Instructionally-agnostic software plays an important role. But now it’s time that we start to also use software to extend our capacity as educators. This means moving beyond the “correspondence” model of distance education – in which we use software solely as a cost-effective tool for distributing traditional education materials (typically those repurposed from print and classroom environments). It means using software that captures and embodies our best thinking about how students learn. Instructionally intelligent software extends our capacity as educators – it helps us do more with our limited time, money and skills.
I think this sums up my current thoughts on the current raft of edtech – it’s too agnostic and in therefore less capable. In this situation (where you’re striving to work within the LMS) everything becomes a hack. Personalisation doesn’t come from offering students choice because it’s thats not agnostic, and therefore not part of the LMS. Instead we seek to offer that function through abstracted data and analytics that assume far too much about “learning” from unrelated data points. It seems odd to employ this method when the user is right there – ask them! I’m liking the word BEYOND at the moment – feels like that’s where we need to be, pushing forward and further out from where we sit now.
Heart | Soul | Machine 