Category: K-12

Collaboration, Higher Education, Horizon Report, K-12, Learning, report, Research

#FOECast: Ideation Week for the Future of Education

Laura Pasquini

What project should we create to grasp the future of education and technology?

This is a big, bold question that is being explored and discussed in facilitated conversations via Bryan Alexander this week for:

Future of Education & Everything Community (#FOECast) IDEATION WEEK: February 26-March 2, 2018 

For those of you who know me (or are just getting to be acquainted), I am all for a grassroots initiative to discuss and dig into problems by and for a community. The idea of this week is to encourage “ideation” in an open, accessible way to explore how we’ll investigate/understand the future of learning, education, technology, and probably more. This is an exciting endeavor instigated by Bryan (and more!) to crowdsource where the Horizon report might go — or even expand into areas it did not reach. The goal (or dream) is: “to create something bold and new, a project drawing on the middle of the 21st century. This is a public and open process, through which we hope to get as broad and diverse a set of perspectives as possible.”

 

JOIN the LIVE Online Sessions to CONTRIBUTE!

During the online, synchronous meetings, these will be the four questions/prompts to guide the conversation:

  1. What needs did the Horizon report meet?

  2. What forecasting methods should we consider?

  3. What shape should a new effort take?

  4. What scope should this cover?

If you are not able to make a time/meeting, please feel free to participate in this organic and growing discussion. You can comment by tweeting and follow the #FOECast hashtag. Add your comments and responses to this open Google doc that continues to grow and be annotated (love it?).  Join and contribute to the ongoing Slack channel (find the direct URL here: https://beyondthehorizongroup.slack.com/). Additionally, you can post your own thoughts/ideas to the four questions (above) on your own blog, video, or other digital media of your choice. I have no doubt the community of futurists, instigators, designers, and then some would welcome all contributions … well, maybe not smoke signals (yet).

I expressed my sentiments about the NMC Horizon Report and the value it offered in the doc:

1) What needs did the Horizon Report meet?

I think the horizon report helps to bring together multiple stakeholders have contributed to the different entities in education come together (K-12, higher ed, and libraries) and the professional organizations/affiliations of practitioners and researchers. The horizon reports offered information, knowledge sharing, exemplars/examples, and practical experiences collected in one hub. Related to that, we started to bridge into other geographic areas and branch into the needs of industry. This cross-section of representation started to pollinate ideas and encourage people to move beyond a role or institutional focus into what is possible for the future of education. Does the horizon report need to be exclusive to technology? Should we be focused on the education landscape as a whole? This could be the changes in demographics for learners, educators, practitioners, and organizational trends/needs.

I’m stilling chewing on these questions… and thinking out loud (out blog?). I hope to join the conversations and be part of this collaborative discussion and threads on the interwebs. If you too care about the future of learning and have a thought of two — do join in. This is important and we need ideas from all around the education/learning table. What do you think about the future of learning, education, and technology?

 

An UPDATE on March 4, 2018:

After participating in a couple of conversations, watching the online discourse, and critical contributions in the shared doc/slack spaces, I thought I should finish up my own contributions to all that is shared and where this #FOEcast conversation might go. Here are my responses to the last 3 questions posed for the week:

2) What forecasting methods should we consider?

I am not sure about forecasting methods; however, I am not sure we do a decent job actually aggregating the data, research, and current practices in a comprehensive manner. There are a number interesting and creative pedagogical practices that rarely get reviewed or researched. Additionally, there is rarely many findings or research implications that are shared well with practitioners for teaching/learning/training. I would be more interesting in considering how we bring these information sources we currently have to understand the broader landscape. Perhaps this involves bringing different entities, stakeholders, organizations, etc. together to process and review learning practices in a few different pockets and industries. With criticisms of integrity withing the educational technology research and critiques of past NMC briefs, I am not sure how the past reports were developed always expressed the trends of teaching/learning/training around the globe. Who gets included or excluded with a Delphi panel? Why is there a focus on technologies and tools, rather than solving problems? How can future trend reporting truly reach and cover a broad spectrum of how learning and development is evolving with “innovative” or forward thinking pedagogical practice? Those would be the questions I would want answered for predictions and pathways forward for research methods to develop a new report.

3) What shape should a new effort take?

Perhaps going from the original Delphi model of “ask the expert” + community to curate a report of the “state of learning” (or training or development — per Stephen Downes above) to tease out the original PDF report and present it in multiple ways that interests and engages multiple audiences (e.g. educators, researchers, designers, admin, training, L&D, etc.). A digital showcase of applications beyond a webinar or webcast could include bit-sized examples of testing and experimenting with learning design, a technology in application for learning, or other via a podcast+show notes, video demonstration, testing exemplar of a concept, team blog of experimentation in progress, or a “behind the curtains” look for how to apply pedagogical practices. There is no shortage of how to share knowledge that allows it to cross into different industries, learning/educational areas, and could engage multiple professionals (not just K-12, higher ed, workplace learning, library, etc.) — this could be shared with those who are willing to test/try/experiment in learning. Perhaps focusing on the issues, concepts, and problems will help bring a broader audience and interest to the findings in these future of learning reports AND help us to connect the nodes between professions, practitioners, and a variety of industries. Let’s start encouraging play in other professional sandboxes!

4) What scope should this cover?

I think FOECast has the potential to go beyond the original Horizon Report. It could be more than a function of educational sectors or even geographic locations discussing the trends for technology + {Library, K-12 education, Higher Ed, etc.}. The new version looking at the future of education (or learning/development/training), could provide a pathway to discuss critical issues, contemplative ideas, and thoughtful pedagogical practices. Some of these trends may include technology; however, the focus could be on the issues or problems the collective wants to solve in teaching/learning/development. I would hope these reports (or open ideation events or whatever shape this takes) continues to involve an integrated community of practice to engage, question, think critically, contribute, and challenge one another to do better work (teaching, researching, designing, etc.). What are the questions we should be asking? What are the practices we could be testing or piloting? What are the nuances for teaching/learning?

I am a big fan of how Kay Oddone shared this diagram below and reflected how connected learning principles emerged out of the FOEcast week of brainstorming/ideation:

Project_FOECast_through_the_lens_of_Connected_Learning

I agree with this, and further push this idea to embrace how connected learning often drives professionals to contribute to a networked community of practice. The FOEcast week reminded me how an organic group of people can support and contribute to moving an idea forward. The community is vested in a common purpose and many want to not just talk, but also contribute to how we can shape our future practices, with regards to formal and informal learning. With formal education institutions (K-12, higher education, etc.) and professional associations/organizations there seems to be a tension of how to balance innovative ideas and approach future-oriented projects due to structural barriers or workforce constraints. This process allows for more freedom and willingness to connect the nodes to share knowledge and involve those who might be interested in a problem/issue or topic. What is great about this designed experience is the potential to move this conversation (and future actions) beyond a particular professional role/title/function, across institutional/organizational boundaries, and involve others who have not contributed their voice yet. This is critical, as sharing at the intersections of what we do in learning/training/development will help to truly advance our pedagogical practices.

There was so much thoughtful discussion and critical thinking shared on the live chats, hashtag and open Google doc (go see for yourself). Thanks for instigating this needed conversation, Bryan, and to all the contributors — it has been a real delight to read your ideas and hear your thoughts in this open dialogue.  I hope this process of thinking, talking, and doing something for the future of everything continues. I’m interested… count me in! This might be the wrap up blog post for the #FOEcast week, Final push: Create!, however; this conversation and community contribution seems to be just the beginning: https://www.foecast.net/

#OLCInnovate, Conference, Higher Education, K-12, Learning, Learning Technologies, OLC, Online Learning

Feedback Wanted: #OLCInnovate Solution Design Summit Video Trailers

Laura Pasquini

You may have read my previous CFP post looking for learning challenges & solutions – that was for the NEW program feature of #OLCInnovate, The Solution Design Summit (SDS). Nine SDS teams, who proposed a learning issue with a potential solution, have been selected by a blind, peer-review panel to be our finalists who will participate in our 1st Summit  at the 2016 OLC Innovate conference in NOLA. This pre-conference event will be an opportunity to network with peers from other SDS Teams, specifically to solicit feedback from potential learning stakeholders.

SDS_Teams_2016

VIEW THE SDS TEAM VIDEO TRAILERS

 Learn More About the Solution Design Summit

Now the SDS Teams need YOUR feedback!

Please WATCH the Solution Design Summit trailers on the #OLCInnovate Sandbox (a Canvas LMS site) for the conference. To join this Canvas site, click the “Enroll” button at the top of the page or enroll HERE https://canvas.instructure.com/enroll/MGEHMW  

To effectively COMMENT and provide FEEDBACK, our SDS Planning Team has developed  Guidelines for Solution Design Summit: Giving Feedback to Teams Please find all 9 videos and SDS Team pages HERE to do such things. You can READ the full proposal and learn more about these learning solutions by clicking on the “Read more at the Team page” links below.

If You Build It, Will They Come?

Read more at the Team page

 Preserving Core Experiences in the Online Learning Environment

Read more at the Team page

 Bridging the Engagement Gap for Distance Students Through Telerobotics

Read more at the Team page
Supporting Adjunct Faculty to Maximize Student Learning in the Online Classroom

Read more at the Team page

 Expanding college classrooms into high schools via distance learning network

Read more at the Team page

 Using Student Data as a Map, Not a Target

Read more at the Team page
An Interdisciplinary Approach to Cultural Relevance in the Curriculum

Read more at the Team page

 Creating Pathways to Digital Peer Leadership in the Liberal Arts

Read more at the Team page

 Cohort-specific Online Discussion Experiences

Read more at the Team page

Are you coming to #OLCInnovate? You should also plan to come to SDS Pitch Sessions during the Conference all hosted in Rhythms II Room of the New Orleans Sheraton Hotel. Three SDS Teams will pitch their learning challenge and solution during ONE (1) concurrent session in just 10-minutes. Audience members will be given 5 minutes for Q & A and then encouraged to cast their vote for the best solution design.

Thursday,

April 21, 2016

 11:15 am-12:00 pm 1. Cohort-specific Online Discussion Experiences

2. Expanding College Classrooms into High Schools via Distance Learning Networks

3. Bridging the Engagement Gap for Distance Students Through Telerobotics
Friday,

April 22, 2016

 9:45 am -10:30 am 1. If You Build It, Will They Come?

2. Supporting Adjunct Faculty to Maximize Student Learning in the Online Classroom

3. An Interdisciplinary Approach to Cultural Relevance in the Curriculum
Friday,

April 22, 2016

 11:15 am -12:00 pm 1. Preserving Core Experiences in the Online Learning Environment

2. Using Student Data as a Map, Not a Target

3. Creating Pathways to Digital Peer Leadership in the Liberal Arts

Thanks for your support! Much love from the #OLCInnovate 2016 SDS Planning Team:

  • Mike Goudzwaard, Dartmouth College, @mgoudz (Co-Chair)
  • Laura Pasquini, University of North Texas, @laurapassquini (Co-Chair)
  • Patrice Torcivia, Cornell University, @profpatrice
  • Kyle Johnson, Chaminade University, @kyleejohnson
  • Michael Atkisson, Brigham Young University, @mikeatkisson
  • Adam Croom, University of Oklahoma @acroom
  • Allison Dulin Salisbury – EdSurge @amdulin  (Reviewer)
  • Sean Michael Morris – Hybrid Pedagogy, @slamteacher (Advisor)
#AcWriMo, Higher Education, K-12, Learning, Learning and Performance, Learning Technologies, Online Learning, Professional Development, Research, Training & Development

What *IS* Innovation? Tell us. The CFP for OLC Innovate 2016 (#OLCinnovate) is OPEN!

Laura Pasquini

What *IS* innovation?

This is the FIRST question the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) co-chairs, Karen Vignare, Paige McDonald and I, asked each other as we started to organize the *NEW* OLC Innovate Conference (#OLCinnovate). Innovation is a BIG word. It means so many different things, to so many different people. Before putting out the call and promoting the #OLCInnovate conference (happening April 20-22, 2016 in  New Orleans, LA), we thought carefully about who we wanted to join the planning team and how to design a conference experience to live up to the “hype” of the word INNOVATE. This conference was formed to merge the best ideas of blended learning (from #blend15) and emerging technologies for online learning (from #et4online); however we expect this meeting in NOLA — OLC Innovate 2016 — to be SO MUCH MORE! Thanks to our AMAZING #OLCInnovate Steering Committee (Tw-shout outs HERE and HERE) we support to hash out what innovation means for the program tracks, developed thoughtful session types for program delivery/format, and, we hope, this conference will model the learning design we all strive for at our institutions and organizations.

logo_516x227

So WHY should you attend #OLCinnovate 2016? [What’s in it for me? you ask.]

  • Advancing learning requires continuous visionary leadership from all disciplines
  • Connecting with multiple stakeholders (i.e. learners, educators, administrators, trainers, researchers, administrators, faculty, policy-makers, designers, and industry leaders) to strategize about the evolving needs at our institutions and organizations
  • Sharing learning and development ideas for all levels – K-12, higher education, & industry
  • Implementing solution-based approaches to learning design, support, and structure
  • Researching and developing evidence-based practices for learning is now more critical than ever.

Our #OLCinnovate planning team thinks this conference is a great opportunity to bring ideas, perspectives, research, and practices to the table to truly support innovation in education. The program tracks are structured around areas we all face with learning and development in K-12, higher education, and industry:

  • Workforce Innovation – connections from K-12 to higher ed to the workforce, curriculum to meet industry needs, partnerships for learning & work
  • Structural Innovation – systemic challenges, organization of education, learning spaces, partnerships between educators & technology solutions
  • Pedagogical Innovation – course & program approaches, methods, design, assessment models, etc.
  • Challenging Barriers to Innovation – digital divide, OER, Open Access, sharing evidence, ethical research collaborations, opportunities and areas for learning growth
  • Propose Your Own Topic – Tell us what YOU think innovation IS or what is missing!

Extend_OLCinnovate_Dec2

The call for proposals (CFP) is OPEN until November 9 December 2, 2015 

Program Format (Session Types) include:

  1. Conversations That Work – why have a panel, when you can facilitate a discussion on the topic with others in the room? Think of questions, discussion prompts, and ideas you want to chat about for this 45-minute session.
  2. Emerging Ideas – Forget the “traditional poster session” we want you to share your practice, research, and work-in-progress ideas in 10-15 minutes to get ideas, feedback, and suggestions during this networking event with both on-site & virtual attendees.
  3. Innovation Labs – 5-minute chat about the concept/idea; 20-minute demonstration; 20-minute applied skills for learning, technology, research, design, or other.
  4. Research Highlights & Trends – 15-minute presentation on your original research; abstract due in November; final, full paper due January 31, 2016 with the potential to be invited to a special issue of the Online Learning journal.
  5. Workshops – these are interactive 90-minute sessions with valuable take-away learning outcomes for participants (free to all conference participants).
  6. Education Sessions – a 45-minute lecture about an idea/concept with 5-10 minutes for Q & A at the end.

There are a number of helpful tips provided on the CFP page; however if you have questions or needs, I would be happy to support you with your proposal development/submission. It is getting the right PEOPLE and VOICES to the table that adds value to any learning and development experience. Please help us invite of institutional stakeholders from education (K-12 and higher ed), and industry (technology, design, L & D, and corporate training) to #OLCinnovate. Share this blog post with your peers, and tell me who the #OLCinnovate planning team should reach out to or invite. Thanks!

SUBMIT A PROPOSAL FOR OLC INNOVATE 2016!

Upcoming announcements of other #OLCinnovate program features, speakers, highlights, and are coming soon… stay tuned for more updates!

Book Review, Higher Education, K-12, Open Education, PLN

10 Principles for the Future of Learning

Laura Pasquini

While working on some late night treadmill mileage, I decided to catch up on documents and books I have been collecting on my Kindle. Last week I read The Future of Learning Institutions in a Digital Age, which was a precursor to The Future of Thinking: Learning Institutions in a Digital Age book published by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Although this material is a bit dated, I think that some of the pedagogy still applies for educational development.

Image c/o Martin Hawksey (and his musings on this text as well). 

In the first collaborative project, the authors share ten principles to support the future of learning. Davidson and Goldberg (2009) presented these pillars of institutional pedagogy to help institutions rethink learning and meet the challenges that lie ahead for both K-12 and higher education:

  1. Self-Learning – discovering and exploring online possibilities
  2. Horizontal Structures – how learning institutions enable learning; from learning that to learning how; from content to process
  3. From Presumed Authority to Collective Credibility – shifting issues of authority to issues of credibility; understand how to make wise choices
  4. A De-Centered Pedagogy – adopt a more inductive, collective learning that takes advantage of our era and digital resources
  5. Networked Learning – socially networked collaborative learning stressing cooperation, interactivity, mutuality and social engagement
  6. Open Source Education – seeks to share openly and freely in the creation of culture and learning; provides a more collective model of interchange
  7. Learning as Connectivity and Interactivity – digital connection and interaction to produce sustainable, scaffolding ensembles
  8. Lifelong Learning – there is no finality to learning; learning is part of society and culture
  9. Learning Institutions as Mobilizing Networks – networks enable flexibility, interactivity, and outcome; new institutional organizations reliability and innovation
  10. Flexible Scalability and Simulation – new technologies allow for collaboration beyond distance or scale for productive interactions that warrant educational merit

Reference: Davidson, C.N. & Goldberg, D.T. (2009). The future of learning institutions in a digital age. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

BreakDrink, CTCX, Higher Education, K-12, Learning Technologies, Social Media

#SocialMedia & #HigherEd – Policy vs. Guidance

Laura Pasquini

Last week, I attended the free @EDUCAUSE #EDUlive Developing Social Media Guidance in higher education with respect to #Privacy and #Security concerns. The presenters, from the University of Pennsylvania, shared ideas for how to promote safe usage of social media and detailed how to  draft guidance for addressing issues in teaching, research, administrative, and other functions.

Click here for the Twitter Cloud interactive image =>  http://www.infomous.com/node/15059

If you missed the #EDUlive event, you can check out the webinar recording and archives posted on the EDUCAUSE website, Developing Social Media Guidance, and you can also read through the Storify of #EDUlive tweets I collected.

During the webinar, I shared the Social Media: Sharing Strategies, Policies &  Privacy Concerns in Higher Education open & shared Google Doc that was 1st created for a @BreakDrink Campus Tech Connection (CTCX) Show in September 2010. This document has been circulated around and curated for a while by myself and high ed professionals and faculty. Since there were a number of social media guidelines/policy examples shared during the webcast, I added  them to this doc. For others interested in developing guidelines, I think there are a few solid examples I like in here, and I know that @EricStoller shared some of his favourite #SM guidelines from the list on InsideHigherEd recently as well.

Before diving into creating rules, guidelines or policies for social media, it is important to consider how this emerging technology is being used on your campus. In Chapter 6 of Social Media for Educators, Tanya Joosten (2012) shares her thoughts around institutional considerations for social media policy and practice [which we chatted with Tanya about on #CTCX Episode No. 61 as well]. There are often concerns about the use of social media at educational institutions, since these social and  connected resources impact student behavior, online interactions, privacy concerns, and communication practices. When developing a social media policy, Joosten (2012) offers a few helpful suggestions for educators:

  • review current technology use at your institution
  • do not link policies to specific tools
  • revise current student conduct and institutional policies
  • use policy to address behaviors and activities, rather than focus on the technology
  • learn about FERPA (or FIPPA in Canada) issues and privacy of student information at your campus
  • develop best practices on campus for use by students, faculty, and support units

When thinking about the language of policy vs. guidelines, I am partial to establishing guidelines. There are probably already policies that address the actions and outcomes of student, staff, and/or faculty behavior on your campus. I think that it is important to review your home institutional policies and/or guidelines to best understand what is already being “regulated” on campus. It is also helpful to chat with your institutional office who deals with policy development, legal concerns, and/or questions you might have around privacy legislation.

Have you searched the terms “social media+policy” or “social media+guidelines” on your institutional website? Go on. See what shows up. If you find something, then start connecting and collaborating with that unit. If there is nothing to be found, then gather your peers and start the conversation.

References:
Joosten, T. (2012). Social media for educators. San Francisco, CA: Wiley/Jossey-Bass.