The Digital Learning Revolution: Exploring the Gap Between Rhetoric and Reality

The Digital Learning Revolution:
Exploring the Gap Between Rhetoric and Reality
Professor Mark Brown - PhD
Director, National Institute for Digital Learning
Phoenix, Arizona
30th March, 2016

Outline…
1. Broken Promises
2. Troublesome Paradoxes
3. Competing Modernization Drivers
The Digital Learning Revolution:
Exploring the Gap Between Rhetoric and Reality

Key message…
The Rhetoric Reality Gap

Alexandre Dumas
“All generalizations are
dangerous, even this one”
Key question…

•
•
•
•
•
What are some of
the major new developments
shaping the future of higher education?
1. Broken promises…

“With the coming of the New Media, the need for
print on paper will rapidly diminish. The day will
soon arrive when the world’s literature will be
available from The Automatic Library at the
mere pressing of a button”
(Uzanne, 1994).

“With the coming of the New Media, the need for
print on paper will rapidly diminish. The day will
soon arrive when the world’s literature will be
available from The Automatic Library at the
mere pressing of a button”
(Uzanne, 1894).

“Books will soon be obsolete in public schools.
Scholars will be instructed through the eye. It is
possible to teach every branch of human
knowledge with the motion picture”.
(Thomas Edison, 1912)

“The central and dominant aim of education by
radio is to bring the world to the classroom, to
make universally available the services of the finest
teachers, the inspiration of the greatest leaders...
and unfolding world events which through the radio
may come as a vibrant and challenging textbook
of the air.”
Benjamin Darrow 1932
Director of Ohio School of the Air

“We will undoubtedly have lectures of every
conceivable kind presented to us right in our
homes, when practical television arrives,
possibly a year or two off.”
Short Wave Craft, 1935

Project Plato – 1960s

Cuban, L. (1986). Teachers and machines: The classroom use of technology
since 1920. New York: Teachers’ College Press.
Technology
Expectation Cycle
(1986)
High Expectations
Subsided Enthusiasm
Growing
Support

Gartner Hype Cycle
“Technology-enhanced learning involves an
ongoing cycle of hype, hope and
disappointment” (Gouseti, 2010).
MOOCs
(THE, 2014)

“Resilience requires
adaptation and evolution to new
environmental conditions, but retains core identity”
(Weller & Anderson, 2013, p.55).

“In 50 years… there will
be only 10 institutions in
the world delivering
higher education and
Udacity has a shot at
being one of them”
(cited in Leckart, 2013, P.28)
In a March 2012 Wired cover story, Sebastian
Thrun predicted:

“According to the hype cycle model, MOOCs
should now be exiting the ‘trough of
disillusionment’ and entering a period of
‘enlightenment’ as second-generation products
and services come onto the market (Linacre,
2014, P.4)
United States

Allen, E., & Seaman, J., with Poulin, R., & Taylor Straut, T. (2016). Online report card: Tracking online
education in the United States. Babson Survey Research Group and Quahog Research Group.
59%
11%

Horrigan, J. (2016). Lifelong learning and technology. Pew Research Center. Available from
http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/03/22/lifelong-learning-and-technology/

Students’ experiences
with MOOCs
https://library.educause.edu/resources/2015/8/2015-student-and-faculty-technology-research-studies

“We tend to overestimate the effect of a
technology in the short run and
underestimate the effect in the long
run.”
Amara’s Law

“Despite huge advancements in
technology over the last 50 years, the
wealth gap between developed and
developing countries has more than
doubled” (John Pilger, 2002).
2. Troublesome Paradoxes…

World Bank Group. (2016). Digital dividends: World development report. Washington: A World Bank Group
Flagship Report.

Global Attitudes Project, Pew Research, 2011
http://www.pewglobal.org/2011/11/17/the-american-western-european-values-gap/
The American-Western European Values Gap

Paradox 1
The international demand for higher
education is growing exponentially
but relatively few universities are
exploring the potential of new
models of online learning for
students living outside the United
States.

Education at a Glance…

Allen, E., & Seaman, J., with Poulin, R., & Taylor Straut, T. (2016). Online report card: Tracking online
education in the United States. Babson Survey Research Group and Quahog Research Group.
2%

(Heinlein, 2015)
71% outside

Jansen, D., & Schuwer, R. (2015). Institutional MOOC
strategies in Europe Status report based on a mapping survey
conducted in October - December 2014. EADTU – HOME
project.
EU
EU
MOOC Drivers

Jansen, D., & Schuwer, R. (2015). Institutional MOOC strategies in Europe Status report based on a mapping survey conducted
in October - December 2014. EADTU – HOME project. Available from
http://eadtu.eu/documents/Publications/OEenM/Institutional_MOOC_strategies_in_Europe.pdf
Disagree
Disagree
Agree

“It will not be possible to satisfy the rising
demand for Higher Education, especially
in developing countries, by relying on
traditional approaches.”
(Sir John Daniel, 2013)
Past President,
Commonwealth of Learning;
Previous Vice-Chancellor,
UK Open University

Blended, Online and Distance
(BOLD) education is booming but
the level of concern is increasing
throughout the world.
Paradox 2

http://www.studyportals.com

2015 - 35 million learners
2014 - 18 million learners
http://www.onlinecoursereport.com/state-of-the-mooc-2016-a-year-of-massive-landscape-change-for-massive-open-online-courses/

Worldwide
75%
English
Language

Jansen, D., & Schuwer, R. (2015). Institutional MOOC strategies in Europe Status report based on a mapping survey conducted
in October - December 2014. EADTU – HOME project. Available from
http://eadtu.eu/documents/Publications/OEenM/Institutional_MOOC_strategies_in_Europe.pdf

Allen, E., & Seaman, J., with Poulin, R., & Taylor Straut, T. (2016). Online report card: Tracking online education in
the United States. Babson Survey Research Group and Quahog Research Group.

Allan, I., & Seaman, J. (2015). Grade level: Tackling online education in the United States. Babson Survey
Research Group and Quahog Research Group, LLC.

UK Open University
Woodley, A., & Simpson, O. (2014). Student dropout: The elephant in the room (pp. 459-483). In O. Zawacki-Richter &
T. Anderson (Eds.). Online distance education: Towards a research agenda. Athabasca: AU Press.

http://www.icde.org

While the benefits of higher
education have been quantified we
know very little about the societal
and economic returns on investment
for the subset of off-campus online
learners.
Paradox 3

Ireland
NZ
Education at a Glance…
United States

Stiles, J., Hout, M., & Brady, H. (2012). California’s economic payoff: Investing in college and completion. Available from
https://alumni.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/Californias_Economic_Payoff_Executive_Summary.pdf

“There is also almost no understanding of
the private and social benefits of distance
and online education in comparison with
those of face-to-face education” (Rumble, 2014,
p.208).
Rumble, G. (2014). The costs and economics of online distance education (pp. 197-216). In O. Zawacki-Richter
& T. Anderson (Eds.). Online distance education: Towards a research agenda. Athabasca: AU Press.

6. “National funding frameworks should create
incentives… for higher education
institutions to open up education, to
develop more flexible modes of delivery
and to diversify their student population.”
Recommendations

Callender, C. (2015). Putting part-time students at the heart of the system? In N. Hillman (ed.). It’s the finance, stupid: The
decline of part-time higher education and what to do about it. Oxford: UK: Higher Education Policy Institute. Available from
http://www.hepi.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/part-time_web.pdf

2.7%
Higher Education Authority. (2014). Higher education system performance. First report 2014-2016. Available from
http://www.hea.ie/sites/default/files/final_volume_i_system_report_with_cover_letter_.pdf

3. Competing Modernization Drivers…
http://www.changingpedagogicallandscapes.eu/publications/
Published
December 2015

“…We risk being left
behind as other parts of
the world act more nimbly
in garnering the benefits of
technology” (p.6).
http://ec.europa.eu/education/library/reports/modernisation-universities_en.pdf

http://www.ubiquitypress.com
Professor Martin Weller

“It is theory that
decides what we
can observe…”
Albert Einstein

• Open learning
• Digital learning
• Anytime, anywhere learning
Knowledge Society
MAJOR COMPETING LENSES
E-learning •
Online learning •
Technology-enhanced learning •
Knowledge Economy

“Frankly, all the computers and software and
Internet connections in the world won’t do
much good if young people don’t understand
that access to new technology means…
access to the new economy”
(President Bill Clinton; cited in Cuban, 2001, p.18).

“Preparing America’s students with the
skills they need to get good jobs and
compete with other countries relies
increasingly on interactive, personalized
learning experiences driven by new
technology” (ConnectED Initiative, 2013).
https://m.whitehouse.gov/issues/education/k-12/connected

Different interest groups and stakeholders borrow the
same ‘language of persuasion’ to legitimize their own agenda

Reconceptualizing
• Open learning
• Digital learning
• Anytime, anywhere learning
Deschooling
ReschoolingReproducing
• MOOCs
• Learning for all
• Global curriculum
• Education in change
• Just society
• Lifelong learning
• Pillars of learning
• Sustainable development
• Mass education
• Quality standards
• Education as commodity
• Increased market competition
• Democratic
• Digital badges
• Opening access
• Unbundling learning
E-learning •
Online learning •
Technology-enhanced learning •
Knowledge Society
Knowledge Economy
MAJOR COMPETING LENSES

Emphasis on education in change
needs to shift to the language
of education for change.

What type of
education system do
we want the use of
new technologies
to serve?

http://www.portlandpresspublishing.com/content/wenner-gren-international-series-volume-88

In summary…
• State of the actual
• More questions than answers
• Importance of clear moral compass
Conclusion

“Online
learning
should be in
the service of
big ideas,
not as a big idea
in itself” (adapted from Barnett, 2011).
Conclusion

“A prudent question is one-half of wisdom”
Francis Bacon
http://www.slideshare.net/mbrownz

Professor Mark Brown
Director, National Institute for Digital Learning
www.dcu.ie/nidlmark.brown@dcu.ie
@mbrownz www.slideshare.net/mbrownz

The Digital Learning Revolution: Exploring the Gap Between Rhetoric and Reality

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