Technology Enhanced Teaching, Learning, Assessment and Development

“The Future is all in the Past”

Presentation for Moscow E-Learn Expo June 18th 2013

Introduction

This presentation reflects on the progress made in the application of technologies which support lifelong learning and development and suggests that during the decade since the first Moscow ELearn Expo, the focus and role of teaching in learning and development has been completely transformed and has shifted from a teacher/organisation centric model based on knowledge dissemination to a learner centric model based on personalised, intelligent, adaptive and collaborative lifelong knowledge creation.

It also suggests that this shift in the application of technology mirrors the ancient learning and development practices that have existed since the dawn of time.

Competentum Learning Management System

Review of E-Learn Expo Technologies since 2003

The very first ELearn Expo in Moscow had a heavy focus on Learning Management Systems. The focus of LMS has been to provide a set of technology tools which help organisations to disseminate and track organisational knowledge and to build the competence and capabilities of employees to acquire the standardised knowledge and skills required to meet organisational objectives.

The key point about such systems is that they revolved around improving the cost effectiveness of formal training and assessment and were most suited to a stable social and economic climate in which employees stayed with the same organisation and that organisation operated in a stable or slowly changing environment.

Tim Neill’s Kompressomatic 3000 Training Simulation circa 2003

Interactive Multimedia

Whilst the Learming Management Systems acted as a repository for corporate knowledge and a platform for its delivery, the growing multimedia capabilities of the desktop PC were creating a demand for more interactive and engaging content delivery which could not only disseminate knowledge but also challenge and simultaneously assess the learner.

Tim Neil gave an impressive demonstration in 2003 of a concept which was very advanced. The Kompressomatic 3000 simulator introduced faults into a fictitious machine and demonstrated the symptoms of the fault through an audio visual simulation. The learner could use on-line hints to carry out tests and replace parts with each test and part replacement bearing costs in time and parts. After each test and part replacement, the simulation could be run again to see the impact of any changes.

The combination of knowledge dissemination, learning by doing and real-time assessment pointed the way to the future. The most competent learners solved the problem quickly with minimal cost in parts and labour, whilst the slower learners might take longer to develop an understanding of the processes. Recording the capabilities of each learner into an LMS, helped organisations to identify and track the competences of individuals.

Screenshot of Webex Virtual Classroom

Virtual Classrooms

Over the following E-Learn Expos, a number of other technologies were highlighted and discussed. Early E-Learn Expos included demonstrations of Virtual Classroom technologies and webinars. I have been involved in delivering on-line seminars using a host of virtual classroom technologies from HP, Microsoft, Webex, Adobe and others.

The key thing about virtual classrooms is that they seek to emulate the traditional classroom model with tools that enable the subject matter expert to reach a global audience, record expert sessions for later anytime access and stimulate peer to peer learning in a very cost effective manner.

Many organisations now run webinars both internally and externally but few organisations, in my opinion, fully exploit the potential of these technologies and there is still an understandable preference for face to face classroom learning

Applying Technology to Traditional Teaching Practices

Corporate Learning and Mass Education Technology Objectives circa 2003

Ever since the invention of the printing press, communication technologies have been applied to bring knowledge and Information to the masses and teachers and educators have fulfilled a joint role of acquirers and disseminators of that knowledge combined with assessors, motivators and mentors.

This dual role of knowledge dissemination and coaching required teachers and educators to become knowledge professionals, and like the trade apprentices of previous centuries, developed their careers and status around acquiring the knowledge and skills that they could pass on to their students and learners.

Technology enhanced learning therefore followed this same pattern, with a heavy focus, as in the early days of the printing press, on reaching the largest possible audience as cost effectively as possible.

E-Learn Expo 2010 Conference Presentation on Immersive Technologies

Technologies for Exploring and Discovering Knowledge

By 2010, the concept of “Serious Games” as a learning and development methodology was gaining traction and symbolised the shift away from existing knowledge dissemination towards knowledge discovery and peer to peer learning. Serious Games is far from a new concept because games have always generated learning outcomes as those involved in playing and observing games inevitably learn and develop from the experience.

In 2010, the technologies of video games and virtual worlds were beginning to mature sufficiently to make them a viable alternative to traditional physical games such as role playing exercises. At this time the cost of custom development of learning games for specific learning objectives meant that games technology tended to be used only where there was either a sufficiently large number of people to be trained to justify the development cost or where an existing “Off the Shelf” game could be re-purposed to achieve specific learning goals.

Second Life Virtual World

Guided Exploration using Virtual Worlds

The virtual world Second Life developed by Linden Labs began to be used as a learning by discovery platform because it provided a 3D immersive environment which was sufficiently cheap and accessible for users to create interesting learning environments which could be explored 24/7 with or without intervention or guidance from a tutor.

Such learning environments could include rich multimedia and interactive challenges to add to the experience but another very important characteristic of these virtual worlds which is often neglected or misunderstood is their inherent ability to log learner activities and achievements in real time and store these indefinitely. This process lays the foundations for what lies ahead in the future.

Hybrid Seminar using a Physical Audience and a Virtual World

Hybrid Learning Environments

At E-Learn Expo 2010, I ran a hybrid workshop which incorporated a live session in Second Life that brought together a physical audience with a virtual audience that also included several virtual world experts located in different parts of the world. This was a technique I had introduced at the Serious Games Institute in 2007 and it illustrated the potential of immersive technologies to not only disseminate knowledge to a mass audience anywhere in the world, but also to facilitate peer to peer learning between delegates and experts anywhere in the world.

The workshop session also served to illustrate that the technology was practical even over a satellite wireless network using a USB modem.

Changing the Learning Paradigm

Personalised Lifelong Learning, Assessment and Development

Today, in 2013, I believe we are at the dawn of a revolution in technology enhanced learning which could totally change the role and focus of teachers and educators and transform the objectives and operations of Learning Management Systems.

The role of a teacher as a disseminator of existing knowledge is almost dead, along with standardised mass education and assessment.

Tomorrow the focus will be on personalised learning, knowledge creation and sharing and continuous assessment and development throughout the whole lifetime.

Learning through gameplay

Combined Learning and Assessment

As Tim Neill’s Kompressomatic 3000 simulation demonstrated back in 2003, games and simulations provide a superb environment for learning by doing and embedded assessment. Whether as players or observers, we become immersed in games and simulations as risk-free (or relatively risk-free) worlds where our behaviours are more natural and continuous peer to peer learning and assessment takes place.

Technology now not only provides a platform to create such experiences to be accessible 24/7 but also provides tools to store performances and match learners with either other learners or real or virtual experts to provide on-demand support.

Global Knowledge Networks

Global Knowledge Networks and Internet of Things

Today, information and knowledge is widely accessible to most parts of the globe on a 24/7 basis and accredited courses can be chosen by learners from a huge number of providers, making education a very learner-centric model. This freedom of choice is creating a market-driven model for technology enhanced learning.

The Hole in the Wall Project

Self-Directed Learning, Collaboration and Assessment

Professor Sugata Mitra of Newcastle University was the brains behind the famous “Hole in the Wall” project designed to test the potential of children to self-organise their learning through technology. The project involved setting up a computer in a remote village in a hole in the wall and observing the behaviour of children and their learning behaviours.

Over a relatively short period after the computer was installed without and prior training or warning about the project, groups of children began to explore the computer and were soon able to discover Google, use the mouse and keyboard and access knowledge. The children organised themselves and shared their experiences.

Although this mysterious object in the wall happened to be a computer, I believe that any alien object suddenly appearing in an environment would soon be explored, discovered and learnt about in the same way but this project certainly illustrated the power of self-directed and collaborative learning.

Community Based Learning

Intelligent, Immersive and Adaptive Learning

Long ago, even before the invention of the printing press and still today in remote corners of the world untouched by civilisation, community based learning was intelligent, adaptive and immersive. In such communities where people spent their lives in the same village and rarely experienced travel, teachers were the wise, old, respected elders in the community who saw children growing day by day, week by week and year by year. These elders acted as teachers, guides and mentors to their students, treating them as individuals, knowing their strengths and weaknesses and intelligently adapting the learning process to each individual to prepare them for the role in their society that suited them most.

These elders could direct their learners to sources of knowledge and experiences the best motivated them and suited their capabilities and interests.

This personalisation of the learning experience has been absent from today’s society for many years and the notion of tight knit communities has been eroded by today’s mobility and freedom of access to communications technology. We are simultaneously the most connected and the least connected society in history.

Embedded Sensors and Visualisation Technologies

Continuous Monitoring, Assessment and Learning

One of the most important aspects of personalised learning and development is continuous observation of the learning and development process, appropriate feedback and subsequent action as part of a “learning and development loop”. A good example of this, which shows the demand for such a process is the growth in “lifestyle and fitness” coaching where you work closely with an individual who sees you every day, oversees your progress and is able to develop a personal programme that help the individual achieve personal goals.

One of the biggest revolutions that is about to hit the education process and transform the use of technology to enhance education is the use of embedded sensors and devices which continuously monitor our learning process, visualise our progress and suggest personal goals and actions which help us to develop.

A good example of this is the range of activity monitoring sensors like the “Jawbone Up” bracelet that records, stores and visualises our daily activities, sleeping and eating patterns and provides us with the tools for self-directed and personalised learning.

The iPad Tellagami Application

Personal Creative Technologies and the Prosumer

Amongst the other major influencers in technology enhanced personalised learning is the raft of creative tools for both teachers and learners that are exploding onto portable devices such as the iPad and mobile phones. These tools empower individuals to easily create personalised rich learning experiences easily and quickly with the power to share these experiences with a global audience.

Today’s society has been transformed from a world of knowledge consumers to a world of knowledge “prosumers” (producers and consumers).

Social Media and Personalised Relationships

Social Media and Personalisation

Social Media applications such as Facebook provide platforms to share knowledge with a global audience and also build a community of personal relationships which can develop to create the equivalent of “tribes” or communities of interest.

Combining social media with artificial intelligence and the “wisdom of the crowd” strengthens the perception of personal relationships which can now include people you have never met but who share your experiences, visions, attitudes and interests.

The Future of Learning and Development

Technology Enhanced/Enabled Personalised Learning and Development

This image of Professor Sugata Mitra observing children teaching themselves on a portable tablet symbolises what I believe will be the future of education, bringing us back to the age old practice of intelligent, adaptive, immersive and personalised learning.

The wisdom of the elders acting as guides and mentors to new learners whom, with the help of embedded sensor and assessment tools, will provide personalised coaching to anywhere in the world where their experiences and interests match the needs of learners.

Professor Sugata Mitra’s TED Video

Building a School in The Cloud

Over 1.25 million people have watched Professor Mitra’s vision for the future of children’s education made accessible and affordable by Cloud Technology.

The Future of Learning Management

Personalised, Lifelong, Intelligent and Adaptive LMS

This presentation began with the role of Learning Management Systems at the very first E-Learn Expo. LMS is still very much a relevant tool for learning, assessment, development and recording of progress but I believe that in tomorrow’s vision of technology enhanced learning, LMS will not be controlled or run by single organisations but will be the lifelong learner’s e-portfolio and gateway to personalised, adaptive and intelligent learning and development that effectively mirrors the processes of the past and makes them accessible to a global audience.

Thanks for Listening

Copyright Information

This presentation was developed for the Moscow E-Learn Expo 2013 Conference held in June 2013. It can be freely copied and disseminated.

David Wortley FRSA Immersive Technology Strategies www.davidwortley.com Email: david@davidwortley.com Mobile: +447896659695