Technology-based Innovations

[Part 2]

Dr Palitha EdirisinghaInstitute of Learning InnovationUniversity of Leicester105, Princess Road EastLeicester LE1 7LG- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Tel: +44 (0)116 252 3753Mobile: +44 (0)7525 246592Email: pe27@le.ac.uk

First used in February 2014in an MA course

Part 2

ExamplesLessons learned

Learning outcomes

1. Develop an understanding of the features of innovations through technology.

2. Critical consideration of the role played by different stakeholders in promoting technology-based learning innovations and their social, political and commercial implications.

3. Creative exploration of the potential of technology-based innovations to meet the curriculum / school-reform agenda.

IntroductionIn these two linked sessions, we will consider a number of educational approaches that are based on technology-based innovations. We will reflect on what we mean by innovations through technologies.

We will begin by reviewing the development of learning technologies from a historical and social perspective and move on to look at the role played by national and international organisations (e.g., UNESCO, World Bank, European Commission) in promoting technology-based learning innovations.

A number of initiatives and approaches that we will be looking at include Open Educational Resources (OERs), Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), distance learning initiatives, learning in 3-D virtual words and through computer games.

These initiatives will be examined to understand the extent to which these help or hinder the access to learning opportunities for marginalised groups and communities, the pedagogical principles underpinning these approaches, and how we might apply some of these approaches to fulfil the learning / curriculum reform objectives that you are interested in your own context.

Innovation?

What does it mean?

How do we know something (some approach to education) is an innovation?

How do we know that we are talking about an innovation and not something else?

Thinking about your interests in the context of

innovation and reform

A framework for thinking about educational innovations• Education for All, Millennium Development Goals• Unesco, World Bank, Commonwealth of Learning• Learners with no access to conventional schools

Global, International

• New political climate, failing school standards, teachers’ CPD• Building new schools, “mega-schools”, “open schools”

National, country level

• Migration to urban areas, left-behind children• ????

Regional, provincial level

• After-school initiatives, private sector involvement, • ????School

• PISA (Policy makers’ and educators’ interests?)• creativity, assessment and feedback, critical thinkingCurriculum

• Learners with special needs• ????Learners

The

role

of t

echn

olog

y

Alte

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ve a

ppro

ache

s - f

ram

ewor

k

Audience

Children

Adults

Mixed

Curriculum and content

School-type curriculum

Alternative for school equivalency, and vocational and

life skills

Alternative curriculum for

vocational and life skills

Location of provision

In-school

Out-of-school

(Edirisingha, 2008, pp. 213 – 214)

Technology-based innovations to meet the needs of curriculum and

school-reforms

Non-conventional approaches

Open schools and ‘mega schools’

FranceIndiaMexicoIndonesiaBotswanaNamibiaPapua New GuineaCanada?

Expanding teacher supply through distance learning

FranceCanadaNigeriaPakistanUKMalaysiaUSA?

(Daniel, 2010)

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

alison.comOther?

Open Educational Resources(OERs)

OER AfricaOther?

Internet-based technologies, digital devices, resource-based learning

Private / non-government sector involvement

IndiaNigeriaGhanaChinaKenya?

(Tooley, 2009)

Technology-based innovations

Web 2.0

One Laptop Per

Child

Hole-In-The-Wall

eSchools

Children learning with computers

(Daniel, 2010)

Image from Wikipedia commons

One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)Brain-child of Nicolas Negroponte, the founder of MIT Media lab

‘… children could teach each other through experiential and trial-and-error learning on a rugged yet cheap educational tool’

‘Constructivism’

$100 laptop per child

(Daniel, 2010)

Image from Flickrhttp://farm4.staticflickr.com/3589/3388547187_80725e1615.jpg

Image from Wikipedia commons

Hole-In-The-Wall

An Indian experiment initiated by Prof Sugata Mitra

Moving computers out of homes and schools into local playgrounds

Single computer embedded in the brickwall

“Minimally Invasive Education”

Learning happens in groups 300 children can achieve computer literacy in India in 3 months with one machine.

(Daniel, 2010)

The NEPAD e-Schools Initiative

‘a multi-country, multi-stakeholder, continental project to teach ICT skills to young Africans in primary and secondary schools and improve the provision of education in schools through the use of ICT applications and the Internet.’ (http://www.infodev.org/articles/nepad-e-schools-demonstration-project-work-progress)

(Farrell, Isaacs, and Trucano , 2007).

eSchoolsBeyond computer literacy … to use ICT as a teaching and learning resource

Six diverse schools in each of 16 countries

Work-in-progress, too early to assess impact

Rolling out a standard model across Africa … not appropriate

(Daniel, 2010)

One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)

Hole-In-The-Wall eSchools

Brain-child of Nicolas Negroponte, the founder of MIT Media lab

‘… children could teach each other through experiential and trial-and-error learning on a rugged yet cheap educational tool’

‘Constructivism’

$100 laptop per child

Results …

An Indian experiment initiated by Prof Sugata Mitra

Moving computers out of homes and schools into local playgrounds

Single computer embedded in the brickwall

“Minimally Invasive Education”

Learning happens in groups 300 children can achieve computer literacy in India in 3 months with one machine.

Beyond computer literacy … to use ICT as a teaching and learning resource

Six diverse schools in each of 16 countries

Work-in-progress, too early to assess impact

Rolling out a standard model across Africa … is not appropriate

‘Starting point: Seymour Papert’s Mindstorm: Children, Computers and Powerful Ideas’

Children learning with computers

(Daniel, 2010)

Open Educational Resources

Massive Open Online Courses

(MOOCs)

Openness in education

Historical perspective of openness in education (see Peter and Deimann, 2013)

Open Educational ResourcesA definition:“… any educational resources (including curriculum maps,

course materials, textbooks, streaming videos, multimedia applications, podcasts, and any other materials that have been designed for use in teaching and learning) that are openly available for use by educators and students, without accompanying need to pay royalties and license fees.”

(Butcher, 2011, p.5)

A YouTube video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xGRztrWv-k

Open Educational ResourcesEmergence of OER movement

In 1999 a committee was given responsibility to study how MIT would position itself with the use of educational technology and distance education (Vest, 2006).

The committee recommended giving the materials away for free, which resulted in the creation of MIT OpenCourseWare.

The model of the MIT OpenCourseWare was presented in the 2002 UNESCO meeting that coined the term Open Educational Resources (D’Antoni, 2009).

Philosophy of OERs The world knowledge is a public good (Atkinson et all, 2007). Flora and Hewlett Foundation funds OER because it seeks to help

equalize the access to knowledge and educational opportunities around the world (Atkinson et al, 2007, p.5).

Freedom to share knowledge (D’Antoni, 2009), The Cape Town Open Education Declaration (http://www.oercommons.org/community/the-cape-town-open-education-declaration/view )

Article 26 of the United Nations declaration of Human Rights which considers access to education as one of the fundamental human rights (United Nations, 1949) has also been referred to in a varied OER literature.

Who is interested in OERs?Organisations involved/Key stakeholders (D’Antoni, 2008)

• Academics• Various higher education institutions • International Organisations, e.g., OER Africa, Open Educational

Resources Foundation (OERF) • Intergovernmental organizations: Uneco, COL• National governments (through open access policies), e.g., President

Obama’s support to open access policy http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/ostp_public_access_memo_2013.pdf

• Funding bodies: Flora and Hewlett Foundation (Atkinson et al, 2007).

Where to find OERs• Commonwealth of Learning site:

http://www.col.org/resources/crsMaterials/Pages/OCW-OER.aspx

• Folksemantic: http://www.opentapestry.com/folksemantic

• DiscoverEd (a search engine created by Creative Commons): http://wiki.creativecommons.org/DiscoverEd

OER Africa

• http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=oer+africa&oq=oer+africa&gs_l=youtube.3...3151.6263.0.7202.10.10.0.0.0.0.114.625.9j1.10.0...0.0...1ac.1.IGhRlmNoAOU

Other sources of resources

• ‘Folk teachers’ (e.g., Khan Academy)

• Repositories of recorded lectures (e.g, TED Talks)

• Learning material on iTunes U

• Informal and formal learning material on YouTube and other social media

An electronic collection of photographs, trade directories, film, oral history and books on the history of Leicester and Leicestershire.

My Leicestershire Digital Archive (MLDA)

Materials have been provided, digitised and catalogued by a partnership between

BBC Radio LeicesterEast Midlands Oral History Archive

Leicestershire Industrial History SocietyMedia Archive for Central England

Rothley Heritage Trust, Individual local historians, and

the University of Leicester.

http://myleicestershire.org.uk

Example search “Wright's Directory of Leicestershire & Rutland, 1880”

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

MOOCs

• ‘An educational buzzword’• 2008 - the first course labelled MOOC• Early courses based on based a philosophy of

‘connectivism’ and networking [cMOOCs]• Currently, courses developed on behavioural

approaches [xMOOCs]• Evidence base is limited (‘thinly disguised promotional

material by commercial interests’, … and ‘articles by practitioners whose perspective is their own MOOC courses.’

(Daniel, 2012)

MOOCsdefinitions are evolving

Wikipedia on 16 Sept 2012:• 'a course where the participants are distributed

and course materials are also dispersed across the web',

• 'this is possible only if the course is open, and works significantly better if the course is large. The course is not a gathering, but rather a way of connecting distributed instructors and learners across a common topic or field of discourse’.

(Wikipedia, 2012a, cited by Daniel, 2012).

MOOCsdefinitions ….

Wikipedia on 20 Sept 2012:• 'a MOOC is a type of online course aimed at large-scale

participation and open access via the web. MOOCs are a recent development in the area of distance education, and a progression of the kind of open education ideals suggested by open educational resources. Though the design of and participation in a MOOC may be similar to college or university courses. MOOCs typically do not offer credits awarded to paying students at schools. However, assessment of learning may be done for certification'

(Wikipedia, 2012b, cited by Daniel, 2012).

Wikipedia entries carried the disclaimer that: 'this article appears to be written like an advertisement. Please help improve it by rewriting promotional content from a neutral point of view and removing any inappropriate external links' (Wikipedia, 2012a, b).

(Daniel, 2012)

‘an educational system should “provide all who want to learn with access to available resources at any time in their lives; empower all who want to share what they know to find those who want to learn it from them; and, finally furnish all who want to present an issue to the public with the opportunity to make their challenge known”’(Illich, 1971, in Daniel, 2012).

'all the course content was available through RSS feeds, and learners could participate with their choice of tools: threaded discussions in Moodle, blog posts, Second Life and synchronous online meetings' (Wikipedia, 2012a).

Linking to Illich’s philosophy / view of education

'all the course content was available through RSS feeds, and learners could participate with their choice of tools: threaded discussions in Moodle, blog posts, Second Life and synchronous online meetings' (Wikipedia, 2012a, in Daniel, 2012).

Group activitiesTasks to be carried out in groups of 4

[30 minutes]

Prepare a 10-minute presentation for the Minister of Education (or other policy maker(s)) outlining a proposal for developing a technology-based learning initiative to address an educational problem that you have identified.

Group 1

Nettilukio (Internet Upper Secondary School, Finland

Examine examples of the use of ICT for alternative approaches to education.

Prepare a proposal for developing an alternative education system suitable [for your chosen country / geopolitical region. (Use the Framework presented in the next 2 slides).

Group 2Examine examples of the use of ICT for alternative approaches to education.

Welker’s Wikinomics (Switzerland)

Prepare a proposal for an innovative use of Web 2.0 technology to address an educational issue / capitalise on the potential of technology. (Use the Framework presented in the slides 37 and 38).

A framework to classify alternative approaches to education

Audience Curriculum and content

Location of education provision

A framework to classify alternative approaches to education

Audience• Children• Adults• Mixed audience

of children and adults

Curriculum and content• School-type content• Alternative

curriculum for school equivalency, vocational, and life-skills

• Alternative curriculum for vocational and life-skills

Location of education provision• In-school

• Formal curriculum• Raise quality of

instruction in schools

• Out-of-school• School-type

curriculum• Alternative

curriculum

Group 3

Commonwealth of Learning

OER Africa

Explore the different types of OERs available from the websites of following organisations.

Prepare a presentation for an educational policy maker (e.g., Minister of Education, Head Teacher ) outlining the potential of their use in your chosen context.

A framework to guide your presentation

What is an OER?

What are the

benefits of using OERs?

Who else uses

OERs? Why?

How might we use OERs

in our education

al context?

Some examples

Group presentations15 minutes

ReferencesDaniel, J. (2012) Making Sense of MOOCs: Musings in a Maze of Myth, Paradox and Possibility. Journal of Interactive Media in Education. Online http://www-jime.open.ac.uk/article/2012-18/html [accessed 3 Feb 2014]

Daniel, J. (2010) Mega-Schools, Technology and Teachers: Achieving Education for All. London: Routledge.

Illich, Ivan (1971). Deschooling Society. Marion Boyars, London and New York

Farrell , G., Isaacs , S., and Trucano , M. (2007). The NEPAD e-Schools Demonstration Project: A Work in Progress (A Public Report), InfoDev. http://www.infodev.org/infodev-files/resource/InfodevDocuments_355.pdf (Accessed 3 Feb 2014).

OEDC (2007) Giving Knowledge for Free: The Emergence of Open Educational Resources. http://www.oecd.org/edu/ceri/givingknowledgeforfreetheemergenceofopeneducationalresources.htm, [Accessed 06.12.2013].

Peter, S., and Deimann, M. (2013) On the role of openness in education: A historical reconstruction. Open Praxis, Vol. 5, Issue 1.

Papert, S. (1993). Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas. New York (NY): Basic Books.

France, D., and Ribchester, C. (2008) Podcasts and feedback. In G. Salmon and P. Edirisingha, P. (eds.) Podcasting for Learning in Universities. Maidenhead: Open University Press and SRHE.

The Hewlett Foundation (2013) Open Educational Resources: Breaking the Lockbox on Education [A WhitePaper].http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/open-educational-resources-breaking-lockbox-education[Accessed on 06.12.2013].

Wikipedia (2012a). Massive open online course. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_open_online_course accessed 2012-09-16. Cited in Daniel, J. (2012)Wikipedia (2012b). Massive open online course. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_open_online_course accessed 2012-09-20. Cited in Daniel, J. (2012)

Thank you!

hope you have enjoyed the class

If you have any questions or suggestions to improve /

contribute to this session / presentation, please contact me

at:

pe27@le.ac.uk

@palithaed

+44 (0)116 252 3753

+44 (0)7525 246 592