User generated content

We had some quite heated debates at the Concede Project meeting yesterday on the nature and direction of user generated content (UGC). When we met in Erlangen, Germany for our last project meeting in May this year, we came up with a definition of UGC: User generated content is "content created and shared freely by students and/or teachers that has not been formally peer reviewed". We think this definition works, and it appeared recently for example, in my keynote slides for the Budapest EDEN Research Workshop. The debate centred not upon what UGC actually is, but rather upon what happens to it once it is being used (or re-used) by others. For example, does UGC lose its informal nature when components of it are incorporated into say, a peer reviewed journal article, or an assessed essay at a university? My view is no, it doesn't. The wiki page, or blog content, or whatever the UGC format is, remains informal in nature, regardless how elements of it are being used or repurposed. But here lies an interesting point that we made at the project meeting - one of the aims of Concede is to enhance the quality of UGC so that it can be incorporated into higher education provision. It could be argued than that any UGC that has been incorporated into a formalised, peer reviewed piece of work (e.g. as a citation) is an indicator of high quality.

Further, we discussed the idea that although UGC is not formally peer reviewed, it is constantly being informally peer reviewed. Blogs like this one for example, are open for comments from all, novice, enthusiast and expert, to provide feedback, suggestions, even refutations, via the comments box under each post. This is of course, one of the most instant forms of peer review available. We had a very interesting time yesterday, locked into our room on the 11th floor of the Technical University of Budapest's tallest building. I will be writing an interim evaluation report on Concede in the next month or so, as we are nearly midpoint in the project. I will share some of it here on this blog later...


User generated content by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Open for use?

Open for use?

View more presentations from Steve Wheeler.

Above are my slides for today's keynote at the EDEN Research Workshop here in Budapest. I'm talking about open educational resources and open scholarship (a form of open educational practice), as well as the power of social media to give every learner a voice. I want to challenge some of the deep seated ideas such as pay wall publishing and closed knowledge systems that are so redolent of the Ivory Tower reputation academia has nurtured over the past few centuries. Nuff said.

Open for use? by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

It's not really learning anymore

The final keynote of this morning's first plenary session at the EDEN Research Workshop in Budapest featured the Open University's Grainne Conole, who in her own inimitable style, crammed so much content into just 30 minutes of fast paced presentation, I found it difficult to take down any meaninful notes. It wasn't her fault though - it was rather a distinct lack of wifi connectivity and technology failure on my part that made me resort for the first time in ages to taking notes with - shock horror - a pen and paper! Well, at least I discovered that I can still write with a pen, albeit a lot slower than I remember doing when I was an undergrad. It's like riding a bike, apparently you never forget - but you do slow down with age. I still wish I could have typed down the notes though - it would probably have done Grainne a little more justice for a great speech. But, here goes:

Grainne talked about educational policy in relation to research, teacher practices and learner responses, and this triumvirate of outcomes can reveal a whole host of influences, including a clash of local culture versus global hegemony. Here she listed a host of learning theories, and linked them to existing pedagogies before weaving them into recent high profile e-learning projects. She cited the abject failure of Google Wave, and suggested that it was the shortfall between how the software could be used (its potential affordances) and the actual perception of its usefulness by users that did for it.

One statement Grainne made will stand out, and should be repeated to all undergraduate students. Acquiring knowledge and recalling it, she said, is no longer adequate - it's not really learning anymore. Anyone can copy and paste from Wikipedia and construct an essay (and I daresay pay for pre-written essays on just about any subject under the sun if they wish to get into wholesale plagiarism). Teachers, she argued, are not fully exploring the full potential and power of learning technologies in the classroom, or indeed outside of it. They perceive a lack of time, lack of skills and few rewards as the key barriers to adoption of new technology for learning. She recommended that we all need to choose between two models: the belief based (implicit) model and the design based (explicit) model.

It's not really learning any more by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Branching out

Gilly Salmon opened the EDEN Research Workshop in Budapest this morning with a keynote entitled 'The tree of Learning: Nurturing the Growth. In it she used her now very well known drawing of a tree with its branches bathed in 'Techno-shine', representative of her argument that all education, whatever it's hue, is now dependent upon and influenced by technology of some kind or another. I guess this is true for the Western industrialised nations of the world, but in Africa and parts of Asia, the shine has a little farther to go to reach their branches. But I digress slightly. Gilly traced the history of education from it's roots to it's new shoots - and in doing so reminded us all that although we have a rich history of pedagogy, some of the branches are falling away, and others are growing in surprising directions. Her metaphor extended to the evolutionary theory of Darwin, and a prediction that some of the unfit practices would not survive. But how to nurture the new growth necessary to keep education healthy? 'The longer you have been in education' she argued, 'the more difficult it will be to shift resources and energy into new ways of teaching and learning.'

There's nothing special about web based learning (and in particular distance and open learning) she argued. They're normal now and anyone who is in education, she said, must use technology. This of course opens up an entire area for discussion - what of the digital divides we still see in society? What about those who cannot or will not engage with new technology in education - will they simply fall away like dead branches on Gilly's proverbial tree of learning? Or will they need to be cut away? Her parting shot was interesting: Quoting John Richardson she pointed out that when it comes to the future, there are 3 types of people: there are those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened. I guess regardless of what happens though, the tree will continue to grow - it just depends on how fast, in what direction, and how much fertiliser is required.


Branching out by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Planes, people and places

I'm just back from the EDEN Conference, having spent just over 15 hours travelling, via 4 trains, a bus and a much delayed flight. The plane eventually arrived, but when we finally landed at London Gatwick, I had missed all of my connections, and I finally arrived home very late. Yet regardless of the travel difficulties, it will be the people I met that will reside in my memory the most.

I had a lot of fun at this year's EDEN Conference, and I would like to express my thanks to all those responsible for the organisation of the event. From the great idea of having the marquee outside the venue for lunch, drinks etc., to the inspired choice of the city of Valencia to hold the conference in, all ran smoothly and was enjoyed by all. Valencia is in some ways its own kind of Eden, with a city plan that is divided by a meandering inner city park that has replaced the course of an old river bed. You can walk for miles along this garden route and simply take in the beautiful scenary, the jacaranda trees in full bloom, and the orange groves heavy with their sweet fruit. The stunning Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (City of the Arts and Sciences - pictured below) provides a futuristic spectacle both day and night and is well worth an hour or two of wandering around, just to appreciate the sense of scale and space, as well as the fine attention to detail the complex affords. And then of course, there is the old town to see with its many churches and museums and the soaring cathedral.

At the conference, I loved 'Mr Bean' (as usual, Martin Bean, Vice Chancellor of the UK Open University, was a great keynote speaker and raised some key issues for us to think about at the outset of the event) and I loved hearing George Siemens (pictured above) for the first time. I managed to talk to both of them during the conference and I am impressed the depth of knowledge each has, and their keen ability to convey their ideas succinctly and accessibly. I also enjoyed my brief sparring match with George over the title of 'e-learning' and whether it was still a valid and relevant term to use to describe what we do most of our working days. Michael Moore who was sat next to me was expertly dragged into the debate by the ever urbane Alan Tait, and the Twittersphere was also buzzing for a short while as many people not at the event also weighed in with their views. For me, the jury is still out on this issue, even though one of the final plenaries saw Jim Devine create something of a reworking of what the 'e' stands for in e-learning - echoing in many ways a keynote I gave several years ago at the University of Wales. I'm playing devil's advocate still - do we really need the 'e' in e-learning anymore, or does it still serve a purpose?

It was wonderful talking to so many smart people about their passion of advancing e-learning further. I had several prolonged discussions with new President of EDEN, Morten Flate Paulsen and other members of the executive committee, such as Denes Zarka and Ari-Matti Auvinen and touched base with other old friends including Nikitis Kastis, Montse Guittert, Albert Sangra, Niall Sclater, Thomas Fischer, Grainne Conole, Marci Powell, Thomas Kretchmer and Sally Reynolds. I also met several people face to face whom I had been linked previously online, including Alex Pickett, Deborah Allen, Sebastian Fiedler and Ricardo Torres Kompen. New friends were made, such as Peter Shea, Deborah Allen, Thomas Richter and Stephen Jenner, and many more whose names have slipped me, but will not doubt bump into again and have more interesting conversations with. Thank you all - you made my short stay in beautiful Valencia cerebral, enjoyable and memorable (Apologies if I have misspelt any of your names).

I can't wait for next year's EDEN conference in Dublin. I will for the first time be able to get a direct flight from my home town of Plymouth, and be there in just over an hour.


Planes, people and places by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 International License.
Based on a work at steve-wheeler.blogspot.com.

Setting a President

So my good friend Morten Flate Paulsen has been duly elected the 100th president of EDEN (Surely some mistake here? - Ed) and takes over the office from Alan Tait with immediate effect. I'm sure Morten will do an excellent job, because coming from Viking stock, he will take no nonsense from anyone. Actually, joking aside, Morten is one of the nicest guys you could ever expect to meet, quietly spoken, but extremely intelligent, well qualified, hugely popular and a very good looking guy as well. OK, I'm creeping here, because I gather there are some Presidential bodygaurd jobs going and I love to wear the shades and hover my hand meaningfully over the inside pocket of my jacket, you know what I mean? (You'll be lucky - Ed).

I know Morten has some great ideas about how to advance the cause of EDEN, because I have been discussing them with him during the time we have been at the conference here in Valencia. He has already asked me for my views on how we can improve communication across the network of over 1200 members. I know he is keen on exploring for example, how the EDEN Network of Academics and Professionals (NAP) social networking tool on Elgg can be better used now that it has been launched. Alan Tait did a great job as the 99th President of EDEN (Look, stop this nonsense now - Ed) and we are all grateful to him for steering us this far, and for raising the international profile of EDEN. Now Morten has taken over, I am sure the forward momentum will continue, and I hope to be an outrider in his motercade - I have the shades, the earpiece and the dark suit ready to go (Right, that's it. He's not the President of the United States, Steve. So stop this right now, or I'm telling your Mum - Ed).

Image source


Setting a president by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 International License.
Based on a work at steve-wheeler.blogspot.com.

Live blogging

We have had a very interesting Day 1 here at the 19th EDEN Conference. We have all had a lot of fun, enjoyed some interesting and thought provoking sessions, and a lot of time has been spent networking with new colleagues and old, throughout a day when the sun has shone, and new light has been thrown on our collective understanding of distance education and e-learning. EDEN is that kind of event, where anyone from any country, whether knowledgeable or novice, can get together and share ideas in a non-threatening and very relaxed manner. Today we did exactly that around white clad tables in the middle of a long marquee, just outside the conference venue. On the menu were many varieties of canapes, and finger buffet items, as well as the excellent Valencia paella, which is a rich golden colour and contains large prawns and/or chicken. I could really get used to this, you know...

Someone complained that when they got to the marquee, all the paella was gone. I know. I ate it. Not all of it you understand, but you know what they say - the early bird catches the worm (er, I'm not for one minute suggesting there may have been vermiform creatures in the paella - it's just a figure of speech). By the way, the image above is one taken of me while I was deeply absorbed in live blogging during one of the keynote speeches this morning. I had to sit near the front of the stage to recharge my laptop batteries at one point. Next to me is an Elluminate team member who is live streaming the event.

The day started off when I encountered one George Siemens following me up the pathway across the extremely large and extensive campus that is our host institution here in Valencia. He had spotted my EDEN Conference bag and asked if we knew the way to the venue. Follow me, I said and I'll take you there. Then we each realised who the other was. I enjoyed several conversations with him today. It was a priviledge to talk to George and to many other hugely knowledgeable and influential members of the worldwide e-learning community. I met Martin Bean (Vice Chancellor of the Open University), after Alan Tait had introduced us. He remembered me from a chance meeting we had at ALT-C in Manchester last year. He must meet hundreds of people, but Mr Bean (I'm sorry I can't resist) has that kind of mind - he remembers everyone.

I also met several old friends I had never met face to face before. I know them all from Twitter of course. Ricardo Torres Kompen (Spain) and Sebastien Fiedler (Germany) are just two. There are so many others just too numerous to mention here. We've had some engaging conversations today. There have been thought provoking presentations. There have been some Aha! moments of enlightenment. Marci Powell gave us one soundbite to remember when she said we should be preparing students for their future, not giving them our past. Another memorable quote was from Martin Bean who remarked that our collective challenge must be to now transform information into meaningful knowledge. He also argued that we do not have enough resources to construct enough school and university buildings to satisfy all the demands for education. Technology supported distance education he claimed, was the way forward. It was exactly what the audience of 400+ delegates had come to hear.

Then George Siemens took the stage and gave us a breakneck speed tour of his connectivist ideas and how we might transform education into something that would influence the lives of students positively. He made some bold but much needed statements about conventional course provision, and its failure to tap into the needs of a new generation of learners who are firmly located within a world of digital media. It's not about knowledge acquisition anymore, he said, it's now about making useful connections - and that is the future of education.

Tomorrow now beckons, with more keynote speeches, dozens of workshops, poster sessions and paper presentations. Day 2 will be capped off with the Conference Dinner, where we will no doubt once again each connect with new and interesting colleagues whom we may well forge long lasting working relationships with. Here's to networking!

Image credit: Eva Suba

Live blogging by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 International License.
Based on a work at steve-wheeler.blogspot.com.

Many encounters

I had a very busy, and slightly bizarre day today filled with encounters. Started the morning off having breakfast with Informal Learning guru Jay Cross in the lounge of the K-West hotel, in Kensington, West London. On the way back to get my bags along the gloomy, strangely lit corridors of the hotel, I encountered one of the Jedward twins. Don't ask me which one it was, they both look and sound exactly the same to me. His big hair, glowing in the gloom like a strangely luminescent toilet brush, gave me a bit of a funny turn, I can tell you.

Made it across to Olympia 2 with Jay with the good offices of a friendly taxi driver, and met up with Donald H Taylor and his team. The one day Learning Skills Group conference (#lsg10uk) this year attracted 450 delegates, mainly from the corporate training sector. I bumped into several Twitter buddies face to face for the first time, including Karyn Romeis and Phil Green, and others I had met before including Barry Sampson and Jane Hart. I sadly missed Jay Cross's keynote, because I had to travel across town to Oxford Circus to meet up with Ali Hughes and Derek Wenmoth (Core Ed team) who wanted to discuss the content of my upcoming keynote in Christchurch for the uLearn Conference in October. I spent a very pleasant hour with them both in Caffe Nero, before we all had to depart for our next meetings.

Back again at Olympia, I enjoyed a pleasant buffet lunch and a chat with a number of delegates, before doing my own workshop session entitled: Collaborative and Co-operative Learning: The How and the Why, in which I covered a whole range of ideas with about 85 delegates on competition, collaboration and cooperation (I used the analogy of the London marathon for this), creativity, Web 2.0 tools (I demonstrated the wisdom of crowds, folksonomies and social tagging through a number of 'get out of your seat' activities which seemed to go down well) and problem based learning. As usual, there was not enough time toget through all the materials I had planned, and then it was a quick dash by taxi, across London and down to West Sussex, where I managed to get my Gatwick flight to Valencia.

On the plane I encountered my old friend Paul Clarke and his wife, who are also here in the Barcelo Hotel in Valencia for the EDEN Conference (the picture above is of the stunningly designed centre for arts and sciences complex, which is just across the road from the hotel). We arrived together (I have shared taxi cabs with Jay Cross and Paul Clarke on the same day and in two separate European cities - how about that?) and then in the hotel lobby as we were checking in, along came Michael Moore to greet us. I also bumped into Morten Flate Paulsen in a cafe this evening.

Tomorrow is the reception evening for the 3 day EDEN Conference which I will be reporting on in this blog. Stay tuned - or whatever they say, in this web enabled world...

Image source

Many encounters by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 International License.
Based on a work at steve-wheeler.blogspot.com.