E-learning 2.0: All you Need to Know - Maybe not….
Richard McManus published an overview of how the web 2.0 toolkit and models are infiltrating the world of e-learning.
McManus (following the lead of Steve O'Hear) differentiates traditional e-learning from learning 2.0 as follows:
The traditional approach to e-learning has been to employ the use of a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), software that is often cumbersome and expensive - and which tends to be structured around courses, timetables, and testing [examples listed below]. That is an approach that is too often driven by the needs of the institution rather than the individual learner. In contrast, e-learning 2.0 (as coined by Stephen Downes) takes a 'small pieces, loosely joined' approach that combines the use of discrete but complementary tools and web services - such as blogs, wikis, and other social software - to support the creation of ad-hoc learning communities.
McManus goes on to looks at the applications shaping learning 2.0 and focuses on Elgg. Elegg has basic web 2.0 functionality (blogs, tagging, file repository with podcasting) but it can't compare to a robust collection of web 2.0 services like wordpress, flickr, delicious, and facebook. Since all of these services have open api's, it makes much more sense to weave them together into collections of features that enable users to take advantage of the very sophisticated features in each web app.
McManus goes on to point out an excellent example of web 2.0 in action in Chinese Pod. This is a language learning service built around free podcasts. One of the most interesting things about the service for me is the business model. The podcasts are free (content wants to be free people!) but the services around the content are sold on a subscription basis. Pricing is tiered on the basis of the amount of personalization involved in the service:
So for an additional $9 per month you get transcripts, downloads, and a personalized rss podcast feed. The $30 per month tier adds a whole bunch of tools and the $200 per month tier involves includes interaction with a tutor and a personalized plan.
I have had this kind of business model in mind for some time but I have not seen it so beautifully articulated as with ChinesePod.
At lunch yesterday we were talking about how content providers will need to move away from thinking about charging for digital content. Steve Bayle, our most insightful business development consultant, said, “the business models for this new way of operating have not been invented yet.” I agree. But ChinesePod is an interesting innovation in the right direction.
When thinking about the models for moving learning into a web 2.0 paradigm I like to go back to Tim O'Reilly's three principles:
- The web as platform
- Value from user-generated content
- Network effects from an architecture of participation.
I have yet to see anything that really moves into the new paradigm, with the exception of two programs that spun off from a project we did for the American Library Association: Five Weeks to a Social Library and Learning 2.0. Both of these programs are built out of free, open source tools. The curriculum (if you can call it that) is co-created by the participants around a very simple set of podcast tutorials and FAQs. The thing I like the most about these programs is that they can be run by anybody, so they are self-replicating. Learning 2.0 has already been replicated in over 40 libraries in the US and Canada.
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