eLearning on the www: An Open Letter

Conferences (Ulearn, etc), Epic eLearning Debate 2009, Dohar ICT Conferences, Twitter mania, Facebook communities, Seacom's Africa www fibre cable, Skype on CNN, Google Apps and Wave, Google Earth and Streetview. And millions more ...

There is an eLearning revolution happening in the world today. Are you part of it yet?

For education ministries: The alignment with a single provider of software, where millions of tax payer contributions are invested, is short sighted. Connectivity and security must be central to the efforts of any MOE because without it your learners will be marginalised.

For governments: Tax breaks for individuals must include for those who are connected to the www. For corporations: Support your workers with connectivity as a perk of the job. A connected society will associate and share their freedom and creativity with you.

For democratic governments you must promote, extend and protect your society and their viewpoints -- good or bad.

For despotic regimes and others who try to limit freedom of expression on the www: You are doomed to fail,and your every action is being captured and stored as a witness against you.

For individuals questioning the value of eLearning and distrust of the www: Your perspectives will increasingly fall victim to exclusion, and the wider world would be the poorer for not having known you.

For privacy mongers: Yes, the gap between your privacy and public persona is narrowing, and it might even disappear in future as you become a global citizen. But, life is short; so, share it as much as you can.

For safety: The www is unforgiving for those who seek to harm others. Once exposed on the www you will become forever exposed on the www.

For schools: Embrace Open Source Software and plough you money into connectivity and safety. Open your institutions to the www and expect that your learners will turn your institution into a powerhouse of creativity and learning.

For employers: Recognise and insist on employing individuals who are 'digital positive'. You will not only save money, but also, be rewarded with innovation, creativity and self-development.

For students: Insist on having connectivity as a basic right. Without it you will be the poorer for it. Do not allow the nay-sayers to restrict your growth. Extend yourself way beyond the viewpoint of only one person. Create and maintain your presence on the www, for there will always be many who share your views. Share what you have learnt and revel in being listened to and commented upon. Do not be afraid of the future because you have the power of the www to help shape you.

Is this possible?

Using a free core Learning Management System (LMS) which has interoperability with an existing Student Management System (SMS). Where all students use a Single Sign On (SSO) to access their courses and resources. A place where the students and parents can login to see assessment results, and communicate with peers and teachers. Where students are provided a digital core to bring to and remove from, any number of their creative Web 2.0 designs showing evidence of their work. Emphasis, on removing their work from the core when moving room, year, school or country (called ePortfolio). Where students' prior work is recognised and built upon and learning is life wide. Where students can even bring along a whole package of applications such as Google Apps or Mahara using their single sign on (SSO). Where a school can allow a student to bring any device such as laptop, ipod, to school and has connectivity to participate and showcase their work. A school where students cannot wait to get to, and find it hard to leave from. A place where teachers are at the mercy of students, who love inquiry learning and playing online games, and hence becoming facilitators of the learning process and moreover learners themselves. A place where principals of schools encourage all teachers to have an online ePortfolio as evidence of their admin and other work, and moreover they themselves take the lead in having one themselves, which includes a comments section. And last, but not least, where Open Source software easily integrates and is encouraged.

(as presented to the mle-reference-group.googlegroups.com)

Digital Alcholism

Recently, I have had an opportunity to try out a few Learning Management Systems (LMS) particularly Ultranet (Edtech) and Moodle. I have also tried numerous Web 2 tools. Finally, I also had a go at ePortfolios, Google Apps and Drupal.

I have come to the realisation that there are numerous (if not overwhelmingly so) applications which can aid learning. The question now is how do we mentally structure everything as not to become digital alcoholics.

I have also noticed that educators are slowly moving from email and Student Management System data entry towards trying blogs, wikis, etc. I have observed others finely gather and present collections of Web 2 tools making them "educational stars" in the eyes of their still emergent digital colleagues.

It all seems so inevitable that the growing digital space of learning will be here to stay. Management of schools will therefore have to provide the space for development, creativity and risk taking. Also, renewing their planning to define what is learning, where it will florish and how it is presented for assessment.

While we battle with the knowledge age we are cognisant that the morality of human nature is as fragile as their inquisitiveness. So we find ourselves in the midst of a digital storm where we have to provide creative opportunity, accountability and protection as a given. But, it seems that we are witnessing the ever narrowing of the gap between privacy and cyber world citizenship which effectively rewrites what we know of relational boundaries.

So, here I will declare within my little digital space, that I will spend a large part of my life using it, not only as a tool, but also as an extension of myself. Within my digital space, I will share what I find think and feel, and be at the mercy of a digital audience.

Finally, I have an affinity for cyber participants who contribute freely their skills, designs and projects for the betterment of others. I will attempt to join in as much as I am able to do so, and promote what I feel might be "cool".