czerniewicz disaggregation in teaching and learning explanations & implications
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Presentation of keynote at 8th International E-learning Conference, June 2013, about the changing nature of teaching and learning in higher education, and its implicationsTRANSCRIPT
DISAGGREGATION IN TEACHING AND LEARNING
EXPLANATIONS & IMPLICATIONS
Laura Czerniewicz8th International Conference on E-Learning
27 June 2013
THE CONTEXT
Higher Education Trends
GLOBAL TRENDS
o Massification• 2000-2008 enrolments from 100 million to
150 million students• Implications include
• Financial challenges• Infrastructure challenges• Quality questions• More graduates than the economy can sustain
Altbach 2011
GLOBAL TRENDS
o Cuts in government funding• E.g. UK , California system• Effects of financial crisis throughout system
o The emergence and pressures of the market• Private higher education
• Long standing, new forms & effects• Rise of private for profit for teaching only
o Tensions of public interest and private sector aims
Altbach 2011
TRENDS IN AFRICA
o Massive increases in student numbers• 1991-2006 increase from 2.7 million to
9.3 million students• 2015 projections of 18-20 million (World
Bank)
o Gross underfunding of higher educationo Huge rise in number of private
providers• Soon more than public institutions
Jegede 2012
TRENDS IN AFRICA
o Challenges include• Shortages of resources, infrastructure,
funds• Staff teaching in both public & private
universities affecting quality & performance• Privates focusing on marketable courses
(reducing revenue for public universities)• Absence of research (affects quality of
teaching)
Jegede 2012
TRENDS IN SOUTH AFRICAo Gross enrolment rate (no of students at particular level)
• 16%, Low internationally, & considering 700 000 matriculants qualifying for HE
o Low participation - high attrition systemo Throughput & success critical concernso Serious divides continue
• Participation rates over 50% for white students, 13% for African students
• White students twice as likely to graduate in 5 years
• Only 5% of African youth succeed in any form of higher education
o 1st year attrition• 40% of 1st year students leave HE Fisher & Scott 2011,
Letseka & Maile 2008.
TRENDS IN SOUTH AFRICA
o Low participation high attrition systemo Throughput & success critical concernso Serious divides continue
• Participation rates over 50% for white students, 13% for African students
• White students twice as likely to graduate in 5 years
• Only 5% of African youth succeed in any form of higher education
o 1st year attrition• 40% of 1st year students leave HE
Fisher & Scott 2011Letseka & Maile 2008. 2013
TECHNOLOGY
o Pervasive • A cause of change in the higher education
environment• Seen as solution for higher education
problems• Mediating all higher education practices
THE CONTEXT
Affordances of the digital
AFFORDANCES
o …the properties and possibilities inherent in a technology making certain uses and behaviours possible and others unlikely or impossible
o .. how the characteristics and qualities of different technologies can be instantiated in different contexts, & through users’ individual preferences and interactions
DIGITAL CONTENT
o Granularo Dynamico Non-linearo Device-agnostico Free & easy to share
• Sharing means multiplying not dividing
o Communication visible• a form of content
THE STATUS QUO
Teaching and learning
Teaching & learning interactionAssessment & certification
Content
SINGLE PACKAGE
Time Space
DISAGGREGATION
Content
Teaching & learning interaction
Assessment & certification
TimePlatfor
m
DISAGGREGATION
Content
Teaching & learning interaction
Assessment & certification
TimePlatfor
m
DIGITAL CONTENT
o From products to services• From tangible to intangible• Control no longer with customer when
purchased• From ownership to access/license
o Intermediary - platforms • Services via an intermediary• May need to buy the platform, or access
to the platform, not the content
Authorised
Digital
Analogue
Unauthorised
Textbooks
Some photocopying
E-TextbooksOpen
Education Resources
Photocopying
Pirate sitesFile sharing
ACCESS TO LEARNING CONTENT
OPEN CONTENT
o Free to user• To download (gratis)• To re-use & remix (libre)
o Available under an open license or public domain
o Grants permissions not copyright
OPEN CONTENT
o From small chunks to whole courseso May include some inbuilt pedagogical
aspectso Stand alone
o Abundance, not scarcity
CHANGES IN TEACHING & LEARNING
Content
Teaching & learning interaction
Assessment & certification
Time Place
On campus Remote
Internet supported
Fully online
F2F only
MOOCsF
orm
s o
f pro
visi
on
Location of students
Internet dependent
Online-intensive
Blended(mixed
mode): combines
F2F and online
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Open content MOOC Online courseCost to user (for access)
Scale
Entrance requirements
Providers
Analytics and automation
Certification
Synchronous (time limits)
Copyright
Pay to re-use
Free Student pays fees
Massive Small(er) scale
No Yes, as per f2f
Residential universitiesPrivate-university
partnerships
Traditionally distance ed providers
No, not conventional Equivalent to f2f
Yes, important No, or limited
Register, start & end date, asynchronous within
Register, start & end date, asynchronous within
Variable, often proprietary including user generated
content
Generally proprietary may include open content
Free
All sizes
None
All
None
None
None
Open license or public domain
No Yes, mostly likely Yes
THE VALUE OF MOOCS
o The jury is outButo They have served to legitimise online
learning
DISAGGREGATION
Content
Teaching & learning interaction
Certification
Time Place
DISAGGREGATION
Content
Teaching & learning interaction
Certification
TimePlatfor
m
http://www.deltainitiative.com/bloggers/author-phil-hill/snapshot-of-lms-market-for-large-online-programs-in-the-us-2
DISAGGREGATION
Content
Teaching & learning interaction
Certification
TimePlatfor
m
CERTIFICATION
BADGES
o Micro, granular certificationo Some sort of formal(ised) recognition
• for informal learning processes• for chunks of content• for competencies
PRIVATE ASSESSMENT
Ifcontent is openandthe course/interaction is increasingly out- sourced to the private sector& certification is taking new forms
What is the role of the university?
WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH SAY
about teaching, learning & technology?
WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS
About teaching and learning - a lot
About distance education - a lot
About online learning - quite a lotespecially from the global north
About MOOCs - nearly nothing
TEACHING AND LEARNING
What we know
WHAT WE KNOW
o We know what our key challenges are• Diversity of academic readiness• Inequality• Throughput rates
o We know a lot about what constitutes good learning
Shay 2013Slides 42-48
WHAT WE KNOW -- ENGAGEMENT
o Learning is more likely to happen when students are actively engaged
WHAT WE KNOW - MEDIATION
o Learning requires mediation
WHAT WE KNOW --- ALIGNMENT
o We are more likely to get the learning outcomes we want when the curriculum is aligned • and assessment is key
WHAT WE KNOW – FLEXIBILITY
o Learning is more likely to be successful where the teaching is cognizant of what students bring with them: prior knowledge, language, experience
o Flexibility- multipleentry points, multiple pathways
WHAT WE KNOW -- TRANSFORMATION
o Learning involves some degree of transformation of self.
Knowing
Acting Being
..students begin to understand the stakes not merely of
studying physics or philosophy but of understanding and
engaging the world as physicists or philosophers do.
They become fully vested in the knowledge they have gathered, which ceases to be something
external and becomes a part of who they are (SUES).
..students begin to understand the stakes not merely of
studying physics or philosophy but of understanding and
engaging the world as physicists or philosophers do.
They become fully vested in the knowledge they have gathered, which ceases to be something
external and becomes a part of who they are (SUES).
F2F Blended Fully on-line
Engagement ✓ ✓ ✓
Mediation ✓ ✓ ?
Alignment x ? ?
Flexibility X ✓ ?
Transformation
✓ ✓ ?
THE TEST: pedagogy - technology alignment
DIVERSITY?STUDENTS ONLINE
o Surveyed 40 000 students in nearly 500 000 courses
o Findings• …While all types of students in the study
suffered decrements in performance in online courses, some struggled more than others to adapt: males, younger students, Black students, and students with lower grade point averages
Xu and Jaggars’ 2013
HOW WILL GOOD LEARNING HAPPEN
in a disaggregated environment?
PLAYERS IN HE LANDSCAPE
o New players (& roles)• For profit educational / service providers
• Eg Coursera
• Non-profit educational providers• eg Ed-X
• Varying degrees of expertise in T & L• Eg Futurelearn
o New roles for old players• E.g. Educational publishers as providers
of services
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FUNDERSWITH
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INCREASED PRIVATE SECTOR INVOLVEMENT
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VALUES & CONTROL?
o Values• Private sector imperatives
vs• Higher education as a public good
o Control• How much & which parts of higher
education do universities want to outsource?
MANY CLAIMS
..the budding revolution in online education.Nothing has more potential to lift more people out of poverty-
Friedman 2013
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THE IRON TRIANGLE
Quality
CostAccess
In the f2f classroom none can be stretched without
damaging the other
In the digitally mediated landscape it is possible
that these can be stretched
Daniel, 2013
IT IS UP TO US TO TAKE CONTROL
The disaggregated teaching and learning landscape will make a difference
to higher education
REFERENCESo Altbach, P (2011) The Past, Present, and Future of the Research University in Altbach,
P and Salmi, J (Eds) 2011 The Making of World-Class Research Universities- The Road to Academic Excellence, The World Bank
o Daniel, J (2013), Education Across Space and Time, Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia, 2013 Summit – Sydney, 4 February 2013
o Fisher G and Scott (2011) ‘The Role of Higher Education in Closing the Skills Gap in South Africa’ The World Bank, Human Development Group, Africa Region, October 2011, Background paper for the World Bank project 'Closing the Skills and Technology Gap in South Africa'.
o Jegede, O (2012), The Status of Higher Education in Africa, paper for Panel Discussion in the Launch of Weaving Success: Voices of Change in African Higher Education- A project of the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa (PHEA) held at the Institute of International Education, New York, , February 1, 2012
o Letseka, M. and Maile, S. 2008. High University drop-out rates: a threat to South Africa’s future. HSRC Policy Brief. www.hsrc.ac.za.
o Shay, S (2013) What we Know about Good Learning, presentation at UCT Online Education Workshop, 4 June 2013
o Xu, D., & Jaggars, S. S. (2013). Adaptability to Online Learning: Differences across Types of Students and Academic Subject Areas, CCRC Working Paper No. 54. Community College Research Center.