A Perspective on Cyber Education: Issues and Prospects in building Global Learning Networks

1. A Perspective on Cyber Education: Issues and Prospects in building Global Learning Networks The 5th TCU International E-Learning Conference, Bangkok, Thailand August 5, 2014 Toshio Kobayashi The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI) TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

2. Research Background Activities in intercultural settings • Being a Poor Foreign Student – Diplomacy - Academia • Advancement of International Distance Education – AIDE • Promotion of cross-border collaborative project via VC based on “Linguapolitical” concept (Kobayashi-Deguchi Project) • Collaboration with OECD/CERI in OER Research • Membership in Japanese National Commission for UNESCO • Engagement in OER Project by UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE) TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

3. Technology-based education inevitably makes the learning: • Borderless • Relational • Open • Transnational • Multicultural TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

4. E-phenomenon • E-Leaning • E-Booking/Libarary • E-Commerce • E-Government/State • E-Love ・・・ TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

5. Trends in Higher Education • Flexible or distributed and e-Learning • Open Universities no longer sole institution to provide distance teaching and learning • duel and mixed mode introduced further into traditional universities • Flexible learning - strategic and administrative policy to acquiring more students enrolment and revenue • Establishing FD programs and on-campus support system • Building global partnerships in inter-university and between academic institutions and Private industry TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

6. Educational Reformby Adoption of ICTin Japan and elsewhere Objectives: • Enhance international Competitiveness • Cultivate human resources • Internationalize universities TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

7. Some Prevailing Trends in Higher Education • Increased interest for open and distance education. • E-learning has become a mainstream. • New types of organizations have emerged as educational providers • New, more interactive, anywhere, anyplace education cause people to question the roles of the academic personnel and university teaching in terms of its mission, teaching practices, and future roles. TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

8. Emergence of Global Learning Networks “Networks of people who want to learn and share through the Internet on a global scale” Global learning networks have emerged as a result of a series of interrelated developments such as - advancements in ICTs, - cheaper communication, - proliferation of computers, - globalization. TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

9. Global Learning Networks （GLNs) TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

10. Problems and Issues in Cross-border Education • Barriers and Adaptability due to Cultural and Linguistic Diversity across the Globe • Learning management systems, collaborative systems, networking of reusable learning objects have been developed with off springs in the western tradition • Systems have been designed from a western tradition of research in cognition and design, often differs somewhat from other cultures in the world TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

11. Global standardization vs. national and cultural preservation • How we can find the golden middle way in between these extremes? • How we combine the potential of global collaboration with technology and systems? TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

12. Global Learning Networks – characteristics Highly diversified society and intensive intercultural interactions help - stimulate learners’ research skills; - promote other cultural perspectives; - learners become more aware of their own culture as they encounter other cultures; - democratic participation. TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

13. Cultural Encounters • Unidirectional and Bilateral • Unidirectional and Multilateral • Multidirectional and Multilateral TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

14. Some of the important points to be addressed • The interaction of technological development - mainly information and communication technology - and society with identifying roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders. • Cultural standardization and learning imperialism within e-Learning • Socio-economic issues in promoting e-Learning within regions • Open Movements in international collaboration across different cultures • Human factors enhancing and impeding global learning networks TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

15. Issues to be addressed • How do we identify, preserve and develop our own learning cultural values and how do we establish ways of collaborating in doing this across different cultures? TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

16. Intercultural Issues in GLNs • Thousands of web-based programs at all levels, • Anyone can enroll in any program where technology is available. • - Cultural hegemony • - Dilution of language • - Degeneration of local cultures and people • - A mismatch between local needs and global curriculum • - Loss of control on national education TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

17. Global Learning Networks – alternative perspectives • Emergence of “cosmopolitan culture” • - different from Western culture; • - borne out of the need for people from different cultures to interact; • - shaped by the mutual relationship between the Internet and local • cultures. • - a balance in intercultural relationships • - “import, adopt, domesticate, and improve” approach TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

18. Multicultural Education through GLNs Global learning networks help make people more aware of such generic issues in international community as: - socio-cultural, - economical and political, - ecological, - environmental. Global learning networks facilitate forming: Networks of people and world opinions and morale beyond cultural boundaries through the Internet and other technologies on a global scale TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

19. Importance of international D.E. based on the respective cultures and languages • Cope with cultural/linguistic barriers – an issue in international ed. exchange, particularly in Japan • Develop cross-cultural D.E. based on the languages of the respective participating countries, not just English. • Introduce an e-Learning different from that of English speaking countries • Support the researchers/learners in a given culture abroad with learning objects and by Technological Potential TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

20. Higher Education in the 21st Century ICT-based training and information exchange, knowledge banks and databases provide unprecedented opportunities for educational policy-makers and practitioners to share knowledge and experience and learn collaboratively through international networks and communities of practice… TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

21. Issues facing Higher Education in the 21st Century:Culture and Linguistic Barriers • Education becoming huge market places • Educational providers aiming to infiltrate • Inappropriate learning materials • Provide learning materials based on your own culture rather than depending upon sources deriving abroad • Quality assurance of learning resources • Security - IPR • Preserve and protect your own Cultural Identity • “Learning imperialism” • Pursuit of “Principle of Education” TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

22. Open Educational Movement in the 21st CenturyA new culture of openness in HE? • Open Source Software, Open Access, Open License, Open Educational Resources • Learning Resources made available for Free over the Internet • As few restrictions as possible on the use of digital resources: • No technical barriers (disclosed source code) • No price barriers (no subscriptions, license fees) • As few legal barriers as possible (open licenses) TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

23. Soft Power Coined by Joseph Nye in 1990 and defined as: “Soft power is the ability to obtain what one wants through co-option and attraction. It can be contrasted with ‘hard power’, that is the use of coercion and payment. Soft power can be wielded not just by states, but by all actors in international politics, such as NGOs or international institutions.” - Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics (2004)- TCU - Bangkok 2011

24. “OERs” as a source of Soft Power Abundant OERs available today: • Produced and accumulated by H.E. institutions • Created by individual producers who are willing to share • OERs put on the Internet • Rich raw learning materials waiting to be created into OERs • A number of potential OER producing countries, institutions and individuals TCU - Bangkok 2011

25. Three Dimensions of OER １．Openness • In the social domain • freedom to use • freedom to contribute • freedom to share • In the technical domain • functional (use of open standards) • developmental (use of open source software) • As a characteristic of the resource • public goods • open fountain of goods (Tuomi, 2006) TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

26. ２．Educational • Formal education • Non-formal education • Informal education Trends in OER – towards bridging and narrowing the gaps, and facilitating further life-long learning with OERs circulating through different settings/levels of learning. TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

27. ３．Resources • learning contents • Learning Courseware: MIT OCW, Paris Tech, JOCW • Learning Objects: MERLOT, Connexions, ARIADNE • Reference: Internet Archive, Google Scholar, LC, Wikis • Tools (OSS) • CMS: EduCommons • LMS: Moodle, Sakai • Development Tools: Connexions • Social software: Wikis, H20, OSLO research • Implementation resources • Licensing Tools: Creative Commons, GNU Free Documentation • Best Practices: CMU (design principles) • Interoperability: IMS, SCORM, OKI Trends in OER - towards open technology and global standardization TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

28. Drivers for OER • Technological • Increased broadband availability • Increased hard drive capacity and processing speed • User-friendly software for creating, editing and remixing • Social • Digital natives with substantial ICT skills • Desire for interactivity, willingness to share and contribute • Development of communities and collaborative projects • Economical • Lower costs for broadband, tools and lower entry barriers • Sites and services hosting content for free • New economic models for monetising user created content • Legal • licenses such as Creative Commons TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

29. TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok Source: OECD (2007)

30. Main Tendency in OER • From grass root movement to institution based initiatives • Earlier few institution wide initiatives • Started by enthusiasts • Few at management level knew about initiatives • Now mostly institution based initiatives • Less text, more video (iTunes U) and animated materials • Open Educational Practice – not only resources but also open teaching is offered for free (see OPAL project) • OLnet – international research community on OER TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

31. Sustainable Development: “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” from Our Common Future : Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development – 1987 TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

32. Global Framework • The Open Learning Movement has great potentials to help build a truly equitable knowledge society for humanity, if it enables “everyone everywhere to be able to share in the benefits of the global information society and the richer nations are in a position to help poorer nations bypass the communication barriers that will help them improve their education and healthcare systems and socio-economic circumstances.” (The 2000 Okinawa Charter on Global Information Society). • With production and use of the accumulated knowledge in formats accessible and appropriate to anyone for reuse to cater to their need, “we have an opportunity to dramatically improve the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world through freely available, high-quality, locally relevant educational and learning opportunities.” (The Cape Town Open Education Declaration, 2007). TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

33. Japan’s Contributions to UNESCO for promoting EFA/ESD • Japanese Funds in Trust (JFIT) for promotion of EFA in Asia and Pacific • A Similar fund for Promotion of the DESD in the Region TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

34. OER and ESD Both are…. • International agenda in education • Linking levels/categories/settings of education • Concerned with affordability and sustainability • Transnational and multicultural TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

35. OER and ESD Perspectives in common • Multi-cultural/linguistic issues • Cultural sensitivity • Information Communication Technologies • linking various agents/actors in the education fields • Building equitable Global learning networks TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

36. EFA and ESD • ESD a vague concept yet to be defined • ESD needed to achieve EFA • Linking of EFA and ESD • Cultivation of Human Resources - vital for sustainable development • Appropriate Use of ICTs to achieve EFA and promote ESD TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

37. Environmental Education International Understanding Education Energy Education Other related education ＥＳＤ Culture Education The basic view of the ESD, Education for Sustainable Development, is to foster each individual to take part in creating a sustainable society, especially; - to cultivate human nature, such as developing personality, autonomy and a sense of responsibility, - to foster relationships with others, society, the environment. To promote sustainable development it is important to act synthetically by linking various fields of education… Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) (The Ministry of Education (MEXT), Japan) TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

38. ESD - issues to be addressed… • Environmental protection • Peace and human rights • Assistance to developing • countries to fight poverty • Poverty Reduction • Sustainable growth • Living standards • Social protection • Basic education • Security (human rights, refugees) TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

39. Linking OER and ESD, How? • UNESCO as a lead agency • Through networking of ASP • Collaboration of NPOs (e.g., ESD-J, etc.) • Coorperation by H.E. institutions • Use of open source learning materials by individual producers who are willing to contribute and share TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

40. International understanding education Environmental education Energy education Etc ＥＳＤ Culture education ASPs and ESD UNESCO ASP (Associated School Project) 【 Objectives 】 To realize the UNESCO doctrine and promote both peace and international cooperation through practical application at schools. Domestically: Construction of a network between schools and exchanges of information Regionally: Strengthening regional solidarity Globally: Promotion of information exchanges, strengthening solidarity 【 Main Themes 】 - Understanding global-scale problems - International understanding education, World Heritage education, environmental education and education for human rights, democracy and tolerance, etc. Network Link to the World Unified Promotion of ESD-based Contents and ASPs The Ministry of Education (MEXT), Japan TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

41. Under the initial proposal • Implement an educational exchange program between UNESCO Associated Schools, preferably at tertiary level, at first nationally, then regionally and globally to build up learning networks by ICT where applicable. • Focus on EFA/ESD-oriented curriculum and set up a subject for collaborative or problem-based learning such as on ecology, global climatic change, peace, conflict resolution, gender equality, etc. • Use OER, and whatever resources available such as OSS where PC and the Internet may be available or, if no broadband, use conventional communications media devices TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

42. A Sample - useful learning resources openly available in multi (14) languages for ESD Whale Tomb – Picture-card Story TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

43. Objectives • Facilitating capacity building in teachers, • Cultivatinig human resources (e.g., media/ICT literate) needed for local development, • Setting proper learning environment for education for sustainable development. TCU-IEC 2014- Bangkok

44. Revitalization of Academic Retirees as a source of Soft Power There are a number of ‘Openly-available, Educationally-resourceful Retirees’ who are: • healthy, mentally fit and energetic, • not in need of money, • frustrated in the retirement life, • willing to share their experiences and wisdom, and to continue involved in and contribute to knowledge society, • hence potentially a source for Soft Power TCU - Bangkok 2011

45. Keys in utilizing retired academics • Help the retirees maintain their mental health by fulfilling their desire to continue to be involved and contribute • Non-paid, • Strictly voluntary-basis, • No power game allowed, • Proper leadership and lead institution TCU - Bangkok 2011

46. Mechanisms to substantiate the idea Initial Proposal: • network-building of retired academics • through the existing database of retirees • by individual registration with expertise • and collaboration with academic societies, NPOs, e.g., the International Society for Volunteer Studies of Japan, J-ESD, etc. TCU - Bangkok 2011

47. Coping with crisis situation In case of emergency Open Educational Resources (Contents and Retirees) would be of use: • for rendering assistance to the incumbent in higher education system with their hands occupied, • for providing teaching and learning environments at different levels and settings of education, • for preserving cultural heritage and artifacts, • for easing the digital divide existing between individuals, communities, regions as the OER dose not necessarily require an environment with bandwidth, TCU - Bangkok 2011

48. Thank you for your attention Khawp khun khrap Arigatou Toshio Kobayashi, Professor Emeritus The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI) www.toshio-kobayashi.com TCU - Bangkok 2011