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A New Vision for Online Learning Systems
WELCOMEWelcome to the start of a new vision for online learning software. New Vision exists because we believe that what is called the "Learning Management System" (or "Course/Class Management System" or "Virtual Learning Environment") will not be able to take learning into the future, so an entirely new system is needed. We need to turn the "LMS" inside out.FOOD FOR THOUGHT"I despair for edtech field. If I see another 'leading thinker' in education cite Shirky, Friedman, or similar pop-science writer I'll scream"- George Siemens, via Twitter post "'Email is for old people?' What idiot said that? Everyone uses email." - a 21-year-old College student, so-called "Digital Native" "But something is not gelling…something seems a bit off. Something needs to be fixed. The time has come for disruption, and hopefully some much needed repair." - Barbara Sawhill "Whatever replaces the LMS needs to help you aggregate, collect, organize, store, and view in different ways what you find in the outside world. From this raw, collected stuff eventually comes good creative, imaginative thinking. Why not abandon tired environments built around quiz builders and grade books and document delivery and find a way to bring the intellectual vitality of higher education, particularly as it is expressed in our students’ work, out into the world where it can find real audiences, spark real conversation, and serve as the foundation of a life’s work? We enjoy exploring the massive potential that still lies ahead for a whole new way of delivering courses online. We feel the urgency of this effort to liberate students, faculty, and universities from the stultifying, even oppressive systems of “learning management” that continue to flourish in higher education, even when resources are disappearing and the prices keep going up." - Dr. Pete Smith (some lines above may have been Pete quoting others - still waiting for clarification.) |
GETTING STARTEDFirst of all, before you get too much farther, make sure you have read the essential reading listed below. This series of blog posts is where this whole crazy idea started.If you are not already familiar with the learning theories listed below, please make sure yu get a basic understanding of each one. Once you are familiar with all of that, check out the demo introduction section to see what this "new vision" would look like. This is what we have so far - all smoke and mirrors that so far doesn't actually work, but soon we will release an open-source project that will get the ball rolling. (the tab above leads to the demo itself - see the introduction section only if you are unfamiliar with the demo) Coming soon: a discussion area to share ideas and brainstorm how to get this new system rolling. ESSENTIAL READING
LEARNING THEORIESCOPYRIGHT NOTICEAll ideas and programs here are © 2009 New Vision SLE. Eventually, this will be released open-source, but we want to keep the Blackborgs of the world from stealing our ideas :) |