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Week 30. Activity 6. Analysing a global trend in education.

Self paced and personalised online learning - a global trend shaping education or an urban myth ? Analysing the gap between expectation and reality.


Reflection using the Nguyen 5 component model.
Trigger
The OECD 2016 report on Trends Shaping Education Chapter 5 on technological development resonated with me, in particular, "self paced, interactive and personalised learning".

OECD. (2016) Trends Shaping Education 2016, OECD Publishing, Paris. p101
OECD. (2016) Trends Shaping Education 2016, OECD Publishing, Paris. p110

Thoughts and actions
 This resonated with me because in 2016  I created an open online library of elearning cases for learners to use as a self-paced and personalised resource. My learners are adults engaged in postgraduate higher education. This online library format was created as a resource to augment, not replace,  traditional teaching.  My assumption was that experienced Gen Y adult learners  have the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to use this elearning resource effectively, to gain the diagnostic mastery required in the workplace. 

Attentive, critical, exploratory, iterative
 I was shocked by a report that in a  typical Coursera MOOC, of all the students who signed up, roughly 5% earned a credential to signify the official completion of the course (Koller 2013), signifying a massive loss of student retention. Kirschner (2013 p177)  identified the efficacy of digital natives in self directed and self regulated online learning was an urban legend "learners do not have or do not know how to utilize appropriate strategies when they are left to themselves to manage their learning environment".

These research perspectives challenged my assumptions about student engagement with, and effective use of, open online elearning resources.

In a metacognitive moment, I signed myself up for the free Coursera MOOC "Learning how to Learn" taught by Barbara Oakley and Terence Sejinowski.
https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn/home/welcome
This has given me a real-world perspective as a student in engaging with an open online elearning resource requiring self-regulation and self-direction. The total time commitment is around 4h. I found I could squeeze in watching the short (around 3 min ) videos on my mobile phone, followed by a MCQ, during gaps in the day such as waiting for the kettle to boil in the kitchen, or while on the bus. I found this process of interleaving periods of focused learning with low attention activities is efficient and effective. A similar technique could be used with the open online elearning library of cases I created.

Barbara Oakley summarises her points in a 2014 Ted Talk , and, in collaboration with a teaching colleague from Wellington, Dr Kenwright,  we have reorganised them in an infographic here:

I also learned from Barbara Oakley about ineffective techniques of learning such as:
the passive rereading of text, highlighting  text, and glancing at the solution (diagnosis) without solving the problem step by step, all of which give illusions of competence. I commonly observe these ineffective techniques in my learners. Inefficient use of time for learning includes solving problems of the same type without advancing to more difficult problems,  not getting enough sleep and studying in distracting environments. This last inefficiency is amplified by the trend identified in the 2016 OECD report by the global increase in online 'multitasking'.

https://www.keepeek.com//Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/education/trends-shaping-education-2016_trends_edu-2016-en#page103


Multitasking, according to Kirschner (2013) is another urban myth.  It is actually rapid attention switching and results in  poorer learning and task performance.


Underlying conceptual frames
My initial assumption that Gen Y adult postgraduate learners are efficient and effective in engaging with open online elearning resources is not supported by my observations or the literature. However, learning how to learn can be taught, via MOOC or traditional methods. In my next teaching encounter with the aggregated junior trainees from the North Island including Auckland, I will incorporate a 20 min segment on 'Learning How to Learn', with examples of how to apply this to open online elearning resources. My colleague Dr Kenwright will give the same "LHTL" segment to the aggregated junior trainees from the South Island in Wellington . Between us we will have exposed all the NZ junior trainees in our discipline area to LHTL. To address training the trainer, together Dr Kenwright and I will to give a Professional Development session at Wellington Hospital later in March. To address a wider audience in Australiasia and beyond, we have written the editorial for  our professional academic journal on LHTL, due to be published in June 2018.

View on Change
Many of the other trends described by the OECD report on Trends Shaping Education are linear, however, technology is developing exponentially.  According to Astro Teller from Google X, as explained to Thomas Friedman, author of  "Thank you for being late. An optimists guide to thriving in the age of acceleration";  the acceleration in the rate of technology change may exceed our capacity to adapt to change.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmMPpq9PwGg&feature=youtu.be


Self
To close the gap I have to learn and teach smarter and faster. This includes me explicitly teaching students and peers to "Learn how to learn" and for me to practice what I preach. I need an agile learning mindset. As Thomas Friedman explains, the biggest divide now and in the future is not the digital divide of the 1990's but is now a motivational divide between those who are lifelong learners and those who lack the self regulation and motivation to continue to adapt to thrive in the age of accelerations. I know I want myself , my peers and my students to be in the lifelong learner group.

References
The Aspen Institute  (Jul 31, 2017) In conversation with Thomas Friedman. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmMPpq9PwGg&feature=youtu.be

Coursera Blog (2014) Learning how to learn. https://blog.coursera.org/learning-how-not-to-learn/

Friedman, T. L. (2016). Thank you for being late: An optimist's guide to thriving in the age of accelerations. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Kirschner, P. A., & van Merriënboer, J. J. (2013). Do learners really know best? Urban legends in education. Educational psychologist, 48(3), 169-183. https://www.bvekennis.nl/Bibliotheek/16-1150.pdf
Koller, D., Ng, A., & Chen, Z. (2013). Retention and intention in massive open online courses: In depth. Educause Review [Internet] available from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2013/6/retention-and-intention-in-massive-open-online-courses-in-depth

Oakley B, Sejnowski T. (n.d.) Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects. Coursera. https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn/home/welcome

Oakley B. (2014 Aug 5) Learning how to learn. TEDxOakland University https://youtu.be/O96fE1E-rf8



OECD. (2016) Trends Shaping Education 2016, OECD Publishing, Paris. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/trends_edu-2016-en



Nguyen, Q. D. (2015). What is reflection? A conceptual analysis of major definitions and a proposal of a five-component definition and model. Nguyen, Q. D.
(2015). https://papyrus.bib.umontreal.ca/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1866/13118/Nguyen_Quoc_Dinh_2015_memoire.pdf?sequence=

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