Stephen Downes (link) has been exploring microlearning in some of his recent newsletter postings.
Today he has linked to a Paul Greatrix post about the concept of a micro-campus connected to tertiary education’s outreach plans (link).
Stephen points out that in an earlier iteration of this discussion, Stephen himself has considered a triad model to explore this move to a facilitation of learning by a course broker (link).
In my particular area of interest, sport, I see enormous opportunities for co-operation and collaboration in this space. There are so many shared interests in designing and facilitating microlearning to a burgeoning sport ‘industry’ with the learner deciding ‘why?’, ‘when?’, ‘what?’ and ‘how?’
The European MOOC Consortium has launched a Common Microcredential Framework to create portable credentials for lifelong learners (link).
I see this move as an important step in the creation of portable international credentials that are planned to meet the needs of lifelong learners, wherever they are (link).
I note that “The move comes in response to demand from learners to develop new knowledge, skills and competencies from shorter, recognised and quality-assured courses, which can also be used to earn traditional tertiary qualifications” (link).
One of the speakers at the launch was Mark Lester. He observed “The world of work is changing fast and the world of learning is changing with it. As the forces of technological innovation drive change at an unprecedented rate, people will need to upskill and re-skill throughout their lives and develop higher order competencies that will underpin a successful career. Leaving work for long periods of time to earn a traditional qualification will be less applicable in this new world and a new solution is needed from the education sector to meet this growing need” (link).
I do think the availability of learning opportunities that are right for the learner is vital to an age in which what is to be skillful and relevant is constantly being redefined. I see these opportunities as unconstrained by chronology or geography. Smallness makes for very powerful, portable credentials.
A couple of days ago, Maha Bali wrote about connecting virtually (link). I was very interested in the ways she explored personal and continuing learning in her post.
Part of her experience was ‘attending’ conferences through the presence of others. I see this as vital in a world where there are so many conferences with a variety of registration, travel and subsistence costs. Partnering someone remotely overcomes the difficulties of cost and distance.
It does nor replace attendance. I am mindful that many people gain immense satisfaction from being present and part of “the hallway and social conversation at the conference”.
However, connecting virtually does offer the possibility of connection in a different kind of way. It is an issue I have been thinking about a great deal.
This Summer, in July, I am facilitating an unmeeting and (un)hack in Moscow with Malte Siegle, Martin Lames and Alexander Danilov prior to the Symposium of the International Association of Computer Science in Sport (link). We have a tentative program to explore data from the 2018 FIFA World Cup Finals and prospecting to Qatar in 2022:
Saturday: 6 July
18:00 PM: Arrival, Registration and Brainstorming
Start of hacking, working and analysing.
Sunday: 7 July
09:00 AM: Morning coffee and recap of Saturday
09:30 AM: Networking and brainstorming
10:00 AM: Hacking, working and analysing
Noon: Lunch
13:00 PM: Hacking, working and analysing
16:00 PM: Break out session
17:00 PM: Elevator pitch presentations of ideas (3 slides, 3 minutes per group).
18:00 PM: Announcement of winners and on to the opening reception of IACCS conference.
This is a framework that we can adapt. Throughout the process, I have been aware that not everyone can attend. There are lots of other opportunities around the world including Seattle and Paris.
I am travelling from Australia to Moscow for the (un)meet and (un)hack. I do take Maha’s point strongly that those who are attending in person can partner with those not there. I wondered if we might connect in real or lapsed time through social media and online platforms. I am going to use Twitter (link), Mastodon (link) and GitHub (link) as part of my aim to connect. I will be using the hashtag #iacss19connect to support this remote sharing.
