Predicting the future of learning

I found this interesting tool used by the Elliot Masie group to predict what the most common learning tool in organisations will be in the year 2009. To make things interesting, each mode of learning is given a stock code and can be traded like a proper stock exchange. When you register you 'receive' $5000 to buy stock.

As a 'quick and dirty' overview of the direction people see learning heading, this is quite fun. However, the definitions are too vague for the results to be taken too seriously. For example, I believe that the informal learning afforded by 'Social Networks' within the workplace are the most frequently leveraged tool. But if an organisation sets up an infrastructure that facilitates this informal learning, would that count as E-Learning or Social Networks?

Moreover, notice the wording of the predictor - 'the most common learning tool'. It's true that E-Learning (whatever that is) is on the increase, but how valuable is it really? Why aren't we predicting the 'most valuable learning tool' in the year 2009? Could it have something to do with the fact that Elliot Masie and presumably most of the 'traders' happen to be developers of 'E-Learning'?

Are bloggers more intelligent?

I wrote this entry on my personal blog back in July 2005. I'm bringing it over here to my learning blog because it was such an 'aha' moment for me.

Thursday, July 28, 2005
Are bloggers more intelligent?

I probably look in the mirror more often than the average person. Until recently however, I drew the line at what I considered the ultimate act of narcissism - having my own Blog. I last recorded my inner thoughts when I was 13 years old. I can still picture my diary/scrapbook crammed with photos of Bucks Fizz and Duran Duran's John Taylor lovingly cut out of Smash Hits. So why now, all these years later would I a)want to write down my thoughts and b)publish them online for the world and his wife to view?

One of the first recommendations from Shirley, our Instructional Design module moderator, was to record our reflections in a Blog. Despite being dubious about the instructional value of the exercise, as a self-confessed tech enthusiast I checked it out and discovered I could use a Blog to publish photos and share them with family and friends across the globe. The format is user friendly and the whole experience is more personal than using one of the online photo sharing services that try to sell you a souvenir mug every time you click on a photo.

So having wasted a few hours creating my own and visiting other Blogs, I began the first module's reading - Learning Theory. And therein lay the answer!

The constructivist's theory of learning is based on the premise that we all have our own versions of reality and truth (bear with me) and that the most effective way to learn is to realise what that truth and reality is and build on it with new experiences. This internalisation of thought and reflection is improved if we record the journey.

'Journaling is an example of an instructional method that facilitates the process of internalizing dialogue (Vygotsky, 1962). Specifically, journaling is considered to be an instructional activity that reinforces the skill of reflecting what was simultaneously being discussed with others (Burnham, 1992; Reinersten and Wells, 1993; Beyerbach, 1992).' (Kanuka and Anderson, 1999. Radical Pedagogy)

Maintain a Blog then, is not an act of virtual vanity but rather a way to facilitate and improve our own understanding of the myriad new experiences, exchanges and information that we are exposed to each day.

So the answer to lifelong learning and knowledge is simple - start a Blog!

Something I prepared earlier

In my previous post, I mention my other blog. I started Jo Bloggs on the advise of a USQ moderator and quickly found that I enjoyed blogging both for personal and study purposes.

From now on this blog will be home to my reflections on learning.

Here are links to some of my early EdTech postings:

Are Bloggers more intelligent?

Peer review, does it motivate or discourage?

Connectivism and Communities of Practice

The Paradox of Choice - Why More Is Less

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6127548813950043200

Sustainable Blogging

The time had come for me to separate out my masters musings from the photos of my beautiful kids. In a learning environment, it's all about context and peppering jo bloggs with the odd educational commentary was inceasingly out of context.

I'm hoping that this isn't going to mean that both bloggs will fall by the wayside.

We'll see