e-Learning Ecologies: Innovative Approaches to Teaching and Learning for the Digital Age

About this course: For three decades and longer we have heard educators and technologists making a case for the transformative power of technology in learning. However, despite the rhetoric, in many ways and at most institutional sites, education is still relatively untouched by technology. Even when technologies are introduced, the changes sometimes seem insignificant and the results seem disappointing. If the print textbook is replaced by an e-book, do the social relations of knowledge and learning necessarily change at all or for the better? If the pen-and-paper test is mechanized, does this change the nature of our assessment systems? Technology, in other words, need not necessarily bring significant change. Technology might not even represent a step forward in education. But what might be new? How can we use technologies to innovate in education? This course explores seven affordances of e-learning ecologies, which open up genuine possibilities for what we call New Learning – transformative, 21st century learning: 1. Ubiquitous Learning 2. Active Knowledge Making 3. Multimodal Meaning 4. Recursive Feedback 5. Collaborative Intelligence 6. Metacognition 7. Differentiated Learning These affordances, if recognized and harnessed, will prepare learners for success in a world that is increasingly dominated by digital information flows and tools for communication in the workplace, public spaces, and personal life. This course offers a wide variety of examples of learning technologies and technology implementations that, to varying degrees, demonstrate these affordances in action. -------------------------------- Recommended Background -------------------------------- This course is designed for people interested in the future of education and the "learning society," including people who may wish to join education as a profession, practicing teachers interested in exploring future directions for a vocation that is currently undergoing transformation, and community and workplace leaders who regard their mission to be in part "educative." -------------------------------- Take this Course for Credit at the University of Illinois -------------------------------- This course has the same content and anticipates the same level of contribution by students in the e-Learning Ecologies course offered to graduate certificate, masters, and doctoral level students in the College of Education at the University of Illinois. Of course, in the nature of MOOCs many people will just want to view the videos and casually join some of the discussions. Some people say that these limited kinds of participation offer evidence that MOOCs suffer from low retention rates. Far from it – we say that any level of engagement is good engagement. On the other hand, if you would like to take this course for credit at the University of Illinois, apply here: http://education.illinois.edu/online-offcampus/programs-degrees/ldl-online If you have already taken this course in Coursera, you can prepare a portfolio of work created there and request that this work is taken into account for your University of Illinois course.

Created by:  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Taught by:  Dr William Cope, Professor

  Department of Education Policy, Organization & Leadership, College of Education

• Taught by:  Dr Mary Kalantzis, Dean

  College of Education

Commitment 4 weeks, 12 hours per week. Language English How To Pass Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. User Ratings 4.3 stars Average User Rating 4.3See what learners said Coursework

Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes and projects.

Help from your peers

Connect with thousands of other learners and debate ideas, discuss course material, and get help mastering concepts.

Certificates

Earn official recognition for your work, and share your success with friends, colleagues, and employers.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a world leader in research, teaching and public engagement, distinguished by the breadth of its programs, broad academic excellence, and internationally renowned faculty and alumni. Illinois serves the world by creating knowledge, preparing students for lives of impact, and finding solutions to critical societal needs.

Syllabus


WEEK 1


Module 1: Course Orientation + Ubiquitous Learning



We begin this module with an introduction to the idea of an "e-learning ecology" and the notion of "affordance." We use this idea to map the range of innovative activities that we may be able to use in e-learning environments – not that we necessarily do. Many e-learning environments simply reproduce the worst of old, didactic pedagogies. We then go on to explore the notion of "ubiquitous learning," the first of seven "affordances" in computer-mediated educational applications and environments that we examine in this course.


9 videos, 8 readings, 1 practice quiz expand

1. Video: Welcome to e-Learning Ecologies!
2. Reading: Syllabus
3. Reading: Task Overview: How to Pass This Course
4. Reading: About the Discussion Forums
5. Practice Quiz: Orientation Quiz
6. Reading: Take this Course as a Stepping Stone for a University of Illinois Certificate, Masters, or Doctorate - Fully Online!
7. Discussion Prompt: Getting to Know Your Classmates
8. Reading: Updating Your Profile
9. Reading: Social Media
10. Reading: Learning and New Media (Readings)
11. Video: From Didactic Pedagogy to New Learning
12. Video: What's the Use of Technology in Learning? Introducing Seven e-Affordances
13. Video: Can Education Lead Technology? The PLATO Story
14. Video: New Technologies, New Social Relationships and Learning
15. Video: Society or School: What Determines Educational Outcomes?
16. Video: Ubiquitous Learning, Part 1A: Learning in Space and Time
17. Video: Ubiquitous Learning, Part 1B: Personal and Interpersonal Computing
18. Video: Ubiquitous Learning, Part 1C: Transparency or Surveillance?
19. Reading: Spatio-Temporal Dimensions of Learning
20. Discussion Prompt: Discussion Forum: Essential Update #1

Graded: Essential Peer Reviewed Update #1

WEEK 2


Module 2: Active Knowledge Making + Multimodal Meaning



This module examines two more e-learning affordances: "active knowledge making," or the right and responsibility of learners to take a degree of control over their own knowledge making; and "multimodal meaning-making," or the tools learners now have at hand to support their thinking and to represent the knowledge they have gained – including, for instance, text, image, diagram, animation, simulation, dataset, video, audio, or embedded web media.


6 videos, 2 readings expand

1. Video: Active Knowledge Making, Part 2A: What Does It Mean to Be an Engaged Learner?
2. Video: Active Knowledge Making, Part 2B: Hierarchical or Horizontal Knowledge Relations
3. Video: Active Knowledge Making, Part 2C: Memory Work in Learning
4. Video: Active Knowledge Making, Part 2D: Changing the Balance of Agency
5. Reading: Epistemic Dimensions of Learning
6. Discussion Prompt: Discussion Forum: Optional Update #2
7. Peer Review: Optional Peer Reviewed Update #2
8. Video: Multimodal Meaning, Part 3A: What’s New About Digital Technologies?
9. Video: Multimodal Meaning, Part 3B: Multiliteracies and Synesthesia
10. Reading: Discursive Dimensions of Learning
11. Discussion Prompt: Discussion Forum: Essential Update #3

Graded: Essential Peer Reviewed Update #3

WEEK 3


Module 3: Recursive Feedback + Collaborative Intelligence



Two further e-learning affordances are explored in this module: "recursive feedback," or the rapid and repeatable cycles of feedback or formative assessment now available, including machine feedback and machine-mediated human feedback; and the "collaborative intelligence" fostered by the very social nature of Web 2.0 and contemporary e-learning environments.


9 videos, 2 readings expand

1. Video: Recursive Feedback, Part 4A: Why Feedback Matters
2. Video: Recursive Feedback, Part 4B: Summative Assessment vs. Formative Assessment
3. Video: Recursive Feedback, Part 4C: Crowdsourcing Prospective or Constitutive Assessment
4. Video: Recursive Feedback, Part 4D: Socratic Dialogue Finds a Home in the 21st Century
5. Video: Recursive Feedback, Part 4E: What Are We Assessing Now?
6. Reading: Evaluative Dimensions of Learning
7. Discussion Prompt: Discussion Forum: Optional Update #4
8. Peer Review: Optional Peer Reviewed Update #4
9. Video: Collaborative Intelligence, Part 5A: Social Learning
10. Video: Collaborative Intelligence, Part 5B: Collaborative Learning Dynamics
11. Video: Collaborative Intelligence, Part 5C: Extrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation
12. Video: Collaborative Intelligence, Part 5D: Success and Failure in Performance Based Assessments
13. Reading: Social Dimensions of Learning
14. Discussion Prompt: Discussion Forum: Essential Update #5

Graded: Essential Peer Reviewed Update #5

WEEK 4


Module 4: Metacogniton + Differentiated Learning



We come now to the last two of our seven e-learning affordances: "metacognition," or the process of thinking about thinking – a second order, more abstract, theoretical, and generalizable way of thinking; and "differentiated learning," addressing learners' different needs and interests. Together, these seven affordances become a tool with which to evaluate the scope of an e-learning technology and its application.


4 videos, 2 readings expand

1. Video: Metacognition, Part 6A: Why Metacognition Matters
2. Video: Metacognition, Part 6B: Metacognition in e-Learning Ecologies
3. Reading: Cognitive Dimensions of Learning
4. Discussion Prompt: Discussion Forum: Optional Update # 6
5. Peer Review: Optional Peer Reviewed Update #6
6. Video: Differentiated Learning, Part 7A: Learner Differences in Old Classrooms and New
7. Video: Differentiated Learning, Part 7B: Personalized Learning
8. Reading: Comparative Dimensions of Learning
9. Discussion Prompt: Discussion Forum: Essential Update #7
10. Peer Review: Optional Work 1: Educational Theory
11. Peer Review: Optional Work 2A: Learning Practice Case Study
12. Peer Review: Optional Work 2B: Design a Learning Module

Graded: Essential Peer Reviewed Update #7