"In contrast to earlier e-learning approaches that simply replicated traditional models, the Web 2.0 movement with its associated array of social software tools offers opportunities to move away from the last century's highly centralized, industrial model of learning and toward individual learner empowerment through designs that focus on collaborative, networked interaction"
-- McLoughlin and Lee, "Future Learning Landscapes"

The future of learning is theme of the June/July 2008 issue of Innovate. Articles include:

"Future Learning Landscapes: Transforming Pedagogy through Social Software" by Catherine McLoughlin and Mark J. W. Lee
"McLoughlin and Lee posit that future learning environments must capitalize on the potential of Web 2.0 by combining social software tools with connectivist pedagogical models."

"Rhizomatic Education: Community as Curriculum" by Dave Cormier
"In the rhizomatic model, knowledge is negotiated, and the learning experience is a social as well as a personal knowledge creation process with mutable goals and constantly negotiated premises."

"A Singular Vision for a Disparate Future: Technology Adoption Patterns in Higher Learning Through 2035" by Robert G. Henshaw
Henshaw "examines factors likely to influence technology adoption within U.S. higher education over the next 30 years and their impact on education providers and consumers." [Editor's note: the author of this paper is my colleague at UNC-Chapel Hill ITS Teaching and Learning division.]

The issue is available at http://innovateonline.info/index.php. Registration is required to access articles; registration is free.

Innovate: Journal of Online Education [ISSN 1552-3233], an open-access, peer-reviewed online journal, is published bimonthly by the Fischler School of Education and Human Services at Nova Southeastern University. The journal focuses on the creative use of information technology (IT) to enhance educational processes in academic, commercial, and governmental settings. For more information, contact James L. Morrison, Editor-in-Chief; email: innovate@nova.edu; Web: http://innovateonline.info/.

OPENNESS AND LEARNING IN TODAY'S WORLD

How open access and interactive Web 2.0 applications are changing the learning environment is focus of the latest issue of eLearning Papers. The papers' authors consider the impact of these technologies both on individual learners and the institutions that facilitate the learning process. Papers include:

"Web 2.0 and New Learning Paradigms" by Antonio Bartolomé
"This article is sceptic about the current changes at eLearning institutions and businesses, but points out some of the changes that will take place outside their courses and programmes."

"Universities and Web 2.0: Institutional Challenges" by Juan Freire
"Teachers, researchers and students started some years ago to use social software tools, but in few cases these experiences have allowed any scaling from the individual to the institutional level. The promises and potential of web 2.0 in universities need an adequate strategy for their development which has to confront the bottlenecks and fears common in these institutions, which could explain the lack of adaptation."

"Is the world open?" by Richard Straub
"The rise of social networking sites, virtual worlds, blogs, wikis and 3D Internet give us a first idea of the potential of the 'interactive and collaborative web' dubbed Web 2.0. Now we have the infrastructure and tools to operate in new ways in open systems. While many of the thoughts about openness and the need for more open social systems have been around for some time, this new infrastructure and new tools accelerate the movement."

The issue is available at http://www.elearningpapers.eu/index.php?page=home&vol=8.

eLearning Papers [ISSN 1887-1542] is an open access journal created as part of the elearningeuropa.info portal. The portal is "an initiative of the European Commission to promote the use of multimedia technologies and Internet at the service of education and training." For more information, contact: eLearning Papers, P.A.U. Education, C/ Muntaner 262, 3rd, 08021 Barcelona, Spain; email: editorial@elearningeuropa.info; Web: http://www.elearningpapers.eu/.

CRITIQUING THE CLAIMS OF E-LEARNING

"Critical theory designates a philosophy and a research methodology that focuses on the interrelated issues of technology, politics and social change. Despite its emphasis on technology, critical theory arguably remains underutilized in areas of practical research that lie at the confluence of social, political and technological concerns, such as the study of the use of the usability of information and communication technologies (ICTs) or of their use in educational institutions."

In "Critical Theory: Ideology Critique and the Myths of E-Learning" (Ubiquity, vol. 9, no. 22, June 3-9, 2008), Norm Friesen uses critical theory to de-mystify three claims of e-learning:

-- "that we live in a 'knowledge economy'"

-- "that users enjoy ubiquitous, 'anywhere anytime' access"

-- "that social and institutional change is motivated by a number of fixed 'laws' of progress in computer technology"

The paper is available at http://www.acm.org/ubiquity/volume_9/v9i22_friesen.html.

Ubiquity [ISSN 1530-2180] is a free, Web-based publication of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), "dedicated to fostering critical analysis and in-depth commentary on issues relating to the nature, constitution, structure, science, engineering, technology, practices, and paradigms of the IT profession." For more information, contact: Ubiquity, email: ubiquity@acm.org; Web: http://www.acm.org/ubiquity/.

For more information on the ACM, contact: ACM, One Astor Plaza, 1515 Broadway, New York, NY 10036, USA; tel: 800-342-6626 or 212-626-0500; Web: http://www.acm.org/.

ASSESSING THE FUTURE OF SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION

The Center for Studies in Higher Education is conducting research to "understand the needs and desires of faculty for in-progress scholarly communication (i.e., forms of communication employed as research is being executed) as well as archival publication." With the study now into its second year, the Center has released an interim report with some of the early findings based on interviews with over 150 faculty members in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities.

Some of the questions that the study seeks to answer include:

-- "What will scholars want to do in their research and with their research results, and what new forms of communication do or do not support those desires?"

-- "How will scholars want to disseminate and receive input on their work at various lifecycle stages?"

-- "How do institutions and other stakeholders support these faculty needs, if at all?"

The Spring 2008 "Draft Interim Report: Assessing the Future Landscape of Scholarly Communication," by Diane Harley, et al., is available at http://cshe.berkeley.edu/publications/publications.php?id=300.

The Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California Berkeley is a "multi-disciplinary research and policy center on higher education [that is] oriented to California, the nation, and comparative international issues." For more information, contact: Center for Studies in Higher Education, University of California, Berkeley, 771 Evans Hall #4650, Berkeley, CA 94720-4650 USA; tel: 510-642-5040; fax: 510-643-6845; email: cshe@berkeley.edu; Web: http://cshe.berkeley.edu/.

GOOGLE BOOK SEARCH BIBLIOGRAPHY

Charles W. Bailey, Jr. recently published the second version of "The Google Book Search Bibliography." The resource provides citations and links to over a hundred English-language references to scholarly papers and newspaper articles. The bibliography presents a comprehensive examination of the Google service and the "legal, library, and social issues associated with it." The bibliography is available at http://www.digital-scholarship.org/gbsb/gbsb.htm.

Bailey is a prolific compiler of scholarly communication bibliographies, notably the "Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography" (now in its 70th edition). You can access all his publications at http://www.digital-scholarship.org/.

Information Technology Services at UNC-Chapel Hill

Teaching and Learning

TL Infobits - May, 2008

CONSIDERING THE FUTURE OF LEARNING

OPENNESS AND LEARNING IN TODAY'S WORLD

CRITIQUING THE CLAIMS OF E-LEARNING

ASSESSING THE FUTURE OF SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION

GOOGLE BOOK SEARCH BIBLIOGRAPHY

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