Designing for Learning in an Open World: Pedagogies, Social Models for Blended learning

1. Designing for Learning in an Open World:
Pedagogies, Social Models for
Blended learning
Terry Anderson, PhD
Professor, Athabasca University

2. Values
• We can (and must) continuously improve the
quality, effectiveness, appeal, cost and time
efficiency of the learning experience.
• Student control and freedom is integral to 21st
century life-long education and learning.
• Continuing education opportunity is a basic
human right.

3. Athabasca University,
Alberta, Canada
* Athabasca University
34,000 students, 700 courses
100% distance education
Graduate and
Undergraduate programs
Master & Doctorate
Distance Education
Only USA Regionally
Accredited University
in Canada
*Athabasca
University

4. Theory!

5. communitiesofinquiry.com

6. The Social Aggregation
makes a Difference
• Dron, J., & Anderson, T.
(in press). Teaching
crowds: the role of
social media in distance
learningAthabasca
University Press.
• Available open access
Spring 2014

7. • “Nothing so practical as a good theory” Kurt
Lewin

8. Proposition #1
The Learning Evolves
From and With Past Technologies

9. Proposition #2
• Different Social
Structures/Pedagogies/Technologies,
determine most effective use.

10. Learning as Dance
(Anderson, 2008)
• Technology
sets the
beat and
the timing.
• Pedagogy
defines the
moves.

11. Understanding Online Pedagogies and
Fitting them into our social boxes

12. Outline
• Generations of Online Education Pedagogy
– Cognitive Behaviourist
– Social Constructivist
– Connectivist
• SOCIAL FORMS TO MATCH PEDAGOGY
• Beyond the LMS
– Athabasca Landing boutique social network

13. Three Generations of
Online Learning Pedagogy
1. Behaviourist/Cognitive –
2. Social Constructivist –
3. Connectivist
Anderson, T., &Dron, J. (2011). Three generations of
distance education pedagogy.
IRRODL, 12(3), 80-97

14. Gagne’s Events of Instruction (1965)
1. Gain learners' attention
2. Inform learner of objectives
3. Stimulate recall of previous information
4. Present stimulus material
5. Provide learner guidance
6. Elicit performance
7. Provide Feedback
8. Assess performance
9. Enhance transfer opportunities
Instructional Systems Design (ISD)

15. Enhanced by the “cognitive
revolution”
• Chunking
• Cognitive Load
• Working Memory
• Multiple Representations
• Split-attention effect
• Variability Effect
• Multi-media effect
– (Sorden, 2005)
“learning as acquiring and using conceptual and cognitive structures”
Greeno, Collins and Resnick, 1996

16. Technologies of Ist generation
• CAI, text books, One way Lectures, Video and
audio broadcast with advancements??

17. Social Focus of Ist generation -
Individual Learner

18. Behavioural/Cognitive developments
• Self directed learning
• Adaptive Learning
– Machine adapts to past answers
– Learner adapts by choosing content
• OERs and MOOCs
• Trace Mining, Paths and Learning Analytics
• Digital Badges

21. Open Educational Resources
Because it saves time!!!

22. Kyungmee

23. Learning Analytics - Dashboard

24. New Forms of Accrediting
Challenge Exams for Credit

25. Behavioural/Cognitive developments
• Self-paced
• Adaptive Learning
• Trace Mining, Paths and learning analytics

27. 1st Gen Cognitive Behavioural
Pedagogy Summary
• Scalable
• Few requirements, or opportunities, for social
learning
• Works most efficiently with individual learning
models
• Effective and efficient for some types of
learning
• Have we taught learners to succeed with this
type of learning?

28. 28
2nd Generation
Constructivist Pedagogy
• Group Orientated
• Membership and exclusion, closed
• Not scalable - max 50 students/course
• Classrooms - at a distance or on campus
• Hierarchies of control
• Focus on collaboration and shared purpose
group

29. 2nd Generation - Constructivist
• Online Learning Current model – continued
strong growth in US and globally
• Major employer of adjuncts
32% of US higher education students now take at least one course

30. Constructivist Learning in Groups
• Long history of research
and study
• Established sets of tools
– Classrooms
– Learning Management
Systems (LMS)
– Synchronous (chat, video
& net conferencing)
– Email, wikis, blogs
• Need to develop face to
face, mediated and
blended group learning
skills
Garrison, R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical thinking in text-based
environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and
Higher Education, 2(2), 87-105.

31. The Power of Synchronous
• Immediacy
• Pacing
• Comfort level for student and teachers, but
DON’T fall into classroom lectures
• Social Modeling

32. Web Conferencing
• Recordable
• Clickers
• Student screen control
• Video
• Animations
• Shared Screen

33. Immersion ??

34. Social Constructivist Social forms
• Group
• Limited in size
– Dunbar’s Max ~150 for a tribe
• Mutual awareness of each other

35. Group Management
• Need good tools to allow group to work
effectively and build trust at a distance
• Use Face-to-face (blended) time to do this.

36. http://www.collaborativelearning.org/scien
iology.html

37. Generation 3
Connective pedagogies
• Stephen Downes

38. • McLuhan “We shape our tools and thereafter
our tools shape us”
• “When physical spaces for learning go online
(distributed, non-hierarchical, networked,
digital), new, more effective pedagogies
emerge”. George Siemens

39. 3rd generation Connective Pedagogies
• Heutagogy– Hase, S., & Kenyon, C. (2000).
From Andragogy to Heutagogy.
• Chaos Theory
• Activity Theory &Actor Network Theory (ANT)
– “systemic interactions of people and the objects
that they use in their interactions.”

40. Connectivism
• “connectivism is the thesis that knowledge is
distributed across a network of connections,
and therefore that learning consists of the
ability to construct and traverse those
networks.” Stephen Downes 2007

41. Connectivist Learning
Persistence
Accessibility
Network
Effects
“Connectivying” your course
http://terrya.edublogs.org/2012/12/18/connectivy-your-course/

42. Connectivist Knowledge
• Is created by linking to appropriate people and
objects
• May be created and stored in non human devices
• Is as much about capacity as current competence
• Assumes the ubiquitous Internet
• Is emergent
George Siemens

43. Disruptions of Connectivism
• Demands net proficiency and
presence of students and
teachers
• Openness is scary
• New roles for teachers and
students
• Artifact ownership,
persistence
• Too manic for some

44. The Social Aggregation makes a
Difference
• Dron, J., & Anderson, T. (in
press). Teaching crowds:
the role of social media in
distance learning
Athabasca University Press.
• Available open access
Spring 2014

45. http://www.slideshare.net/jondron/revealing-the-elephant-in-
the-online-classroom

46. The Social Aggregations of
Gen 3 Connective Pedagogies
• Networks
• Sets

47. Social Networks
• Facebook, Linked In,
• Academia,
• Twitter
• Blogs
• Listservs
• Private
– NING
– ELGG
– Drupal, Word Press

48. Personal
Identity
Professional
Identity
University
Identity
Net+ Identity

49. Applying Social Network Analysis to High School Students
2012 The Network Roundtable LLC

50. Sets
• Aggregation of all people sharing a particular
interest, area.
• Set of all graduates of X
• Usually curated with social involvement
limited to votes, comments, links
• Possibility of developing into networks or
groups.

51. PInterest

52. Sets (Example)

53. Classic Set: Those editing
(or reading) a Wikipedia
article

54. Case Study : Athabasca Landing
landing.athabascau.ca

55. Landing Stats (Sept. 2013)

56. Number of Groups

57. Individual Control (PLE)

58. Groups

60. Nets

61. Sets

62. • Empowering students to create their own
interaction opportunities
– OERs, P2P University, Learnist, meet ups

64. Shameless Plug
and Giveaways!
Issues in Distance
Education Series
http://aupress.ca

66. Conclusion:
• the best part of Blended Learning – is eclectic
allowing student exploration of their own
learning needs and gifts.
• Need to matching pedagogy, technology and
the learning outcomes
• Empowerment, lifelong learning and smart
(not more) work for teachers

67. Terry Anderson terrya@athabascau.ca
Blog: terrya.edublogs.org
Your comments&
questions
most welcomed!

68. Which Works Best?
• Interaction Equivalency
Theory

69. The Interaction Equivalency Theorem
by Anderson (2003)
• Thesis 1. Deep and meaningful formal learning is supported
as long as one of the three forms of interaction (student–
teacher; student–student; student–content) is at a high
level. The other two may be offered at minimal levels, or
even eliminated, without degrading the educational
experience.
• Thesis 2. High levels of more than one of these three
modes will likely provide a more satisfying educational
experience, although these experiences may not be as
cost- or time effective as less interactive learning
sequences.
http://equivalencytheorem.info/ 69

70. Business Web presence
http://fiverr.com/

71. Our identity (“digital” identity?)
• Do we create it?
• Is it created and/or structured for us?
Authentic Identity Fragments (Kimmons &
Veletsianos, under review)
 Intentional web presence
Lowenthal& Dunlap (2012)
George Velestranos

72. • “If Google cannot find a faculty scholar's work
or the work of the scholar's colleagues,
department, or institution, then it is
essentially irrelevant — even nonexistent —
because people will not find, read, apply, or
build on the work if they cannot locate it via a
quick Google searchLowenthal & Dunlap
(2012)
Lowenthal, P., & Dunlap, J. (2012). Intentional Web Presence: 10 SEO
Strategies Every Academic Needs to Know. Educause.
http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/intentional-web-presence-10-
seo-strategies-every-academic-needs-know.

73. Personal
Identity
Professional
Identity
University
Identity
Net+ Identity

74. Pereira, R., Baranauskas, M. C. C., &da Silva, S. R. P. (2013). Social Software and Educational
Technology: Informal, Formal and Technical Values. Educational Technology & Society, 16(1), 4-
14. http://www.ifets.info/journals/16_1/2.pdf