Presentation on #MOOC for KM change

Just finished my presentation on Change and how MOOCs can help with coping change, given during the Managing and Surviving Change MOOC organized by the University of Aberdeen. You can see the slide deck here. 

Or you can have a look at the video recording:

Analyzing institutes online #presence for increased competitiveness

During the last few weeks I was asked to see where my current institute was in terms of innovation, digital identity, online visibility... and more of those knowledge age connected characteristics. This lead me to set up a presentation with some options to find out where your institute or organization is placed among its competitors or partners. Where is your institute at? Mine is now working on a strategy to enhance its visibility and online presence based on the results ... exiting and fun stuff!

Is your institute visible online and ready for the knowledge age? Analyze it for yourself from Inge Ignatia de Waard

Blogphilosophy #EdX where #MOOC becomes a joint venture

Video streaming by Ustream After reading the launch of EdX with great interest, I feel that the work of a lot of us open learning minded learners has been tamed by big institutes. Utopia has been monetized (although seemingly only limited as it is under the umbrella of non-profit, however I did read Joint Venture in the press release) and put into a stricter model where - if I understand it correctly and please put me straight if I did not get it - the assistants, professors, and grading algorithms of the richer universities will blast away smaller initiatives that are based on peer knowledge exchange, natural learning and human enrichment.

Of course this is me writing, the me who believes that a diversity of approaches is more closely related to human evolution than providing only one model, due to economical potential. A learner should be able to choose the model that fits her/him best.

In the launch of EdX there was a big focus on the fact that enormous research will be done on the nature of learning via the participants that register for the courses. I applaud this with all of my heart, for yes, I do believe in research (not sure if research results are necessarily taken up by policy makers, but ... it has value to me). Only wondering if the EdX research will also be open? So that anyone will be able to benefit from it? That way small schools in less fortunate areas or with underpriveledged students can benefit from it as well. For research results can be embedded in a diversity of approaches if those research results are open for all to read, grasp, build upon.

Nevertheless I am happy to see the conscious choice to put out content open to a global audience on a wide variety of really, really interesting subjects and ... with a certificate option?!!! That is more than most of our educational institutions could/can offer. In fact it looks to me as if this is a major educational magnet that can attract a plethora of students.

The New York times did quote George Siemens, but ... it just is not the same as moving ahead with people that choose another way of teaching/learning because of philosophical reasons. Now all of a sudden the concept of being open, discussing with people who are simply 'in to it' will become a business model. It is good to hear that no profit is expected, but ... it will have a business model and ... that is the way the world turns.

Reading the almost salivating comments of Harvard/MIT people on connecting to the Chinese and Indian learners makes me wonder if the world is better off only using one learning/teaching model? The rich history of pedagogical approaches, embedded in cultures on all continents will again be flatted down into one, overarching model.

Okay... there is only one thing left to do before learning/teaching diversity comes down to the one, global, dominant model: getting the diversity of models gathered in a book. An eBook preferably, giving a voice to the diversity of teaching that happens around the world, in a multitude of cultures, because they can and have been doing it since the dawn of time. Learning is human, as such we are all part of it, and all science related to it should be open, natural and diverse in order to evolve towards a more balanced world for all of us. Maybe I should knock on the door of Stephen Downes and others to reach out to those teachers/sharers of knowledge who live it, love it and teach it ... their way and collaboratively write the book.

8 contemporary #learning needs for the #knowledge age and K12 reform book

While writing a chapter for a book, I was wondering about the contemporary needs of a course to fit the demands of this knowledge age.

The beginning of the new millennium has been described as a Knowledge and this shift from the industrial age affects all of us (global audience). The societal changes brought along with the Internet, social media development and the rise to ubiquity by a number of technologies (wifi, mobiles…) has changed human society as a whole. Within only a decade people from all continents started to use the same tools to connect with others and most of all, to improve their lives or livelihood’s. I belief this global change also has a profound effect on the leading educational model that was used in the Industrial Age and which has served as the balanced educational framework for the past century. Where the educational model of the Industrial Age focused on the linear transmission of information and knowledge; this era searches for a new system dynamic to complement the new educational realities of the Knowledge Age.

Barry Wansbrough wrote a great 24 page paper on this, focusing on k12 (reform) for the knowledge age, nice read and he also invites others to give feedback on it. He strongly beliefs (and I concur) that the emphasis of future education should not be on instruction, but on engagement.

I tried to find the challenges that current educational designs need to meet, and I came up with a list of 8 (some references, first I wanted to delete them, but maybe they are useful in some way even if it is in a post): ·

1. Networked Learning, Connecting to People: networking amongst peers, is essential for learning to appear. A mMOOC can be thought of as a "short-term" community of practice. All the participants are brought together to share community, domain knowledge, and practice for a short period of time, hence strengthening their knowledge through a network of specialized peers. A MOOC is all about connecting to others to strengthen learning and knowledge creation/exchange as indicated by Siemens (2004). Mobile devices on the other hand have always been used to connect with others. ·
2. Becoming Active, Critical Content Producers: in a world where information is exploding exponentially, it is increasingly important that any learner finds their way to the most relevant information as the basis for their knowledge construction. McElvaney and Zane (2010) came to the conclusion that “when learners adopt personal web technologies, it enables and requires them to discard their roles as passive consumers of information, learners must become editors who critically question content and sources. ·
3. Emerging Collaborative Peer Learning: networking in itself is not enough, in this increasingly connected world collaboration becomes ever more important, not only to obtain relevant knowledge, but also to constructively scaffold on each other’s expertise. Garrison (2000) mentioned that “this adaptability in designing the educational transaction based upon sustained communication and collaborative experiences reflects the essence of the postindustrial era of distance education” (p. 13).·
4. Setting Up Communicative Dialogues: conversations between people in learning communities are at the center of those online communities. This exchange of ideas that goes back and forth between members of a community is essential, because “more than any other way, people learn not from courses or Web sites but from each other … through dialogue” (Rosenberg, 2006, p. 158). ·
5. Optimizing Informal Learning: informal learning happens depending on the context the learner is in and the learning needs s/he consciously or unconsciously perceives. As we move through life, we transfer our insights and beliefs from one experience to another abiding by the flux of life and knowledge itself. By providing and disseminating information in a way that a mobile device can log on to it whenever the need arises, informal learning is optimized. ·
6. Strengthening Lifelong Learning: by allowing learners to acquisition information and as such construct knowledge by using their personal learning device(s) will increase their lifelong learning capacity as the learning facility is kept close to the learner her/himself. This acquired learning skill will also last a lifetime. ·
7. Supporting Authentic Learning: as professions and subsequent education towards these professions diversify, authentic learning that fits the learner’s needs is getting crucial to allow tailored and relevant knowledge to be constructed. Naismith et al (2004) mentioned that “mobile devices can provide more direct ways for learners to interact with materials in an authentic learning context” (p. 13). ·
8. Enable self-regulated learning: Pintrich (2000) indicated that most models on self-regulated learning include strategies to shape, control or structure the learning environment as important strategies for self-regulation. A MOOC is built on a learner-centered approach. This means that each of the participants is responsible for their own learning.

Would like to know what your thoughts are on these?

And here are the references for those interested:

• Garrison, D. (2000). Theoretical challenges for distance education in the 21st century: A shift from structural to transactional issues. Retrieved 8 December, 2010 from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/2/22
• McElvaney, J., & Berge, Z. (2010). Weaving a Personal Web: Using online technologies to create customized, connected, and dynamic learning environments. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology/La revue canadienne de l’apprentissage et de la technologie, 35(2).
• Naismith, L., Lonsdale, P., Vavoula, G., & Sharples, M. (2004). Literature review in mobile technologies and learning. FutureLab Report, 11.
• Pintrich, , P.R. (2000). The role of goal orientation in self-regulated learning. In M. Boekaerts & P.R. Pintrich & M. Zeidner (Eds), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 452,-502). New York: Academic Press.Rosenberg, M., J. (2006). Beyond E-Learning. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.
• Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, January 2005, Volume 2 Number 1. Retrieved from web http://www.itdl.org/journal/jan_05/article01.htm (accessed 18 May 2011).