the academic posts investigating any type of technology for education. The women who got EdTech positions often point to strong female role models in their family (mothers, grandmothers) who inspired a new generation of women, as well as open minded male mentors opening doors, supporting endeavors and showing opportunities. From  those early years onward, those women who gained access to EdTech and joined forces to forge lifelong friendships and collaborations seem to have thrived. Connecting and daring to build informal connections with those who seem to have gained status and established professionalism seems to help in getting to grips with the professional, academic as well as personal challenges. More than one author mentions sisterhood as a means to keep motivated and grow stronger, and that is true for all decades covered in this book.    

The importance of getting a PhD becomes clear while reading this volume, and it is amazing how many different indirect reasons there are to take up a PhD (at the beginning of their career many of the women did want to teach in primary or high school and many of them did teach at some point). But it is clear that this is essential if you want to move forward in an academic environment, or if you want to be taken seriously as a professional. Unfortunately, it also becomes clear from the different stories that obtaining a PhD nowadays is no longer a guarantee for getting into a tenure position. When reading the book one understands the importance of getting a formal degree, but many authors also emphasize the importance of accepting yourself. One author summarised: “Know what you know and what you do not, know who you are and who you are not, embrace your young-self – and your aging self”, a message that I feel resonates for more than just the women in the EdTech field.

Taking up leadership early on also beams out as one of the common actions that will increase your chances to make it in EdTech. This includes voluntary work such as starting a minority focused community of practitioners, though a warning is mentioned that we – women – should realise that a lot of the support we offer can be seen as ‘invisible labor’, where supporting students from similar minority groups as ourselves does demand extra time and effort which other academics do not need to address. Leadership actions can result in additional expertise regarding funding skills, co-authoring papers, or creating a community of peers and all of these have a great impact on increasing career options. Taking up leadership also creates flexibility, moving from academia to corporate or visa versa, depending on the passion felt by specific EdTech jobs.    

Mentorship is without doubt crucial both to growing as a professional, as to offering new opportunities to EdTech students. Mentoring allows rapid growth to take place (learning from experts), it offers opportunities to learn from students (keeping in touch with all developments), it enables actions towards more social justice and it often results in lifelong networks.   

Strengths and weaknesses

The journeys of each of these women is astonishing, and provides such a rich texture of diverse backgrounds and opportunities. Some authors mention financial implications and having to work multiple jobs in order to pay for college or university, others mentioned different cultural backgrounds which influenced their perception of what it takes to get into EdTech, and still others had to find their way against personal hardship, or microagressions coming from what should be colleagues … Courage to keep moving forward is clearly present in all journeys.  

One non-outspoken idea is that many of the women shared that they were initially not intending to pursue an academic career, and especially not a PhD. In many cases the idea of obtaining a PhD came from a mentor, a colleague, or chance. This stands in stark contrast to the accounts of those same authors mentioning their male partners, who consciously wanted to get a PhD. A clear reminder of the intricate groups of people who have been socialised into ‘their place in society’, which forces society’s status quo onto them, even though they are well placed to burst that socialized bubble.

The rise of EdTech reaches beyond the history of EdTech women, and the situations they came across while aiming to establish themselves as professionals, nevertheless I feel that the focus on women provides an additional and rich layer of importance to getting a career going in a more male oriented, academic field. It shows additional challenges, and therefor additional strengths that not only provide insights for other women, but also to men coming from different backgrounds and trying to enter academia or a profession which is new to them or their family.

I would have liked more EdTech women of color to be taken up in this volume, their stories reveal the importance of being part of a sub-group of women to obtain mutual empowerment. Although moments of sexism are mentioned by many authors, similarly each woman of color sharing their journey in the book gave accounts of racism on top of the sexism they sometimes encountered. Though sexism, racism and general challenges are mentioned, the book is above all focusing on what helps each one of us (male or female) forward: mentorship, shared family responsibilities, having role models, being part of a network, feeling part of a community of like-minded professionals, and knowing that differences strengthen academia and as a result society as a whole.  

Although many voices can be heard, the book does consist of women and men being linked to AECT. This does limit the scope for those readers not being familiar with this US based organisation, or living in other countries with different educational systems, cultural challenges or EdTech support.  

Coming from a working family myself, without family members knowing what academic jobs are or even what you need to do in order to get one of those jobs, this book makes a difference. It strengthens some of the actions I have taken, and it shows those options I sometimes do not dare to undertake. The book empowered me, and informed me about my chosen professional field.

In a world were quick opinions seem to reign, this book offers many voices that support attention to the importance of community (in all its variance and diversity), creating a nurturing working environment, and actively working to decrease hegemony that effects most of us. Anyone wanting to know more about the professional options available in EdTech, or the challenges you might face as a woman interested in technology, or wanting to get a historical perspective of an emerging educational field, will find answers to these questions in this book.

#ic_moveme Challenges and opportunities of MOOCs in Iran by Shahrzad Ardavani

Education is an economic, political and social development and this idea and the problems this results in is tackled by research from Shahrzad Ardavani. 25% university students leave Iran: lack of jobs, superior research options, avoiding military service, candidates for suitable jobs in governments have to meet many non-professional related factors.

But what is a MOOC and hat does it stand for? Can digital learning of MOOC be applied to Iran and other developing countries. What are the pedagogical problems? MOOCs might not be as efficient for students in developing countries, they cannot feel the benefit of MOOCs due to a number of issues. Both infrastructure , language, educational policy makers concerned with international influence of MOOCs on the national educational system, some websites are restricted (culture and politics). Independent thinking is not encouraged. Coursera has attracted volunteers to translate MOOCs.

There are also problems from developing countries: ethos and pedagogic principles of MOOCs are aligned with the characteristics of educational terminology of their individual nation. The place where artefacts are being produced for FutureLearn overlooks barriers for global learners. The method of learning is different depending on the region, which is not always reflected in MOOCs.

A western tool carries western assumptions, eg. The users are not always familiar with self-directed learning. Therefor it is difficult to translate the MOOC platform to developing countries, in order to address these issues.

Symbiotic relationship: pedagogy of MOOCs looking at teaching approaches, disciplinary norms, the way learners interact within the course, participants learning culture. To investigate this, Engestrom’s activity theory (third generation) is being used, as it looks at the full system. It also allows a look at strength and weaknesses in a system. The project looks at FutureLearn, than compares native English students and Iranian students. To look at the differences between all elements.

(Inge sent link on activity theory from Grainne you saw passing on FB). 

#ic_moveme Janesh Sanzgiri on Critical reflections on MOOCs in India @janeshsanzgiri

Fabulous critical talk on MOOCs by Janesh Sanzgiri. In 2013 MOOCs were suggested as the silicon valley salvation of education, including the developing world. But the reality is that most MOOC participants are not the  underprivileged class, not really open anymore (movement to pay for assessment and so on). More importantly the current research is heavily skewed to Northern regions. The voice of the global south is being missed in research. 

In India MOOCs are used by 15% of Indian learners, MOOCs provided by North.

NPTEL (http://nptel.ac.in/ )was first an OER platform. In India the most privileged universities put their content online in 2006, mostly stem and technology courses. Another Indian platform is SWAYAM (https://swayam.gov.in/Home ) a government initiative to support the remote universities with MOOCs for credit. In india lack of infrastructure, lack of university systems to cope with the demand for educators. Looking at MOOCs is a way to look at high quality formal education beyond the high brow universities, who do not have access to many high quality professors and institutes. Challenges for accreditation, up to 20% of all the credits can be done via SWAYAM. The western elite institutions create content for the global south. But the fact that many countries are providing MOOCs to create solutions within their country and educational challenges.

Digital literacies and skills are needed for lower economic learners of these countries. Despite the increase of MOOCs, the South will work out solutions with supply and demand of MOOCs. MOOCs are not solving the poor and down trotted, therefor there is still the lowest layer of socio-economic society that is not reached, although more people are reached. 

Question why a lack of voices from the South? Answer: combination of issues, academic system in India is different, and journal issues (many Indian journals, but not always meeting the mark), global cohort is difficult to make transparent in terms of data, Indian MOOCs do not have access to the costly learning analytic options the North has. 

Posthumanism & MOOC a book by Jeremy Knox #MOOC #criticalresearch

A couple of months ago, I had the pleasure of receiving a manuscript for review. Although the review was limited to the first chapters, I got all excited by what Jeremy Knox had written. The book looks at MOOC and puts the within a posthumanist framework to analyse its meaning and impact. Jeremy refers to different MOOC along the way, proving his main philosophical ideas. 

The full title of the book is Posthumanism and the Massive Open Online Course: contaminating the subject of global education, and is written by Jeremy Knox. You can have a look at the introduction, as well as the chapters here. The book is about 220 pages and provides stimulating reading for anyone passionate about education and philosophy. The paperback costs about 32 GBP. 

From the intro: "This book is about the rise to prominence of the MOOC: its high-profile marketing and emerging approaches to research; its spatial ordering of university provision and online education; and the unprecedented number and spread of its students.

However, this book is also about the human condition: a human condition that is profoundly and intimately entwined with the ideas and practices of education, of which the MOOC is merely one.

This book draws on a well-established critique of humanism from philosophy and critical theory: critical posthumanism. It is this theoretical sensitivity that will allow the ensuing analysis to look beyond the limitations of the humanist subject in the discourses and material practices of the MOOC, and work towards new understandings of this far-reaching and technology-infused form of education.

This book uses critical posthumanism as an umbrella term for a number of specific theoretical areas, each of which will inform particular aspects of analysis in the succeeding chapters: new materialism; postcolonial intersections with posthumanism; spatial and mobilities theory; sociomaterial theory; and the idea of the ‘monstrous’ as a critical examination of the humanist ideal". 

#MOOC: no disruption, no real assessment and adults aren't dropouts! #grumpyWoman

Okay, this is a mail written on the aeroplane after returning from EC-tel conference. A wonderful conference (I will share the positive vibes and connections soon). But first I have to get some of the reoccurring assumptions uttered by some (yet too many) off my chest.

Briefly: there is NO disruption happening as those building the disruption are those being part of classic education, we are ADULTs so please stop using drop-outs – we are adults CHOOSING what we learn, and please STOP thinking in terms of classic assignments as that is NOT the only way to assess knowledge – our personal learning network can do that! And OH YEAH, that means assessment can take place contextualized and outside MOOC platforms.

Real disruption: not there yet: attract people from outside of classic education to look at the future of education

“How can we ensure that future professors will be able to teach with new technology”: well, first of all, let us all learn to cope with change and new technologies. Digital literacy in terms of cultural awareness, critical analysis (quality, selection…), and attract people that were NOT educated through the existing classic system of primary, high school, university… Interdisciplinary might not be enough to really capture or draw up a roadmap for future education. Inevitably the best scoring/performing people within a system are those who can replicate the system. As such, I often wonder how much disruption can take place if we build the so-called disruptive systems with those that come out of those systems… there won’t be too much change happening. Only marginal differences that are called ‘disruptive changes’ because it sounds nice at this moment in history.

MOOCs are disruptive? Do not make me laugh!

While discussions are multiple on the disruptive effect of MOOCs, I keep wonder how little it takes for the ‘disruption’ label to appear. At the end of the day, I still see/hear the majority of academics/professors talk about teaching, not learning. The MOOCs are in many cases simply a digitized form of earlier, existing content. So not much disruption there.

And one of the – for me questionable – outcomes of the MOOCification, are the multiple mentions of how now less teachers will be needed, less professorships, as more less well paid people can pick up certain aspects of MOOCs. So, if I understand correctly education is again cut due to (false) arguments. This also does not feel disruptive at all, in fact it feels very familiar. In this case I think the word ‘disruptive’ is only used to do more of the same (cuts) but using the word ‘disruptive’ as a false argument that simply sounds good and that people take for granted.

Real disruption would happen if a new model of education would come up that makes people be citizens and rulers of their own life. A new societal model, that would (just imagine) lead to more satisfied lives where basic (= not surviving but living) needs can be secured for all and where learning is seen as a truly important, life enabling and satisfying activity. For me, gaining knowledge and sharing it so we can all benefit is the way to go. Technology as support, living life as sense-making, following personal goals that are based on personal strengths and connected improvement for all (which does not imply a linear move towards improved living necessarily).

Drop-outs? Adult, autonomous thinking and choices you mean!

On drop-outs in MOOCs: okay, I am willing to see how graduate students might be in need of following a full MOOC (especially for those MOOCs embedded in the degree curriculum of a university, but even then… *sigh*), but most MOOC’ers are ADULTS. And adults (at least a good portion of them) can really think by themselves! So, please, can we drop the drop-out! Do any MOOC-teachers/professors really still think that the way they provide content and assessment is the only way to grasp content? As an adult, I think we can all choose what is of importance to us, and we do not need to be assessed in classic ways, we can figure it out by ourselves (at least some of us, not all, and voluntary choice is good for everyone of course).

Assessment by feedback from personal learning network
If we cannot figure it out - as adults - what we need, and how to master it, it proofs that we did not learn to find it out by ourselves. Sometimes we need classic assessment, sometimes we need to explore the unknown, and sometimes we just roam the premises in order to learn serendipitously. If small children are able to master new content, we as adults surely can too. I am not pushing assessment aside, I just feel that some of us are able to assess what we need, and whether we learned it ourselves, not necessarily by externally designed tests. Another options would be to always include contextual assignments, that way adults can embed new information in their professional/personal context and think about it. Of course the question comes up: “yes, but how will it be graded?”. Simple enough. If we really belief in a networked world, where people have their own personal learning network, you can rest assured that when sharing our drafts of these personally written assignments with each of our own network community, they will give ample feedback. And much more contextualized feedback, coming from real life, authentic experience. It cannot be called a disruptive action, if we still restrict peer review feedback to the other people taking a course. That is too simple AND it assumes that those people are the only ones being able to provide the right feedback. For me, the best feedback I get is from those in my personal learning network, not necessarily from other MOOC participants.

And I refrain myself from the tiresome discussion on using the term ‘teaching’ much more then ‘learning’. How many times must we agree on the importance of learning and learner autonomy, and then simply stick with teaching as the core concept. We learn by doing, we learn by learning. 

Okay, should probably sleep. Grumpy woman here.

Critical #skills define performances across multiple fields

Critical learning/reading/living is an acclaimed skill. With the internet becoming a global content delivery and discussion forum, this skill has become increasingly important for knowledge creation, filtering out crap and manipulation, or simply in order to try and construct your own voice in your own field of interest. As my Personal Knowledge Mastery class facilitated by Harold Jarche moves forward, this is my next reflective exercise. For last weeks topic was on: challenging ideas and why this is a good thing.
This process of constructive, critical action as an interesting journey that fits my current "where do I go from here in my personal and professional life", as such combine my PhD, with a military training option, and a Cate Blanchett interview mentioning doubt and self-reflection. It all fits together in my mind :-)

And for those looking for some great and well-grounded critique on TED talks, look at what the wonderful Audrey Watters writes on the subject (in short: TED talks are about flashing (entrepreneurial) ideas, not getting them questioned - thx for the link Harold!)

PhD journey and becoming more critical

Being critical is also a key aspect of any PhD or research project. Knowing which terms you use, why you select certain methodologies, whether they stand the test of critical analysis, what weaknesses/strengths they have. Looking back at when I started with my PhD I can see how I have strengthened my critical skills. The verbs I use, the arguments I make, the data I collect and how I analyse that data, everything is scrutinized and rightfully so, as this turns simple actions into conscious, meaningful acts. And in order to enhance these critical skills, feedback from colleagues and supervisors is more then helpful. This was not new to me, as I used it to evaluate eLearning and mobile projects in the past, but really improving that skill will have a profound effect on my future evaluations, and understandings. A clear gain from my PhD journey. 

The use of people trained in being critical in the military

In the PKM course an example from the military is given reflecting on the "Red Team University", a university which trains critical people to be send out into the field and use their critical skills to improve field actions and strategies (so those people question the military staff in order to strengthen tactics), here is the excerpt:. 

The school is the hub of an effort to train professional military “devil’s advocates” — field operatives who bring critical thinking to the battlefield and help commanding officers avoid the perils of overconfidence, strategic brittleness, and groupthink. The goal is to respectfully help leaders in complex situations unearth untested assumptions, consider alternative interpretations and “think like the other” without sapping unit cohesion or morale, and while retaining their values.More than 300 of these professional skeptics have since graduated from the program, and have fanned out through the Army’s ranks. Their effects have been transformational — not only shaping a broad array of decisions and tactics, but also spreading a form of cultural change appropriate for both the institution and the complex times in which it now both fights and keeps the peace.
- Andrew Zolli: HBR 26 Sept 2012 

Cate Blanchett and personal critical analysis as a means to grow in one's profession and life

When watching an interview for the Screen Actors Guild with Cate Blanchett on her performance in Blue Jasmine, in the end one of the questions from the public is on self-doubt and reflection. Although Cate Blanchett has performed numerous times on both theater and film stage, she clearly defines doubt and critical thought as defining her expertise, as fine-tuning her performance. A nice interview.

Thoughts on power discrepancy in #MOOC #eMOOCs2014

As this first day at #eMOOC2014 day passes, I get the feeling that it really will not be possible to change the way education is heading: increasing the digital divide, replicating existing power imbalances. Dark thoughts during a really nice conference. The reason for this dark thoughts is due to some facts: e.g. the video recording studio that Jermann talked about, if the content production is supported by such a big HR team, little universities/non-profits… cannot beat those uni's content creation. Content creation is a content avalanche coming from those institutes that can produce, inundating (involuntarily) those who cannot. (metaphor: African companies will not build Swiss buildings, for these buildings have been build, the other way round does happen, think Chinese companies building in South Africa. So what is already there is the keeper). This is a life reflection blog, so sorry if certain trains of thought are open ended, as speakers keep talking as I reflect.

Although the inspiring opening speech from Pierre Dillenbourg was fun and invigorating, his belief in EU-MOOC is lost in my equality seeking mind. There is no way that any university with lack of HR can produce content at a rate that big money HigherEd can. There is no higher ed change, there is just a capital shift at most, but the same content, the same gatekeepers ensure the same doctrines and facts.

After which a president of EPFL started to talk, Patrick Aebischer. He gives his view on the MOOCs produced at EPFL. He rightfully starts from online learning, and the evolution to current MOOC. Online learning institutes have indeed paved the way for current MOOC options. One of the biggest European problems at the moment is linked to the reality of the divided states in the EU, as each country starts their own platform, which is hindering collaborative growth. And some EU universities have joined US MOOC platforms, so there is a real shift in universities in terms of region.

Let me get back to the xMOOC cMOOC discussion… cMOOC are being run over by xMOOC. Which is again an example of the big taking over the little, or the scalable norm overtaking the local, tailored option. History (in this case history in HigherEd educational change) is rewritten at an increased rate, which makes it also very interesting, I must admit.

An interesting remark was given when Patrick mentioned that the course given by Martin Odersky on Scala computer language was used by other universities as a course to be followed by other universities. So in a way – using Patrick’s words – the course was hijacked by other universities, as Martin was in fact the real scala writer, and as such the expert. But this also means that expert content is becoming a global content option, but in doing so less voices are heard. 

Another interesting number shared was the fact that a French course gets only 10% of participants compared to a similar English course. So if scale has an impact on budget, hitting the main market segment becomes ever more important. 

Continued education or lifelong learning is increasingly important, and this means courses followed need to be aligned with professional demands. Coming back at the success rates of MOOC, there is again the link to certification given during the talk, which is not necessarily linked to the personal need of the MOOC participant for her/his professional development (it might just be one part of a course that feels useful). This need or not for certification is a returning chant during the conference. I think it depends on where you are coming from, where you want to go, and what you need as a learner to proceed to new professional horizons. If you do not have a degree, certification might be very important (for the self, as well as for the career), whereas a professionally settled learner might not feel the need to pursue certification. 

Looking at continental regions: “Africa is trying to catch up with MOOC courses”, which makes me sigh. It should be African courses which are provided to African students, for so many reasons (identity, ownership, localisation). Not surprisingly EPFL saw the potential of producing French MOOC courses, as it is a specific regions currently under served by MOOCs (French regions). And of course with the best intentions, but in a way any collaboration or educational support should be aimed at providing autonomy. By the people, for the people in combination with the personal is political. 

Patrick also mentioned a remark coming from Northern face-to-face students “MOOCs are good support material. However they do not offer a good alternative for ex-cathedra courses”. So is this a reality? For if it is, any amount of MOOCs will still only deliver an alternative for non face-to-face or blended learning students, and result in an increased digital divide for those not being able to add any form of blended or face-to-face learning to their self-constructed or provided curriculum.

Not everything is dark. For EPFL has set up a collaboration which looks at priority themes for Africa (water, energy, nutrition, health…), but again although support is given … the fact that content IS created and disseminated, puts other regions that try to play catch up at the end of the line.

Students need credits or certification. For MOOCs to be included to the local curricula, academic regulations need to be amended. Collaboration across universities from different regions is possible but is said to be challenging due to the administration, and again I cannot help but think that if collaboration is offered in terms of the power beholder, it inevitably has the mark of that power, the mark of that content embedded in what is being created.

Another revolution is the learning data, but these data are also coming more from Northern sphere, so results will provide guidelines fitting those types of learners (or at least more than the others), as reality is in the eye of the beholder. 

But why do I care? That is my question. Why would I even care whether education for all is really achieved or not? For a global world is inevitable. Power will always make the rules, put down the laws… so why do I care and do I want to ‘preserve’ the drive for equality which is – at the end of the road – impossible. Conquering territory is a human fact, diversity seems to be an illusion, and only provides a map of that which will dissolve giving another few decades.  How can I ever talk tomorrow about including vulnerable learners?

Challenges for conceptualising #MOOC for #vulnerable learner groups

With the latest EU MOOC platform (http://www.openuped.eu/) being launched late 2013, the relentless MOOC roll out keeps on going. When a corporate MOOC platform is rolled out, the type of learners targetted by such a platform is open to the MOOC provider, but when an EU platform is rolled out, policy becomes important to ensure social equality, especially policy towards including vulnerable learners. Some of us with an interest in vulnerable learner groups (= those learners at risk of sliding into poverty, or already residing in a poverty position), took the opportunity to collaboratively write a paper highlighting some of the challenges that might be faced. All of us authors also tried to add possible solutions to these challenges, but the proof of the pudding is of course in the eating, so lots of research still needs to be done.

The paper will be published in the EU papers, but in anticipation of that, sharing the draft via Academia here. It is called "Challenges for conceptualising MOOC for vulnerable learner groups". All of us authors as mentioned in the paper: Michael Sean Gallagher, Ronda Zelezny-Green, Laura Czerniewicz, Stephen Downes, Agnes Kukulska-Hulme, Julie Willems and myself (Inge de Waard).

During the upcoming 10-12 Feburary eMOOC2014 MOOC stakeholder summit in Lausanne, Switzerland this collaboratively written paper will be discussed with MOOC providers from all realms (academics, corporate MOOC providers - all will be there: Coursera, EdX, FutureLearn, IMC...). A nice opportunity to get an idea of the interest by all stakeholders, the status of learner profile attention (specifically vulnerable groups) and overall trains of thought. 

Abstract: This exploratory paper picks up elements from the European Commission’s educational vision and philosophy behind Opening up Education, the resulting initiative of the OpenupEd.eu MOOC platform and takes this as a starting point to look at potential challenges for developing MOOCs that include vulnerable learner groups. In order to align the future conceptualization of MOOCs with the vision and philosophy of Europe, potential tensions of contemporary and future education are listed. The current dichotomy of xMOOC and cMOOC are used to mark some of the unexplored MOOC territory. Practical answers to contemporary, ICT supported educational challenges are provided as options to fuel the debate. The challenges and options for future online education initiatives are based on insights and ideas of international scholars and researchers reflecting on potential barriers for learners and online education. This paper aims to stimulate discussion of the potential for new educational technologies to ensure social inclusion for virtual and physical vulnerable learner groups.

The paper builds upon previous discussions and looks at:

• Digital and social exclusion(s)
• Increasing diversity of learner groups
• Formal and informal learning
• Local versus global
• North-South postcolonial tensions
• Ubiquitous social technology and infrastructure
• Individual learning versus networked learning
• Closed versus Open Educational Resources
• Digital identity
• Learner access and success
• Global communication needs versus language barriers
• Possible future strategies

Can the #MOOC format respond to the educational challenges #altc2013?

This is the first day of Alt-C2013 which takes place in Nottingham this year. I am glad to be part of the preparation group of the panel discussing Technology Enhanced Learning in times of crisis. There are multiple people present and the ideas discussed during this debate came (in part) out of the Alpine Rendez-Vous that took place at the beginning of this year.

If you want to you can join us at 11.45 on Tuesday 10 September 2013 in session 342, right after the keynotes. For a full time schedule, look here.

My input will be around MOOC and how or if they can be an answer to moments of crisis. But looking for your ideas on the subject, so please share. For those wanting to download the opinion paper I have added below, you can download it here at academia.edu. The references mentioned below are also all gathered in the academia link. I wrote this piece months ago, and I put it in my drawer of "when-I-have-time", but I feel it does have something going for it.

ProblemIn the educational reality of the second decennium of the 21st century education is molded by a variety of new factors. The learning and teaching processes of today are impacted by the use of social media, new mobile technologies and pedagogical formats. Due to these new technologies and emerging formats, education is forced into a process of transformation. In addition to these new strains on education, the old challenges with regard to excluded, vulnerable learner groups keep on existing, in fact they are in some cases becoming more urgent.

As such many tensions accompany this educational transformation, and especially when looking at the more vulnerable learner groups. As the global economic crisis stays omnipresent, more and more vulnerable learner groups get isolated and an educational solution befitting the latest Technology Enhanced Learning opportunity must be sought.

Theory focusing on some of the contemporary tensions in contemporary education
Local versus global: termed by Wellman (2002) as glocalization in relation to the overlapping spheres of society, technology , and the World Wide Web. This glocalization of education can simultaneously serve to perpetuate the status quo of existing power relations form one region to the next, as mentioned by Willems and Bossu (2012, p. 186).

Digital and Social exclusion(s): one area of social exclusion in the technological era relates to the digital divide. However, this term gathers many factors. There are “multiple divides which relate to a variety of factors such as: age; gender; ‘ethnic clustering’; uncertainty of financial conditions; work insecurity; and social insecurity” (Mancinelli, 2007, p. 7). Looking at this wide array of factors, Willems and Bossu (2012) suggested that the focus to address these educational challenges should be “on social inclusion rather than simply on the digital divide” (p. 188).

Increasing diversity of the learner group: Non-participation in adult and lifelong learning is deeply entrenched in ‘trajectories’ based on class, gender, generation, ethnicity and geography, which are established at an early age (Tuckett & Aldridge, 2009).

Formal – informal: university/higher ed. driven versus grassroots courses. Research showed that there is a greater uptake of informal kinds of online learning opportunities, and the more informal the nature of the online learning activity, the more factors, beyond involuntary exclusion, that become important (Eynon & Helsper, 2011). Additionally Eynon & Helsper mentioned that informal learning is the area in which there are the largest proportion of unexpectedly included learners [when examining digital in/exclusion]. A MOOC has informality embedded in its format. However, in the policy paper of UNESCO regretfully only new types of more formal xMOOCs are mentioned (Coursera, Udacity and edX). These examples are all more mass university driven. By focusing only on the major university driven MOOCs there is a predominant teaching/learning format (cognitive/behaviorist) connected to those platforms and a dominant Western driven pedagogy behind it. The content offered in the university driven courses is also more high-brow: nothing on vocational level, or getting to grips with the crisis etcetera. The courses are clearly aimed at educated people, as such less relevant for global learners at risk.

North – South, postcolonial tensions. Education in society always reflects the values of the dominant political ideology which in the West is that of neoliberalism (Apple, 2006). This ideology of free market economics, constant consumerism and individualism is inevitably reproduced in schools. Viruru (2005) adds that dominant ideologies of how children and youth grow and develop have become another of colonialism’s truths that permit no questioning, for the dominant educational model is seen as ‘the right one’. This post-colonial tensions are also increased by some xMOOC courses that are currently promoted as providers of “education for all”, but in fact are a new form of the post-colonial push of the North/West, as suggested by

Individual learning versus networked learning: Downes (2007) stated that “knowledge is distributed across a network of connections, and therefore that learning consists of the ability to construct and traverse those networks.” As such, a successful, connected/networked pedagogy would “seek to describe the practices that lead to such networks, both in the individual and in society.”

Closed versus Open Educational Resources (OER): OER can, and do include full courses, textbooks, streaming videos, exams, software, and any other materials or techniques supporting learning (OER Foundation, 2011, p. 1). But what is shared builds upon the content and ideas of its makers. And what people think others need, is not always that content which is really needed.

Technology and infrastructure: McGill (2010) noticed that in order to make all the OERs or any educational materials and courses fully open and accessible materials will be accessible on alternative technologies [including] mobile [technologies]. Willems and Bossu (2012) added that “the development of OER for mobile learning applications may be a more appropriate strategy to make OER widely available to students in developing regions (p. 193).

Digital identity: Identity negotiation and its relationship to societal power and status relations is also clearly implicated in the phenomenon of “stereotype threat” for which there is extensive experimental documentation (OECD, 2010, pp. 87-88). This research is summarized by Schofield and Bangs (2006) as follows: “stereotype threat, the threat of being judged and found wanting based on negative stereotypes related to one’s social category membership, can seriously undercut the achievement of immigrant and minority students” (p. 93). Additionally, the risk of providing content for the masses, is that identities get lost and that only the societal, predominant identity is represented in both the texts, as in the visual material of the course content. This has a profound effect on learning, as identification is connected to motivation and learning.

Global communication needs versus language barriers: the Council of Europe has consistently promoted the value of plurilingualism for all students (including migrant and vulnerable students) (Little, 2010). However most international courses are English spoken/written.

What can we do?Get together and build an answer that at least addresses some of the above issues.

MOOCs are – in its original, distributed form – informal, including a wider learner audience than traditional education (e.g. no degrees needed to participate in the course). Some of the MOOCs are mobile accessible (e.g. MobiMOOC) addressing infrastructural tensions. MOOCs are aimed at networked learning. Content results created in MOOCs are in many occasions OERs and the courses reside in the open.

Additionally, there is one human factor that is now more than ever possible across borders, beliefs, cultures and time, that is dialogue. Communication, or dialogue, and living through experiences in a collaborative way is also central to a MOOC. As a MOOC is a gathering of people with generally no prior connection, it has a unique social advantage that relates to a more open and connected way of thinking (de Waard, I., Gallagher, M. S., Hogue, R., Özdamar Keskin, N., Koutropolous, A., Rodriguez, O.C., Abajian, S.C., 2011). This also coincides with what Downes (2007) wrote on that the learning activities we undertake when we conduct practices in order to learn are more like growing or developing ourselves and our society in certain (connected) ways. “To stay viable, open systems maintain a state of non-equilibrium… they participate in an open exchange with their world, using what is there for their own growth … that disequilibrium is the necessary condition for a system’s growth” (Wheatley, 1999, p. 78-79). This constant flux, with attention to context and personal experiences/backgrounds can be an inherent part of a MOOC, but that is only possible if we consciously embed these options in any MOOCs that are build. In order to ensure this type of tailored MOOC it is my understanding that all should be involved in building MOOCs, their design, content, approaches, pedagogies, awards/badges/certification.

Conclusion
It is the author’s believe that the Massive Open Online Course format or MOOC has the potential to address many of the above mentioned issues if the format is tweaked to do so. MOOCs have only emerged during the last 5 years, the format is now mature enough to be optimized for the challenges that we all – as global learners/teachers/researchers – are facing during these times of financial and educational crisis. It is also the time to provide alternatives to the more power duplicating MOOC that are sometimes rolled out.

The expertise of the moderators of this workshop is multi-faceted with the goal of being able to embed multiple optimizing factors into the adapted MOOC design to come out of the workshop. To address a multitude of factors, it is important to collaboratively design solutions based upon interdisciplinary expertise with a common goal.

We, as researchers, can use these times of global crisis to rethink education and create new models that have at least a spark of hope in them – to reach a more sustainable, localized and empowering model for education. We should bring together a core of researchers and engaged educational minds that can result in an optimized online course format that also fits the socio-economic challenges affecting the vulnerable groups in our global society as a whole. 

Get off your butt & create real #mLearning solutions #mlw2013

As this day progresses, I was blown of my chair by the passionate drive of Theo van Rensburg Lindzter from the Learning Academy Worldwide on the subject of Millennials as mobile educators: innovative youth workforce development solutions.

Theo is a driven, engaging, outspoken speaker.
He made a REAL point! Here are my live blogging notes and be sure to contact Theo if you really want to engage in a mLearning build solution.

In South Africa they realized that there is a real goldmine in young people ready to teach and support other youngsters.

you do not train people, you develop people
We need to finance and solve real problems, and restoring the impact that young people can make.
Millenials can be unemployed, non-actives, nags... BUT these young people can be activated, they want to be activated, mobilizing them to be actively involved.

But the problem into meaningfulness or what we see as work, is an unmarked field of landmines. 
That all part of getting into work and meaningfulness is difficult. So how do you know that you are extending the field of landmines? You promise work in a world that is changes. So we cannot create work like we used to create it. When corporates delete jobs, many of them vanish and are not even replaced.
So how can you counter the loss of meaning. There is nothing meaningful in work that is repetitive. there is a difference between meaningful work and drudgery. So if we talk about mobile educators, we are not talking about drudgery.

He shares that he was doubting why he was out here, paid for its own to come to UNESCO mLearning week.... there are too many mLearning adds, not enough pragmatic foci and outcomes that really change the world.
What needs to be changed: solve problems:
source youth assets - m-ubuntu,
source innovative solutions - sonlig (buying solar chargers to solve basic electricity challenges).

Instill meaning:
serve to imporove student performance
serve and sharpen skills

restore dignity
build networks of collaborations
prepare for new study-service or work opportunities

The students are hungry, they do not have future options, teachers do not have the necessary support they need.
Students are no problems, they initiate something when coming to class. But we must use it for real change.

so what next: lets focus on funding solutions, not projects
campaign for meaning, not just scale and impact
prioritize collaboration and partnership (make students aware of the fact that they are part of a community, of the global world).

And here is an interview with Theo (from a couple of years ago, but giving of m-ubuntu as it was running up for roll-out)

Gathering a #research tribe has benefits

The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that this era demands collaborative approaches to stay on top of any expertise. In order to enable collaboration, mutual trust and respect is needed. This in part will result in the necessary openness and willingness to grow collectively, research collectively.

In the past (and present) I had the good fortune of collaborating on some research papers with fellow researchers that were not linked to my own educational institution. It was a great, open, informal research experience. The starting point of this collaboration was given by a common course called MobiMOOC, in which everyone was involved in some way or another. And now, I want to expand on this.

I truly believe that there is a benefit in getting together - trans-continental / academic & corporate - and joining forces with people that have a common interest, yet an expertise that results from different disciplines. Like petals of a flower all gathered around the common theme, attracting attention or simply growing. Or an atom model, attracted yet busy in our own orbit.

Knowledge benefit:

• When joining forces with people that have a common language - but different viewing angles - everyone learns as there is some kind of zone of proximal development there, or it can be created based on mutual conversation and dialogue. 
• As discussions happen, reflection increases, arguments are weighed and knowledge deepened.

Research benefits: 

• Everyone in this research tribe writes their own papers as first author, BUT asks the other tribes people to join in if they feel the subject of the paper is something they can relate to. These others all become second authors of that paper. 
• Methodologies are shared, strengthened by experiences of others, and/or complimented by the knowledge of others. 
• Future research can immediately be linked to what is worked on. The theoretical flows into the pragmatic, to result into theory and practice again... in an ongoing research iteration. 
• Multiple publications for all, upgrading all of our academic interests. 

Personal benefit: networking happens natural, we connect, we learn, we support and encourage... or not (time/changes in life...), but the connection at least is made at some point in time, ready to be taken up at any given moment. In 2013 I want to expand my research tribe and I am already looking forward to it.

Tribe gathered: Optimizing ubiquitous MOOCs for reaching education for all (first draft made),
Tribe collaboration I would like to start (and my topic entree would be):

• creating durable communities: the difference between passive and active dynamics
• critical psychology to screen educational objects and their mediated meaning 
• mapping pedagogies from cultures under stress (finding ancient approaches before they perish) - this is more a long-term thing... still getting my mind around this idea that has been with me for a few years.

Blogphilosophy: Education makes the world a worse place

These last few days were pushing the truth into my face again: education does not change the world. In fact: it helps destroying it. So why bother? Why do I put so much time and effort in researching education?

It is not about Israël, it could just as easily be North Korea, China, Zimbabwe, waffles baking Belgium, … or the tiny country of Andorra for all I care. It is any region empowered by the educated that decides ‘the other’ should be destroyed (read murdered under a false flag of well-meant excuses). It is never about a nation or patriotism, those are just words used by the educated to feed propaganda, the media and lead up to destructive action. The nations never die, its citizens die, the children die. The powerful, educated few that decide they will bombard innocent people … they live. They are educated in surviving, constructing mind weaves to make them and others think violence is permitted, they understand how to fire guns pointed away from their homes. 

Universal rights are simple: you kill someone on purpose => you are a murderer and should be trialed.

Annihilating the powerless is the best way to keep people down. Annihilating the powerless and educating the thinking. Give those that have some intelligence something to do. Give them the illusion their education will make the world a better place. It will never do it. Power is not in education, power is in the elite network, the willingness to be part of the network, the willingness to engage in destruction to keep power to those already in it: “for that is how it should be. We know what is best for them”.

Palestinians are educated people, israëlis are moslims too, jews struggle for peace and all of us suffer from death and destruction. Killing someone makes anyone a murderer, even if they do it from 10 miles further down the road. That is basic knowledge we all know. But it does not matter that we know it. There is no world for the peaceful, for the balanced, for indigenous people, for any of us just wanting to live in harmony.

Delivering primary education to all?! I think not. Reaching the millennium goals is a nice sounding motto. Something to keep many of us busy, working, researching. But unless the few really want to achieve it, it never happens. And it does not happen. We could. Social science has many frameworks, theories, even pilot studies to prove its potential realization. But it does not happen. Because rebuilding cities, rolling out roads for tanks, pumping fuel from the core of the earth to regions consuming it in a rush to go to work, to professions that put all of us between brick walls for the biggest part of our day, for workers hurrying of to any space that is not their family so they do not have to talk to their fellow man/woman, even if those are their partners, their next of kin, their spouse. Let alone make them think about easy dilemma’s that might make a change.

What gets us on the streets? I don’t know. But I can tell you what does not get all of us walking the pavements, hammering on doors of our so called democratic elected leaders: technologically strong, educated  armies blowing children to oblivion.

Education is manipulated and misused. Maybe it is just there to keep us busy, to keep me busy. But for the life of me I cannot come up with anything else to try and change this world and hope that at some point we will find a cure for mindless aggression in name of the father, the nation, the god… or any of those iconic lies.

Blogphilosophy: mega #PhD is more in touch with the contemporary, interdisciplinary #networked world

As I am looking around for PhD places (if you know of a call that would be open to a proposal on open learning via mobile devices, feel free to let me know), I realized that doing a PhD on my own is simply no longer logical in this new networked world. The least I could do is hook up with other researchers to start what could be called a collaborative mega-PhD.

This idea makes sense, as no one subject can be viewed from one perspective alone. And education touches so many other fields: neuroscience (connections in the brain made during learning), cognitive psychology (when are we willing to engage to build new knowledge), technology (how can technology fit natural human learning with the least interference – maximizing learning affordances), pedagogy (how can learning be optimized via a model that fits natural human learning)… When linking all of these up, we would be able to better understand the fact of learning, and how it can be improved via different fields.

This cross-pollination will not only result in a more profound, all-round grounded set of research facts, but it will probably also be stronger, as the network of researchers working on it can strengthen each other by exchanging ideas popping up in their research.

This mega PhD idea also has another advantage. In many cases PhD’s result in so much data, that one person alone will have a difficult time analyzing it. So if a collaboration of PhD’rs would work on a similar case study to research hypothesis in their field, it will allow them to come to a common drill down of the generated data.

There is only one downside: working as a team can be difficult at times. So the human group factor is something to take into account. Nevertheless I would be up for it.

Blogphilosophy: why I stopped measuring my e-ego #rankingsoftware

Sometimes I need a good (figurative) slap in the face to keep it real. A few weeks ago David Bezemer put my feet back on the ground in a tweeted reaction (@dbezemer) on me sending him a 'klout' invitation: "over my dead body! there are enough people out there desperately measuring their e-ego, I do not feel good about that".

So he got me thinking ... and he is right (of course). Why would I even look up and share my uncritically analyzed ranking in anything with others, if I am propagating critical awareness, open learning, open standards... openness? If I want to promote an idea, that is what I should do. It is not about the rank or level, it is about the act or idea itself. And so it should be, and I should keep this as my main focus.

The Arab spring or the occupy movement are not about the quantity, but the quality of argument. The same with any content that I value, it is seldom the most followed person or topic (Lady Gaga, Superbowl...), but it is content or a person or idea that makes me tick and get motivated. I mean, I can think for myself, or at least I think so - so I should feel confident with my actions and with what I do simply for the sake of it.
Of course there is nothing wrong with looking at 'the most, the longest...', but if it does not say anything about the essence itself, and it only means 'being picked up by many', it's not worth anything. And when the idea of 'most, best..' is translated into a general, computer-driven algorithm not made by myself, chances are slim that the ranking results are actually of interest to me (well, not sure about the effect of google search algorithm, I could see this as an exception).

So I stripped my blog from 'Klout'. However I did keep my 'top blogposts' as a widget... after considering that this might be of genuine interest to others as this is content and not just a number coming from an unclear algorithm. I did the same with other ranking tools and ... it feels right.

Another reason to strip away nonsensical ranking stuff were my own actions. I do not follow the highest ranking Facebook people or companies, but I do want to stay on top of individuals that inspire (Anticon's music company, Stephen Downes Open Learning Daily, Janet Clarey, Wilfred Ruben's blog, Henry Rollins ... your blogs and tweets). There are also a lot of fresh researchers and teachers on mLearning like Dieter Blomme, Ronda Zelezny-Green, who do not necessarily have their own webspace (yet), but who keep me on my toes with their insights and reflections via their comments and tweets - they rock! and it is just great to connect with them: fresh ideas, new ways of attaining knowledge, out-of-the-box thinking... no need to know their ranking, they simply inspire.

So thanks David, I needed that.

Join PLENK: the massive online course on Personal Learning Environments, Networks and Knowledge

Today PLENK2010 (hashtag: #PLENK2010) will start. The PLENK2010 is an open, massive online course, but with an extra, for PLENK2010 is also linked to to the Canadian National Research Council. For anyone interested in PLE's (Personal Learning Environments) this will be a massive learning opportunity, for I know that whatever Stephen Downes and George Siemens come up with, learning is assured and eye-opening on many eLearning subjects will happen. So if you have the time, sign in, sign the form for the research consent (see a bit further) and start learning with over 1000 other learners located around the globe.

For those of you who have heard of the CCK2008 or CCK2009, this is a new open course delivered in part by Stephen Downes and George Siemens, but... the group of facilitators has grown and added Dave Cormier (who was already joining in CCK for some parts).

Although the course will focus entirely on Personal Learning Environments (PLE), Networking and Knowledge, there is a very interesting track added to the course, as this course and the dynamics occurring in it will be used for research on the topic of online learning. As such it brings along the administrative parts of research. I find this very thrilling, as it will be 'live research'.

PLENK 2010 Research (copied from the course info)
Before the course starts, we would like to provide you with advance notice of research being conducted in this course.

Research Consent Document

Research in Personal Learning Environments
The Personal Learning Environments Networks and Knowledge course is part of the National Research Council of Canada's PLE research. The project will examine the learning that occurs as a result of interaction and participation in the distributed community. The goal of the research is to follow and document what communities of learners do when they are learning in a sizeable open online course.

Why are you being given this information as a learner?
Upon registering for the online PLENK course, you are being asked to take part in a study designed to examine various aspects of learning in a network, based on the model of the personal learning environment, in which each learner aggregates and works with a unique set of resources, and interacts and participates in a distributed online community.

The information in this page is intended to help you understand exactly what we are asking of you so that you can decide whether or not you want to register for the PLENK course and participate in the research. Please read this consent document carefully and ask all the questions you might have before deciding whether or not to participate or not in this study. Your participation in the course and research project is entirely voluntary and you can opt out of the course and the research at any time.

If you do not consent to this research, please unsubscribe.

Research Projects
There are four separate research projects being conducted in this course.

1. The NRC PLE Project research, conducted by Helene Fournier and Rita Kop.

2. Wendy Drexler and Chris Sessums will also invite you to participate in research on Personal Learning Environments and Personal Learning Networks and you will find an invitation to participate in their surveys in the Daily.

3. Dave Cormier and George Siemens carry out research in Massive Open Online courses but will not ask you to fill out surveys, as they will be observers on the learning environment.

4. Sui Fai John Mak will invite you to participate in his own research program.

Special Interest Group in PLE and PLN research
People engaged or interested in research in Personal Learning Environments and Personal Learning Networks will be invited to participate in a Special Interest Group on the subject by Hélène Fournier during the course. If you would like to participate in this development, watch the Daily for announcements on the S.I.G and the Moodle forum and wiki for developments!

Kontax m4lit Steve Vosloo taking on South African youth literacy via low-cost mobiles

Some researchers seem to have a natural savoir vivre to get idealism and research out there for all to enjoy. Steve Vosloo is such a researcher, a mobile learning researcher into critical research.

If you have the time to read any of his papers, you will see that his research reports satisfy your scientific mind with his great theoretical drive. But what I love above all is that his work and initiatives add an incredible human surplus.
It is never only about mobile learning initiatives in theory, he makes a difference. He breaks down cultural barriers, he finds learning solutions with the most basic of communication devices (low cost cell-phones)… he is the type of researcher I would love to be (I try to be, but it is a far way to go). Let me describe his latest big project: Kontax, with which he helps massive amounts of youth learners to improve their literacy skills via low-cost phones.

Kontax is a project that uses mobile phones for literacy, which is supported by the Shuttleworth foundation.

On 30 September 2009 Kontax – an m-novel created for the Shuttleworth Foundation’s m4Lit project– launches in South Africa, making world history as the first of its kind to be offered in both English and isiXhosa. The m4Lit project, led by Steve Vosloo, 21st Century Learning Fellow for the Shuttleworth Foundation, aims to not only explore the potential for increased reading and writing for 21st century teens through mobile phones, but also to introduce a more interactive style of story writing and publishing that holds appeal to the participatory culture of youth. The hope behind the m4Lit project is that by researching the role of cellphones in teen reading and writing, educationalists and publishers can better understand the opportunities and risk for literacy practices presented by the most popular communication device used by any teen today.

The project ran in pilot phase from August – December 2009 and it is ongoing.
• From 30 September 2009 onwards a new chapter from Kontax was released every day.
• Each chapter is about 400 words long.

The project is accompanied by a blog.
You can also follow the project on:
• On Twitter or using #kontax.
• On Facebook join the group Kontax.

The full press release on the project can be found here.

And for those willing to take a look at the reports on the m4lit (mobile for literature) or Kontax project check out these research reports here.

Steve is not only a great researcher, he is also a very kind person in real life. I met him in the past and he has charisma and vision. So, if you have the chance to meet him, do it, he inspires.

m-Novels for Africa

View more presentations from Steve Vosloo.

CCK09: does Connectivism want to change the world?

The last couple of months I have been thinking more then I am writing. I am still thinking. In fact the more I think, the dumber I get and I start to see it as fact. So less writing is done. My network is amazing, however and so I keep connecting them if that seems like a good idea. My network consists of people trying to improve the world, meaning reduce conflicts, access to health facilities, access to education, etcetera. A lot of people in my network are scientists with a vision to improve the world and make it a better place to live in, with quality of life for all (in a variety of forms they define it).

Although still a bit reluctant to write, seeing as I feel in a cognitive slow period of life, this post had to be written. Especially after reading Stephen Downes’ article on Group vs Networks: the class struggle continues. Some quotes from the article:

“It's hard to believe that something like freedom of speech is a radical concept, but there it is. In their own ways, a person in a network should be able to send their message any way they want in their own language using their own computer encoding, using their Macintosh computers, using standards that are non-standards.”

“In networks we have communities of practices where a ‘community' is defined as collections of individuals that exchange messages and ideas back and forth without being impeded. Copyright, trademarks, proprietary software, all of these things are barriers for the communication of thought and ideas. If you allow that using content, images, text, video is a way of speaking to each other, then copyright, trademark, all these things are ways of locking down our speech, saying, "I own the word such and such and you can't use it."

“You can't build a society with walls. …In the longer term we have to do something more imaginative than blocking this technology. We need to live and teach and learn where the students live and teach and learn. That means that we have to stop blocking to their spaces and go to their spaces. So we explore their world. But, you know, there's the age-old danger of explorers that when we go to their world, we're going to want to colonize it. And we're going to want to make them like us. And we're going to want to take them from their mountains and put them in rooms and put walls around them and put locks on their doors and say, "This is civilization."

While picking up parts of the CCK08 last year, I found it enlightening and in sync with some of my world beliefs. This year I enrolled, but I was not actively producing anything. However, I love to lurk and I learn a lot from it which suits my current state of mind. To me Connectivism is more related to Critical Social Science (CSS) then Interpretive Social Science (ISS). This idea matters to me, because I had the feeling that Connectivism had or has an activist agenda incorporated as well. But than, maybe a tainted what I learned or I tainted it in order for Connectivism to suite my preferred worldview.

For those not familiar with the distinction between Critical Social Science and Interpretative Social Science, I give a short list of features for each, as cited by Neuman (2006) in the book ‘Social Science Methods: qualitative and quantitative approaches’, for the CSS frame see p. 102, for the ISS see p. 94.

Interpretative Social Science

Critical Social Science

The purpose of social science is to understand social meaning in context. A constructionist view that reality is socially created (a constructionist orientation is an orientation toward social reality that assumes the beliefs and meaning people create and use fundamentally shape what reality is for them). Humans are interacting social beings who create and reinforce shared meaning. A voluntaristic stance is taken regarding human agency (voluntarism is an approach to human agency and causality that assumes human actions are based on the subjective choices and reasons of individuals). . Scientific knowledge is different from but no better than other forms Explanations are idiographic and advance via inductive reasoning (idiographic: a type of explanation used in which the explanation is an in-depth description or picture with specific details but limited abstraction about a social situation or setting). Explanations are verified using the postulate of adequacy (a principle that explanations should be understandable in commonsense terms by the people being studied) with people being studied. Social scientific evidence is contingent, context specific, and often requires bracketing. A practical orientation (pragmatic orientation in which people apply knowledge iin their daily lives. The value of knowledge is ability to be integrated with a person’s practical everyday understandings and choices) is taken toward knowledge that is used from a transcendent perspective (the researcher develops research together with the people being studied, examines people’s inner lives to gain an intimate familiarity with them, and works closely with people being studied to create mutual understandings). Social science should be relativistic regarding value positions.

The purpose of social science is to reveal what is hidden to liberate and empower people. Social reality has multiple layers. People have unrealized potential and are misled by reification (reification = when people become detached from and lose sight of their connection to their own creations and treat them as being alien, external forces); social life is relational. A bounded autonomy (human action is based on subjective choices and reasons but only within identifiable limits) stance is taken toward human agency. Scientific knowledge is imperfect but can fight false consciousness (the idea that people often have false or misleading ideas about empirical conditions and their true interests). Abduction (= an approach to theorizing in which several alternative frameworks are applied to data and theory that are redescribed in each and evaluated) is used to create explanatory critiques (the explanation simultaneously explains (or tells why events occur) and critiques (or points out discrepancies, reveals myths, or identifies contradictions). Explanations are verified through praxis (a way to evaluate explanations in which theoretical explanations are put into real-life practice and the outcome is used to refine explanation). All evidence is theory dependent and some theories reveal deeper kinds of evidence. A reflexive-dialectic orientation (dialectic= a change process in which social relationships contain irresolvable inner contradictions; over time they will trigger a dramatic upset and a total restructuring of the relationship) is adopted toward knowledge that is used from a transformative perspective. Social reality and the study of it necessarily contain a moral-political dimension, and moral-political positions are unequal in advancing human freedom and empowerment.

From all these points, I love this one from CSS the best: Social reality and the study of it necessarily contain a moral-political dimension, and moral-political positions are unequal in advancing human freedom and empowerment. For I feel that fighting to keep communications open and accessible for all is an absolute priority, also in education. But even now, even at the most liberal of educational institutions (university) some of these educational rights are challenged, blocked. So is it not the responsibility of the scientist to actively participate in opening up or keeping the door open to enable all of us interested to use these educational tools?

Why is it important to me to know whether Connectivism is either or, or both? Because it matters to me what a theory does and what its goal is. To me science has a function to serve society, to make all of our lives better.

Sorry for the lengthy post, I should probably do some more thinking.

Do you think Connectivism or its researchers should actively take part in society?