[iDC] :: Deinstitutionalizing education ::

Fri Nov 12 14:43:02 UTC 2010

Dear all:

I would like to add few more things to this conversation, basically point
out some critical views about technology and education that could help us.

I hope these sources allow us to analyse things from
a different perspective.

Even if you are sceptical to those that provide the following results (EU,
OECD),

I urge you to exchange ideas about the following question:

*What if we are using thechnologies in the wrong way?*

*
*

*
*

*[Source] The use of
<http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-programme/doc/sec2629.pdf>
ICT <http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-programme/doc/sec2629.pdf>to
support innovation and lifelong learning for all - A report on
<http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-programme/doc/sec2629.pdf>
progress<http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-programme/doc/sec2629.pdf>
. *European Commission Staff Working Document (2008)

*“ *The *impact of ICT on education *and training has *not yet been as great
as had been expected *despite wide political and social endorsement. In
particular, the transformation of business and public services through *ICT
has not yet reached teaching and learning processes...”*
*
*

*[Source] OECD <http://ictlogy.net/bibciter/reports/contacts.php?idc=108>
 (2006). Are Students Ready for a Technology-Rich World?: What PISA Studies
Tell Us <http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/28/4/35995145.pdf>. Paris: OECD.*

   1. Governments have pursued *policies to increase equity of access *to
   computers at school, while the *proportion* of homes with *computers has
   also grown*.
   2. The PISA evidence confirms previous studies showing the
particularly *strong
   association of performance with home access and usage*.
   3. “[T]he key issue raised here is the comparatively *low performance
   among those without home computers*.”
   4. Only a *minority* of students reported frequent use of specific
*educational
   software*....
   *
   *

*[Source] OECD (2008). New Millennium Learners. Initial findings on the
effects of digital technologies on school-age
learners<http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/39/51/40554230.pdf>.
OECD/CERI.*

   1. In the school sector, the *rhythm of investments in technology*,
   intended to facilitate its adoption, has generally *been impressive *in
   OECD countries.
   2. “The *impact of computer *availability at *home* upon academic
   attainment is clearly higher, in most countries”.
   3. “A *second digital divide *emerges: it is no longer about access, but
   about *differences in use*”.
   4. “Despite thousands of studies about the impact of technology use on
   student attainment [...] there is *no conclusive evidence *about the
   benefits of technology in school performance”.
   *
   *

*[Source] OECD (2010) Educational Research and Innovation: Are the New
Millennium Learners Making the Grade?: Technology Use and Educational
Performance in PISA
2006<http://browse.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/pdfs/browseit/9609101E.PDF>
.*

   1. [PISA 2006].. one of the limitations of many educational ICT policies
   is that most countries have *not developed holistic policies* for
   educational use of ICT.
   2. There is evidence of a *second “digital divide” *emerging [...]
   between those students *who have the skills *to benefit from computer use
   and those *who don’t*. Although the data *do not prove a causal
   connection *between *familiarity with computers and performance*, they
   show that better-performing students are more familiar with computers.
   3. *Frequency of computer use at home *makes more of a *difference* in *
   performance* on the PISA tests than *frequency* of computer use at *
   school*.

*[Source]* Francesc Pedró. Is technology use related to educational
performance? Evidence from
PISA<http://consortium.teach-advanced-online.org/file.php/1/resources/PISA_Technology_Use.pdf>

   1. One of ICT's main strengths is its capacity to *support informal
   learning. Self-learning *and informal peer-learning are by far the two
   most important mechanisms for obtaining skills and competences (EU, 2008).
   2. Students using *computers at home *are likely to be more interested in
   ICT, have more scope for *experimental* and self-learning, and can search
   and *discover the resources *that are *best suited to their needs *(OECD,
   2010).
   3. *ICT familiarity matters for educational performance*: higher
   performers have a lengthier experience of computer use, also *when
   accounted for ESCS differences *(OECD, 2010).

Before end, please let me add two last questions

*Don´t we need more evidence and less utopia?
Are We Looking in the Wrong Place? *
*
*

•       *ICT by itself shouldn´t  be consider (anymore) a driving force in
education*.

•       The results show the need for more *micro-studies*.

•       This call for *stronger links between school-works *and what
students do at home.

*
*

*We may need to learn how to:*

*
*

   1. Raise *awareness* among educators, parents and policy makers of the
   consequences of increasing *ICT familiarity*.
   2. Identify and *foster* the *development* of 21st century *skills and
   competences *addressing  the *second digital *divide.
   3. Adopt *holistic approaches *to ICT in education.

I look forward to hearing from you

Best

Cristobal Cobo

http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/?id=189

El 22 de octubre de 2010 15:45, Ismael Peña-López
<ictlogist at ictlogy.net>escribió:

Hi everyone,
>
> Not all of you may not know me as I am relatively new to the list. My
> name is Ismael Peña-López.
> Many thanks to Trebor Scholz for inviting me to share my thoughts on
> learning on the iDC!!
>
> I am a lecturer at the Open University of Catalonia in Spain where I
> work about the digital divide, specifically questions of empowerment. My
> research asks how educational institutions change because of digital
> media.
> http://ictlogy.net
>
> Along those lines, I would like to introduce some topics on the
> de-institutionalization of learning that have been enabled by ICTs. How
> is this de-institutionalization being used to reach collectives that
> dropped out of the educational system or actually never even entered it?
>
> Some of my reflections will be based on the "2010 Horizon Report:
> Iberoamerican Edition" (http://www.nmc.org/news/nmc/8050), which I
> co-authored with Cristóbal Cobo (http://ergonomic.wordpress.com/) and
> Diego Leal (http://www.diegoleal.org/) who will join me in this iDC
> discussion.
>
> Let's start like this:
>
> In many places of the world (especially in rural areas and in lower
> income countries, but not only) the educational system is deficient.
> Today, many claim against the industrialization of education, the
> "Fordization" of learning, the failure of one-size-fits-all,  the
> devaluation of knowledge, or the creation of workers instead of
> citizens.
>
> But the truth is that, in most cases, the industrialization of education
> democratized access to knowledge, even at the risk of a certain level of
> commodification. The problem is that education, especially quality
> education is increasingly difficult to scale
> (http://ictlogy.net/?p=3405).
>
> Notwithstanding, digitization of content and communications have caused
> a dire "revolution" that is transforming our society into an Information
> Society. This digital revolution has lowered the costs of creating,
> accessing  and distributing knowledge-based goods and services, and has
> also lowered the  costs of interaction, intermediation and transaction.
> http://ictlogy.net/bibciter/reports/projects.php?idp=640
> http://ictlogy.net/bibciter/reports/projects.php?idp=1332
>
> Some find this revolution a threat to educational institutions -- it
> will now be easier to circumvent them to access knowledge and experts
> around the globe at lowest costs. Some think that it can be leveraged to
> reach the unreached, to bring education to those that, because of time,
> space or financial constraints, could not attend formal education in an
> educational institution (ie. schools, universities...).
>
> Open educational resources allow for that quality content to reach
> people everywhere in the world. The MIT's OpenCourseWare project has,
> for instance, been replicated for the Spanish speaking community at
> Universia OCW (http://ocw.universia.net), in Chinese by CORE
> (http://www.core.org.cn/cn/opencou/), in Japanese by the Japan OCW
> Consortium (http://www.jocw.jp/) or the ParisTech OpenCourseWare project
> for French.
>
> The good news is that not only institutions can produce such materials
> as Khan Academy has shown.
> http://www.khanacademy.org
>
> Mobility solutions have also enabled people to learn anywhere anytime
> and with the most simple devices. The Tecnológico de Monterrey or the
> Open of Catalonia  are mobile devices. And cellphones (mind you: not
> smartphones) are being used
> for many learning purposes and stand for mobile and immersive learning
> for literacy in emerging economies (ie. Sub-Saharan Africa).
> http://www.ccm.itesm.mx/tecmovil/
> http://myway.blogs.uoc.edu/
> MILLEE http://www.millee.org/
> http://ictlogy.net/?p=3556
>
> The m4lit project in South Africa Kenya is also worth mentioning
> (http://m4lit.wordpress.com).
>
> Peer to peer learning has been definitely boosted by the Internet, that
> has been able to create communities of practice and communities of
> learning despite their members being scattered on wide geographic areas.
> Red Social UIMP 2.0 (http://redsocial.uimp20.es/) to explore the new
> potentials of ICTs in Education in SpainSpanish speaking countries, Stephen
> Downes' page (http://www.downes.ca)
> on education, based in Canada but with participants all over the world,
> or the community around Uruguay's Plan Ceibal
> (http://www.ceibal.edu.uy/) are just some examples of social networks
> empowered by ICTs.
>
> Even autonomous learning has its chance after the development of
> Personal Learning Environments, a combination of the aforementioned
> approaches  centered on and managed by the learner.
>
> http://ictlogy.net/bibciter/reports/projects_list.php?filter_tag_project=ple
>
> And augmented reality, artificial intelligence and the semantic web
> will, in a near future, add up to the toolbox learners can use outside
> of educational institutions for their own benefit and learning.
>
> There are, of course, some dichotomies that need being addressed but the
> gates are  wide open and the possibilities many.
> http://ictlogy.net/?p=3430
>
> best,
> Ismael
>
> --
> Ismael Peña-López
> Department of Law and Political Science
> Open University of Catalonia
>
> http://ictlogy.net
> Av. Tibidabo 39-43
> 08035 Barcelona
>

-- 
Cristóbal Cobo [PhD]
http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk
http://grou.ps/knetworks

-- 
Cristóbal Cobo [PhD]
http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk
http://grou.ps/knetworks
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