So in the end we ended up with the following within the division:

Teacher and student laptops [I forgot to mention….during this time the division began providing every teacher with a laptop and schools with mobile laptop carts] were installed with Audacity, OpenOffice [NeoOffice on Macs], GIMP [GimpShop on Macs], Tuxpaint, Blender, SketchUp, and a number of other tools.  Because the majority of the machines in the division were Macintosh we also had access to iLife [iMovie, Garageband and iPhoto]. Software, by the way, that did more for furthering the use of educational technology than anything else we did or had available.  Even though we now no longer provide macs [despite my protests] much of this software is still placed on machines as they are provided.  However…the division still spends way too much money on commercial software that generally speaking does not get used at all or not close to its full extent.

As a result of the LMS hunt and with the support of a very forward thinking and intelligent division IT person [you know who you are GG] I ended up installing two instances of Moodle.  One to support teacher use with students in schools and one to support professional learning within the division.  Both instances are still running [with upgrades] and have been a bulletproof addition to the learning environment.  We have a growing number of teachers creating courses in Moodle even though the process is still not for the faint of heart.

After researching, installing and piloting Drupal, Joomla, Plone, WordPress, MediaWiki and Adobe Contribute [eliminated early because of cost and the complicated nature of the product] we finally settled on Drupal as a solid system for giving each school a presence on the web.  Within about 2 weeks all 56 schools were provided their own install of Drupal [version 5] and they have been happily humming away with virtually no issues [except for required updates] for the past 5 years. As a bonus our test install of Mediawiki became the division wiki available to all teachers.  I know someone out there will mention that we should have installed a multi-site version of Drupal.  We worked at it at the time without much success.  Knowing a lot more now it would not be an issue today….and it would be the better way.

With all of this already in place along came Google Apps for Education.  Our division was one of the first in Canada to have our own Google Apps domain and we now have over 7000 students and teachers using the secure suite of tools to support content creation, collaboration and sharing.  My previous comment about the iLife suite from Apple applies completely to Google Apps.  For me….no other service or software since iLife has had the impact on the use of educational technology and on shifting the thinking of teachers around the use of educational technology as Google Apps.  I think in the end that this shift is possible for a number of specific reasons…the service is free, online and available 24/7/365, sharing and publishing are built in and collaboration [true live collaboration] is simply a sharing click away.  It also doesn’t hurt that many students and teachers are already familiar with the Google tools through their public service.

So what am I saying with all of this?  In the end I can not see how any school division could not operate [at least from the teaching and learning perspective] entirely with the use of open source software and services.  It is unfathomable to me how a publicly funded institution can justify spending the money they do on commercial software that can be easily replaced with open source alternatives.  This is especially true where educational institutions are tied to extremely expensive licensing arrangements for software and services that are at the very least overkill in most K12 educational environments and at the very worst lock divisions [districts] into the traditional IT perspective of control.  Spend the money on infrastructure and hardware instead and when you absolutely have to spend money on specialized software spend equal amounts to provide the support required [and usually sadly lacking] to properly use it in the educational context.

On a personal note….I now use Google Apps almost exclusively at work and at home.  I have not used Microsoft Office at work or at home for almost a year.  I don’t miss it at all.

I would suspect that in many respects the University of Regina library website is similar to most institutional library sites.  It offers the usual service tabs, search tools, collection access, support contacts, support information, library tutorials, announcements and general information [copyright info as an example].  Links to the library Facebook, Twitter and FourSquare presence is obvious and institutional users can customize their online library experience with MyLibrary account functionality.

In general terms however this particular institutional library site [the part easily found] could not be considered an instructional repository or referatory…at least not for open educational resources.  Obviously the library supports its own collection of physical and online materials [journals, books,materials, etc.] and provides access to the university community.  But access directly to open instructional materials and support made available at the University of Regina is not present and only limited reference to other online repositories is provided.

The one [huge] notable exception to this is that the U of R has an open access initiative of their own called oURspace [http://ourspace.uregina.ca/]. This local repository for peer reviewed work stands out as a true open access resource.   Available under the Faculty tab within services the repository is fully searchable, refers to other repositories and provides additional search capabilities for other institutional repositories.

In fact…within a few minutes I found, viewed and downloaded a research article related to technology use in the net generation that I sadly needed. The site even refers to [top of the list] the Budapest Open Access Initiative and goes on to discuss the cultural point to all of it.

Good job!

In the case of the Capetown Open Education Declaration this means agreeing in principal to the idea that “everyone should have the freedom to use, customize, improve and redistribute educational resources without constraint”.  What the declaration states generally is that we should actively contribute to a store of educational resources that anyone can then use.

The Budapest Open Access Initiative speaks to openness from the perspective of access to research and scholarly works through peer reviewed scholarly journals.  In this case it is about the sharing of knowledge in order to “accelerate research, enrich education, share the learning of the rich with the poor and the poor with the rich, make this literature as useful as it can be, and lay the foundation for uniting humanity in a common intellectual conversation and quest for knowledge”.

Both of these initiatives speak in general terms to the public good and I agree with the ideas 100%.  From an educational standpoint [K-12 in particular] because we simply can no longer afford to pay the high costs associated with packaged and delivered resources from traditional publishers and because open access to peer reviewed journals might help to close existing equity gaps in knowledge.  There is also something to be said for the leveraging of the collective capacity of educators to produce content appropriate to their context….technology has strengthened this ability.

I have not signed either declaration yet but would have no qualms in doing so.  I feel strongly as an educator [working in a publicly funded system] that anything we produce should be freely available to others. Given the rapidly expanding access to mobile technologies, cloud computing environments and the notion of personalized learning it seems that freely available digital resources are required….including the research and data that drives educational decision making.  I see initiatives like this as important catalysts for or at least supports for change.

What the Capetown Initiative in particular can’t speak to is the increasing requirement for all learners to have a personal learning device or devices to access and contribute to the ever growing collection of learning content.

Trend Tracking Infrastructure

I think the diagram adequately illustrates my online learning infrastructure. In this case I am talking specifically about leveraging the infrastructure to track trends but overall it supports my learning life. Notice I said support. The diagram does not include the people I have conversations with and learn from or the paper books, magazines and journals I read, the TV I watch, the radio I listen to, etc.  The diagram also does not illustrate the time management [or not in some cases] required to actually use the infrastructure appropriately.

It is also difficult to illustrate the ecosystem that now exists across my learning appliances. I use two significant services….Google Apps and Diigo.  Just about everything I do and capture is immediately available across and able to be published from all my devices.  This is an incredible thing….no more disjointed efforts to build capacity or to gather content and publish.

Creating the diagram makes three distinct trends increasingly clear..mobility, cloud-based activity [I don't like the term cloud-based computing] and personal publishing.  And in fact, many of the posts by my compatriots in the Future Trends and Directions class  have been linked directly or indirectly to these specific trends.

BTW.  I consider Firefox [Chrome as well] as much a service as a tool.  Browsers have become so much more than browsers. Definitely the Swiss army knife of online learning.

Google alerts has provided many of the specific sites, articles or blog entries that I have bookmarked, read and posted.  This process provides a wide array of sources and supports the goal of balance.  The items are also delivered in consumable blocks [8 each time for me] which makes the reading/viewing easier to manage.  A subscription to both the Google Blog search results for education and trends also provides additional sources.  Even though it does not specifically appear in the reading results i also subscribe to education alerts from the Huffington Post.  Their education section provides specific items within educational reform, college, educational reform, for teachers and also bullying [hot topic] as well as a general item for education generally.

I thought I would list the main websites that I do keep track of.  I have subscribed to all of these and outside of the Google Alerts I receive these are the Google Reader subscriptions I tend to focus on.

Websites:
Edutopia
Huffington Post
TED [not just those presentation that relate to education]
US Department of Education
Education News [general news for education..K-12, Post-Secondary, International
Education Week [general news for education..K-12, Post-Secondary, International
NPR
University World News [perspectives other than K-12]
Mashable
Freakonomics  [use the search for education specific blog items]
Globe and Mail  [Education [no specific section but the search works, Technology]
Technorati  [education search results]

I read/view the following blogs because of the educational prominence of the people that created them and for the links they provide.  These links are sometimes reflected in the Google  and other alerts I receive by email.  Generally though they provide an entirely different “direction” for reading about education than the mainstream media, government or commercial websites.  They are a link to some of the general “thinking” that is happening within the educational community and provides a lot of thought provoking questions. I look specifically for the links that are provided in posts that can be followed to gain insight into new ideas and directions and strengthen those being followed already.  These are not the only blogs I read but they but the items presented in these blogs tend to surface elsewhere more often than others.

Blogs:
2¢ Worth [Warlick has been a fixture in the education blogging community for years]
Dangerously Irrelevant [all things education and focused on reform]
Edutopia Blogs [a wide range of educational topics offered]
Innovative Educator [can be very controversial but raises great questions for debate]
Emerging EdTech  [provides specific information on emerging technologies]
WillRichardson  [well connected to teaching practice]
Technorati Blog
The Fischbowl
SCOOP-Leading Learners
Cool Cat Teacher [very well connected to teacher practice]
Mashable [the trending topics says a lot about what is current]
Freakonomics

Diigo Postings to UMTrends11 Group [as well as individual participant blogs]

This a valuable component to the overall picture.  What other participants are posting to the group tends to validate what I am doing and in other cases points me in directions I may not have gone.  Common trends come to the surface quickly but what is interesting are those that are unique to individuals.  It brings the “I didn’t see that” or “I would not have thought of that” aspect to the topic.

Management:

iGoogle [Reader Gadget, Bookmarks Gadget] > Google Reader > Google Alerts [other alerts] > Diigo > Diigo Groups

Being presented with a constant stream of information within a consistent environment makes it possible to manage.  iGoogle is set as my homepage on all browsers and I use Firefox and Add This to manage adding items to Diigo, Reader and Bookmarks.  The process separates what is read generally from what is posted to Diigo for group consumption. The process is also an evolution.  Sources that were deemed as important early on lose their prominence over time and are replaced by those that emerge later.  For many reasons I suspect this would be a continual part of the process.

All Roads Lead Here

It is clear to me from emerging educational trends observed and especially the continued move to a more mobile and connected life that personalized learning is one of the more significant [relevant] trends for education.  In my previous trends report I identified 8 education trends [there are others] distilled from hundreds of articles, blog postings and websites.  Included in the 8 was personalized learning.  Of the remaining 7 trends presented mobile learning, cloud computing, ubiquitous learning, BYOD, digital content and the flipped classroom all fully support personalized learning.  Each of these trends is important in its own right but they all in one way or another point to personalized learning as  an outcome or possibility.  Perhaps ubiquitous learning [ubiquity] stands as more significant but without the freedom granted by our increasing level of mobility, our increased utilization of cloud-based services, the ability to use our learning appliances at school and access to digital content ubiquity would not be possible.  So…for me at least, personalized learning stands alone at a higher level of importance.  It is probably true that personalized learning might not be possible without those very things required for ubiquity but in the end it is the notion of personalized learning that is profound. Personalized Learning centers on the individual and captures so much of what we now know makes a great learning experience.

The idea of personalized learning is not new.  What is new is the collective advancements in technology that now provide even more opportunity for personalization of the learning experience.  The BC Ministry of Education went so far as to create an online interactive guide to personalized learning as part of their learning focus.  A guide that looks particularly at what learning might look like from the learners perspective supported fully with technology.

From a business perspective the article does a great job of describing the competitive pressures that are mounting on companies of all sizes.  Blogger Sam Herring explains in detail how declaring the next 10 [or so] years as the “learning decade’ for  companies holds promise.  Herring outlines 17 key drivers for this shift to a corporate learning culture and some are very telling for the education community….the brain drain, failing grade and future jobs for example.

These drivers speak to a vastly different business environment…one in which current students will have to compete in. So how will we [K12 and higher ed] respond?

The new certainty is uncertainty. Knowledge doesn’t provide all the answers. But learning and the application of newly acquired knowledge provide us with a framework for co-existing with the unknown and for keeping innovation and hard-earned revenues flowing, even when difficult conditions exist.

So where are we headed?  Here are the most significant trends emerging from the collection of blogs, websites, videos and news items collected by myself and other members of the FTaD class.  One important note….I am a little focused on those trends that will likely have a direct impact on the K12 education community.

Mobile Learning/Mobility
Robert Hawkins in EduTech sees the smartphone overtaking traditional learning appliances in the classroom.  Considering the massive appeal of the iPhone and Android powered phones this is a reasonable prediction. Issues of appropriate use, privacy and security notwithstanding, cells phones are continuing to see significant use in schools. The Horizon Report continues to place mobiles/mobility in the one year adoption range.  This is something that was included in the previous two horizon reports so obviously this continues to be an important area of discussion.  The popularity of the iPad [as well as some other tablets] has brought a new twist to mobility by allowing users to bridge the gap [screen size in particular] between laptops and smartphones. K12 schools are clamouring to jump on the mobility bandwagon with increased interest in iPad but whether or not it brings an revolutionary element to learning remains to be seen.

Personalized Learning
Personalized learning is so important to the BC Ministry of Education that they produced an online and interactive discussion guide to support ongoing dialogue in the province. Described as a way to “support a flexible approach to enable learning any time, any place and at any pace, facilitated by increased access to learning technologies” the Alberta Ministry of Education has embraced personal learning as part of their business plan. Although not new personalized learning has re-emerged on the learning front propelled by an increased focus on pedagogy and the availability of powerful learning technologies.

Cloud Computing
As school divisions struggle to provide learning devices and the infrastructure to support them along comes Google Apps for Education and similar products [Office 365].  Housed completely on the Internet and sometimes made available free of charge [Google Apps], these services provide the opportunity for students to have anytime, anywhere access to what they create and to the content that is provided to them at school.  With massive amounts of storage these tools also allow for real time collaboration and the personal publishing of content.  Privacy and security have emerged as issues but it is clear from the adoption of these services that they are looked at as a viable alternative to traditional software licensing and management.  Cloud computing also provides support for mobile, ubiquitous ad personalized learning by allowing cross device access to online services.

Ubiquitous Learning
According to the Ubiquitous Learning Institute an increasing trend to mobility and ever expanding wireless Internet availability means teaching and learning needs to be reconsidered.  The Institute is particularly interested in the notions of “situated” and “authentic” learning which links classrooms with “real world” problems and contexts. Similar to mobile learning and personalized learning, ubiquitous learning once again highlights the notion of anytime, anywhere learning within a student centered approach.

BYOD [bring your own device]
The future of Ed Tech rests in BYOD.  At least according to a recent article in EdReach. Citing the cost-effectiveness of BYOD the article also takes direct aim at policies that currently ban the personally owned devices. It is clear that economic pressures will make this more relevant over time as IT departments and school divisions generally struggle to find the funds to provide appropriate access to technology in schools.  Addressing equity issues [those that can raise money or find the money have better access] and providing higher levels of assistive technology means that not providing equipment to those able to bring their own device makes sense.  This trend will definitely continue as students demand access to their personal “learning” device at school. Besides…sense when can a publicly funded institution like a school or school division tell a taxpayer [or taxpayers child] that they can’t bring their own tool to the very place that wants them to learn.

Digital Content
If you have increased access to a digital learning appliance then it makes sense that the delivery of digital content would emerge as another significant trend. Digital textbooks, eBooks, eTexts, user generated content, packaged course content, curriculum support websites will all emerge as significant pieces.  A New Marketing Trends article from 2010 described this trend for higher education as “the disaggregation of content and the breaking of the traditional textbook model”. Encouraged by a move to mobile and personalized learning this trend will extend into the K12 market and continue to grow in the education sector generally.

The Flipped Classroom
Salman Khan described it best.  Probably because his massive repository of flipping content has led the way to this rethinking of the traditional classroom approach. Teachers Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams clearly state in an article written by Bill Tucker for EducationNext that they can now more easily query individual students, probe for misconceptions around scientific concepts, and clear up incorrect notions. They also identify the ability of teachers and students to easily create and share high quality video [another trend] and use it as instructional support is something that frees classroom time to work through problems, advance concepts, and engage in collaborative learning.  As with most innovations caution is advised and as pointed out by Innovative Educator Lisa Nielsen there are reasons to be concerned. Providing students access to purposeful and high quality digital content will grow and the idea of a “flipped classroom” is simply another way to focus on using the valuable time in school for meaningful exchanges with students.

Student Debt/Opting Out
This is really two separate trends.  Massive student load debt in the US is now recognized as a drain on their economy and because of the related costs associated with acquiring a post-secondary education potential students are looking for a quicker means to learn and earn.  Questions are invariably being asked about the ultimate value of a university education.  Even the CBC Cross Country Checkup posed the question in the Canadian context.  Considering the other emerging trends of mobile learning, ubiquitous learning and personalized learning and the options for learning they provide examining the role of a university education and exploring the options to learn will certainly continue to be a growing trend.  Even K12 schools are not immune to this trend as an increasing number of disenfranchised teenagers [in particular] choose to forgo school altogether. The Innovative Educator’s Lisa Nielsen suggests both stopping out or opting out of university and high school may be the key to a better future.

What does it mean?

In the end a significant number of these trends speak to refocusing learning on the learner. Surprisingly this is something that has been significantly absent from the traditional education community.

Now…to pick one significant trend to focus on for my final trend report will be difficult.

The last trend [teachers as managers/mentors] seems particularly important..at least to me.  If the changing role of teachers is not recognized, encouraged and supported then the gap between learners and “teachers” will widen and students will continue to look to alternatives outside of “traditional” learning.

Learning….just in time, just enough, just for me.

• Online/Blended Learning
• Personalized/Adaptive Learning
• Mobile Learning/Mobility
• Apps Ecosystems
• Cloud Computing
• Collaboration/Crowdsourcing
• Inquiry
• BYOD [bring your own device] Who are we to stop it?
• Demographics – EAL [English as an Additional Language]
• Flipping Education
• Gaming in Education
• Innovation [or the decline of innovation]
• Growth of Social Learning
• Digital Content [eBooks, digital textbooks, etc.]
• Augmented Reality/Learning
• Data Mining/Analytics
• Convergence
• Dissatisfaction

Some of these have obvious crossover [perhaps all] that will have to be explored.  Some might be new to people…flipping [Salman Khan at Ted] for example and require more examination and a detailed description.  Most are not new but continue to be impacted by changes in technology, the economy, educational policy, pedagogy and andragogy.

Anyway…a lot of fodder for the initial trend report and one or two are calling me to dig a little deeper. The last one on the list is perhaps more an observation than a trend.  There seems to be a lot of dissatisfaction with the way things currently are in education and many items posted are about solutions/reactions to or fixes for the described problems. Maybe this is a huge example of crowdsourcing?