Distance Education: Past, Present and Future - Mark Bullen

Main Points

• History is important• DE practice has not changed much in last 10 years

• DE appears poised to undergo radical changes

• Assumptions

Looking to the Past

• History helps inform the future• Much of what we think is new is not

Looking to the Past

John Dewey (1859-1952) Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

Constructivism

Looking to the Past

Learner-centered education

Socrates Confucius

Looking to the Past

• E-learning– Has its roots in distance education– Dates back to the 1700s correspondence education

– Audiovisual devices - early 1900s– Educational television - 1960s

E-Learning

History: Pre-Internet

• Early online learning– Computer-mediated Communication (CMC)

– Collaboration, knowledge construction•Many-to-many communication, time and place independence

•Asynchronous text-based communication as a facilitator of collaboration, knowledge construction

History: The Internet Era- Web 1.0

• Internet, course management systems (CMS) changed our understanding of online learning

• CMS not about communication, collaboration, knowledge construction

• CMS about efficient distribution of content– Teacher-centered– Internet as a delivery mechanism

History: The Internet Era - Web 2.0A return to the pre-Internet era?

Architecture of presentation

Architecture of participation

History: The Internet Era - Web 2.0• Harnessing the potential of easy to use

tools• Facilitating collaboration, production• Web 2.0

1. User-generated content2. Power of the crowd3. Data on an epic scale4. Architecture of participation5. Network effects6. Openness

E-Learning Today

E-Learning 10 years ago

Education in the New Millenium

Current Tools & Technology

Current Tools & Technology• CMS tools

– Content management and formatting– Assignment submission– Asynchronous discussion– Synchronous chat– Voice tools– Internal e-mail– Grade book– Student management and tracking

Current Tools & Technology

• Dominant instructional design model– information transmission supported by asynchronous online “discussion”

Current Tools & Technology

• Social software

Blogs

Wikis

Social Bookmarking

Virtual Worlds

Virtual Worlds

…..casting

Synchronous Communication Tools

• Elluminate Live• Instant messaging

Current Tools & Technology

• But Are these tools changing the dominant instructional design paradigm?– Online delivery remains primarily text-based, information delivery

– Constructivist, collaborative, online knowledge building community is rare

– Technology still largely being used to replicate earlier modes of teaching - the electronic classroom

The Future

The Future

• Radical change or status quo?• Technology is changing• Learners are changing…we think

Technology Changes

Web 2.01. User-generated content2. Power of the crowd3. Data on an epic scale4. Architecture of participation5. Network effects6. Openness

Learner Changes

• Net generation– Born between 1982-1991– Never know life without the Internet

• Characteristics– Digitally literate– Connected– Impatient– Experiential

Learner Changes

• Characterstics of Net generation– Social– Team players– Need for structure– Visual and kinesthic– Need for interactivity– Community minded

Learner Changes

• Net generation learners like:– Challenges– Opportunities to create and innovate– Immediacy, feedback– Clearly-defined tasks– Technology– Collaboration, teamwork– Respected as equals– Challenge assumptions

Learner Changes

• How accurate is this portrayal?• Different social and technological context

• BCIT research

Learning 2.0

• Focus on learning processes• Focus on communication & interaction• Co-developed with learners & instructors shaping the design

• Customized/personalized• Cooperatively-activated• Evolving• Knowledge & understanding• Learner paced

Learning 2.0

• Collaborative: one to many, many to many

• Contribute, tag and share• Demonstrations and prototypes• Negotiated and contracted• Feedback rich

Technology 2.0

• Less reliance on enterprise solutions

• The web as platform• Easy to use, free, often open, tools

Personal Learning Environments

“A facility for an individual to access, aggregate, configure and manipulate digital artifacts of their ongoing learning experiences.” - Ron Lubenskyhttp://members.optusnet.com.au/rlubensky/2006/12/present-and-future-of-personal-learning.html

Need for Caution

• One size does NOT fit all• BCIT TEK Initiative experience• University, liberal arts perspective• Formal vs. informal learning• Credentials will continue to drive most formal learning

Concluding Comments

• Not much change in 10 years• Change is inevitable• Changing technology, changing learners• Heterogeneity of learners• Check assumptions• Technology potential not always realized• Need evidence-based understanding of the”new learner”

References

Bates, A.W. (2000). Managing Technological Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Bereiter, C. & Scardamelia, M. Catching the Third Wave. Queen's Education Letter, Issue #2: Integrating ICT in Teaching and Learning

Bullen, M. & Janes, D. (Eds.)(2007). Making the Transition to E-Learning: Strategies and Issues. Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing.

Oblinger, D.G. & Oblinger, J.L. (2005). Educating the Net Generation. Available at http://www.educause.edu/EducatingtheNetGeneration/

Sinclair, G., McClarin, M. & Griffin, M.J. (2006). E-Learning and Beyond. Discussion paper prepared as part of the Campus 2020 process for the Ministry of Advance Education.

Zemsky , R. & Massy, W.F. (2004). Thwarted Innovation: What Happened to E-learning and Why. The Learning Alliance.

For Further Information

• Mark Bullen– Mark_Bullen@bcit.ca– http://www.markbullen.ca– http://www.bcit.ca/ltc