My keynote presentation to the AADES conference in Melbourne 2013. Abstract: What does learning look like in a world that is increasingly networked? How can we harness the ever-increasing range of online technologies to support effective learning? What are the implications for teachers, for students, and for the wider community? And what are the implications for distance education providers as the boundaries blur between them and traditional face-to-face providers? In this keynote address Derek will explore current trends in education and how these are re-shaping how we think about schooling, teaching and the role of learners. He will provide insights into how we need to respond these questions in order to meet the challenges of learning in a networked world.

1. AUSTRALASIAN ASSOCIATION OF DISTANCE EDUCATION SCHOOLS
ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2013 – MELBOURNE SEPTEMBER 11 - 13
Learning
in a networked
world

2. THE FUTURE?
• Remember the Jetsons?
• Robots cleaning house
• Machines in the kitchen
that cook food instantly
• Video phones
• Doors that open
automatically
• What was their vision for
schooling?

3. THE FUTURE OF SCHOOL
• What’s different?
• Focus of attention on the
front of the room
• Desks in rows
• Text books replaced by
technology
• Robots teaching the
class

4. WHAT’S CHANGED?
• Focus of attention on front
of room
• Desks in rows
• Teacher the primary
focus of instruction
• Technology adopted to
support traditional
practices
“Most of today’s classrooms are designed
with the teacher at the centre. But if the
classroom is focused on the learner
instead, the learning becomes
paramount!” Rick Dewar

5. “Flipped
classroom”
Virtual
schools
THE EMERGING PARADIGM…
F2F
Classrooms
Distance
Educa9on
Teaching
&
Instruc9on
F2F
using
WWW
DE
using
LMS
Knowledge
Networkss
Online/
eLearning
Blended
learning
Networked
Learning
First Then Now Next

6. WHAT ARE THE GAME CHANGERS?

7. AGENCY
• “The power to act”
• “Sense of ownership”
• “Executing and controlling
one’s own actions”
• “Self-efficacy”
• “Personalisation”

8. STUDENT EXPECTATIONS
Washor, E and Mohkowski, C (2013) Leaving to learn
Do my teachers really know
about me and my interests and
talents?
Do I find what the school is
teaching relevant to my
interests?
Do I have opportunities to apply
what I am learning in real world
settings and contexts?
Do I feel appropriately
challenged in my learning?
Can I pursue my learning out
of the standard sequence?
Do I have sufficient time to
learn at my own pace?
Do I have real choice
about what, where
and how I learn?
Do I have opportunities to
explore and make
mistakes?
Do I have opportunities to engage
deeply in my learning and to practice
the skills I need to lean?

9. WE LIVE IN A PERSONALISED WORLD
• My watchlist (on Trademe)
• My personal banking
• My travel planner
• MySky
• My portfolio
• MyYoutube channels
• My…
• AGENCY is key!

10. EXAMPLE ONE: KHAN ACADEMY
• It’s all about me!
• Onine support
• Badges
• Ideas for classroom
use

11. EXAMPLE TWO: NIKE TRAINING CLUB
• Tailored to me!!
• Use own playlist to work
out
• During the workout it’s
easy to understand what
is gong in – with voice
commands that give
pointers and countdown
like a trainer does
• And a nice summary at
the end

12. THE RHIZOMATIC (FREE AGENT) LEARNER
• Self directed learning
• Un-tethered to traditional
school/institution
• Expert at personal data
aggregation
• Power of connections
• Creating new communities
• Not tethered to physical
networks
• Experiential learning
• Content developer
• Process as important as
knowledge gained

13. CHALLENGES
• Do our learners have to adapt to
our way of doing things, or do
we adapt to theirs?
• Are we focused on delivery – or
learning experience?

15. MOBILE TRENDS
• mLearning – in the
classroom and workplace
• BYOD – Bring your own
device
• “snack” learning
• Location-based
integration and
workplace training
• Cloud computing
• Rewind learning
http://www.bottomlineperformance.com/6-mobile-learning-trends-that-grew-in-2012/

16. THREE WORLDS CONVERGING
Internet capable, mobile
devices
Wireless connectivity
Cloud services

17. CHALLENGE
Have we grasped how significantly
student access to technology has
changed their expectations as
learners?
In a world where information is
always accessible, how will
teaching and learning change?

18. OPEN-NESS

20. CHALLENGES
• Is the content you develop
available under a CC license?
• How open are you prepared to
make your programmes?

21. • “Having a sense of being a part of
something that is bigger than ones
self”
• It’s not about the technology, but it’s
all about being connected.
• This is having an impact on all areas
of human activity
CONNECTEDNESS

22. >1 Billion
(100 billion connections)
>500 Million
>150 Million
>14 million articles
>6 Billion images
Sources from service providers and also http://econsultancy.com
3.5 Billion views/day
70 hours/minute
>400 Million
>170 Million(55 million posts per day)
SOCIAL MEDIA USE IN 2013

23. RHIZOMATIC LEARNING
Knowledge
constructed by self-
aware communities
adapting to
environmental
conditions

24. MAKING CONNECTIONS
• In Connectivism, learning
involves creating
connections and
developing a network. It is
a theory for the digital age
drawing upon chaos,
emergent properties, and
self organised learning.
• (It’s not what you know, but
who you know)

25. • Open
• Distributed
• Scalable
• Social
generative
• Networked
• Self-organised
• Adaptive
• Global
An education system that fails to emulate the characteristics of
information in an era of knowledge is doomed to fail.
Information today is…
George Siemens: Connectivism –
a theory of learning for the networked age
http://www.connectivism.ca/

26. NETWORK LITERACIES
“Understanding how
networks work is one
of the most important
literacies of the 21st
century” (2010)
Howard Reingold

27. CLUSTER SCHOOLS
School A
School A
School A
Services
Internet
School
School
School
Public Library
University
N4L
Aggregation
Point

28. THE VLNC
The Virtual Learning Network
Community (VLNC) is a network of
school clusters and educational
institutions who collaborate to provide
access to a broad range of curriculum
and learning opportunities for students
through online learning.
“Supports the concept of classrooms
without walls, where students have
flexibility to connect with their classes
24/7”
http://www.vln.school.nz

29. SUPERLOOP FORUM
www.superloop.org.nz

30. NETWORKS
• redefine communities,
friends, citizenship,
identity, presence,
privacy, publics,
geography.
• enable learning,
communication,
sharing, collaboration,
community.
• networks form around
shared interests &
objects

31. NETWORK LITERACIES
“Understanding how
networks work is one
of the most important
literacies of the 21st
century” (2010)
Howard Reingold

32. www.superloop.org.nz

33. How will your institution
negotiate the new ecology of
learning?
What will a distance education
institution look like in the
future?

34. THE FUTURE OF LEARNING

35. School A
Schools
NETWORKED LEARNING
Network PLN
Collection of entities
Informal
Semi-structured
Complex
Group knowledge
Federally organised
Formal groupings
Elemental
Defined by mass/
structure
Knowledge transfer
Externally organised
Association of entities
Informal
Unstructured
Complex
Personal knowledge
Personally organised
The way networks learn is the way individuals learn

36. EVOLUTION OF PROGRAMME DESIGN
Product
Orienta9on
Student
need
orienta9on
Standardiza9on
Customiza9on
Reconcilia9on??
www.myins9tu9on.com
www.mylearning.com

37. What might that reconciliation
look like in your institution?

38. Derek Wenmoth
Email: derek@core-ed.org
Blog: http://blog.core-ed.org/derek
Skype: <dwenmoth>