The slides are taken from a series of papers we have developed concerning the possible future evolution of managed learning environments.

The rise of Web 2.0 has led many practitioners to the conclusion that social networking and peer content production and sharing sites will take over from what is now regarded as a formally structured and institution owned managed learning environments. In a way they are correct as web 2.0 empowers the student through enabling them to create content and develop a deeper connection with and ownership of the subject. However the use of web 2.0 technology often requires the learner to sign up with external providers whose intentions and purpose are commercial rather than learning and teaching. As such there are very reals issues with regards to privacy, ownership of material and long term service provision.

This presentation argues the case that MLEs will have to change and become more people-centric than ever before allowing users to develop content and make contact with others users creating hubs of people interested / working / learning in the same areas (Socialised Managed Learning Environments, SMLEs).

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The report is produced through collaboration of the New Media Consortium (NMC), which is an international not-for-profit consortium of nearly 250 learning-focused organizations “dedicated to the exploration and use of new media and new technologies.”, (for more info click here) and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, which is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology., (for more info click here).

The report lists the key emerging e-learning technologies. Conveniently it groups the technologies in terms of their arrival within the education arena using three categories: less one year, two to three years and four to five years.

Six emergent technologies are listed together with the critical challenges currently facing educational institutions. Briefly the technologies are:

Grassroots video: anyone can capture, edit, and share video clips, using commonly available equipment such as a mobile phones. Specialised knowledge or servers are no longer required. The outcome is that learners are increasingly empowered in terms of being able to create their own content.

Collaboration webs: as with video, collaboration no longer requires expensive equipment or services. Web users simply open their browsers and edit group documents, hold online meetings, swap information and data, and collaborate in any number of ways without ever leaving their desks. Not only that but increasingly many programming interfaces are allowing users to create their own plug in applications and so further tailor the environment to their needs.

Mobile broadband:. Each year, more than a billion new mobile devices are manufactured1 pushing forward innovation at an unprecedented pace. Capabilities are increasing as prices fall. Social networking on the go is already happening and is looking to be endemic in the near future as learners will be equipped to send, receive and interact with content as part of a fluid, connected, peer-based, mobile network.

Data mashups: the concept is not new. Mashups are combinations of data from different sources “mashed up” to create a new interpretation of that data (usually a website whose information is based on data from multiple separate sources. Nevertheless this convergence of data is occurring at the same time as open programming increasingly allows users to deign and create their own mashups. As the report points out this “will transform the way we understand and represent information”.

Collective intelligence: This my favourite. Again not new as we have seen this already with wikis, group blogs, community tagged resource sites and blog comments. Horizon speculates however that new sites will also include data based on people patterns such as search patterns, cell phone locations over time, geocoded digital photographs, and other data that are passively obtained. This combination of active and passive derived data will enrich and expand current knowledge pools.

Social operating systems: Another fundamental change in concept and one that will influence future MLE development. Basically the next generation social networking systems will be based around people rather than around content. We’re talking the development of systems in which the leaner is not only connected with content but with the person that created that content.

Each technology is covered in detail including an overview, the relevance to learning and teaching, examples and further reading.

The critical challenges facing education include:

• Significant shifts in scholarship, research, creative expression, and learning have created a need for innovation and leadership at all levels of the academy. Higher education is facing a growing expectation to deliver services, content and media to mobile and personal devices.
• The renewed emphasis on collaborative learning is pushing the educational community to develop new forms of interaction and assessment.
• The academy is faced with a need to provide formal instruction in information, visual, and technological literacy as well as in how to create meaningful content with today’s tools.

The report covers all of these are covered in greater detail.

Finally a number of key trends are identified:

• The growing use of Web 2.0 and social networking, combined with collective intelligence and mass amateurization is gradually but inexorably changing the practice of scholarship.
• The way we work, collaborate, and communicate is evolving as boundaries become more fluid and globalization increases.
• Access to and portability of content is increasing as smaller, more powerful devices are introduced.
• The gap between students’ perception of technology and that of faculty continues to widen.

Good reading and great glimpse of what’s may lie ahead in terms of the changing learning environment (user is king) and of how practice will need to change.

You can download the report from here.