Research Question Five

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PROCESS: Please enter your responses to the research question in the space below.

You may list as many items as you wish (and we hope you will!), but please list each item separately -- that is, if you say wish to list trend1, trend2, and trend3 as important, please list each item as a separate bullet point (asterisk), as we will be rank ordering these later. Do not list them as a single paragraph, as that will hamper the process.

Please also add your name or initials after each item so that we can follow up with you if we need additional information or leads to examples, as I have done here [Larry]

If an item on your list is already listed here, just add your comment to the end of it, with your initials.


[edit] Research Question Five -- Trends

What trends do you expect to have a significant impact on the ways in which learning-focused institutions approach our core missions of teaching, research, and service?

  • Increasing globalization continues to affect the way we work, collaborate, and communicate (LJ - from 2008 short list). Information technologies impact how people work, play, gain information, and participate in communities. Increasingly, those who can use the technologies to a greater extent are more likely to advance, while those without access or skills lose out. The digital divide used to be seen as an "earning divide" but is now more of a "learning divide." [BC]] There is also the "yearning divide" between those who see education as a path to betterment (Asia) and those who take it for granted Western cultures. [SM] And a "fiscal divide" - for institutions deciding whether to stand brick and mortar campuses on foreign soils or use technologies to extend the reach of home campuses or some combination of the two. [JKL]
  • The notions of collective intelligence and mass amateurization are redefining scholarship (LJ - from 2008 short list) Rising surge of mass collaboration and the attempts to retain top-down control will be one of the defining battles of our time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiP79vYsfbo and http://www.lessig.org/blog/2007/05/keens_the_cult_of_the_amateur.html [BD]Fully agree, current learners want to be active participants in the learning process and not mere listeners. They also have a need to control their environments, as content and knowledge is also at their fingertips, sometimes even more than at their faculty member's [EDL]. This idea bears great similarity to the notion of "massification with personalization". A book on Computer Architecture sent to your Kindle may "know" other books you purchased and adapt the content. It will also allow you to place your personal comments, by voice or text (JPJ) or for research see WikiGenes http://www.wikigenes.org/ [AL]
  • Long Tail applied to (distance) course offerings Does my institution need to offer Math 101 or can we focus on a niche subject like subtidal ecology on the Pacific West Coast? [CPL]
  • Leveraging Knowledge Management (KM) Systems and Digital Repository Data .. Beyond Archiving .. Essential institutional repository collections have reached useful mass. Architecture and metadata standards (XML/DC) are becoming transferable and compatible. What new knowledge will be uncovered when/if we aggregate, analyze, and make sense of emerging (disparate) content/data. Examples.. study of Literature via semantic data analysis, and merged integrated data sets for analysis from like repository collections in remote locations. Discussion For Images http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/publications/diafinalreport.aspx [MAS]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/technology/31novel.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/technology/31novel.html?em http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/page/Visualization_Options.html (JPJ) The definition of visual literacy needs to be expanded to more than decoding visuals but to encoding visuals and learning how to determine credibility and authenticity of images. [SM] Last year, Chris Lott ran the 2004-2008 Horizon Reports through ManyEyes http://www.chrislott.org/2008/01/31/many-eyes-horizon-report/ See also Wordle http://wordle.net which is now part of ManyEyes Perhaps Broaden this to something like Information Visualization- see Information Aesthetics blog http://infosthetics.com/ [AL]

  • Engaged citizenship Political awareness, engagement and value added learning. Mobile technologies and new media has the possibility to improve youth civic participation and social inclusion, especially in sustainable and environmental matters. Moreover, the increasing opportunity of embedding electronics media and Wi-Fi connectivity into the urban fabric allows new forms of social and civic engagement. http://mobile.mit.edu/en/brescia [BD][EDL]
  • With over 1 billion phones produced each year, mobile phones are benefiting from unprecedented innovation driven by global competition (LJ) Urban life will thrive on new modes of perception and experience, based on real-time data and feedback. [BD] Tonchidot has developed the Sekai Camera, which is being considered a "social tagging device" for the iPhone. Point your camera and get instant feedback about what is on your screen. You can also contribute information according to what is on your screen, helping to build the tag network. http://tonchidot.com/Sekai_Camera.html [BC]
  • There will be new metrics for evaluating scholarly authority based not only on citations, but also reader ratings, mentions on blogs, tags assigned to an article, links to article, etc. See Michael Jensen, The New Metrics of Scholarly Authority [1] (LMS) We need to beware that the metrics can be easily manipulated by the authors themselves. There's a need to impact learning more profoundly, accreditation by ratings may not solve the problem [EDL]
  • Gaming is universal among the younger generation, according to a recent survey by the Pew Internet and American Life project, http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/263/report_display.asp. How will educational institutions harness the power of gaming? (LMS) The success of gaming tells us that current methods are not engaging students enough. Gaming calls for participation and interaction, we need more engaging learning processes and environments [EDL]
  • Crowdsourcing, e.g. deciphering OCR text through reCAPTCHA, citizen science, innovation challenges (LMS)
  • RDA: Resource Description and Access - Impending Adoption of NEW Metadata Structure For Describing/Cataloging Library Resources and that will replace AACR2, (the rigid standard in use in Anglo-American libraries). RDA standard is due for adoption in 2009. Will release libraries from anachronistic, material descriptions rules and allow for flexibility in describing emerging information formats. It will also free up development of search and discovery technologies (catalogs) that can integrate with now ubiquitous 2.0 and emerging 3.0 systems. See: FAQ: RDA Joint Steering Committee [2] (MAS)
  • Assessment and Accountability -- mentioned earlier. [SM] Evaluating Digital Personal Timelines from integrated and connected digital assets such as pictures, videos, and blogs [BD]
  • Disaster planning and preparedness No institution wants to lose tuition $, so we will need ready to run with plans that leverage technology for offering courses during a disaster to traumatized students living at a distance. [SM]
  • Convenience and Customization -- Making it easy to learn, distance and blending learning play a role, and designing online and physical spaces to be conducive to individual learning preferences - ranges from flexible seating to widgets[SM]
  • Teacher training - assessment and accountability should not be left to online digital metrics only, as these can be easily manipulable by the authors. At the speed that technology, education and new generation of learners grow and develop, there's a big need to train teachers, to help them stay abreast of what is current and be able to deliver learning in an engaging way. [EDL]
  • Engagement - it is all about having fun, about making the learning process fun and engaging. The iPhone is fun, Apple computers are fun, Google is fun, FaceBook is fun, playing is fun, and learning should be a fun and engaging process, such as buying a home, a car, a pet, etc. The trend on engaging tools, elements and initiatives should impact learning technologies and processes, globally [EDL]
  • Accessibility for All - mentioned earlier, accessibility does not refer anymore to permanent disabilities, as current lifestyles bring about many temporary disabilities (i.e. impossible to read while driving a car). Accessibility for All is a trend that will impact the learning processes, technologies and tools, as it has a direct impact in people's lifestyles, in everyone's lifestyles and not only the officially "disabled" [EDL]
  • A Changing Student Population - Continuing advances in technology, and an increase in professionals looking to advance careers, will continue to draw nontraditional students to institutions. The need for accredited degree programs that meet the needs to this population, and will fit within their learning opportunities, will drive continued development on online program options that offer flexibility as well as instruction. With the shrinking numbers in our traditional student base, this nontraditional population will become a core part of many institutions. Developing appropriate content and courses, and addressing how to engage remote students that may or may not ever visit the physical campus will become increasingly important.

(http://eric.ed.gov:80/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED444464&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED444464, http://www.answers.com/topic/nontraditional-students-in-higher-education) [DD]

  • Learning Capsules - learners are moving away from long educational programs and courses and into more specific learning modules that they can fit better in their lifestyles and time availability. Short specialized courses and learning by doing courses are taking over traditional settings, which are becoming more obsolete as time goes by [EDL]
  • Ambiguity and Imprecision in Collective Intelligence - collective intelligence may give rise to multiple, answers - all equally correct - to problems. Ability to parse and reconcile individually and with peers may challenge students/teachers/general public in ways that textbooks never did. [CPL]
  • Communities Leveraging social media to drive formation of new student or staff learning based communities between campuses. For example, if I am taking Marketing 101 at University X using a text book by author Philip Kotler....I'd love to team and interact with students who are using that same textbook at other institutions. [IBM]
  • Edit this page to add a trend [Larry]



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