why

WHAT AND WHY?Questioning some assumptions about technology and education

Jon Dron, Athabasca Universityjond@athabascau.ca

Massey University, June 2010

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PEDAGOGY FIRST?

TECHNOLOGY FIRST?

SOMETHING ELSE?

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GRAND THEMES

• How the crowd can teach

• Giving learners control

• Structures and behaviours

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationallibrarynz_commons/3326203787/sizes/o/

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WHY DO WE NEED TEACHERS? CLASSES? COURSES? SCHOOLS? UNIVERSITIES?

WHAT IS A LEARNING TECHNOLOGY?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Torvisen_kansakoulu_1924-26.jpg

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WHY?(type your suggestions)

• Teachers?

• Courses?

• Classes?

• Schools and universities?

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TEACHERS

Stimulate interest

Know more than students

Organise learning resources

Explain clearlyAdapt to student needs

Give feedback

Encourage dialogue

Manage classes

Structure and pace learning

Care for students

Locate learning resources

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INSTITUTIONS

Accreditation

Efficiency

Community

Consistency

AcculturationSocial control

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COURSES

Simplifying administration

Simplifying choices

Accreditation equivalence

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CLASSES

Efficiency

Community

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A LEARNING TECHNOLOGY?

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A LEARNING TECHNOLOGY?

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A LEARNING TECHNOLOGY?

http://expositions.bnf.fr/utopie/grand/3_95b1.htm

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“Orchestration of phenomena to our use”

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What is a technology?

“The way things are done around here” (Ursula Franklin)

“A combination of artefacts and what you do with them”

“A phenomenon captured and put to use”

“Programming of phenomena to our purposes ”

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A way of doing things

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What is a pedagogy?

Methods and procedures

A learning design

A technology

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AN OLD IDEA...

• Instructional technology is

“a field involved in the facilitation of human learning through the systematic identification, development, organization, and utilization of

learning resources and through the management of these processes” (AECT, 1972)

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TECHNOLOGICAL ASSEMBLIES

Government policies and regulations

University policies, processes and regulations

Learning management systems

Classrooms

Pedagogies and learning designsTimetabling systems

Professional frameworks, standards and accreditation

Network infrastructures

Subject-level technologies

Computers

WhiteboardsBooks

Chairs and desks

ScreensCPUs

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STRUCTURE AND BEHAVIOUR

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STRUCTURE AND BEHAVIOUR

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We shape our dwellings and afterwards our dwellings

shape our lives

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SOFT AND HARD THINGS

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Connectivism not the whole answer

choice ≠ control

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CHOICE AND CONTROL

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Control

Choices

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MAKING ASSEMBLIES THAT WORK

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationaalarchief/2948560477/sizes/o/

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Social software

teacher

learner contentMany

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group

network collective

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Social view of distance learning

Learner control

Teacher control

Negotiated control

structuredialogueautonomy

Collective control

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MOBS VS CROWDS

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AUTO-MATION: MAKING SOFT THINGS HARD

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INFORM-ATION: MAKING HARD THINGS SOFT

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LET’S TALK!

JOND@ATHABSCAU.CA

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