Technology in the service of our educational ambitions: Bringing it into the mainstream Diana Laurillard The 12th Cambridge International Conference on Open and Distance Learning September 2007

What do we know about using new technologies for learning and teaching? A ten year perspective What progress have we made in learning and teaching? - A ten year perspective What are the 21st century ambitions for education? - a national and international perspective To what extent does technology change the nature of learning? Why has there been so litte technology-based innovation? Bringing technology into the mainstream of learning and teaching

UK: 10 years of progress in L&T for HE Teaching Quality Enhancement FundInstitute for Learning and Teaching in HEHigher Education AcademyTeaching and Learning Research ProgrammeNational Student SurveyTLRP/Technology Enhanced LearningLearning and Teaching Support NetworkCentres of Excellence in Teaching and LearningNational Teaching Fellowship SchemeUK e-UniversitiesE-Learning strategies of DfES, HEFCE, JISC We now have good mechanisms for innovation in L&T

21st century ambitions for HE

Access to a world class higher education system for all those with the potential to benefit High quality teaching, more personalisation of learning. Expansion but no compromise on quality Inclusive and flexible teaching and learning Enhancing excellence in learning and teaching Widening participation and fair access Enhancing the contribution of HE to economy and society Sustaining a high quality HE sector Access to a world class higher education system for all those with the potential to benefit High quality teaching, more personalisation of learning. Expansion but no compromise on quality Inclusive and flexible teaching and learning Enhancing excellence in learning and teaching Widening participation and fair access Enhancing the contribution of HE to economy and society Sustaining a high quality HE sector HEFCE strategy, 2006 DfES HE strategy, 2003 HE ambitions for learning and teaching DfES 5-year strategy, 2005

Wider participation in UK has been successful in the sense that “for a given level of prior attainment (A level point score), participation of young people in higher education does not vary significantly by socio-economic background” (Vignoles et al) One new university per week to keep pace with world population growth (Daniel, 1996) In many countries, demand already far exceeds supply, which perpetuates elitism, as high quality HE is only affordable by the rich (Bates, 2001) : international students in UK rose by 50% to 350,000; : UK share of HE market dropped from 16% to 11% (HEPI, 2007) Demand for international HE places: 2.1m in 2003; 5.8m by 2020 (OBHE, 2004) Student demand

Only 37% employers believe graduates have the requisite skills (Manpower, 2005) Demand for high skill workers has risen broadly in line with their supply, but needs to continue “Sustaining current trends in HE will be incredibly challenging” - from 29% in 2005 to 40% in 2020 at Level 4 (Leitch Report, 2006) New higher education growth should not be more of the same, but new types of programme offering specific, job-related skills such as Foundation Degrees (HE White Paper, 2005) New kinds of skills are needed in the workplace - techno-skills (Kent, Bakker et al 2005) Stakeholder requirements

Worldwide ambitions for education “No child left behind” (USA) “Every child matters” (UK) “Education for all” (UN) These necessarily translate into ambitions for HE How could it be possible to train and support the teachers needed without ODL and new technology?

Students have a new range of techno-skills, self acquired, but useful for HE Interactive, adaptive, communications technologies can offer extensive opportunities for active learning Technology can scale up high quality interactions for larger numbers of students Learning technologies: What have we learned? Positives Negatives Technology becomes the driver of educational change - the solution in search of a problem (blogs, wikis, podcasts) It is used mainly to make traditional teaching more efficient (learning management systems) The idea of the ‘information age mindset’ undermines the development of knowledge

To what extent does technology change the nature of learning?

John Dewey Jean Piaget Lev Vygotsky Jerome Bruner Paulo Freire Gordon Pask Terry Winograd Seymour Papert Lauren Resnick John Seely Brown Ference Marton Roger Säljö John Biggs Jean Lave Inquiry-based education Constructivism Mediated learning Discovery learning Learning as problematization Learning as conversation Problem-based learning Reflective practice Meta-cognition Experiential learning Learner-oriented approach Social constructivism Situated learning share a common conception of the learning process There is a common thread in the development of our understanding of learning the learner as active agent in the learning process

Inquiry-based education Constructivism Mediated learning Discovery learning Learning as conversation Problem-based learning Reflective practice Meta-cognition Experiential learning Learner-oriented approach Social constructivism Situated learning How might technology support active learning? Inquiry-based Construction Conceptual understanding Taking tests Problem-solving Narrative Literacy Game authoring Techno-computing skill-learning Fieldwork Communication Collaboration Learning identities Conceptual networks Manipulation skills Informal interests Self-worth Modelling Scenarios Evaluating evidence [From Round 1 project proposals for TLRP/TEL]

What is meant by Inquiry-based Construction Conceptual u/s Taking tests Problem-solving Narrative Literacy Game authoring Skill-learning Fieldwork Communication Collaboration Learning identity Conceptual networks Manipulation skills Informal interests Self-worth Modelling Scenarios Evaluating evidence Games Tools Cultural tools Adaptive ITS Avatars Embodied interaction Augmented cognition Pers L Environment Learner models Portable devices Conversation agents Editable digital artefacts Digital data tracking Haptic devices Virtual objects Online communities Adaptive support Simulation Collaborative technology Technology? Enhanced? Learning? [From Round 1 project proposals for TLRP/TEL] Games Tools Cultural tools Adaptive ITS Avatars Embodied interaction Augmented cognition Pers L Environment Learner models Portable devices Conversation agents Editable digital artefacts Digital data tracking Haptic devices Virtual objects Online communities Adaptive support Simulation Collaborative technology Only form of access to learning Alternative modes or pathways Personalised guidance More flexible learning Replacing less active methods Improve quality of interaction More practice in skills Visualisation in situ Adaptive personalisation Constructive personalisation Sharing and peer support More engaging activities Better quality assessment Scaling up Frameworks for learning design Only form of access to learning Alternative modes or pathways Personalised guidance More flexible learning Replacing less active methods Improve quality of interaction More practice in skills Visualisation in situ Adaptive personalisation Constructive personalisation Sharing and peer support More engaging activities Better quality assessment Scaling up Frameworks for learning design

To what extent does technology change the nature of learning? - ‘what it takes to learn’ will not change - what is learned will change - how it is learned will change - technology makes more feasible the idea of learning as an active, interactive, adaptive, personalised, situated, collaborative process

Why is there so little technology-based innovation?

Interactive computers Local drives & discs WIMP interfaces Internet Multimedia Worldwide Web Laptops Search engines Broadband 3G mobiles Blogs New media and delivery technologies for knowledge development - recent history 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | - new medium for articulating ideas - local storage with the user - devices for ease of access to content - mass production / distribution of content - elaborated forms of content - wide access to extensive content - personal portable access to the medium - mass delivery of messages - easier access to extensive content - rich content / immediate communication - low-cost access to elaborate content - personal mass publishing

Writing Paper Indexes, paragraphs Printing Photos, sound, film Libraries Published books Postal services Bibliographies Television, phones Paperbacks Pamphlets Old media and delivery technologies for knowledge development - not so recent history s 1600s 1400s 1800s 1900s 1500s 1800s 1900s 1940s 1950s 1700s - new medium for articulating ideas - local storage with the user - devices for ease of access to content - mass production / distribution of content - elaborated forms of content - wide access to extensive content - personal portable access to the medium - mass delivery of messages - easier access to extensive content - rich content / immediate communication - low-cost access to elaborate content - personal mass publishing

Writing Paper Indexes, paragraphs Printing Photos, sound, film Libraries Published books Postal services Bibliographies Television, phones Paperbacks Pamphlets Old media and delivery technologies against the new… s 1600s 1400s 1800s 1900s 1500s 1800s 1900s 1940s 1950s 1700s Interactive computers Local drives & discs WIMP interfaces Internet Multimedia Worldwide Web Laptops Search engines Broadband 3G mobiles Blogs 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s |

Writing Paper Printing Published books Indexes, paragraphs Pamphlets Photos, sound, film Postal services Libraries Bibliographies Television, phones Paperbacks s 1500s 1600s 1700s 1800s 1900s 1940s 1950s Interactive computers Local drives & discs WIMP interfaces Internet Multimedia Worldwide Web Laptops Search engines Broadband 3G mobiles Blogs 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | Interactive computersLocal drives & discsWIMP interfaces30 years Old media and delivery technologies against the new…

Bringing technology into the mainstream of learning and teaching

What does it take to bring TEL into the mainstream? A collective understanding of ‘what it takes to learn’ The teaching community responsible for innovation Mainstream teaching in HE problematised, like research: Support for some personal development in how to teach The means to build on the work of others The means to experiment and reflect on results The means to articulate and disseminate their contribution - Online learning design toolsOnline learning design tools - Online communities of practice; learning resource repositoriesOnline communities of practicelearning resource repositories - Learning activity system to run and monitor performanceLearning activity system - Digital representation of learning designDigital representation of learning design

Desirable futures for learning and teaching in HE Innovation in teaching focused on educational ambitions Clear strategy to link research, teaching and innovation Technology understood as an enabler of scale and quality What should we avoid? What would we like to see? Innovation in teaching left to specialists or commerce Efforts to innovate are non-strategic Technology used as a driver of innovation in teaching

Innovation in teaching left to the commercial world - RAE? Efforts to innovate that are non-strategic - leadership? Technology used as a driver of innovation in teaching - commerce? We have the capability… We have the technology… …We lack the capacity to innovate …We lack the leadership to develop teaching as we do research What are the barriers to success? Innovation in teaching left to specialists or commerce Efforts to innovate that are non-strategic Technology used as a driver of innovation in teaching Desirable futures for learning and teaching in HE

Would it help to mainstream technology in ODL if 1.Its use were focused on the principal difficult ambitions of education? 2.Academics were more clearly given professional responsibility and rewards for effective innovation using TEL? 3.Academics were supported as they are for research? Three questions - Support for some personal development in how to teach - The means to build on the work of others - The means to experiment and reflect on results - The means to articulate and disseminate their contribution

London Pedagogy Planner ( - a tool to support learning design decision-making - enables lecturers to experiment with the effects on learning experience of different combinations of conventional and technology-based learning Return

Phoebe: phoebe-app.conted.ox.ac.uk Return - a community-owned learning design resource

JORUM ( ) Return - a community-owned learning object repository

wise.berkeley.edu Return - an editable, runnable learning activity system

Understanding processes within a system through a role-play activity to explain it - Designing the ‘pedagogic form’ of collaborative learning Role-play group activity Link to repository for explanation of the system, simulation, video, etc…. Chat room to compare explanations Vote on the best explanation Link to repository for explanation of the system, simulation, video, etc…. Return