Hi
Rachel quote strikes a chord
+++++++++++
"I must also disagree with 'the room is neutral' claim which I have
heard from a number of sources, not just this list. No learning
environment is neutral and everyone learns all the time. What you can do
with the environment is provide affordances and reified tools and
workflows that facilitate the kind of outcomes you wish rather than the
ones that would occur in their absence."
++++++++++++++
Learning platforms arent totally neutral . A lot of anecdotal evidence
sugggests certain Learning Platforms by theier structure change way
learning is delivered. A webct, Blackboards, Learnwise style of teaching
calculus ( poor example). You only have to look at how PowerPoint has
changed the way information is delivered to get the point.
A really good place for some targeted research anybody doing any they
want to share ???
Andy Black
Project Manager Learning & Skills Sector Support
British Education Communication Technology Agency
Email : [log in to unmask]
tel. 0780 1612459
Supporting the learning and skills community
-----Original Message-----
From: Rachel Ellaway [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 09 June 2004 08:31
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VLES] e-university lessons
I'm afraid I have to disagree with a few of the earlier posts re
hand-crafted VLEs:
You would have thought they might work together, save some
development costs/time...
And if the interface or content etc, does not conform to IMS or SCORM
standards ...
Then they could be developed collaboratively and draw on existing
toolkits ...
Developing and using a DIY VLE is not about developing a product, it
is about integrating with educational process and practices. Building
web applications is getting easier and easier - so much so that the
tech is an increasingly small part of what matters from a development
side. On the other hand the tech is a big barrier if you try and
cross between technologies, frameworks and even products. A VLE
developed in the absence of a context of use is just an abstraction
of imagined or hypothesised use. A VLE developed in-context will
inevitably develop along with the needs of that context and thereby
provide a process model rather than a product one.
Interop is fine but often fuzzy - IMS compliance does not guarantee
interop - it just gives you a running chance. The application profile
and its implementation are the next hurdle to cross.
Collaboration is emerging among the DIY community. In medicine in the
UK there are at least two collaborations working to do this: the
LTSN-01 funded project called CREAM (Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh,
Newcastle) and a Scottish group (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh,
Glasgow, St Andrews). However we have all developed using different
tools and platforms - a common internal framework is not practical
and indeed not needed. Rather common (fuzzy) interop and the ability
to take application abstractions from other systems and render them
locally is a far better approach to take.
I must also disagree with 'the room is neutral' claim which I have
heard from a number of sources, not just this list. No learning
environment is neutral and everyone learns all the time. What you can
do with the environment is provide affordances and reified tools and
workflows that facilitate the kind of outcomes you wish rather than
the ones that would occur in their absence. A teacher can teach in
this room but the learners and the teacher are embodied and
intrinsically constrained by what the room allows them to do. A 30
person room cannot hold 230 students, if you want to do bedside
teaching, genetics lab work or an online evidence based practice
exercise this 'Eraserhead' room doesn't have the affordance to let
you do that. It doesn't have the ability to change at a drop of a hat
in to a library or an administration area and back again - it is not
neutral. It is also a fallacy to disengage learning from the other
aspects of students' lives. There are no neat compartments, no ivory
towers. The student experience is a continuum and the environment
must be able to work holistically not just mono-dimensionally. Also
beware the hidden curricula aspects of the environment - all
participants will be receiving and interpreting clues as to their
status, the status of their work and the 'real' values and
requirements of the course from its environment.
There is still no off-the-shelf or open source system that can fully
support the complex integrated and multi-dimensional nature of UK
medical education - nor other courses like it. Also these courses are
not alike in different institutions and a single system developed in
one cannot port to another without a substantial amount of rebuilding.
DIY is not the expensive risk-prone exercise it is often made out to
be - it's not perfect but it allows you do do things 'with' the
learning environment not just 'to' it.
Rachel Ellaway
eLearning Manager
MVM Learning Technology Section
The University of Edinburgh
***************** List information: *****************
Remember - replies go by default to the entire list.
Access the list via the web on http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/vle.html
The Ferl VLE Focus Area is at
http://ferl.becta.org.uk/display.cfm?page=76
To unsubscribe, email [log in to unmask] with the message: leave
vle
**********************************************************************
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and
intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they
are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify
the system manager.
This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by
MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses.
www.mimesweeper.com
**********************************************************************
***************** List information: *****************
Remember - replies go by default to the entire list.
Access the list via the web on http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/vle.html
The Ferl VLE Focus Area is at http://ferl.becta.org.uk/display.cfm?page=76
To unsubscribe, email [log in to unmask] with the message: leave vle
|
