Presentation at the IFRC FACT and ERU Global Meeting (Vienna, 31 May 2013), exploring how we learn in a world of volatility, uncertainty,

1. LEARNING
IN A VUCA WORLD
Reda Sadki
Senior Officer, Learning systems
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
FACT ERU Meeting, Vienna, 31 May 2013

2. 23,682,000
Black Hole Outburst in Spiral Galaxy M83 (NASA, Chandra, Hubble, 04/30/12)

3. Greece, 1983

4. Sri Lanka, 2006

5. Sri Lanka, 2006

6. Afghanistan, 2011

7. Kenya, 2013

8. Haiti, April 2010

9. Kenya, 2009

10. South Sudan, 2006

11. Portugal, 2013

12. Bangladesh, 2009

13. Jordan, 2013

14. Thailand, 2009

15. New Zealand, 2008
Emergency Response Unit

16. Living in a VUCA world
✓Volatility
✓Uncertainty
✓Complexity
✓Ambiguity
= practical code for awareness and readiness

17. What happens when knowledge flows too
fast for processing or interpreting?
Siemens, G., 2006. Knowing knowledge.

18. Knowledge has a half-life.
Courses are fairly static. Knowledge is dynamic—changing
hourly, daily. [This] requires an understanding of the nature of the
half-life of knowledge in their field [to ensure] that they select the
right tools to keep content current for the learners.
Siemens, G., 2006. Knowing knowledge.

19. The skills and processes that will make us
people of tomorrow are not yet embedded in
our educational structures
Siemens, G., 2006. Knowing knowledge.

20. % knowledge stored in your brain needed to do your job
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
75%
20%
10%
1986
1997
2006
Robert Kelly, Carnegie-Mellon University.

21. 21st century knowledge skills
Anchoring Staying focused on important tasks while undergoing a deluge of distractions.
Anchoring Managing knowledge flow and extracting important elements.
Connecting with
each other
Building networks in order to continue to stay current and informed.
Being human
together
Interacting at a human, not only utilitarian, level...to form social spaces.
Creating and
deriving meaning
Understanding implications, comprehending meaning and impact.
Evaluation and
authentication
Determining the value of knowledge... and ensuring authenticity.
Altered processes
of validation
Validating people and ideas within appropriate context.
Critical and
creative thinking
Question and dreaming.
Pattern
recognition
Recognizing patterns and trends.
Navigate
knowledge
landscape
Navigating between repositories, people, technology, and ideas while achieving
intended purposes.
Acceptance of
uncertainty
Balancing what is known with the unknown... to see how existing knowledge relates to
what we do not know.
Contextualizing
Understanding the prominence of context... seeing continuums...ensuring key
contextual issues are not overlooked in context-games.
Siemens, G., 2006. Knowing knowledge.

22. Traditional approaches
won’t work
✓No classroom is large enough
✓No individual is smart enough
✓No response time is fast enough
✓No intervention is complete enough
✓No program lasts long enough
✓No solution is global enough
Todd, A. MOOCs for business presentation, 14 May 2013. WEF/Corp U.

23. Que faire?
✓Learning is less and less about recalling
information
✓Most of what people need to do cannot be
learned through formal training
✓Improving the structure and quality of formal
training therefore won’t get the job done

24. “Attempting to do more of what has been
done in the past is not the answer.
We need to do new things in new ways.”
Siemens, G., 2006. Knowing knowledge.

25. 7 fundamental principles
An agenda
for new
learning and
assessment
Anywhere,
anytime
Ubiquitous learning
Recursive
feedback
Formative
assessment
Text,
image,
video,
audio
Multimodal
meaning
Designing
meanings
Active
knowledge-making
Knowledge
you can reach
for and use
Collaborative intelligence
Thinking
about
thinking
Metacognition
Each
according
to their
interest and
need
Differentiated
learning
Kalantzis and Cope. New Learning (2011).

26. Learning system
Preparation
Formal training
Field school
Peer learning
Mentoring
Standby
Refresher
Lessons from the field
Academic research Informal
Network
Synchronous Live Learning Moments (open)
Asynchronous Mentoring
Self
Self-paced learning eBooks
Self-organized learning
Wikis
FedNet
Mailing lists
Deployment
Feedback loop
Field analysis
Experiential learning
Peer learning
Formal
Network
Synchronous Live Learning Moments (closed)
Asynchronous
GOAL
Scholar
Self
Self-paced Learning platform
Self-organized Personal learning network (PLN)
Post-deployment
Feedback loop
Reporting
Peer community
Assessment
FTF
Machine
Peers
Competencies
Google Hangouts
A learning system skeleton

27. Learning system
Preparation
Formal training
Field school
Peer learning
Mentoring
Standby
Refresher
Lessons from the field
Academic research Informal
Network
Self
Deployment
Feedback loop
Field analysis
Experiential learning
Peer learning
Formal
Network
Self
Post-deployment
Feedback loop
Reporting
Peer community
Assessment
FTF
Machine
Peers
Competencies

28. Learning system
Informal
Network
Synchronous
Asynchronous
Self
Self-paced learning
Self-organized learnin
Formal
Network
Synchronous
Asynchronous
Self
Self-paced
Self-organized

29. Learning platform (2009)
✓Self-learning, doesn’t require tutoring
✓Scales up (100x cheaper than FTF)
✓Can do more than transmit information
✓Massive, open, online learning

30. GOAL (2013)
Mentoring, leadership development,
21st century knowledge skills
✓Practical case-based problem-solving courses on
critical thinking and solving unstructured
problems
✓Affordances (benefits) of online learning
✓Learning together, across borders (social, peer-
to-peer)
✓Red Cross Red Crescent contexts and cases

31. Scholar (2013)
Develop case studies, implementation plans,
lessons learned, etc.
✓Write – Peer review – Revise
✓Connect local and global knowledges
✓Evaluate, analyze, apply knowledge

32. Informal
Network
Synchronous Live Learning Moments (open)
Asynchronous Mentoring
Self
Self-paced learning eBooks
Self-organized learning
Wikis
FedNet
Mailing lists
Formal
Network
Synchronous Live Learning Moments (closed)
Asynchronous
GOAL
Scholar
Self
Self-paced Learning platform
Self-organized Personal learning network (PLN)
Google Hangouts