The people formerly known as students

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The people formerly known as the audience do not believe this problem “too many speakers” is our problem. Now for anyone in your circle still wondering who we are, a formal definition might go like this:

The people formerly known as the audience are those who were on the receiving end of a media system that ran one way, in a broadcasting pattern, with high entry fees and a few firms competing to speak very loudly while the rest of the population listened in isolation from one another and who today are not in a situation like that at all.

The above is from Jay Rosen’s article on “The people formerly known as audience“.

I’m in a playful mood, so here is what the people formerly known as students might have to say:

The people formerly known as students do not believe this problem “too many individual learners” is our problem. Now for anyone in your circle still wondering who we are, a formal definition might go like this:

The people formerly known as students are those who were on the receiving end of an oligopolist educational system that ran one way, in a broadcasting pattern, with high entry fees and few options, and accredited institutions competing to speak their truths while the rest of the population learned in isolation from one another and who today are not in a situation like that at all.

“OpenOffice.org challenges Microsoft’s Office Test Drive”

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Microsoft today announced the opening of a “test drive” so that people can see what Microsoft Office 2007 might look like when it finally goes on sale.

The OpenOffice.org Community invites potential upgraders to go one better – download the full OpenOffice.org 2 office suite today for a test drive, and if you like it, use it free for as long as you like. It’s the ultimate no-strings-attached test drive – if you enjoy the test drive, keep the car!

As office software becomes a commodity product, Microsoft has been forced to make significant changes to the ‘look and feel’ of MS-Office 2007. Because of this, analysts now agree that migrating to Microsoft Office 2007 will be a major upheaval with a significant cost impact.

Unlike changing to Microsoft Office 2007, changing to OpenOffice.org 2 does not require learning how to use office software all over again. Indeed, reports have shown migration to OpenOffice.org 2 is 90% cheaper than migrating to Microsoft Office 2007.

For more information and references to the reports, please see http://why.openoffice.org

As announced by OpenOffice.org, open source makes sense when you need a commodity product like office software. Combine OpenOffice with a few web applications like Writely, Google Spreadsheets and Gliffy and you’re all set for your business needs.

Open Source LMS

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A lot of people come to this site searching for “open source LMS”. These are some of the web-based learning systems that I have used, and would recommend:
  • Elgg – for informal web-enabled learning where the learner is the centre of it all. Though still in its early development, I would recommend Elgg as a virtual space to foster community outside of the course-based LMS.
  • Moodle -a constructivist web environment for more formal learning with an extensive user base worldwide. Combining Elgg and Moodle makes an excellent choice for formal and informal learning.
  • ATutor – a Canadian-based web learning system designed for accessibility and with a number of easy to add modules, such as collaboration.

There are many others, many of which are reviewed on EduTools, and I’d suggest that you go to my Open Source for Learning lens for further links.

NB schools to receive more laptops

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It looks like the New Brunswick public education sector is slowly advancing into the 21st century. The government announced today that, “About 2,900 grades 7, 8 and 9 students at 27 New Brunswick schools will have a notebook computer in the fall of 2006 …”. On a personal note, this is not that positive, because only one school in our district, and no schools in our town are on the list. Oh well, we get to continue enjoying the 20th century and the industrial era for a while longer.

Update: After a little more digging and a few conversations, I think that a few factors in this school laptop initiative have to be raised.

All of the computers in the school will be loaded with Microsoft Windows and MS Office. This may seem like a real deal for our education system but it is really creating a continuing market for MS products. The students get used to using the Win/Office combination so that’s what they’ll use at home or after graduation. MS has even offered this great deal:

Partners in Learning School Agreement – offers upgrades for Microsoft® Windows® operating system for free and Office software for no more than $4.00 per year, per desktop to Canadian schools considered disadvantaged.

Given that the initial laptop program had 500 computers, and this initiative has an additional 2,900 plus the 6,000 notebooks provided to all NB teachers, there are at least 9,400 new computers in the system. Paying $4 per year per computer for Microsoft products costs – $37,600. Had the government decided to use a basic Linux system, complete with ALL the necessary applications, such as the free and open source UNESCO Young Digital Creators CD, the cost would be $0.00 (zero). It would also be free to copy and put on home computers and it would be free forever.

Even my own public education district, financed by Canadian taxpayers, is using paid staff to train teachers on American produced proprietary software applications. This is not a rant against our US neighbours, but I would rather have seen the money go to developing some “made-in-New Brunswick” capacities.

elearning session at CCL shows significance of informal learning

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Stephen Downes is blogging the Canadian Council on Learning’s Conference on Adult Learning in Canada. Stephen’s report on the presentation (see my last post) on e-learning shows, among other findings, the significance of informal learning:

Griff Richards: on four functional areas:
– e-learning as an extension of military education
– e-learning as distance education
– e-learning as classroom education
– e-learning as informal education

Terry Anderson: report misses an emphasis on informal learning.

The notion of the message being more impotant than the carrier: I asked some students, is it worth the extra money? Some said it was, and the logic was, a power issue. They had the same resources the professor did. And because they could take time to research something, they would go into the class knowing more that what the prof does. It completely changes the playing field. And when I look at online informal learning, I see, they’re offering advice, practical advice, that they cannot get. And again, it’s about power. So the question is, is it just the thing we used to do? Has this been developed and explored?

Comment: Following up on Melissa’s comment: I think perhaps we need a response that takes it out of the formal education sector. When we respond from the formal sector, we are still looking at teaching and not learning. And perhaps adult learners who might have an affinity for technology might have an interest in knowledge and sharing, not so much credits. Not teaching, but the informal use of learning for new knowledge.

Comment: paper on barriers. 59 percent of people are participating in informal learning. Do you really know who those users are who are using e-learning?

Adult Learning – pressing issues and where the field is headed, in two sentences

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I just received this message and spent some time reviewing the hundreds of posts I’ve made about learning over the past few years. I can’t think of any one or two lines that would actually make a difference. I’m leaving at 6:00 AM tomorrow, but may be able to get a response sent before the end of the day. Any suggestions? (Emphasis is mine)

The Canadian Council on Learning’s Adult Learning Knowledge Centre will hold its first national symposium at the Wu Conference Centre, in Fredericton, NB, on June 21-23, 2006. The symposium will provide an opportunity for dialogue between stakeholders in the practice and research of adult learning. At the symposium, I will be presenting the CCL’s state-of-the-field literature review for e-learning and adult learning with reactions by front-line practitioners and researchers.

I would like to incorporate comments from actual practitioners and researchers on the state of the field of e-learning, especially in relation to adult learning. Please feel free to share your perspectives on the state of the field from your perspective as an independent consultant in Atlantic Canada by Wednesday (June 21st) and I will gladly reports back to this larger audience (Sorry for the short notice!). One sentence or two on where the field is headed and some of the pressing issues from your perspective will suffice. Comments or quotes will be acknowledged and authors identified during the presentation. The symposium is intended to facilitate researchers and practitioners working together in meaningful collaborations, and to influence the policy process resulting in better learning opportunities and improved outcomes. The symposium will provide ALKC with concrete ideas to meet its goal of creating a culture of adult learning that is accessible and relevant to all Canadians.

Update: This is what I submitted:

The overwhelming majority of the learning needs of Canadian adults are not addressed by formal training and education. In this post-industrial era, adults today require self-directed learning skills to thrive in the unstructured work environments outside of school. Efforts should be focused on the development of practical tools and strategies for adults to learn in a networked information society.

Creative writing, school and blogging

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Our son, Lucas, has just written a story for his Grade 7 English class. It’s loosely based on the Dragonlance series of fantasy books and when Lucas read it in class this week, all of the students wanted to find out what happens next.

At my suggestion, Lucas posted the story on his blog and wants to continue writing stories over the Summer. He’s even said that he prefers writing these stories to playing computer games. Having his stories on a blog may also give him more positive feedback to continue writing. There is no option for students to use blogs or other web-based learning tools in school, so we supplement these skills at home, as I’ve mentioned before.

If you’re interested in blogs and creative writing in public education, take a look at Lucas’ first story posted online – Sakata. This is unedited creativity from an 11 year old. Lucas had a great teacher for English this year (thank you Mr. Stewart) and he was given a lot of freedom to explore writing. I think that the results of this positive learning experience are incredible.

Informal Networked Learning

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We’re currently in our second Informl Learning Unworkshop, using various web tools that didn’t exist several years ago, with participants around the globe.

My initial experiences in the learning field were from the point of view of methods of instruction (how to get subject matter across to captive students) and later, the systems approach to training (from which flows instructional systems design or ISD). Later I became immersed in human performance technology, and found it a good method to analyse certain aspects of organisational performance. HPT ensures that training, which is costly, isn’t prescribed unless it addresses a verifiable lack of skills and/or knowledge. Even HPT itself seems to be too constrained for me now.

What I like about informal learning is that it opens up the way to look at other methods of helping people to learn. Training and education are two sets of tools but there are many more. Options for learning have increased exponentially with access to the Internet. As with any new technology, we first put the old media (modules, courses, classrooms, programs, degrees) into the new medium. Now that some of us are becoming more comfortable with the medium, we are seeing more experimentation.

Using blogs, wikis, podcasts or social bookmarks for learning can change the dynamic from teaching-centric to learning-centric. Informal learning is not new, but the ways in which we can connect with others have improved drastically (skype, anyone?). Informal learning is about connecting – whether it be to information or people.

The network effect of the Web is explained in detail in Yochai Benkler’s The Wealth of Networks. Benkler describes the changes that a networked society can have on our governance, economic and cultural structures [more to follow on this book as I savour every page]:

The networked information economy improves the practical capacities of individuals along three dimensions: (1) it improves their capacity to do more for and by themselves; (2) it enhances their capacity to do more in loose commonality with others, without being constrained to organize their relationship through a price system or in traditional hierarchical models of social and economic organization; and (3) it improves the capacity of individuals to do more in formal organizations that operate outside the market sphere. This enhanced autonomy is at the core of all the other improvements I describe. Individuals are using their newly expanded practical freedom to act and cooperate with others in ways that improve the practiced experience of democracy, justice and development, a critical culture, and community.

Learning skills, especially outside the formal training & education sphere, are necessary for everyone in our society to take advantage of the opportunities of a networked information economy. I believe that the development of environments that nurture informal, networked learning will be the ISD of the 21st century.

Adobe Informl Learning eSeminar Today

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Yesterday, we had our third session of the Informl Learning Unworkshop, with about 10 participants online and the rest watching the recording later. Many are blogging for the first time, and there are some natural storytellers and artists. This is our second unworkshop series and it’s beginning to hit a natural learning rhythm – many “ah ha” moments.

If informal learning is of any interest, then you may want to tune into Jay Cross’ presentation this afternoon (Friday, 16 June at 2:00 PM Eastern or 3:00 PM Atlantic, etc.). You can register here for this free eSeminar (requires Adobe membership registration).

NB: If you missed the session, the recording will soon be available on the Adobe Presentation Site.

Tutorcasts – community-built learning objects

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My good friend Dave Cormier has started Tutorcasts, self-described as:

Tutorcasts is meant to be a repository (and directory) of screencasts available for educational purposes. If you would like to become a part of this group, please sign up and post your screencast information.

The first example, made by Dave, is An introduction to Wikipedia. The site is still in its infancy, but I think this will take off.

Dave used Camtasia to create the tutorial. Camtasia retails for $299 but has a free 30-day trial . Microsoft Encoder, which is free, could also do the trick, but not as well. Thanks for leading the way, Dave.