eLearning – Opportunities and Challenges

Nigel Gibson

n.gibson@open.ac.uk

Sussex Learning Network – 21/06

Agenda• I am going to try to map some of the issues surrounding

online provision and supporting learning online• I will offer a very “fast pass” over the landscape and I’ll

try to pick out some of the points of interest• I’ll highlight some questions we might try to answer while

considering eLearning• Then I’ll look at some possible futures

Before we start..............• I don’t have all the answers• I don’t know all the questions (and don’t understand

many of them)• I’ve been in this “e-world” for about 10 years as a

learner, an educator and an observer and the arena is shifting so quickly it makes me dizzy

• You may leave with more questions than you started with!

Assumptions I’ve made• Some people in here are already engaged in some form

of eProvision• Some people are new to all this• Some are eConverts while others are eCynics• (Isn’t it great that all we have to do is add “e” to words to

change the meaning?)

The landscape

What are we talking about?• People bandy around terms like “eLearning” and

“blended learning” without much thought of what they really mean!

• Oliver and Trigwell ask whether blended learning is lost (Oliver M and Trigwell K, Can ‘Blended learning’ be redeemed?, E-Learning, Vol 2 November 2005)

• When we talk about “e”-anything we need to agree common points of reference

Words• “Blended learning” describes a mix of face to face (f2f)

and online provision• “Online” seems to cover everything from email to web

pages and includes peer discussion between learners• Some “eLearning” takes place in a controlled

environment – the learners and educators are co-located. Some eLearning is less bounded by time or geography.

• Part of our negotiation of terms might look to situating where we think we are (or might wish to be)

A scale

What is a PC???

No paper

121 email discussion

Web site supporting

course

Online group

discussion

Most/all course material delivered

online

No f2f!Limited

meetings

Spaghetti western• Good

– Modesty aside – The OU are doing some exciting stuff• Bad

– I won’t name names but many providers simply post lecture notes online

• Ugly– Cumbernauld Shopping Centre

An example of a blended course• The Aichi Prefectural University (Japan) uses a blended

approach to teach an English Thesis Writing course• Students meet for one hour each week and work in

English• They have 24/7 access to a series of Yahoo groups

(password protected so that only members of the class can participate) where they exchange ideas and work together on group exercises

• Very low tech - very low cost!!!

Not just learning• Learn Direct - and others - now offer information, advice

and guidance online• Practitioners (from any discipline) can meet, online, and

create communities of interest and/or practice to share ideas (this harks back to the start of online communities)

Some considerations

Handy terms (or “Death by jargon”)• VLE – Virtual learning environment• LMS – Learner management system• CMS – Content management system• Wiki – “What I know is…” and also Hawaiian for quickly

or hurry – an area that to which many can contribute (Wikipedia)

• Blog – Web log, anything from an online journal to a polemic raging against the world. Free, easy to create and update – low skill requirement

• Conferencing – using an online area to “chat”

“Chat”• This might take the form of social chat• Course specific “chat”• An online exercise• Any of the many things we do when meeting face to face• Usually asynchronous• Also known as forums• Access usually restricted to participants on a specific

course, wider level might be all students at an institution• Synchronous chat using instant messaging services

(MSN, Yahoo, etc)

Technical stuff• Many VLEs now are based on browser access, i.e. no

need for any additional software on the learner’s PC• Some are available at no cost – Elgg and Moodle for

example• We can’t assume that everyone involved (educators as

well as learners) has the necessary basic skills• If offering 24/7 access who makes sure the system is

available?

Speed of light• Content can be quickly and easily updated• Participants might expect “always on” – this can put

pressure on support services• Managing expectations and setting an appropriate pace

is important

Content• Not just tutor notes on a web page!• Using online technologies content can be;

– Dynamic– Personalised– Non-linear– Multimedia – voice, animations, text, film, podcast…..

• The growth of “Open Content” initiatives means that materials can be sourced externally and mixed with locally written material

• Two points there I will enlarge on…..

Non-linear?• Learning online can allow learners to select a path

through the materials and set their own pace (the Distance Learning model)

• This may be appropriate where students are joining from different disciplines, i.e. some may need to study certain areas in more detail

Open Content?• There are a number of international Open Content

projects underway– The Open Content Alliance (OCA) represents the collaborative efforts of

a group of cultural, technology, nonprofit, and governmental organizations from around the world that will help build a permanent archive of multilingual digitized text and multimedia content. [Open Content Alliance]

– Higher education institutions worldwide face significant challenges related to providing increased access, while containing or reducing costs. Meeting increasing and increasingly varied demand for quality higher education is an important consideration in the policy debate and institutional development in many countries. And it is particularly important in the case of developing countries, for whom demand often greatly exceeds capacity in the existing higher education system. [UNESCO Virtual University]

Some Open Content providers • Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative• Utah State University• MIT Open Courseware• The Open University (UK)• There are also a large number of consortia bringing

together Open Content portals – places to access materials for specific disciplines from a range of providers

Pedagogy• Simple web pages can be didactic, “transmission based”• Conferencing, groups of learners accessing the same

area to read and post messages, allows for a constructivist approach– Use conferences to refer participants to specific web

pages, a “reading list”, and then invite them back to discuss what they found.

– Invite participants to find resources about their discipline and bring them to the online conference

What’s round the corner?

Just connecting……..• The key principle of using online technologies to support

learning is connecting• Connecting whenever and wherever learners want to

connect• And however they want to connect…….

Convergent technologies• In the olden days a

computer was a computer

• and a game was Cluedo • Now…………………….

• A phone was a phone

eLearning isn’t (just) about PCs• As technologies come together the range of connection

opportunities increases• Some schools are already using text messages to

contact students• Thinking outside the (beige) box can pay dividends

Playstations and mobile phones?• The Sony PSP and Palm

Treo

TESSA• Teacher education in sub-Saharan Africa uses the Palm Treo

mobile phone/PC to teachers, in training, across Africa• A real example of partnership online learning – partners include;

– The African Virtual University, BBC World Service Trust, The Commonwealth of Learning, Egerton University (Kenya), Kigali Institute of Education (Rwanda), Kyambogo University (Uganda), Makerere University (Uganda), National Teachers' Institute (Nigeria), The Open University of Sudan, The Open University of Tanzania, The Open University (UK), South African Institute for Distance Education, University of Cape Coast (Ghana), University of Fort Hare - South Africa, University of Education, (Winneba, Ghana), University of Pretoria, University of South Africa (UNISA), University of Zambia

• They coordinate much of the work online

PSP • The latest Sony Playstation is a fully featured,

wireless enabled, computer• It has a high definition TFT screen and a USB

socket for transferring files• A learning platform for the future?

Olden days again• I’m over 21 and I have a couple of “O” Levels• My mum (probably) has all my old school exercise

books “somewhere safe”• My 12 year old daughter has a tablet PC (provided by

her school) and a memory stick (1Gb = £15) which will store all her school and university work

• I can carry all the work for my degree and my Masters in my pocket and keep copies on the web!

Be afraid!• Rheingold has a lovely term……..• “Children (and young adults now) are digital natives• Those of us over 21 are digital tourists”• They have grown up with ICTs – we are struggling to

keep up!• Educators and anyone engaging with learning in the 21st

C should remember that our learners take all this stuff for granted!

Closer to home….• Sussex is considerably more compact, and with better

communication networks, than Southern Africa!• The OU in the South East (East Grinstead) is going to be working

with the SLN to;– Map current provision– Establish eLearning networks and collaborative partnerships– Develop shared resources/knowledge and expertise– Progress staff development using these resources and

expertise– Disseminate best practice

Summary• It can be a scary place this online stuff• It allows people to interact in different ways, it can

enhance and extend the opportunities to engage with learners and learning. It’s also an excellent way of learning from and with peers

• It’s can be very exciting and demanding and fast moving and great fun……….. and isn’t that what learning and teaching should be all about?