Joining the Hi-Tech Bandwagon on Low Bandwidth

Gabi Witthaus, Teaching Fellow in Distance Learning with Technologies, University of

Leicester

NADEOSA keynote, 17 Aug 2009

The vision

Vision needed on many levels:• National• Institutional• Personal

ODL policy making and implementation: vision & reality

The outcome

Tapestry by ‘Suddenlysheturned’ on FlickrThreads represent landscape of ODL in 21st century

The design

Turning vision into reality through designThe clearer our vision, the easier it is

Presentation about the elements that go into that design

The infrastructure

Low-bandwidth infrastructure can enable a beautiful productKey is to tailor the design to the nature of the infrastructure

The action

• Threads show key characteristics of landscape of ODL in 21st century

•We need to respond in appropriate ways

This is where the action’s at!

Tutors/ trainers and learners are all in this together

Emerging technologies

We need to take back control!

Not only for

digital natives...

Take some time to play...

The ‘low bandwidth’ option...

• Huge proportion of our learners have cell phones•UNISA – using MXit for

learner support• Mobile phones for podcasts•SA can lead the way here

Social learning

• Sub-theme: integration of ICT and social networking• Henning & vd Westhuizen (2004) – ‘The social context becomes the facilitator & the scaffold for e-learning’

Learning in communities

of practiceMany learners use ‘unofficial’ social

networks

Fuzzy boundaries

•Crossing borders – geographically, culturally, across disciplines•Maggie’s community: Ireland, India, Philippines, Puerto Rico, China, Egypt, New Zealand, US Minor Outlying Islands...

From Pretoria to Khartoum...

J. Cronje (2006) – Sudan Uni of Science & TechnologyRohleder et al (2004) – UWC and SUN – diversity

OERs

Don’t reinvent when you can mix up or mash up!

•This presentation is an OER•Creative Commons licence

A low-bandwidth OER-based lesson in Malawi

Extracting DNA from bananas

Rapid information flow

Problem for everyone, especially teachers with

large class sizes

Manage it; don’t drown in it!

Scanning

Filtering

Making connections

Synthesising

Conversations about learning

Asking questions, thinking, writing (blogging?), going publicExplore students’ perceptions of online learning

Reflective practice...

International move towards a more constructivist approach to ODL

The sum of the whole...

... is greater than the parts.

References and acknowledgementsReferencesCronjé, J.C., 2006. Pretoria to Khartoum - how we taught an Internet-supported Masters' programme across national, religious,

cultural and linguistic barriers. Educational Technology & Society, 9(1), 276-288. Henning, E. & Van der Westhuizen, D., 2004. Crossing the digital divide safely and trustingly: how ecologies of learning scaffold

the journey. Computers & Education, 42(4), 333-352. Jarche, H., 2009. Skills for learning professionals. Learning & Working on the Web. Available at:

http://www.jarche.com/2009/07/skills-for-learning-professionals/ [Accessed July 29, 2009].Rohleder, P. et al., 2008. Students' evaluations of the use of e-learning in a collaborative project between two South African

Universities. Higher Education, 56(1), 95-107.

Picture attributions:Slides 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 and 21 (labyrinth and tapestry pictures) by slowlysheturned:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/slowlysheturned/tags/labyrinth/Slide 8 (Picture of Web 2.0) by Media Culpa: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28825825@N00/2923997128/ Slide 9 (Picture of Rachel Wambui Kung'u from the Peace Caravan in Kenya with mobile phone) by whiteafrican:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whiteafrican/2736558918/in/set-72157605424701325/Slide 12 (Picture of Maggie Verster’s ‘Learn with Maggie’ website): http://learnwithmaggie.ning.com/Slide 13 (fishbowl) by Fearless: http://www.flickr.com/photos/78993837@N00/2884060406/Slide 15 (Extracting DNA from bananas): http://www.le.ac.uk/ge/genie/vgec/sc/bananas.htmlSlide 17 (Picture of Ochiai Power Dam in Japan) by kakaya: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kayakaya/3749705150/in/pool-

damsdamsdamsSlide 19 (Picture of two people having a conversation) by Mickipedia: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62137160@N00/172429850/