As the use of technologies becomes less of an issue and approaches such as the use of SMS for mobile learning become ubiquitous – our attention must now move to an increased focus on pedagogy. How will the use of these technologies affect learners’ abilities to learn? How will teachers and facilitators need to change their existing practice?
As individual access and control of content explodes, the higher education institutions that move toward the integration of services such assessing learning, helping students organize what they know into meaningful packages and then credential that learning will get the cheese. There will be new are the new institutions that build on what is currently happening and some will remake themselves.
Mobile learning at OUM started with the formation of an research team on m-learning in August 2008. Its first task was to determine how ready OUM learners would be for mobile learning. We surveyed almost 3,000 learners throughout Malaysia and found that more than 80 percent of the learners said they would be ready for learning through their mobile phones. We first experimented with podcasts and moved on to using sms to support the blended mode of learning at OUM and found that the latter worked extremely well.
When it comes to changes in formal and informal learning, we may need to think about the pedagogy involved, where there may also be a shift from collaborative learning in institutions to cooperative learning in networks. There may also be a shift from cooperative learning in networks to collaborative learning in institutions when MOOC is formally institutionalized and accreditated in institutions. Does it address the difference between cooperation and collaboration learning in the networks/groups?
In other words, these MOOCs are set up by one or more individuals. They are created not collectively, as we go along, but usually by one or more (less than 5?) individuals working as a group. As creators and conveners of the MOOC, what responsibility do they have for their creation and the resultant learning that takes place in the MOOC? Where does their responsibility begin and end? Does it matter?
After seeing several MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) come and go over the past couple of years, I've decided to play a part in a new one being facilitated by Dave Cormier, George Siemens and Stephen Downes.
Is assessment always necessary in learning (in particular informal learning or social learning)? Can people learn effectively without being assessed? May be not, under a formal education system. But if we argue that it is growth of a person as a product of learning (refer to Stephen’s slides on Connectivism), and based on Connectivism and transculturality, then the assessment would be embedded in the “growth of knowledge, skills and competency”, which could be reflected in the performance in study or that at work, and that comes naturally also in network conversation.
Information Literacy has been defined by the American Library Association in the following way: To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and has the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.
Digital Literacy seems to be very similar: In Wikipedia it starts with a definition that is almost word for word identical to ALA definition of information literacy but adds on three new words: Digital literacy is the ability to locate, organize, understand, evaluate and analyze information using digital technology.
Digital citizenship refers to the use of these skills to interact with society.
Today, with the proliferation of tablet computers such as the iPad and Galaxy Tab, OUM is considering using them as a learning device on OUM course modules can be easily downloaded into. Still at the planning stage, the idea of using tablet computers makes sense as through these devices, not only will course information and learning materials be more easily accessible, the learner will also benefit from other useful applications supported by such devices. In addition, with wi-fi facilities available in most, if not all classrooms in the OUM learning centers, the learners will be better engaged with OUM as a whole and with their facilitators in particular. It will be seamless and ubiquitous learning at its best.
I think one education's challenges in the 21st century is going to be whether they can change and adapt to new technology. Moreover, whether education can embrace new forms of technology to drive different types of learning and increase international collaboration. I think #change11 is going to be a fascinating experiment for all involved.
This MOOC guide based on the experience of the MobiMOOC(ourse) which was a course that ran from 2 April until the 14 May 2011 and had 580 participants that hooked up to its resources. The course resulted in collaborations transcending the duration of the course. The course focused on the subject of mobile learning and was delivered over 6 weeks, each of which had a different angle: introduction to mLearning, mLearning planning, mLearning for development, leading edge mobile innovations, mLearning in a mobile connected society and mLearning in k12 settings.