1. +
Bridging the gap between policy &
practice: a reflective review & looking
forward to the future
Gráinne Conole, Open University, UK
VI Congresso Nazionale della SIe-L:
E-learning,creatività ed innovazione
Salerno University, 17/09/09
More info, slides and references:
http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloud/view/2295

2. + Outline
 Scrutinising the e-learning history line
 lessons from the past
 a glimpse into the future
 Emergent themes and challenges
 A framework for making policy work
 Illustrative case studies
 Reflections and questions for the future

3. +Key focus
 Is there a gap between e-learning policy and
actual practice?
 How can we bridge the gap?
 Does e-learning policy adequate reflect current
technological advances
 If not how can we ensure it does?

4. +Scrutinising the e-learning timeline
Context
Globalisation, networked society, changing societal norms, ICT advances
UK: Dearing review of ICT TLTP projects, CTI, HE Academy, JISC
US: Fragmented policy,
driven by individuals and
commercial imperative
Education/Industry partnerships,
spin offs, Open Educational
Movement
Impact
Local culture vs global hegemony, changing
roles & structures, commercial vs.
government supported, dissemination and
impact evaluation
Policy Practice
Drivers
Widening participation, personalization, lifelong
learning, quality assurance, developing the
work force, commercial imperative
Conole, (2007) in Andrews & Haythornwaite

5. + A glimpse into the future

6. 1
2 3
b
a
c+
Inspire by Pea &Wallis, 2008
We can
now interact
at a distance,
accessing complex
& useful resources
in ways unimaginable
in early eras
What’s the
next stage
of the co-
evolution?
Phases of development
Tool-user co-evolution
Internet
Mobile devices
T
V
Radio
Smart tools
Phone

7. + Converging practices
Modern technologies Modern pedagogy
 Web 2.0 practices
 Location aware technologies
 Adaptation & customisation
 Second life/immersive worlds
 Google it!
 “Expert badges”,World of warcraft
 User-generated content
 Blogging, peer critiquing
 Cloud computing
 From individual to social
 Contextualised and situated learning
 Personalised learning
 Experiential learning
 Inquiry learning
 Peer learning
 Open Educational Resources
 Reflection
 Distributed cognition

8. + Loosely coupled tools
Integrated IT systems
Personalised
tools
Institutional
tools
Student
controlled
Institutional
controlled
Tensions & implications
The VLE/LMS is dead debate
http://cloudworks.ac.uk/index.php/cloud/view/2162

9. +
Policy
Teacher
practice
Research &
development
The learner’s
experience
A framework for making policy work

10. +Avoiding failures of the past
 Common reactions:
 “I haven’t got time”
 “My research is more important”
 “What’s in it for me?”
 “Where is my reward?”
 “I don’t have the skills to do this”
 “I don’t believe in this, it won’t work”
 Common resistance strategies:
 I’ll say yes (and do nothing)
 Undermine the initiative
 Undermine the person involved
 Classic mistake:
 Emphasis on the technologies, not the people and processes
 Funding for technology developments but not use and support
Great policy initiatives often fail – why?

11. +Cloudworks: Harnessing web 2.0

12. +
Clouds:
Learning & teaching ideas
Design or case studies
Tools or resources
Questions or problems
Cloudscapes:
Conferences
Workshops
Course team
Student cohort
Research theme
Key concepts

13. +User profile

14. +Activity stream

15. +
Features
 Dynamic list of clouds + new comments
 Comments on clouds + cloudscapes
 Can “follow” people + cloudscapes
 RSS feeds of cloudscapes + people
 Embedding: pictures, video, presentations
 Twitter feeds for people +cloudscapes
 Email alerts
 Activity streams

16. +Emergent patterns of use
 Events: conferences and workshops
 ALT-C conference, 8-11th
September 2009
 http://cloudworks.ac.uk/index.php/cloudscape/view/1870
 Discussions: Flash debates
 Is Twitter killing blogging?
 http://cloudworks.ac.uk/index.php/cloud/view/2266
 Eliciting expertise
 Literature review of educational technologist
 http://cloudworks.ac.uk/index.php/cloudscape/view/1872
 Aggregating resources
 En Rumbo Spanish course
 http://cloudworks.ac.uk/index.php/cloudscape/view/776

17. Olnet: redefining openness

18. +
A definition
The open provision of educational
resources, enabled by information and
communication technologies, for
consultation, use and adaptation by a
community of users for non-commercial
purposes
(UNESCO 2002)

19. +
A broader definition of OER
Learning resources
Courseware, content modules, learning objects, learner support
& assessment tools, online learning communities
Resources to support teachers
Tools for teachers and support materials to enable them to
create, adapt and use OER; training materials for teachers
Resources to assure the quality of education and educational
practices
(UNESCO 2004)

20. +
“Open Design”
Characteristics of
good pedagogy
Affordances of new
technologies
Bridging the gap
Personalised
Situative
Social
Experiential
Reflective
Adaptive
Contextual
Networked
Immersive
Collective

21. + A mediating layer
Designer DesignHas an
inherent
OER
Creates
Mediating
artifacts
Mediating artifacts
1.Design visualisation tools -
CompendiumLD
2.Design methods
3.Pedagogical patterns
4.Cloudworks
Can we develop new innovative mediating artifacts?
How can we make the design more explicit and sharable?
User – can now repurpose

22. +
Policy
Research &
development
Teacher
practice
The learner’s
experience
Mapping the case studies
Institutional & national funding
Embedding in strategy
Aligning to technology trends
Changing user behaviour
Drivers and challenges
Actual use in practice
What’s in it for me?
Evidence of impact

23. +Questions and reflections
 What is the relationship between Government rhetoric and
actual practice?
 How can technologies support new forms of pedagogy?
 What is the relationship between technologies, physical and
virtual spaces and pedagogy?
 How do we take account of a digital divide that is ever
narrower but deeper?
 What new digital literacy skills will learners and teachers
need ?
 E-learning innovation will require a radical rethinking of the
curriculum,
 E-learning challenges existing norms about assessment

24. +
Bridging the gap between policy &
practice: a reflective review & looking
forward to the future
Gráinne Conole, Open University, UK
VI Congresso Nazionale della SIe-L:
E-learning,creatività ed innovazione
Salerno University, 17/09/09
More info, slides and references:
http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloud/view/2295