Elearning 2.0: Notes from Stephen Downes

These are my notes from Stephen Downes’ presentation today during Global Learn Day. Stephen gave me permission to share my skypecast recording of his presentation as a podcast, and I’ll be publishing that later this evening.

Stephen Downs on ELearning 2.0: Learning Networks and Connected Learning

Stephen’s blog and website: http://www.downes.ca/

Like web 2.0, it is a place where we DO things on rather than just consume things

What happens when the E-learning environment becomes less an medium like PowerPoint, a type of content consumption model where content is delivered, and more like a content authoring tool, where content is created (especially created collaboratively)

Global Learning Day post on Stephen and his preso:
http://www.ben300.com/TENPLAN/?p=67

Cited by Stephen: Future VLE – The Visual Version (Virtual Learning Environment, also called a PLE: Personal Learning Environment)
http://www.cetis.ac.uk/members/scott/blogview?entry=20050125170206

Also cited:
What Is Web 2.0: Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software by Tim O’Reilly

1- Effective networks are star shaped (decentralized, a mesh)
– distributed flows of information, no central point of failure
– broadcast networks and the teacher in the classroom do not typically fit this model

2- Effective networks are distributed
– reduces risks of failure

3- Effective networks are disintermediated
– eliminate mediation
– permits bypassing of “middle-men”

4- In Effective networks Content and services are disaggregated
– units of content and service should be as small as possible and not bundled
– receiver should be able to organize this
– idea behind learning objects (the smallest possible units of instruction)

5- In effective network, content and services are dis-integrated
– entities in the network are not components of each other
– plug-ins not required
– don’t have to use a certain type of software
– pragmatically: the structure of the message is logically distinct from the
– coded in an open language
– no particular software device is needed to receive the code

6- An effective network is democratic
– have freedom to send and receive info
– diversity is an asset
– allows the network to represent more than just the parts

7- Is dynamic
– a fluid changing entity
– without change, growth and adaptation is imposssible
– the placis

8- is desegregated
– don’t think of learning as a separate domain from life
– learning is a part of life, and part of working, a part of living
– seeing the networks as infrastructure
– not something we go somewhere to do, but something that is available for us to use like electricity and water are today

These things underlie elearning 2.0

Will be sharing a paper with ITForum on Oct 16, 2006.