Making it rich and personal: the personal path to institutional learning environments (Invited talk)

Download

PDF (Abstract) - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike. Download (171Kb)

Description/Abstract

The world is changing and universities must respond to students’ needs and expectations in agile and effective ways. Learners enter university with an inevitable diversity of technological familiarity and a mix of naïve and sophisticated approaches to using technology as a part of their learning. The University of Southampton has designed and is implementing a holistic learning environment radically different from the VLEs which have gained widespread use since the late 1990s. Starting from the concept of rich learning environment it became "more than a system, it’s a mindset". Social software, open data, co-creation and co-evolution are some of its hallmarks. We propose a framework for a digital cognitive apprenticeship to meet the combined challenges of ‘living and learning in a digital age’. This presentation examines the roots of personal learning environments and considers the interplay of organisational ambitions and requirements needed to support personal learning in a university context.