IMS Global: Are the trends toward online learning in the UK similar to what is happening around the world?
JG: Yes, I think so. I believe the problem everyone is facing is how to do it. When online learning became viable, the first attempts from traditional providers of education were what I call classroom online. Vendors like WebCT and Blackboard facilitated a process in which you replicate what you do in the classroom, online. I never thought that that was a very exciting thing. And our initial attempts were really just distance learning online, just taking our materials and sticking them up on the Web, supported by computer conferencing, which we have been doing for a very long time.
Probably the most exciting part of OpenLearn is the research component. There's a dearth of research to be had on what is the online learning experience. What does the user need to have that good online learning experience? If we can get that out of this initiative, it will be a huge success.
There used to be this idea that content was king, that learning was all about the content. I can't help but think in a Web 2.0 kind of world that it's not so much about the content as it is the user being in control of a range of resources, services, and tools of which content is just one. The idea of them going out and pulling content down and having peer-to-peer discussions may be a more accurate view of the future.
An old friend of mine, Bernie Luskin, has said that most traditional universities specialize in crowd control. For years now, students have allowed themselves to be herded into lectures and labs, in many cases with ancient computers. Whether or not we reach a point where a generation simply will not accept that kind of learning experience remains to be seen. Universities have taken a "push" type of approach where they've just pushed information at students and told them to go learn it. We used to call it supported open learning, where students were given weekly study guides and expected to learn it on their own. I just think that the future will be about "pull", that learning will all be user-focused. Users will have more control over the choice of their learning resources and tools.
IMS Global: What subjects are you offering in this initial phase of OpenLearn?
JG: Arts and History, Business and Management, Education, IT & Computing, Mathematics and Statistics, Modern Languages, Science and Nature, Society, Study Skills, and Technology. Within those topics, there are about 80 units of study, with each unit ranging from 3 to 30 hours. There were a number of drivers in selecting these courses. It was felt these were reasonably transformed and coherent online. Copyright issues were another concern. Topics ranged from studying the French Revolution to teaching skills in secondary schools using digital video.
