This sceptred ILE

We have enjoyed a very successful year at Interactive Learning Environments (ILE), the journal I took on as co-editor in January. I'm working alongside Piers Maclean and Joe Psotka who are hard working guys. We have managed to bolster our editorial board with some impressive new members, including John Cook (London Metropolitan University), John Traxler (University of Wolverhampton), Palitha Edirisingha (University of Leicester), Ingo Stengel (University of Applied Social Sciences, Darmstadt) and Nicola Whitton (Manchester Metropolitan University). We also have an army of excellent reviewers without whom we would not have enjoyed the success we have had this year. We were delighted to hear that ILE has jumped up to 40th place in the Journal Citation Reports index with an impact factor of 0.941. We have extended the journal from 3 to 4 issues a year, and in January we start full online submission using Manuscript Central.

The December issue of Interactive Learning Environments is now out and all 7 papers focus on how Web 2.0 tools can be used to promote and support interactive learning. From over 50 submissions, guest editors Yueh-Min Huang, Stephen Yang and Chin-Chung Tsai have gathered together an interesting set of articles and my thanks go to them for an excellent job well done. Below is an extract from their editorial detailing the paper themes:

The seven papers included in this special issue elaborate Web 2.0 from various perspectives. One paper considers the limitations of learning styles and cultural values imposed to the usage of Web 2.0; one paper illustrates various paradigms for providing semantic services from a social perspective; two papers illustrate the usage of blogs for identifying learner and teacher behaviour patterns; one paper discusses online recommendation of tutors and experts for enhancing online learning supports; and two papers explore knowledge building and sharing through integrated knowledge repository and concept maps.

We are planning more special issues for ILE in 2010 that will be at the very leading edge of learning technology, and in 2011 we will go to 5 issues a year. Looks like we are going from strength to strength!

Image source

Breaking the mould

I was interested today to read the transcript of some online exchanges on the BECTA discussion list. They were between Graham Brown-Martin and others who were discussing the use of VLEs in education. The ALT-C 'VLE is Dead' Symposium got a mention, as did my reference to the work of anarchist philosopher Ivan Illich. Illich argued that schools were like funnels, an industrialised, impersonal process that created more problems than solutions. His alternative was to establish learning webs where everyone could share their expertise with their communities and learn from each other as the need arose. Informal learning, for Illich, was more situated than formal learning, and as Einstein once said: 'Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned at school'.

During my presentation in Manchester I happened to mention that Illich's 1970s notion of deschooling society could now be achieved through new web based tools, but that we were in danger of turning the Web back into a funnel if we persisted with wholesale implementation of institutional VLEs that constrained rather than liberated learning.

Graham Brown-Martin makes an excellent point about new technologies and learning on the BECTA discussion group. He says: "...the technologies used by young learners outside of school are often far more powerful and relevant to the outside world than that which is within it. For example an Internet enabled Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 is some 3-4 times more powerful than a typical school laptop whilst still allowing collaborative play with thousands of other global citizens. A Nintendo Wii presents a new mode of human computer interaction far more in keeping with skills needed for future telematics than a desktop PC". Graham is absolutely correct of course, but others are not so optimistic about these informal, extra-curricular learning processes.

Always an emotive subject, the BECTA discussion on the institutional VLE descended to the level of name-calling. Referring to my presentation at ALT-C and my mention of Illich was enough to brand me as a member of the 'loony fringe' by one contributor. Actually, I'm not offended by this, but I am genuinely encouraged. It's not the first time someone has tried to shoot me down. It happened during the plenary session of ICL in Austria earlier in the year too. "No-one quotes Illich anymore!" - said an angry keynote speaker when I asked him a question. It's not always a bad thing to be labelled lunatic...

The clue is in the use of the descriptor 'anarchist'. One keen observer asked me after the event to explain my statement that Illich was 'one of my favourite anarchists'. He asked what other anarchists I admired. I responded with a list of people including: Jesus Christ, Mozart, Picasso, Van Gogh, Stockhausen, Einstein, The Beatles and Dylan Thomas. A surprising list perhaps? Few of these, if asked, would have classified themselves as anarchists in the sense that they wished to 'destroy the world'. Many of them were criticised for being mad, deluded, drug-crazed or drunken, but each of them in their own way broke the mould, enabled us to see the world in a new way, and created new concepts that made us rethink our representations of reality. To me, that is what true anarchism is. Not being satisfied with the present, it is about challenging, subverting and ultimately replacing tired old structures - 'destructive creativity' if you will.

Illich has often been misunderstood. He was not saying 'destroy school'. He was saying that the ills of the current school system (read 1970, or 2010) far outweigh the good. School is creating far more societal problems than it is solving, he believed. His notion of 'learning webs' reflects his concern that we become more community focused and able to respond to changes, whilst his critique of 'funnels' shows his concern for the bland, homogenous and often irrelevant curricula of his own time and the impersonal, behaviouristic manner in which it was delivered.

Here is what Illich actually said: “A…major illusion on which the school system rests is that most learning is the result of teaching. Teaching, it is true, may contribute to certain kinds of learning under certain circumstances. But most people acquire most of their knowledge outside school, and in school only insofar as school, in a few rich countries, has become their place of confinement during an increasing part of their lives".

On his blog, Bill Ellis provides us with a clear insight into the motivation behind Illich's thesis: "Deschooling Society was more about society than about schools. Society needed deschooling because it was a mime of the school system that it engendered and that engendered it. In our current society individuals are expected to work in dull and stultifying jobs for future rewards. This they are trained to do in schools. They go to school so that they can get a job to work for future rewards".

We are seeing some green shoots. Creative curricula and personalised learning environments are the start of the deschooling Illich espoused. The formation of loose networks of practice communities on the Social Web is another. Doing away with school systems that inhibit creative expression and individualism, and introducing forms of assessment that support learning rather than measure it are also the start of the deschooling process. Using appropriate digital media that connect people into expert webs and enable them to negotiate meaning that is relevant to their own specific contexts is infinitely better than instruction. We won't be doing away with the school or university building. What we should be doing though, is building the essence of all that is good from the school and university into each personal learning space, wherever that may be, and whatever form it might take.

Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich

Image source

Never mind the quality, feel the width

Is Wikipedia dying a slow death? Will the one-stop shop for students soon draw its final breath?

These are the questions posed by the BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones in his blog post 'Wikipedia on the wane?' His post was fomented by a recent report from a Spanish academic who claims that editors are leaving the online wiki based encyclopedia faster than new ones are joining. The study estimates that Wikipedia has lost 49,000 editors in just a few months. That's rather careless of them - just where did all those editors go? What are they doing now? And where were they the last time we saw them? They certainly aren't editing Wikipedia's pages anymore says the report. And it seems that the crisis has been caused by heavy handed tactics and beaurocracy which is offputting to those who wish to create new pages or make changes to existing entries. Love or hate Wikipedia, you have to admit it is a real phenomenon, with just about every subject under the sun covered, and high rankings for all pages in search engines. If you want depth of information, go to Encyclopaedia Brittanica. If you want breadth and width of topic coverage, it's Wikipedia you need. They are both fairly accurate, but when an error was detected in the past, Wikipedians moved in quickly to rectify it. But will that continue, or will the website fall into neglect and disrepair?

The report, which also features in the Wall Street Journal, shows that enthusiasm (which let's face it, was the reason for Wikipedia's early success) seems to be falling away. Cellan-Jones suggests that without the 'worker bees' nurturing the pages of Wikipedia, and dedicated armies of enthusiastic and knowledgeable editors maintaining the fine balance between opinion and fact, the online encyclopedia may fall into disrepute. It would be ironic indeed if this was the case, now that Wikipedia seems to be gaining respect with its recently introduced new quality measures.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel - visitors to Wikipedia are on the increase, and it looks as though the rumours of its demise are premature. The solution has to be that more users need to become contributors - which was after all, the original ethos of the wiki, wasn't it?

Image source (edited)

...and my nominations are...

Here are my nominations for the 2009 Edublogger Awards:

For best individual blog I would like to nominate Martin Weller, who on his blog The Ed Techie, has been consistent in his posting and always manages to provide some food for thought. He is @mweller on Twitter.

For me, the most influential blog post of the year contained the video (Movie) of the ALT-C debate on the death of the VLE. Recorded and posted by James Clay onto his blog e-Learning Stuff, the video has been downloaded countless times, and copied/embedded into dozens of other websites and blogs around worldwide. You can find him as @jamesclay on Twitter.

In the best New Blog category I nominate Donna Hay over at The Web 2.0 Optimist for her honest, insightful and thoughtful ideas and comments on Web 2.0 tools and their many applications in school settings. You can follow her on Twitter as @dwsm.

Best Group Blog this year should go to Pontydysgu who under Graham Attwell's leadership have continually provided valuable in-depth commentary and advice on a host of e-learning issues and debates. On Twitter he is @grahamattwell.

My vote for best Resource Sharing blog must go to David Hopkins, whose blog Don't Waste Your Time, has been a constant source of interest, and has me returning time and again. On Twitter he is @hopkinsdavid.

For best individual tweeter, I turn to Alec Couros, whom I have probably RT'd more than anyone else this year. His Tweets are often entertaining, always informative. On Twitter, Alec is @courosa.

For the Lifetime Achievement award, I want to nominate Josie Fraser, who over the years, through her blogposts, twittering and other social media channels, has inspired, challenged and encouraged us all. She is a true innovator, and has in my opinion, over the past few years made a significant contribution to learning technology. For anyone of the few left who are not following her, she is @josiefraser on Twitter.

That's me done. Who are you nominating this year?

Edubloggers 2009

It's that time of the year and the Edublogger Awards are upon us again. Josie Fraser has done a remarkable job over the past few years organising this event. She deserves all of our thanks for the impact and reach it has had over the last few years in encouraging a veritable phalanx of creative and energetic posts on every educational topic imaginable.

I felt very honoured last year to be nominated in two categories - best individual blog and most influential blog post (neither of which I stood a cat's chance in Hell of winning of course...)

This year's awards are being organised by another old friend of mine, Carol Daunt, and feature some new categories, including most influential series of Tweets around a discussion. Voting is open to all and the full list of categories is:

Best individual blog
Best individual tweeter
Best group blog
Best new blog
Best class blog
Best student blog
Best resource sharing blog
Most influential blog post
Most influential tweet / series of tweets / tweet based discussion
Best teacher blog
Best librarian / library blog
Best educational tech support blog
Best elearning / corporate education blog
Best educational use of audio
Best educational use of video / visual
Best educational wiki
Best educational use of a social networking service
Best educational use of a virtual world
Lifetime achievement

To nominate in any or all categories, simply post on your blog stating who, and linking to both their blog and to the Edublogger Awards site. My nominations will be in my next post, but I already have a fair idea who I would like to see win the Lifetime Achievement award this year. ;-)

True grit

Educational values in a digital age

View more presentations from Steve Wheeler.

I gave a lecture to the entire 4th year of our Primary B.Ed teacher education programme earlier today, entitled: Educational Values in a Digital Age. Above are the slides that accompanied the lecture. I criticised the worst aspects of formalised schooling where children are taught en masse, and I called for a more learner centred ethos in education. Sure, there is differentiation in schools, but we really don't go far enough, due to lack of time, rigid curriculum and far too few teachers leading to large and often unmanageable classes. But there is an even deeper problem: Teachers are trying to prepare children for work in a world that is constantly changing. I made the point that digital technologies and social media can help to overcome some of the problems teachers face as they get students ready to enter a world of work we can't even begin to imagine yet.

I quoted from Yvonne Robert's book 'Grit: the skills for success and how they are grown', which I picked up after hearing her keynote at Handheld Learning in October. It is a brilliant critique of the current assessment regimes. Roberts argues convincingly that current assessment methods place far too much emphasis on academic qualifications and not enough on self discipline and personal skills. She also points out that teaching literacy, numeracy and science is not enough to prepare children for a world of work which is constantly changing and unpredictable. She calls for more emphasis to be placed on helping students in coping with change, creative thinking and collaborative working.

The 160 students in the group were animated in their discussion of these points, both during and after the lecture. I'm very encouraged by these excellent young people. They are the new revolutionaries - the young, dynamic new teachers that can go into their schools and make a real difference. Let's hope their more experienced colleagues support them and harness their knowledge and enthusiasm.

You've been framed

Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development theory has long been revered by the education community as a model for describing what happens when we learn in social contexts. Bright young things will know that the ZPD describes the space where, with the help of a knowledgeable other person, they can extend and enhance their learning beyond that which they might achieve on their own. Reading through the recent blog post by Graham Attwell on Vygotsky's theory, I find myself agreeing with a lot of what has been discussed. Graham has a problem with ZPD in that it implies the presence of a teacher or expert. I agree that this is indeed problematic when we view the amount of self-organised learning and user generated content that is proliferating on the Web. It's blatently obvious we don't always need a 'knowledgeable other' to be breathing down our necks as we negotiate meaning and learn for ourselves in informal settings. Lev Vygotsky's ideas were the product of his lifelong immersion in Communist Soviet society, and it's apparent as you read his writings just how influenced he was by the notion of collective action. Perhaps this is one reason why his work was suppressed for so long and only began to emerge as a major theory of learning long after his premature demise.

Enter Jerome S. Bruner, an American academic who repurposed the idea of the ZPD by introducing the concept of scaffolding (often erroneously attributed to Vygotsky). According to Wikipedia, scaffolding is: '...the provision of sufficient support to promote learning when concepts and skills are being first introduced.' It fades away as the learner becomes more autonomous or expert. If we apply Bruner's ideas we illuminate Vygotsky's model in the digital age. Let's think for a minute: on a building site (the analogy used by Bruner) what is scaffolding used for? It's not used to support the building, because that must ultimately stand on its own. No, scaffolding is there to support the building process - and to support the builders themselves.

Let's now consider that the building represents 'knowledge'. We are constructing this knowledge through a process of exploration, modelling, problem solving and reflecting through interaction with artefacts and social processes. Let's assume the builders represent the learner. The learner uses a number of support mechanisms to achieve the construction of their knowledge. Then the scaffolding is brought down as they move on to the next phase of their learning.

The scaffolding removes the problem of needing a 'knowledgeable other'. It also reconciles ZPD theory with Activity Theory, where social processes and influences assume more importance than social presence. Scaffolding can be any tool or service the learner requires at that time and in that context. It can be a mobile phone or a personal computer. It can be a TV programme or a newspaper, a conversation with a friend or even a chance remark that is overheard. Scaffolding frames the learning process, and supports it, and these are the processes that we see with personal learning environments.

Related posts:

Vygotsky, ZPD, Scaffolding, Connectivism and PLEs (Pat Parslow)
Scaffolding and online synchronous communications (Sarah Horrigan)

Image source