I have just come across this informative and succinct Horizon Project report , a joint product of the New media Consortium and Educause, which I think provides a good context against which to place my work. It goes through new learning approaches/tools with a projected timeline for full accpetance and integration into everyday educational practice. I came across it while reading about the successor to the Flat Classroom project, the Horizon Project in which five classrooms around the world are involved compared to the three in the original project. I think that the Horizon Project is much more structured than the Flat Classroom project (which was also quite structured) and it includes many guidelines and templates which could be used in similar projects in other contexts.
The teacher guidelines are interesting though. They include the following:
And this is where your average teacher will say to me 'And where do you think I will find the time to do this?'
This is the question to which I need a convincing answer pretty soon. Are we talking about an initial investment of time in adapting to the new reality after which it will become self-sustaining and second nature or are we talking about a permanent ratch in time needed to run a classroom? If the latter then structural changes are needed to allow for this or I will never get more than a few curious pioneers to take part.
Keywords: educause, flat classroom, Horizon, new media consortium
Comments
Hi Anne,
I too need a convincing answer for that question, which I have been asked ed quite often lately.
I think the most efficient answer is to encourage these people in virtual learning environments and experience online learning thru the eyes of a learner. Maybe then they will be able to understand that online learning is all about collaboration, web presence, socialization, suport, mutual engagement and joint enterprise. And yes it takes time! It can be sometimes more demanding than f2f learning, but can also be more effective.