Slides for keynote delivered to IACE-T Conference, October 15, 2008 in Amman, Jordan.

1. elearning: promises and practices Peter Tittenberger Learning Technologies Centre University of Manitoba October, 2008

3. The world is flat The world is flat …

4. The world is flat The world is spiky …

5. Information growth Change pressure 1. Growth of information .

6. Information growth In 2006, the amount of digital information created, captured, and replicated was 161 exabytes or 161 billion gigabytes … This is about 3 million times the information in all the books ever written. The Diverse and Exploding Digital Universe

7. Information growth Between 2006 and 2010, the information added annually to the digital universe will increase more than six fold from 161 exabytes to 988 exabytes. The Diverse and Exploding Digital Universe

8. Information growth Images, captured by more than 1 billion devices in the world, from digital cameras and camera phones to medical scanners and security cameras, comprise the largest component of the digital universe. The Diverse and Exploding Digital Universe

9. Information growth Chevron's CIO says his company accumulates data at the rate of 2 terabytes – 17,592,000,000,000 bits – a day. The Diverse and Exploding Digital Universe

10. More than 3,000 new books are published . . . Karl Fisch http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2006/08/did-you-know.html

11. daily . Karl Fisch http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2006/08/did-you-know.html

12. It’s estimated that a week’s worth of New York Times . . . Karl Fisch http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2006/08/did-you-know.html

13. Contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18 th century. Karl Fisch http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2006/08/did-you-know.html

14. The amount of new technical information is doubling every 2 years. Karl Fisch http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2006/08/did-you-know.html

15. It’s predicted to double every 72 hours by 2010. Karl Fisch http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2006/08/did-you-know.html

16. more predictions

17. By 2013 a supercomputer will be built that exceeds the computation capability of the human brain . . . Karl Fisch http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2006/08/did-you-know.html

18. By 2023, a $1,000 computer will exceed the computation capability of the human brain . . . Karl Fisch http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2006/08/did-you-know.html

19. And while technical predictions further out than about 15 years are hard to do . . . Karl Fisch http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2006/08/did-you-know.html

20. Predictions are that by 2049 a $1,000 computer will exceed the computational capabilities of the human race . Karl Fisch http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2006/08/did-you-know.html

23. What’s happening? This information growth is leading to …

24. What’s happening? Decentralization Democratization Changing notion of what it means to know Continual suspended certainty Chaotic (diverse, messy and unbounded)

25. What’s happening? characteristics at odds with formal education which likes learning to be …

26. What’s happening? Controlled Authoritative Certain Linear Neat and bounded

68. A spring 2007 survey and interviews with 27,846 freshman, senior, and community college students at 103 American higher education institutions indicated: The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2007

69. 98.4% own a computer 75.8% own a laptop The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2007

70. 99.9% create, read and send email The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2007

71. 84% use instant messaging The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2007

72. 83% use course management systems The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2007

73. 81.6% use social networks The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2007

74. 78.3% play computer and video games The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2007

75. 77.8% download music or video The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2007

76. 70.5% agree that IT helps them do better research for their courses The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2007

77. 61% agree that IT in courses improves their learning The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2007

78. Today’s undergraduate student spends an average of 18 hours per week online The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2007

79. 26% spend more than 20 hrs per week online Academica Group, 2007 UAS/CAS Web Trends Study

80. They are the first generation to grow up with the Internet – pervasive, always-on, and now … mobile.

81. with the WWW – whatever, whenever, wherever.

90. The Web has shifted from being a medium, in which information is transmitted and consumed, into being a platform, in which content is created, shared, remixed, repurposed, and passed along. Stephen Downes

91. the emergence of Web 2.0 is not a technological revolution, it is a social revolution Stephen Downes

92. “ On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.”

101. What is surprising perhaps is … the sophisticated ways in which they are finding and synthesizing information and integrating across multiple sources of data. JISC LXP Student experiences of technologies Draft final report Gráinne Conole, Maarten de Laat, Teresa Dillon and Jonathan Darby 1The Open University, 2Exeter University, 3Polar Produce http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/elearningpedagogy/lxpprojectfinalreportdec06.pdf

102. … there is strong evidence of peer support and peer community, resonant with the rhetoric inherent in the idea of social networking and the world of Web 2.0. JISC LXP Student experiences of technologies Draft final report Gráinne Conole, Maarten de Laat, Teresa Dillon and Jonathan Darby 1The Open University, 2Exeter University, 3Polar Produce http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/elearningpedagogy/lxpprojectfinalreportdec06.pdf

107. Google is making us stupid

111. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose.

112. That’s rarely the case anymore.

113. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages.

114. I get fidgety,

115. lose the thread

116. begin looking for something else to do.

117. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text.

118. The deep reading that used to come naturally

119. has become a struggle.

120. I get fidgety,

121. lose the thread

122. begin looking for something else to do.

123. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text.

124. The deep reading that used to come naturally

125. has become a struggle.

126. I get fidgety

127. lose the thread

128. I get fidgety

129. Or . . . technology is making us smarter

130. “ Students are demonstrating new skills in terms of harnessing the potential of technologies for their learning. These include new forms of evaluation skills and strategies ( searching, restructuring, validating), which enable them to critique and make critical decisions about a variety of sources and content.” JISC LXO: Student experiences of technologies

131. “ The use of these tools is changing the way we gather, use and create knowledge. There is a shift in the basic skills with a shift from lower to higher levels of Blooms taxonomy , necessary to make sense of their complex technologically enriched learning environment.” JISC LXO: Student experiences of technologies

132. Or . . . technology is making us dumber

134. Decrease in verbal-linguistic and logical mathematical intelligence. Increase in spatial intelligence. Mark Bauerlein, The Dumbest Generation

135. “ The simple fact is that kids aren't reading, aren't engaging in wider cultural experiences, aren't developing broad horizons of interest or knowledge. And so, they are not building the cognitive frameworks they require for a flourishing life” Mark Nichols

136. What formal education does How does formal education respond?

138. What formal education does What is the role of formal education in this environment?

139. What formal education does What value does it add?

140. cognitive growth conceptual maturity the development of reasoning exposure to alternatives The promise – the values of a formal education

141. Formal education puts boundaries on knowledge – courses circumscribe what has to be learned. The practice

142. Formal education defines outcomes – programs extract meaningful chunks (courses) and sequence them The practice

143. Provides structure and discipline– through place/space/time (both physical and virtual) The practice

144. Provides access to experts, mentors, guides (both human and technological) The practice

145. Provides access to learning resources - libraries, studios and labs. The practice

146. Provides a narrative of coherence. The practice

147. “ Formal and informal learning have been viewed as competing paradigms, however, students are increasingly adopting the tools and strategies for informal learning within formalised educational settings.” "a widening of the gap between the culture of the educational institutions and the culture of learners' lives outside school" (p.4)

148. What formal education does is elearning a solution?

149. What formal education does can it close the gap?

150. What formal education does can it adopt the tools and strategies used by students for informal learning within formalised educational settings?

151. What formal education does a definition of elearning …

152. “ Electronic learning (or e-Learning or eLearning) is a type of education where the medium of instruction is computer technology. No in-person interaction may take place in some instances.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-learning

153. elearning is pedagogy empowered by technology . Mark Nichols ,

154. elearning is as varied as the pedagogies and technologies that facilitate it. Mark Nichols ,

155. Almost all current university level courses have an elearning component

156. From the simplest … a traditional face to face course augmented with email communication between instructor and students and/or students to students

157. To a blended course… where traditional learning activities are moved online (e.g. bulletin board discussion, simulation, or online test) with a reduction in face to face contact time.

158. To an online course . . . where all content, communication, interaction and assessment are delivered through technology.

159. distance learning is not necessarily elearning .

160. online learning is a type of elearning .

161. We drive into the future using only our rearview mirror. Marshal McLuhan

162. We use new tools to do the work of the old. Marshal McLuhan

163. Powerpoint, audio, video, podcasts, simulations to augment lectures

164. Personal response systems

165. Putting course notes online

166. Instructors email

167. Some online discussions

168. Some online tests

169. Some learning objects

170. Is this enough to close the gap?

171. Or do we need to change our approach to teaching and learning?

172. Or do we need to change our approach to ownership and authority?

173. Or do we need to change our approach to command and control?

174. and take steps

175. to address the new habits, attitudes, expectations and abilities of students

176. to rethink authority, control and teaching and learning strategies in a networked world.

177. to try collaboration and open access through a social networking site, wiki projects, new partnerships for online courses and a massively open online course (MOOC)

178. http://webmail.cs.umanitoba.ca/mediawiki/index.php/Main_Page

184. Online certificate program in HIV/AIDS Program Administration with Regional Aids Training Network in Africa. Courses to Sedaya (Malaysia) and Birzeit (Palestine)

185. Open teaching

187. http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/connectivism/

188. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=101659969634438263199.0004560540c6229475ac2

189. http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/wiki/Connectivism

190. Thank you! Peter Tittenberger 474-7230 [email_address] umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies