The document discusses challenges in distance learning and proposes a new collaborative open online learning (COOL) model using Web 2.0 technologies. It outlines issues with the current learning management system (LMS) model and publisher-driven content. The COOL model advocates for open access courses, learner-generated content, and leveraging social software to allow for collaboration, interaction and networking between faculty and students. Course development becomes an iterative process based on participant input and content is changed through ongoing edits by the learning community.

1. Dr. Judy Baker, Dean of Foothill Global Access Learning Commons Collaborative Open Online Learning

2. Distance Learning in the Web 2.0 Era Challenges Causes Solutions Action

3. Challenges in Distance Learning Concerned ? Lack of student engagement Ease of student cheating Rising cost of LMS, textbooks and course development Disappointed ? Low enrollments Poor retention Low student success

4. What is wrong with this picture? Technology driven pedagogy Publisher directed curriculum and learning objects

5. Causes: Current Distance Learning Model LMS Closed system One-to-few Few-to-few Enrollment limits Underutilizes internet as a medium for collaborative and networked learning

6. LMS Limits Learning LMS and publishers’ materials not suited to meet the need for: Dynamic online learning content Interaction Collaboration Networking Faculty and students lose control of the learning process when textbook publishers provide a tempting array of fast-food style instructional tools

7. Use of LMS and Publishers’ Materials: Unintended Consequences May undermine online faculty development Technological determinism More difficult for faculty and students to assert self in the course Commodification of distance teaching and learning by textbook publishing industry Publisher cost of developing materials passed on to all textbooks Homogeneity of courses all developed from same prepackaged course materials Standardization, conformity and sanitization Test question pools promote limited type of testing with little prevention of cheating

8. Felt as engaged with online courses as they do with: Ebay Instant messenger myspace, friendster, and facebook Amazon.com What If Distance Learners …

9. Solution: Unlock Learning Learning without LMS Social software accommodates student demands for self-expression and rapid interaction Self-sustaining and scalable educational delivery Course content collaborative, networked, current, dynamic, and flexible

10. Open Access to Online Courses Sofia at Foothill De Anza Community College District Utah State University Open CourseWare MIT Open Courseware Rice University Connexions

11. Beyond Open Access Courses: E-learning 2.0 “ E-learning 2.0” coined by Canadian researcher Stephen Downes in fall 2005 Describes students as controllers and creators of learning Before “ artificial and often contrived "discussions" supported by learning management systems….communities were typically limited to a given group of learners, such as a … class, had a fixed start and end-point” “ e-learning as … a type of content, produced by publishers, organized and structured into courses, and consumed by students” Now and Future Online learning software ceases to be a type of content-consumption tool Learning is "delivered" and becomes more like a content-authoring tool Learning is created Content, it is used rather than read— more likely to be produced by students than courseware authors Structure…more likely to resemble a language or a conversation rather than a book or a manual”

12. Learning Commons COOL Model: Collaborative Open Online Learning Delivery of online courses in a learning commons for collaborative and dynamic courseware Open access to online courses for faculty, students, and self-learners throughout the world Learners build on and extend each other's ideas which creates iterative and community-owned content Courses run as a self-regulated social systems

13. COOL Course Features Course development an iterative process based on input from participants/students who enroll Content changes made via a wiki-like process of ongoing edits based on group approval or vetting Learner-defined glossary subject to review and revision by all participants Authentic and participatory student assessment

14. Tools for Learning Need to allow for self-expression (e.g., blogs, wikis, etc.) Digital repositories of personal artifacts (e-portfolios) Tools For Content interaction and collaboration (shared workspaces, collaborative tools) For connecting with instructors/ mentors/other learners (discussion forums, peer-to-peer social tools, virtual communities) For searching and ranking educational resources (search engines, semantic content filters) that engage and facilitate higher-order learning (databases, spreadsheets, simulations, expert systems, and virtual worlds) Foster participatory and authentic assessment

16. Leverage Social Software for Learning Flip the Funnel Give megaphone to students who love to learn and love the topic Word-of-mouth or viral marketing technique Leverage social software for teaching E.g., del.icio.us , Flickr and Squidoo to generate grassroots interest in sharing of information, knowledge and resources

17. COOL Course Features Social software chat instant messaging student blogs group use wiki Polling ongoing formative evaluation (feedback) for the course instructor gives participant/students opportunities to improve their evaluation skills

18. Iterative Course Development High quality in COOL courses Collective wisdom Large and potentially international pool of educators, experts, and participants/students continuously scrutinize and revise course materials Foster ongoing course improvements By including participant/students in the course content development process, faculty and experts from anywhere can contribute Resulting course content reflects greater breadth and depth of instructional material than ever possible under more traditional online course development processes

19. Participatory Assessment Exam process includes students making up questions answering other students' questions grading answers to questions they author appealing the grades Exam process involves collaboration between students and/or experts to derive answers

20. Curious ?

21. Communicate (audio, text, video) online (reduced cost) Jabber , Skype Simple social tools - voice over IP, instant messaging Share experiences, concepts, and emotions Flickr , Hello Sharing tools Filter information based on activities of large groups of people (information filtering). Resources tagged by end-user, not creator. del.icio.us , furl , Jots Social Bookmarking Aggregate multiple viewpoints, concepts, information Bloglines , SuperGlu Aggregators (RSS readers - Pull information - syndicate, aggregate OMPL , RSS , Atom RSS, Atom, OPML Collaborative writing, content creation TWiki , Writely , Wikispaces Wikis and web writing Enable two-way information flow, sharing, understanding Blogger , MovableType , WordPress Blogs Functionality Example Tool

22. Reduces cost of "being online" for high-bandwidth media ourmedia , Google Video Hosting services Broadcast views/opinions Odeo Podcasts Discover/find people of similar interest Facebook , ELGG Social Network Capture and organize digital information. ELGG , Plone Content management Integrate functionality of different tools - blogs, wikis, filtering, tags, etc. Open integration (i.e. integration enable ease of use, but needs to be based on open protocols in order for value to accrue to the end user, not the software maker) is critical for mainstream adoption. Flock , ELGG Integrated suites Collaborate and function as a team/group - includes calendar, brainstorming tools, Groove Groupware Functionality Example Tool