Create Online Learning for Where It's Going to Be, Not Where It's Been: An Online Pedagogy for 2006

This paper presents an online pedagogy for 2006 and highlights the learning environment of the School of Continuing Studies at the University of Toronto's Web Forum (i.e., an online education management system that combines teaching and learning systems with management and administration systems). The following components of the Web Forum are described: learning experiences; off-line course enhancement environments; dynamic educational Jinks database; course environment; new course/instructor environment; new or potential learner environment; and instructor/facilitator environment. The context in which a course of learning offering may be integrated into the Web Forum is summarized, including assumptions about learner care, the multiple touch points of telephony, and personalization. The learner's perspective on where online learning has been and its shortcomings is presented, together with ways that adult educators may shift and move toward a menu of pedagogical ideals as facilitated by the solutions provided by Web Forum. It is concluded that Web Forum delivers optimal learning environments and value to the customer. It may be deployed without major investment and prepares the institution to benefit from the projected $17 billion online distributed learning market in 2006 while delivering learner-centric education opportunities. (MES) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Create Online Learning for Where It's Going to Be, Not Where It's Been: An Online Pedagogy for 2006 Anne-Marie Brinsmead, French, Foreign Languages & Translation Studies, University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies, Canada, e-mail: abrinsmead@scs.utoronto.ca Gregory M. Lang, Media & New Technology Studies, University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies, Canada, e-mail: glang@scs.utoronto.ca Lee McTavish, Certification Studies & Later Life Learning, University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies, Canada, e-mail: lmctavish @scs.utoronto.ca Content Abstract: The online distributed learning market is projected to be worth $17 billion by 2006. If projections are realized and your organisation is prepared, a .01% share of this market would be worth $1.7 million to you. Develop an online strategy that optimizes your ROI (Return on Investment) by evolving current business practices and needs into an online environment through the extension of your best pedagogical practices. Implement a distributed learning tactic, based on an evolutionary business model, which delivers immediate value to your organisation and its clients, while preparing you to share in the projected distributed learning market. Build an integrated online environment that derives its value by mitigating current business expenses, reducing the business risk of new product development and deployment and generating new revenue from the sale of micro-learning experiences. Explore with us the development of this leading edge, user-friendly, learner-centered environment and the power of its application. The School of Continuing Studies at the University of Toronto has been in operation for over one hundred years, and has been providing distance learning opportunities for over fifty years. With the continuing evolution of technology and the changing demands of our customers, we recognized the need to 'think digital.' After a two year applied research project on on-line educational delivery, entitled The Carrier Pigeon Project, we concluded that we should enter this new market cautiously by continuing to evolve the services and products we traditionally provide. The Carrier Pigeon project highlighted many of the challenges that must be confronted in order to succeed online and was the genesis of our current online strategy. Our learning from Carrier Pigeon is best summarized by the second last paragraph of the Executive Summary of the report: "However inspiring and seductive computer mediated interaction is, there continues to be the danger of limiting our concerns to the physical design; to be overly interested in the delivery mechanisms and interfaces while neglecting the content material to be learned. We understand on academic, business, and technical grounds, that for optimal learning to occur, it is the complex integration, not the simple balance, of interface and substance that will engage the learner at various cognitive and physical levels of interaction. And it will be the learners' ability to apply their learning that will engage their customers and corporations." Dr. Mary Cone Barrie Director, School of Continuing Studies 1997. The School of Continuing Studies has a strong tradition of responding to customer needs but intrinsic to those needs is our dedication to pedagogy. Within the context of both of these commitments we decided that we should continue to personalize and customize our products and services to meet the evolving needs of our customer community both off and online. The high capital investment required for online courses provided the framework for how we determined our next steps. After extensive strategic thinking and consideration we developed our online strategy and the tactical means: consolidate into an integrated whole the School of Continuing Studies' existing and future technology-delivered offerings, selected enhancements, customer service business processes, and the information technology components. In this paper, we present an online pedagogy for 2006, and highlight the optimal learning environment of the Web Forum by applying it to one course offering entitled Leadership Online. C.) PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND ..1DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS CD BEEN GRANTED BY Cq C.D G. H. Marks