authentic assessment

Authentic Assessment- readings.
This book is good for theory and some practical advise about authentic assessment and its role in social constructivist/ authentic learning.
Editors David D Williams, Scott L Howell & Mary Hricko (2005)
Online assessment measurement and evaluation: emerging practices, USA
Information Science Publishing
Chapter 1- Measurement and assessment supporting evaluation in online settings
By David D Williams 2006 the Ideas Group Incorporated
What to think about when planning authentic assessment.
-Context of the assessment and the learning
-Who are the stakeholders
-Issues relating to the evaluand ( one being evaluated)
-Issues and concerns
-Values and criteria
-Questions
-Data collection and analysis
-Reporting results
-Recommendations
Assessments are for

1 programs
2 personnel
3 students
Think about their
-utility
-feasibility
-proprietary
-accuracy

“Measurement may be defined as the set of rules for transforming behaviors
into categories or numbers. Constructing an instrument to measure a social
science variable involves several steps, including conceptualizing the
behaviors that operationally define the variable, drafting items that indicate
the behaviors, administering draft items to try out samples, refining the
instrument based on item analysis, and performing reliability and validity
studies. These studies are necessary to ensure that scores on the instrument
are consistent and have evidence of adequately representing a construct.
Two theoretical approaches dominate the field of measurement: classical
test theory and item response theory. (Petrosko, 2005, p. 47)

From the Greek, ‘to sit with’, assessment means an evaluative determination.
Roughly synonymous with testing and evaluation in lay terms, assessment
has become the term of choice in education for determining the quality of
student work for purposes of identifying the student’s level of achievement.
A more important distinction is between the terms assessment and
Measurement because educational constructs such as achievement, like
most social phenomena cannot be directly measured but can be assessed.
(Mabry, 2005, p. 22)

Evaluation is an applied inquiry process for collecting and synthesizing
evidence that culminates in conclusions about the state of affairs, value,
merit, worth, significance, or quality of a program, product, person, policy,
proposal, or plan. Conclusions made in evaluations encompass both an
empirical aspect (that something is the case) and a normative aspect
(judgment about the value of something). It is the value feature that
distinguishes evaluation from other types of inquiry, such as basic science
research, clinical epidemiology, investigative journalism, or public polling.
(Fournier, 2005, pp. 139140)”

Smita Mathur (2005) Authentic Assessment online:a practical and theoretical challenge in higher education in Eds David D Williams, Scott L Howell & Mary Hricko (2005), Online assessment measurement and evaluation: emerging practices, USA, Information Science Publishing pp 238-

Because of increased online enrolments, mostly adult and mature age- the need for practical and authentic experience has increased as well as the increase in social constructivism, Dewey, Vygotsky etc

Authentic means using real life problems and projects that allow students to explore and discuss these problems in ways that are relevant to them
Pedagogy, learning theory and authentic assessment are the three components of social constructivism
Assessment is integral to the learning process
Instead of the curriculum driving the assessment, the assessment drives the curriculum.
. includes journaling, discussion, self tests
online, asynchronous learning offers a second wave of more opportunities to use social constructivism and authentic learning/assessment.

“-It supports lifelong learning.” Here there seems to me to be two uses of the word lifelong- they mean here learning is transformative and last for the rest of your life. But
lifelong learning. Ie learning more and more for the whole trajectory of you life can also be stimulated by learning deeply and authentically this way.
-“It shifts the instructional paradigm from “a teaching environment to a learning
environment, with a focus on ‘practice-centered learning’” (Campbell, 2004, p. 3). So this becomes student centered
-“It provides communication tools that support dialog within and between diverse communities of learners.” A good process for geographical boundaries and globalisation of learning.
-“It fosters the collaboration needed for scaffolding, support, and shared meaning making.” This fits in with the idea that curriculum is not static or discipline based and that learning is socially constructed, based on real life experiences and that collaborative approaches are the new way of maximizing human knowledge.
“Through meaningful dialog, it supports “deep learning” (Slack et al., 2003, p. 306).”One of the main issues is that we don’t need regurgitated facts that any computer can do. We need to teach people how to use their capacity for thought
-“It provides easy access to broad, deep sources of information.” This is really what the information revolution is about and how to negotiate the process of too much and mostly irrelevant information.
-“It supports meaningful interaction with this information”. So is there a point to information unless you can use it and apply it meaningfully to you and your needs.? This theory would say no.
-It provides a flexibility and convenience for learners that are not feasible in the
traditional face-to-face classroom (Wilson & Lowry, 2000).” Certainly the asynchronous approach crossing boundaries of time and place has proved popular and fills a need.
Assessment is both- Formative
And -Summative
Using Assessment rubrics
Peer and instructor feedback
Monitoring of online discussions, journals and portfolios.
Case based problem solving
Assessing Prior knowledge
Skills in synthesis creative thinking, learner attitudes values and self-awareness, reactions to the learning environment reactions to group work.
Reflective thoughts, invented dialogue, student opinion polls and feedback, self and group assessment are authentic tools
Assessment is a holistic ongoing process
Obstacles
“ 1 Perceptions of Authentic Assessment as Too Labor Intensive— requires timely feedback, as that is the basis of learning. And this is true to some extent.
2/ Perceptions that it is too labor intensive and time consuming.
3 questions of validity and reliability of testing- in authentic learning this must be based on individual student needs” so therefore there is no reliability or validity. This is an important issue especially as people are caught into the need to pass courses, obtain a certificate, show qualifications and receive reward.
Plan
1 Acquire resources
2 empower students and teachers with computer literacy skills
3 plan and execute pre assessment activities
assessment occurs before, during and after an authentic learning experience- embedded assessment- This is an important set of points.

electronic portfolio allows the student to display their learning progress towards achieving the learning objectives
advantages
“Electronic portfolios can be edited, updated, retrieved, and instantly made available
to several people simultaneously.
Electronic portfolios are user friendly. Voice recordings, digital pictures, and
videos by the student, teacher, peers, and other raters can personalize electronic
portfolios.
Electronic portfolios are designed to accept instant feedback from teachers, peers,
and area experts, and provide exceptional flexibility to the process of learning and
assessment.
Electronic portfolios make it possible to cross-reference a student’s work across
content areas. Different parts of the curriculum can be connected and cross-referenced
easily.
Since it is possible to store, cross-reference, and retrieve student portfolios easily,
instructors and administrators can retrieve student work from past semesters and
years to display them as examples for future students.
Vividly describe the learning process”
Really not much difference to real time portfolios except the ease of use.

Electronic journal entries
Student directed reflective practice or
instructor directed
Advantages
“E-journals help in understanding changing contexts of learning and modifying
expectations of tasks as needed.
Peers, experts, and instructors alike may review the entries and respond to
questions and problems. Since it is possible to receive frequent and immediate
responses, electronic journal entries often foster relationship building.
E-journals are an important way of obtaining multiple perspectives to a problem and
eliciting several solutions to a problem.
E-journaling is used to brainstorm and reflect on one’s own work and that of others.
Online journaling provides a collaborative learning environment that encourages
students to question and to resolve difficulties within a social context.
Sharing journal entries helps students see how others think and work.”
Is this what is really happening?

Online discussions
Embedded assessment in online discussions which displays collaborative learning, problem solving, critical thinking. I think that this creates a problem for some people who will be afraid to really use discussion to learn if they know that it is assessed. The incidence of lurking will invariably increase.
Some ideas-
“Consider collaboratively developing a rubric with the students that will be used to
grade online discussion groups. Several rubrics are available on the World Wide
Web that can be modified to fit the achievement goals.
This would surely waste a lot of time in most courses.
Provide students with a clear understanding of expectations and what are considered
acceptable postings. For example, it is important to state that postings that
merely agree or disagree with another opinion do not accrue points. An appropriate
posting must be a supported argument or question based on reading, research, and
reflection. Students must also be aware of the expected length and frequency of
postings. They should have a clear understanding of appropriate ways to cite
quotations and views expressed by other authors.
Already I see trouble- negotiated arguments, posting for the sake of assessment rather than real learning, overloading of the discussions and discrimination against those who take longer to research and think and who are shy to post their thoughts.
Inform students of ways to communicate professionally and ethically in an online
environment. For example, using all capital letters is considered rude and compromises reading fluency.
Provide students with effective and ineffective examples of postings that can serve
as models. This helps students frame their initial postings, as they get comfortable
with online discussion forums.
Provide students sufficient time to get comfortable in expressing themselves in
writing in an asynchronous learning environment. Voice recordings and digital
images that support the discussion can be used frequently to increase the
effectiveness of an online discussion forum. It is important to recognize that in an
online class, not all students have the same computer configurations. There must
be a mechanism built in whereby students with better computer configurations do
not emerge better than students who are working with less capable computers. And bandwidths
Provide frequent encouraging and challenging comments. Ah now how to gauge what is too little and what is too much and what the right timing might be given that synchronous warps a sense of time. For example a student who works once a week will have a different concept of timing in feedback than one who works daily. Does the teacher need to assess each individuals pattern of use?
Ensure strong social presence (Short et al., 1976) of each member of the learning
group. The authors have found that this is critical for successful online discussions.”
I look forward to hearing from the other teams how this can be done.

Online self testing
Quick, easy, instant feedback, can repeat the testing for learning – for example short answer or MCQs Having used these myself in the past I can vouch for there usefulness so long as the questions are well designed. They do tend to test curriculum rather than reflective thought however.

Rubrics
Standardizes testing
Can be unwieldy and hard to assess but they seem fair to a student to let them know the process.


Authentic assessment needs to be culturally, racially fair and equal by using multiple raters- peers, self, facilitator and individual performance. This expands the nightmare of assessment overload.. Are there no more standards then?
Just some thoughts about this interesting book
Joyce

multiliteracies

Summary of some literature about multi-literacies and online pedagogies
Multiliteracies- first proposed by the New London Group.
Historically, communications media have included spoken language, writing, print and some visual media like photograph and film.
The task is not so much a revolution of in with the new but a blending of traditional and new communications media.
Making creative judgments and engaging in performance , action are more important in the new literacy,
Mastering literacy and numeracy are still mainstays of education but multilingualism, multiliteracy , languages and culture is becoming important for effective global communication
There are The six design elements are pedagogy for multiliteracies ( Cope & Kalanstzis, 2000)
Linguistic Meaning - language in cultural contexts
Visual Meaning - seeing and viewing
Audio Meaning - hearing and sound
Gestural Meaning - movement
Spacial Meaning - space and place
but
critical literacy is the pedagogy of choice.
Luke and Freebody saw 4 roles or aspects of the literacy learner
code breakers,
text participants,
text users and
text analysts which relate to the above meanings

and Green’s 3D model analysis that is three intersecting sets

Operational,
Cultural and
Critical.

The four families of critical literacy to
Understand the purpose of the text
and from whose point of view
As well as understanding language ( Knoelel & Healy, 1988)

1 Language Education- social practices
2 Cultural Practices- understanding that language is never meaning free
3 Analysing and evaluating
4 social awareness and active citizens

(Wash & Grant 2002) Critical Literacy Framework use this framework to approach literacy pedagogy
ROLE
POSITION
POWER
STEREOTYPE
VALUES
CULTURE

And LITERACY AS A SOCIAL PRACTICE
Cultural context
Social Issues
Different points of view
Critical literacy
Historical contexts
Deconstructing texts
Political context
Designing and redesigning

Productive pedagogies is a Queensland Education Department QSRLS 1999, approach to literacy pedagogy.
It is based on the tenets that
Pedagogy is the Science, theory and art of teaching therefore both theory and practice It uses Newmann’s 1996
Authentic pedagogy and Hammond’s 1997 Quality pedagogy
It uses the frameworks

1 Intellectual quality- higher order thinking, deep knowledge, deep understanding substantive conversation, problematic knowledge

2 relevance or connectedness-knowledge integration, background knowledge, problems based curriculum, connectedness beyond the classroom

3 supportive environment- student direction, social support, academic engagement, explicit criteria, student self assessment

4 recognition of difference- cultural knowledge, inclusivity, group identities, active citizenship, narrative

and the Inquiry model
1 tuning in
2 finding out
3 sorting out
4 making connections
5 going further
6 taking action
as well as Kalantis and Cope 2003, multiliteracies model.

The challenges have occurred because of technology, work changes, increasing visual communication, diversity, global English and multiple Englishes
And changes to pedagogical thinking such as situated practices, overt instruction, critical framing, transformed practice,
(Experiencing, conceptualising, analysing applying) leading to transformative learning
It also uses cognitive strategies- such as mind mapping,
And
6 thinking hats of de Bonos- white hat- facts figures information needs and gaps
-red hat intuition, feelings emotions
-blackhat- judgment and caution
-yellow hat logical and positive
-green hat creative
blue hat- overviews
as well as
Gardeners concepts of multiple intelligences for example
Logical/mathematical
Linguistic
Spatial
Musical
Body/kinaesthetic
Naturalist\
So that we are not just tapping one intelligence and we are providing a holistic approach to be able to tap the resources at every level, develop the skills in all capacities.
Another concept used in productive pedagogies is
Blooms Taxonomy of cognitive and affective, and psychomotor learning, addressing all aspects of the brain’s capacity.
He uses the concepts of

1 Knowledge
2 Comprehension
3 Application
4 Analysis
5 Synthesis and
6 evaluation
and Productive pedagogies also uses Costa’s Habits of mind and 16 intelligences:
PERSISTING
MANAGING IMPULSIVITY
LISTENING TO OTHERS WITH EMPATHY
THINKING FLEXIBLY
THINKING ABOUT THINING – METACOGNITION
ACCURACY AND PRECISION
QUESTIONING AND POSING PROBLEMS
APPLYING PAST KNOWLEDGE
THINKING AND COMMUNICATING WITH CLARITY
GATHERING DATA THROUGH ALL SESNES
CREATING, IMAGINING, INNOVATING
RESPONDING WITH WONDERMENT AND AWE
TAKING RISKS
HUMOUR
THINKING INTERDEPENDENTLY
LEARNING CONTINUOUSLY

Productive pedagogies has also moved to
Co-operative learning- using small groups
Positive interdependence and individual accountability
Group investigations
Jigsaw
Guided reading
Constructivism- active learning- and connectivism
Brain based learning- patterning and Parallel processor
Theories of learning

Also worth looking at is
Jarvin’s Big6 model: (Jarvin 2006)
1. Task Definition
1.1 Define the information problem
1.2 Identify information needed
2. Information Seeking Strategies
2.1 Determine all possible sources
2.2 Select the best sources
3. Location and Access
3.1 Locate sources (intellectually and physically)
3.2 Find information within sources
4. Use of Information
4.1 Engage (e.g., read, hear, view, touch)
4.2 Extract relevant information
5. Synthesis
5.1 Organize from multiple sources
5.2 Present the information
6. Evaluation
6.1 Judge the product (effectiveness)
6.2 Judge the process (efficiency)
and Problem based learning (Finkle & Torp 1995)
instructional design in constructivist environments:
· Anchor all learning activities to a larger task or problem.
· Support the learner in developing ownership for the overall problem or task.
· Design an authentic task.
· Design the task and the learning environment to reflect the complexity of the environment students should be able to function in at the end of learning.
· Give the learner ownership of the process used to develop a solution.
· Design the learning environment to support and challenge learners' thinking.
· Encourage testing ideas against alternative views and alternative contexts.
Provide opportunity for support and reflection on both the content learned and the learning process.

References

Chapui, L.,(2003). Pedagogies Australian Capital Territory Education and Training Retrieved Googlesearch 6/4/2007
http://activated.det.act.gov.au/learning/word/elt/1.0_Pedagogy.pdf


Cope & Kalanstzis, (2000) Investigating Identity and Power relationships
Retrieved Googlesearcch 6/4/2007

http://www.thenetwork.sa.edu.au/identity_web/multiliteracies.html


Finkle & Torp (2005) Problem based learning Retrieved Googlesearch 6/4/2007
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/teacher/teacherout.html


Holland,S.,(2005) Problem based learning. Department of Education and Children’s Services Government of South Australia Retrieved Googlesearch 6/4/2007
http://www.tsof.edu.au/resources/pbl/


Jarvin.L.,(2006). what is the Big 6?TM V Retrieved Googlesearch 6/4/2007
http://big6.com/showarticle.php?id=415


Knobel, KM. & Healy, A. (1988) Critical literacy theory, the four families, PETA Publication Retrieved Googlesearch 6/4/2007
http://www.thenetwork.sa.edu.au/identity_web/CriticalLiteracyandTeacherResearch/Four_Families.pdf


The State of Queensland (Department of Education, Training and the Arts) (2004).Multiliteracies and communications media
Retrieved Googlesearch 7/4/2007
http://education.qld.gov.au/corporate/newbasics/html/curric-org/comm.html


(Wash & Grant 2002) Critical Literacy Framework Retrieved Googlesearch 6/4/2007

http://www.thenetwork.sa.edu.au/identity_web/CriticalLiteracyandTeacherResearch/
Critical_Literacy_framework.pdf

Learning Design and Learning centeredness

Learning centredness
This presents the aim or objective of the new pedagogies.
Making learning the most important part of teaching students. It is about best practice to help students learn by using the newest research, getting individual coaching, comparing and discussing teaching methods with others, faculty support for methods, looking at individual needs of students and how each one of them learns best
The university of Windsor uses key performance indicators in the areas
1.1 Student Engagement
Level of Academic Challenge (LAC)
Active and Collaborative Learning (ACL
Active and Collaborative Learning (ACL
Supportive Campus Environment (SCE)
Enriching Educational Experiences (EEE)
1.2 Student Academic Satisfaction
1.3 Student Administrative Satisfaction
1.4 Teaching Evaluation Rating
1.5 Library Usage
1.6 Number of Campus seminars
1.7 International Enrolments
Therefore as a learner and teacher, both are centred in the process of learning

Bibliography

http://apps.medialab.uwindsor.ca/cfl/reflexions/volume01/issue02/Gold2.htm
http://www.uwindsor.ca/units/pac/performance.nsf/tovr/6F9E3968A99CC1F48525719C00485B5B

Learner centred
This is the verb or action of teaching in this style.
The classroom that is learner centred values the learner. Learning comes secondary , thus the difference with learning centredness but learning comes from the focus on the learner. This label is made in contradistinction with the traditional teacher centred learning and is part of the new pedagogies for learning.
A good learner is an active participant who is present, keen, tries, asks questions, is prepared, enjoys learning and is not just there to pass an exam and thinks critically.
The teacher provides an authentic task and the student uses this as a springboard to find their own learning, reflects this with other students and the teacher remains as a facilitator.

Bibliography
http://tep.uoregon.edu/workshops/teachertraining/learnercentered/overview/textdocs/lc_overview.pdf

Learner centredness
This is the noun or philosophy of the new pedagogy,
This is a move from the instruction paradigm to the learning paradigm. The student discovers for themselves This is a humanist philosophy that respects individual differences and attempts to reduce anxiety and pressure to perform. Learner centredness implies new learning theories of constructivism. The role for the student is more central. The role for the teacher is as facilitator.

Bibliography

http://tojde.anadolu.edu.tr/tojde4/pulisttxt.html
http://www.bath.ac.uk/e-learning/student_centredness.htm
http://www.ntlf.com/html/lib/faq/bl-ntlf.htm




Learning Design
I need to know more about this topic because it is pivotal for online learning.
So I researched, and here are some of the links

http://www.imsglobal.org/learningdesign/ldv1p0/imsld_bestv1p0.html
http://www.prainbow.com/cld/cldp.html

If I could have anything I want, I would meet with the software designers and the information technologists and I would give them the design and let them sort out the pragmatics.
For Online design I would like a single page entry with asynchronous discussion lines and a synchronous chat facility. Like every good chat room each student would have an avatar depicting themselves. Click on the avatar and a profile, prepared by the student, with link to webpage, email etc would be available so there is an instant recognition of each person. So when studying online the students who are together synchronously can interact. They can chat about anything as a way of getting to know each other. Webcam and microphone need to be voluntary adjuncts in the system. Some easily accessible emoticons with pictures , flash features and noises would be needed for added social presence and non-verbal communication.
To make the discussion lines more user friendly, colour, links, multi-modal ,visual photos, etc need to be easy to upload.
To create a sense of community, games, lists, stories and other ways of sharing meaning for the course objectives are important.
Assessment needs to incorporate participation in the classroom as the objectives of the course are not just content but context, networking ability, group problem solving, and personal growth.
Situations need to be introduced as authentic learning. I would probably use brief case descriptions, links to some useful literature and provide some motivating questions.
Initially the group needs to work together to find cohesion. I personally prefer to promote group work but let each student find their own groups naturally This can be promoted by a story about two heads being better than one.. Those who are individual learners will still gain from the whole group experience and I would respect that ( learner centredness)
I would assess each student from their profile, backgrounds, previous educational experience, online postings, language, culture etc. I would plan goals for each student individually so that I would know where to place the scaffolding or bridges.
At the end of each week I would summarise the reflections and add in a few of my own so that my social presence is felt.
I think that a reflective diary/blog is a great idea and would suggest that the blog link is on each person’s profile. I would also ask people to validate each other’s bblog by providing some comment on the blogsite. I would ass authenticity to the experience by adding a discussion section where people could post in interesting blogs from other people, in the network of the Internet.
Assessment. As a learner centred approach , I would create a number of small assignments, perhaps one for each module, three modules per unit. I would limit the assignment to 2,000 words to keep the student thinking and analysing, critically reflecting on the issues .I would post a number of options for each assignment but allow them to choose their own topic, with discussion for appropriateness.
Residential weeks are fun. They are a wonderful way to really meet, deal with specific problems and promote networking. Of course not everyone can come to these but they are worth organising.

cammedicine

As a psychiatrist in a regional area in Australia, about 50% of my patients live in another town. Some of my patients travel five hours one -way to see me. Sometimes there is an emergency, orfloods (not recently) or not enough money to make the trip.

Video-conferencing has been legislated as an acceptable way to ‘see’ patients but the technology is expensive and limited and difficult to access. I have used it many times in the past to supervise case managers, provide training and review patients for diagnosis and treatment. I have seen patients in alternate facilities, and supervised family therapy. The cost and availability of formal video-conferencing facilities is too difficult and the main reason I don’t use this technology.

If I had a video camera attached to my laptop Internet connection, this should be equivalent to video-conferencing. Many people in the bush have satellite Internet but not all will have this facility. Part of the research I am doing for this negotiated project will assess the access percentage. Just talking to most of my patients, they all at least know someone or have a younger family member who could help them.

Queensland has been the word leader in tele-psychiatry. The RANZCP has approved tele-psychiatry and there are Medicare Australia rebates specifically to encorage tele-psychiatry.
The efficacy has been proven but the role of tele-psychiatry has expanded. Worldwide uptake of tele-psychiatry, real time diagnosis, treatment, forensic evaluations, guardianship evaluations, supervision of primary health providers, support for carers has expanded as has conferences, education and some forays into the schools of children with mental health problems. This is a logistical issue at first glance. The epidemic of mental illness has been poorly planned for across the globe and there is a lack of psychiatrists globally. There is a dearth of rural and regional services and many places have just done without, for example South Australia where at one time recently had no psychiatrists at all.

The cost for laptop is very low, $120 for camera and microphone and the software is free to download. The problems include social presence because to picture is not good enough to pick p all the emotional states or negative features of schizophrenia due to lag time. People tend to talk slower and thus there is a lack of spontaneity. There can be a lack of privacy when people are accessing their computers with other people present but this is less of a problem than formal video-conferencing units. There is a problem for very dangerous and disturbed people but safety mechanisms can be put in place.
After this review of the literature I would have to say that I will be buying the equipment next week.



http://www.ranzcp.org/
http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/internet/video.htm
http://science.uniserve.edu.au/pubs/callab/vol11/CAL-laborate%20web.2004f.pdf
http://www.psych.org/psych_pract/tp_paper.cfm
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1440-1614.2001.00853.x?cookieSet=1&journalCode=anp
http://www.leaonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15326888chc3501_3
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10824374&dopt=Abstract
http://www.newstarget.com/020700.html
http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/38/23/11?etoc
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/events/ruralhealth/2005/papers/8nrhcfinalpaper00565.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=10794004
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15006208
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11346475

futurism in education

‘The great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.’
Some reflections on the literature.

INTRODUCTION
The best predictors of the future that we have are the trends of the past and present.
. Change defines our work as both educators and researchers because by teaching a student to read, it opens new windows to the world and creates a lifetime of opportunities so that we change the world.
When we look at education, we can see a rapidly increasing set of changes.
Humans now want to predict, mould, create and direct social changes, capitalise on them and be prepared for future issues rather than be held back by lack of institutional change. If you don’t move with the flow you will get knocked down in the avalanche.
Are the changes unidirectional (linear and accelerating), unidirectional but in quantum leaps, chaotic with multidirectional changes or are the changes ultimately circular, as most of history predicts?
A chaos model is a good one to view the process of change. Investigations of nodal activity and fractals of change postulate the places to look for drivers towards change. The current drivers of change in education that this paper addresses include knowledge, social, design life, environmental, scale, technology, institutions, political, economic, globalisation, educational and pedagogical models. This paper uses as personal reflection of a literature search as its methodology.


DISCUSSION
Forecasting futures is an ancient art. In the past, magic and spirituality assisted the process. Today scientific programmes, based on past statistics, give more reliable predictions. Expert think-tanks also assess the drivers of past changes to be able to predict future issues and prepare to meet them. Education is seen as a pivotal process towards change management. An analysis of these changes may help us design which way we are moving. This will inform us as to the future planning of education and the difficulties of coping with change.
Knowledge Drivers
The knowledge or information revolution of the last decades has seen an acceleration vector. Generation of knowledge, storage and retrieval have become logistical issues. Multimedia, multi modal text and visual information storage has created flexible rather than static processes. Books, online libraries, CD roms, online journals, the Internet have blossomed into creative, non-linear processes with hypertext displays (Loveless, 2001). This is now seen as ‘distributed cognition’, which has developed as a collective database of constantly changing information that people share and modify (Case, 2007). This knowledge now crosses time, place, culture and social status.
Knowledge production and knowledge retrieval are seen as competitive advantage in business and the new literacies have evolved to cope with the changes of this distributed knowledge (Leu, Jr., Kinzer, Coiro & Cammack, 2004). Technology and knowledge are transactional elements but new literacies, such as how to use a search engine, how to assess relevancy, reliability, validity, authority of information and how to data mine forms the new critical literacy (Net Pedagogy Portal Team).
Knowledge and learning is now seen as socially constructed as people learn to participate effectively in bulletin board or listserv discussions to get needed information. New technology develops in parallel with a growing diversity of culture, language, modalities of communication within a global framework. The role of teachers becomes more important in modelling the new literacies and inculcating these drivers into the new learning model.

Social Drivers
Knowledge is now seen as communal and part of a democratic ownership. No longer is knowledge the power of an elite class (Loveless, 2001). With these changes, other social drivers are altering the future role of education (Hepple et al, 2004). There is now a more seamless and integrated connection between families and the workplace. There is increasing empowerment of people as stakeholders in business and public services.
Trends over the last decades have seen an increase in the number of single parent families and education of women. There is an increased power of the child and adolescent, mirrored in their capability to handle the technology better than their elders. As economics drivers seek creativity and innovation, the young people of the community have the competitive edge.
There is evidence of more students who study from home. There are more minority religions involved in provision of education, which follows the increasing cultural diversity and multiculturalism in society (Jonassen, 2004). Globalisation and new technology has increased the migrant and short- term changes in populations. Society is increasingly litigious and harassment and bullying are no longer acceptable. There is more emphasis on emotional intelligence, team work and leadership skills.

Design life drivers
As technology takes over the mundane aspects of life, people have increased leisure time available. With advances in medical care our life expectancy is increasing dramatically. Thus we have an increasing average age of populations. To cover the cost of this increasing age of needs, people have increased their working life age limit. To cope with the longer work capacity and fulfil the needs of leisure time, there is an increase in life-long and life-wide learning uptake. The Internet and globalisation have also increased our capacity for connectivity and networking. As there are more single working parents, schools are providing longer days and changing roles for students.

Environmental drivers
A major factor of the new millennium and into the future is the environment.
Although we have been aware of the issues of depleted and finite resources for some decades, the shortages of oil, water, biodiversity have only just been acknowledged by the collective humanity. The issues of pollution of air, water and soil are also being addressed with an economic or user pays system. While we wait for technology to find solutions for this problem we are using techniques of sustainable development, cutting waste and recycling. With the issues of the hole in the ozone layer and global warming, the environmental lobby has become a major force. Grass roots movements and ‘think global, act local ‘ philosophy has been a major driver for social change. Education has been the mainstay for this lobby and will into the future.


Scale drivers
More with less is the catchcry of change. Whilst there are more students to teach, there are fewer resources available. Technology is an answer to this push for efficiency, perhaps at the cost of homogenisation and quality. There are less bricks and mortar infrastructures, more paperless offices, more virtual databanks and online libraries to cope. There are both global and micro management scale drivers that connect with the think global act local ideals.

Technology Drivers
Technology is a tool with which the changes for the future will be realized. The changes in this field are so rapid that the majority of people are playing catch –up rather than leading the direction (Loveless, 2001). The general population is taking up technology for personal use with Ipods, PDAs, bluetooth capabilities, mobile phones and laptops. More homes have a desktop computer and more are linked with the Internet every day.
Increasingly understanding technology is becoming part of the basic education. The Internet is expanding and its use is only just being tapped. There is a huge opportunity for its use in education. Traditional education has banned the use of technology but is increasingly seeing the advantages of leading the way through innovation and creativity, rather than following with a delay.
Coupled with distance education trends, and the rise of development and uptake of technology, education is finding the technology revolution an important driver towards the future. The new, virtual, networked environments are creating new drivers to a totally different model in education (Net Pedagogy Portal Team). People are expecting more home based, Internet delivered learning within which they have a more democratic say in the design. Increasing numbers of virtual universities and soon virtual K-12 classes are popular drivers towards change (Heppel et al, 2004).
New Internet technologies, such as FURL, Flikr, MySpace, YouTube, Wikis, Blogs, PodCastings, RSS Feeds, and Immersive Environments are creating new networked social and educational environments (Net Pedagogy Portal Team).

Institutional Drivers
Corporate business management has embraced the new learning, new technologies and the rapid expansion of information as the competitive edge. The structure of corporations is now more horizontal and focussed on teams that seek continual learning to power creativity and new innovations. Rather than leave change to chance, change management must now create the future so that those at the leading edge of innovation are the economic and educational drivers of the future. Learning is thus fundamental to change and is the universal change agent (Lick & Kaufman, 2005). Public institutions, Non-Government Organizations and educational institutions are now also driving for similar models as these knowledge and learning organizations.

Political Drivers
Governments are also driving changes to literacy and a ‘smart’ economy within the global framework of competition and co-operation. The power of governments however is reducing and democratic forces are becoming more powerful. As our working, community, citizenship and personal lives are changing towards community- based collaborative design and action this is also driving change away from mass education and national curriculum foci towards new models of learning (Sanger 2001; Cope & Kalantzis, 2000).

Economic Drivers
The new, post-industrial economy is based on a user pays, democratic yet capitalist model within a global economy. Many upheavals in monetary and economic systems are occurring that will drive future changes in education. Effective use of information and communication are becoming fundamental to survival.
Education towards moral development is an important role for all levels of competency for collaborative drivers to balance this intense competition.
Life Long Learning is a competitive necessity in the new economy. Learning is now seen as using vertical, horizontal, liberal and external learning networks. Learning in the corporative spheres includes codifying prior and tacit knowledge, creating a learning environment, learning networks and setting up learning projects for action based collaborative learning. Models of learning being developed in corporate learning include cultural, structural, socio- ecological, social-constructivists and learning network climates (Poell& van Moorsel, 2007).
Economic drivers include the new markets of entertainment technology.
Using mobile phones, digital cameras, computers, computer games, Ipods and MP3 the young user can develop hand-eye coordination, spatial relations, graphical awareness, parallel reading from non-linear scripts, multi-line plots and problem solving (Sanger, 2001). These drivers influence skills and engagement in the classroom.
As in India, the new economies of knowledge, technology and education will see shifts in the world powers as oil and natural resources become less relevant to our needs (Narayanan, 2006). Knowledge is being seen as a public good that will create a new society of collective intelligence through constructivist and social learning (Sun Lee, 2006)
Globalisation Driver
Cultural, linguistic, racial and religious issues are increasingly driving changes to society as the global construct arises (Vasquez, 2006). Education has a role here for understanding to cross these old divides and the increasing diversity will impact on education at every level. Although globalisation is an economic imperative, the changes impact every level of our lives. Communication needs to be aware of time zones and geographical challenges. Communication now regularly occurs between people who may never meet face to face. Communication faces the challenges of integrating the sameness and valuing the difference of every social structure.
Feminist values of diversity, care for people and the environment and networking is needed to balance the potential difficulties of globalisation. If handled well this driver can see many positive changes. So far globalisation has been used for competitive advantage and global dominance. Already we have seen violent demonstrations across the world because globalisation has been a driver towards poor management and negative outcomes for many. Education for democracy using feminist principles may assist the process of globalisation. Increasingly globalised classes cross the geographical, cultural, linguistic and time barriers using Internet technology and virtual classrooms.

Educational drivers
Faculty Trends
The push for distance education, technology and new learning has created
change drivers for teachers and lecturers. Whilst some will resist changes and resist technology, holding on to traditional values, others will become early adopters. The role of the teacher is now seen as a facilitator rather than an expert. Corporate sponsorship for research challenges ethics and freedom of action previously the reason that faculty members chose academic careers. Limited tenure, assistant teachers, community input to learning and teaching have all impacted on the role of the teacher and lecturer.
Teachers and lecturers have an increasing drive towards their own education needs in alternate areas like technology, education, assessment and cultural awareness. As distance education is increasingly adopted, teachers become more isolated and work from home. Often they put in a lot of hours dealing with individuals rather than a limited timetable of lectures and classes.
Academic Trends
As knowledge and information increase exponentially, major changes are occurring within universities setting trends for all education. Universities now compete in an open market of increasing private education. Government or religious organizations may have supported these in the past but increasingly profit has become the driver for change. There is increasing collaboration across these traditional boundaries (Commonwealth Government of Australia). There is a more seamless transition between primary, high schools, tertiary education and the workplace.
Organisational structure in education is becoming more horizontal, decentralised based on academic centres. These are now accountable towards learners’ needs and resource allocations. Teaching is more learner centred, non linear, recursive, engaging, self directed and relies less on academic input. There are many more people accessing higher learning and international students need to be catered for. Students prefer home based study and wish to speed up the learning process.

Student/ enrolment trends

There are larger numbers of students needing education because our goal is a smarter community and students need to learn for their jobs, careers, lifelong learning, life wide learning and an increasing number of mature age and international students. Students now shop for courses, and require flexibility to fit in study with their work, family, leisure and community needs.
Students are more likely to prefer action based, trial and error learning than theory and logic. Technology is changing the way we learn and think, possibly re-wiring the pathways we use in our brains. Technology can do many of the things, like rote memory, that we used to do. Knowing how to find what we need and where to find it is now more important than content (Siemens, 2005).
There are more women and minority groups accessing learning. Students with higher past educational achievements and life experience require recognition for prior learning and may be more challenging to teach (Partow-Navid & Slusky , 2005)

Pedalogical drivers
The old concepts of the teacher transmitting knowledge and the school acting as a knowledge bank are rapidly changing (Spratt, Weaver, Maskill & Kish). New pedagogies for the future include Papert’s theory of constructionism; Piaget’s constructivism; Siemen’s connectivism and Downe’s network theory of learning which seek learner collaborative, action based building of knowledge (Siemens, 2004; Siemens, 2006; Verhagen, 2006; Downes, 2006; Net Pedagogy Portal Team; Bruckman, 2003). These pedagogies fit well into the virtual online classroom (Case, 2007).
Pedagogical design for learning will be driven by technology and student’s needs by anchored instruction, situated learning, problem solving, shared decision making, dialogue within authentic, real- world situations (Hepple et al, 2004).
Learner issues.
There are different learner styles. Some students learn informally, silently without teacher input. Other students need a safe, supported trustworthy learning space within which to work (Gulati, 2004). The savvy, digital natives are way ahead in collaborative, reflective and analytic thought and are likely to teach the teachers and other students (Brumfield, 2006).
Curriculum issues
Learning is an evolving process. In the past we have seen the mimetic stage of modelling socio-cultural heritage. Learning then became more symbolic with the use of speech, narratives and myth building. Theorising transcended this process although all three processes remain meaningful pedagogies. The technology age has driven a fourth stage of learning via enhanced collective memory, virtual culture and three way learning (learner, tutor and computer) by externalised symbols and symbols processing. We have moved from classroom to the computer virtual space and delegation of some of the work to the computer and even times when the computer becomes central to the process of learning and drives the pedagogy (Riley, 2007). The curriculum is now plastic and created by the learner within a collaborative, collectivist driver (Edbauer 2002).
Tools issues
Pedagogical tools are rapidly advancing with new technology creating a whole new classroom for the future (Lowe, 2006). Video, sound, and text are becoming whole sensory learning environments with ‘real-time’ experiences (Solvie, 2005)
Critical literacy pedagogy gives students the tools to use the discourses of complexity, design, and interactive engagement (Simmons, 2006).
Coping with changes
There are many ways to cope with the changes driving the future of education. Some will be early adopters of change and be leaders and innovators (Spratt, Weaver, Maskill & Kish). The majority will be resistant to change due to anxiety but will eventually follow (Lick & Kaufman, 2005). Some will remain unchanged and become increasingly isolated and anachronistic.
Current futurists argue that planning for change, educating everyone into the changes monitoring change drivers and the process of change is better management than collective random responses. Planning for the future needs to be holistic at the macro level but also integrate with the micro level drivers (Lick & Kaufman, 2005). Research is needed to inform innovation, proactive policy development, and organisational change (Spratt, Weaver, Maskill & Kish). Some people advocate a ‘big bang’ approach towards radical change whereas others prefer a slower, adaptive, evolutionary change (Owens, 2005).
Quality needs to be maintained despite the push for quantity so that universities do not become ‘diploma mills’. The emphasis of technology over content will depersonalize learning. There is a new poor and disadvantaged of the computer illiterate. The issues of property rights on the Internet, incompatible technologies and economic rationalism need to be addressed (Navarro, 2000).

Where to from here
Using the seven dichotomies and four pillars (learning to know; learning to do; learning to live together; learning to be ) of education, a number of future scenarios has been planned.
Table 1
1 the global and the local.
2. the universal and the individual.
3. tradition and modernity.
4 long-term and short-term
5 competition and equality of opportunity.
6 the expansion of knowledge and the capacity of individuals to assimilate it.
7 the spiritual and the material.
The Seven Dichotomies in Educational Planning
(Ministry of education NZ, 2005)
No changes. This model is termed the fortress school. Perhaps we can add some Information Technology to the systems but essentially education remains a closed system. This model is unlikely to be sustainable.
Use a market/ economic model, which will promote diversity, competition and privatisation towards best practise. It will promote a user pays system and create an educational divide.
Schools become core social centres with leadership in information, technology, learning and education for the community. This could be called a brick and click centre.
Schools become learning centres with flexible, innovative, quality centres of excellence highly networked using information technologies.
De-schooling with information technology in the central role of learning networks. Using this model, students will learn from home and community resources. There is emphasis on life long learning and blurring of the boundaries between initial and life long learning and students learn in a virtual, cyber-space community. Some courses would be assisted by teachers but others would be autonomous units (Hepple et al, 2004 ; Cartelli, 2005).
With community consultation, the last option is the preferred direction. Possibly all models will be active for some time. There is an obvious need to teach teachers, parents, school-boards, administrators, computer software companies to manage the new technologies towards these planned changes (Bigleow, 2005).

CONCLUSIONS
The arrow of time as we know it is unidirectional. Our lives are a journey within the evolution of our history and our future. To say that we have arrived or know where we stand is a momentary illusion. The acceleration of change has become more obvious over the last few decades. Futurism predicts that we have some control over the direction we take by analysing our present drivers and extrapolating them into the future. This paper has briefly examined some of the drivers relevant to education. These drivers are in parallel and interrelated. Plans for futures in education have led to some exciting trends. Planning for these changes will require a new and central role for educators. It will also require new pedagogies towards the new education models.


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‘

visual metalinguistics

Jon Callow (2003) Talking About Visual Texts With Students, Reading OnLine, http://www.readingonline.org/articles/callow/
This paper is an interesting hands-on presentation of children’s visual projects using power point and hyperlink. It is an Australian paper, assessing Year 6 students. Jon Callow discusses the naturalistic research assessing the child’s understanding of the grammar of visual literacy and their understanding of the social, cultural and contextural issues in their presentations. He tries to raise the issues of a metalanguage and pedagogy to scaffold learning in this new literacy.
Students developed an innate ability to create meaning via text, image, colour, salience and layout design. And he raises the issue of the “grammar of visual design”
“Represent actions, objects, and settings
Create interactive or interpersonal meanings between the viewer and what is viewed by the use of features such as color, angles, shot distance, and type of media employed (e.g., photos, clip art, diagrams, etc.)
Present layout choices that indicate the value of or emphasis on particular elements within an image, such as the salience (attention-gaining aspect) of a particular object or piece of text “
The paper raises lots of questions about future metalanguage for other media and modes. It also explains why our ability to assess visual design is so difficult, as we lack to structure and analysis for it
Joyce

Collective human activity and education

Connectivism
‘Education is a powerful tool in the global educational environment and the Internet has enabled a new era in human collective activity’.
Firsts lets deconstruct the statement for discussion:
Education, Global environment, Internet, Human collective activity:

Education
Informal learning and prior learning are now seen as valuable additions to formal learning and there is a connectionism of ideas and learning from many different fields as people research information from many different areas. Education is now life long, life-wide, networked and cross-discipline. Education is akin to the getting of knowledge and knowledge is seen as power. Knowledge then leads to creativity and innovation.
Education has been the power tool of the elite and rich in the past. It has also been the mode for propaganda and advertising. The catchcry to all social evils, AIDS, teenage pregnancy; drug and alcohol addiction, etc has been that we need to educate people so they will make the ‘right’ choices.
So it would be nice to have choice over content and process of learning.

Global environment
Globalisation is promoted as valuing diversity of people, culture and religion and a way to equalize resources. This is meant to be achieved through free trade.
The decision to think and act globally however was a forced decision based on economic greed. Wealthy third world countries and their large corporations saw the possibility to acquire cheap, sometimes free supplies and resources, cheap labour and lower operating costs. There were plenty of positives to cite for the third world nations who were getting some gains. In a free trade environment however, the third world countries are the inevitable losers. This has sparked violent demonstrations at the G8 conferences where such decisions are promulgated. This is power by stealth.
Globalisation happened before we could say yes or make any decisions to control it. As we travel more, have cheap available communication. Globalisation is here to stay and we are best to learn how to handle it.
Globalisation is part of the environmental lobby; to think globally, act locally. Some of the world’s issues, like global warming, International law, United Nations, nuclear war require global thinking.
Globalisation is counter to nationalism. There are still many people who are proud of their culture and nations but nationalism is seen as potentially threatening as in previous wars.
Internet
Social Issues:
The collective knowledge within the Internet virtual space is rich because of the diversity of opinion. It has created a system of self-organization of diverse people. Communication, communities, networking and connectivity are made easier with the Internet.
Economic Issues
The learning organization of seamless home, work and relaxation based learning drives economic principles and action. Most corporations and businesses need to have dot.com facilities to be competitive. Online consumerism and marketing is the main reason the Internet can continue to operate. It may not remain a free service for much longer.


Axis of evil issues
The Internet can also bring terrorism, pornography, paedophilia, and websites on how to suicide, be anorexic, make a bomb etc freely, quickly and easily into our homes. Like every human activity, the Internet makes evil happen just as much as good things.

Education resources
Learning and knowledge can exist in non -human places, like virtual space, computer data banks, Internet resources. Artificial intelligence is an issue for the future. The Information Highway requires techniques on how to find information rather than rote memory. Learning theories are now challenged due to the Internet resource. Thinking has changed to reflect multi-modal, non-linear technology advances.
Human collective activity
Humans have collectively destroyed a lot of the environment, each other and the future. Where can we find some good in collective activity?
Vygotsky saw collective activity as the basis for education. He framed socio-cultural-historical learning as collective knowledge passed on in a collective fashion. The Internet and globalisation can achieve learning of the complexity of human knowledge as if the Internet was the Zone of Proximal Development and collective knowledge is stored there. Scaffolding is provided by search engines and motivation comes from need. Vygotsky saw this as part of Marxist philosophy. The Internet is seen as the missive regarding democracy. Learning is more likely to occur through communities of practice, personal networks, and through completion of work-related tasks. Technology is able to do most of the basic functions so that the collective human endeavour can exercise creativity and innovation. This is supported by the Internet technology and is understood in terms of the new pedagogies.
Now lets meta-analyse this quote- take a birds eye view of what it is really saying.
A new era of human connectivity has occurred. It was due to a number of technological inventions, like the telephone, air travel, news reporting, satellite navigation and import/export businesses to name a few. There are multiple drivers towards a globalized view of the world but the Internet has accelerated the process. The Internet is designed with a completely different approach to traditional thinking. It embodies multi-media, multi-modal, multi-directional thinking. Education on how to use this technology and education as a tool for networked connectivity has become a central issue to this medium.
Summary
Education is the key to understanding processes in technology and the Internet. Reciprocally the Internet and technology have enhanced Education. One of the aspects of education and technology has been the ability to see the world as shrinking, accessible across time and space. A globalised community that values the diversity of people but capitalises on this diversity to create a system of co-operation and collective human endeavour is seen as the hope for the future.

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