The Open Ed Tech Summit Report 2008. Open University of Catalonia, Barcelona.

1. What does it mean
to be educated
in the 21st Century?
Open EdTech 2008
A Universitat Oberta de Catalunya initiative
Report written by
Marie Glenn
Open EdTech Summit 2008
Exploring Learning Solutions Together Barcelona,
November 10th and 11th
Office of Learning
Technologies

2. Contents
2
3 Foreword By Imma Tubella, Rector and Llorenç Valverde, Vice Rector for Technology, UOC
4 Executive Summary
6 Introduction
7 Learning in a technology-enabled knowledge economy
8 Observations
8 Scarcity versus abundance
8 Interview: Karl Fisch, Director of Technology, Arapahoe High School, Colorado, USA
9 Open Education is critical to sustaining quality education
10 Interview: Joel Greenberg, Director of Strategic Development, Learning & Teaching
Solutions, Open University
11 Access as a human right
12 Interview: Paula Nirschel, Founder of the Initiative to Educate Afghan Women
13 Personalization
14 Interview: Susan Metros, Associate Vice Provost for Technology Enhanced
Learning, Deputy Chief Information Officer, and Professor of Design Practice
and Clinical Education at the University of Southern California (USC)
15 Community and constraints
16 Disruptive innovation and organizational change
16 Interview: Michael Horn, Co-founder and Executive Director of Innosight Institute.
Co-author of Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the
Way the World Work
18 Conclusion: An invitation to action
19 Who took part in Open EdTech 2008?
19 Advisory Committee
19 Participants

3. Foreword
Imma Tubella, Rector and Llorenç Valverde, Vice Rector for Technology
of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC)
3
If academia ever was an ivory tower, it is being chiseled open by the persistent
hammer of technological, social and economic change. Far from being removed from
the gritty realities of everyday, today’s universities have been plunged into the thick,
vibrant epicenter of global change. Tightly coupled global markets, the continual
flow of real-time information and the availability of anywhere and anytime access
have accelerated not only the pace of change but the immediacy of its impact.
That change is placing unprecedented demands on educators, administrators and
students alike. Where content once was bound by time and place, it now pours
freely from an abundance of sources, allowing students to shift their attention from
ingesting factual data, to actively applying their knowledge to real life problems. What
used to be a one-way conversation, teacher to student, has become a multi-party
conversation, between teachers, students, outside peer groups and influencers.
The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) is part of that extended conversation,
not least because the very nature of an open university is one forever bent on trying
to understand how to adapt, shape or create a learning experience that fits the
footprint of the student and his or her academic needs.
Some, new to the concept of open education can make the mistake of seeing it
only as a distribution channel, education served online versus through the physical
classroom. And this is certainly one dimension. But open education as practiced
is actually far broader. Its philosophical context is based on openness to people,
places, methods and ideas, new and old, conventional and non-, in order to enable
a learning environment that is both student-directed as well as academically rigorous.
In a period of swirling change, the pursuit and practice of open education is a
fascinating, if occasionally nail-biting adventure.
Fortunately, we at the UOC are not alone. We have learned to cleave as closely to
our own personal learning networks as our students, faculty and peers do theirs.
Thus, we knew that by bringing together a group of like and non-like minded thinkers
to explore the intersection between pedagogy, technology and higher education we
might strive to further our own learning. That notion led to our first ever Symposium
on What it Means to be Educated in the 21st Century, convened in November, 2008
in Barcelona, Spain. We are deeply grateful for the valuable insight, challenging
debate and rich community participants so generously offered.
One of the underlying precepts of Open Education is community. With that community
comes a responsibility both to hear as well as contribute actively. Our hope is that
through meetings and outputs such as these, we might continue to engage with
a worldwide community of educators, administrators, and students interested in
advancing 21st Century literacy through student-centered education – knowing
that whatever role we may presently hold, we all share the common bond of being
lifelong learners.
We hope you enjoy.

4. Executive Summary
4
As the first decade of the 21st Century Dynamics Shaping the 21st Century
draws to a close, the promise of student- Educational Landscape
centered learning is fast becoming a
Traditional educational practices,
reality. High-bandwidth computing and
once shrouded within the four walls
online courseware have combined to put
of a university, are loosening, shaped
education in reach of many of those long
by a bevy of external forces that are
denied access because of physical,
together altering the means, modes and
logistical or economic constraints.
measurements of learning. That future
A rich array of instructional media,
shows that education is opening up in
technological tools and communication
ways previously unimagined.
platforms allows students to engage
more directly in constructing their own • Where the traditional educational
knowledge, an ingredient cognitive business model was fueled by content,
studies show is key to learning success. the new educational model rests on
How this future will unfold is anyone’s mentorship. The economic model upon
guess, but to paraphrase Confucius, a which traditional education has long
journey of one thousand miles begins been built is predicated upon the
by asking several questions. assumption that educational content is
scarce. Today, that model is becoming
In November, 2008, the Universitat outdated and, in some cases, obsolete.
Oberta de Catalunya sought to do Putting this in economic terms, what
just that by gathering 37 thinkers from is scarce today is not content, but
across the educational spectrum to sense-making. In the coming decades,
explore a range of perspectives on the mentorship and guidance will be our
characteristics and requirements of our most valuable and limited educational
new knowledge era. The discussion resource, bringing with it wide implications
offered considerations on the dynamics for educators and students alike.
shaping the 21st Century educational
environment as well as ideas on how • Student-centered learning is moving
educators, administrators and students from an abstraction to a reality. Greater
can best respond. end-user access, greater end-user
empowerment, and greater end-user
Major highlights of that discussion customization have combined to make
include: student-centered learning a possible
and powerful new educational paradigm.
The ability to personalize the learning
experience is the root of its power. Yet,
personalization is not synonymous with
comfortable. Constraints, in the form of
competition, standards, and a proven
application of knowledge will continue
to provide a necessary tension as well
as grounding.

5. 5
• The role of educators is shifting Requirements to meet • The educational community must
beyond instruction to sense-making. the educational demands of the reach for fewer, clearer and higher
As the currency of education moves next century standards that translate across
from info acquisition to knowledge borders. In an educational context,
While students may have the means
application, the challenge for teachers mastery over foundational knowledge
to direct their own learning, the
will be to help students apply the creates the need for standards. Too
requirements of our global marketplace
information swirling around them to the many times, however standards get
require new literacies. To make sense
problems of the day. Where once a confused with standardization. The
of the world around them students,
teacher’s primary role was to disseminate former grounds learning opportunities.
educators and administrators will need
content, today their task is to help The latter often limits them. Streamlined,
to learn how to product and extract
students make sense of it. By extension, consistent, international standards will
knowledge from multiple sources, work
coursework, curricula and collaboration create more certain footing for educators
with an expanding array of partners and
must become more active, participatory and a more even playing field for those
influencers, and address problems that
and fluid as students work to apply seeking to move or grow their careers.
no-one has had to solve before.
knowledge to practical problems.
• Technology must be aligned with
• New literacies will be needed. As the
• Technology will remain a key enabler learning needs. Aligning educational
currency of education moves from
of change. Mobiles, cloud computing, content with the right delivery channel
information acquisition to knowledge
social networking, and other technologies is a major challenge, particularly when
application, the challenge for students
are unleashing a wealth of possibilities, the development lifecycle is so rapid.
will be to find, filter and apply the swelling
both inside the traditional classroom, To resolve such issues, the academic
sea of information that surrounds them.
and increasingly outside. Together, they community will need to encourage
This will place critical thinking and
will significantly shape current learning greater collaboration across the
problem solving abilities at the forefront
models, fostering wider access to educational spectrum, from lower to
of needed skill sets. Fluency in the media
education, more sensitive assessment higher education, and consider new
forms of the day will also be critical if
techniques, and accelerating the rate of forms of public-private partnership.
students are to participate fully in our
innovation.
tightly woven global economy.
All told, this is an exciting time to be
• Institutional approaches must in education. Although significant
respond to today’s challenges. challenges loom, the lessons of the first
To compete successfully in our decade of the 21st Century are rich
technology-enabled knowledge with promise. Embedding these more
economy, institutions must shift from fully into our educational ‘ecosystem’
‘industrial-era’ practices wherein may well be the task for the next several
students are grouped by age and years.
moved along an educational assembly
line to one that is capable of responding
to a variety of inputs, competencies
and question sets. Creating, producing
and collaborating with an audience that
may extend outside of the traditional
classroom also brings with it new
lessons in accountability, integrity and
ethics. As instructional design evolves,
notions of scholarship, stewardship and
citizenship will co-mingle.

6. Introduction
6
In November 2008, 37 individuals from
across the educational spectrum –
professors, policy advocates, learning
technologists, and university CIOs
– gathered for a one-and-a-half-day
symposium in Barcelona, Spain. Hosted
by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya,
the meeting was in many respects an
experiment. Where many educational
conferences guide attendees through
a mix of keynote speeches, panel
sessions and breakouts, this symposium
proposed none of that.
Instead, the Barcelona Symposium
divided the group into four teams, shut
them all in a room, and left them to
spend the day brainstorming. Team A
addressed the Personalization of the
Learning Process. Team B addressed
the Learning Delivery of Content. Team C
addressed the Future of Technologies
at the Service of Learning. And Team D
worked on Anytime, Anywhere Learning.
What came out of the session was a field
of possibilities to help define, enable
and support what it means to be literate
and educated in the 21st century.
As intelligent, thought provoking, even
sometimes humorous as the ideas
generated that day were, far and away
the larger outcome was the conversation
itself. Such engaged ‘back and forth’ all
too frequently fills only the margins of
many educational gatherings, burbling
up at cocktail receptions, or in side
conversations. This paper is an
opportunity to extend that dialogue.
By harnessing the collective wisdom of
the recent Symposium and the broader
educational community, we hope this
paper might catalyze a growing body of
thought and greater awareness of the
Open Education mission.

7. Learning
in a technology-enabled
knowledge economy
Yellow, Red, Blue
7
1925;
Oil on canvas, 127 x 200 cm;
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Wassily Kandinsky
information touches along the way.
The result is that we are moving from
an information era to a knowledge
era, one that is creating new forms of
collaboration and business intelligence.
Together, these advances fuel our current
technology-enabled, knowledge economy.
This has enormous consequence for
all organizations, but particularly the
academic sector. As students gain
the means to direct their own learning
experience, institutional hegemony over
instruction may morph into something
more populist and personal. What
used to be institution-led is becoming
student-led.
While the dye is still wet on what shape
the 21st Century learning model may
take, some contours are emerging.
They include:
Frank Ponti, the creative moderator for composition, the other informal. One • Greater end-user access
the Barcelona Symposium placed a side is structured, the other unstructured. • Greater end-user empowerment
copy of this print on one of our meeting And there on the far right side is a • Greater end-user customization
tables. Images from three separate curving line. We don’t know what that
artists adorned tables in other rooms. line meant to Kandinsky, but for us it To be successful in this environment,
We raised our eyebrows. “Use these might as well represent the winding road students, educators and administrators
compositions to brainstorm ideas about that is life-long learning.” We laughed as need to know how to produce and
your topic,” he said. Almost none of us we were meant to, but acknowledged extract knowledge from multiple sources,
did. We didn’t really see the point. So the point: the 21st Century requires collaborate with an expanding array of
we grinned when Team D (Anytime, new literacies that in turn demand new partners, and take accountability for
Anywhere Learning) flashed this artwork learning models, models that directly solving problems that no-one has solved
at the start of their closing presentation. challenge many current practices. before.
But as Steve Wheeler, Team D’s
appointed speaker and a member of the Advances in technology, the shrinking That, of course, raises some interesting
Faculty of Education at the University of of the digital divide, and liberalizing world questions on the future of education.
Plymouth, explained how this painting markets have spurred not only an increase But as Vijay Kumar, senior associate dean
served as a metaphor for the ying and in the rate of change but also in the and director of the Office of Educational
yang of educational change, the whole immediacy of its impact. What used to Innovation and Technology at MIT,
day seemed to fall into shape. “As you take weeks, now takes minutes. Today, remarked in his closing comments at
look at the picture, draw an imaginary people, processes and technology are the Barcelona Symposium, “A futurist is
line down the middle,” said Mr Wheeler. more tightly coupled than ever before, one who makes possibilities more real
“On one side you’ll see structure, the influencing not only the speed with which for others.”
other chaos. One half shows us formal information moves but all the nodes that

8. Observations Interview
Karl Fisch
Director of Technology, Arapahoe High School,
The following observations, culled from the Colorado, USA
Symposium, the Open-Education community
and others, offer a variety of perspectives on A first person
the characteristics and requirements of our new perspective
knowledge era and its potential for education.
8
Scarcity versus Putting this in economic terms, what is
scarce today is not content, but sense-
abundance making. As the currency of education
moves from information acquisition to
The economic model upon which knowledge application, the challenge for
traditional education has long been built students is to find, filter and apply the
is predicated upon the assumption that swelling sea of information that surrounds
educational content is scarce. Today, them. In the new century, mentorship
that model is becoming outdated and, and guidance will be our most valuable
in some cases, obsolete. In the time and limited educational resource.
BG (Before Google) one learned many
concepts by rote, things like, ‘What was This understanding may serve as the
the Gunpowder Plot?’ and ‘What genes foundation of an emerging ‘business
are involved in regulating insulin?’ If not model’ for education. With students
A few years ago, I made a seemingly
top of mind, hunting down the answers empowered to direct an increasing
small decision to post a faculty
to such questions would otherwise take share of their learning experience,
presentation that I delivered onto
too much time and, in some cases, a educators can be freed to supply
my blog. That presentation, Did You
librarian, leaving little mental energy for foundational know-ledge and nurture
Know/Shift Happens soon went
higher level thinking. BG we needed a the critical thinking and problem solving
viral. Today, best estimates are that
teacher to disgorge content to us. Today, skills that will allow students to make
somewhere between 15-20 million
all it takes is an Internet connection. sense of the world around them.
viewers have seen it. That a high
school technology coordinator in
Not long ago, information and the Not surprisingly, these shifts bring
the suburbs of Denver could spark
distribution channels that delivered it tremendous complexity. Despite superb
a million conversations with a simple
were largely proprietary. Now ordinary educators, superb facilities and superb
online PowerPoint would have been
individuals can create and distribute administration, many educational
inconceivable a decade ago. Had
unique content to parties the world over. institutions are designed to prepare
I known, I might have checked my
Email, SMS, RSS, social-networking, today’s students for yesterday’s problems.
grammar a bit more.
websites, widgets, memes, these Reversing that structure is an enormous
applications shroud us in data. Content undertaking.
That it happened at all makes me
acquisition is no longer the problem it
realize that we live in profoundly
once was. In fact, we’re drowning in it.
different times. It also makes me
think that our schools should reflect
this difference far more than they
do. The reality, however, is that our
educational system remains largely
rooted in an industrial age model. We
group kids by age, place them on an
assembly line and use each grade
to accomplish a set of tasks. After
12 years, they roll off the line as well-
formed widgets.

9. 9
At Arapahoe High School, we have At AHS, this recognition is now front
Open Education is
great students, great staff, a supportive and center in our consciousness. We critical to sustaining
community, and one of the top high
schools in Colorado. But as great as
approach things differently as a result.
As best we can, we help our kids
quality education
our school is, it occurred to me that we apply core skills to a variety of media.”
Following the new knowledge economy
were doing an excellent job preparing We know as do so many educators,
logic discussed earlier, the Barcelona
our kids for the wrong time period, that the ability to find, acquire and
participants offered several thoughts
1985. That realization began an share knowledge will be key to our
about the instructional implications
extended conversation among our students’ career and life paths. The
of content in a 21st Century context.
faculty and our students. The question implicit give-and-take in this leads to
Among them were:
it surfaced, ‘What does it mean to be an what is perhaps the biggest takeaway
educated person in the 21st Century?’ from my experience with Did you • Content may no longer be king, but
remains central to our approach today. Know/Shift Happens, namely that 21st the ability to turn information into insight
Century literacy is critical for shaping surely will be.
In addressing this question, Jason good citizens.
• Where one had to go to the well
Ohler, a professor at the University of
(physical institutions) for educational
Alaska, offers a perspective that I like
content before, many students can now
a lot. He says, “Literacy means being
simply turn on the tap (online/offline
able to consume and produce the
networks) for the content they need.
media forms of the day.” For me, this
thinking resonates with perfect pitch. • By allowing the network to help in
Today’s students need to understand distilling content, educators can focus
and communicate with the world more on mentoring and supporting
around them. They need to know student scholarship.
where and what to absorb and how
and what to produce. That is because • Exposing content promotes more
the more knowledgeable one is about learning. If you don’t create it, someone
a medium, the harder it is to be else will, so there’s little point in hoarding
manipulated by it. If you can construct it (but that doesn’t mean that enterprising
it, you can also deconstruct it. In our institutions can’t make money off it).
media saturated world, true literacy
requires understanding the language Open education taps into these
of our times. dynamics. Speaking in broad strokes,
the traditional educational model is
‘closed.’ That is to say, it is based on a
service model in which the institution
directs the learning experience. The open
education model inverts this, or strives
to at least, allowing the student to take
charge of his or her own learning
outcomes. In this setting, the teacher’s
role is to guide the student, help them
ask the right questions, preserve the
right context and develop the right
frameworks and learning goals.

10. 1
Stephen Downes,
Interview
http://flosse.dicole org/?item=future-of-flosse-interview-with-stephen-downes-part-category=interviews
Joel Greenberg
Director of Strategic Development,
Learning & Teaching Solutions, Open University
10
By definition, open education is open platform where students pull the
to people, places, methods and ideas. knowledge that they need directly. As a
Underlying the modern approach is the university, our focus and challenge now
notion that the “network provides.” For becomes how to provide the best type
those of us with piles of books stored in of mentorship for our students.”
our basements, Stephen Downes, the
Canadian educator and open source In meeting these challenges Vijay Kumar
advocate says, says ‘get rid of them.’ suggests in his book, Opening Up
“We have to view information as a flow Education that he co-edited with Toru
rather than as a thing. It’s like electricity Iyoshi, that the future will rest upon
or water. We get a glass of water when three pillars: open technology (and the
we need it, we don’t store glasses of primacy of design); open content (how
water in case we need it.” 1 community can and should engage
in the design); and open knowledge
Back in 1970, Great Britain’s Open
Putting it all together, if open networks (how to build transference within those
University was the first of any
provide content and community, what communities to share and extend the
significant scale to take what was
then do open universities provide? The knowledge gained).
then a discredited form of education,
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC)
correspondence college, and turn it
offers a good starting point. At 15 years For many in the open education
into something widely respected. This
old and with 47,000 students from around movement, one of the greatest
form of education became known as
the world, it is certainly one of oldest complexities in realizing this future state
distance learning. Some early
and largest online universities. Llorenç rests in aligning educational content with
academics rolled their eyes at the
Valverde, the UOC’s Vice Rector of the right delivery channel, particularly
concept originally and one senior
Technology says, “What makes UOC’s when the development lifecycle of new
opposition politician called the idea
model different is not just that we are media and related technologies is so
that one could teach university level
one-hundred percent online. It’s that rapid. Dr Valverde notes, “If we can think
subject matter to the unqualified ‘a
our learning model is based on placing about that sort of world, where the
blithering nonsense.’ But as Joel
students at the center of their own computer is not the primary medium,
Greenberg, the University’s Director
academic program. Five hundred years then the challenge becomes how to
of Strategic Development, Learning
after the introduction of the printing deliver content effectively across all
& Teaching Solutions remarks, “The
press, we have moved from the platform channels.”
irony now is that recent surveys rank
where professors give lectures to a
Open University at or near the top when
it comes to employee satisfaction
with our graduates.”
Dr Greenberg has been with the
University for the past 32 years. In
that time, he has witnessed much
change in the field of open education.
“My favorite statistic is that in 1979,
we had 19,000 students online. And
this was long before the development
of the personal computer and the
internet of today,” he says. Instead,

11. 2
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=18845&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
3
“Making Minds Less Well Educated Than Our Own,” Roger Schank, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004.
11
students tapped into 290 terminals
Access as a human Standards versus standardization
scattered among various colleges right The question of access is not just
practical. It is also philosophical. In the
and universities around Great Britain.
If knowledge is the seat of wisdom and United States and many other countries,
“We had very low data rates, but our
wisdom the key to peace, then it stands constitutional and other laws mandate
students were accessing bibliographic
to reason that educating the world’s free and compulsory education. This
records from the U.S. Library of
citizenry represents a fairly solid is a good thing to be sure. But if
Congress,” says Dr Greenberg.
investment in our collective security and education is to be free and compulsory,
advancement. Many would agree with how do we incorporate student centricity
But while the technologies may have
UNESCO’s statement that “Achieving within that context? How do we make
changed, the University’s core mission
the right to basic education for all is thus something compulsory while at the same
hasn’t. Unlike traditional universities,
one of the biggest moral challenges of time according freedom of choice?
the Open University has no entrance
prerequisites, putting the prospect our times.” 2
In an educational context, mastery over
of a university degree within reach of
If education is an essential human right, foundational knowledge creates the
many more than would otherwise be
then ensuring access to education must need for standards. Too many times,
able to attend. Students can also
also be considered in the same light. however standards get confused with
decide how far they want to go in a
Yet, the question of whether one has a standardization. The former grounds
given subject. A hobbyist can dabble
right to education is far easier to address, learning opportunities. The latter often
in one or two short courses; an
of course, than how to provide it. limits them.
employee can obtain professional
certification; and degree candidates Programs like One Laptop per Child
take on the challenge of putting In the U.S., core curricula can cover
can pursue their studies up to the
information in reach of the world’s poor, pages, yet still fail to establish measures
Masters level. Learning materials are
but fundamental issues such as that support the desired learning
differentiated accordingly and tutors
bandwidth remain. Mobile technology outcome itself. In his book, Making
are available to offer support.
offers significant potential, particularly Minds Less Well Educated than Our
since the development of wireless Own,3 Roger Schank states:
Most of the course materials are
written in-house. “We still publish infrastructure is well advanced in many of
about 30,000 pages a year,” says Dr the developing countries that leapfrogged “...Learning objectives are one of
Greenberg, “but that is fast becoming the prior wave of wired infrastructure. the main evils in the school system.
an old model.” As for where the Open Yet, these governments need the Learning objectives seem like a good
University is headed as it completes it encouragement and support of the idea for the basis of curriculum design...
fourth decade, Dr Greenberg says, international community to expand ‘At the end of the course, the student
“We will increasingly get out of the mobile capabilities and remote access. will know X.’ Sounds good. The problem
content business and instead leverage of course is that when you decide that
social-networking and other online Access is not just a developing world any student who takes a given course
tools and learning resources, both for issue, however. Within established should come out knowing X, it is very
fee and free. Universities like ours will markets, there are other challenges. tempting to test to see if they do in fact
continue their mission of providing Educational resources may exist but know it. To make sure they know it,
support and accreditation, but the way without some construct for finding them, a teacher tells it to them a lot, makes
in which we carry out that mission will many students and educators often them read about it, gives them short
change dramatically in the coming cannot avail. Discoverability and a means quizzes about it, and finally examines
years.” of managing unstructured information them to see if in fact they know X.
are essential for access to have value.

12. 4
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/speeches-commentary/Pages/vicki-phillips-2008-education-forum-speech.aspx
Interview
Paula Nirschel
Founder of the Initiative to Educate
Afghan Women
12
In the confusion about learning objectives Teachers understand this dilemma
which tend to be stated rather factually very well. Vicki Phillips, the Education
(the student should know X), there is Director of the Bill & Melinda Gates
always the underlying hope that the Foundation, says, “Teachers everywhere
student might come away from the are eager for clearer, more compelling
experience being able to do something standards that take the mystery out of
he couldn’t do before. No one is interested what they’re supposed to be teaching.” 4
in actually having the students spouting
X. But having that as one’s explicit In light of globalization, other standards
objective tends to make sure that the also need to be addressed. Those
goal is uppermost in everyone’s mind. wishing to transfer their degrees and
accreditations to avail of cross border
What did the writers of the previous opportunities often meet several
objectives mean when they said: hurdles. The ability of the international
“When you educate a woman,
A. Student will be able to indentify community to agree trans-national
you educate a village,” says Paula
effective communication skills. qualifications would be a significant
Nirschel founder of the Initiative to
step in allowing those who live in small
Educate Afghan Women (IEAW). She
You know and I know that they meant states to compete more equitably
began her organization in 2002 after
there would be a test. But what would with peers from larger states. Open
learning how Afghan women were
the test be about? Well, it would pretty coursework may be one small step in
denied education during the Taliban’s
well have to be about the list of effective this direction, but the larger issue will
seven-year reign over Afghanistan. “It
communication skills that were given rest with government, international
was haunting to see such oppression,”
to the student. So you see the problem agencies and licensing boards.
she says. Determined to find a way
here. It isn’t that there will be a test to
to expand educational access, she
see if the student knows X. It is that The question of educational access
created a program to secure four-year
the curriculum now has to have some comprises each one of these dimensions,
scholarships at U.S. universities for
explicit statement about X that may not from the practical to the philosophical.
some of Afghanistan’s highly motivated
be so important to learn. Do we in fact Finding a means of addressing them will
young women.
learn to communicate by being able likely be a key element of 21st Century
to say a set of rules about effective learning.
“Education is critical because it opens
communication? I don’t think so. I
minds,” says Ms Nirschel. But she
doubt that teachers that have to teach
had to open a few minds of her own
this think so either. Communication
just to get the program started. She
involves actually communicating, not
spent weeks talking to administrators
saying stuff about communicating.”
and diplomats in central Asia,
Afghanistan and the United States to
overcome diplomatic, logistical and
financial obstacles. Finally, a panel,
including a U.S. State Department
official, a member of Afghan President
Hamid Karzai’s administration and
Kabul University’s president gained
the necessary agreements,
interviewed each candidate and

13. 13
submitted the finalists for the IEAW’s non-profit organizations, and a few
Personalization
review. have returned to the U.S. to continue
We talk a lot about student-centric
their graduate studies. “Forty years
learning, but what does it mean? For
With the IEAW’s help, what began as ago Afghan women had access to
those gathered in Barcelona,
an entering class of four has now grown education and the country was in much
personalization of the learning process
into a tight-knit group of 46 women less turmoil. Since then, the voice of half
embraced several dimensions:
in 20 different American colleges and of the country’s populace has been
individual methods of learning, personal
universities. Nearly seven years into silenced. My belief is that Afghanistan
learning speed, and interaction between
the experience, Ms Nirschel remains will only grow stronger when the
learning processes and technology. In
as committed as ever. “These Afghan voices of all of its people are heard.”
our technology-enabled world, Web 2.0
women are incredible. They’re strong.
applications offer students a powerful
They’re bright, and they’re remarkably
new educational platform, to enrich and
accomplished.”
inform their learning experiences.
The mission is as much cultural as it
At Karl Fisch’s Arapahoe High School,
is educational. In addition to stocking
9th grade teachers Maura Moritz and
the fridges at Ramadan, the Institute
Anne Smith assigned their class a
ensures that the women gather
book project this past January, one
regularly during the year to form
that entailed reading and discussion as
connections and grow as a group. This
well as an essay paper. The book was
past year, they met in North Carolina’s
Daniel Pink’s non-fiction work, A Whole
Outer Banks. Most had never seen an
New Mind. While discussion of good
ocean and came from a country where
literature is nothing new, what made
female sports were banned. “So in
this class different from many other
North Carolina, we made up for lost
9th grade English classes is the way
time and did everything from yoga to
that Arapahoe leveraged technology to
swimming to badminton,” said Ms
expand the scope of discussion. Karl
Nirschel. For women deprived of the
Fisch explains.
freedom to wear something as simple
as a bathing suit or the sensory
“During class, teachers break the
pleasures of curling bare toes in the
students into two groups, an inner circle
sand, it proved an emotional experience.
of six-to-eight kids and an outer circle
comprising the rest of the students.”
The women all return to Afghanistan
The inner circle leads a discussion on a
at the end of their studies where Paula
particular part of the book. Two to three
Nirschel hopes they will serve as role
“remote bloggers” join this conversation
models for other girls. “My dream is
through a webcam and also take part
that educated women will help progress
in a live blog with the students in the
the country of Afghanistan.” The
outer circle. In addition, twice during the
program’s first graduates have already
unit students talked directly with Daniel
begun that journey. One now works
Pink, the author, through the internet
for Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
phone service, Skype, asking him to
Two others joined Afghan-based
expand on, and occasionally even
challenging, this thinking.

14. 5
http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2009/
Interview
Susan Metros
Associate Vice Provost for Technology Enhanced
Learning, Deputy Chief Information Officer,
and Professor of Design Practice and Clinical
Education at the University of Southern California
(USC)
14
In all, over 30 professionals from around stayed with the project even after they
the world added their insights to the had received their final grade. “Why?
book discussion. “As we go through Because their work is out there; it’s a
different chapters, we bring in people much more authentic and meaningful
from different places,” says Mr Fisch. audience,” says Fisch.
Parents and others can also tune in
from wherever they happen to be since Openness, access and the ability to
Arapahoe broadcasts the class through personalize the learning environment
a UStream connection. “Last time,” are the gateway to student-centered
says Mr. Fisch, “about 49 or 50 people learning. As the Arapahoe example
dropped in to see what our kids were illustrates, students are wasting no time
talking about. A few even jumped into leaping through.
the live blog that the kids were doing.”
Tools for Tailoring
As a former visual design professor
What was the result of weaving these
Blogs are far from the only medium and now Deputy CIO at the USC in
technologies into their class? Teachers
expected to have a large impact Los Angeles, Susan Metros has spent
say that the students, whose essays
on learning, research and creative a lot of time exploring the intersection
on the book are submitted in print
expression. The 2009 Horizon Report between technology and education.
and online form through a class wiki,
announced six emerging technologies With so many emerging tools, Ms
became far more aware that they were
that they predict will significantly Metros understands their lure but
producing work for a different, and
shape instruction and personalized cautions, “One needs to use those
often much larger, audience than they
learning over coming decade.5 They tools for their inherent capabilities and
were used to. This set expectations
include mobiles and mobile device not just for the technology itself.’” She
and personal accountability higher. “It’s
applications; cloud computing; geo- laughs, adding, “So far, I’ve learned
one thing to do a bad job on a paper
based applications (i.e., applications it’s not too easy.”
that only your teacher is going to see,”
with embedded GPS applications); the
says Mr. Fisch. “But when your paper
personal and semantic web, and smart As chair of the 2009 Horizon Report,
has the potential to be seen by anyone,
objects. We spoke with Susan Metros, Ms Metros has an unusually good
that really makes you think about the
the project’s chair. vantage point to assess which
quality of your work.” Several students
technologies are likeliest to have the
greatest impact on student-centric
learning. In evaluating them, she
returns to what has been a focal point
of her thinking for some time. When
it comes to literacy, she and her
colleagues are convinced that while
the ‘Three Rs’ of reading, writing and
arithmetic will remain foundational,
‘Three Fs’ will top the list for the next
generation of students. “Finding the
information that one needs, filtering
out what is useful, and focusing on
how best to apply that information,”
she explains.

15. 15
She relays this story from her early
Community and look at the structure. They look at the
cracks and interstices. Real insight, real
days of teaching. “Many years ago, I constraints brilliance often comes from within those
was preparing to test my students on openings. That is because constraint
a typography formula that they were As one Barcelona participant humorously is an impetus for learning.” The same
supposed to have memorized. Just remarked, “Learners not only need to might be said for education. Subversion
before class started, I stopped by learn to learn, they must also learn to occurs in the joints, but you still need
a veterinary science lecture that a realize that they are learning.” This may the structure.
professor was giving on the subject be where institutions come in.
of feline anemia. Now, I wasn’t the People who are truly lifetime learners
slightest bit interested in this subject, Although education is becoming more may have made that connection. Their
but the word was that he was using open, multi-faceted and malleable, formal learning through educational
computers. And, since this was the personalization is not, nor should be institutions gives them a foundation that
era before even Macintosh, I went synonymous with comfortable. Left to they can apply throughout their lives.
over to see what it was all about. The our own devices in a purely self-directed They recognize that there is value in
professor opened his talk by saying, world, one is less likely to be stretched both the self-directed and institutional
‘What’s important is not what you and challenged. Constraints in the form dimension to learning. Sometimes, the
know, but rather knowing where to of competition, standards and a proven temptation is to place the formal and
find it.’ He then proceeded to show a application of knowledge provide a informal instruction at odds with each,
very simple database that housed a necessary tension as well as grounding. when the real question may not be
large set of materials on feline anemia, which one is better, but how can the
a resource that saved his having to If critical thinking and problem solving two worlds best affect and shape each
remember everything. Afterward, I went skills are foundational for success in the other.
back to my class and said ‘You have 21st Century, then the role of the university
two choices. You can write down might well be to teach scholarship. The need for deeper and better
the copysetting formula or you can That could mean putting an old-fangled partnerships
tell me where you’d go to learn how notion into a new-fangled context. The
to do it.’ Although I still don’t know word university is derived from the Latin Human nature is resistant to change.
the first thing about feline anemia, universitas magistrorum et scholarium, Academia is no exception. Too often,
that professor’s notion of learning roughly meaning “community of teachers culture, funding, legal requirements,
drastically changed the way I taught.” and scholars.” For its ability to marry assessments, legacy systems and
content with context, it is perhaps the customary ways of doing things,
In today’s ubiquitous information ultimate community. combine to fend off new strategies.
environment, knowing where to find Too often as well, there can be little
the answer can be challenging in itself. Yet, the very discipline inherent in incentive for educators to innovate
“We need to kick the habit of supplying teaching scholarship may be its greatest instructional methods.
students with all the information we value. Student-centric learning may
think they’ll need and instead give function best within the necessary To resolve some of these issues,
students a framework for piecing constraints of institutional expectations partnerships need to deepen across
together what it is they must learn and academic requirements. As Lev the educational spectrum. Today,
and why.” While acknowledging Gonick, the CIO at Case Western there is often a gap. Higher education
institutional and other constraints, she Reserve University and Barcelona has led significant advances in open
believes that “We are at the precipice participant observed, “When architects courseware and its applications. Yet,
of great change. I look forward to look for where they can make a there is often little linkage with primary
seeing it unfold.” breakthrough in design, they don’t and secondary schools. If we are
to be truly student-centric, we must

16. Interview
Michael Horn
Co-founder and Executive Director of Innosight
Institute. In 2008, he along with Clayton
Christensen and Curtis Johnson co-authored
Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will
Change the Way the World Work
Disrupting Class
16
recognize that while time is fixed in show, many experts advised ‘you can’t
the formal education environment, the teach young people anything if they
amount of learning that takes place are not on your lap or in a classroom.’
can vary widely. Better partnership But then we thought about it. We knew
across the educational sector and that TV was admittedly a fairly primitive
between public and private entities is technology, but we also knew that we
one means of addressing this. Indeed, had this amazing opportunity to reach
the ability to partner with others children who might otherwise not have
invested in leveraging technology for the access to preschool education. As it
advancement of learning may be where turned out, the program succeeded
the biggest breakthroughs will come in beyond our wildest dreams in reaching
forcing systemic change. this goal. I learned then that while our
resources may be limited, our ideas do
not have to be.”
Disruptive innovation The book extends Clayton
Christensen’s theories on disruptive
and organizational The same can be said of 21st Century
educational models. If they are to
innovation. Unlike sustaining
change undergo a seismic shift, as some
innovations, which improve a
company’s existing product or market
suspect, many new ideas will be
position, disruptive innovations
During the Symposium in Barcelona, needed. Forty years after the launch
come in from the side, usually with a
Linda Roberts, on the Board of of Sesame Street, Ms Roberts is still
simpler and more affordable product
Directors for Curriki, said that when exploring new ways for technology
that often isn’t quite as good as the
it comes to driving change, it is to improve the reach of education.
original. As such, it tends to take
often too easy to get discouraged by Roberts points to the Curriki Project
root in markets that are underserved
the question, ‘How do you make a and the creation of open and shared
and less demanding. Over time,
difference on a large scale given the curriculum resources with educators
the disruptions typically improve,
limitations of the tools or systems that across the globe, linked together by
often quickly, and become able to
we have now?’ web 2.0 technology. She believes
handle more complicated problems.
that Curriki and other efforts could
At that point, they converge on the
Roberts said, “In 1968, I was part of the transform opportunities for learning. To
mainstream market and supplant
team that developed Sesame Street, give us a taste of what else is in store,
older ways of doing things.
a program intended to help US kids we thought it might be helpful to speak
get ready for school. In designing the to someone familiar with disruption.
Mr Horn and his colleagues believe
that computers will change how
people learn. Among their findings
are that customized learning will help
many more students succeed in
school; student-centric classrooms
will increase the demand for new
technology; and disruptive innovation
may ease roadblocks that have
traditionally impaired educational
reform. “Such changes are already
underway,” says Mr Horn. “By the

17. 17
year 2019, 25% of U.S. high school other marketplace,” says Mr Horn.
students will take classes online.” “They are the last ones to recognize
the potential disruption and make a
Even though much of Disrupting Class meaningful new business model from it.”
is focused on the K-12 environment,
Mr Horn believes the concepts are Ultimately, Mr Horn sees online
relevant to higher education as well. education and the rise of corporate
“We see far more disruptions occurring universities as major forces of change.
in the higher education space than we In the U.S., loans and financial aid
do in the K-12 arena because there allow consumers to make tradeoffs
is less regulation and more freedom they wouldn’t normally be able to
of movement.” He is particularly make. “That’s one of the artificial
passionate about online education, constraints that prevents online
which he considers a major innovation learning from blowing up completely
and one central to lifelong learning. in the higher education space,” he
“Community colleges were disruptive said. The current economic malaise
to state universities and now online may change this equation. “We
universities are disrupting both. I hope have already seen a spike in online
it continues to migrate to a more enrollments as people start thinking
individualized student experience. about these tradeoffs.”
That part of the equation,” he says,
“remains untapped.”
Disruption may also take aim at the
traditional four-year branded degree
program. In fact, Clayton Christensen
and Michael Horn have both told
Harvard Business School (of which
they are a professor and an alumni,
respectively) that it is being disrupted.
“HBS still doesn’t believe it,” says Mr
Horn, “but at some point you become
the student and say ‘do I want to pay
$200,000 for two years of business
school when I can work for a top
company and get a better education
for what I need?’”
“The reason that some top tier
educators are reluctant to embrace
some forms of open coursework
is the same reason that incumbent
organizations get disrupted in every

18. Conclusion:
An invitation to action
18
As the first decade of the 21st Century worth? Will this answer have bearing
draws to a close, a few irrefutable on current tuition models, particularly
dynamics are taking shape. The learning in countries such as the United States
process is changing faster than where skyrocketing prices and the
institutional readiness. Required skillsets global economic downturn have made
are changing. Societal, cultural and university unaffordable for many? If
economic factors are changing. And, pricing models do change, who will set
of course, technology is changing. This the price?
environment is reshaping pedagogy.
Means and modes of instruction are Standards across borders. New
opening up, becoming more transparent, international standards and trans-national
dynamic, multi directional and, above qualifications need to be developed
all, student-led. and agreed among the developing
world and the G20. Right now, board
Significant challenges confront all of us, certifications and accreditation
students, teachers, and the community requirements can vary widely across
at large. Yet, we are reminded that real the world. This can place undue burden
brilliance often only emerges in the midst on those with degrees from emerging
of turmoil. Nicholas Negroponte, the markets wishing to transfer those skills
well-known MIT futurist, said that the to jobs in the developed world.
‘next big thing’ comes “...Not [through]
bandwagons, fashions or [individual] Personalized learning networks. Will
fields - but [through] working at the edges, personalized learning foster new forms
and in the intersections of disciplines.” of assessment and credentialing? Can
we envision a time when students and
We hope this paper encourages many employees use micro-credits to establish
conversations at the edges of things. certification in niche vocational areas? If
Although excited by the ideas expressed so, who will lead that development?
in this report, we know that there are
considerations we must surely have Open education. Is education ready to
missed, ideas that may well be superior open up? Who needs to be engaged in
and concepts that have yet to be properly the discussion if meaningful change is
explored – perspectives that are in your to happen?
own head or come from your own
experience. We can’t wait to hear them. Making change happen. Taking on
board Michael Horn’s and Clayton
We leave you with these few questions Christensen’s Disruptive Innovation
and invite your comments on how to precepts, the most successful attempts
upgrade the education ‘value proposition’ at radical change occur from the
for the 21st Century. outside-in. What does this mean for the
educational community? What might
Valuing and evaluating education. serve as the best pilot projects?
If insight is the currency of our
technology-enabled knowledge
economy, what is a good education

19. Who took part
in Open EdTech 2008?
19
Advisory Committee Participants
Begoña Gros, Vice Rector for Innovation, Rob Abel, Chief Executive, IMS Global Learning
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Consortium.
Catalonia, UOC).
Marc Alier, Professor and Developer of
Vijay Kumar, Senior Associate Dean, and open-source solutions for education and mobile
Director, Office of Educational Innovation and devices, Technical University of Catalonia.
Technology, MIT.
Magí Almirall, Director, Office of Learning
Julià Minguillón, Associate Director, Internet Technologies, UOC.
Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3), UOC.
Xavi Aracil, ComuniLab, Office of Learning
Rafael Macau, Director, IT, Multimedia Technologies, UOC.
and Telecommunications Department, UOC.
Elena Barberà, Psychology and Educational
Albert Sangrà, Director, Education and ICT Sciences Department, UOC.
programme, UOC, and EDEN (European Distance
and E-Learning Network) Executive Committee Giovanni Bonaiuti, Researcher, Learning
member. Technology Laboratory, Education Science
Department, University of Florence.
Llorenç Valverde, Vice Rector for
Technology, UOC. Mark Bullen, Associate Dean, Curriculum
and Instructor Development, BCIT Learning and
Teaching Centre, British Columbia Institute of
Technology.
Tom Caswell, eduCommons Project Manager,
OpenCourseWare Consortium.
Susan D’Antoni, Programme Specialist,
Open Educational Resources Project, Division
for Education Strategies and Capacity Building,
Education Sector, UNESCO.
Claudio Dondi, President, European
Foundation for Quality in E-Learning (EFQUEL),
President of SCIENTER, Research and Innovation
for Education, and Member of the Board of the
MENON Research and Innovation Network EEIG.
Antonio Fini, Electronics and
Telecommunications Department, University of
Florence.
Muriel Garreta, Labs for Learning, Office of
Learning Technologies, UOC.
Lev Gonick, Vice President, Information
Technology Services, Chief Information Officer,
Case Western Reserve University.
Joel Greenberg, Director of Strategic
Development, Learning and Teaching Solutions,
Open University, UK.
Begoña Gros, Vice Rector for Innovation,
UOC.