Will it Blend? Putting the Person Back in Personalized Online Learning Studies

For all the great advantages of online learning, there is one big downside, which is not necessarily the fault of online learning but of the way people relate to it:

There exists a wide-spread deception that using tools can replace teaching or learning for that matter, and while few people would admit actually believing this, the number of blogs and articles about techno-centric education prove the opposite.

Their approach is built on the valid understanding that tools can be used as an extension but then goes overboard until the learning itself becomes completely shrouded in never-ending talks about tools, technologies, apps, etc.

All of this obscures the fact that while people like to talk about education and be seen as philanthropists their understandingof what learning actually means might be limited.

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img: CC BY-NC 2.0 by docpop

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“One of the most common responses I get when I tell people what I do (teaching & coaching online), is that they say they would miss the “real connection” to people around them. That this would not be for them, because they need a personal connection to people!”

What do you think? Can an online class be as personal as a class in a brick & mortar school?

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img: Some rights reserved by andrewpeterfogg

Here’s Why Online Learning Could Be Much More Than Meets The Eye

YouTube has become the most popular way to say “streaming web video.” Every child knows that “to google” means searching for stuff. Where do you go for that quick fix of facts? Wikipedia.

From a brand-perspective, this is the ultimate success. Your brand is merged with what it’s representing. And everyday language picks it up.

But why there is no one-stop source for Online Learning, yet? Is it simply not popular enough? Or are there technical difficulties?

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img:  Some rights reserved by HikingArtist.com

Skype has become boring and why that’s a good thing

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I quoted Clay Shirky on that quite a bit already, but I think his idea that tech first needs to become boring in order to make a real impact on society is straight on, still.

Great article in which Kirsten Winkler makes a point that a) Skype is increasingly used by people to learn and teach and b) therefore it doesn’t make any sense for online teachers to “hide” on designated teaching platforms but they should face the world wide web instead.

http://www.kirstenwinkler.com/skype-has-become-boring-and-why-thats-a-good-thing/

gjmueller:

Direct Instruction Is Killing Us

You actually get your edtech card revoked if you haven’t expressed that idea in a forum recently. The direct instruction = assembly line worker thing is has become the edtech equivalent of you’re defending the status quo or you’re saying poverty is destiny or we need to think about what’s good for the kids, not the adults. 

I dunno.