M-Learning and beyond

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Proposed chapter from Jim Hall:

Higher education is often an entrepreneurial space, seizing on new opportunities to deliver the best value. Universities cannot rest on the accomplishments of the past. The “closed” classroom of the “sage on a stage” can no longer be the norm. Education needs to evolve to new technologies and new modes of learning if we are to meet the needs of our students. Too often, institutions spend a year or more to design, bid, select, purchase, build or implement new education technology in the service of the teaching and learning mission. But in that yearlong interim, the technology landscape may change so the delivered solution no longer addresses the needs of the education community. If educational technology is to deliver on the promise of making education easier to access, institutions needs to adopt the more nimble framework of open source communities.

[semioticrobotic]

Review and discussion questions

• Jim warns that "technological solutions often re-entrench traditional educational models that aren't as effective today as they once were." Have your organization's tools prescribed ways of working that actually hinder your ability to achieve your goals? How might different technological choices affect how you and your teams operate?
  • Jim maintains that "our responsibility as stewards of education is to discover the next educational computing methods in partnership with the students we serve." In what ways is your educational organization doing this? In what ways could it be strengthening its partnership with the people it serves?
  • Jim explains how addressing a seemingly simple student need to make learning resource "more mobile" required changes to multiple domains and initiatives—from campus infrastructure to software design to pedagogy itself. Think about a way you'd like to make your educational organization more open. What resources would it require? Who would need to be involved? How long would it take? How might your teams address these requirements? Draw a map if useful.