Learning management systems like FLO are largely ‘push’ spaces: institution-driven and controlled, with capacity for some student authoring in online tools like forums and wikis. However we know that these features don’t adequately support students to develop and demonstrate their learning in spaces of their own creation, in ways that are safe, technically supported and can adequately authenticate their work. Issues such as confidentiality, access and audiences also need to be considered: certainly the benefits are attended by challenges.
The Centre for Educational ICT are interested in your thoughts, ideas and experience with student-authored learning spaces, and would like to know:
What you are doing – or would like to do, or have seen done well elsewhere – that supports student-authored learning:
1. In your topic – using FLO tools/strategies (like wikis and blog forums)?
2. In your topic – using non-FLO / web-based tools/strategies (like blogs, social media platforms)?
3. Across topics – using ePortfolios (or other tools/strategies)?
To respond: Please email elearningdesign@flinders.edu.au or contact a member of the project team: Nicola Parkin, Cyndie McCarley, or James King to discuss in person.
Many thanks in advance, the project team.
More about student-authored learning spaces:
Student-authored learning spaces are technology platforms and programs (‘spaces’) that are user-authorable and controlled – they ‘belong’ to the student. In the educational context, these spaces facilitate personal and/or collaborative learning and typically include functionality for creating, organising, storing and sharing student-created work. In the context of the students’ coursework, these spaces are not necessarily tied to topic (or even course) boundaries, but instead act to intersect, extend, and connect with topics and courses, as well as linking coursework to workplace learning and community-based activity (e.g. eportfolios). Arguably, student-authored spaces add benefit to standard institutionally controlled learning spaces by situating learning in real-world contexts and using real-world technologies; by providing an integrative mechanism for the learning program context; and by supporting students’ voices, agency and engagement with their learning.