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I am interested in Learning. surprising after being a Teacher for over 10 years? Maybe not but, what really interests me now is the environment in which learning takes place and how technology can be used, not to as a substitute for face to face learning, but to enhance the experience.

At the time of writing it’s DML’s (Digital Media and Learning ) annual conference, #DML2012 . They have launched a model called Connected Learning. In previous study I had written about the idea of a “Learning Organism” as compared to a Learning Organisation; which would transverse the boundaries of a single organisation or institution and the restrictions that imposes. Thus I am very interested by this model of Connected Learning.

In Connected Learning we see Schooling and traditional forms of education as one element of this. Learning never stops, although it can slip for the forefront of what we do. “Open Networks” link learning in the home, school and community. If you learn through teaching others (and by teaching I am talking of participatory, shared learning with the guidance of someone with greater experience), then it seems to make sense for those in the community (in industry or otherwise) to gain value from such involvement.

In the video below there is mention of how traditional schooling is based on the transfer of content to reach the goals and outcomes that we set for them. There is growing realisation that this no longer serves the needs of our children as we no longer know what will be needed by the time they enter the workplace.

It is time to move the bias from Content to Contextual learning.

Rather than teaching children from the start to become what we want them to be, we should be helping children learn what they want to become and supporting development that enables them to engage in a life they want and be a positive member of society.

Whose interest should education serve? Whose does it serve now?

The Essence of Connected Learning from DML Research Hub on Vimeo.

Embed codes for the  DML Research Hub video provided on the their Vimeo site http://vimeo.com/37639766 and for the infographic at http://connectedlearning.tv/

I started blogging for my MA in Online and Distance Education with the Open University in 2011. I had a blog at WordPress.com and then moved it to this domain a few months later. But that didn;t feel like blogging, that was using the blog as a repository of artefacts (one of many it seemed), that I might later use as evidence of my development.Thus they were often answers to prescribed questions in the module, and in some cases restricted by word counts.

I managed to pull some 50,000 words together in those first 5 months. However, would anyone beyond my peers, have waited with eager anticipation for the next gripping installment? I think not. I do believe I covered topics that could be of interest to a wider audience; but now, I intend to bring some of those ideas from my past study along with my current practice to the fore.

Learning continues throughout life and this will be part of it; making a commitment to my ideas. I therefore look forward (with some trepidation) to making mistakes along the way, and yet more eagerly, to the development that  learning from them enables.

My next period of Professional Development is about to commence, and I hope you will feel encouraged to engage with the material as I have been, and comment upon it.