Martin Weller

Delivering Learning on the Net: the why, what and how of online education

As online education becomes more familiar, so the reality of using it in teaching and learning has moved beyond the realm of the specialist. Pedagogy and best practice Delivering Learning on the Net explores the reality of online education today. Accessible and stimulating, it will make a real impact on the way educators use and approach Net-based learning. It presents a detailed global picture of issues, values and experiences, and shows how to approach developing and using the Net for learning. Martin Weller chaired the groundbreaking Open University course You, Your computer and the Net, which is now the largest for-credit online course in Europe. Based on this and his experiences elsewhere, the book is a comprehensive resource grounded in practical reality as well as in research. Key issues covered include: *the Net and its relation to education; *developing and implementing online courses; *the key issues surrounding online education. Teachers, trainers, technologists, administrators and decision-makers working in higher and further education will all find much of value in this book.

E-portfolios: an assessment tool for online courses

This article considers the various uses of e-portfolios in an educational context and looks at the particular characteristics of the electronic version of portfolios. It then focuses on the application of the e-portfolio as an assessment method. A case is made for the use of the e-portfolio as an appropriate end of course assessment process where learning objects are the basis of the course design. Evaluation data from such a course is presented. This is a post-graduate online course run by the Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University. Conclusions are drawn from the evaluation about the appropriateness of eportfolios as an end of course assessment method.

The Digital Scholar: How Technology is Changing Academic Practice

This book delves into the changes in technology regarding higher education and seeks to define what it means to be a scholar in the digital age.

The distance from isolation Why communities are the logical conclusion in e-learning

Abstract This paper argues that the internet is built around key technology design features of openness, robustness and decentralisation. These design features have transformed into social features, which are embodied within the cultural values of the internet. By examining applications that have become popular on the net, the importance of these values is demonstrated. If e-learning is considered as a sub-set of internet activity, then the types of approaches that will be popular and meaningful for students will be those that appeal to these three core values. An examination of online communities reveals that these are indeed in keeping with these, and provide a valuable learning experience. The community can be seen as a natural conclusion in e-learning driven by the expectations of a generation of learners who have been enculturated into the values of the internet.

Learning Objects and the E-Learning Cost Dilemma.

The creation of quality e-learning material creates a cost dilemma for many institutions, since it has both high variable and high fixed costs. This cost dilemma means that economies of scale are difficult to achieve, which may result in a consequent reduction in the quality of the learning material. Based on the experience of creating a masters level course at the UK Open University, the article suggests that the adoption of learning objects represents one possible resolution to this dilemma. They achieve this through the reduction of the fixed costs by four means: reuse, rapid production, ease of updating and cost-effective pedagogy.

Higher Education and the Promises and Perils of Social Networks

The last decade has produced tremendous innovation in how people connect with one another online. Social networks have experienced a rapid increase in popularity, producing both concerns (privacy, content ownership) and opportunities. The articles in this journal can be viewed as attempts to answer the question: What should educators do about social networks?

Visualising learning design to foster and support good practice and creativity

Technologies offer tantalising possibilities for new forms of educational innovation, but we have argued that there is a gap between the potential of technologies to support learning and the reality of how they are actually used, and that this is due to a lack of understanding about how technologies can be used to afford specific learning advantages and to a lack of appropriate guidance at the design stage. This paper describes a project that has developed an approach to using learning design as a methodology to guide design and foster creativity in concert with good practice in the creation of learning activities. The paper will provide an overview of the work being undertaken by the Open University, UK Learning Design project; concentrating on the work we have done to represent and visualise design. Se représenter la conception de l’apprentissage pour développer et soutenir les bonnes pratiques et la créativité Les technologies offrent des possibilités séduisantes pour créer de nouvelles formes d’innovation éducative, mais nous avons souligné qu’il y a un fossé entre l’appui que ces technologies sont susceptibles d’apporter à l’apprentissage et la réalité des pratiques effectives, ce qui est dû à un manque de compréhension de la façon dont les technologies peuvent être employées pour offrir des gains d’apprentissage substantiels ainsi qu’à un manque d’orientation appropriée lors de la phase de conception. Cet article décrit un projet dans lequel on a mis au point une approche visant à utiliser la conception de l’apprentissage comme méthodologie pour guider la conception et développer la créativité, de concert avec une bonne pratique de la création d’activités d’apprentissage. Cet article présente une vue d’ensemble du travail entrepris dans le cadre du projet britannique de Conception de l’Apprentissage de l’Open University, en se concentrant sur le travail que nous avons effectué pour représenter et rendre visible la conception. Veranschaulichung von Lernentwürfen zur Unterstützung von „good practice” und Kreativität Technologie bietet vielversprechende Möglichkeiten neuer Formen pädagogischer Innovation. Wir müssen jedoch feststellen, dass zwischen dem Potential von diesen Möglichkeiten Gebrauch beim Lernen zu machen und der tatsächlichen Nutzung in der Praxis ein Graben herrscht. Dies liegt sowohl am mangelnden Verständnis, wie Technologie erfolgreich eingesetzt werden kann um Lernfortschritte zu ermöglichen, als auch an der nicht stattfindenden Anleitung während der Entwurfsphase. In diesem Artikel wird ein Projekt vorgestellt, in dem ein Verfahren entwickelt wurde, das Lernentwürfe zur Anleitung und zur Pflege von Kreativität zusammen mit „good practice” und der Entwicklung von Lernaktivitäten einsetzt. Der Artikel berichtet im Überblick über den Stand der Arbeit, die an der Open University UK Learning Design Projekt ausgeführt wird, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von Entwurfsvisualisierung und ‐veranschaulichung. Visualizar el diseño del aprendizaje para fomentar y sostener buenas prácticas y la creatividad. Las TICs ofrecen posibilidades tentadoras conduciendo a nuevas formas de inovación educativa pero hemos argumentado que hay una brecha entre el potencial de las tecnologías para sostener el aprendizaje y la realidad de los usos reales, esto siendo el resultado de una falta de comprensión de los modos en que se puede utilizar esas tecnologías para proporcionar ventajas específicas en el aprendizaje y también de una falta de orientación adecuada en la fase de diseño. Este artículo describe un proyecto en el cual se ha desarrollado un enfoque para utilizar el diseño del aprendizaje como metodología para dirigir el diseño y fomentar la creatividad en consonancia con buenas prácticas en la creación de actividades de aprendizaje. Este artículo ofrece una visión de conjunto del trabajo que está siendo llevado a cabo dentro del proyecto Diseño para el Aprendizaje de la Open University del Reino Unido, haciendo hincapié en el trabajo que hemos hecho para representar y visualizar el diseño.

Students' experience of component versus integrated virtual learning environments

The use of virtual learning environments (VLEs) has become increasingly common in most higher education (HE) institutions. Recent developments have proposed the interoperability of software systems and content, to create component VLEs in contrast with the integrated, monolithic ones that are currently prevalent. This paper examines the student experience of two VLEs, one integrated approach and the other component. In general, students preferred the component system, although this may have been influenced by other factors such as performance. Although the study is limited to one cohort of student it makes a number of suggestions relevant to anyone deploying a VLE. These are that the component approach is a viable one from a student perspective, the broader context in which the VLE operates is important in student perception and that poor system performance may have unpredictable consequences for the learning experience.

Using learning environments as a metaphor for educational change

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show that the online learning environment can be seen as the means by which higher education can explore the challenges and opportunities raised by online and digital society.Design/methodology/approach – The paper argues that the online learning environment can be seen as a metaphor for how universities respond to the requirements and challenges of the digital age. Current learning management systems (LMSs) are examined, and compared with the values found in web 2.0 and social media. Current thinking on pedagogy for online learning is then examined. The SocialLearn project at the Open University in the UK is then explained, which seeks to create a disaggregated, decentralised, social system for learners.Findings – The conclusion from the analysis is that there is a conflict between the centralised learning management system (LMS) and the requirements of online pedagogy. The traditional LMS can be seen as embodying the wrong metaphor, that of the traditional class...

The Battle for Open: How openness won and why it doesn't feel like victory

With the success of open access publishing, Massive open online courses (MOOCs) and open education practices, the open approach to education has moved from the periphery to the mainstream. This marks a moment of victory for the open education movement, but at the same time the real battle for the direction of openness begins. As with the green movement, openness now has a market value and is subject to new tensions, such as venture capitalists funding MOOC companies. This is a crucial time for determining the future direction of open education. In this volume, Martin Weller examines four key areas that have been central to the developments within open education: open access, MOOCs, open education resources and open scholarship. Exploring the tensions within these key arenas, he argues that ownership over the future direction of openness is significant to all those with an interest in education.