{"id":1812,"date":"2014-05-16T15:37:56","date_gmt":"2014-05-16T15:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/telsocsci\/?p=1812"},"modified":"2025-02-26T13:16:21","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T13:16:21","slug":"the-blackboard-teaching-and-learning-conference-two-views-of-learner-centred","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/telsocsci\/blackboard\/the-blackboard-teaching-and-learning-conference-two-views-of-learner-centred\/","title":{"rendered":"The Blackboard Teaching and Learning Conference – two views of ‘learner-centred’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ubiquitous<\/a>
\nphoto credit: ransomtech<\/a> via photopin<\/a> cc<\/a><\/p>\n

The idea of putting learners at the centre of learning was a theme that ran through many of the presentations, including the main Blackboard corporate presentations at the Blackboard Teaching and Learning Conference in Dublin at the beginning of May. However, I noticed two different views of \u2018student-centred\u2019 learning.<\/p>\n

The corporate view<\/h3>\n

The Blackboard \u2018Roadmap\u2019 presentation emphasised their new or improved collaborative and social features, ‘putting the learner in control of their learning\u2019. They\u00a0are making efforts to be responsive to their local markets, and are not so American-centric as they used to be. The whole \u2018Blackboard experience\u2019 is moving at a steady medium pace toward replicating people\u2019s day-to-day online experience. The result has been some great improvements in the way Blackboard looks and works. It\u2019s becoming more slick, less \u2018clunky\u2019 and linear. But their view of ‘learner-centred’ means having the learner in a confined space where they can be managed and monitored throughout their Higher Education. Basically, \u00a0\u2018learner-centred\u2019 is a euphemism for \u2018proprietary lock-in\u2019, while creating more \u2018individualised learning\u2019 via the exploitation of learning analytics. Blackboard are not alone in having this view of ‘learner-centred’.<\/p>\n

The educators’ view<\/h3>\n

For the educators \u2018learner-centred\u2019 was about looking at what the students do, and what technology they use, and trying to find a pedagogical fit. For example, Professor Stephen Heppell\u2019s keynote described his work aimed at enabling and trusting the learner to take part in the design of their learning spaces, with learning as a bottom-up collaborative process. The result is more enjoyable learning and better outcomes. It\u2019s a familiar theme from Professor Heppell\u2019s work<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The theme of student centredness carried on in several of the workshops I attended. Most interesting for me was Brian Hipkin\u2019s<\/a> session – ‘The Culture of Always On<\/a> – How not to Disengage in the Age of Engagement’. It took a refreshing view of students\u2019 use of mobile devices, and learner-centredness. The main point made is that people want to engage, it is a natural human drive to want to connect with others, and mobile technology is a means of doing it.<\/p>\n

Brian rejects the idea that today\u2019s young people are \u2018digital natives<\/a>\u2019, instead they are ‘unconsciously competent’ with their technology, they can use their devices to connect and to find information which threatens the traditional university model of ‘I know more than you’. Reflecting Stephen Heppell\u2019s view that learners need a space in which they can share and collaborate, Brian suggested that what universities should do for their learners is provide fast wireless connectivity and somewhere to plug in devices and work together, instead of building rooms full of PCs at great expense.<\/p>\n

He\u00a0thinks that \u2018the internet generation have graduated and the smartphone generation have arrived\u2019. Students are ‘always on’, they are constantly checking their phones – \u2018tethered\u2019 to technology and always accessible. If we are to engage them we need to understand and capitalise on their ways of using\u00a0mobile devices\u00a0by pushing timely information to them, such as:<\/p>\n