lodeStar Learning Web Journal

By Robert N. Bilyk

The two words replay in my mind. They came from two teachers who attended the Associação da Comunidade Educativa de Aveiro (ACEAV) conference in Aveiro, Portugal. I was a guest presenter and I asked the audience to respond to a prediction that Clayton Christenson makes in his book "Disrupting Class". I'm paraphrasing, but the prediction goes something like this: In 10 years, computer-based, student-centric learning will account for 50 percent of schooling in U.S. Schools. If you haven't read, Clayton Christenson's book, please read it. For me, it was insightful as Thomas Friedman's "The World is Flat", but focused on education. I asked the audience in Aveiro that if they were to become more active in eLearning or, as they called it, bLearning (a blend of computer based and classroom based education), what would they need. The answer was time and tools.

I thought back to 1997 when I founded Cyber Village Academy. Cyber Village Academy was intended to reach out to seriously ill children and provide them with a portal to learning during times when they felt well enough to learn. It was intended to provide sick kids with a learning experience that was ready when they were and could adapt to their needs. As it turned out, we served some sick kids, but we served national competition skaters as well and dozens upon dozens of homeschoolers who didn't want traditional public school and couldn't afford private school.

For teachers, we addressed the issue of time by providing at least two days per week when teachers could support students online, and develop curriculum and activities. To reiterate, we provided at least two full days per week with each teacher equipped with her own office and computer. Our first choice of tools, however, Authorware and, later, Flash was too difficult for teachers to master and integrate into our first learning management systems. Something needed to be invented - and that was the LodeStar authoring tool.

Prior to my most pleasant time with ACEAV in Portugal, I had the great fortune to represent LodeStar Learning at the 2nd Pan African Forum organized by Merlot Africa Network (MAN) in Dakar, Senegal. I asked post-secondary teachers the same question that I posed to teachers in Portugal. Interestingly, instructors from all over Africa began to spell out their need for professional development in the design of open education resources (learning objects). I was struck by their eloquence and the sophistication they brought to the discussion.

I was also struck by my own shortcomings. In Dakar, I needed a French-English translator. For the most part, participants understood my English, but I couldn't understand their French. In Portugal, teachers could understand my English, but I know less than five words in Portuguese. I studied French and German in school, but that learning has all but evaporated. I was embarrassed. When I conducted a workshop in Luxenbourg, the same feelings came over me. Every participating instructor spoke multiple languages. I spoke one.

I make these admissions because visiting with teachers in Dakar and Aveiro has caused me to be reflective about my own educational experiences and the role that eLearning or blended learning can play in improving the educational experience. In that reflection, I hear a number of voices. I hear the voice of Cherie at Cyber Village Academy who helped students learn history first hand through prima facia diaries and records and accounts that weren't filtered through someone else's perspective. I hear the voices of Tillman Ragan and Patricia Smith who have listed instructional strategies that are effective for each type of learning or the voice of Dr. Michael Allen who writes, "Forget what you've learned about instructional design and do something interesting", or John Taylor Gatto who writes about the harmful effect of schooling (versus education) in his "Weapons of Mass Instruction". Certainly my French language classes in high school were weapons of mass instruction. I can still hear the annoying voice of the French teacher, "écouter et à imiter". We followed with mindless recitations of French sentences. If we can't have truly immersive experiences in language instruction, surely we have computer-assisted instruction that is much more effective.

From all of the voices that seem to conflict and confuse, I hear a chorus. It's true that we should forget about instructional design and do something interesting -- but only if we treat instructional design as a recipe book. Effective education can't be created from a recipe book. It's true that computer-based, student centric learning can be a large part of a student's diet, but not as computer-based education is today, but as it is envisioned by Clayton Christenson in his book.

I do believe that teachers need time and tools. I believe that if teachers are not part of the process of creation and given time by their administration, they will become subscribers to static content -- a new form of the textbook -- with a table of contents that dictates the curriculum and aligns to academic standards and shallow tests.

I believe that the LodeStar authoring tool has a role to play, as it exists today and even more so as an open system that enables organizations like ACEAV in Portugal and the University of Cheikh Anti Diop in Dakar to build upon its architecture and help to create dozens of templates that embody dozens of strategies that help teachers in their respective disciplines.

eLearning or bLearning are wonderous processes fraught with multiple challenges. To meet these challenges, teachers need time and tools. We are now planning updates to LodeStar to make it a better tool and buy the instructor more time. Stay tuned to this web journal to learn more.