Strategy, flexible learning and web2
pelearning
I am starting a topic here where I want to discuss the implications of
the sorts of innovations that are starting to flow from web2 and how
they impact across a large educational provider like many of those we
work in. Is the genie is out of the bottle as far being able to control
or pre-plan what individual teachers do with their online service
provison because of the access to communication and collaboration tools
from a myriad of free service providers? Services that were not so long
ago only available through an LMS and thus easily controlled from a
central point. What are the implications for educational service
providers in terms of control, repeat-ability and quality of delivery,
even though individual teachers have always been able to customise
content to suit their needs in a classroom situation. On the other side
of the coin any organisation needs to control the quality of it's
outputs and will always be held accountable to it's constituents,so how
do we balance these needs? Do we need to consider these issues at all?
Caryl Oliver
Up until very recently we were constrained in any technological step
forward by a cumbersome process of convincing IT that we needed
something, waiting for a range of suppliers to be canvassed and quotes
obtained, delay while the cost is considered and
supported/challenged/approved and then further delay for supply,
implementation and training! This whole performance could take up to a
year a more - by which time we have all moved on and done something
completely different!
With more and more free programmes, software and resources it is now
much easier for an individual teacher to find something that works with
a particular group of students and 'just do it'. The way in which this
works within an Institute then depends on the corporate culture and the
management of the relevant departments.
As a manager I have always encouraged teachers to use whatever tools
they think are appropriate for their students and I have taken a
positive approach to seeking a presentation of what they are doing and
how. This way we have created a pro-active environment that also
enables us to review the tools in the light of AQTF and other quality
and compliance measures.
We also have a means of sharing that which works and alerting others to
that which does not work!
Needless to say the control freaks (IT) wish we would not venture into
anything other than the minimal standard centralized operating
environment but the reality is that if we are to inter-act with our
students in any meaningful way we must at least talk in their language.
I have no problem with a myriad of free service providers and I have no
problem with the fact that some with come and some will go. This is
part of the risk that must be mitigated when discussing using these
things in the first instance.
Caryl Oliver
Manager Travel & Tourism
Manager Mobile Learning Project
m: 0438 354 144 (voice or text)
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pelearning
Thanks for the comprehensive response. I have no problem with the free
services that are available except when a "beta" disappears on me and I
had been using it for some form of delivery. I do think the challenge
for us all is to formulate some way to bring all these small
applications together, particularly from a useability point of view,
both from the teachers and organisations point of view where there may
be a high level of casual staff and varying levels of skill etc and
also from the point of view of students. I am still personally looking
for the "glue" to pull all these applications together so that the
process is as simple as possible. Your comments on corporate culture
are absolutely correct and there seems to be a huge variation in terms
of the levels of control applied. Many of these controls seem to be
barriers to implementation to me that I suspect is a major issue for a
whole range of people.
Caryl Oliver
I love your idea of a glue - this could be a really valuable role for
government to undertake on behalf of the sector. We used to have TAFE
Frontiers in Victoria that provided part of that sort of service then
the gov decided they did not need them......... (and they didn't even
have BETA stamped on their foreheads!)
Caryl Oliver
Manager Travel & Tourism
Manager Mobile Learning Project
m: 0438 354 144 (voice or text)
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From: tourismhos...@googlegroups.com
[mailto:tourismhos...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of pelearning
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 1:41 PM
To: Tourism Hospitality networkED (THED)
Attention:
pelearning
interpretation of glue because I was thinking more from an application
point of view, ie some application that pulls all your widgets together
into an easily managed whole. Sometimes I think the debate and
discussions has centred around what is possible from a technical point
of view and perhaps there has been less discussion about what is
possible from an organisational perspective? I cant really see how it
is possible to separate the two.
Caryl Oliver
a central point that is the fount of knowledge but now I see what you
meant.
I sometimes wonder that technology providers quite deliberately make it
hard for things to be compatible for hard commercial reasons but when
talking about free software etc.. then you would think that the
imperative would be to make everything as compatible as possible.
I find it amazing that every time I set up a new computer (which I seem
to do quite often) it is subtly different and routines have to be done
in a different order or way. Every time I load a piece of software it
is built in a different way..
For example the real danger is that if I load a programme on my computer
it may have DLL files that override those already there that I need to
run other functions. It is at this level that there needs to be work
done and it is very much a techo issue rather than an organizational
issue.
Caryl Oliver
Manager Travel & Tourism
Manager Mobile Learning Project
m: 0438 354 144 (voice or text)
-----Original Message-----
From: tourismhos...@googlegroups.com
[mailto:tourismhos...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of pelearning
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 2:10 PM
To: Tourism Hospitality networkED (THED)
Subject: :: THED Re: Strategy, flexible learning and web2
Attention:
pelearning
application on the internet - there can be navigation issues and maybe
difficulty in conceptualising the whole of the activity? I know even
from the work I have done with LMS's where I have added links to
various activities on third party websites for instance, some students
become lost or find it more difficult than others. I personally think
the "holy grail" is some sort of mechanism that brings all the web2
functionality together but maintains a consistency in terms of the way
this pieces operate. I think some of the web2 Learning Management
Systems are leaning in this direction. You can be open but you still
need to manage the process, no organisation exists without control.
Peter Enderby
Leigh Blackall
In the pre Internet and LMS past an organisation had little opportunity to monitor and 'control' the classroom methods and practices of its teachers. The only crude instruments used to manage and control were/are user surveys and student feedback mechanisms. Web2 in a way is a return to that age where it gives back to the teacher the professional freedom they once enjoyed, but opens the classroom wide.
There is a difference that management should recognise and perhaps consider a benefit. Web2 is by its nature quite public, and so necessitates quality practice from any self respecting teacher using Web2 methods. An LMS was not so public - even within the organisation, so we could not easily check for quality at all within these systems. Now, it can be much easier.
Web2 offers a level of transparency and authenticity that managers should take the opportunity to reflect on and pause to consider newer, more progressive attitudes to their management practices.
http://www.lulu.com/leighblackall
--
Leigh Blackall
+6421736539
skype - leigh_blackall
http://leighblackall.wikispaces.org/
Leigh Blackall
stevenray...@gmail.com
Found your post very clear and insightful and want to tie your
assertions to this video as part of the conversation.
http://networklearning.blogspot.com/2006/08/students-are-up-to-something.html
pelearning
becoming critical to us really moving to elearning2 because the
technology is always going to be applied in a context of some sort and
this will impact on whatever level of perceived risk individuals feel
comfortable in taking on. Encouraging staff to make the same
professional judgements they make every day in face to face contexts
but using the tools that are now available online is an approach I
heartily support. Web2 simply gives us intuitive tools for teachers to
get on with. But shouldn't the tools you decide to use be
contextualised both in terms of the wider organisation, the aims of the
particular course, the teacher managing that course and the learners in
that course? For me personally as long as I can make instant changes
to content I am really unconcerned about the type of technology behind
the application itself. In other contexts more overt control may need
to be applied so that success and trouble free implementation is
ensured within the particular context of the situation. In my
experience this can also help reduce the level of perceived risk for
inexperienced teachers and help in gaining their acceptance. Maybe we
need a greater emphasis on providing a range of tools and holistic
systematic approaches to the effective use of those tools so that good
judgements can be made and quickly implemented at a local level?
kbu...@gmail.com
Leigh Blackall
Steven - nothing showing up on your blog post. Ken
pelearning
I just reread this and enjoy the insight of a lot of what you are
asserting. But, I have also been looking at and thinking about
implementation issues around flexible learning in general. One of the
most interesting research based tools I have come across was an
innovation implementation curve that showed how new methods were taken
up amongst the workplace population. It's that early adopter, some who
never leave home type of thing. Hence my interest in adopting a range
of elearning solutions and systems to support those solutions, moving
the whole organisation forward, not just those at the leading edge.
Peter Enderby