Saturday, August 7, 2010

Self-Direction and LLL in the Info Age: Can PLE's help?

Muldoon, Nona (2008) Self-Direction and Lifelong Learning in the Information Age: Can PLEs help? Source. Accessed 5 August 2010 Lifelong learning : reflecting on successes and framing futures : keynote and refereed papers from the 5th International Lifelong Learning Conference, Yeppoon, Central Queensland, Australia, 16-19 June 2008. p. 277-283 Refereed ISBN: 1921047569

 An interesting paper that raises the question of how to address the way that ICT's have 'changed the way people think and operate' and is blurring the dichotomy between school-based and work-based learning. The pace of change due to globalisation means that to maintain currency in ones chosen discipline necessitates continued learning across the lifespan.

So the author posits that one of the roles of higher education in this context must be to foster Self-Directed Learning in graduates, and that one way to accomplish this is by letting students practice learning by using Social Media rather than locked-down operating environments and by changing the balance of power between teachers, curriculum and students.

Personal Learning Environments include access to Web 2.0 tools such as search (Google, Flock) create and publish (Blogs, PodCast, YouTube, Flickr) Collaborate and Share (Wiki, del.icio.us) and join communties (Facebook, LinkedIn groups) and to create their own identities (ePortfolio, Facebook)

Using such tools changes the power dynamics of the learning environment and creates a longitudinal attachment to their learning (which will be useful given the unreliable nature of our memories).

This paper has helped me think about my own lifelong learning strategy, and blogging on my readings in an open platform rather than on an LMS so I can access their ideas in any future context that I find myself in.

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