The next step would be to get connected. Let me explain.

While getting the needed content, for example, a Math course for High School, would probably be God-sent in un-served regions, updating the content later on would always come up. Evaluating the effectiveness of such a course, one would likely change things. If we follow the ADDIE process for instructional design, then this would serve as the input for another iteration of the course. From previous experience, this cycle is seldom repeated, or the evaluation disregarded or forgotten.  If you are like most people, you would consider that portion done and move on to the next.

If “getting connected” on the other hand doesn’t follow the ADDIE process. The ensuing conversation allows freedom to do the updates on the fly. With open content, anybody can immediately mix-mash-re-create even while the original content is still being used.

Now, I’m convinced that going social, connected should be part of my free e-learning school goals.

Otherwise, they might die a natural death, stagnate and wither.

On that note, I’m getting active on social websites, including in the e-learning areas. I’ve joined Learning Town, Connectivism Online Course and Ning in Education and frequent other communities.

Let’s see what we can learn.

These are being addressed in various ways by many sectors of society and there have been great strides but we still have a long way to go.

On that note, the question that comes to mind is

“How do we catch up, particularly in the field of education and e-learning?”

I have ideas for sure, as most would. But wouldn’t it be cool if somebody validated these theories?

The e-learning revolution for many of the middle-to-lower income countries has hardly taken root yet the rapid changes just seem to get faster.

Some worriers would say “Oh we can’t catch up.  We’ve hardly master productivity tools and now you tell us about Second Life, Classroom20.com and Edupunk.”

On the other hand, I can say “We may not be the forerunners of these tools but maybe we can leap frog to the more current and better practices , tools and  implementations instead of going through the pains of e-learning 1.0. Yes, we must have the fundamentals first (understanding pedagogy, use of technology) but we sure can use dynamic social web sites that are learner centered rather than use html code, right?”

There is no need to re-invent the wheel. Just make sure you know how to drive first.

• Moodle in a Flash (Disk)
• School in a Flash (Disk)
• Flash School
• Portable Learning (or eLearning)

The name doesn’t matter much at this point. What I’m more excited about are the possibilities.

Dreams do come true.

A few weeks after I first encountered Moodle (Version 1.3 or 1.5 was it?), I dreamt of the possibility of a “bring-anywhere school” (another name?). The 1:1 computer-to-child ratio for schools is still a big challenge but most places would have access to one. And solid-state disks were beginning to get  cheaper then. The emergence of low-cost computers provides a brighter glimmer of hope. Yet the availability of internet access is a bigger concern now.

It was just bound to happen, making Moodle portable. Though it is now reality, the main concern has always been content.

The Moodle in a Flash Disk implementation I used was of the WOS Portable kind from CHSoftware, packaged by VLEMiddleware.

In a recent Philippine E-Learning Society forum, I made a presentation entitled: “e-Learning: Open, Free and …“. Instead of using Powerpoint, Impress or Keynote, I used Moodle and just composed web pages for topics. There was a little glitch at first, since the PC I used went into sleep mode and I had to refresh the login.

So I went though the motions of Open Source tools like Moodle, Wink, GIMP, Jashaka. I also spoke about Free and Open Content, mentioning the MIT OCW, Cape Town Declaration and other initiatives abroad and locally.

The discussion I gave was nothing really new. Then I made a “one more thing” ala Steve Jobs when he got the manila envelop and introduced the Macbook Air. I paraphrase:

<blockquote>”Oh by the way, my topic is not really about e-learning being free and open. It’s about the dots. The dots in the title actually mean portable. Ladies and gentlemen, you may be wondering why I chose Moodle as my presentation software. It was to demonstrate that we can now have a school in s flash disk. Moodle in a Flash (Disk).</blockquote>

Being the timid race we are, there was no applause or “oohs” nor  “ahhs” but it was clear that this has opened a lot of possibilities.

E-learning has become Free, Open and Portable.

The challenge now is content. As it was before.

I assume many will oppose this for various reasons. Their arguments may be valid (or not), but I have my reasons, too.

First, it will create content. If there are a thousand students who will create at least a one-hour module based on the current curriculum, that’s one thousand hours of possible content for a free elearning school. Done yearly, you can see how this will greatly help our educational system.

Second, it will develop instructional design skills. Aside from using it in their future teaching careers, it could open up new avenues and opportunities. Instructional designers are or will be in demand as more and more companies will see the benefit of elearning. Already, Indian companies are raking in profits from their BPO operations for custom courses requested by companies all over the world.

Third, it will prepare them for the inevitability of integrating elearning in the education system. While it is not mandatory at present to use technology when teaching, a few years down the road will give us low-cost, affordable, technology that works well with any mode of learning. No one wants to be caught flat-footed when this comes.

Fourth, educating them with the mindset of sharing open content brings them closer to the bigger global community. It gives them the opportunity to contribute to society even before they start their careers.

Simple and doable.

Any takers?

This is my drive telling me to take action.

It’s been several years since I’ve first realized that I would want to build a free elearning school. Initially for high school and trade (or practical/vocational) school. There is nothing concrete yet.

So far, I’ve managed to read a lot about technology, pedagogy, Web 2.0, open source, OER, OLPC - things that seem to be related to what I’ve dreamed. I’ve blogged about it here, and was awakened by a comment: What have you got to show.

I somehow reasoned that my being a member of PeLS was strategic towards my goal. But deep inside, I know I’ve been sleeping.

This site was put up to become a repository of content for the school of my dreams. As you can see, nothing is here yet.

I imagined a “sea-ish” theme, “pirate-y” even. The header showing a dock and several ships anchored safely, flags unfurled, of various colors. The blog is Web 2.0 (in a liberal sense). A lighter shade of blue, rounded corners and links to the great OER resources.

Contributors come in from all over, giving their work for free, benefiting from the existing content. One year into the project, I’ve got almost 10 GB of sorted, tagged, accounted, arranged, reviewed and approved data. From the posted curriculum, only a handful needs filling, projected to be finished within a month.

Beta testing shows a few bugs, but the portability aspect has been proven: Moodle in a USB is a go. Though the courses are available online, they can be downloaded into a 4 GB thumb drive including DSL or PuppLinux, AMP, Moodle, Firefox and other open-source applications.

*sigh*

Okay, time to face the real world. Starting from nothing, I’m starting right now.

Then I come back to my locale, where schools, teachers and textbooks are sorely lacking. Men and women from age 5 to 55 would love to attend classes yet choose to toil in the fields so they will have something to eat.

Yet I am hopeful that one day, a flash disk and a low-cost computer would be able to mitigate these circumstances.

I believe dreams can come true. This is one such dream

A long time ago, I wondered: “With all the resources in the internet, why hasn’t anybody thought of getting all of them in one place. Wouldn’t it be just a matter of asking for permission, sorting, reviewing, approving and posting in a CMS like Moodle?”. Now I know it was naive thinking that the job would be easy. But still, the concept is feasible.

Educational resources are plenty and free, there is a multitude of willing contributors and volunteers, the technology needed exists.

Now, more than ever, every man, woman and child on the face of the earth need to learn. To eliminate poverty, to reduce debt, to stop global warming, to get a job, to live longer, to help family, to invent, to innovate, to uplift current conditions, to stop terrorism, to foster understanding, to have one peaceful world.

A life of continuous learning. Learning about life continuously.

Join here. I did.