I suspected that I would really enjoy immersing myself in Martin Weller’s book 25 Years of Tech, but I was a bit surprised to see just how closely it followed my own path in computer-mediated learning. I first accessed the internet in my high school computer lab in 1994 when Weller’s book began, and I completed my college diploma in Teacher/Trainer of Adults in Online Learning in 2018 when it ended. Because my experience as both a learner and a learning professional (Bachelor of Education student, then corporate trainer, then instructional designer) followed the book’s timeline so closely it’s difficult for me to say whether or not Weller started his retrospective in Ed Tech too early or too late, but it’s a question I’ll continue to consider.
One thing I really enjoyed in Weller’s book, both the chapters we were assigned (1994 through 2001) and the Behind the Chapters companion podcasts, was what Weller identified was “The Historical Amnesia of EdTech”, or how institutions, organizations and practitioners are often trying to re-invent or re-package new approaches to Ed Tech when “there’s a history to all this stuff, you’re not inventing it from scratch” (Weller, as cited in Pasquini, 2020). Over the pandemic I heard leadership expressing how remote communication was so hard, and trying to communicate over instant messenger in the office was just too new to them. No, Weller described CMC (computer-mediated communication) becoming more prominent in education in the mid-90s (Weller, p. 22), and I recall using the ICQ instant messaging tool to study with colleagues in University when I started in 1999. I’ve heard educators pitch the idea of building learning modules as “building blocks” which could be re-used in different courses, which is just a re-purposing of the concept of Learning Objects (p. 50). I have conversations each week with colleagues about the limitations of reporting from SCORM eLearning files which Weller describes was instrumental, along with IMS and LTI, in standardizing how the data in eLearning objects were presented to make them compatible with different systems (p. 58). Everything old really is new again, or at least it’s often presented as such.
As my Ed Tech Geek Brain continues to think about what Weller presents, and what his collaborators have discussed in the Between the Chapters podcast series, I’ll stay aware of this potential for historical amnesia and seek to understand how we’ve arrived at our current digital learning state.
References
Pasquini, L. (Host). (2020 November 2) About the 25 Years of Ed Tech Audio Project (No. 2 [Audio podcast episode]. In 25 Years of Ed Tech. Google Podcasts. https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy50cmFuc2lzdG9yLmZtLzI1LXllYXJzLW9mLWVkLXRlY2g
Weller, M. (2020, February). 25 Years of Ed Tech. AU Press—Digital Publications. https://read.aupress.ca/projects/25-years-of-ed-tech
Hi Andrea,
I appreciate your experiences as an educator and instructional designer. Your description of reusable module blocks is a strategy my colleagues use as much as possible when developing online courses. This approach is beneficial when we design math units for our skilled trades programs. Instructors are thrilled that we can now create formative math assessments that automatically advise students of the correct answers. These questions quickly check the students’ understanding as they progress online through the content. This technology is impressive, and all math instructors are keen to share it once implemented. Hooray for technology!
Another big surprise for me was that SCORM files have existed for over twenty years. As Weller (2020) states, “The aim of SCORM was to define a means of constructing content so it could be deployed in any platform that was SCORM compliant” (p. 58). My experience with SCORM files started approximately a decade ago. With my previous employer, I provided our SCORM training files to customers for their LMSs to help educate their employees on our products. However, I found SCORM particularly challenging when updates arose, which seemed frequent.
I have two questions:
1) Do you have issues with keeping up with updates for your company’s SCORM files?
2) Do you foresee any future advancements that will replace SCORM?
Reference
Weller, M. (2020). 25 Years of Ed Tech. Athabasca University Press.
Isn’t it crazy that SCORM is widely used in the world of eLearning and LMS, yet it’s latest update was in 2004? That’s wild to me. Given that my organization is required to keep track of learning for compliance and regulatory purposes I find it doubtful we will be able to move away from the LMS infrastructure easily, but I’m always looking for alternatives. We were on track to use TinCan API instead of SCORM a couple of years ago, but then were directed to move to a new LMS which would only accept SCORM 1.2 (which is even OLDER than it’s 2004 update). The result is that we’ve lost some of our course stability and reportin capabilities. Personally, I think that xAPI has a bit more promise as it has abilities to report on course completion outside of an LMS. Post a course link on a blog, or on an existing business system the learner is using like a knowledge base, and still track completion? Yes please!
I’m currently listening to the Between the Chapters: Chapter 9 podcast on the topic of LMS use and the conversation (Pasquini, 2020) is making me reconsider how I’ve always seen an LMS as a necessary evil. I would love to see organizations like my own move away from yet another system learners have to log into just so we can track their learning, and integrate learning into their everyday processes. An educator can dream, right?
References
Pasquini, L. (Host). (2020 November 2) Between the Chapters #9 resistance & care for the LMS with @OnlineCrsLady, @brennacgray & @carolak (No. 22 [Audio podcast episode]. In 25 Years of Ed Tech. Google Podcasts. https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy50cmFuc2lzdG9yLmZtLzI1LXllYXJzLW9mLWVkLXRlY2g/episode/Mzk5MWE1ZDEtZjc0ZC00ZTNkLWEyMzctNTRkNmNkYTUyY2Ew?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwjo-_6235mBAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ
Thank you, Andrea, for your insightful response. I focused on the LMS for our latest blog and have now opened my eyes to other perspectives. And yes, an educator can most definitely dream!
Cheers,
Marni
Hi Andrea. Given you work in ed tech, I always appreciate the real-life examples you provide because they bring our learning to life! I too was drawn to the content about the historical amnesia of ed tech. As someone that has worked outside the field, I can say that I have never taken the time to learn about it until now. In my submission, I did comment that I have seen (and most likely suffered from) historical amnesia in other fields, or sectors. While working in the investment industry, there was often a historical amnesia around the cyclical nature of investments. And while working in the non-profit sector with vulnerable populations, there seemed to be a historical amnesia around the approaches implemented to address the complex issue. I’d be interested to hear your speculations around why you think this phenomenon occurs in your professional space. I look forward to your comments.
Great question Lara, and your blog post was very honest and insightful! I think that just like you experienced in the Investment and Non-Profit sectors, we are often so focused on our own professional challenges that we jump to conclusions instead of looking for problems which already exist. In 2004 – 2005 I was completing my Bachelor of Education at University of Western Ontario, now Western University, and one of my instructors for Intermediate-Senior English was Dr. Brian Way. In that class Dr. Way shared a perspective with me that I have never forgotten, and I’m happy to paraphrase it here very roughly (it’s been a while). Dr. Way shared that “A good teacher is a good thief. Borrow from other’s ideas, make them your own, and give credit.” I think this is very similar to the 5 Rs of open education (reuse, retain, revise, remix, redistribute) we’ve heard quoted here and in other courses. These older ideas exist, we may just not know we’re there if we don’t look for them. This is one of the reasons I believe reviewing the history of ed tech in a course such as this is such a good idea!