Closing keynote: From courses to communities
e-Learning online conference 09 programme
Presentation and associated materials
Abstract
The key aim of this keynote will be to pick up and reflect upon the range of ideas and contexts that have emerged from the conference and attempt to shape them into an agenda for action and reflection. I will add some thought of my own around the shift in learning from courses to communities, as given here.
The explosion of social networking and Web 2.0 technologies has created an opportunity to sustain powerful communities of learners online. This will facilitate a number of critical shifts in the learning model currently in use across much of the education system:
- Some of these changes hinge around user-generated content where leaky environments of learners review and develop resources that grow according to broad community needs and interests rather than according to course directors' permissions.
- Constant communication can take place between teachers, mentors, coaches and learners before, during and after the learning programme.
- Knowledge gardens expand as successive cohorts of students inhabit them.
- Media-mediated experiences can be generated from whatever source is deemed appropriate.
- Constant communication allows conversations to take place which range from the anecdotal to the profound
- Open communities are generated which can embrace not just new members and new content but also new technologies as they become available.
- Delivery is multi-platform, ranging from laptop to smart phone.
- Learning can be integrated into the rest of your life, eg useful and relevant learning from one programme could be 'snipped' and shared in the workplace and any significant contributions put back for the benefit of the learning community.
This learning environment is leaky, open, inclusive and mirrors more closely the world in which many of us live. It is not just a technology-delivered option for the future, but a critical component of reshaping learning for this century.
Presenter
Nigel Paine
Following stints as a CEO, Head of Science Year and Head of People Development at the BBC, Nigel Paine is now working with companies on their development and talent strategies particularly using web 2.0 technologies.
Nigel Paine is a great communicator and profound thinker about what makes contemporary workspaces tick and what businesses need to do to survive in the C21st. He specialises in developing leaders; building learning organisations; getting the best out of staff; and developing strategies for retention and development of key people within organisations. He is a coach, mentor, writer, broadcaster and keynote speaker of international acclaim. He is currently working in Europe, the US, South America and Australia on a variety of assignments, that hinge around making work more creative, innovative and aspirational and making workplaces more conversational, team-based and knowledge sharing.
Facilitator
James Clay
James Clay has been ILT & Learning Resources Manager at Gloucestershire College since November 2006.
James is responsible for the VLE, the use of learning technologies, e-learning, the libraries, digital and online resources and the strategic direction of the college in relation to the use of learning technologies.
James’ current interests include researching learning on the handheld devices that learners have. How can we create learning activities which work on personal mobile devices. He also likes to experiment on how we use Web 2.0 to support learning.
James Clay previously was Director of the Western Colleges Consortium he was responsible for the management, strategic direction and development of e-learning using a shared MLE across the four partner FE Colleges of the WCC.
Before the WCC he worked for at-Bristol, a Millennium project within the Harbourside of Bristol - a job which involved delivering hands-on science education and designing educational websites on subjects as diverse as handheld learning experiences, Antiguan racer snakes, space science and the mummification process of the ancient Egyptians.
Prior to the above, James spent ten years in Further Education as a lecturer in Business & Economics, employing a variety of learning technologies.