Making waves: casting a pebble in the learning pond

by Geoff Rebbeck

Technology for learning continues to evolve from earlier models of single spaces for the many, to many spaces for the one. Technology now promises the full ‘take away’ service, not just ‘eating-in’. In this presentation Geoff will don his sunglasses to stare into the same conceptual headlights that many teachers are currently dazzled by as they make choices about which portfolio to use; how to use it, and for what purpose. Why is it that so many teachers have failed to find out or make sense of the emergent pedagogical constructs of portfolios before making choices for students on that basis? Could students have more than one portfolio? Are there different e-portfolio horses for different courses?

Moving on from the assimilation of virtual learning environments into teaching and learning, and sidestepping the distraction of mobile learning, teachers and curriculum developers have a new and unfamiliar technology to grapple with. Personal learning spaces present teachers with a full-on conceptual challenge as, for the first time, they encounter technology that doesn't simply consolidate what we already know and do but offers us the intellectual challenge of a genuinely new approach to learning and teaching design. This time we can harness technology to help students manage their learning, rather than have them simply driven along by it.

Perhaps the most important questions relate to how can we use personal learning spaces to enrich the learner experience, the learner journey, the telling of the story, and finally realising that education is life-long, life-wide - and often messy. Using only live pages from a thriving community Geoff will take you on a rollicking ride through the many faces of Pebble. Can we ride these waves or will we be swamped by them?