My recent contribution to DESD...

Here is an excerpt of my posting to the list, please do comment! :-)

I took part in a course on Pedagogy for Online Learning (POL) [part of the UNU Global Virtual University] (in the ESD context) so was able to be a 'participant-observer'. We had participants from around the world...

The analyses were informed by a systems model of ESD across three sectors of education - Education, Commerce and Organisations - which was called GESSD-ECO. Each sub-system had four stakeholder levels hence I was interested in how five categories of factors impinged upon communications between these levels.

Broadly the conclusions were thus categorised into Pedagogical, Organisational, Economic, Technological and Socio-cultural (which also included political and personal) factors or POETS ...

The final Working Paper is available on the UNU-IAS website or amongst my other publications (pdfs, 956 kb). You can also find the data and research proposal at the latter site.

The conclusions can be found on pages 49 to 53 and general conclusions on page 58 and are repeated here for your convenience:

1. Virtual organisations, particularly trans-national ones, bring unique organisational issues, for example, International Quality Assurance.
2. Virtual organisations can learn from physical ones, for example with regard to institutional mechanisms of collaboration, such as employing clear communication channels.
3. It is important to not be idealistic but pragmatic in e-learning.
4. The Digital Divide is an issue for Developing Countries although for some it is being addressed.
5. More research is required, particularly practical mechanisms of running courses and appropriate organisational structures.
6. Open approaches may be beneficial in e-learning, that is, in terms of pedagogy, technology and content.
7. 'Glocalisation' helps reorient knowledge to a local context and helps recognise multi-culturalism.
8. Social-constructivism should be cautiously employed, it may be unwelcome or problematic in non 'Western' education.
9. Personal lives affect online students just as much as face-to-face students but more so in Developing Countries.
10. Participation in e-learning can lead to performance improvements (as measured by assessments).