A Systems Framework Examination of the Impact of ICTs on Education

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I have had the great pleasure of spending part of my sabbatical as a visiting professor in Chile, working on a few different projects with the Faculdad de Educacion. This is the first of what will be three presentations that I am giving during my last week. In this presentation, I look at the impact of ICTs on Educational Practice using Bronfenbrenner´s Chronosystem, Exosystem, Microsystem, and the Individual to frame the discussion.

A Systems Framework Examination of the Impact of ICTs on Education from Anita Zijdemans Boudreau

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Learning to Change Changing to Learn

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Was cleaning up some of my other resources and still like the message of this video: Learning to Change Changing to Learn [5:37] 

video source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tahTKdEUAPk

Other Resources Related to Technological Literacy

Mobile Teaching & Learning https://sites.google.com/site/tech4tlcontent/mobile-learning

Other Video Resources:
Digital World: Digital Teachers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2j9qw-A0NM&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Education today and tomorrow [2:31] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnh9q_cQcUE&feature=related

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Continuing the Discussion on "Creating Effective OL Discussions"

I finally got to review the Farmakis webinar (Prezi presentation, Video recording) and found these tips really helpful: providing clear protocols/guidelines; using subjective or opinion rich questions; and providing rubrics along with good examples.

As we come to the end of Wk 3: Create Community - Connect Learners with Each Other, I'd like to attempt to bring the topic of OL Discussions back up to the top of the Community Wall, because the general consensus seems to be that discussions are the heart of online teaching but yet quite possibly the most difficult element to implement effectively.

I'd like to start by referencing this discussion thread that Ed initiated a few days ago, first because I want to capture it in my blog, but also because I appreciate what he shared. I was hoping that others might consider contributing some practical examples of how they create, facilitate, and evaluate discussions in their courses.

Multi Access Learning Framework

I was really excited to see this article from Irvine et al. (2013) as it addresses some of the very thoughts that I've been having around how to pull together the best elements from learning theory - can't forget our foundations :0) -  along with what we have been learning about MOOCs and Online Learning into a model that makes sense for those of us in Higher Education. The article references the works of:

• Brown & Campione's Fostering a Community of Learning [FCL] - research-share-perform; 
• Bruner's 4 Aspects of FCL - agency, reflection, collaboration & culture; and 
• Code's Agency Model - personal, proxy, and collective 

to establish a theoretical foundation for their Multi-Access Framework. They define Multi-Access Learning as a means of enabling students, in F2F and/or OL contexts, to personalize their learning experience while participating in a course.  The framework consists of 4 Tiers:

Tier 1 - F2F: traditional classroom teaching & learning
Tier 2 - Synchronous: both F2F & OL through web conferencing.
Tier 3 - Asynchronous: OL access to archives of F2F classes + collaborative activities that support co-construction of meaning
Tier 4 - Open Learning: following the xMOOc & cMOOC approach, non-credit students are able to access the course at no cost & the learning community has potential for global reach.

As I see it Tiers 1-3 describe Blended Learning. But the authors claim that this model is different

Review: Sue Waters Webinar

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I was really sorry to have missed the live session of Sue's webinar on "The Art of Blogging: How to connect, interact & build rapport with students" but really appreciated having access to the archive. For me it has been the most engaging session I've reviewed so far - as I watched I kept wishing that I had been there to engage in the conversation and ask questions.

Here's why it worked for me:

1. Interactive Discussion vs. Presentation: Sue modeled good web conferencing practice. She asked questions, had attendees respond to a question by writing on the whiteboard, got us to think about our own personal experiences [to help us think about how best to get our students engaging in blogs], and encouraged us to think critically about different tools.
2. Engaged in Some Good Focussed Distraction: The discussion went on an interesting detour that included topics/tools related to online teaching - e.g. how our MOOC facilitators are creating the newsletter using mailchimp, how to make good use of flipboard, pinterest - but then came back around to the main topic of blogging. 
3. Practical Focus: Sue talked about how things work, and pointed to examples, to help us understand how we might use these tools in our own practice. 
4. Excellent Resources: Some great resources and exemplars where shared throughout the discussion - see list below

This post is written for a business audience, as it is talking about the role of learning in the workplace, but I think it gives some food for thought about the role of the LMS in learning and in education. Jennings captures something in this statement: Learning can only be managed by the individual in whose head the learning is occurring. The visual highlights the increasing role of informal, self directed learning particularly in  the workforce. In education, however, we should be thinking not only about the informal learning that takes place outside the classroom but also in eLearning contexts.
source: http://charles-jennings.blogspot.com/2013/04/managing-learning.html

PEW Results: Cell Use & the Internet

Of a national study - surveys and interviews - of 2252 18 years + from April to May 2013, results indicate that 63% are cell internet users [i.e. use their phones to access the net] up from 31% in 2009. if this, 34% - comprised most likely of young adults, non-whites, with relatively low income and education - are cell-mostly internet users.
http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Cell-Internet/Main-Findings/Cell-Internet.aspx