Trends in e-Learning

Keynote at OEB'09: Gilly Salmon, University of Leicester, UK & Aaron Porter, Vice-President of the National Union of Students, UK.

 "Learning: Living It Forwards, Understanding It Backwards"

In this speech Gilly Salmon looks back at education by using the Darwinian Metaphor of the tree of learning.  She looks at the roots of education to acknowledge where education has come from and suggests that the tree of education is now reaching out towards the rays of technology or tech shine.  This you tube video is the final part of her speech where she looks at why Institutions have not embraced technology in the past and the need to innovate for the future.  

Keynote OEB'09: Lord Puttnam, UK 

 "Seizing the Moment; Opportunities for Transforming Learning in a Digital Age" 

In this speech David Puttnam suggests that schools who have become steeped in past static knowledge fail to prepare for contemporary society and emerging issues of our time.
He makes the argument for the use of games in education contending that they are ethical and moral laboratories allowing students to experience how things are or were and how they might be.
Puttnam makes the point that students who are beginning their education now will complete it at a time of unknown challenges.  In view of this he suggests that the best that can be done is to create a flexible creative generation to deal with what cannot be comprehended in the future.  There is a need to look at what it taught, how it is taught and if it should still be taught

During our last week of this module we discussed the topic is Google making us stupid ? We spoke about other inventions and interventions that have occurred in the past and may have caused similar concerns.  This presentation outlines some of the thoughts and fears recorded about items that are part of our everyday life now