Help:ICOOL 2007 e-learning 2.0 talk

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e-learning 2.0 talks

This is part 2 of my Icool2007 contributions, i.e. a resource page for my keynote talk and a second talk in the same area. Part 1 is a ICOOL 2007 workshop on educational modeling languages.

Speaker: Daniel K. Schneider, TECFA, University of Geneva

Venue

ICOOL 2007

3rd International Conference on Open and Online Learning

Pedagogical Scripting for Open and Distance Learning (ODL)

11-14 June 2007, Hotel Equatorial, Penang, Malaysia

Organised by the VCILT, University of Mauritius in partnership with the School of Distance Education, Universiti Sains Malaysia

Keynote: E-learning 2.0 - Social Computing in the Future of Learning Technologies

Abstract

E-learning 2.0 can be defined in terms of "learning as a network phenomenon". This includes shared user-generated contents (eg. Wikipedia), use of social networks, presence in virtual on-line communities, mashups of information feeds and other "web 2.0" services and finally personal learning environments.

Todays dominant learning technology - at least in the "institutional" discourse - are so-called learning management systems (LMS). LMSs are a combination of CBT (70's) and computer-mediated communication (80'), i.e. organized sequences of standardized contents (if possible) plus on-line tutoring within closed environments. Currently, research and development in e-learning focuses a lot on so-called activity-based designs, e.g. the idea is to integrate IMS Learning Design or CSCL scenarios. On the other hand, today's strongest grassroots movement can be labelled "e-learning 2.0" in reference to "web 2.0" and it focuses on user empowerment and knowledge building communities.

Talk contents

Why e-learning 2.0 ?

E-learning 2.0 refers to web 2.0. It's a somewhat stupid slogan, but there is a trend:

• The nature of the Internet, andof the people using the Internet has begun to change. There are many free on-line services (list of web 2.0 applications) and some of them are inherently social.
• The social software formula: (tools + services + aggregation)^scale
• Technology that is under the control of the teacher empowerment / Teacher empowerment
• Improved user experience (based on AJAX)
• Flexibility: E-learning has the potential to become far more personal, social and flexible, i.e. integrate needs of (almost) all stakeholders.

The technology

• Infrastructure:
  • Rich internet applications (e.g. AJAX-based)
  • Content aggregation with RSS, Tagging (Folksonomies),
  • Mashup technology like webtops.

• social software like:
  • Sharing of links and feeds (social bookmarking, social navigation, etc.)
  • Sharing of digital artifacts (Pictures, Movies, Files, etc.)
  • Writing tools (Notepads, blogs, Word processor, Note taking, etc.)
  • Research tools like reference managers, citation indexes.
  • Social networking

• Sharable applications
  • Organization and planning (groupware, calendars, task managers, personal oganizers, homework and teacher tools
  • Content Production tools (Multimedia editing, presentation, graphing)
  • concept maping), Argumentation
  • Light-weight LMSs (e.g. Haiku).
  • Virtual office (aka "office 2.0" like Zoho, Google).

• Ubiquitous computing and the Internet of things

Use cases (some instructional design models, pedagogical scenarios)

• Virtual community
  • Community of learning
  • knowledge-building community

• Learner-controlled environments
  • Personal learning environments and aggregation of these into flexible learner and teacher empowering environments.
  • Learning e-portfolios
  • Creative, collaborative microlearning
  • Collaborative note taking (in support of traditional presence courses).
• Product-oriented activities
  • Digital storytelling
  • Writing-to-learn (e.g. with a wiki)

• Project-oriented teaching
  • e.g. light-weight C3MS project-based learning models built with with webtops, web widgets, office 2.0 tools etc.)

Related initiatives

• Second generation e-learning frameworks
  • heavy service-oriented architectures like the e-framework Model that is a combination of Rehak's learning services stack and ideas from social software.
  • Through-the-web design and collaboration: e.g. LAMS, DialogPlus Toolkit.

Policy issues

• FOSS, Open educational resources and Open content
• Will institutions accept teacher configured environments ?

E-learning 2.0 - Orchestration of light-weight pedagogical scenarios with webtops

Abstract

Mashup applications allow to combine contents and services from two or more sources. There are two kinds. Webtops allow to to create personal and/or shared environments that aggregate various information feeds, simple tools or interfaces to various web 2.0 applications from other providers. Programmers may also create mash-up web widgets, e.g. application artifacts resulting from the assembly of other web 2.0 services. In this case Web Mashup = API [1] + API [2] + API [N].

Both variants are of interest to teachers:

• A teacher can easily create a light-weight teaching and learning environment with a webtop, using existing applications
• Teachers can try to lobby programmers or even webtop provides to provide more widgets of interest to education.

Talk Contents

• Webtops can be small scale personal learning environments. A teacher can encourage students to build a sort of private information portal, You can build start pages for your students. These start pages may include widgets to search information, information feeds, etc. plus links to other on-line services used in class, e.g. a mediawiki.

• Students can build learning e-portfolio or project-related "themed" pages, i.e. a form of digital storytelling.

• With Webtops one can build environments that can be used to drive activity-based and project-oriented teaching. It's an alternative to teaching with a C3MS and that in the long run should have more potential. In the short run you gain from not having to install your portal (which has become an increasing hassle because of all the inherent security problems PHP applications seem to have). See the C3MS project-based learning model revisited. See also my ICOOL 2003 talk.

• Pageflakes demo (if I can get Internet access).

• Problems: What is missing ?

• The future: Towards educational WebOs' ? How can such environments integrate with other tools ?