Bridging the gap between web 2.0 and higher education

Learning Design – bridging the gap Martin Weller & James Dalziel

Why are we excited?
Enthusiasm
Stickability
Ease of use
Communities that actually work

Web 2.0 characteristics Technology User generated content Informal learning
Democracy
Bottom-up
Socially oriented
Web as platform
Harness collective intelligence
Perpetual beta

Higher education characteristics
Controlled technology
Us generated content
Accredited learning
We know best
Top down
Individual achievement
Review before release
Filtered intelligence
Aim for perfection

Implications
Technology – loosely coupled vs centralised VLE
User generated content – vs academic produced
Pedagogy – informal/community vs structured/didactic
Content and resources – new metrics, 3 rd party, new formats vs lectures, articles
Philosophy

The granularity of learning
We think the course is the granularity for learning, but that may be a result of the economics of HE – place, accreditation, teaching
What if the natural granularity is much smaller – akin to a blog post or a twitter post?
Or at least varies for user/topic/need
"For decades we've been buying albums. We thought it was for artistic reasons, but it was really because the economics of the physical world required it: Bundling songs into long-playing albums lowered the production, marketing, and distribution costs ... As soon as music went digital, we learned that the natural unit of music is the track." (Weinberger)

The topography of formality
At the moment one or two big peaks then flat plains
Perhaps flatter
Lots of informal learning through social networking,
Then come together for formal learning chunks
What we do as educators

Threat to HE
Content industries
i) Find ways of maintaining the publisher model, by managing the rights and use of content through a combination of technological and legal controls.
ii) Find new business models that give away content but build and sell services around it.

,Manic street preacher - http://www.flickr.com/photos/manicstreetpreacher/323054510/>

<quinn.anya http://www.flickr.com/photos/quinnanya/1911486462/>

plus …
Social
Convenience
Guidance
Accreditation

What’s LD got to do with it?
Meno’s paradox – still offers structure and guidance
Granularity of learning – range of user generated sequences, e.g. blogs
Topography of formality – long tail
Cultural clash – allows both guidance and user input
Web 2.0 quality – focus is on quality of learning experience, but different metrics will be required
Personalisation - not only the subject you want but the way of learning it.

We need..
Tools to generate and share LDs
Motivation to share
Alternative accreditation methods
Critical mass
A flickr for learning design

Or..
Is education/learning intrinsically different?
Should it hold out against 2.0/user generated content
“ A few endorse Wikipedia heartily. This mystifies me. Education is not a matter of popularity or of convenience—it is a matter of learning, of knowledge gained the hard way, and of respect for the human record. A professor who encourages the use of Wikipedia is the intellectual equivalent of a dietician who recommends a steady diet of Big Macs with everything.” Michael Gorman

http://nogoodreason.typepad.co.uk	153
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http://blackboard.ecu.edu.au	5
http://renesassessment.blogspot.com	4
http://www.netvibes.com	4
http://www.renemeijer.com	3
http://translate.googleusercontent.com	2
http://myecu.ecu.edu.au	2
http://renesassessment.blogspot.co.uk	2
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Bridging the gap between web 2.0 and higher education

by Martin Weller

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