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Something I know about myself – I do not like theorizing and not getting to the actual work. I am all for discussing and research, but once there is ample discussion and research and all you are doing is regurgitating, it is time to move on and try something. If it is not successful, then at least you have something new to add to your discussion/research instead of the same old same old that was not getting the result you were hoping for. This is why two of the articles we read this week were so enjoyable for me – they were suggesting actions as opposed to just summarizing what is known and posing questions.

The portion of Siemens, Gašević, and Dawson’s article assigned supplied new information and as well as programs and people to research that will be helpful in my project. Yes, everything leads to my project, and I do not think that is a bad focus to my Masters. Realizing that George Siemens was one of the originators of the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) also sent me down a path of checking to see nationality and the potential for his work to take into consideration Canada and British Columbia’s (BC’s) strict privacy laws. I will be watching Stephen Downes’ gRSShopper and Learning and Performance Support Systems as well checking out the authors’ ProSolo. I followed all four of these researchers on Twitter and subscribed to Stephen Downes OLDaily as they appear to have information I may find useful, if I can understand it. Some of their information requires much more knowledge of programming and use of online systems than I currently have.

The article by Stephen Downes also had some good resources, but as they were all American based, I am not going to research them further at this time. His points on what is needed in both the development of technology as well as the development of online education resonated with me:

  1. “We need to change our framing, and in particular, we need to start thinking in terms of data and networks rather the documents, to get away from the idea that we’re publishing course packages, chapters, and modules.The existing system of learning and publishing is designed around static and unchanging resources, however, in this future, resources will need to be created as-needed to address current data and current contexts.” “Instructional designers should be thinking in terms of environments and experiences”
  2. “ GitHub, for example, requires a huge learning curve(GitLab, 2017). There is a change of perspective required in order to see works (whether software or content or other media) as dynamic, as branched, as modular, and as interoperating. Instructors and designers will require user-friendly interfaces that assist in this change of perspective.” “Again, it’s a shift in focus from the content to the interactions and operations. It’s about how to merge this data with this application or this capacity or this bit of artificial intelligence to create a learning experience for a person. This is a very different way of thinking about instruction and instructional design than what instructors and designers may be used to, and it will require practice and application on new leading design systems in order to support this transition.”
  3. “designers and developers will need to learn to co-create cooperatively.”

I found it interesting that Downes did not push his own developments in the article. Is it because he is doing the Canadian humble thing? I am hoping his developments are all based on Canadian privacy requirements and therefore very usable for our education systems.

References:

Downes, S. (2019). A Look at the Future of Open Educational Resources. International Journal of Open Educational Resources, 1(2). Retrieved from https://www.ijoer.org/a-look-at-the-future-of-open-educational-resources/

Siemens, G., Gašević, D., & Dawson, S. (2015). Preparing for the Digital University: A Review of the History and Current State of Distance, Blended, and Online Learning. Retrieved from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation website: http://linkresearchlab.org/PreparingDigitalUniversity.pdf