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So, those who have been immersed in different versions of Friedman's book and have come to grips with most or all of his 10 trends should have the basic building blocks for understanding the more open educational world. It is not a one-to-one match, however. The open educational world, however, is about a different set of p's; namely, pages of content, piping for that content to run through, and a participatory learning culture. Instead of economic might fostered through online technology, this book is about intellectual might. To help make sense of the 10 learning technology trends, I offer a simple-to-learn acronym, WE-ALL-LEARN. As opposed to flatteners, I label these as openers. After three relatively brief introductory chapters, each of the 10 openers is discussed. These openers include the emergence of online and blended learning, collaborative technology, digital books, open source software, and wireless and mobile learning. A series of resources, examples, and research data is embedded in each one. The stories are included to make the content come to life. The associated book is filled with much more content and stories. Ten Openers: (WE-ALL-LEARN)1. Web Searching in the World of e-Books 2. E-Learning and Blended Learning Availability of Open Source and Free Software 4. Leveraged Resources and OpenCourseWare 5. Learning Object Repositories and Portals 6. Learner Participation in Open Information Communities 7. Electronic Collaboration 8. Alternate Reality Learning 9. Real-Time Mobility and Portability 10. Networks of Personalized Learning The WE-ALL-LEARN model is intended to help one make sense of these changes. Advances in technologies for learning can be into one of these 10 openers. This should reduce tension and frustration teachers, students, parents, administrators, government officials, and other feel with each new technology announcement, fad, and exciting invention. There will, of course, be other such frameworks that will emerge. There will also be new openers that can nurture education. This is simply one framework for the present learning times. Given the fact that billions of people who previously had quite limited access to education will soon be able to access learning materials through the Web from their mobile phones and computers, it is vital to make sense of their learning opportunities. You will likely have experienced many of these trends on one or more occasions. For instance, one trend documented in this book is the sudden movement toward free and open content using the Web of Learning. Another is the offering of classes in both fully online as well as more blended modes. A third is when learners can seamlessly collaborate with other learners in any region or locale. And a fourth one relates to the fact that the learning worlds that students can enter are not just live classroom settings but can also be digital or simulated ones. These four learning opportunities are among the 10 learning trends documented in this book. When you read this book, keep in mind that all 10 are coalescing today to offer formal and informal learning opportunities at any moment for any person. |
