Do educational institutions have a future?
e-Learning online conference 09 programme
Presentation and associated materials
View the visions of the future! (All open in a new window).
Recordings:
Abstract
Imagine the headlines in 2020 – “The University of TESCO awards degree to its millionth customer !!”
Commercial and specialist organisations are now (arguably) able to provide a more efficient and focused, tailored qualification which directly impacts on the ability for a student to either be employed or to move up the career ladder. Whilst Universities may bring with them the years of history and heritage, many are still focused on a delivery mechanism which was practiced by Plato rather than looking carefully at what the student requires. Universities which are beginning to address what the student needs are often restricted by regulation in what can be provided. By the time they try to address this issue, they will be beaten by a more agile organisation which has less regulation (or ‘perceived’ regulation) and which have greater resources to provide what’s needed.
They may also be beaten by students' own ability to access, store and consume - and indeed generate, control and transmit - what they themselves consider the most intersting and appropriate content for their learning.
This is just one of several possible future scenarios facing the educational sector in the near future. This session will highlight several other possibilities by offering a range of viewpoints from the future. We will present some learner perspectives, some scholar/academic perspectives and some broader institutional perspectives. We will highlight some of the technological, social and organisational issues that are likely to affect the future learner, teacher and institutions.
What do you think educational institutions will look like in the future? Come and join our discussion….
Presenters
Graham Attwell
Graham Attwell works for the Wales based research organisation, Pontydysgu. His research interests focus on the use of technology for learning and knowledge development. He is particularly interested in informal learning and contextual learning in the workplace. He is currently working in the EU funded Mature-ip project which is researching knowledge maturing in organisations and developing and piloting Personal Learning and Maturing Environments.
Graham is an Associate Fellow at Warwick University and a Guest Researcher at the University of Bremen and is a proud supporter of Werder Bremen football team. In addition to writing articles and papers in journals and books, he produces a regular podcast series, The sounds of the Bazaar, and occasional live internet radio programmes. He is a prolific blogger - his blog, The Wales Wide Web, can be found on the Pontydysgu web site.
Rob Howe
Rob is the Head of Learning Technology and Media Development) at the University of Northampton.
Currently leading institutional development of technology at the University, he was awarded a University Teaching Fellowship in 2007 and was involved on the HEA BITE and JISC E4L projects. Rob is involved in many areas of work both within and outside the University and has presented internationally on work investigating the student experience of e-learning. He was awarded CMALT status in 2008 and is a member of IADIS.
Martin Weller
Martin Weller is Professor of Educational Technology at the Open University. He chaired the OU's first major elearning course with 15,000 students, was the VLE Project Director, and more recently Director for the SocialLearn project which aims to develop a social network approach to learning. His research interests are openness in education, digital scholarship, social networks and learning environments. He blogs at edtechie.net
Facilitator
John Traxler
John Traxler is Professor of Mobile Learning, probably the world’s first, and Director of the Learning Lab at the University of Wolverhampton and of the UK Co-Lab of the American ADL network. He is a Director of the International Association for Mobile Learning, Associate Editor of the International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning and was Conference Chair of mLearn2008, the world’s biggest and oldest mobile learning research conference. John has co-written a guide to mobile learning in developing countries and is co-editor of the definitive book on mobile learning: Kukulska-Hulme, A. and Traxler, J. (2005) Mobile Learning: A Handbook for Educators and Trainers, Routledge. They are working on a follow up looking at context-aware mobile learning. He was recently shortlisted for the Handheld Learning Conference Special Achievement Award and received Best Research Paper Award 2009 from the Association for Learning Technology. He was invited by the British Council to present at the South African national science festival, SciFest, at Rhodes University, and invited by Microsoft to the Mobile Learning Summit in Seattle and by the Canadian government to the ICTD conference in Bangalore. Earlier this year, he spent a two-month spell as visiting scientist at the Meraka Institute in Pretoria supporting socially useful mobile technology projects. He also supports and mentors research capacity building in South Asia for the IRDC SIRCA programme, specifically mobile application development for rural healthcare in Cambodia.