What?

Siemens, G., Gašević, D., & Dawson, S. (2015). Preparing for the Digital University: A Review of the History and Current State of Distance, Blended, and Online Learning. Retrieved from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation website: Pages 199-230 http://linkresearchlab.org/PreparingDigitalUniversity.pdf

  • Focus on: Future Technology Infrastructures for Learning
    • exploration of future technology infrastructures are required in order to help higher education prepare for next generation learning opportunities
    • this paper explores four factors that influence future technologies: who has control, how well are the technologies integrated with other tool-sets and the experiences of learners, who has ownership of the data and the technology, what is the nature of learning structure in terms of centralization and decentralization
    • knowledge has become an easily accessible commodity, resulting in greater emphasis on learning opportunities
    • the technologies selected by teachers will determine the quality of learning, the scope of teaching practices, and ultimately, how well learners are equipped for both employment and engagement in democratic and equitable models of modern global society (just like any other choice of material in a classroom)

Selwyn, N., Hillman, T., Eynon, R., Ferreira, G., Knox, J., Macgilchrist, F., & Sancho-Gil, J. M. (2019). What’s next for Ed-Tech? Critical hopes and concerns for the 2020s. Learning, Media and Technology, 1–6. http://ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/login?url=https://doi.org/10/ggc9w2

  • It is clear that digital technologies are a significant factor in the ways in which our day-to-day lives are different from 20 years ago
  • Therefore, will probably be a significant factor in how the future is shaped
  • Education is still struggling with the same problems (even before the computer was introduced) – deficiencies in resourcing, inequalities of opportunity, poor quality teaching, curriculum and school organization (likely to continue to plague the education system)
  • 6 substantial challenges that the authors expect critical educational technology scholarship to meets as the new decade progresses
    • new forms of digital in/exclusion – individuals who are well resourced and have strong educational backgrounds are most likely to benefit the most from digital education
      • tried to aid this by improving tech in school and homes (this focuses on responsibility for their position in society on themselves, and this response treats technology as an inherently ‘good’ thing
    • platform economies in an age of artificial intelligence
      • people are hungry for data as a result
    • ‘Divisions of learning’ across humans and machines
      • machines now seem capable of learning our habits and influencing our choices in unprecedented way
    • IT industry actors as a leading educational force
      • should major tech corporations continue to exercise ‘soft power’ in influencing and shaping education decision-making, while all the time profiting from the decisions being made?
    • Reimaging forms of EdTech suitable for an age of climate change
      • digital technologies have been excessively consumed and discarded over the past 20 years in the name of ‘innovation’
    • Finding alternatives: solidary economies, convivial technology, respectful design

Downes, S. (2019). A Look at the Future of Open Educational Resources. International Journal of Open Educational Resources, 1(2). Retrieved from https://www.ijoer.org/a-look-at-the-future-of-open-educational-resources/

  • This article explores the impact of four major types of technoloogy on our understanding of OER – cloud infrastructure, open data, artificial intelligence, and decentralized networks
  • A web page today is not just somewhere to find information, but a dynamic resource – connected to live data generated by cloud services
  • New models of open educational resources  will be more like tools that students use in order to create their own learning content – learning happens through the use of the content (not the consumption of the content)
  • licensing issues fade into the background? – learning resources distributed through decentralized networks
  • creators of OER will need to reflect and be cognizant of the learning environment (and experiences within that environment) that they are creating – will require practice and application on new learning design

So what?

  • Where is the most significant and influential learning happening in our societies? – this is a very interesting question (depends on the context and purpose)
  • Is there much movement into critical EdTech research?

Now what?

  • (From our breakout session) How do you develop OpenEd/MOOC spaces and balance the online platform and connection/interaction between students engaged in the program?
  • I always come back to this question – who is going to make the change? (where does the push come for the move away from colonizing technology – consumers?) *if that’s the case, what is their incentive to change?