A
key reading was Sir John Daniel’s (2012) Making Sense of MOOCs:
Musings in a Maze of Myth, Paradox and Possibility. Journal
of Interactive Media in Education (JIME) and it will also be useful in a later session
where he is one of the thought leaders who help us to identify drivers of
change.
Microblogging
about the major events in education was sparse, but Mark hit the nail on the head with his excellent
Blog post about glacial but fundamental change in education http://goo.gl/HJJLY) as he drew on the Drucker
(1998) reading that ‘The future that has already happened’ and participatory student centred approaches are growing.
I’d like to challenge this, but we are not ready for that yet. We also
recognised the challenges that are holding back change include management, e.g.
“I have been disheartened by our faculty's lack of willingness to move from
closed to open publishing, our institution's decision to use Moodle Rooms and
therefore Blackboard rather than free Moodle, and changes in upper management
that make it constantly necessary to re-grow relationships” was contributed by Joyce McKnight in the USA. But
let’s not get too critical of specific people or roles as we strive to make and
use predictions of our uncertain futures.
What
will happen much more engaging and 3 themes occurred in the many posts:
Internet,
Access, and Openess including OER.
Some posts brought these themes together: “OER and Web 2.0 will change education because this
will ensure access, reach, advancement and open participation.” And “I
agree it can change education by enabling more open, free, anytime-anywhere,
self-directed, collaborative learning.” (@kevinmulryne)
However, overgeneralistiaon is likely to remain a problem so I tempered this with
“Internet access also reflects underlying chaotic processes in societies;
people are falling off the Internet as well as access increasing. Terms drawn
from the Oxford Internet
Surveys (OxIS) analysis that might aid exploration of this key
uncertainty, e.g. digital exclusion,
digital choice & uptake of online learning opportunities.” Wayne also
prompted refinement of views to clarify key uncertainties.
Key uncertainties are an important piece for us
later so 4 are identified below:
- Population increase along with mass accessibility is a major
uncertainty in educational sector – contributed by Kanvaria @vinodpr111
in Dehli, India.
- I agree, openness is a key
uncertainty, e.g. the ability to take others’ work and remix and develop using CC
licences creates new uncertainties and risks. Other aspects too? @Anil Prasad
- The power for people and ideas to
network in new ways. @paz11uc in New Zealand
- A cultural / cognitive / emotional shift
to life-long learning as a key driver of change - Joyce
- The demand for educational change from
the learner is going to be the greatest visible change in the "near
future". Don Beadle @Don100k
We worked on 'Defining SP' and this is the definition I like best a
the moment: A process of positing several informed, plausible
an imagined alternative future environments in which decisions about the future
may be played out, for the purposes of changing current thinking, improving decision
making, enhancing human and organizational learning and improving performance (Chermack & Lynham: 2002[9])
I wonder how many noticed that the Wikipedia entry on SP requests more editing, we might go back
and help after the mOOC!
Reflections on SP included:
- SP is a creative, logical and daring approach. Kanvaria @vinodpr111
- SP is different because it helps envision more than one different
futures. Acknowledging uncertainties becomes a strength. Pinelopi Zaka @paz11uc
- And Wayne clarifies for Dr Jai, that he thinks it is important to
emphasise that scenarios are NOT predications of the future. They offer
alternative views by asking: What would happen if ... ?
Finally, it has been delightful to see brief
declarations of a few of our participants’ dreams, which are about increasing
equity. E.g. Joyce McKnight said
“there is a paradigm shift from education as commodity to education that is
coupled with a switch from globalization to a combination of local/global
mutuality...that's my big dream.”
And so the last word must go to our shared dream
for OERu. P Anil Prasad expressed
what might be echoed by a number in this pilot, which is likely to be stated
with too certainty, but it is a comforting thought, “OERu will change education
because, it can address the socio-economic-cultural-climate change issues that
go against the spirit of inclusive education.” So we can expect this theme to
continue and, as Wayne has noted, we hope that the scenario collection that
forms our final activity will include OERu.
In conclusion, while there appears to be few students who have
completed all of this section’s final assessed activity (as expected), the
engagement as the first session is better than I could have hoped. I can sense
who we are as an emerging learning community, and I hope that you can too. We
are ready for the next section that attempts to take a manager’s perspective
and, as one of those managers, I am looking forward to expanding my view
through your eyes.
Thanks to all mOOC particpatns for your contributions and energy,
Niki
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