GOVERNANCE, CONFLICT and SOCIAL JUSTICE

GOVERNANCE, CONFLICT and SOCIAL JUSTICE

5th PAN – COMMONWEALTH FORUM

UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

ID 69 – DR DE BEER



Community needs for cooperative peacekeeping training with Open and Distance E-Learning (ODEL) modes and Open Education Resources (OER) in Africa


Dr KJ de Beer (kbeer@cut.ac.za)
Dr PJ de Montfort (pierrem@lantic.net)


ABSTRACT
One reason why peacekeeping training for African militia does not always bear fruit may be the ignorance of laymen, civil servants, educators and community leaders. In order to address this problem, greater community awareness is necessary. The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) could become a peacemaker in integrating peacekeeping training in civil education programmes via Open and Distance E-Learning (ODEL) in collaboration with the African Council for Distance Education (ACDE), the National Association for Distance and Open Learning of South Africa (NADEOSA) and the Southern African Regional University Association (SARUA). A substructure of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) is currently promoting the use of Open Education Resources (OER), also referred to in ODEL as Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS). COL and UNESCO provide a neutral platform for academics worldwide to engage in African affairs, especially in sensitive conflict regions where children and women suffer the consequences of various forms of military conflict. The challenge for the academe is determining whether peacekeeping skills training has any impact in curbing the violence spiral. The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in Geneva has initiated a series of Peacekeeping Operations Correspondence Instruction (POCI) courses specifically for capacity building within global military institutions, civil police forces and intelligence communities and for diplomats and academics engaged in strategic studies. These courses can be downloaded free of charge from E-Learning for African Peacekeepers (ELAP) (http://www.elap.unitarpoci.org). Likewise the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre (PPC), based in Nova Scotia, Canada, offers a programme focusing on training those serving in conflict zones, including civilians, military personnel and police officers (http://www.peaceoperations.org/web/la/en/default.asp). Within this context the relationship between the major themes and subsequent crosscutting aspects for the 5th Pan-Commonwealth Forum (PCF5) are discussed under ‘Governance, Conflict and Social Justice” with particular emphasis on the application of ODEL methodologies.





1. REVIEW

The 5th Pan-Commonwealth Forum (PCF5) reviewers referred to our research into the sub-theme ‘Governance, Conflict and Social Justice’ with emphasis on open and distance learning (PCF 2008). The reviewers also referred to the work of the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre (PPC) in Canada, which consulted nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and military commanders, for example, regarding their roles in post-conflict situations, stating that: “A discussion of the motivation for developing such a course and the outcomes would be interesting” (PCF 2008).

2. RESEARCH PROBLEM

An absence of civil education could largely be to blame for the perpetual conflicts in Africa (Cf. CNBC Africa 2008). Even government officials may be the by-products of political illiteracy. In our opinion school teachers, university lecturers, civil servants, diplomats, intelligence staff and especially soldiers and civil police officers are generally ignorant about the human rights formulated in the United Nations (UN) charter and international law (Cf. UFS 2008).

The following aspects are implied:

 Suffering of women and children;
 Health and wellbeing of civilians;
 Peacekeeping community training in managing conflict for social justice through cooperative education via Open and Distance E-Learning (ODEL) modes and with Open Education Resources (OER);
 Preserving the peace in post-conflict zones; and
 Transforming offensive soldiers into uniformed diplomats.

Appropriate distance education generations are first (correspondence), second (dual face-to-face) and third (educational technology) methodologies for a proposed instructional model. This is an action research project (De Montfort 2007) for integrating ODEL and OER with Africanised practices in collaboration with global partners and ex-militia to enhance and preserve peace (Cf. PPC 2008; UNITAR POCI 2008). Two imminent research questions emerge:

 How should ODEL practitioners establish awareness of peacekeeping training through political literacy (read “civil education” hereinafter); and
 What are the outcomes?

3. GOVERNANCE, CONFLICT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

United Nations (UN) structures are currently promoting peacekeeping and enhancing social development via higher education institutions (HEIs) in Africa to educate cooperative communities, by means of ODEL and OER practices, to understand, appreciate and sustain a just and fair civil society (Cf. De Beer & Thulare 2001). Unfortunately, cooperation cannot be taken for granted in communities in conflict (Cf. UFS 2008). One of the problems is the misinterpretation of a true democratic government. Another issue is “whether traditional African societies are in essence community orientated and if so, what place the individual has in such a collectivist perspective” (Higgs 2007).

3.1 Governance

Normative forms of governments in Africa are considerably virulent. In analysing human rights and freedom of speech within a differentiated civilised social order, state philosophical and constitutional approaches of political scientists are generally to test whether the relationship and community structures and social figurants are intact within the differentiated powers of the Trias Politica. That implies the differentiation of powers of the state into law-giving, administration, and judicial functions. Transgression of the aforementioned sub-variant authoritarian boundaries (or the Rule of Law) creates quasi-democracies and de facto governments in many African states. Duvenhage (1998) defines the crisis of such nation states as the absence of a political culture where knowledge is not imparted.

It is important to differentiate among the array of Africa’s ethnic cultures. Ethnicity – “etnos” according to its Greek concept – entails more than race. It means, amongst other things, to have dominion over a specific life sphere. Political scientists differentiate several life spheres to define a democratic society. Consequently, civil education ODEL programmes, which include peacekeeping modules, could also be developed as a specific sphere to assist educators. Free education curricula could subsequently be extended to post-conflict areas (Cf. COL 2007).

3.2 Conflict

During a workshop Conolly (2007) stated that most conflicts on the African continent are caused by “ethnostress” – a term coined by Hill (1992) to label the confusion and disruption of the “aboriginal spirit (“stress”) as rooted in individual experiences of aboriginal identity (“ethnicity”) in modern-day communities. According to Hill (1992), “Living within native communities, is a very stressful experience”.

Researchers recognise that specific “hurting” behaviours are associated with feelings of fear and anger. When people suffer mental confusion and physical and emotional pain, it causes feelings of hopelessness (Hill 1992).

To counteract this feeling of hopelessness, new-generation DE modes could be used to educate the masses. Free satellite broadcasts, decoders and satellite dishes, open education radio stations, DVDs, memory sticks, ipods, mp3 players and correspondence-based materials could assist the academe to orientate communities in respect of ethnic differences and enhance a culture of tolerance – also in the aftermath of civil wars.

3.3 Social justice

HEIs are co-responsible for educating people about ethics. Morality is learned within families, communities, schools, associations and public organisations. According to Lenn (2002) these are “the crucibles in which individuals make choices, where they take cues from others about what is right and wrong, good and bad, appropriate and inappropriate”. OER courses such as UNITAR POCI (United Nations Institute for Training and Research: Programme of Correspondence Instruction) and the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre (PPC) could assist in transforming communities in conflict into communities of social justice.

Hill (1992) inter alia prioritises the so-called “frozen needs”:

 To feel secure, safe and at peace;
 To know that one’s existence is beneficial; and
 To love, live and let live.

It is unimaginable that victims of perpetual conflict could develop to their full human potential; neither can they exercise their democratic rights, nor experience the international principles of the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

4. ODEL, OER AND COOPERATIVE EDUCATION

ODEL is the fastest way of counteracting illiteracy in Africa. An example is the Open Learning Systems Education Trust (OLSET), which uses radio broadcasts (Cf. OLSET 2006). Many other learning programmers use free satellite channels. This is becoming a highly practical way of curbing the ignorance of ordinary civilians who often fall prone to the warlords of Africa. Another reason why conflicts flare up again after peace settlements is a lack of knowledge.

What, then, are the best means of educating both laymen and official peacekeepers? As stated earlier, peacekeeping modules could be integrated with civil education in primary and secondary schools, while programmes for HEI sessions could be extended into community education such as Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET). Communities could be made more aware of international goodwill instead of simply distrusting foreign military personnel under the UN flag. Ignorance often hampers settlements. The idea is to establish a ‘needs-driven modality’ with military intelligence to sustain a peaceful society throughout the process.

How, then, should practitioners enhance civil/peacekeeping programmes?

The answer is to regard peacekeeping as a skills training process in:

 Developing free education curricula; with
 Cooperative education; and
 ODEL methodologies; as well as
 Academic accreditation.

Developing free education curricula

In an online discussion of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Susan D’Antoni proposes a grid with a classification policy for responses. The Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) researched the term OER, which refers to “web-based materials, offered freely and openly for use and reuse in teaching, learning and research” (UNESCO 2007). Intellectual property rights linked to OER are inter alia:
 Balancing openness and intellectual property;
 Equal distribution;
 Open access;
 Quality;
 Adjusting new resources;
 Copyright or under Creative Commons (2008).

Government representatives in the Association for African Universities (AAU) favour their idea of Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) initiatives for OER (Tucker 2007). Likewise, UNESCO, the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), the AAU and its African Council for Distance Education (ACDE) are constantly promoting ODEL development in Africa. Peacekeeping is also very pertinent in their agendas (Cf. AAU 2005).

4.2 Cooperative Education (Co-op)

Co-op is a philosophy of learning that promotes learning based on cooperation between HEIs, industry, commerce and the public sector (SASCE 2004). Certain types of co-ops lend themselves to peacekeeping instruction, e.g.:
 Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) / army, police, intelligence agencies;
 Experiential Learning / students in strategic studies;
 Work-based Learning / correctional services;
 Internship / diplomatic corps;
 Learnerships / HEIs;
 Research Collaboration / ex-militia;
 Staff Development / navy, air force;
 Exchange Programmes / co-op learners;
 Partnerships / government departments / security companies;
 Community Outreach / ABET; and
 Lifelong Learning / peacekeepers in post-conflict zones.

Our university has taken the initiative to register the modules of UNITAR POCI according to the required unit standards for higher education accreditation. Workplace learning is structured, planned, monitored and assessed for National Qualifications Framework (NQF) levels and to ensure integration of the whole qualification with curriculum outcomes (De Montfort 2007).

Service learning could be specifically applied to:

 Engendering civic responsibility in peacekeeping;
 Developing peacekeeping skills and awareness of personal, social and cultural values and respect; and
 Engaging in peacekeeping activities where both the community and the militia are primary beneficiaries.

4.3 ODEL methodologies

Morrow and Nonyongo (2003) state that ODEL has become the global “mode of delivery” in the formal and non-formal teaching and learning modes of HEIs. ODEL practitioners develop strategies for delivery at an affordable cost by integrating various learning resources into a flexible pattern for training and learning. This concept was also used to construct the National Plan for Higher Education in South Africa, since it focuses on the specific needs of communities in multiple learning and training areas (Morrow 1996:4).

Comparatively, UNITAR POCI modules are geared towards:

 Enhancing access for learners ( Cf. Anderson 2006);
 Using co-ops for employability;
 Supporting social development;
 Emphasising learner centeredness;
 Lifelong learning to link with globalisation;
 Flexibility for the individual needs of learners (Cf. ELAP 2008); and
 Andragogical accessibility to higher expertise.

An important aspect is Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) for those students who have acquired other career experiences. Consequently ex-militia members are often co-authors of peacekeeping modules (Cf. PPC 2008; UNITAR POCI 2008).

4.4 South African accreditation efforts

Lt Col P.J. de Montfort of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has since 2004 been busy with the administrative process of securing accreditation for UNITAR POCI modules by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). His aim is to integrate training modules for militia and diplomats and to prioritise these as part of the possible school curricula in civil education and political literacy inductions at HEIs. After accreditation, all learners should be able to generate academic credits for further skills training in Peace Support Operations (PSO). De Montfort also strives to enhance awareness of international initiatives and the implementation of skills in post-conflict zones.

Currently there is no higher learning programme on generic PSO offered by any university in Southern Africa. To fill this hiatus, De Montfort submitted the unit standards for accreditation to SAQA, while his second active research cycle is to write a comprehensive Instructional Systems Design (ISD) report and curriculum and to adapt the learner guides accordingly.

5. INTROSPECTION

Now,” What are the outcomes of distance peacekeeping instruction?”

The director of UNITAR POCI, Prof. H.J. Langholtz (2008), responds: “There is no simple answer. But it makes for some very interesting analysis and discussion. To really answer the question – Does completion of a UNITAR POCI course make a better peacekeeper? – we would first need to be able to measure effectiveness as a peacekeeper. And to really do a scientific study of the effectiveness of POCI training, we would need to do an experiment with the proper rigorous experimental design. One design would be to randomly assign soldiers to two groups, and then have one group study UNITAR POCI courses while the other did not. Then, deploy these two groups in a peacekeeping setting, measure their effectiveness, and do a statistical analysis that compared their effectiveness. If the POCI-trained group performs differently at a statistically significant level from the non-POCI-trained group, then this would demonstrate that the training made a difference. Of course, this clearly delineated scientific approach is not feasible. We don't really have a scientific way of measuring effectiveness as a peacekeeper.”

However, Langholtz (2008) confirms, ”Each UNITAR POCI course contains a 50-question end-of-course examination. We maintain item banks of 100 questions for each of our 21 courses and we randomly draw 50 questions for each student's unique end-of-course exam. In order to pass and earn the Certificate of Completion, students must score 75%, and of course this is easily quantified, observed and measured. So in that sense, yes, it is possible to measure the effectiveness of completion of a UNITAR POCI course. If a student is able to pass the exam it is a safe assumption that they understand the material of the course better than a student who fails the exam. So in answer to the question – Does peacekeeping training have a measurable impact? – the answer is yes. The measurable impact is the ability to pass the end-of-course examination. But if ‘measurable impact’ means effectiveness as a peacekeeper, there is no instrument yet developed that measures that.”

Peluk (2008) of the PPC wrote the following e-mail on their views:

 “Unfortunately, only individuals who have worked for the PPC as facilitators are able to access the facilitator community on the PPC website. However, we have passed your information on to our director of Africa programs for consideration should we undertake activities in South Africa;
 The PPC does not use UNITAR courses in developing our learning products, as we find they do not reflect the complexities of contemporary peace operations; and
 With regard to the academic accreditation of PPC courses, we are not accredited by any academic institution currently. For your information, it is our understanding that UN Integrated Training Services has suspended any recognition of training institution courses until they ascertain what their standards are for recognition, which UNITS is currently reviewing.”

6. RECOMMENDATIONS

It is evident that this paper is not the panacea for motivating a ‘peacekeeping awareness’ or ‘sustaining peace in post-conflict zones’ programme. To discuss the motivation for developing an international civil education ODEL programme with OER materials on peacekeeping, we courteously call upon interested researchers to join hands or to kindly invite us to join in on their projects. We also admit the need to research means of sustaining peace in post-conflict regions as proposed earlier by the PCF5 reviewers. Therefore we recommend the following:

 Launching international action research through:

• UN structures (UNITAR POCI, UNESCO’s OECD, UNITWIN and UNICEF);
• The COL;
• The PPC;
• The African Union; and
• The World Bank.

 An African higher education approach through:

• The AAU;
• The ACDE; and
• The African regional university associations for western, central and southern Africa.

To conclude this paper with a practical example in sub-Saharan Africa, the New Economic Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) of the South African government is already supporting an e-learning project through the Meraka Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) into the rest of Africa (Cf. Meraka Institute 2007). The following organisations within the ODEL movement of Southern Africa could soon be expected to align their research with internationally accepted ODEL programmes, which include civil education peacekeeping OER / FLOSS:

 National Association for Distance Education and Open Learning of South Africa (NADEOSA);
 Distance Education Association for Southern Africa (DEASA);
 South African Association for Research Development in Higher Education (SAARDHE);
 Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of Southern Africa (HELTASA); and
 Southern African Society for Cooperative Education (SASCE).

REFERENCES:

AAU (Association of African Universities). 2005. Proceedings of the 11th General AAU Conference. University of Cape Town, 21-25 February 2005.

Anderson, T. 2006. Open access in action! International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 7(1): 1. www.irrodl.org. Accessed: 2 June 2006.

CNBC Africa. 2008. Platform on African Affairs, 11 February at 20:00.

COL (Commonwealth of Learning). 2007 Towards a free education curriculum by 2015. Connections: Learning for Development, 12(2): 1-2.

Conolly, JL. 2007. Workshop on cultural diversity. Central University of Technology, Free State. [conollyj@dut.ac.za], August 2007.

Creative Commons. 2008. http://creativecommons.org/education. Accessed: 1 February 2008.

De Beer, K.J. & Thulare, S.M. 2001. Africanisation of higher level distance education through United Nations structures. Proceedings of the 20th World Conference on Open and Distance Education, Dusseldorf, Germany, 1-5 April 2001.

De Montfort, P.J. 2007. A model of cooperative education peace support operations in Africa. Unpublished doctoral thesis. Central University of Technology, Free State.

Duvenhage, A. 1998. The crisis of the nation state: A global phenomenon with an African accent. African Quarterly, 38(4): 1-36.

ELAP (E-Learning for African Peacekeepers). 2008. http://elap.unitarpoci.org. Accessed: 28 February 2008.

Higgs, P. 2007. Towards an indigenous African epistemology of community in higher education research. South African Journal of Higher Education, 21(4): 671.

Hill, D. 1992. Ethnostress: The disruption of the aboriginal spirit. Hagersville, ON: Tribal Sovereignty Associates, p. 2-4.

Langholtz, H.J. 2008. [langholtz@unitarpoci.org], 11 February 2008.

Lenn, D.J. 2002. The globalization of business work ethics: Navigating between gentle breezes and gentle storms. In: L. Lategan & P. le Roux (Eds.). Business ethics. Bloemfontein: TESKOR.

Meraka Institute. 2007. http://www.meraka.org.za. Accessed: 29 February 2008.

Morrow, W. 1996. Shifting the embedded culture on higher education: Readdressing and renewing the barriers to learning: An open learning perspective on the NCHB report. Proceedings of SAIDE Workshop, Pretoria, 15 November 1996, p. 4.

Morrow, W. & Nonyongo, E. 2003. Learning delivery models in higher education in South Africa. SAUVCA Paper.

OLSET (Open Learning Systems Education Trust). 2006. http://www.olset.org.

PCF (Pan-Commonwealth Forum). 2008. PCF5. University of London.

PPC (Pearson Peacekeeping Centre). 2008. http://www.peaceoperations.org.

Peluk, L. 2008. [lpeluk@peaceoperations.org], 24 January 2008.

UFS (University of the Free State). 2008. African civil wars 2000-2008 and current African affairs 2008. SA Media. www.samedia.uovs.ac.za.

SASCE (Southern African Society for Cooperative Education). 2004. Higher Education Quality Committee Report.

SASCE (Southern African Society for Cooperative Education). 2008. Minutes: SASCE Forum meeting, Central University of Technology, Free State, 8 February 2008.

Tucker, K. 2007. [ktucker@csir.co.za] [iiep-oer-opencontent@communities.unesco.org], 14 November 2007.

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation). 2007.
http://www.unesco.org/iiep/virtualuniversity/forumshome.php?queryforums_id=3 http://www.unesco.org/iiep/virtualuniversity/forumsfiche.php?queryforumspages_id=26
Accessed: 1 November 2007.

UNITAR POCI (United Nations Institute for Training and Research: Programme of Correspondence Instruction). 2008. http://www.unitarpoci.org. Accessed: 10 February 2008.

http://www.wikeducator. and wikigovernance/5 PCF

OPEN LEARNING RESEARCH PROJECT (15)

APPENDIX: i

STEPHEN DOWNS ON E-LEARNING

(Preparation for an in-house workshop: Central University of Technology, Free State organised by Nico Baird, Kallie de Beer and Ben Van der Merwe, 2006-09-05)

From: Baird NicoSent: 10 March 2006 10:49 AMTo: BezuidenhoutH.HUM@mail.uovs.ac.za; De Beer KallieSubject: Elearning 2.0
E-learning 2.0By Stephen Downes, National Research Council of Canada
E-learning as we know it has been around for ten years or so. During that time, it has emerged from being a radical idea—the effectiveness of which was yet to be proven—to something that is widely regarded as mainstream. It's the core to numerous business plans and a service offered by most colleges and universities.
And now, e-learning is evolving with the World Wide Web as a whole and it's changing to a degree significant enough to warrant a new name: E-learning 2.0.
Where We Are NowBefore talking about where e-learning is going, it is worth spending a few words to describe here we are now.
When we think of learning content today, we probably think of a learning object. Originating in the world of computer-based delivery (CBT) systems, learning objects were depicted as being like lego blocks or atoms, little bits of content that could be put together or organized. Standards bodies have refined the concept of learning objects into a rigorous form and have provided specifications on how to sequence and organize these bits of content into courses and package them for delivery as though they were books or training manuals.
Today, e-learning mainly takes the form of online courses. From the resources distributed by MIT's OpenCourseware project to the design of learning materials in Rice's Connexions project to the offerings found from colleges and universities everywhere, the course is the basic unit of organization.
As a consequence, the dominant learning technology employed today is a type of system that organizes and delivers online courses—the learning management system (LMS). This piece of software has become almost ubiquitous in the learning environment; companies such as WebCT, Blackboard, and Desire2Learn have installed products at thousands of universities and colleges and are used by tens of thousands of instructors and students. The learning management system takes learning content and organizes it in a standard way, as a course divided into modules and lessons, supported with quizzes, tests and discussions, and in many systems today, integrated into the college or university's student information system.
In general, where we are now in the online world is where we were before the beginning of e-learning [1]. Traditional theories of distance learning, of (for example) transactional distance, as described by Michael G. Moore, have been adapted for the online world. Content is organized according to this traditional model and delivered either completely online or in conjunction with more traditional seminars, to cohorts of students, led by an instructor, following a specified curriculum to be completed at a predetermined pace.
TrendsAs we approach the halfway mark of the new millennium's first decade, the nature of the Internet, and just as importantly, the people using the Internet, has begun to change. These changes are sweeping across entire industries as a whole and are not unique to education; indeed, in many ways education has lagged behind some of these trends and is just beginning to feel their wake.
One trend that has captured the attention of numerous pundits is the changing nature of Internet users themselves. Sometimes called "digital natives" and sometimes called "n-gen," these new users approach work, learning and play in new ways [2].
They absorb information quickly, in images and video as well as text, from multiple sources simultaneously. They operate at "twitch speed," expecting instant responses and feedback. They prefer random "on-demand" access to media, expect to be in constant communication with their friends (who may be next door or around the world), and they are as likely to create their own media (or download someone else's) as to purchase a book or a CD [3].
The manner in which this new generation of users is changing markets is captured evocatively in a document called The Cluetrain Manifesto. First posted online in April 1999, the document begins with the declaration that "markets are conversations" and continues with a redefinition of the relation between producer and consumer. "Markets are getting smarter, more informed, more organized… People in networked markets have figured out that they get far better information and support from one another than from vendors." Jay Cross, writing in the same vein, talks about the "augmented learner" and the "hyper-organization" [4].
In learning, these trends are manifest in what is sometimes called "learner-centered" or "student-centered" design. This is more than just adapting for different learning styles or allowing the user to change the font size and background color; it is the placing of the control of learning itself into the hands of the learner [5].
"The changing demographics of the student population and the more consumer/client-centered culture in today's society have provided a climate where the use of student-centered learning is thriving" [6]. Learning is characterized not only by greater autonomy for the learner, but also a greater emphasis on active learning, with creation, communication and participation playing key roles, and on changing roles for the teacher, indeed, even a collapse of the distinction between teacher and student altogether [7].
Taking this approach even further is George Siemens's Connectivism. "We derive our competence," writes Siemens, "from forming connections... Chaos is a new reality for knowledge workers... Unlike constructivism, which states that learners attempt to foster understanding by meaning-making tasks, chaos states that the meaning exists— the learner's challenge is to recognize the patterns which appear to be hidden. Meaning-making and forming connections between specialized communities are important activities." Readers of Douglas Rushkoff's Cyberia will recognize a similar theme as knowledge-working is no longer thought of as the gathering and accumulation of facts, but rather, the riding of waves in a dynamic environment [8].
The breaking down of barriers has led to many of the movements and issues we see on today's Internet. File-sharing, for example, evolves not of a sudden criminality among today's youth but rather in their pervasive belief that information is something meant to be shared. This belief is manifest in such things as free and open-source software, Creative Commons licenses for content, and open access to scholarly and other works. Sharing content is not considered unethical; indeed, the hoarding of content is viewed as antisocial [9]. And open content is viewed not merely as nice to have but essential for the creation of the sort of learning network described by Siemens [10].
Numerous writers, even, have called for what is often referred to as the "open society." Tapscott, for example, writes about "the transparent burger" and "the naked corporation." Mougayar tells us that "the future organization is an "open corporation." And in a widely popular online essay Rob Paterson asked, "Is not the new "big idea" of our time to disintermediate the institutional middleman and to enable direct relationships? Are supermarkets eternal? Do we need factory universities to learn? Is our health dependent on a doctor? Is the news what we see on TV?" [11].
In short, the structures and organization that characterized life prior to the Internet are breaking down. Where intermediaries, such as public relations staff, journalists or professors, are not needed, they are disregarded. Consumers are talking directly to producers, and more often than not, demanding and getting new standards of accountability and transparency. Often, they inform the productive process itself, and in many cases, replace it altogether. Passive has become active. Disinterested has become engaged. The new Internet user may not vote, but that is only because the vote is irrelevant when you govern yourself.
The Web 2.0The first sign that something was changing on the Web was the underground popularity of a site called LiveJournal and the very visible surge of interest in a site called Friendster. These sites, which came to be called "social networking sites," were rapidly emulated by such services as Tribe, LinkedIn, Google's Orkut, Flickr, and Yahoo 360. Writers conversant with the works of social network analysts, people like Duncan J. Watts and Mark Buchanan, for example, noticed that similar patterns existed in these online networks [12]. Something was happening here.
What was happening was that major parts of the World Wide Web were acquiring the properties of communications networks, the sorts of networks found to exist (albeit on a much smaller scale) in the physical world. And that the Web itself was being transformed from what was called "the Read Web" to the "Read-Write Web," in accordance with Tim Berners-Lee's original vision. Proponents of this new, evolving Web began calling it Web 2.0 and in short order the trend became a movement.
"Enter Web 2.0, a vision of the Web in which information is broken up into "microcontent" units that can be distributed over dozens of domains. The Web of documents has morphed into a Web of data. We are no longer just looking to the same old sources for information. Now we're looking to a new set of tools to aggregate and remix microcontent in new and useful ways" [13].
In a nutshell, what was happening was that the Web was shifting from being a medium, in which information was transmitted and consumed, into being a platform, in which content was created, shared, remixed, repurposed, and passed along. And what people were doing with the Web was not merely reading books, listening to the radio or watching TV, but having a conversation, with a vocabulary consisting not just of words but of images, video, multimedia and whatever they could get their hands on. And this became, and looked like, and behaved like, a network.
Nowhere is this clearer than in the world of blogging. In a few short years the blog went from a few idiosyncratic Web sites to something used by millions of people empowered by content creation tools such as Blogger and Wordpress. Even more importantly, these blogs were connected to each other through the mechanism of RSS, a simple XML format that allows bloggers to send their content to a network of readers (called 'subscribers').
But it wasn't just blogging. Creating an online community became a snap with tools such as Plone and Drupal. Moreover, using a collaborative writing tool called the wiki Jimmy Wales and a few thousand of his friends created a site called Wikipedia, rendering Encyclopedia Britannica obsolete in the process. Others, using the free audio-recording tool Audacity, began recording their own talk and music; this, when combined with RSS, became podcasting, a rapidly rising phenomena that is transforming what we think about radio.
For all this technology, what is important to recognize is that the emergence of the Web 2.0 is not a technological revolution, it is a social revolution. "Here's my take on it: Web 2.0 is an attitude not a technology. It's about enabling and encouraging participation through open applications and services. By open I mean technically open with appropriate APIs but also, more importantly, socially open, with rights granted to use the content in new and exciting contexts" [14].
E-Learning 2.0In the world of e-learning, the closest thing to a social network is a community of practice, articulated and promoted by people such as Etienne Wenger in the 1990s. According to Wenger, a community of practice is characterized by "a shared domain of interest" where "members interact and learn together" and "develop a shared repertoire of resources."
For the most part, though, what constituted "community" in online learning were artificial and often contrived "discussions" supported by learning management systems [15]. These communities were typically limited to a given group of learners, such as a university class, had a fixed start and end-point, and while substantially better than nothing, rarely approached Wenger's theory.
That's not to say no communities of practice were forming. There were some attempts to foster them, as for example MuniMall, directed toward the municipal governance sector, and PEGGasus, directed toward engineers and geophysicists. Moreover, as commentator Erin Brewer has noted, places on the Internet like Yahoo! Groups have become a locus for community learning activities. But in general, the uptake has been slow, and the support from traditional institutions almost nonexistent.
Educators began to notice something different happening when they began to use tools like wikis and blogs in the classroom a couple of years ago. All of a sudden, instead of discussing pre-assigned topics with their classmates, students found themselves discussing a wide range of topics with peers worldwide. Imagine the astonishment, for example, when, after writing a review of a circus she had viewed, a Grade 5 student received a response from one of the performers [16]. In a very short time, blogs were used for a wide variety of purposes in education; an educational bloggers' network formed and by this year thousands of teachers were encouraging their students to blog.
Blogging is very different from traditionally assigned learning content. It is much less formal. It is written from a personal point of view, in a personal voice. Students' blog posts are often about something from their own range of interests, rather than on a course topic or assigned project. More importantly, what happens when students blog, and read reach others' blogs, is that a network of interactions forms-much like a social network, and much like Wenger's community of practice.
It's not just blogging. Educators have also taken an interest in podcasting. Some have started broadcasting, such as at McMaster, where engineering professors now host an online show [17].
"We're talking to the download generation," said Peter Smith, associate dean, Faculty of Engineering. "Why not have the option to download information about education and careers the same way you can download music? It untethers content from the Web and lets students access us at their convenience." Moreover, using an online service such as Odeo, Blogomatrix Sparks, or even simply off-the-shelf software, students can create their own podcasts.
What happens when online learning ceases to be like a medium, and becomes more like a platform? What happens when online learning software ceases to be a type of content-consumption tool, where learning is "delivered," and becomes more like a content-authoring tool, where learning is created? The model of e-learning as being a type of content, produced by publishers, organized and structured into courses, and consumed by students, is turned on its head. Insofar as there is content, it is used rather than read— and is, in any case, more likely to be produced by students than courseware authors. And insofar as there is structure, it is more likely to resemble a language or a conversation rather than a book or a manual.
The e-learning application, therefore, begins to look very much like a blogging tool. It represents one node in a web of content, connected to other nodes and content creation services used by other students. It becomes, not an institutional or corporate application, but a personal learning center, where content is reused and remixed according to the student's own needs and interests. It becomes, indeed, not a single application, but a collection of interoperating applications—an environment rather than a system.
It also begins to look like a personal portfolio tool [18]. The idea here is that students will have their own personal place to create and showcase their own work. Some e-portfolio applications, such as ELGG, have already been created. IMS Global as put together an e-portfolio specification [19]. "The portfolio can provide an opportunity to demonstrate one's ability to collect, organize, interpret and reflect on documents and sources of information. It is also a tool for continuing professional development, encouraging individuals to take responsibility for and demonstrate the results of their own learning" [20].
This approach to learning means that learning content is created and distributed in a very different manner. Rather than being composed, organized and packaged, e-learning content is syndicated, much like a blog post or podcast. It is aggregated by students, using their own personal RSS reader or some similar application. From there, it is remixed and repurposed with the student's own individual application in mind, the finished product being fed forward to become fodder for some other student's reading and use.
More formally, instead of using enterprise learning-management systems, educational institutions expect to use an interlocking set of open-source applications. Work on such a set of applications has begun in a number of quarters, with the E-Learning Framework defining a set of common applications and the newly formed e-Framework for Education and Research drawing on an international collaboration. While there is still an element of content delivery in these systems, there is also an increasing recognition that learning is becoming a creative activity and that the appropriate venue is a platform rather than an application.
In the future it will be more widely recognized that the learning comes not from the design of learning content but in how it is used. Most e-learning theorists are already there, and are exploring how learning content-whether professionally authored or created by students— can be used as the basis for learning activities rather than the conduit for learning content.
A great amount of work is being done, for example, in educational gaming and simulations. Theorists such as [22].
Where games encourage learning is through the provision of what a student needs to know in a context where it will be immediately used. As Gee recommends, "Words are only meaningful when they can be related to experiences," said Gee. If I say "I spilled the coffee," this has a different meaning depending on whether I ask for a broom or a mop. You cannot create that context ahead of time? it has to be part of the experience. And in just the same way, the science text doesn't make any sense to someone who has not done any science (though it makes a great deal of sense to an experienced scientist)" >[23].
A similar motivation underlies the rapidly rising domain of mobile learning [24]—for after all, were the context in which learning occurs not important, it would not be useful or necessary to make learning mobile. Mobile learning offers not only new opportunities to create but also to connect. As Ellen Wagner and Bryan Alexander note, mobile learning "define(s) new relationships and behaviors among learners, information, personal computing devices, and the world at large" [25].
As this trend progresses, we find ourselves in a world characterized by the phrase "ubiquitous computing." "Where virtual reality puts people inside a computer-generated world, ubiquitous computing forces the computer to live out here in the world with people" [26]. The "Father of ubiquitous computing," Mark Weiser, compares computing of the future to writing. "Today this technology is ubiquitous in industrialized countries. Not only do books, magazines and newspapers convey written information, but so do street signs, billboards, shop signs and even graffiti" [27].
In the world of learning, what this means is having learning available no matter what you are doing. Jay Cross captures this idea in the concept of "workflow learning." Sam Adkins writes, workflow learning is "a deep integration with enterprise applications assembled from Web Services into composite applications" with "task and work support fused into the aggregated business processes that make up the real-time workflow" and supported by "contextual collaboration with people and systems" and "design and modification achieved by modeling and simulation" [28].
Of course, there is no reason to expect that this form of learning would be restricted to the workplace. Learning integrates into every aspect of our lives, from daily household chores to arts and culture. Learning and living, it could be said, will eventually merge. The challenge will not be in how to learn, but in how to use learning to create something more, to communicate.
About the AuthorStephen Downes is a senior researcher with the National Research Council of Canada based in Moncton, New Brunswick at the Institute for Information Technology's e-Learning Research Group. Stephen is a leading voice in the areas of learning objects and metadata, as well as the emerging fields of weblogs in education and content syndication and is perhaps best known for his daily research newsletter, OLDaily. His work also includes the development of educational content syndication systems and the design of a digital rights management system for learning resources. Stephen is a member of the eLearn editorial advisory board and also frequently gives seminars and lectures on the field of online learning, including the notable Buntine Oration delivered in Perth, Australia, in October 2004.


Nico Baird
Instructional Designer (Video)
Centre for eLearning and Educational Technology
Unit for Academic Development
Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT)
Private Bag X20539
Bloemfontein, 9330

Phone: +27 51 507 3819
Fax: +27 51 507 3243
E-mail: nbaird@cut.ac.za
Website: http://www.cut.ac.za/

OPEN LEARNING RESEARCH PROJECT (14)

APPENDIX: H

NADEOSA Response to the CHE Policy Advice Report
on Aspects of Distance Education Provision in Higher Education while Dr KJ De Beer was serving on the AGM

17 June 2005

"Preamble

"Members of the higher education community have been concerned at the long delay between the completion of this report and its publication, as it addresses issues of major importance to all higher education institutions engaged in distance education.

"NADEOSA represents a wide spectrum of distance providers including both the public and private sectors, the dedicated distance institution and a number of the traditional contact institutions who offer distance programmes of various kinds. The report was commissioned to address concerns about the quality of provision and role of the dedicated institution vis-à-vis the face-to-face institutions. At this time there was a moratorium on contact institutions providing distance programmes, accompanied by the suggestion that the dedicated institution should be the sole provider in the sector. It is perhaps inevitable that there would be some divergence of opinion within the ranks of NADEOSA on the report.

"For this reason this response has been developed through the lens of the aim and relevant objectives of NADEOSA which are:
To provide a forum for South African organisations and individuals who are committed to increasing access to an affordable, cost-effective and quality learning environment in which learners are empowered to become self-sufficient members of society
Objectives to:
· facilitate collaboration among distance education and open learning organisations;
· advocate awareness, understanding and application of distance education and open learning amongst policy makers, practitioners and learners;
· promote research and evaluation of distance education and open learning;
· exert influence with regard to adequate policy (including financial support); and
· promote and enhance quality assurance in distance education and open learning.

"The Continuum

"The recognition of the significance of distance education in South Africa, particularly in relation to the provision of access, and the broad overview of the sector that the CHE have been able to present in the opening section of the report is welcomed by NAEOSA. The acknowledgement of the “wide variety of provision falling under the broad rubric of distance education” creates a framework in which to debate the notion of the continuum of provision. While recognising that the CHE saw it to be “inappropriate to accept the notion of convergence of education provision” at this time, or in the short term, we believe that the report contains a very important recognition that the boundaries have indeed become blurred and that there is a continuum. We see this as finally discounting the previously presented dichotomy of “distance versus contact” that has held back the development of quality programmes in some sectors.


"Need for Mechanisms to steer the sector

"Within this notion of the blurred boundaries we acknowledge the need for “mechanisms … to steer the sector” and agree that it would be particularly beneficial if there were a framework that “rewards good practice and prevents practices that exploit students and waste vast resources”. This highlights the importance of the recommendations relating to quality assurance of distance programmes and the inclusion of distance criteria in HEQC audits.

"Funding as a steering mechanism

"Within the framework outlined in the report the recommendations for the levels of input and teaching output subsidies are acceptable although there were questions raised regarding the recommendation that enrolment of fewer than 50 full-time equivalent students at contact institutions should receive the full input subsidy. This, it was argued, was unfairly prejudicing the dedicated distance education institution as they are perceived to be being urged not to run programmes with less than 300 students while contact institutions would receive subsidy for programmes as small as 50 students.

"Special increase in the input subsidy

"We believe that this recommendation (item 2 on page 81) will assist in enabling institutions to address key national needs. We would suggest that this be used to develop programmes as a matter or urgency, first to upgrade as many teachers as possible to NQF level 4 in Maths and Science and then, within the Advanced Certificate in Education, to develop qualified teachers of maths and science in high schools throughout the country, but particularly in rural areas.

"Provision of subsidy for completion of single courses

"We support this recommendation (item 3 page 81) relating to single courses that would fall within SAQA’s definition of short courses, or that contribute to the completion of qualification whether within the HEQC criteria or in terms of qualifications recognised by professional bodies. While acknowledging that the HEQC does not want to encourage a “supermarket approach” to study and that the government needs to focus on the urgent development and human resource needs of the country, the removal of subsidy from single courses unfairly prejudices the dedicated distance education institution, which provides opportunities for students to complete outstanding single courses required for qualifications.

"Definition of Distance Education

"The lack of a crisp definition of distance education has bedevilled the sector for some time and we believe that the first two bullets in the definition provided on page 82 of the report will give much needed clarity on this. There is some disagreement on the last bullet and as indicated above it is perceived by the dedicated distance institution representatives to be unfairly biased towards the contact institutions.

"Quality Assurance

"One of the primary concerns of NADEOSA is the provision of quality learning opportunities and we therefore fully endorse all six quality recommendations. However, it should be noted that during the delay in the release of the report a number of these recommendations have already been implemented. In particular we would draw to the attention of the Minister to the publication this year by NADEOSA of “Designing and Delivering Distance Education: Quality Criteria and Case Studies from South Africa” which is the document referred to in this section. We have pleasure in forwarding you a copy of the book under separate cover. (I checked with Tessa and we have not sent one and this seemed a good opportunity to get a copy onto her desk)

"Institutional Planning

"It would seem best that responses to this section of the report should be developed within individual institutional responses and the report of the HESA task team.

"Learning Resources

"This section of the report is of particular interest to NADEOSA as it echoes key elements of the association’s objectives and would seem to create a framework and rewards for collaboration in the development of quality programmes and opportunities thus supporting a diverse range of providers in addressing regional and national needs. We strongly endorse the proposal for the design and development of these resources through a consultative process and look forward to being able to contribute to the work of these task teams both regionally and nationally"(Draft Response of the NADEOSA AGM, 2005)

OPEN LEARNING RESEARCH PROJECT (13)

APPENDIX: G

Prof HR Hay: Academic Development, CUT, FS

Prof Driekie Hay is leading the Unit for Academic Development. Primary services rendered here are the professional development of academics for whom development opportunities are created regarding an array of learning and teaching priorities.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006

My work, my passion
My work is my passion and gives me great pleasure. Being Dean: Academic Development, puts me in a position where I can contribute in a meaningful way to the academic and professional development of staff and students.

I oversee the centres for teaching and learning, curriculum development, e-learning, quality improvement, distance education and the library and information centre. This multi-disciplinary team work closely together and promotes the synergism between different activities and interventions.

One of the biggest challenges for me is how best we can be responsive to students’ cultural and language needs within the lecture venue, the curriculum and to research the impact of diversity on the teaching behaviour of lecturers.

On postgraduate level the development of students’ academic writing skills and the conceptualisation of research ideas are close to my heart.

I believe that within the South African “rainbow” higher education environment, lecturers are not sensitive enough towards students’ cultural and language needs and do not deal in a creative way with these challenges, neither have we conducted rigorous research on this matter. Furthermore, South African academics too easy utilise modules from the USA, UK and Australia without contextualising it for the SA context. They perceive these models to be “perfect”. That is why we often, after a huge waste of resources, have to go back to the drawing board and found that it had not suite the intended purpose. I would like to interact with peers that have the same interest and to learn from their experiences and practices in this regard.

Posted by Unit for Academic Development at 10/11/2006 08:47:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: academic development, higher education, languages, research, South Africa
Friday, October 06, 2006

About the Unit for Academic Development

The increasing complex higher education environment, the impact of technology on learning, a diverse student population and policy imperatives are forcing universities more than ever to invest in academic development services. Gone are the days where lecturers could only focus on their disciplines. Knowledge of technology, curricula, learning facilitation, student learning, quality assurance, etc. demand from academic and lecturers to be multi skilled.

Prof Driekie Hay is leading the Unit for Academic Development at the Central University of Technology, Free State. Primary services rendered here are the professional development of academics for whom development opportunities are created regarding an array of learning and teaching priorities. The Library and Information Centre is attached to the unit and plays a major role in the development of information literacy. The division Curriculum Development is at the heart of CUTs programme planning where programmes are developed and implemented in an innovative way. True to the nature of a university of technology is the development of learning methods and delivery modes that utilize technology infrastructures. The Centre for E-Learning and Education Technology empowers lecturers to combine e-learning and outcomes-based education to ensure a holistic approach in teaching and learning at CUT. The Centre for Teaching and Learning takes care of the professional development of all academic staff. To achieve this both informal workshops and formal courses provided. The learner centres at Kimberley and Kroonstad are also supported through the Division of Dr Kallie de Beer.

Posted by Unit for Academic Development at 10/06/2006 10:45:00 PM 1 comments
Labels: academic development, higher education
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Prof Driekie Hay is leading the Unit for Academic Development. Primary services rendered here are the professional development of academics for whom development opportunities are created regarding an array of learning and teaching priorities. View my complete profile

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