EDGEX 2012 The Disruptive Educational Research Conference

EDGEX 2012, part of the annual Emerging Directions in Global Education conference, focuses on cutting edge research in education. The two main conference themes are Learning X.0 (a moniker for the continuous evolution in thought and experimentation in Learning), and Serious Games and Simulations (which signify rich and high quality learning experiences on different platforms).

The genesis of this conference goes back to 2008, when George Siemens, Stephen Downes and Dave Cormier decided to put the new learning theory of Connectivism, which George founded and the idea of Connective Knowledge (that Stephen conceived of), to the test. Connectivism, as a theory suggested to be more suitable for the digital age than existing theories of cognitivism and constructivism, posits that learning is the process of making connections (between ideas, resources, people) and that knowledge cannot be thought of as being created and transferred from teacher to student as if it were a finite consumable object, but should be thought instead, to be like a network of connections or patterns; or like Dave Cormier believes, like a rhizome which has no centre.

They started up an experiment called a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in 2008 to invite the entire world to come in and debate the merits or demerits of their thinking. More than 2200 people from all over the world joined the MOOC which ran for 3 months. Before they started, they took feedback from the participants about the structure and agenda of interactions. Each week there would be a list of online readings/videos and other resources that would be made available to participants. There would also be two online virtual talk/discuss sessions where participants could engage in conversation. There would be guest experts who would drop in and talk about a specific dimension relevant to the central theme of the course. The online platform was supported by discussion groups, daily feed aggregator and an open invitation to choose your own channel of communication and technology.

The CCK08 MOOC where I invested a considerable amount of time and energy (http://learnoscck08.wordpress.com), was for me equally bewildering and enchanting. It was quite different, in an uncomparable sense, from how I had learnt in the past. The experience of CCK08, and of many subsequent MOOCs that I attended, brought alive for me what learning and teaching could be – and at scale, and with diversity. Having been engaged with the thinkers that the MOOCs have connected me with, and learning from them every moment, has really democratized the process of learning for me.

In many ways, and very presciently, it comprehensively defines and explains what is happening in the education world today – particularly from the shining examples like Salman Khan’s work and the work of Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig from Stanford (“the Stanford AI Class which attracted over 100,000+ registrants). There is, and I liken it to the return of the Indian gurukul system, immense potential in disrupting the current paradigm and basing new innovative ones on complex adaptive systems like the MOOC. The focus shifts from the classroom and the course to the learning ecology itself.

In a world where rising population pressures (particularly as those that will emerge from less developed countries of today), vast inequality, gender disparities, load on economic conditions and so many other social, economic and political considerations demand that education systems respond effectively to scale and diversity, the theory of Connectivism poses one, possibly large, fragment of the overall solution. And that is precisely why it marks a disruption.

Meanwhile, the person who coined the term eLearning, Jay Cross, was working on Informal Learning. Jay believes that learning systems and pedagogies that embrace complexity and less of formal structures for learning, will be the future of education. His focus on Learnscapes, complex adaptive ecosystems for learning, promises to bring informal learning to the forefront and marks an equally resounding disruptive influence on education today.

Over the past few years, other researchers and practitioners like Martin Weller, Grainne Conole, Jon Dron, Alec Couros, Alicia Sanchez, Les Foltos and Clark Quinn, have worked on many new dimensions of what learning can be. Whether it is new perspectives on design, or new ways to harness high quality simulations and serious games, or design of ubiquitous learning frameworks, these experts have led the way in redefining boundaries. Many interesting speakers from India bring out the new directions in K12 education, new age assessments, teacher education, social collaborative learning and many other aspects, highlighting the key role of innovation in education for India.

As part of the event, we have also invited entrepreneurs to come forward and showcase their disruption in front of an international audience of researchers, investors, peers and other stakeholders. This will be a great opportunity to get feedback and discuss your ideas with others, who share the same passion about education as you do.

Registration details (early bird rebates till February 20) are available on the website at www.edgex.in. Please do send us your feedback or connect with us at edgex2012@edgex.in.

Let’s disrupt!

 

March 12-14, 2012
India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
www.edgex.in - Twitter: @EDGEXConference

 

About the Organizer

Viplav is an eLearning Researcher, Entrepreneur and Innovator. He writes, not infrequently, at his blog – learnos.wordpress.com. He is the Lead Organizer for the EDGEX Conference. Twitter: @ViplavBaxi