The Next Evolutionary The Next Evolutionary Step in Online LearningStep in Online LearningStep in Online LearningStep in Online Learning

Fabio Chacon Ph DFabio Chacon, Ph.D.

Recent Evolution of Distance EducationRecent Evolution of Distance Education19101910--20102010

Technology Dominant systems

19101910 20102010

Technology Dominant systems

1. Correspondence studies Postal systemPhotocopy machines

2. Prerecorded media Recording systems for audio and video

3. Two-way audio & graphics Computer network, software

4. One-way videoTelevision classroomBroadcasting (cable, satellite)

Telephone /Satellite TV array Telecommunication5. Two-way audio & video

Telephone /Satellite TV array, Telecommunication network (leased telephone lines, ISDN, fiber optics, microwave)

6. Desktop/laptop communications Multimedia computer (camera, microphone), TCP-IP, hi h d t k W ld id thigh-speed network. World-wide access to resources

Which of these media prevailed in DE?

G l i i lGeneral principles

Technology has been the motor of change in Technology has been the motor of change in distance education (DE)P i t d ti b DE t h l i h Prior to adoption by DE, technologies where widely accepted in societyM t h l i b i fl d t d d Many technologies were briefly adopted and later discarded“S i l” f t h l i i d t i d b “Survival” of technologies is determined by ecological laws

Which are some of these laws?(Shaw and Chacon, 2010)

Reduction of transactional distance Reduction of transactional distance Equivalence Industrialization Convergence Requisite variety (multimodality vs. single

modality)

Technology Medium

More recent technologiesMore recent technologiesTechnology Medium

9. E-Book Digitized book, approaching to multimediaRequires special readerRequires special readerAllows hypertext and searchIncreased use by e-learning programs

10. Mobile, hand-held devices Worldwide extended useText, image and voice messagingUse of push technologiesCapabilities near personal computerCapabilities near personal computerMobile learning (on the go)

Emerging technology: immersive i t i t l litenvironments or virtual reality

P A tPersona = AvatarPlus Gesture communication Enhanced social presencep Skills learning (incipient)

MinusMinus Longer learning curve Technical requirements Communicational “noise” Financial aspects

Virtual training environmentVirtual training environment

E l i l b iEcological barriers

= 101 / 10

= 101 / 10 pins 101 / 10 pins

= 101 / 2

E l i l b iEcological barriers

= noise/signal

= asynchronous worldy

= mouse + keystrokes

= mouse + keystrokes

¿What is then an instructional di ?

Device(s) able to transport and manipulate

medium? Device(s) able to transport and manipulate

information in different formats Enables user to perform operations with Enables user to perform operations with

information (read, edit, store, create, etc.) Physical form adapted to preferred usePhysical form adapted to preferred use Capabilities and standards converge across

media Physical differences become marginal to

users

Human dimension (Palloff & Pratt): Human dimension (Palloff & Pratt):

C it i l th t b

Virtual Learning Community (VCL)Virtual Learning Community (VCL)

Community = social group that can be distinguished from a category or conglomerate

Traditional concept = group with a territory base

Modern concept= group with diffuse limits, di t ib t d i hi d ithdistributed in a geographic space and with capability for interaction

Wh t i i t l it ?Wh t i i t l it ?Still a social group with a sort of territory

What is a virtual community?What is a virtual community?Still a social group, with a sort of territory

The territory is electronic/virtual so all intervening objects, processes and people are digitally represented

Virtual communities support and strengthen knowledge acquisition (Palloff and Pratt)

Three integrative forces: goals, interaction and common language g g

C iti i liCommunities in online courses Wheel-type interaction Networked interaction

Hi h h i Low cohesion Focus medium to high

C iti l i

High cohesion High focus Social learning prevails

Cognitive learning prevails

Occasional affective

g p Frequent affective

elements Engagement joy

elements Disappears with the

Engagement, joy Lingers on after the

course

Functionality Solidarity

course

F. Chacón

P i i l Learning community is difficult to achieve in a

Principles Learning community is difficult to achieve in a

distance course However it is one key factor of success However, it is one key factor of success In the formation of the virtual community

there are factors of:there are factors of: Course organization Instructor Students Learning Management System

F. Chacon

WEB 2.0WEB 2.0How media contribute to the emergence of learning g gcommunities?

podcastingp g

ikiwikis

socialt kinetworking

social bookmarkingg

bloggingblogging

C it i f S l ti T lCriteria for Selecting Tools

Effectiveness Effectiveness Availability Cost Convenience Comfort Learning/communication stylesg y “Culture” of the institution/locale

The digital divideThe digital divide

C 2010Congo - 2010

Classroom for 125 students and one teacher

The great forces of change inThe great forces of change in DE at the beginning of the d d f h 2010decade of the 2010s

Technology Virt al comm nities Virtual communities

The new pedagogies

Let us examine them, brieflyy

Future Technologygy The bandwidth is unlimited

Th i i li it d The processing power is unlimited Computers will become more specialized Personal media will be (more) embedded in

everyday life Converging: Operating systems, CMS / LMS,

libraries, student information systems, etc. Keywords: simplicity, integration and

modularity Learning systems are tailored to the user and

not vice versa.

Future Communities The community technologies around us are

creating a new culture of learnersg Today students prefer to work in teams in peer-

to-peer situations within a structured environment that affords a fair amount of flexibility

We are getting closer to a new apprenticeship era fostered by virtual communitiesU i iti d ll t b d f Universities and colleges must be ready for “edgeless design”, recognizing that students belong to various communities of practicebelong to various communities of practice

A E lAn Example

Queensland University of Technology (Australia)

To what extent does t h l d i t ltechnology and virtual

communities change the nature of learning?

How might technology support active learning?

Inquiry-basedConstructionC t l d t di

Inquiry-based education

support active learning? Conceptual understandingTaking testsProblem-solvingNarrativeConstructivism

Mediated learning Discovery learning

NarrativeLiteracyGame authoringTechno-computing skill-learningy g

Learning as conversationProblem-based learningReflective practice

Techno computing skill learning FieldworkCommunicationCollaborationReflective practice

Meta-cognitionExperiential learning

Learning identitiesConceptual networksManipulation skills

Learner-oriented approachSocial constructivismSituated learning

Informal interestsSelf-worthModellingScenarios

gScenariosEvaluating evidence

Is there a change in the nature of learning?of learning?

• what it takes to learn’ will not change

• what is learned is changing

how it is learned is changing• how it is learned is changing

• technology makes more feasible the idea of learning as an active, interactive, adaptive, personalized, situated, collaborative process

•Collaborative learning is social learning: modeling, vicarious reinforcement, enactive learning, self-efficay, self-regulation

WHAT INTERNATIONAL TRENDS ARE SHAPING DISTANCEARE SHAPING DISTANCE EDUCATION?

Source:

http://www.studymentor.com/

Th dThe trendsLarge scale programs Large-scale programs More than 100,000 students

Decentralized systems Decentralized systems Large investments in technology Industrialized model predominant Industrialized model predominant There seems no growth limit

SSource:

http://www.ambientinsight.com/Reports/eLearning.aspx

E lExample2009: Top U.S. Higher Education Online Institutions by Enrollment Totals

Institution 2009 Online Enrollment Online EnrollmentInstitution 2009 Online Enrollment Totals

Online Enrollment Growth from 2008 to 2009

University of Phoenix Online 310,400 22%

Kaplan University 68,200 47%

DeVry 56,300 26%

Strayer University 54,300 25%

American Public Education 53,600 49%

Bridgepoint Education 45,500 101%

Walden University 40,500 17%

UMassOnline 40,000 18%

Liberty University 36,200 15%

Education Management 34,800 54%

Capella Education 33,900 26%

Grand Canyon Education 32,600 53%

University of Maryland University 30 400 17%University of Maryland University College

30,400 17%

Source: The Worldwide Market for Self-paced eLearning Products and Services: 2009-2014 Forecast and Analysis , Ambient Insight, February 2010.

The trends System IntegrationThe trends

Convergence between CMS / LMS, student information system and library support systemsTh till th t i di t f There are still many gaps that indicate areas of possible development

Rapid changes in technology and software make Rapid changes in technology and software make it difficult to integrate – e.g. mobile learning blues

The greater the integration, the lower the cost g g ,

The TrendsThe Trends The standardization of courseware and

learning objects Goal: Integration of courses and free resources

l tfplatform Achievement: Large repositories of learning

objects (MERLOT MIT Open Coursewareobjects (MERLOT, MIT Open Courseware, Ariadne, etc.).

SCORM standard emerges as more finished g

The trends

The market trend

The trends

The market trend Book publishers have great influence on how

resources are used in distance coursesresources are used in distance courses Competence makes the systems try to be

more efficient (improved effectiveness/cost) Large-scale operations force institutions to

think the course as a product in all aspects CMS/LMS are highly competitive and use

tactics to "hook" the user

The trends Mobile learning Is becoming the new generation of distance Is becoming the new generation of distance

education Based on an enormous capacity for cellular and

lli k d h ldsatellite networks spread across the world Communication devices and personal

organization have become more sophisticatedorganization have become more sophisticated and replace the computer

This revolution is accompanied by new ways of d l ld d b k d bdelivering old media: e-book, pod cast, web cast, text messaging and picture mail

Accelerated convergence has solved some Accelerated convergence has solved some technical problems

The trends Globalization Harmonization of degree levels is spreading g p g

across the world Several countries have become educational

centers for the world: USA Canada Australiacenters for the world: USA, Canada, Australia, India, South Africa ...

A small group of CMS/LMS has catapulted itself g p / pto the great majority of countries

Two major operating systems dominate the personal computer market with the possibility ofpersonal computer market with the possibility of a third (Linux)

English has become the lingua franca of global g g geducation, followed by Spanish (Chinese is the most spoken)

Today's News: The College of 2020 It will certainly be a hybrid model Offer of educational program is governed Offer of educational program is governed

by the principle of convenience Universities that have resisted eLearning Universities that have resisted eLearning

will have to mutate or be minimized Students expect to have access to Students expect to have access to

content and activities through personal mobile devicesmobile devices

Colleges and universities must be ready to offer all possible optionsto offer all possible options

http://research.chronicle.com/reports.html

Today’s News: The third phase of y peLearning Near monopoly of Blackboard Inc has

d fcaused a resurgence of open source software E ll i li i i Enrollment in online programs is growing faster than HE in general (17% in the US in 2009)2009)

The student-teacher interaction and student-student interaction in virtualstudent student interaction in virtual environments are getting closer to real time

Sophisticated measurement tools enable a Sophisticated measurement tools enable a 360 º assessment of the student

Th t l ti tThe next evolutionary step

The technology The technology Ubiquitous computing

Two or three devices supported instead of one Two or three devices supported instead of one Seamless integration between devices Asynchronous communication dominates Asynchronous communication dominates Convergence of three macro-systems: LMS, SIS

and the Libraryand the Library Integration with Web 2 technologies (more open) Cloud computing will enhance collaborationC oud co pu g e a ce co abo a o

New Network MapNew Network Map

Jonathan Mott (2010)

Networked services

Jonathan Mott (2010)

Th t l ti tThe next evolutionary step The course The course A branched structure rather than a sequence Collaborative and experiential Collaborative and experiential Social-cognitive learning models prevail Engagement and student retention is the keyEngagement and student retention is the key Multiple resources available in multiple digital

formats Downloadable courses preferred to only web-

based Agents keep track of students and facilitate

communications

Th t l ti tThe next evolutionary step The program/institutionp g Provisions to counteract the digital divide Small footprint, large extension Many tasks are outsourced Tight interaction with publishers and open

repositories Multi-language programs and staff (prevalence of

English Spanish and Chinese)English, Spanish and Chinese) Student retention and graduation strategies in place Catering multiple needs of students: connections to Catering multiple needs of students: connections to

students’ lives, jobs, and communities

THE END