The document discusses future initiatives in education that leverage technology and online learning. It describes projects by organizations like the Advanced Distributed Learning initiative and eXact Learning Solutions that aim to improve online education through more interactive and engaging experiences. The future of learning environments is seen as promising due to new technologies that can address limitations of online learning while reinforcing its advantages through evidence-based practices and learner-centered design.
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Future of Education LMS
1. FUTURE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT DESIGN
IX564 Design of Learning Environments
Connie S. Darr
May 2, 2015
becomes a SaaS Cloud-based LCMS
2. What does the future of education look like and what LMS can best
support it?
As we move forward it is best to look back in history. Simonson, Smaldino & Zvacek (2015) shared,
…commercialization of the Internet led to a radical change in the network’s architecture,
as the National Science Foundation decided that the federal government should not
continue to fund the backbone infrastructure…[we realized] the privatization of the
Internet…internet service providers were established to serve virtually every community in
the industrialized world (p. 109).
We live in a very complex, dynamic and global economy. Newton (2015) contests the reports
of the unbundling of educational service providers stating,
There are…unprecedented reform pressures circling higher education, which means that
technology has made education content more efficient to deliver at the exact moment
when traditional delivery methods are becoming more and more expensive. From the
outside, this looks like a perfect reform storm. (para. 9).
“…the traditional rules of cost and demand are inverted [in] the economics of higher
education…—students and parents—shop for schools, not for professors…2012 UCLA
annual survey of incoming college freshmen found that nearly two-thirds said "a very good
academic reputation" was "very important" in their decision on which college to attend.
(Newton, 2015, para. 13 -15). Just what would happen to this economic model if the United
States government ceased to fund tuition?
Nonetheless, global educational reform is leveraging the use of technology and I am
excited about the future of education’s learning environment.
Introduction
3. There are a multitude of initiatives in support of leveraging technology for education, bridging the
digital divide and realizing what it means to collaborate globally in support of lifelong learning.
One example is the KnowledgeWorks Foundation (2015) and their initiative to support a global
network of communities of practice. Collaborating, teaching and learning in an effort to realize “a
culture of creation in which each of us has the opportunity – and the responsibility – to make our
collective future…[as] educitizens…[and} resilient systems that respond to challenges by
replenishing their vital resources and creating flexible, open, and adaptive infrastructures (p. 2).
4. Other Education of the Future initiatives include
the Advanced Distributed Learning projects that fall under the
heading of Next Generation Learner. http://adlnet.gov/index.html
Imaginarium features “Transmedia Learning [as] the
sustained experience that results in measurable
behavior change. The behavior can be physical and
overt, intellectual, attitudinal, or a combination of all.”
(Raybourn, 2012, Slide 9).
Cognitive Adaptability supports their Personal Assistants
for Learning project in “Understanding characteristics,
design tenets, and assessment of highly motivational
learning interventions such as games…” (Advanced
Distributed Learning, n.d., para. 1).
More Human-like, transparent interfaces may be key to the future
adoption of a Personal Assistant for Learning (PAL)…positioned as a
virtual coach, mentor, or guide...(Advanced Distributed Learning, n.d.,
para. 1).
5. Other Education of the Future initiatives include
The eXact Learning Suite’s Interactive Realtime Multimedia Applications on Service
Orientated Infrastructures (IRMOS) Project is a 36 month, 12.9 million Euro project awarded by the
European Commission to a consortium of 13 leading European organizations [whose] aim [is] to design, develop
and validate an SOI which will allow the adoption of interactive, real-time applications .
today’s Service Orientated Infrastructures (SOIs) lack real-time (RT) capabilities
SOIs are not dynamically configurable and adaptable to RT [real time]
requirements
Timing and interaction issues are not studied thoroughly and formally expressed in
SOIs
Web services lack RT capabilities
Network awareness and control login [are] not integrated into the application
services login
IRMOS aims to use grid and cloud computing to provide the computing resources
to bring learners together in both the real and virtual worlds (eXact learning solutions S.r.l.,
2015, para. 1-3)
6. eXact LEARNING LCMS SUPPORT TOOLS
eXact learning Packager [enables] consistent learning output demand
eXact learning Mobile, a mobile learning solution
Online Editor, an authoring tool…enables [SMEs] and novice users to work
collaboratively with instructional designers, expert users…
Content Models, a template-based content production solution
Offline Player, an offline content distribution and tracking solution that
provides access to existing learning content without…being connected
to the Internet
DITA Editor, a DITA-authoring, management, and delivery environment
solution
HarvestRoad Hive, a content storage engine and a digital repository for
digital content (Bloomberg L.P., 2015, para. 1).
7. Minimum Hardware and Software User
Requirements
Minimum Windows PC Requirements Software
Requirements:
Windows XP, Vista or 7, Microsoft Office,
Acrobat Reader, QuickTime Player, Adobe
Flash Player.
Minimum Apple Macintosh Requirements
Software Requirements:
Mac OS 10.5 or higher or Leopard, Microsoft
Office, Acrobat Reader, QuickTime Player,
and Adobe Flash Player.
Browser Requirements: internet connection
Web Browser (Must have one of the following):
Firefox3.5 or higher Safari4
Windows PC or Apple Macintosh: Java,
JavaScript, and Cookies must be enabled in
browsers.
Source: Des Moines Area Community College, 2014.
Windows-Based Web/Application Server
2.0 GHz Xeon-class processor or higher
Minimum 1.00GB hard-disk space
Minimum 4.0 GB RAM
Web Authoring
2 GHz Pentium-class processor (or
equivalent)
2 GB RAM (minimum)
100 MB free hard-drive space
1024 X 768 resolution (or higher)
256K Internet Connection (or higher)
Sound card and speakers (if required by
content
Source: Kenexa, 2013, p. 6-8.
9. BUDGET
Categories of Costs Eliminated with a SaaS Cloud LMS
1. Cost of server hardware, storage devices, networking equipment, and their housing
expense
2. Cost of database administration, OS upgrades, software license fees, etc.
3. Expense of an in-house IT staff or an IT consulting company
4. Cost of a database administrator to maintain your LMS
5. Cost of maintenance contracts for the hardware
6. Cost of integrating with your legacy and homegrown applications
7. Expense of customizing, adapting and branding your LMS
8. Cost of testing and piloting any new applications
9. Cost of training the system administrators and keeping their skills current
10. Expense of maintaining testing centers and dedicated testing and training devices
(ProProfs, 2015, para. 7).
10. Online and Blended Learning Operations Budget
• Choice of media and technology
• materials and equipment
• staffing costs
• course design and production expenses
• time management
• resource assignment
• formative evaluation
• quality control
(Hanover Research ‐ Academy Administration Practice, 2011, p. 36).
Investments may be required in the following areas
• special funding
• incentives
• special awards
• release time
• professional development
• technical help desks
(University of Central Florida, n.d., para. 1).
12. Knowledge Works Foundation, 2015.
Develops approaches & tools for
evaluating & communicating
learner performance [i.e.]
performance-based assessments
Helps learners move across formal
& informal, on-the-job, &
community-based learning
experiences
Helps remove barriers to
innovation…Enables informal
learning & lifelong learning
opportunities
Builds and maps resource webs that
strengthen regional learning
ecosystems
Works across public, private, and
community boundaries to cultivate
diverse relationships and asset-sharing
…to foster adaptable community
learning systems that contribute to
regional wealth
Uses social media and urban data
dashboards to track, manage, and
map diverse data streams from
multiple agencies and institutions
Bring entrepreneurial activity to the
learning system, [help] individual
learning providers/networks
incorporate incremental and
disruptive innovations [to improve]
learners’ experiences and
performance outcomes
Organize [and coach] teams of
learning agents, learners,
researchers, designers, and
entrepreneurs to test new ideas,
concepts, and technologies using
rapid prototyping and design
processes
13. Works with learners, families, and educators to build
and strengthen learners’ cognitive, emotional, and
social capacities in support of learning
Uses simulations, biofeedback, mindfulness
techniques, software-based games, and hands-on
activities to help learners reduce stress and develop
their “cognitive muscles”
Conducts formal learning fitness inventories at
regular intervals to assess changes in learners’
cognitive readiness
Focuses on teaching learners of all kinds…how to
detect – and mitigate the potential impacts of –
stressors and distractions that get in the way of
learning
Forms the backbone of the learning system by guiding kids
in working through their learning experiences
Works within learners’ personal education plans by helping
them frame questions and design learning strategies in
collaboration with other learners who share similar interests
Helps learners connect with people, resources, and
activities that can propel them along their chosen learning
pathways
Models what it means to think like a practitioner of a
discipline
Works directly and remotely with learners to help them
curate their digital Learning Life Logs and use them for
reflection on their learning journeys and in their personal
development
Knowledge Works Foundation, 2015.
14. becomes a SaaS Cloud-based
CONCLUSION
The use of technology in support of education and the initiatives of the ADL and
eXact Learning Solutions as well as others hold the promise of reinforcing the advantages
of online learning and addressing its limitations. The internet, cloud and Web 2.0
technologies combined with evidence-based research, learning theories and best
practices in support of learner-centric instruction for education, distributed and distance
learning hold the promise of promoting lifelong learning, digital citizenship and
collaboration that “can create transformative solutions for the future” (Knowledge Works
Foundation, 2015, p. 5).
15. References
Advanced Distributed Learning. (n.d.). Next generation learner: Anthropology of personal assistants for
learning. Retrieved from http://adlnet.gov/next-generation-learner/anthropology-of-pals.html
Advanced Distributed Learning. (n.d.). Next generation learner: Cognitive adaptability. Retrieved from
http://adlnet.gov/next-generation-learner/cognitive-adaptability.html
Bloomberg L.P. (2015). Company overview of eXact learning solutions s.p.a. Retrieved from
http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=42220460
Department of the Army Headquarters. (2013). THE ARMY DISTRIBUTED LEARNING (DL) GUIDE. Fort Eustis, VA:
United States Army Training & Doctrine Command.
Des Moines Area Community College. (2014). Minimum hardware and software requirements. Retrieved from
https://go.dmacc.edu/online/pages/minrequirements.aspx
European Commission. (n.d.) Intuitive, innovative, intelligent. intuitel. Retrieved from http://intuitel.de/about-
intuitel/
eXact learning solutions S.r.l. (2015). IRMOS: Immersing learners in learning. Retrieved from http://www.exact-
learning.com/resources/whitepapers/irmos-immersing-learners-in-learning/
eXact learning solutions S.r.l. (2015). eXact learning lcms. Retrieved from http://www.exact-learning.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/01/exact_LCMS_EN_rev2015.pdf
Hanover Research. (2011). Distance education models and best practices. Retrieved from
http://www.imperial.edu/ivc/files/Distance_Education_Models_and_Best_Practices.pdf
16. IMS Global Learning Consortium, Inc. (2015) IMS global announces education community supported
innovation challenge for learning apps, tools and platforms. Retrieved from
http://www.imsglobal.org/pressreleases/pr131010.html
Kenexa. (2013). Kenexa learn, lcms evolution specification guide Q4 2013. Retrieved from http://www-
01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27042858&aid=1
Knowledge Works Foundation. (2015). Learning in 2025. Retrieved from http://knowledgeworks.org/learning-
in-2025
Knowledge Works Foundation. (2015). Assessment designer. Retrieved from
http://knowledgeworks.org/sites/default/files/110628-Learning%20Agent%20Dossier-AD-v4-110912-
FINAL_0.pdf
Knowledge Works. (2015). Eduvator. http://knowledgeworks.org/sites/default/files/110628-
Learning%20Agent%20Dossier-Eduvator-v4-110915-FINAL.pdf
Knowledge Works. (2015). Community intelligence cartographer. Retrieved from
http://knowledgeworks.org/sites/default/files/110628-Learning%20Agent%20Dossier-CIC-v4-110915-
FINAL.pdf
Knowledge Works. (2015). Learning fitness instructor. Retrieved from
http://knowledgeworks.org/sites/default/files/110628-Learning%20Agent%20Dossier-LFI-v4-110915-
FINAL_0.pdf
Knowledge Works. (2015). Learning journey mentor. Retrieved from
http://knowledgeworks.org/sites/default/files/110628-Learning%20Agent%20Dossier-LJM-v4-110912-
FINAL_0.pdf
Newton, D. (2015, January 27). Higher education is not a mixtape [Blog post]. Retrieved from
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/01/higher-education-is-not-a-mixtape/384845/
17. References
Randall, B. Sweetin, J. & Steinbeiser, M.A. (2010). Learning management system feasibility study. Retrieved from
https://oscmoodlereport.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/osc_feasibility_study_full_report.pdf
Roth, J. (2009). How much moodle really costs… Social learning blog [Blog post]. Retrieved from
http://interactyx.com/social-learning-blog/how-much-moodle-really-costs/
ProProfs (2015). 10 reasons why a saas lms is the most cost-effective choice. http://www.proprofs.com/c/lms/10-
reasons-why-a-saas-lms-is-the-most-cost-effective-choice/
Raybourn, E. M. (2012). Introduction to transmedia for training and education. Webinar delivered 18 December,
2012. Retrieved from
http://www.adlnet.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/RaybournTransmedia-Webinar-12-18-12-public.pdf
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., & Zvacek, S. (2015). Teaching & learning at a distance, Foundations of distance
education (6th ed.). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.
University of Central Florida. (n.d.). Institutional capacity and readiness. Retrieved from
https://blended.online.ucf.edu/process/institutional-capacity-and-readiness/