Networked Learning: An Emerging Paradigm for Higher Education in the 21st Century

This presentation will address contemporary changes of higher education (HE) in the perspective of changes of society on a global level more generally, and Swedish conditions more specifically. The notion of networked learning is used as an integrating concept for this change. The first part will describe the state-of-the-art of higher education, how HE is challenged and changed both in terms of expansion, organization and pedagogy. Distance education, virtual institutions and more generally networked learning in various forms are discussed as one of the answers to those challenges. In this development the changing demands on HE to support the development of a broad range of competencies in students highlighted, in the perspective on life-long learning. In the second part networked learning is presented implying both a change of the organization of learning, the infrastructures and resources adopted and the models of learning and instruction employed. It is argued that we need to design, build and maintain learning environments and learning practices that have a stable institutional foundation, as well as being open to continuous changes. In the third part the transition of pedagogical models during the last decades is described. From more traditional models of education and instruction emphasizing knowledge transfer and acquisition to models putting the learners participation in learning practices at the heart of education. How these ideas are built into practical pedagogical models for networked learning is discussed, where we argue for an approach that encompass both acquisition and participation. The third part is addressing questions of how information and communication technology plays a crucial part for this development both on an infrastructural level and on the level of specific tools and resources. This includes questions of the adoption of information- and communication technology in HE, schools and society more generally. The last part provides examples of networked learning from the Northern European context that are prototypical of this change. The foundation of for this is developmental work and research done over the last ten years in Sweden. As a background for this a short overview of HE in Sweden and what characterized Sweden as a knowledge and information society is presented.

کلیدواژه ها:

Networked learning ، higher education ،