Logged on to Learning: Internet and LifeLong Learning

1. KULDEEP NAGICollege of Internet Distance Learning (CIDE)Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand 10240 Logged on to Learning: Internet and LifeLong Learning

2. Born in India, US citizen Lived in Seattle, WA, USA for +25 Years 1 Year Fulbright Fellowship Award – 2006 to work at Assumption University About Me

3. About Assumption University- Bangkok C AMPUS

4. Agenda • What is meant by LifeLong eLearning (LLL)? • 2. Internet and LifeLong Learning- New Contexts & New Resources • 3. Social Networks & LLL • 4. Conclusions • Q & A

5. 1. What is meant by LifeLong learning?

6. Learning is defined as acquiring a new skill or knowledge. What is learning? • For example: • Learning to ride a bike • Learning a foreign language • Learning to play a sport • Learning a new skill or a hobby e.g. Cooking or photography • Learning to communicate better • Learning a new technology

7. By- Taking or attending a class Reading books or magazines Watching T.V. or movies Listening to radio Playing games Socializing with other people Surfing the Internet…! How do we learn?

8. LLL before the advent of the Internet was provided by: (Scenario from USA) University T.V. networks Public Television Services in USA Correspondence courses Community College Extension Programs Technical & Vocational Institutes University Extension Programs Non Profit Organizations- YMCA, YWCA and many more

9. What is LifeLong Learning in age of Internet? • LifeLong Learning is about learning through digital connections and peer collaboration enhanced by technologies driving Web 2.0 in which users or learners are empowered to search, create, and collaborate in order to fulfill their own intrinsic needs to learn new information. • The biggest change is that in LLL users or learners are not just consumers, but content producers and creators.

10. Benefits of LifeLong Learning Updating knowledge Developing new skills & competencies Handling the rapid change Acquiring insight and foresight Understanding current developments Personal, professional & intellectual development Maintaining competitiveness, employability & productivity Promoting social inclusion Promoting freedom of expression and opinion Improving personal choices and options Enabling adaptation to the new information society Creating highly skilled work force & strong societies

11. Subject Specialization Interdisciplinary Collaboration LLL On the job training Knowledge Sharing Goals of LifeLong Learning LLL has 4-main goals: Knowledge Sharing, On the job training,Interdisciplinary Collaboration & Subject Specialization

12. 21st Century & Forces of Change Information explotion Technological developments CONSTANT CHANGE Scientific developments Globalization Information dependency 12

13. 2. Internet and LifeLong learning- New Contexts and Resources

14. Many Lifelong Learning and Training programs are now setup for a virtual learning environment (VLE). Based on the current trends we can divide learning in four major categories. This prototypical classification is based on the Sloan Consortium papers and is depicted in Table-1 given below. It also extend the details of slides shown earlier. Changes in the learning mode Table-1 Mode of Delivery

15. Changes in Internet Usage • It is a well known fact that in last decade using Internet technologies is more of an expectation than a novelty for today’s population living in Asia. Internet Users in Asia According to internetworldstats.com in 2011 about 45% of the users of Internet reside in Asia. It is evident that the Internet has also become an integral part of LLL in terms of accessing learning resources, communicating with peers and friends, and its overall usage.

17. Cloud Computing: New Technologies & trends • The concept of cloud computing is • based on a new paradigm in which of • data and applications reside in the • Network/Internet, not in the devices • owned by a users. Any portable • device can now be used to connect to • the Internet. There are three key • drivers in CC that are creating a new • facility for LLL. • Production of new content • Access to new content • New mode of storage of content Cloud Computing

18. 3. Social Networks and LifeLong learning?

19. Social Networks and LifeLong Learning • Social networking sites, over the past few years, have increased in popularity so much that many are wondering why. • The foremost reason why these sites have increased in popularity is because they are free to use. They do not charge a single penny to create an account, update status or to upload pictures and videos. • The state-of-the-art features and moreover the ability to socialize with friends without spending a penny appeals people a lot.   • Above all, social networking sites are now subscribed by huge number of people with varied interests. As a result, Social networking sites continue to rise in popularity and has become a significant platform for LifeLong Learning

20. Social Networks Penetration in Asia- Facebook example As of June 2011 in Asia 4% of the total population of 3,879,740,87 which is about 152,957,480 people now uses Facebook for exchanging ideas, photos, videos and everything else they come across. It has become a major playing field for all activities related directly or indirectly to LLL. There are many national and regional Social Networks in China, Korea and Japan that are subscribed by local population. Similarly there are many local Blog sites that have millions of subscribers in various countries in Asia. A chart given in the next slide provides some information about various Social Networks. Facebook Penetration in Asia

21. Various Social Networks Evidence shows that the increasing use of the Internet and Social Networks will likely lead to the desired impact for LLL because people learn best from: Shared resources Peer support and working together and Through formal and informal networks And the Internet provides these resources

22. Twice a year (in June and in December), social media strategist Vincenzo Cosenza updates his ‘world map of social networks’, in which he shows what the most popular social network is in now 137 countries worldwide – at least according to a combination of Alexa and Google Trends for Websites traffic data. As of June 2012 Facebook is the most prominent social network. According to the traffic data examined by Cosenza, Facebook is widely used in 126 out of the 137 countries that were analyzed. Europe is the largest contingent on Facebook with 232 million users, while North America has 222 million and the whole of Asia boasts 219 million users (source: Facebook Ads Platform)..

23. Dominance of Facebook is not a huge surprise, but for the record: - V Kontakte and Odnoklassnikiremain strong in Russian-speaking countries- Tencent’s QZone is still king of the hill in China- Vietnam’s most popular social network is Zing- People in Iran seemingly prefer Cloob over Facebook- Draggledisthe top dog in Latvia And here’s a table that shows who is the second most dominant social networks in various European countries, the United States, Brazil, China, India, Russia, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and Japan. Looks like LinkedIn, Badoo and Twitter are currently duking it out for the #2 spot, with only a few exceptions.

24. 4. Conclusions

25. In Conclusion: • LLL is has been a natural process but Internet has bought drastic changes in accessing learning resources and the way we learn. e.g. Khanacademy, Wikipedia, ITuneU, Stanford, MITx and Harvard and You-Tube, so many other on-line Virtual Communities have changed the way we learn and share knowledge and life experiences • With the improved connectivity to the cloud or the Internet the LLL is becoming a self-perpetuating process- the more successful it is, the more successful it becomes. • With the increasing penetration of the Internet and various on-line services such as Social Networks and other web depositories, the LLL is drastically changingin its pace as well as its quality. • LLL is not a academic paradigm anymore, Internet has made it a reality. One can learn anything from anywhere at anytime, at any age and stage, all we need is a Internet connection…

26. Questions & Answers

27. Thank You College of Internet Distance Education (CIDE) Assumption University Thailand, Bangkok DrKuldeep@Live.com