At the risk of sounding repetitive, the pandemic has made us force our offline lives online faster than we expected. I wrote about this when discussing Fully Online Learning Communities (FOLC) in May 2021 (Houldsworth, 2021). Weller (2020, p. 100) discussed \u201coverenthusiastic initial adoption\u201d of online worlds in Chapter 14 for 2007. He suggests that \u201cvirtual worlds for learning may be one of those technologies due for a comeback\u201d. I agree with him, but perhaps not for the reasons he expected when he wrote that. Fortnite and the attempts by Silicon Valley to develop online worlds (Park, 2020) have provided a space for those who can and want to migrate their lives online, partly to avoid contagion and partly because they prefer it. I would argue that it is a smaller step now for schools to follow. As the pandemic continues to drag on, online life continues to pull us forward, while our old life tries to hold us back.<\/p>\n
The concept of sludge (Thaler & Sunstein, 2021) or sedimentation (Weller, 2020) refers to the idea that administrative structures \u201caccrue around the system\u201d (Lanier, 2002, p. 222), making change difficult. In my professional life, I am living it due to the way that our systems have developed. When we were first required to work from home, simply accessing anything online was virtually impossible, which made regulating (a legally required activity!), let alone learning, very difficult. The very real risk of lack of nuclear regulatory oversight could have existed, which contradicts how we see ourselves. An organization can try very hard to be agile, but due to years of sedimentation, it cannot pivot very quickly, even when it thinks of itself as modern and responsive. Weller (2020) said, \u201cit is necessary to be aware of every institutional action that adds to the sediment and to be aware that the greater the accrual of such sediment, the more difficult it becomes to implement, or even contemplate, other solutions\u201d (p. 66). Throughout 2020, we watched the LMS, the regulatory activity databases, and even the processes used for hearings struggle along in the sludge, along with the people who use them. Thankfully, senior management is recognizing this now and making meaningful, forward-looking changes so that we won\u2019t get caught again.<\/p>\n
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References:<\/p>\n
Houldsworth, C. (2021, May 8). One Week (or maybe a Fortnite?)<\/em> https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0208\/one-week-or-maybe-a-fortnite\/<\/a><\/p>\n Park, G. (2020, April 17). Silicon Valley is racing to build the next version of the Internet. Fortnite might get there first. Washington Post<\/em>. Retrieved May 7, 2021, from https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/video-games\/2020\/04\/17\/fortnite-metaverse-new-internet\/<\/a><\/p>\n Thaler, R., Sunstein, C. (2021). Nudge: the final edition. <\/em>Penguin Books.<\/p>\n Weller, Martin (2020). 25 Years of Ed Tech. Canada: Athabasca University Press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At the risk of sounding repetitive, the pandemic has made us force our offline lives online faster than we expected. I wrote about this when discussing Fully Online Learning Communities (FOLC) in May 2021 (Houldsworth, 2021). Weller (2020, p. 100) discussed \u201coverenthusiastic initial adoption\u201d of online worlds in Chapter 14 for 2007. He suggests that … <\/p>\n