Gráinne Conole presented on digital literacies for a changing learning context. She discussed how technologies are transforming education through new forms of communication, collaboration, and access to resources. Learners now have personalized digital environments and use a mix of institutional and cloud-based tools. This requires new digital literacy skills. Conole argued that pedagogical approaches should harness technologies' potential through practices like situated, mobile, and immersive learning. Education is also becoming more disaggregated with open resources, learning pathways, and new models of support and accreditation emerging.
Digital Literacies for a Changing Learning Context
1. National Teaching
Fellow 2012
Digital literacies for a changing
learning context
Gráinne Conole, University of Leicester
6th November 2012
CSU edConference
WaggaWagga, Charles Sturt University
2.
3. Outline
• The technological context
• Learner experience
• Digital literacies
• Pedagogical approaches
• Disaggregation of education
• Learning design
• Changing practices
4. Multimedia resources
80s
93
The Internet and the Web
94
Learning objects
Learning Management Systems
95
Mobile devices
98
Learning Design
99
Gaming technologies
00
E-Learning timeline
01
Open Educational Resources
Social and participatory media
04
http://halfanhour.blogspot.be/2012/02/e-learning-generations.html
Virtual worlds
05
07
E-books and smart devices
08
Massive Open Online Courses
http://scienceoftheinvisible.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/a-ramble-through-history-of-online.html
6. Technological trends
• Mobiles and e-books
• Personalised learning
• Cloud computing
• Ubiquitous learning
• BYOD (Bring your own device)
• Technology-Enhanced
learning spaces
• Learning analytics
7. Technologies
• Transforming everything we do
• New forms of communication
and collaboration
• Multiple rich representations
• Tools to
find, create, manage, share
• Networked, distributed, peer
reviewed, open
• Complex, dynamic and co-
evolving
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oceanflynn/6638184545/
8. Technologies for learning
• Audio-graphics • Podcasts
• Blogs • RSS feeds
• E-Books • Second life
• E-Portfolios • Social bookmarking
• Games • Twitter
• Instant Messaging • Video Mesaging
• Mashups • Wikis
• Mobile learning • Video clips and YouTube
• Photo sharing • Video chat
Rennie and Morrison, 2012
9. Learning Management Systems
Communication
Library Content
tools
Registration
Collaboration Assessment
Finance
tools tools
Timetabling
Student Upload Tracking
records tools tools
Conole, forthcoming, UNESCO briefing paper
10. The MATEL study
http://www.menon.org/matel/
• Productivity and creativity
• Networked collaboration
• Content creation
• Visualisation and simulation
• Learning Management Systems
• Learning environment
• Games
• Devices, interfaces and
connectivity
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wfryer/462376660/
12. Google glasses project
• Can ‘see’ the
Internet on glasses
• Context sensitive
information
• Context lenses
planned
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c6W4CCU9M4
13. Game changers
• Harnessing the power of new
media
• Need to rethink education
• Key questions
– How can we reach more
learners, more effectively?
– What is the impact of free
resources, tools and expertise?
– What new business models are
emerging?
– What new digital literacies are
needed?
http://www.educause.edu/game-changers
14. Learner experience
• Technology immersed
• Learning approaches: task-
orientated, experiential, jus
t in time, cumulative, social
• Personalised digital
learning environment
• Mix of institutional systems
and cloud-based tools and
services
• Use of course materials
with free resources
Sharpe, Beetham and De Freitas, 2010
http://www.educause.edu/studentsAndTechnologyInfographic
15. Digital literacies
• Range of terms and definitions
– Information literacies
– Digital literacies
– Digital competences
– E-skills
Digital literacies =
Tool knowledge + Critical thinking +
Social engagement (Fraser)
www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/blog/2012/may/15/digital-literacy-in-universities
16. Digital literacies: definition
• Set of social practices and
meaning making of digital
tools (Lankshear and
Knobel, 2008)
• Continuum from
instrumental skills to
productive competence
and efficiency
http://ftp.jrc.es/EURdoc/JRC67075_TN.pdf
17. IPTS report
• Confident/critical use of
technologies for
work, leisure and
communication
• Digital divide
• The network is key
• More participatory and
open practices
18. Benefits
• Social
• Health
• Economic
• Civic
• Cultural
• Societal
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mediaquell/4329902002/
19. Issues
• Personal safety and
privacy
• Responsible, ethical, and
legal issues
• Understanding digital
media
• Inequalities and the
digital divide
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29233640@N07/3668208527/
20. Digital literacies
Creativity
Play Collective intelligence
Performance Judgement
Simulation Transmedia
navigation
Appropriation Networking
Multitasking Negotiation
Distributed cognition Jenkins et al., 2006
http://www.flickr.com/photos/r8r/4109502436/
27. Creativity
• Derived from Latin ‘creo’ to
create/make
• Creating something new
(physical artefact or concept)
that is novel and valuable
• Ability to transcend
traditional
ideas, rules, partners, relatio
nships and create
meaningful new
ideas, forms, methods, inter
pretations http://www.flickr.com/photos/vaxzine/2278300537/
28. 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
29. Stages
• Preparation: identifying
the problem
• Incubation:
internalisation of the
problem
• Intimation: getting a
feeling for a solution
• Illumination: creativity
burst forth
• Verification: idea is
consciously
verified, elaborated and
applied http://www.flickr.com/photos/williamcromar/5230835657/
30. 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
31. Augmented Reality Games (ARGs)
• Began with a code 91211
• Twitter hash tag
• Mysterious character Rufus
• Series of clues – real and
virtual
• Video screen in
Manchester spontaneously
playing students’ videos
Helen Keegan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qESNQMDupfY
Keynote, Eden Research Workshop, Leuven, 24th October 2012
38. Resources
• Over ten years of the Open
Educational Resource (OER)
movement
• Hundreds of OER
repositories worldwide
• Presence on iTunesU
39. The OPAL metromap
Evaluation shows lack of uptake
by teachers and learners
Shift from development to
community building and
articulation of OER practice
http://www.oer-quality.org/
40. POERUP outputs
• An inventory of more than 100 OER initiatives
http://poerup.referata.com/wiki/Countries_with_OER_initiatives
• 11 country reports and 13 mini-reports
http://poerup.referata.com/wiki/Countries
• 7 in-depth case studies
• 3 EU-wide policy papers
44. Promise and reality
Social and
participatory media
offer new ways to
communicate and
collaborate
Not fully exploited
Wealth of free Replicating bad pedagogy
resources and tools
Lack of time and skills
45. Learning Design
Shift frombelief-based, implicit
approaches todesign-
based,explicit approaches
Learning Design
A design-based approach to
creation and support of
courses
Encouragesreflective,scholarly
practices
Promotessharing and discussion
46. Conceptualise
What do we want to design, who for
and why?
Carpe Diem:
7Cs of learning Design
Consolidate
Evaluate and embed your design
http://beyonddistance.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/carpe-diem-the-7cs-of-design-and-delivery/
47. Changing practices
• Nature of
learning, teaching and
research is changing
• It’s about
– Harnessing new media
– Adopting open practices
• New business models
are emerging
48. Digital scholarship
• Exploiting the digital network
• New forms of dissemination
and communication
• Promoting reflective practice
• Embracing the affordances of
new technologies
Weller: http://nogoodreason.typepad.co.uk/
51. The future of learning
• Changing nature of
education
• New forms of
communication and
collaboration
• Rich multimedia
representation
• Harnessing the global
network
52. Implications
• Blurring boundaries
• New business models
• More open practices
• Changing roles
• Importance of new
digital literacy skills
• Disruptive and
complex
Instrumental knowledge and skills for digital tool and media usage; 2) Advanced skills and knowledge for communication and collaboration, information management, learning and problem-solving, and meaningful participation; 3) Attitudes to strategic skills usage in intercultural, critical, creative, responsible and autonomous ways. Instrumental knowledge and skills are a precondition for developing or using more advanced skills.