1. Rethinking
learning and
teaching in a
digital age
Gráinne Conole
The Open University, UK
22nd July 2011, Rome
IADIS conference

2. A little context…

3. A little context…
My background:
Irish
PhD Chemistry

4. A little context…
My background:
Irish
PhD Chemistry
Research interests:
Professor of e-learning at the OU
Learner and teachers’ use of
technology
Learning design
Open Educational Resources
Learning theories
Web 2.0 technologies
E-learning strategy and policy

5. A little context…
My background:
Irish
PhD Chemistry
Research interests:
Professor of e-learning at the OU
Learner and teachers’ use of
technology
Learning design
Open Educational Resources
Learning theories
Web 2.0 technologies
E-learning strategy and policy

6. Overview
• Today’s educational context
• Social and participatory
media
• Pedagogies of e-learning
• Digital literacies
• Community and
interactivity
• Open practices
• Final thoughts

7. Today’s educational context
• Rapidly changing
technological environment
• New digital literacy skills
needed for learners and
teachers
• New open practices are
emerging
• New forms of online
community and
interactivity
Learning pathways

8. Limitless
• Unbounded
intelligence
• Unlocking
potential
• Distributed
cognition (people
and technologies)
Trailer

9. Social and participatory media 6
Conole and Alevizou, 2010

10. Social and participatory media 6
Media sharing
Conole and Alevizou, 2010

11. Social and participatory media 6
Media sharing Blogging
Conole and Alevizou, 2010

12. Social and participatory media 6
Media sharing Blogging
Messaging
Conole and Alevizou, 2010

13. Social and participatory media 6
Media sharing Blogging
Messaging
Recommender
systems
Conole and Alevizou, 2010

14. Social and participatory media 6
Media sharing Blogging
Messaging
Recommender
systems
Virtual worlds
and games
Conole and Alevizou, 2010

15. Social and participatory media 6
Media sharing Blogging
Messaging
Recommender
systems
Virtual worlds
and games
Syndication
Conole and Alevizou, 2010

16. Social and participatory media 6
Media sharing Blogging
Messaging
Recommender
systems
Virtual worlds
and games
Social
Syndication
bookmarking Conole and Alevizou, 2010

17. Social and participatory media 6
Media sharing Blogging
Messaging
Recommender
systems
Social Virtual worlds
networking and games
Social
Syndication
bookmarking Conole and Alevizou, 2010

18. Social and participatory media 6
Media sharing Blogging
Messaging
Collaborative Recommender
editing systems
Social Virtual worlds
networking and games
Social
Syndication
bookmarking Conole and Alevizou, 2010

19. Social and participatory media 6
Media sharing Blogging
Mash ups
Messaging
Collaborative Recommender
editing systems
Social Virtual worlds
networking and games
Social
Syndication
bookmarking Conole and Alevizou, 2010

20. The machine is Us/ing us

21. Peer
critiquing
The machine is Us/ing us

22. Peer
critiquing
User
generated
content
The machine is Us/ing us

23. Peer
critiquing
User
generated
content
Networked
The machine is Us/ing us

24. Peer Open
critiquing
User
generated
content
Networked
The machine is Us/ing us

25. Peer Open
critiquing
User
Collective
generated
aggregation
content
Networked
The machine is Us/ing us

26. Peer Open
critiquing
User
Collective
generated
aggregation
content
Networked Personalised
The machine is Us/ing us

27. Mayes & De Freitas, 2004
Pedagogies of e-learning Dyke et. al, 2007
Conole, 2010a
A

28. Mayes & De Freitas, 2004
Pedagogies of e-learning Dyke et. al, 2007
Conole, 2010a
Associative
Focus on individual
Learning through
association and
reinforcement
A

29. Mayes & De Freitas, 2004
Pedagogies of e-learning Dyke et. al, 2007
Conole, 2010a
Associative Constructivist
Focus on individual Building on prior
Learning through knowledge
association and Task-orientated
reinforcement
A

30. Mayes & De Freitas, 2004
Pedagogies of e-learning Dyke et. al, 2007
Conole, 2010a
Associative Constructivist
Focus on individual Building on prior
Learning through knowledge
association and Task-orientated
reinforcement
A
Situative
Learning through
social interaction
Learning in context

31. Mayes & De Freitas, 2004
Pedagogies of e-learning Dyke et. al, 2007
Conole, 2010a
Associative Constructivist
Focus on individual Building on prior
Learning through knowledge
association and Task-orientated
reinforcement
A
Situative Connectivist
Learning through Learning in a
social interaction networked
Learning in context environment

32. Mayes & De Freitas, 2004
Pedagogies of e-learning Dyke et. al, 2007
Conole, 2010a
E-training
Drill & practice
Associative Constructivist
Focus on individual Building on prior
Learning through knowledge
association and Task-orientated
reinforcement
A
Situative Connectivist
Learning through Learning in a
social interaction networked
Learning in context environment

33. Mayes & De Freitas, 2004
Pedagogies of e-learning Dyke et. al, 2007
Conole, 2010a
E-training Inquiry learning
Drill & practice Resource-based
Associative Constructivist
Focus on individual Building on prior
Learning through knowledge
association and Task-orientated
reinforcement
A
Situative Connectivist
Learning through Learning in a
social interaction networked
Learning in context environment

34. Mayes & De Freitas, 2004
Pedagogies of e-learning Dyke et. al, 2007
Conole, 2010a
E-training Inquiry learning
Drill & practice Resource-based
Associative Constructivist
Focus on individual Building on prior
Learning through knowledge
association and Task-orientated
reinforcement
A
Situative Connectivist
Learning through Learning in a
social interaction networked
Experiential, Learning in context environment
problem-based,
role play

35. Mayes & De Freitas, 2004
Pedagogies of e-learning Dyke et. al, 2007
Conole, 2010a
E-training Inquiry learning
Drill & practice Resource-based
Associative Constructivist
Focus on individual Building on prior
Learning through knowledge
association and Task-orientated
reinforcement
A
Situative Connectivist
Learning through Learning in a
social interaction networked
Experiential, Learning in context environment Reflective & dialog
problem-based, learning,
role play Personalised
learning

36. Some case study examples
E-training, Interactive materials,
drill and practice e-assessment
Google, media sharing
Inquiry learning,
repositories, user-
resource-based learning
generated content
Location aware devices,
Situative, problem-
Virtual worlds, online
based, role play
games
Reflective and dialogic Blogs, RSS feeds, e-
learning, Personalised portfolios, wikis, social
learning networks

37. E-training, drill and practice
McNaught, 2010, Edmedia Keynote

38. Going mobile
E-books
Study calendars
Learning resources
Online modules
Communication mechanisms

39. Inquiry-based learning
My community
The Personal Inquiry project
Inquiry-based learning across formal and
informal settings
Sharples, Scanlon et al.
http://www.pi-project.ac.uk/

40. Resource-based learning
GL
OM
ake
r
Lea
rnin
gO
bje
cts
es U
iTun
dca sts -
Po
Open Educational
Resources

41. Mash ups 14
http://voicethread.com/

42. Situative and role-based learning
What can avatars do? Virtual realities in
collaborative learning
Li et al., 2010, Edmedia conference
Aims to develop proficient technical writing
and design skills
Cohort of 82 students created a movie
poster of the film, Avatar
Virtual exhibition in SecondLife
Other examples:
Archeological digs
Medical wards
Art exhibitions
Cyber-law
Virtual language exchange
Beyond formal schooling

43. SecondLife
16
• Heightened sense
of telepresence
• Importance of
non-verbal clues
• Conveying
emotional state
• Stimulating,
involving,
motivational

44. Reflective and dialogic learning
Uses
Blogs and E-portfolios for personal reflection
Wikis/social bookmarking for aggregation
Wikis for project-based work
Cohort blogs for shared understanding
Web 2.0 tool to connect beyond the course
E-portfolios for aggregation and evidence
Twitter for just-in-time learning
Joyes, 2009, Ascilite
conference

45. Using media for my Spanish learning
18
 Completed two OU Spanish
courses(books, DVDs, audio
conferencing, f-to-f tutorials)
 Follow Spanish speakers on Twitter
 Postin Spanish on Twitter and
facebook
 Changed Facebook skin to Spanish
 Joined
relevant social networking
groups of language learners
 Usee-dictionaries and Google
translate (with care!)
 Listen to online podcasts
 Read Spanish newspapers online

46. Livemocha 19

47. Role play 20

48. Busuu
21

49. Spanish meetup 22

50. facebook 23

51. 24
Effective use of new technologies requires
a radical rethink of the core learning and
teaching processes; a shift from design as
an internalised, implicit and individually
crafted process to one that is externalised
and shareable with others. Change in
practice may indeed involve the use of
revised materials, new teaching strategies
and beliefs - all in relation to educational
innovation.
Conole and Alevizou, 2010

52. Digital literacies
Jenkins et al, 2006

53. Digital literacies
Performance Simulation
Appropriation Judgement
Networking Multitasking
Collective Transmedia
intelligence navigation
Distributed Negotiation
cognition
Play Jenkins et al, 2006

54. Creativity
Special issue EURODL: Creativity and OER

55. Definition • Derived from Latin ‘creo’
to create/make
• About creating
something new (physical
artefact or concept) that
is novel and valuable
• Ability to transcend
traditional ideas, rules,
partners, relationships
and create meaningful
new ideas, forms,
methods, interpretations

56. Why is it important?
• Essential skill to deal
with today’s
complex, fast and
changing society
• Discourse and
collaboration are
mediated through a
range of social and
participatory media

57. Technologies
• Can promote creativity in
new and innovative ways
• Enable new forms of
discourse, collaboration
and cooperation
• Access and repurpose
knowledge in different
forms of representation
• Aggregation and scale -
distributed and collective

58. Online communities
• New open, social and
participatory media enable new
means of communication,
collaboration, sharing and co-
construction of knowledge
• Want to focus on the nature of
community in these new online
spaces
• From tight to loosely coupled:
groups, networks and collectives
(Dron and Anderson, 2007)
• What is it and how can it be
fostered, supported?

59. The nature of community
• Complex, distributed, loose
communities are emerging
• Facilitated through different but
connected social networking tools
such as facebook, Twitter, Ning
• Users create their own Personal
Digital Environment
• Mix of synchronous and
asynchronous tools
• Boundary crossing e.g. the power of
retweeting
• Links between interests, rather than
places

60. Definitions
[Community does not] imply necessarily co-
presence, a well-defined identifiable group, or
socially visible boundaries. It does imply
participation in an activity system about
which participants share understandings
concerning what they are doing and what that
means in their lives and for their communities
Lave and Wenger, 1991
Virtual communities are social aggregations
that emerge from the Net when enough
people carry on those public discussions long
enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form
webs of personal relationships in cyberspace.
Rheingold, 1993

61. Community as a process
• Constantly evolving and
changing
• Shifting groups and depths
of relationships
• Dynamic, evolving and
potentially transformative
• Both directed and
serendipitous interactions

62. Interactivity
• New technologies enable
increasing interactivity between
learners and teachers
• Complex: psychological, social,
technical, linguistic and cultural
dimensions
• Types: communication-based,
purpose-based, tool-based,
activity-based
• Important in achievement,
persistence, enjoyment and
approaches to learning

63. Definition
Interactions occur when these
objects and events mutually
influence one another. An
instructional interaction is an
event that takes place between a
learner and the learner's
environment. Its purpose is to
respond to the learner in a way
intended to change his or her
behavior toward and educational
goal. Instructional interactions
have two purposes: to change
learners and to move them toward Wagner, 1994
achieving their goals.

64. Types
• Learner-learner
• Learner-teacher
• Learner-content
• Learner-interface
Moore, 1989; Hillman et al., 1994

65. Open practices
What are the
implications of
adopting more open
approaches?

66. Social and participatory media 38
Media sharing Blogging
Mash ups
Messaging
How are social and
Collaborative participatory media Recommender
editing systems
being used to enable
open practices?
Social Virtual worlds
networking and games
Social
Syndication
bookmarking

67. Open resources

68. Open resources

69. Open resources

70. Open resources

71. Open courses

72. Open design
Shift from belief-based, implicit
approaches to design-based, explicit
approaches
Learning Design
A design-based approach to
creation and support of courses
Encourages reflective, scholarly practices
Promotes sharing and discussion
Conole, 2010b

73. Open research

74. Open research

75. Open research

76. Open research

78. Open scholarship 44

79. Open scholarship 44
Discovery
Integration
Application
Teaching

80. Open scholarship 44
Discovery
Integration
Application
Teaching
Open
Digital
Networked
Weller: http://nogoodreason.typepad.co.uk/

81. Cloudworks
Cloudworks audio presentation

82. Community indicators
Participation Cohesion
Sustained over time Support & tolerance
Commitment from core group Turn taking & response
Emerging roles & hierarchy Humour and playfulness
Identity Creative capability
Group self-awareness Igniting sense of purpose
Shared language & vocab Multiple points of view
Sense of community expressed, contradicted or
challenged
Creation of knowledge links
& patterns
Galley et al., 2010

83. Final thoughts
Open, participatory and social media enable new
forms of communication and collaboration
Communities in these spaces are complex and
distributed
Learners and teachers need to develop new digital
literacy skills to harness their potential
We need to rethink how we design, support and
assess learning
Open, participatory and social media can provide
mechanisms for us to share and discuss teaching and
research ideas in new ways
We are seeing a blurring of boundaries: teachers/
learners, teaching/research, real/virtual spaces,
formal/informal modes of communication and
publication

84. 48
Conole, G. (forthcoming), Designing for learning in an open world, Springer:Verlag
g.c.conole@open.ac.uk

85. The future?
• Limitless potential of
technologies
• Individual, tools and
collective
• Augmented and
gesture technologies
• Blurring the
boundaries of real World Builder
and virtual worlds

86. References
 Conole, G. (forthcoming), Designing for learning in an open world, Springer:Verlag.
 Conole, G. (2010a), Review of pedagogical models and their use in e-learning, http://
cloudworks.ac.uk/cloud/view/2982
 Conole, G. (2010b), Learning design - making practice explicit, ConnectEd conference, Sydney, 28th
June 2010, http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloud/view/4001
 Galley, R., Conole, G. and Alevizou, P. (submitted), Community Indicators: A framework for building
and evaluating community activity on Cloudworks, Interactive Learning Environments.
 Conole, G, and Alevizou, P. (2010), A literature review of the use of Web 2.0 tools in Higher
Education, HE Academy commissioned report, http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/EvidenceNet/
Conole_Alevizou_2010.pdf
 Galley, R., Conole, G. and Alevizou, P. (2010), Case study: Using Cloudworks for an Open Literature
Review, An HE Academy commissioned report.
 Alevizou, P., Conole, G. and Galley, R. (2010), Using Cloudworks to support OER activities, An HE
Academy commissioned report.
 Conole, G., Galley, R. and Culver, J. (2010), Frameworks for understanding the nature of
interactions, networking and community in a social networking site for academic practice, The
International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning.
 Conole, G. and Culver, J. (2010) 'The design of Cloudworks: applying social networking practice to
foster the exchange of learning and teaching ideas and designs' Computers and Education, 54(3):
679 - 692.
 Conole and Culver (2009), Cloudworks: social networking for learning design, Australian Journal of
Educational Technology, 25(5), pp. 763–782, http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet25/conole.html.

87. Websites
• http://ouldi.open.ac.uk
• http://cloudworks.ac.uk
• http://e4innovation.com
• http://oer-quality.org/
• http://olnet.org

88. Other references
• Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robison, A.J. and Weigel, M.,
(2006), Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: media education
for the 21st Century, http://digitallearning.macfound.org/atf/cf/
%7B7E45C7E0-A3E0-4B89-AC9C-E807E1B0AE4E%7D/
JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF
• Weller, M (2011) The Digital Scholar. Bloomsbury Academic
• Loveless, A M (2007) Creativity, technology and learning – a review of
recent literature Futurelab, http://archive.futurelab.org.uk/resources/
documents/lit_reviews/Creativity_Review_update.pdf
• Dron, J., and Anderson, T. (2007). Collectives, networks and groups in social
software for e-Learning, Proceedings of World Conference on E-Learning in
Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education Quebec.
Retrieved Feb (Vol. 16, pp. 2008).
• Moore, M. (1989). Three types of interaction. American Journal of Distance
Education, 3(2), 1-6.
• Hillman, D. C., Willis, D. J., and Gunawardena, C. N. (1994). Learner-
interface interaction in distance education: an extension of contemporary
models and strategies for practitioners. The American Journal of Distance
Education, 8(2), 30-42.

89. URLs
• http://robwall.ca/2009/03/10/creativity-is-the-new-technology/
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvIQP-EBPqc
• http://vimeo.com/3365942
• http://blogs.hbr.org/video/2010/05/andrew-klavan-on-how-21st-
cent.html
• Questionmark http://www.flickr.com/photos/crystaljingsr/3914729343/

90. Acknowledgements
• Snoopy http://www.flickr.com/photos/andertoons-cartoons/2754475964/
• Juggling http://www.flickr.com/photos/r8r/4109502436/
• Social media http://www.flickr.com/photos/intersectionconsulting/5045734278/
• Creativity http://content5.videojug.com/89/89cae62c-c95f-a407-cf09-ff0008ca3c71/how-to-
improve-your-creative-thinking.WidePlayer.jpg
• 8LEM http://cetl.ulster.ac.uk/elearning/images/8LEM.jpg
• Voicethread http://www.elearningclouds.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/VoiceThread.png
• Secondlife http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bsWh9JKbOZ0/SxYN0s1MWJI/AAAAAAAABuk/
Pvj5ETXXSRU/s400/MUVErs%2BPatient%2BRoleplay%2BSimulation%2B2.jpg
• Pandora’s box http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkwood67/3431956363/
• Clouds http://www.flickr.com/photos/torley/2311784203/
• Students http://www.flickr.com/photos/snoy/2599258991/
• Community http://www.flickr.com/photos/anonymonk/1403378488/
• One world-oneweb http://www.flickr.com/photos/psd/2731067095/
• Web2.0 city - http://www.flickr.com/photos/4everyoung/313308360/