Presentation at Orphée Rendezvous, France, February 1st 2017

1. International Challenges for Technology
Enhanced Learning
and how to address them in Europe
Mike Sharples,
Institute of Educational Technology

2. Challenge 1
“There must be an ‘industrial
revolution’ in education, in
which educational science and
the ingenuity of educational
technology combine to
modernize the grossly
inefficient and clumsy
procedures of conventional
education.”
Sidney Pressey (1933). Psychology and the
New Education
Sidney Pressey
2
Pressey’s Self-testing machine
Image copyright OSU photo archives

3. Challenge 1
Efficient education
3

4. Example: Active learning
● Problem solving exercises
● Personal response systems
● Studio and workshop
sessions
plus
● Lab classes
● Formative assessment
4

5. Example: Productive failure
●Students who explored first
then watched a lecture
performed significantly better
than lecture-first
●Learning by productive failure
has been implemented in over
26 Singapore schools
Learning by exploring complex problems
5
Students explore
a problem,
producing a
range of
answers
Teacher
explains the
correct answer
using students’
solutions as
examples
Productive failure
Teacher
presents the
topic and shows
how to solve
problems
Students try to
solve problems
related to the topic
Lecture-first teaching
www.manukapur.com/research/productive-failure/
Schneider, B., & Blikstein, P. (2016). Flipping the Flipped Classroom:
A Study of the Effectiveness of Video Lectures Versus Constructivist
Exploration Using Tangible User Interfaces. IEEE Transactions on
Learning Technologies, 9(1), 5-17.

6. Example: Spaced learning
6
http://www.innovationunit.org/sites/default/files/Spaced_Learning-downloadable_1.pdf
Kelley, P., & Whatson, T. (2013). Making long-term memories in minutes: a spaced learning pattern from memory
research in education. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 589.
Based on behavioural and laboratory studies of how Long Term Memories are
encoded (DNA synthesis in the synapses of the brain)
Three short learning episodes spaced by 10 minutes of physical activity (e.g.
clay modelling)
A controlled study found similar learning outcomes from one hour of spaced
learning compared to a four-month course of classroom teaching
Studies are now being repeated in 15 schools
Teacher-led
presentation
Students
recall key
concepts
10
minute
active
break
10
minute
active
break
Students
apply
knowledge

7. Challenge 2
“…providing the 100,000,000
university places now needed by
young people in emerging economies
desperate for higher education. …
The demand for education will
continue to rise; we cannot afford to
scale up at the current per student
cost, in any sector, in any country.”
Diana Laurillard, What is the problem for which MOOCs
are the solution? Blog post, May 14, 2014.
https://ioelondonblog.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/what-
is-the-problem-for-which-moocs-are-the-solution/
7

8. Challenge 2
Cost-effective and open
education
8

9. Effective: Online and blended learning
US DoE 2009 meta-study of
comparisons of online and face to
face teaching in higher education
On average, students in online
learning conditions performed better
than those receiving face-to-face
instruction
Bigger effect in studies that blended
online and face-to-face
Blended conditions often included
additional learning time and
instructional elements not received
by students in control conditions
Distinguish hype from reality
B. Means et al. (2009) Evaluation of Evidence-Based
Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and
Review of Online Learning Studies. US Department of
Education

10. Blended learning
Blending campus and online
Blending free and accredited/paid-for
Blending across locations and settings
Embracing multiple cultures and languages
Combining new methods of teaching, learning
and assessment
Distinguish hype from reality

11. Costs of classroom vs online education
Total costs for 20 hours First Run Subsequent
Classroom €47000 €10000
MOOC €35000 €12000
(Informed estimates)
11
Total cost per student
for 20 hours
First Run Subsequent
Classroom (200
students)
€235 €50
MOOC (5000 students) €7 €2.5
Total cost per student
for 20 hours with tuition
First Run Subsequent
Classroom (200
students)
€250 €65
SPOC (500 students) €80 €35

12. “Significant innovations [in
TEL] are developed and
embedded over periods of
years rather than months.
Sustainable change is not
a simple matter of product
development, testing and
roll-out”
Scanlon, E. et al. (2013). Beyond prototypes:
Enabling innovation in technology enhanced
learning. Open University, Milton Keynes.
12
Challenge 3

13. Challenge 3
Sustained innovation
13

14. Improved
Educational
Practices
Objectives and
strategies for
institutional change
Learning Analytics
Agile development
Sustained innovation
Double loop organisational learning
Learning
design

15. Learning
design
Improved
Educational
Practices
Objectives and
strategies for
institutional change
Theories of effective
education
Theory-
informed
innovation
Learning Analytics
Design-based research
Agile development
Educational evaluation and insight
Sustained innovation
Double loop organisational learning

16. Challenge 4
● To remain globally competitive and develop
engaged citizens, our schools should weave
21st century competencies and expertise
throughout the learning experience.
● Beyond these essential core academic
competencies, there is a growing body of
research on the importance of non-cognitive
competencies as they relate to academic
success.
● Non-cognitive competencies include successful
navigation through tasks such as forming
relationships and solving everyday problems.
They also include development of self-
awareness, control of impulsivity, executive
function, working cooperatively, and caring
about oneself and others.
16
US Office of Educational Technology,
(2016). Future Ready Learning:
Reimagining the Role of Technology in
Education

17. Challenge 4
Develop education for the
future
17

18. New landscape for education
Hybrid and blended
learning
Connecting formal and
informal education
Open social networked
learning
Adaptive learning
technologies
Learning analytics
Global marketplace

19. The future will be very different to the past
19
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/meet-the-pilot-smart-
earpiece-language-translator-headphones-travel#/

20. How to address these challenges in
Europe?
20

21. Efficient education
21
●Replicate promising TEL studies from around the
world
Productive failure? Spaced learning? Mastery learning?
Dynamic formative assessment?
●Build a European TEL evidence base for
educators and policy makers
Based on common standards for analysing learning

22. Cost-effective and open education
22
● Now more than ever we need open global
education, bringing people around the world into
conversations for learning
● Open education platform for blended learning
(Open edX?)
● Modern European gateway to multilingual
educational resources
Modelled on ClassCentral?

23. Sustained innovation
23
● Sustained programme of funding for
European TEL research
● Building on excellence (from ProLearn,
Kaleidoscope, Stellar, Orphée networks)
● Network of partner schools and colleges to test
innovations
● Focus on interaction of new technology with
innovative pedagogy
● Collaborative endeavour of educational
technologists, computer scientists,
psychologists, neuroscientists, social scientists

24. Education for the future
24
● Engage with TEL as a multi-billion Euro
industry
● Develop lifelong learning support
Connect learning in informal and formal settings
● European investment in educational future
for a digital world
(guided by best evidence)