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European Distance Education Network

The bottles are new: but what of the wine? Michael Grahame Moore

Professor of Education The Pennsylvania State University

Editor: The American Journal of Distance Education

http://www.ajde.com

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What is significance for distance education?

“the best way of deciding about the potential usefulness of any new technology is … reflecting on the generic principles that support adults' learning and then figure out how and where the technology fits."

What does the technology enhance? What does it render obsolete? What does it become when pushed to an extreme?

(McLuhan & McLuhan, 1988, p. 7 cited by Liz Burge (2001) in Moore, M. G. and G. Kearsley Distance Education: A Systems View

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Some “generic principles”

• education is a two-sided transaction

• in DE the primary or sole means of communication is through technology

• DE tradition of independent study (which is consistent with constructivism)

effective use of technology requires special institutional organization

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So what (potentially) do Web 2.0 technologies enhance, or take away,or produce when pushed to an extreme?

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Enhances learner autonomy and constructivist learning:

“Learners personally imbue experiences with meaning

Learning activities should enable learners to access their experiences, knowledge, and beliefs

Learning is a social activity that is enhanced by shared inquiry

Reflection and meta-cognition are essential aspects of constructing knowledge ...”

(Lambert, et al., 1995, pp. 17-18.)

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implications for course designers:

designers have to:

conceptualize learning experiences that students can personalize design activities for knowledge sharing among students, as a major source of content and pedagogy

assignments -- reports of personal or collaborative research

to be reported in text but also video and virtual reality experiences

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Implications for instructors/tutors

“ .. links ideas across assignments…… summarizes or weaves disparate student comments”

“meta-comments that summarize the state of the discussion, identifying its unifying themes and points of disagreement”

“ instructors … foster student reflection and self-awareness, push student explorations ”

“ humanizing and personalizing the setting”

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Implications for learners : Enhanced independent learning skills: sifting, sorting and evaluating; multi-tasking, synthesizing

Enhancing communities of inquiry

What was made obsolete and needs to be retrieved ?

Audio and video conferencingHigh production value audio and video

What does it produce or become when pushed to an extreme ?

“monkeys with typewriters”why are there no advertisements in

novels?

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Web 2.0 does not make course design and instruction obsolete but enhances their importance

What adult students tell us :

Course Content is more important than interaction

Interaction with an instructor is more important than with other learners

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The perennial and intractable problem: Organizational Change

“Effective use of technology and specialist human resources in delivering materials and services to a distributed learner population requires special institutional organization”

The basis of our problems: need for changing policy to match changing technology

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Old AssumptionOld Assumption

The normal mode of The normal mode of learning is face to face learning is face to face teaching on the campus teaching on the campus of a formally recognised of a formally recognised institution.institution.

Resources should be Resources should be allocated on the basis allocated on the basis of :of :

the number of projected the number of projected enrollments;enrollments;

a percentage increase or a percentage increase or decrease on the previous decrease on the previous year’s allocationsyear’s allocations

Resources should be Resources should be planned, allocated and planned, allocated and controlled centrally.controlled centrally.

New ApproachNew Approach

Learning takes place in many Learning takes place in many different ways in many different different ways in many different contextscontexts

Resources are to be used to Resources are to be used to distribute teaching to where the distribute teaching to where the learners are; using technology for learners are; using technology for this purpose changes type of this purpose changes type of capital (fewer buildings, more capital (fewer buildings, more technology) balance of capital and technology) balance of capital and labor (fewer full time content labor (fewer full time content specialists)specialists)

Resources should be allocated Resources should be allocated according to performance according to performance agreements that specify: agreements that specify: outcomes that are pertinent to the outcomes that are pertinent to the broad aims and priorities of broad aims and priorities of government and/or other government and/or other stakeholders the means by which stakeholders the means by which to measure whether these to measure whether these outcomes have been achieved.outcomes have been achieved.

The users of resources should:The users of resources should:be involved in the planning and be involved in the planning and

allocation of resources;allocation of resources;have the authority to manage and have the authority to manage and

re-allocate resources.re-allocate resources.

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Old AssumptionOld Assumption

Human resources should Human resources should be tied to staff be tied to staff establishments based establishments based predominantly on predominantly on

permanent positions, vertical permanent positions, vertical divisions and hierarchical divisions and hierarchical relationships.relationships.

Funds should be allocated Funds should be allocated for line items in a budget for line items in a budget that remains fixed for that remains fixed for specified periods, usually specified periods, usually twelve months.twelve months.

Effective use of resources Effective use of resources should be measured should be measured according to the extent according to the extent that one or more of the that one or more of the following projections have following projections have been met:been met:

EnrollmentsEnrollmentsclass or student contact class or student contact

hourshourspresentations for examinationpresentations for examinationsubject passessubject passesgraduations.graduations.

New Approach

Staff establishments should:accommodate flexible teams that cut

across vertical divisionsallow for redeployment of personnel to

reflect changing needsinvolve delegation of authority to the

level at which work is performed. Funds should be allocated to reflect: the work of identified programs and

individual project teams the considerable front-end investments

required in technology based learning

amortisation of costs and returns over the lifetimes of programs that are usually more than 12 months.

Effective use of resources should be measured according to the extent that the terms of performance agreements have been met.

This will involve: emphasis on outcomes rather than input and throughput

performance criteria tied to stated objectives which concentrate on the broader aims of government and corporate clients.

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New Models of Distance Education Organization

virtual systems - drawing on resources of a college or nationally or internationally on a program-by-program basis

Flexible resource management by a core small management unit with responsibility for:

selecting and planning programsrecruiting and managing resourcesmanaging course design training and monitoring instructorsmonitoring student progress

“virtual organizing can result in a living organization that is inter-organizational in scope and that contains customer (student) communities, resource coalitions, and professional communities of practice. Sustained innovation and growth are made possible by virtual organizing.”

Venkatraman and Henderson cited by Woudstra and Adria (2003)

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A national virtual system: PROFORMACAO

Management team

Design team

curriculum

Production & distribution team Platform

State coordinators

State monitoring and

training teams

Study center

Study center

Study center

Study center

tutors

tutors

tutors

tutors

STUDENTS

FunderNational advisory ctee

UNIVERSITY 1UNIVERSITY 2UNIVERSITY 3Etc

Training college 1Training college 2Training college 3Etc

Municipal teacher 1Municipal teacher 2 Etc

Tv company 1, 2, etcPublisher 1,2, etcSoftware 1,2 etc

http://www.mec.gov.br/seed/proform/acontece.shtm

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CONCLUSIONS

Web 2.0 has potential to enhance distance education by: enhancing learner-centered, constructivist pedagogyFurther individualizing instructionProviding new environments through virtual reality

HOWEVERHOWEVER

New bottles do not significantly change the product -- technology alone can not determine the quality of what will be taught and learned in future

more significant are changes in policy

that permit changes in how regions, countries and individual organizations deploy their resources

to allow the pedagogy that can most effectively use the technology

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Thank you Thank you and enjoy the conference!and enjoy the conference!

http:www.ajde.com

mgmoore@psu.edu