Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Cloud cuckoo land?



I read this in the blurb for the latest New Horizon Report and it seemed to explain something I've been writing about for a while in a much clearer way than I've ever done! It goes "Traditionally, a learning environment has been a physical space, but the idea of what constitutes a learning environment is changing. The "spaces" where students learn are becoming more community-driven, interdisciplinary, and supported by technologies that engage virtual communication and collaboration. This changing concept of the learning environment has clear implications for schools, where learning is the key focus of the space." Seeing it succinctly put by someone else offers a bit of reflective distance. So I found myself wondering about the key underlying assumptions. Firstly, that students are all learning in these ways (and who that "all" really is) and secondly, that if its true, education has to take it on board. Like the authors of the report I'm excited by learning through the new literacies of emerging technology, but have to admit that it's an agenda. The New Horzon Report looks at emerging technologies for the K-12 age range, and so it is refreshingly school-focused. The pdf is here. I recommend it; and also it gives a good definition of cloud computing which I've never really understood!

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