The death of the VLE?

There has been a debate for a few years now about the future of the VLE. It seems that reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated, although the fact that there is a discussion is of interest to me, as someone whose job is to develop an institutional VLE, and to support staff in its use.

The argument against VLEs is that they are owned by the institution, and are there to restrict and control the activity of its users, and that they promote traditional approaches to pedagogy that do not reflect the age of digital collaboration and the new tools available to students and teachers. They are bloated and cumbersome, and are slow to adapt to the needs of their users.

Compare that to the flexibility of 'web 2.0' applications, that adapt according to the needs of users, are owned by users and reflect the way that many students use digital media and applications. They are cheap, adaptable and support learning far better than VLEs.

It is clear that in the longer term these collaborative tools will become ubiquitous, and that the days of the VLE are numbered - however, that is still some way off.  The reason is that the use of web 2.0 tools by students and teachers alike is exaggerated. Most are limited in their ability to use these tools, and the argument that there are 'Digital Natives' isn't backed up by evidence .  The fact is that most teachers, and even learning technologists, don't use these tools on a regular basis, and neither do students. Many are unsure about how to use web 2.0 tools, and social networking applications in education - the VLE offers them a safe starting point, and a route into digital tools in education. There is also the issue of data protection, and ownership of the material that is written and posted to internet tools, and these tools do not provide the institution with the sort of user data sets and usage statistics that institutions increasingly need as part of new funding regimes. The data sets are available from a VLE as a part of a wider managed Learning Environment.

These tools can, however,  be embedded into VLEs - the major VLEs have the ability to stream Twitter feeds and RSS feeds. They allow videos from YouTube and blogs to be embedded, and they have chat, discussion forums, wikis and blogs built-in.

The 'personal web' - the aggregation of tools adaptable by users to their individual needs, will win in the end, but for the moment the VLE is alive and kicking. The main question isn't whether the VLE is dead, but how institutions are going to manage the integration of increasing user-choice tools, and their VLE.

The Real Motive Behind SOPA, PIPA and ACTA

Google and Facebook block content in India after court warns of crackdown | World news | The Guardian

There's a quote near the end of this article:  

But, like many other governments around the world, India has become increasingly nervous about the power of social media.

which indicates the real motives behind the recent attempts to introduce legislation on copyright and internet piracy. Ostensibly aimed at protecting the interests of copyright holders, their effect would be turn the internet into a delivery portal for content from media corporations, and  enable governments to crack down on what they would view as inflammatory material. Governments have seen the role that social media played in the 'Arab Spring' and, despite praising the liberating role the internet at the time, they can see the danger it presents to them and their ability to control information, and the people they supposedly serve.

Apples iPad Textbooks: Everything You Need to Know About iBooks 2

Apples iPad Textbooks: Everything You Need to Know About iBooks 2.

When I first heard of the iPad and the digital readers such as Kindle, I could see the possibilities for both fiction and non-fiction.

The possibilities for non-fiction and text books are obvious - more interactive content, rich with multimedia, and links to other resources and possibilities for annotation and collaboration offering a better learning experience.

The possibilities for fiction are also interesting. It won't be too long before more interactive fiction appears, with multimedia content and links to external resources and material. I was thinking it might be analogous to video games - such as Grand Theft Auto IV. You have the main storyline, but alongside that runs other 'missions' and side stories which introduce a range of other characters and broadens the profile of the main character. I can see fiction including such references to the back story of characters, and side stories, as well as ambient sounds, news footage, metadata and so forth.

Do Learning Styles Really Exist? | doug woods

Do Learning Styles Really Exist? | doug woods.

I get the impression that Doug is conflating 'Learning Styles' and 'individual differences' here. We all have individual differences in the way we learn, but as far as I can see no one has yet defined what a Learning Style is - genetic predisposition? Preference? Aptitude? Attitude? If you can't define what it actually is how can you measure its effect - it can have no reliability or validity.

I suppose there might be some confusion about 'learning styles' and 'Learning Styles'. It's easy to conflate 'learning styles' and individual differences, but I think many of the proponents of learning styles are actually thinking of them as 'Learning Styles' (with capitals) denoting them as actual entities that exist, which can therefore be objectified, packaged, and sold in training courses and books. These people have a vested interest in the existence of 'Learning Styles' so can't be trusted to have an objective view.

I disagree that rejecting learning styles will lead to regressive teaching - a teacher can reject Learning Styles while acknowledging individual differences, and provide a rich learning environment that calls on different modalities.  The material provided should suit the content, not an ill-defined abstract notion about how an individual learns.

What we need in teaching is evidence based practice, and so far there is no evidence to support the view that presenting, for example, visual material to your 'visual learners' is more effective and leads to better learning than other ways of presenting the material.

My view is that 'Learning Styles' inhibit good teaching, because it narrows the focus of the teacher and can lead to labelling and self-fulfilling prophesies (I can't learn this because I'm a visual learner'). It can also lead to the production of content that is inappropriate for the subject matter.

BBC News - Children 'switching from TV to mobile internet'

BBC News - Children 'switching from TV to mobile internet'.

More reasons why schools and colleges need to embrace mobile learning and the use of mobile devices as learning tools. Rather than banning them.

There is an issue, outlined in the comments section to this story, that children are becoming socially isolated and failing to develop social skills. I'd suggest that they are simply developing new types of social skills and ways of communicating with each other.  People still socialise, they still talk to each other. Those who lack social skills would probably have been the sort of people who lacked social skills in any age.

Creating Online Learning

I'm creating the first online learning course in my new job. It is to teach people how to create good discussion forums in an online course - so we based it upon the Five Stage Model, put forward by Gilly Salmon. To structure our course we too are using the Five Stage model. So it feels like it's all a bit self-referential - using the model to describe the model.

One thing about online learning is that it takes a lot longer to put together than a face to face session. All of the materials have to be there in advance and on the  VLE, or wherever it is being held. It is 'scripted' much more than a face to face session, and there isn't much scope to 'wing it', or think of ad-hoc activities if anything goes wrong. The learners need a clear path through the course, and this needs careful planning.

There are also lots of revisions as I try to put myself in the shoes of a learner and think about the course from their point of view. There is also the difficulty in trying to make sure that the activities we plan fit the model that we are using.

This is a learning process for everyone involved. I'm sure the course will go OK, and I look forward to the feedback - surely it won't all be bad :o)

Flipped Learning

 I like this idea of flipped learning, and flipped seminars. There is so much time in training and teaching dedicated to exposition by the teacher - this could be better used by getting the learners to do stuff. It's a good constructivist model for education too - the learner builds their knowledge through collaboration with their peers, and with facilitation from the teacher. It's a good use of classroom time.