Report from the Open University on Innovating Pedagogy

Perhaps the most positive immediate impact of Georgia Tech’s joining Coursera has been the size, extent, and frequency of discussion that it has engendered about education, technology, and the role of the University.  While I was on study abroad, it came up in conversation with faculty at least every couple of days.  Several of the faculty mailing lists I’m on raise issues about MOOC’s daily.

One of the common themes in these discussions is the Open University UK.  Here’s a university that has a proven track record in using technology for educating students at a distance.  The Open U. has just released a report on innovating pedagogies which looks really worthwhile.  (I’ve downloaded it for review on my way home Sunday, when I saw that it has a whole section on ebooks.)  I recommend diving into this material through Seb Schmoller’s blog, linked below, because he links into the additional literature that should have been included in the report.  I note that this is “Report #1” in a series, so I hope to see more instances of such useful reports.

Mike Sharples sent me a link to this pre-release version [PDF] of Innovating Pedagogy 2012, which he has written for the Open University with Patrick McAndrew, Martin Weller, Rachel Ferguson, Elizabeth FitzGerald, Tony Hirst, Yishay Mor, Mark Gaven, and Denise Whitelock.

The report gives an accessible overview of ten new forms of teaching, learning and assessment, and it has been written for non-academics. It looks to have been inspired by the EDUCAUSE Horizon Reports, but with a focus on learning and teaching.

via Fortnightly Mailing: Innovating Pedagogy 2012.