I have at last succeeded in 'claiming' my blog in Technorati. And guess what? I already have a ranking!

Rank: 1,125,742 (0 links from 0 sites)

The only way is up.

I have been inspired to post a fuller account of my interview for the Guardian story today (A space on the web that we control by Steve O'Hear) by Miles Berry's (That Guardian interview in full) and Ben Werdmuller's (A space on the web that we control) posts of their interviews. It is amazing how much ends up on the cutting room floor. I only wish my students were as disciplined when it comes to word limits! The interview was conducted by email.

1. How have you been using Elgg at University of Leeds?

We are running a small pilot project to evaluate Elgg. We have some ideas on how systems like Elgg can be used in educational contexts but this is very much a process of discovery for us. I must say I am very excited about the possibilities that Elgg and the 'read/write' web generally open for us as academics and students. At the moment there are about 800 users. The academic staff involved are exploring Elgg's possibilities for supporting teaching (some are supporting modules they teach using Elgg) but also how it can be used to support research and project groups, communities of interest, and individuals' research and career development. Hopefully the pilot will lead to a larger more systematic project and the eventual roll out of the system to all students and staff.

2. What benefits does Elgg have for students / learning?

Elgg offers staff and students an additional layer, so to speak, outside of our institutional VLE. It can therefore be used in more autonomous, flexible and imaginative ways. It puts the student/user more in control and its use and value is not constrained by being closely coupled to the timetables, structure and components of degree programmes, modules, assessment and so on. Although the underlying rationale and functionality of Elgg has much in common with blogging platforms, its design, structure and additional functions make it a good basis for something more like a personal learning environment. Its flexibility means, for instance, we can evaluate it as an e-portfolio tool.

The use of a system like Elgg contributes to a number of overlapping agendas - the development of information technology skills, of information literacy skills (identifying information needs, locating information, evaluating and presenting information and engaging in the critical and reflective discussion of constructed knowledge), engaging students as active participants in the research activity and culture of the University, the life-long learning agenda (producing active, self motivated reflective perpetual learners - the 'expert student' concept), employability, citizenship and personal effectiveness.

It enables and encourages students (as well as academic staff) to develop an on-line presence and an on-line identity. Writing for and commenting on blogs (personal or community) requires a style of writing that is reflective, clear and concise. It helps students to find and develop a particular type of public 'voice' as well as communication and presentational skills.

Students have had their own personal web space available to them on the University website for many years now but in practice very few have taken advantage of this opportunity (again, likewise academic staff). A major reason for this is the still daunting complexity of designing, running and maintaining a conventional web site. One advantage for students of systems like Elgg is that they have a relatively straightforward method of publishing on the web, including pictures, hyperlinks, uploading documents and so on, that requires no design or html skills. They also have a simple method of access control that can be modified for individual posts, pictures, files and so on. Already the indication of our pilot is that students will be much more likely to use a 'read/write' web environment like Elgg than run a traditional web site. The interaction that is possible is also an attractive feature.

3. How does it differ from other e-learning packages? e.g. VLEs etc.

We don't see Elgg as an institutional VLE. Institutional VLEs overlap with and have many shared features with Learning Management Systems (LMSs). It has very few of the features of a VLE or LMS. The pilot is evaluating Elgg as an additional layer to students' participation in our VLE. It is independent of the VLE and its alignment with the structure of programmes, modules, assessment, etc. For some purposes Elgg is a 'breakout' from formal structures and requirements. As a student/user-centred element of a personal learning environment it links to informal networks of friends, colleagues and shared interests, extra-curricula activities, hobbies, activities, issues and concerns that are all part of what makes up the wider context of learning at university. Conversely, the personal blogs, community blogs, file repositories, podcasting features, etc. can be explicitly geared to particular modules being studied. For instance, a lecturer can start a community blog specifically to distribute information, publish podcasts, pursue and discuss with students particular issues that arise, share and exchange annotated resources, and so on.

4. Anything else you'd like to say about your experience of using Elgg?

On the whole our experience of using Elgg has been pretty straightforward. Even in the short time we have been running an Elgg installation it has had 2 significant upgrades with much of the increased functionality the community of users has asked for. For example, it now has built in RSS aggregation, wysiwyg editing, an inbuilt virtual MP3 player for podcasting, and the ability to create open, moderated and private communities. The ability to control access, posting and commenting in community blogs is a very attractive feature, as is the flexible access controls on all posts and uploaded files. Different levels of access can be set for individual blog entries so some posts can be fully public, another post only readable by a particular group, yet another one by one other person - for instance a post private to a dissertation student and his/her supervisor.

We have experienced some problems in encouraging students to use their personal blogs in Elgg. Reading around it seems this is not an uncommon experience. The issues here seem to be students' lack of experience and knowledge of blogging (a staff issue too) and the fact that posting is optional for most students. We need to develop effective forms of induction and support to help students get going and, hopefully, reap the benefits of this type of activity, academic and personal. The flexibility and user-centred nature of Elgg and the fact that its uses are limited only by the users' imagination make its uptake a rather daunting experience for some. And, as many others' experience shows, blogging is not for everyone.

On using Elgg more generally, it is worth bearing in mind that it is still officially an alpha version I believe. Although it improves significantly with each new version released, there are still some navigation and usability issues. However, we have seen the proposed changes for the next version and most of these issues are being addressed. The rate of development and responsiveness to user feedback and requests has been remarkable. I would say our experience of Elgg has been extremely positive and the whole experience has been a very good advert for open source solutions.

Recently there has been some very interesting  discussion about the  purposes of education on Harold Jarche's blog  Education's Three Conflicting Pillars and a related post by Christopher Sessum, Competing Paradigms and Educational Reform. This has got me thinking once more about the complex relationship between the State and the education system and the ambivalent position of the teacher.

Personally I tend to favour the term 'discourse' rather than paradigm. Discourses are processes. Discourses are not monolithic and coherent. They are made up of overlaying and intersecting ideas that are often in competition, and connect many different forms of knowledge and truth claims. There are usually different agendas in play promoted by competing power brokers and power seekers. They form the intersections of political, economic, ideological and 'scientific' interests and activities. Particular  'discursive formations' have recognisable boundaries within which, for a while a least, they cohere.  Discourses only gain purchase on the real world and become effective through 'practices'. Discourses feed into government policy. This leads, in the case of educational policy, to a number of practices that implement  the policy through laws and regulations and funding procedures.  And at the end of the day it is schools, colleges, universities and their staff and students that one way or another implement the discourse informed education policies.

An example of this is the development of the educational discourse that culminated in the Butler Education Act of 1944 in the UK.  A variety of interlocking and overlapping ideologies and 'sciences' informed this discourse based on a variety of different related interests and institutions including educational ideas of the time, the dominant political ideology of the time, Keynesian economic theories and policies, the interests of key sectors of the economy, the psychologist Cyril Burt's theories on IQ, and a number of other moral and philanthropic ideas. The practical implementation of this educational discourse, via the enactment of the Butler Education Act, was the so-called tripartite secondary education system, selection by the 11+ exam with its IQ testing component, and the creation of three different types of schools that corresponded with three innately different sorts of pupils and the perceived needs of three different sectors of the post WWII labour market. How neat!!.  Each type of school had a different curriculum suited to the supposed different abilities of the students and for their destined location in the labour market. In some respects the different curricula produced, 'constructed', three different types of students as specified by the practical implementation of the educational discourse thus showing the discourse to be 'correct' - an example of that well known social phenomenon, the 'self-fulfilling prophecy'.

The above story follows from a more general feature of the link between state education, economic structure and labour market requirements.  In the UK the development of the state education system was intimately linked to the gradual extension of the vote to all working men and the needs of the developing labour market in a rapidly expanding capitalist industrial economy. State education served the needs of the economy not just in terms of the skills required but also the political system - to produce 'docile bodies' that accept the distribution of power, the status quo, as legitimate. Political socialisation and social control were key components of state education right from the start. The extension of education to the masses was viewed with deep suspicion by the 'natural'  and traditional ruling class.  The controlling aspect was seem as crucial to those that begrudgingly conceded that they were having to 'educate our masters' - the Duke of Wellington I think. Education has always had the dual role of both enabling and controlling and has always been a double-edged sword. Teaching individuals how to read so they can read the Bible and employers' instructions always risked the possibility that they would also read subversive pamphlets if available. Whatever the other contradictions and tensions in education today I think this fundamental one between the enabling agenda and the controlling agenda is still very much in evidence. And it makes its presence felt in every bit of curriculum development and in every lecture theatre, tutorial room and classroom.

It is this double edged and contradictory nature of education that gives teachers and educators some opportunities to subvert  the dominant educational discourse. We teach the content of our disciplines and we police students' conformity to the structures, procedures and expectations of  the institution. But we also help develop the critical and metacognitive skills that can let the genie out of the bottle. Once learning skills have been mastered and students develop a critical awareness of the constructed and provisional nature of much knowledge, then the focus, objectives, content of the learning beyond the institution can be chosen by individuals and communities they are part of.

Radically inclined teachers have a difficult task. We want to help our students achieve in the context of the dominant paradigm as described by Chris, learn the content, pass the exams, reproduce what is required in their assessment essays. This is driven by our desire to help students perform well in assessment and achieve their goals. However, the critical and autonomous learning skills we help students obtain can begin to develop their capacity for personal effectiveness and becoming critical citizens. This is how teachers can both live in and with the dominant paradigm at the same time as subverting it. The paradox is there is no conspiracy here; teaching and learning within the dominant educational discourse, preparing students for the fast changing knowledge and networked society, nurtures in its bosom the seeds of its own critique and subversion.

Or is this a rationalisation of collaboration?

The ESRC's Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) has just released details of a forthcoming call for bids for research on technology enhanced learning. Reading through the announcement underlines just how the Elgg community here has anticipated what is gradually becoming mainstream thinking.

Here are some quotes:

To achieve the highest ambitions for education and lifelong learning we need to exploit fully what new technology offers – for personalising learning and improving outcomes, for including more learners in education and lifelong learning, for creating more flexible learning opportunities and for improving the productivity of learning and knowledge building processes. But to do this, we need a more explicit understanding of the nature of learning itself, both formal and informal, and the way it is responding to changes in society and the opportunities created by new technologies. (my emphasis).

The reference to personalising here is quite new and George Siemens has been telling us for a long time now that the nature or learning is changing in response to profound changes in society.

The challenge for the new research community this funding is helping to create

..will be to develop innovative applications of digital technologies that will contribute to making education and lifelong learning more personalised, inclusive, flexible, and productive.

Quite so.

 

I gave a presentation at the WUN e-learning seminar at Leeds University on blogs and wikis on Thursday 26th March. I probably tried to cover too much ground in the 20 minutes I had but I think it went ok judging by people I chatted with over lunch. Aren't people kind and supportive! The presentation tried to introduce the related ideas of Web 2.0 and E-learning 2.0 and then outline how this relates to a number of current issues and agendas in HE and an indication of research issues in e-learning - the main focus of the day's seminar. Because ground was covered so quickly I set up a wiki to support it and opened it up to everyone so they can contribute if they wish and, if they haven't used a wiki before, have a play. I have put an mp3 of the presentation and the slides on the wiki at http://terrynet.pbwiki.com. If you have any suggestions on how the wiki could be developed or want to make a contribution please go ahead. The password is letmein.

The issues and agendas for HE that I could only touch on were:

Using blogs and wikis in practical teaching and learning contexts

E-learning 2.0 and Information Literacy

E-learning 2.0 and the Research- Learning Nexus

E-learning 2.0, life-long learning and personal effectiveness

E-learning 2.0, pedagogy and the process of learning

Researching e-learning 2.0 - methods, methodology and issues

E-learning 2.0 and the HE instititution - strategies and constraints

Each of these be developed into a section of its own

On a related note, Brian Kelly of Web Focus and UKOLN gave a presentation at Leeds University yesterday, Friday 17th, on the Future of the Web: Web 2.0 and its implications for HE. The slides are available on-line and I think Brian will put an mp3 there in due course. I found this really interesting. He focussed on what Web 2.0 is and gave many examples and useful links but then spent much of his discussion on the institutional implications of its use in teaching and learning and the obstacles to its adoption and embedding. Everyone got a bit of stick, academics, librarians, administrators - at least Brian was even-handed!