A very basic set of slides to go with my presentation on the conference theme of social learning - subtitle = "Is professional educationinherently anti-social?"

1. Is professional educationinherently anti-social? Whose education is it anyway? Ian Gardner – Jan 2010

2. About this presentation Open courseware More details at the below URL – comments welcome: tinyurl.com/ Y9827q5 Probably should have been a discussion not a presentation! Role of PE/HE Programme design VLE/PLE Today

3. Why Professional Education? Blackboard customer group: “the e-Learning needs of corporations, the U.S. government, associations and for-profit education providers... fully engage employees and develop talent across your organizations” Source: http://www.blackboard.com/newsletters/proedjune07b.htm

4. Presentation overview Whose education is it anyway? Conflicting views from different stakeholders including: on group work vs. independent learning on collaboration tools (inc. Blackboard’s) and their use in education

5. Popularity of content

6. Take up of tools

7. Take up of tools

8. Group work vs. Independence Image source: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3275/3079465935_9ca3dfb507.jpg

9. Is it just Professional Education? Different motivations than compulsory education Different timescales, implications for: Pedagogy Instructional design Relationships Access to Blackboard However...

10. Ongoing relationships

11. Is it just Professional Education? (2) Overall, a lot of similarities Realism over idealism What is ‘employability’ and other questions outstanding Student preference FE has history of employer influence, HE different discipline requirements, PE influence of employers/accreditation Location and reputation still key

12. ‘Our’ solution

13. Student choice “Students learn differently and want choice. Such as paper or book, computer or internet, handout or VLE.” Student, University of Edinburgh Source: JISC Responding to Learners http://tinyurl.com/ye9zb5x

14. Student choice (2) “The main way that students would like to be involved in shaping the content of the course is through providing feedback on the course design.” Source: NUS/ HSBC Students Research Experience Report: Teaching and Learning (November 2009) http://tinyurl.com/y8vnuk9

15. Online/offline flexibility Topic focused: Guidance Support materials (inc. reading) ‘Lecture’ materials Test ‘Tutorial’ materials Further practice

16. Conclusion Anti-social okay? ‘Who you know not what you know’ Constructivism Educational values Fee payer expectations Expect large amounts of directly relevant content, ‘for the money we pay‘ Ultra competitive Continue at: tinyurl.com/Y9827q5 & in “Turning the anti-social...”

17. Q&A Is professional education a ‘breed apart’? Are ‘courses’ anti-social whereas professional events (such as user conferences), workshops, webinars social? What students really want [spoon feeding?], and what they should be encouraged to experience [new styles of learning /assessment, ePortfolios, etc.]. Is the approach described the ‘balance’ here?