Breakfast address, Box Hill TAFE, Melbourne, November 2013. In this presentation I argued that the 4 problems I faced in 1979, when I first became an educator, are continuous - if differently resolved in a digital age.

1. Continuity and Creativity in a
Digital Age
Dr Merilyn Childs
Associate Professor of Digital Futures, Australian Digital
Futures Institute, University of Southern Queensland
Breakfast presentation: Box Hill Institute
Tuesday 19th November 2013, Melbourne.

2. 2

3. An overview
• Some background
• The ‘old normal’
• The ‘new normal’
• The creative challenge
• Questions
• Some cool links
3

4. A bit about me: I began my 35 year career
in 1979 and have worked across high schools, TAFEs,
the University sector, and in ‘industrial’ settings.
My Phd was about the changing nature of work
in the post-compulsory educational sector and it’s
potential consequences for pedagogy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paloetic/
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5. My old normal
5

6. A balancing act, moving towards:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daniandgeorge/
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7. http://www.flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/
Participation, interaction,
access, inclusion.
7

8. A timeline
about
us all
Slate?
Gestetner?
Photocopier in the front
office, had to place
order 3 days in advance
and you weren’t allowed
to touch it?
Photocopier in the
photocopy room, manual,
self help?
Send to photocopier from
login to networked
computer?
Totally green – started with
pdf files and never
print?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/ 8

9. 9

10. The new normal
10

11. In the ‘infotronics age’ e-learning and blended
learning are the new normal http://www.flickr.com/photos/27271711@N04
/
11

12. 2013 Key Findings
• Nearly all institutions
have an interest in e-learning
• For success, large scale
implementation of e-learning,
a centralized
model provides more
efficiency and seamless
integration of e-learning
services and is
characteristic of more
mature institutions
• There is a desire to more
than double the number
of e-learning staff in
central IT
• Institutions in general are
most mature in their
synergy of e-learning, and
least mature in using
analytics to assess e-learning
outcomes
Bischel (2013) The State of e-Learning in HE (Educause) 12

13. 2013 Key Findings
13

14. 2013 Key Findings
14

15. The creative challenge
15

16. Read the
Report
So while this is the
new normal
http://www07.ibm.com/au/pdf/A_Snapshot_of_Australia_s_Digital_Future_to_2050_Exective_Summary.pdf
16

17. The balancing act… trends enabled by
e-learning are not yet the ‘new
normal’
1. Social Learning
2. Any time, anywhere
3. Learner centric
4. Lifelong learning
5. Open learning
6. Virtual worlds and
educational gaming
Source: The Three e’s at TAFE E-learning,
Pauline Farrell and Julianne
Seaman, Blended e-Learning
Solutions, Box Hill Institute (date
unknown)
17

18. The E-Learning Maturity Index
https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1298256/E-Learning-Maturity-Index
18

19. My long view - open
classrooms, learner
centredness, lifelong
learning, and learning
‘webs’ were being talked
about by Ivan Illich in
1976. 3 years before I
learnt to use the
Gestetner.
The 4 problems I faced in
1979, remain the same
today.
19

20. To remind
you:
Content ‘manufactured here’
Interactions predominately
teacher-student
Teacher centredness Conservative continuity
20

21. Only now we have the internet, computers,
tablets, mobiles - instead
of the Gestetner
http://www.flickr.com/photos/st3f4n
21

22. Source: Norton (2013), Grattan Institute
22

23. Every occupation is shaped and
influenced by the new normal:
And opportunities for interaction enabled by the
infotronics age exist at every level of granulation of
a course 23

24. 2013 Key Findings
Managing institutional change
through distributive leadership
approaches: Engaging academics
and teaching support staff in
blended and flexible learning
Childs, Brown, Keppell, Nicholas, Hunter and Hard
Read the full report
Visit the case studies
24

25. 1. Innovation (in BFL
and DE) needs to be
aligned to institution
vision, and the
institution needs to
manage the tensions
that can exist between
alignment (to vision);
and creativity and
innovation.
25

26. 2. Good practice in
BFL and DE needs to
be manifested
through sustainable,
consistent and
supported
opportunities.
26

27. 3. Regardless of the
strategy or activity,
commitment to
approaches that enable
educators to take time,
collaborate, share,
network and connect
are the key to
innovation in BFL and
DE.
27

28. Questions
28

29. Some cool things in response to
questions… and other.
Please keep clicking!
29

30. OH&S: The White Card Game
http://www.whitecardgame.com.au/
30

31. 31 http://www.oerafrica.org/

32. http://www.oerafrica.org/FTPFolder/Website%20Materials/Health/Newsletters/2013/May-2013-edition.html#0 32

33. 33
http://www.itap.purdue.edu/studio/passport/
What is Passport? Watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O41-BWJ_VE0

34. 34
http://openbadges.org/

35. http://www.educause.edu/l
ibrary/learning-analytics
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http://www.solaresearch.org/

36. 36
Want to know more about Learning Analytics? George Siemens’ MOOC notes
and videos are still available. https://learn.canvas.net/courses/33

37. 37
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/19/feminist-professors-create-
alternative-moocs

38. 38
http://oeruniversity.org/

39. https://www.futurelearn.com/ 39

40. Thanks once again to Stefan for generously
sharing your amazing star wars photographs,
May the force be with you!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/ 40