Siemen's (2008) article is not a recent publication; and given the technological advances made in the last eight years, it seems the Higher Education sector is lagging behind in developing an approach that fully satisfies its students' needs. In fact, the questions being asked by Siemens in this article, are still being asked in most HE course and program design meetings, with the answers still being discussed and stymied be change resistant debate. I have a similar vision of the future as the one described by Siemens; and what this article was able to for me, was to verbalise and rationalises the reasons why this vision may become a reality in our universities. What would be the role of the educator? How would we teach? Assuming that there has been a shift from institution controlled teaching to a more learner controlled model, the role of the educator is profound. Although most would agree that a more constructivist approach to learning is beneficial to both students and teachers, I suspect that many academics feel threatened by this shift. Furthermore, the concept of the fluidity of knowledge must alarm some, who have spent a life time building a reputation as an expert in their particular areas. Add to this, the emerging alternative modes of teaching and learning in the form of borderless education, private for profit organisations and corporate universities (Siemens, 2008). The new courses would contain content that is not communicated by one educator, but many educators, from different institutions, representing different points of view. Ideally, this situation provides more diverse resources, including a network of relationships providing fluid, multi-level knowledge. But the fact remains, that if Higher Education institutions wish to remain relevant, they need to operate in a way that enables their students to acquire the skills that will allow them to continually know more - as Angela also points out in "Adopting a different framework for education". One key element in achieving this is for the educators to be operating in synergy with the learning objectives. What would be the role of the learner? In Siemen's world, the learner would be more in control of their learning processes. Because learners are all very different, there would need to be a broad spectrum in terms of learning experiences offered. The two broad categories would include; 1) learners who would prefer a structured pathway leading to their learning objective; 2) Learners who prefer to self-regulate their learning journey by exercising a high level of choice. I don't think Siemens would have ever meant these two categories to be set in stone. I see students as falling into categories along a spectrum that spans the two categories; and also changing their position and preferences each time they pursue a different learning objective. How would the curriculum be created? Shared? One of the areas affected would be the design and content of learning experiences. Historically, courses in Higher Education evolved as a response to "non-experts" wanting to acquire knowledge from "experts" in a specialised field. These experts may struggle to remain experts in terms of content. However, one remedy would be to provide students with the means to independently search for and discover the knowledge they require. Adam picks up on this idea in his blog post "An end to Meaningless Jobs". Courses would need to be designed with a greater focus on skill, with Educators facilitating broad content parameters. Consequently, it would make sense for curriculum to be guided by the journeys of the learners, or at least flexible enough to accommodate each learner's personal knowledge acquisition within the broader curriculum. Ideally, this information would be organised, manipulated, modified and eventually shared, forming the basis future curriculum. I see the curriculum in HE being partially provided by multiple perspectives; the university educators, experts from outside the university and the students/learners themselves. Currently, the technology and advances in learning theory (Connectivism and Constructivism) supports a more participatory curriculum that enables greater participation, collaboration, creation and sharing; but, "The call for a new pedagogy to accompany new instructional technologies; however, has largely remained unanswered" (Davidovitch, 2007, as cited in Siemens, 2008, p. 8) This is the challenge that universities face, a challenge that needs to be met within for any meaningful change to occur. How would research be conducted? I think research has often been carried out in the spirit of collaboration and facilitated by the existence of networks. Researchers have always sort information and ideas from outside their institution; seeking the most current and relevant information form around the globe. They have also shared their work in academic journals and conferences in a collegial and truth-driven way. The positives of network learning is that this sharing and research is more accessible to a broader range of people. This has benefits such as lessening the costs involved in facilitating conferences and face to face networking. It may also increase the amount of information and networking, and while there will need to be a system of filtering the information, the probability of a richer and more complex understanding of the shared information is high. What would the role of the university in society? This question is one that I think some staff at universities ask with trepidation because they perceive that it affects their future,- and it does do this. To be fair, some are dubious about change because they have an affection for the way things have been in the past. The institutions need to reassure their academic staff that the central function of universities should not change. Universities should remain a hub of independent learning; but the sustainability of Higher education institutions also depends on their ability to evolve in to a connection forming organisation (Siemens, 2008) making relationships with sources, moderating information, facilitating research and engendering a spirit of inquiry and discovery in a neutral atmosphere. What would education look like? How would we mark? Accredit? Accreditation is one of the most important functions of a university. Most students seeking a degree probably still want to say they have completed their degree from a particular university. Some may also need to validate their credentials by completing a degree from a particular university with a area speciality. Siemens questions whether this accreditation translates into competence, and whether we need to widen accreditation to include the whole personal learning experience of a student. This sounds ideal, bit the practicalities of this type of accreditation need to be considered in relation the changing role of the educator. In a previous post, I talked about the different roles and functions that educators would need to fulfil in the future. Siemens also talks about the learning mentors and peer support, in addition to the main instructor. For accreditation purposes, there may need to be a significantly larger number of staff monitoring and gathering data from the enlarged student learning experiences. This appears to be an opportunity, rather than a problem. References Adopting a different framework for education. (2016). Angelamartlewedu8117. Retrieved from https://angelamartlewedu8117.wordpress.com/2016/08/25/adopting-a-different- framework-for-education/ An end to meaningless jobs. (2016). Adam Does NGL. (2016). An end to meaningless jobs. Retrieved from https://adamngl.wordpress.com/2016/08/24/an-end-to- meaningless-jobs/ Siemens, G. (2008). New structures and spaces of learning: The systemic impact of connective knowledge, connectivism, and networked learning. Actas Do Encontro Sobre Web.
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