EXPLOITING THE TECHNOLOGY, RETAINING THE SOUL IN

SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION

Z i l Abidi S iZainal Abidin SanusiHigher Education Leadership Academy

Ministry of Education MalaysiaMinistry of Education, Malaysia

AKEPT Campus

AKEPT’s Vision and Missions

MISSIONVISION

To beTo align with the Ministry’s transformational agenda for 

higher education to ensure that 

To be acknowledged as 

the global benchmark and g

higher education institutions are globally competitive.

To be recognized as the premier

benchmark and referral centre for Higher Education 

Leadership To be recognized as the premier referral centre for research and 

innovation,  teaching and learning, and leadership

Leadership, Learning and Teaching and Research and learning,  and leadership 

competencies for higher education.

To facilitate Higher Education

Research and Innovation.

To facilitate Higher Education Institutions in making  Ministry’s transformation agenda a success. 

SHAPING MINDS, BUILDING LEADERSHIP

AKEPT ‐ BRIDGING THE NATIONAL AGENDA AND UNIVERSITY LEADERSUNIVERSITY LEADERS

1) To pursue Leadership Critical Agenda in achieving the desired goal of PSPTN

2) To provide relevant and pragmatic training programs advice and2) To provide relevant and pragmatic training programs, advice and facilitation to higher education institutions

3) To promote and facilitate a culture of research and publication on issues and challenges in higher education

4) To put in place a structured framework and provide advices on succession planning for higher education institutionssuccession planning for higher education institutions

5) To strengthen leadership in learning and teaching in HEIs 6) To inculcate leadership skills among student leaders to become future

leaders 7) To widen and encourage international collaboration

Programme Activities 2013

“Digital age knowledge will profoundly change every academic discipline and pose fundamental challenges p p gto the mission of the modern research university in 

teaching the new knowledge, securing sound methods for creating it, directing it to our deepest intellectual concerns, and insuring that we become wiser for it.”

Robert L Constable “Transforming the Academy: KnowledgeRobert L. Constable Transforming the Academy: Knowledge Formation in the Age of Digital Information”

1. What are the strength and weakness of real and virtual program

2. What kind of abilities can be incubated by real and virtual educations

3 If you need to replace real programme by virtual3. If you need to replace real programme by virtual programs, then how should virtual programme be designed

4 H i t t th l d th i t l4. How can we integrate the real and the virtual component in a curriculum of sustainability education

5. Which part of sustainability education may become virtual p y yand which part should remain real

6. What kind of real program are needed?

1. Problem Statements of Virtual vs Real Educations2. Realities in Both Worlds3. Implications on Sustainability Education4. BEFS – Blended Education for Sustainability

Pembentangan Halatuju Program AKEPT 2011Problem Statement 1‐ Virtual education as massive education and self learningReal education as focused and personalized‐ Real education as focused and personalized

‐ VE faces the challenge of “educating” the values‐ Technology cannot replace the face‐to‐face “education”

The virtual education logics

‐ Technology cannot replace the face‐to‐face  education‐ RE has the “touching” advantages

The virtual education logics should be: The reality turn out to be:

Student

Teacher

Student

MaterialTeacher

Material

Material

Technology

Technology TeacherHow to retain theHow to retain the soul of education?

Pembentangan Halatuju Program AKEPT 2011

Problem Statement 2 

Virtual education is natural exploitation of technology – nothing newReal education has not fully optimise the advent of technologyReal education has not fully optimise the advent of technology

….Many educators as digital immigrants, need to accommodate the digital native learner…. Problem Statement 3

Virtual education as mysterious and complex process ‐ difficult to assessy p pReal Education is tangible – easier to assess 

VE strengthen the factory model of university educationRE retaining the soul of university education

What are the role of VE/RE in the model?

Problem Statement 4Virtual education progresses from cognitivism to connectivismReal education criticised to be reductionistic‐ Contents are predetermined modules not spontaneous, unpredictable, unscripted

1. The Arguments of Virtual vs Real Educations1. The Arguments of Virtual vs Real Educations2. REALITIES IN BOTH WORLDS3. Implications on Sustainability Education4. BEFS – Blended Education for Sustainability

SECOND LIFE UNIVERSITY

EcoLead Project

1 Th A f Vi l R l Ed i1. The Arguments of Virtual vs Real Educations2. Realities in both worlds3 IMPLICATIONS ON SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION3. IMPLICATIONS ON SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION4. BEFS – Blended Education for Sustainability

LEARNING THEORIESLEARNING THEORIES

http://shahirahsulaiman.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/connectivism_chart2.gif

Comparison of Traditional vs E‐learning Orientation

EE--LearningLearningLearning for Learning for t i bilitt i bilit

Traditional Traditional (R l)Ed ti(R l)Ed ti sustainabilitysustainability(Real)Education(Real)Education

Student CenteredStudent Centered??Teacher CenteredTeacher Centered

MultimediaMultimedia??Single MediaSingle Media

Collaborative WorkCollaborative Work??Isolated WorkIsolated Work

Information Information ExchangeExchange

??Information Information DeliveryDelivery

SkillsSkills--based based learninglearning

??FactualFactual--based based LearningLearning

TechnologTechnolog enabledenabled??B icks & Boa dB icks & Boa d TechnologyTechnology--enabled enabled learninglearning

??Bricks & BoardBricks & Board

PullPull approachapproach??PushPush approachapproach

29

PullPull approachapproach??PushPush approachapproach

The shift needed for Education for Sustainability

From To

Transmisive learning Learning through discoveryTransmisive learning Learning through discovery

Teacher centre approach Learner centered approach

Individual learning Collaborative learningg g

Learning dominated by theory Practice oriented learning linking theory and experience

Focus on accumulating knowledge and content orientation

Focus on self regulating learning and a real issue orientation

Emphasis on cognitive objectives only

Cognitive, affective and skills related objectives

Institutional, staff based teaching/learning

Learning with staff but also with and from outsiders

Low-level cognitive thinking Higher-level cognitive thinking

Integration of Sustainability in University Education (Sterling, 2004)

Education for SustainabilityOld knowledge

Mode 1 Mode 2

Education for Sustainability Old knowledge

Academic Academic & Social

Monodiscipline Trans/interdiscipline

Technocratic Participative…..

Predictive Exploratory… p y

Certain Uncertain

Homogeneous HeterogenousHomogeneous Heterogenous….

Individual production Co-production ..

Less integrative More integrativeLess integrative More integrative

Basic /Applied Use-inspired Basic

Adapted from Martens, P. 2006. Sustainability: science or fiction? Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy 2(1):1–5

http://ejournal.nbii.org/archives/vol2iss1/communityessay.martens.html

Pembentangan Halatuju Program AKEPT 2011

Pedagogical Shift of Education for

Trends in Real education: Potentials Strengths of VE:

Sustainability

Reductionist approaches to knowledge

g

Systems thinking, interrelatedness of knowledge

Certainty and facts

Di i li b d /

Uncertainty and ambiguity

I t di i li b dDiscipline based courses/knowledge

Lecturer centered

Interdisciplinary based courses and approaches

Learner centeredLecturer centered

Information flow

Learner centered

Experiential

Educating students Empowering students as learners and knowers

Common factors of virtual learning and EfS

Intercultural perspective•E-learning environments allow for collaboration processes in which learners from different nationalities and different cultures can learn togethertogether.

Interdisciplinary communication and knowledge generation•Collaboration and communication processes can be supported not only by tools for online communication, but also by knowledge management tools which facilitate the development of shared understandingtools which facilitate the development of shared understanding.

Process and project management•Learning management systems offer many opportunities to structure working and learning processes and to facilitate the management of self-directed projects while supporting ownership of the learning process.directed projects while supporting ownership of the learning process.(Barth, 2013)

Common learning orientations betweenEfS and Virtual Education (e-learning 2.0)

• Self-directed learningg• learning which is not directly linked to teaching and which

emphasizes the active development of knowledge rather than mere transfer or transmit of knowledge

• Collaborative learning • acquisition of competencies both as individual and a social

activity. • Connected learning• Problem-oriented learning

1. The Arguments of Virtual vs Real Educations1. The Arguments of Virtual vs Real Educations2. Realities in Both Worlds3. Implications on Sustainability Education4. BEFS ‐ BLENDED EDUCATION FOR 

SUSTAINABILITY 

Main criteria of BEFS

• Providing collaborative learning instead of cooperation VE open unprecedented opportunities to expand traditionalVE open unprecedented opportunities to expand traditional

learning experiences by participating in networked spaces same as informal and community engagement in EfSy g g

• Serving as connectivism platformVE as connection platform to multi and diverse stakeholders - EfS

to provide content and purpose of connections

• Shaping the inquiry process Based on fundamental of EfS through the most advanced VEBased on fundamental of EfS through the most advanced VE –

reinforcing learning, unlearning and relearning

• Empowering learner as distributed leaders

Hearts‐ ONH d ON

RE praxisRE praxis

Ethics, values, responsibility to the future, understanding the nature of sustainability science

Hands‐ONSkills and Practices

Content‐ONIntegrated social/scientific 

content

Mind‐ONProblem solving, Active learning, teamwork and 

i icontent communicationVE praxis VE praxis

The essential orientation for curriculum design, development and implementation of BEFSand implementation of BEFS

“The quality and pedagogy of much current onlineThe quality and pedagogy of much current onlineeducation is poor because its practitioners have nottaken the trouble to learn the lessons from research onearlier educational technologiesearlier educational technologies.Asian countries may now do online education betterthan the West because in many Asian countries onlineand earlier technologies co-exist, allowing transfer ofg , gknowhow from one to the other” (Baggaley 2011)

Reflection of MOE aspiration on E-learning and MOOCMalaysia, while recognising the noble intention of

democratising education through MOOC, but alsol i f MOOC iconcern over long term impact of MOOC on issues

such as standardisation, modularisation andaccreditation so as not to lose the soul of higheraccreditation so as not to lose the soul of highereducation (again)

Virtual education can make it BETTER or WORSE…..

HEARTware

hardware

software

• What are the strength and weakness of real and virtual programB th t th d k l t th h BEFSBoth strength and weakness can complement through BEFS

• What kind of abilities can be incubated by real and virtual educationsMost of them! (with advent of technology and pedagogy)Most of them! (with advent of technology and pedagogy)

• If you need to replace real programme by virtual programs, then how should virtual programme be designed

Connectivism• How can we integrate the real and the virtual component in a

curriculum of sustainability educationcurriculum of sustainability educationEnsure the 4 ONs

• Which part of sustainability education may become virtual and which h ld i lpart should remain real

All part should be made available virtually• What kind of real program are needed?What kind of real program are needed?

Real need of the society (not only industrial needs)

Shaping Minds, Building LeadershipShaping Minds, Building LeadershipShaping Minds, Building LeadershipShaping Minds, Building Leadership

Education are responsible for preparing students to address problems they cant foresee with knowledge that has not yet been developed using

t h l t t i t dtechnology not yet invented.