DISAGGREGATION IN TEACHING AND LEARNING

‘Being parties in the work’ A view of the changing digitally-mediated

teaching and learning landscape

Laura Czerniewicz28 November 2013

A University is, according to the usual designation, an Alma Mater, knowing her children one by one, not a

foundry, or a mint, or a treadmill.

The best telescope does not dispense with eyes; the

printing press or the lecture room will assist us greatly,

but we must be true to ourselves,

we must be parties in the work.

 John Henry Newman, The Idea of the University, 1824

Photo- http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/newman/jhnbio2.html

THIS TALK

o About technology• The characteristics of new technologies• How technology is changing the possible shape of

teaching and learning, and of course provision

o The global role players in the teaching and learning landscape• Values and interests

o What this means for access, participation & learning• with a particular view from South Africa

HIGHER EDUCATION UNDER PRESSURE

o Financial crisis• Government cuts in many countries• Under funded and resource constrained

o Massification globally• SA: Gross enrolment rate (no of students at particular level)

• 16%. Low internationally, Low considering 700 000 matriculants officially qualifying for HE

o SA: Low participation high attrition system• In SA, 40% students leave HE in 1st year • Only 5% of African youth succeed in HE

See Fisher, Scott, Altbach, Jegede

TECHNOLOGY

o Pervasive • A cause of change in the higher education

environment• Seen as solution for higher education

problems• Mediating all higher education practices

• Assumed to be increasingly ubiquitious

TECHNOLOGY

Principles of new mediaAffordances of the digital

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF NEW MEDIA

o Numerical representation• new media objects exist as data

o Modularity• the different elements of new media exist

independentlyo Automation

• new media objects can be created & modified automatically

o Variability• new media objects exist in multiple versions

o Transcoding• the logic of the computer influences how we

understand and represent ourselves

Manovich , L 2002, The Language of New Media

SOME KEY DIGITAL AFFORDANCES

o Granularo Dynamico Communication visible

• a form of content

o Sharing - free & easy• Sharing means multiplying not dividing

o Affords more closed/ lock down as well as more open & accessible

MODULARITY: DISAGGREGATION IN

TEACHING & LEARNING

Disaggregation of

Content

Teaching & learning interaction

Certification

TRADITIONAL FORM OF TEACHING & LEARNING

Teaching & learning interactionAssessment & certification

Content

SINGLE PACKAGE

Time Space

DISAGGREGATION

Content

Teaching & learning interaction

Assessment & certification

TimePlatfor

m

DISAGGREGATION

Content

Teaching & learning interaction

Assessment & certification

TimePlatfor

m

Legal

Digital

Analogue

Illegal

Textbooks

Some photocopying

E-TextbooksOpen

Education Resources

Photocopying

Pirate sitesFile sharing

ACCESS TO LEARNING CONTENT

DIGITAL CONTENT

o From products to services• From tangible to intangible• Control no longer with customer when

purchased

o From ownership to access/licenseo Intermediary - platforms

• Services via an intermediary• May need to buy the platform, or access

to the platform, not the content

OPEN CONTENT

o Free to user• To download (gratis)• To re-use & remix (libre)

o Available under an open license or public domain

o Grants permissions not copyright

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DISCOURSES OF PIRACY

CHANGES IN TEACHING & LEARNING

Content

Teaching & learning interaction

Assessment & certification

Time Place

On campus Remote

Internet supported

Fully online

F2F only

MOOCsF

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Location of students

Internet dependent

Online-intensive

Blended(mixed

mode): combines

F2F and online

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…has legitimised online education & distance education at elite residential universities

..introduced new possibilities for business models

DISAGGREGATION

Content

Teaching & learning interaction

Certification

Time Place

DISAGGREGATION

Content

Teaching & learning interaction

Certification

TimePlatfor

m

Free content

Pay to access platform

DISAGGREGATION

Content

Teaching & learning interaction

Certification

TimePlatfor

m

CERTIFICATION

BADGES

o Micro, granular certificationo Some sort of formal(ised) recognition

• for informal learning processes• for chunks of content• for competencies

PRIVATE ASSESSMENT

IN SUMMARYNumerical

representationNew media objects exist as data

Modularitythe different elements of new media exist

independently

Automationnew media objects can be created & modified

automatically

Variabilitynew media objects exist in multiple versions

Transcodingthe logic of the computer influences how we

understand and represent ourselves

Learning analytics

Automated assessment

Disaggregation of teaching & learning

Culture of technology shapes social /pedagogical culture

Versions of content

IN SUMMARYA modularised, variable, transcoded

teaching and learning landscape

TECHNOLOGICAL DETERMINISM?

TECHNOLOGY AND THE GLOBAL

HIGHER EDUCATION LANDSCAPEIncreased private sector investment

New opportunities for the private sector New players

Globalisation: extended reach

THE INTERNET

The network society

Promises and perils

Dominant functions and processes in the information age are increasingly organized around networks. Networks constitute the new social morphology of our societiesand the diffusion of networking logic substantially modifies ….processes of production, experiences of power and culture

Castells, M. (1996) The Rise of the Network Society.

In the past, social networks were more limited in different spheres. Networks were more exclusive. The Internet changed the nature of networks by making them more inclusive and easy to participate in.

Castells, M. (1996) The Rise of the Network Society.

Conventional core– periphery relationships

…can be replaced with networked relationships

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AT THE SAME TIME

GLOBAL MARKETISATION DISCOURSE

INCREASED PRIVATE SECTOR INVOLVEMENT

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THE GLOBAL MARKET PLACE

Daniels, J 2012

o Online education is in the hand of the private sector• “In the US the for-profit sector has a much

higher proportion of the total online market (32%) than its share of the overall higher education market (7%).

• Seven of the 10 US institutions with the highest online enrolments are for-profits.

• For-profits seem better placed to expand online because they do not have to worry about resistance from academic staff, nor about exploiting their earlier investment in campus facilities.”

Source: Kris Olds (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Susan L. Robertson (University of Bristol)http://www.aca-secretariat.be/fileadmin/aca_docs/images/members/Kris_Olds.pdf

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VARIETY OF

INTERESTS

PLAYERS IN HE LANDSCAPE

o New players• For profit educational / service providers

• Eg Coursera

• Non-profit educational providers• eg Ed-X

o New roles for old players• E.g. Educational publishers as providers of

services

o Old players with new value• Eg distance education providers

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If you are not paying for the product you are the product

If you are not paying for the product you are the product

Access via the platform

THE GLOBAL MARKET PLACEo The developing

world as the new market to solve crises at northern universities

GLOBAL REACH

http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/globalhighered/mapping-courseras-global-footprint

https://www.edx.org/press/queen-rania-foundation-partners-edx

Traditional New model (MOOC)

Fees to enter

Pay No

Entrance requirement

Yes No

Content May be free/included in fees May be paid

Support Free/included in fees May be paid

Certification Free/included in fees Paid

User generated

content

Private, owned by student Owned by provider

Ownership of course

Not traditionally shared Proprietary, paid for re-use adaptation

Platform May be licensed or open May be licensed or open

MODELS- MONETISATION

Traditional New model (MOOC)

Fees to enter

Pay No

Entrance requirement

Yes No

Content May be free/included in fees May be paid

Support Free/included in fees May be paid

Certification Free/included in fees Paid

User generated

content

Private, owned by student Owned by provider

Ownership of course

Not traditionally shared Proprietary, paid for re-use adaptation

Platform May be licensed or open May be licensed or open

MODELS- MONETISATION

Traditional New model (MOOC)

Fees to enter

Pay No

Entrance requirement

Yes No

Content May be free/included in fees May be paid

Support Free/included in fees May be paid

Certification Free/included in fees Paid

User generated

content

Private, owned by student Owned by provider

Ownership of course

Not traditionally shared Proprietary, paid for re-use adaptation

Platform May be licensed or open May be licensed or open

MODELS- MONETISATION

What does this mean for the coherence of 

teaching and learning processes?

EXAMPLE OF “FREEMIUM MODEL”

(A South African example)

EXAMPLE OF “FREEMIUM MODEL”

EXAMPLE OF “FREEMIUM MODEL”

EXAMPLE OF “FREEMIUM MODEL”

EXAMPLE OF “FREEMIUM MODEL”

TRADITIONAL MODEL: COSTS OF SUPPORT

o Student supportRelative costs over 8 year lifecycle of a Distance Education course

From: Weller, M some MOOC thoughts, presentation to UCT, November xx. 2013

From: Tim Gore Making Sense of MOOCs Brussels 10th October 2013

EXAMPLE: ANALYTICS

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TENSIONS IN THE ECO SYSTEM

o Values• Private sector imperatives• Higher education role - as a public good, for

sake of knowledge, workplace etc• Learning & pedagogy needs

o Control & participation• Who has control, of what, at which point?• Role and control of technology?

o Geopolitics• How do these tensions play out locally?• Whose global interests are served?

BEING PARTIES TO THE WORKAccess

YES, BUT: A PAUSE FOR

BOURDIEUo In a network society, forms of capital are

forms of power • Economic capital • Social capital- (networks across/within)• Embodied cultural capital (expertise, competence)• Objectified cultural capital (the object, technology)• Institutional cultural capital (qualifications)• Symbolic cultural capital (recognition, status, legitimacy)

WHERE DOES THE POWER LIE?

o In a network society, forms of capital are forms of power • Economic capital • Social capital- (networks across/within)• Embodied cultural capital (expertise, competence)• Objectified cultural capital (the object/technology)• Institutional cultural capital (qualifications)• Symbolic cultural capital (recognition, status,

legitimacy)

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ELECTRICITY

http://submarine-cable-map-2013.telegeography.com/

UNDERSEA CABLES

CONNECTIVITY IS INCREASINGbut unevenly

CONNECTIVITY DIVIDES

o Households with/ without Internet• Developed countries 78%, • Developing countries 28%

o Speed• Dramatic differences, Asian countries

fastest, African countries slowest

o Education levelso Rural/urbano Income

MORE LEVEL PLAYING FIELD

o Mobiles: eg South Africa

LSMLiving StandardsMeasure

MOBILE BROADBAND

o % cost

BEING PARTIES TO THE WORKAccess

o In a network society, forms of capital are forms of power • Economic capital • Social capital- (networks across/within)• Embodied cultural capital (expertise, competence)• Objectified cultural capital (the object, technology)• Institutional cultural capital (qualifications)• Symbolic cultural capital (recognition, status, legitimacy)

ACCESS

To promote equity of access and fair chances of successto all who are seeking to realise their potential through higher education

Department of Education ( 1997) Education White Paper 3: A Programme for the Transformation of Higher Education,

GLOBAL SCARCITY

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http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_koller_what_we_re_learning_from_online_education.html

EQUITY: STUDENTS ONLINE

o Surveyed 40 000 students in nearly 500 000 courses

o Findings• …While all types of students in the study

suffered decrements in performance in online courses, some struggled more than others to adapt: males, younger students, Black students, and students with lower grade point averages

Xu & Jaggar 2013 Adaptability to Online Learning: Differences Across Types of Students and Academic Subject Areas

Access without support is not opportunity.

Effective student support does not arise by chance. It requires intentional, structured, and proactive action that is systematic in nature and coordinated in application.

Prof. Vincent Tinto, Distinguished University Professor  Regional Symposia on Student Success

19 - 23 August 2013, South Africa 

We were on the front pages of newspapers and magazines, and at the same time, I was realizing, we don't educate people as others wished, or as I wished. We have a lousy product. It was a painful moment.

These were students from difficult neighbourhoods, without good access to computers, and with all kinds of challenges in their lives ….

It's a group for which this medium is not a good fit.

Sebastian Thrunfounder of Udacity,

November 2013

http://www.fastcompany.com/3021473/udacity-sebastian-thrun-uphill-climb

Online education: MOOCs taken by educated few, Ezekiel J. Emanuel, Nature 503, 342 (21 Nov 2013) 

http://theory.cribchronicles.com/2013/01/04/the-mooc-is-dead-long-live-the-mooc/http://clarissasblog.com/2013/11/24/moocs-are-dead-lets-move-on/https://chronicle.com/article/MOOCs-May-Not-Be-So-Disruptive/140965/

25 NOVEMBER 2013

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BEING PARTIES TO THE WORK

Participation

Castells, M. (1996) The Rise of the Network Society.

…Power, money, and information are primarily organized around flows which link up distant locales, and unite them in a shared logic.

The variable geometry of networked integration and switched off exclusion of the network society translates into the juxtaposition between two spatial forms/processes: the space of flows, on the one hand, the space of places, on the other hand.

. People still live in places, and construct their experience, their meaning, and their political representation around these places.

MEANING MAKING

& the geo politics of content

African universities are essentially consumers of knowledge produced in developed countries.

Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande UNESCO Conference on Higher Education, 2009

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WIKIPEDIA CONTENT

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BARRIERS TO PARTICIPATION

A MORE DEMOCRATIC CASE?

o Insert the example

SEE: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21829122.200-free-for-all-lifting-the-lid-on-a-wikipedia-crisis.html#.UphtIcQW0rU

BUT: MOOC PROVIDERS

http://openuct.uct.ac.za/blog/mooc-less-africa

Mediation?Recontextualisation

?

…….situated educational activity ….of education The programme content must be the present, existential, concrete situations reflecting the aspirations of the people.

In order for education to be most effective, content must be presented in a way that allows the student to relate the information to prior experiences.

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MOOC LICENSES

o Review of 8 providerso Almost entirely full copyright

• Udacity- some content CC-NC-ND (not whole course)

o All keep user-generated content rights• Some specify including for commercial use

o Users as consumers not adaptors or creators

POLITICS OF PARTICIPATION

o The Read-Write web• Who reads and who writes• Replicating global power relations

CONCLUSION

The ecosystem includes a great deal of existing knowledge about good learning

GOOD LEARNING

o Good learning requires mediationo We are more likely to get the learning outcomes we

want when the curriculum is aligned o Learning is more likely to happen when students are

actively engaged o Learning is more likely to be successful where the

teaching is cognizant of what students bring with them: prior knowledge, language, experience

o Learning involves some degree of transformation of self

Shay, S 2013

Shay, S Good Learning: What we Know. Presentation at Heads of Department Workshop, University of Cape Town, April 2013

IN SHORT

Asserting the interests of good learning is essential

The realignment of interests in the networked society

enabled by new technologies isnot necessarily serving the requirements of learning

the needs of disadvantaged learnersconcepts of education that serve democracy

and social goodthe needs of the “global south”

Let’s ensure that those networked relationships don’t only serve the interests of the educated &

advantaged

We must be parties

in the work!

 

Imag

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tace

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THANK YOU

REFERENCESo ACA Seminar ‘Making Sense of MOOCs’ Brussels 10th October 2013, talks by Tim Gore and

Kris Olds, at http://www.aca-secretariat.be/fileadmin/aca_docs/images/members/Tim_Gore.pdf and http://www.aca- secretariat.be/fileadmin/aca_docs/images/members/Kris_Olds.pdf

o Altbach, P (2011) The past, present, and future of the research university in Altbach, P and Salmi, J (Eds) 2011 The Making of World-Class Research Universities- The Road to Academic Excellence, The World Bank

o British Council 2012 The shape of things to come: higher education global trends and emerging opportunities to 2020, British Council

o  Bourdieu, P. (1986) The forms of capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.) Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education (New York, ...

o Castells, M. (1996) The Rise of the Network Society, Blackwello Daniel J (20120 Higher Education in a Decade of Disruption , speech to Council  of College

and Military Educators (CCME)  Annual Conference, 14-16 February 2012, Orlando, Florida, Commonwealth of Learning

o Department of Education, South Africa ( 1997) Education White Paper 3: A Programme for the Transformation of Higher Education

o Emanuel, E (2013) Online education: MOOCs taken by educated few , Nature 503, 342 (21 Nov 2013)

o Fisher G and Scott (2011) ‘The Role of Higher Education in Closing the Skills Gap in South Africa’ The World Bank, Human Development Group, Africa Region, October 2011, Background paper for the World Bank project 'Closing the Skills and Technology Gap in South Africa'

o  Flick, C, (2011) Geographies of the World’s Knowledge , Convoco Foundation, Oxford internet Institute Oxford internet Institute, www.oii.ox.ac.uk/publications/convoco_geographies_en.pdf

o ITU (2013) The World in 2013: ICT Facts and Figures, www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/.../facts/ICTFactsFigures2013.pdf

o Internet World Stats. 2012. http://www.internetworldstats.com/o ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database-

www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspxo Jegede, O (2012), The Status of Higher Education in Africa, paper for Panel Discussion in the Launch of

Weaving Success: Voices of Change in African Higher Education- A project of the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa (PHEA) held at the Institute of International Education, New York, , February 1, 2012

o Jim, G (2013) Wiki-opoly, New Scientist, Vol. 218, Issue 2912o Letseka, M. and Maile, S. 2008. High University drop-out rates: a threat to South Africa’s future. HSRC

Policy Brief. www.hsrc.ac.za. o Manovich, L The Language of New Media, MIT Presso SAARF South African Audience Research Foundation (SAARF) Available at:

http://saarf.co.za/LSM/lsm-diy.asp o UK Department of Business Innovation and Skills (2013) The Maturing of the MOOC: Literature Review

BIS Research Paper Number 30, September 2013o US Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Economic Council, Four Years of

Broadband Growth, June 2013

Also, see URLs on examples on individual slides

REFERENCES