Uaf I Design

The Big Picture:Future of Education

UAF CDE: iDesign

George SiemensApril 23, 2008

“...forward-thinking approaches in education as “woefully under-developed””

Former SwedishEducation Minister Ylva Johansson

Why the lack of development?

• Possibly because:– The system works – it serves many stakeholders

well– Change pressures are not system-wide– Lack of vision– Lack of understanding of trends

1. Reality: Pace and Growth2. Reality: Lives and Habits of Learners3. Where are We Now?4. The Need for Change?5. Models of Change6. Moving Forward7. Innovation

Growth of information and tools to create/access information

“Information is the new black”Fncll

“...in the 21st century, the education and skills of the workforce will end up being the dominant competitive weapon”

Lester Thurow

% of population (25+) with 4 or more years of college

Signal Hill 2007 Post Secondary Fact Book

By 2015: 70+% of all new jobs will require PSE

Canadian Council for Learning, 2007

“The United States must find ways to nurture a broader and more diverse talent pool to be successful in the knowledge-based economy”

Council of Graduate Schools Report. Graduate Education: The Backbone of American Competitiveness and

Innovation

Trends in Online Education

• 2/3 plus of all HE institutions offer online learning

• 3.5 million students taking online course (in fall 2006)

• 20%+ percent annual growth rate since 2003

Online Nation (Allen & Seaman, 2007)

Online Nation (Allen & Seaman, 2007)

ECAR, 2007 Undergraduate Students and IT

Most Valuable Benefit from IT in Courses

ECAR, 2007 Undergraduate Students and IT

The stepchild is welcomed into the family?

1. Reality: Pace and Growth2. Reality: Lives and Habits of Learners3. Where are We Now?4. The Need for Change?5. Models of Change6. Moving Forward7. Innovation

Millennial Learners?Oblinger (2005), Dede (2005)

Do different experiences impact our neural structure?

Richard Davidson, 2002Kelly, Grinband, Hirsch, 2007

The rise of everyone

Information

Interaction

Community/Network

A word of caution

ECAR, 2007 Undergraduate Students and IT

Preference for IT Use in Courses

Oxford Internet Institute: Internet in Britain 2007

1. Reality: Pace and Growth2. Reality: Lives and Habits of Learners3. Where are We Now?4. The Need for Change?5. Models of Change6. Moving Forward7. Innovation

Signal Hill 2007 Post Secondary Fact Book

Market shift

• “Life long” (had to say that)• Non-sequential learners• Learners with non-degree needs• Learners with flexible degree needs

Oxford Internet Institute: Internet in Britain 2007

3.3 Billion Mobile accounts

Informa, 2007

Oxford Internet Institute: Internet in Britain 2007

Oxford Internet Institute: Internet in Britain 2007

“Prototypical US industry in 10 years, if all goes well”

National Center on Education and the Economy: Tough Choices or Tough Times

1. Reality: Pace and Growth2. Reality: Lives and Habits of Learners3. Where are We Now?4. The Need for Change?5. Models of Change6. Moving Forward7. Innovation

“...we have to change ourselves in changing environments, and we have to empower ourselves to change these environments as well”

Theo Hug

New skills

• ALA: information literacy (2000)

• Jenkins: New media skills (2006, p. 5)

• 21st Century Skills

• Digital Literacy – Gilster 1997, Jones-Kavalier & Flannigan, 2006

Harvard (2007): Core Curriculum

1. Civic Engagement

2. Students to understand themselves as products of—and participants in—traditions of art, ideas, and values

3. Respond critically and constructively to change

4. Students’ understanding of ethical dimensions of what they say and do

New Skills

• Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World

• Intellectual and Practical Skills

• Personal and Social Responsibility

• Integrative Learning

AAC&U, 2007: College Learning for the New Global Century

New views of education?

• Process?

• Content?

• Chris Lott’s Information Fluency: Knowledge/discipline...Participation... Metacognition/critical thinking

Chris Lott, 2007

Literacy with identity

Our structures of presenting information

and fostering knowledge development cannot

keep pace with growth!

Our structures of presenting information

and fostering knowledge development cannot

keep pace with growth!

1. Reality: Pace and Growth2. Reality: Lives and Habits of Learners3. Where are We Now?4. The Need for Change?5. Models of Change6. Moving Forward7. Innovation

Cook, Holley & AndrewBritish Journal of Educational Technology 38 (5), 784-794.

1. Reality: Pace and Growth2. Reality: Lives and Habits of Learners3. Where are We Now?4. The Need for Change?5. Models of Change6. Moving Forward7. Innovation

What will education look like?

OECD: Schooling for tomorrow

• Bureaucratic• Re-schooling– Focused learning organizations– Core social centres

• De-schooling– Extended market– Learning in networks

• Crisis

Mixed signals in times of transition

Threats

• For-profit providers• Global schools• Relationship to University• Funding• Re-skilling faculty

Opportunities

• Global market• Partnerships with other institutions• Collaboration with global partners• Adopt combined resource-models• Innovate method and structure

1. Reality: Pace and Growth2. Reality: Lives and Habits of Learners3. Where are We Now?4. The Need for Change?5. Models of Change6. Moving Forward7. Innovation

http://dltj.org/2006/12/disruptive-innovation-card

Innovating Education

Distance Education and Extension departments uniquely suited to the task

What are core tasks in DE/Extension?

• Administration– Management, policy

• Technological– Infrastructure, security

• Research– New markets, future opportunities– On act and process of teaching

• Marketing• Teaching and Learning

Teaching and Learning

Reconsider full spectrum of activity

Courses

Classrooms

Teacher/educator

Books

IP/Copyright

How do we begin to innovate?

small stepsmany directions

SeedSelect

Amplify(Meyer & Davis, 2003)

Exploration/Conceptualization

Experimentation

Implementation

Websites and Newsletters

www.elearnspace.orgwww.knowingknowledge.com

www.connectivism.cahttp://ltc.umanitoba.ca/wordpress/