opening content for deeper inquiry
DESCRIPTION
Advancements in learning technologies are being driven from an increasing diversity of domains of practice and research. The “open” agenda – open architecture, open source, open standards, open access, open learning, open networks, open data, and open educational resources – is very much at the forefront of these advances for a growing international community of practice. While this agenda is valued highly in the education sector, openness is not the only driver of change or innovation with ICT. Social media continues to shape the nature of much engagement online and the late 20th century mantra that “content is king” is giving way to a fresh focus on so-called “21st century skills” and competencies where digital literacy is as important as critical thinking and problem solving. Meanwhile, discourses on sense-making and developments in knowledge management and knowledge-sharing infrastructures continue to inform the theory and practice of e-learning. This presentation acknowledges these trends and a broad range of narratives that track the evolution of e-learning as a means of contextualising a frontier ready for further technological innovation: the stimulation and support of questioning online. In particular, research into why-questioning is highlighted. Why? Because the semantics involved typically involve ambiguity, dialog or further inquiry. More specifically, investigation into why-questioning reveals that the object it seeks is explanatory content – and content that can be characterized as such presents a number of challenges for learning technology design.TRANSCRIPT
Diverse Perspectives for Global Impact
Opening Content for Deeper InquiryJon Mason
Charles Darwin [email protected]
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Two Themes
• Openness
• Inquiry
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What is “openness”?
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open
• wide usage and versatility– noun, verb, or adjective
• Australian Macquarie Dictionary: >80 entries– ‘not shut’– ‘to disclose’– ‘an unobstructed space’– ‘to render accessible to knowledge’– ‘to cut or break into’– ‘to begin’– ‘to uncover’ … etc
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“The Indivisibility of Openness” Geunther & Trungpa, 1975, The Dawn of Tantra
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How Linus Torvalds became benevolent dictator of Planet Linux, the biggest collaborative project in history
2003
www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.11/linus_pr.html
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9http://www.onlinecollegecourses.com/2012/01/26/the-state-of-opencourseware/
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opensource.com
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Open Agenda … themes of Web era
• Access• Licensing • Sharing • Systems interoperability• Public domain (public funding = public access)
Open Educational Resources – a “game changer”?
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2007
Giving Knowledge for Free: The Emergence of Open Educational Resources
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Scope of OER
Teaching, learning & research resources: – accessible in the public domain– released under open licenses
Content
Tools & Services
Standards & Infrastructure
More than content!
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MOOCs:
a tidal wave of change through
higher education?
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Prefix “liber” in English (from Latin roots)means “free, book”
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Is content still “king”?
Openness a prominent driver of change – but not the only one!
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A Snapshot of e-Learning inputs
1993
Laurillard – Re-Thinking University Teaching
1995 1998 20002002
2004 2007 20092012
Laurillard – Re-Thinking for the Knowledge Society
Friesen – Re-Thinking e-Learning Research
.… … Digital Revolution … … . . …. ..
1992
World
Wide W
eb
Hyper
text
& Multi
media
Lear
ning Tec
hnology St
andar
ds
Apple & M
icroso
ft misr
ead In
tern
etW
eb Se
rvice
s
Socia
l Med
ia, e-
Portfolio
s
Cloud Computing
Lear
ning Man
agem
ent S
yste
ms
“Conte
nt is K
ing” –
Digita
l Libra
ries
e-Res
earch
Smar
t phones
& ta
blets
2005
YouTu
be
1994
Open Ed
ucational
Resource
s
2011
ATC21
S
Paris
OER D
eclar
ation
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Numerous narratives on theevolution of e-learning
& the impact of the Information Age
• Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills: “learning to collaborate with others and connect through technology are essential skills in a knowledge-based economy” (ATC21S, 2011)
essential skills also include:• critical thinking• ICT literacy• problem solving
Inquiry, analysis, reflection, …
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Pedagogical Perspective
Ron Oliver (2001) – Developing online learning environments http://elrond.scam.ecu.edu.au/oliver/2001/webepaper.pdf
learning activities
learning resources
learning supports
Key Conceptual Elements of Online Learning Design
Effective learning never just about
the content
Inquiry
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Open Learning: Independent, inquiry-based, and self-determined learning
Maria Montessori (circa 1911)John Dewey (1933)
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Open Learning (1911-30)
• Learner focused
SCORM (2002)
• Single user• Self-paced• Online instruction
• Independent• Self-determined• Inquiry-based
• Content focused– Reusable– Sharable– Interoperable
(2012)
Research Focus
• Asking why• Learning why• Understanding why• Knowing why• Explaining why
how to scaffold these activities in e-learning
what ICT tools might support these activities24
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Inquiry & Learning
The virtuous circle of inquiryUniversity of Illinois Inquiry Project (2001-2010)
“learning begins with questions”
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Inquiry & Learning
• “why” questions prominent during early development of children & an important foundation for learning (Dewey, Piaget, Schank)
• “Inquiry-based learning” evolved out of “critical thinking” movement
• Impasses & conundrums important for learning
• “Thinking is not driven by answers but by questions” Paul & Elder, (1999). Critical Thinking Handbook
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Inquiry & Learning
My mother made me a scientist without ever intending it. Every other Jewish mother in Brooklyn would ask her child after school, ‘So? Did you learn anything today?’ But not my mother. She always asked a different question, ‘Izzy,’ she would say, ‘Did you ask a good question today?’ That difference – asking good questions – made me a scientist.
1944 Nobel Laureate in Physics, Isidor Rabi
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Inquiry & Learning
We propose reversing the order of things. What if … questions were more important than answers? What if the key to learning were not the application of techniques but their invention? What if students were asking questions about things that really mattered to them?
Thomas & Seely Brown, (2011). A New Culture of Learning
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Rothstein & Santana (2011).Make Just One Change: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions
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Inquiry & Learning
Problem:
The Web’s mainstream tools for discovering and retrieving relevant information are overwhelmingly dominated by a search paradigm that is configured to search for information and facts rather than explanations.
Why? One answer is that queries instigated by keywords in most cases will have semantic roots to primitive Q’s: who, what, when, & where
Three perspectives on IT
• information technology• interruption technology• intellectual technology
N. Carr, (2010). The Shallows
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The Search Paradigm
• Powerful mainstream tools for information-seeking
• Search is the key operator on, and organizing technology for, content
• Inquiry instigated by keywords – the aboutness of content
• Retrieval of content biased toward explicit knowledge
• A “fast food” approach to inquiry
• Seek a (plausible) explanation
• Instrumental for• Sense-making• Understanding• Inquiry
Why-questions
More complexity than meaning-making & the parsing of semantics
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Information & Explanation
• Essence of information – a message or fact
• Essence of explanation – a story
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The Primitives of Information Retrieval
Information & Explanation
• Who• What• When• Where• Why
The Journalist’s Questions
Causal
Teleological
Gestaltic
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3 Kinds of Explanation
• Causal Why E? Because C (C= Cause)
• Teleological Why E? In order to P (P = Purpose)
• Gestaltic Why E? For these reasons, R (R = Reasons)
• Why did it flood in Queensland?Because of extremely heavy rain
• Why did Jon go to Singapore? In order to attend ICCE 2012
• Why is Jon completing PhD studies?For a number of reasons
Evered, R. (2005). A Typology of Explicative Models
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Information & Explanation
• Who• What• When• Where
• Why
• How • If
descriptive ‘primitives’ of information retrieval e.g., DC-Kernel
procedural or rule-based ‘primitives’
conditional, motivational or explanative ‘primitive’
Information Processing
Knowledge Construction & Understanding
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Frontiers for Development
• Scaffolding for reflective practice– Wikipedia, wikibooks, wikiversity, …– E-portfolio systems
• Automated Question Generation– www.questiongeneration.org
• Query tools for focused inquiry– Inquiry that propagates questions
• Tools specific for why-questioning
• Metadata for explanatory content
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Questions?
Papers available at: cdu.academia.edu/JonMason