Keynote on 2 June 2017 at the Learning Carnival – Celebrating Innovation and Excellence in Teaching and Learning Hosted by North-West University @Mmabatho Palms, Mahikeng, South Africa

1. (De)constructing [online]*
learning: Salvation, stigma
and/or snake oil
By Paul Prinsloo
University of South Africa (Unisa)
@14prinsp
Image credit:
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/full_width/public/thumbnails/image/pia17655.jpg?itok=RNxygqm8
Keynote on 2 June 2017 at the Learning Carnival – Celebrating
Innovation and Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Hosted by North-West University @Mmabatho Palms, Mahikeng,
South Africa

2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I do not own the copyright of any of the images in this
presentation. I hereby acknowledge the original
copyright and licensing regime of every image used. All
the images used in this presentation have been sourced
from a variety of online sources and were labeled for
non-commercial re-use.
This work (excluding the images goverened by their
original licencing) is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

3. Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/rope-knot-tied-twisted-boat-1149730/
[Online]* teaching and learning?
Do we mean:
1. Providing digital resources in an institutional learning management
system (LMS) to support students’ learning with no active online
teaching involved [drop-off-and-go]?
2. Some of the teaching (defined as active, purposeful engagement) is
provided online by faculty*, whether on campus or in a paper-based
distance education delivery mode?
3. All of the teaching (defined as active, purposeful engagement) takes
place online and if students don’t have access to the network/LMS*
they cannot learn?

4. Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/maze-ideas-auto-stop-male-1706852/
How do we understand and engage
with the different claims pertaining to the
potential, hype, risks and affordances of
[online]* learning?

5. What factors should we consider when we
design [online]*
teaching and learning experiences?
Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/maze-graphic-render-labyrinth-2264/

6. Page credit: https://hbr.org/2011/11/how-online-innovators-are-disr
2011

7. Page credit: http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2014/02/online-education
2014

8. 2017
Page credit: https://colttapps.utrgv.edu/eolc/2017/#/home

9. Page credit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/9446127/Distance-learning-The-online-learning-
revolution.html
2012

10. Page credit: http://www.learningrevolution.net/sell-online-courses/

11. Source credit: http://learninglab.sdabocconi.it/files/sito/online-education-tsunami-eng.pdf

12. Imagecredit:https://pixabay.com/en/binary-code-man-display-dummy-face-1327512/
Disruption, revolution and innovation
as weasel words
Image credit: https://www.amazon.com/Watsons-Dictionary-Contemporary-Cliches-Management/dp/1740513215
“Weasel words are words that have been
sucked dry of meaning, they are mere
‘shells’ of words: words from which life
has gone, facsimiles, frauds, corpses.”
“Weasel words are the words of the
powerful, the treacherous and the
unfaithful, spies, assassins and thieves.
Bureaucrats and ideologues love them.
Tyrants [and higher education
bureaucrats] cannot do without them”
(Watson, 2004, pp. 1-2)

13. Imagecredit:https://pixabay.com/en/binary-code-man-display-dummy-face-1327512/
Welcome to the age of spectacle, the era of “post-truth”
and “post-rule”, the race-for-flashy-terms-and-concepts,
a time characterised by an obsession with the latest
trend. It is a time where we believe that educational
technologies can redeem bad teaching, where we
uncritically embrace “Gladwellism” – “The hard sell of a
big theme supported by dubious, incoherent but
dramatically presented evidence”
(Appleyard, 2014).
Appleyeard, B . (2014, April 10). Why futurologists are always wrong – and why we should be sceptical of
techno-utopians. NewStatesman. Retrieved from http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2014/04/why-
futurologists-are-always-wrong-and-why-we-should-be-sceptical-techno-utopians
.

14. Image credit: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13587160-to-save-everything-click-here

15. Page credit: https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/views/2017/05/24/breaking-stigma-online-education

16. Image source credit: https://fareastfling.me/2015/02/18/shinto-shrines-snake-oils/

17. Image credit: ps://fareastfling.me/2015/02/18/shinto-shrines-snake-oils/

18. Image credit: http://consumerwatchdogbw.blogspot.co.za/2012/02/

19. Image credit: http://www.newzimbabwe.com/news-17034-Miracle+oil+a+hit+in+bleak+Zimbabwe/news.aspx

20. Page credit: http://hackeducation.com/2017/05/24/new-normal
“I fear that [the] new normal [technology as
materialised consumerism, choice,
consumption and individualism] what it
might really mean for teaching, for learning,
for scholarship”.

21. Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/town-sign-road-useful-use-822236/
We need to think beyond thinking in binaries, or just
accepting the usefulness of educational technologies or
teaching and learning [online]*

22. Educational technology
“needs to be
understood as a knot of
social, political,
economic and cultural
agendas that is riddled
with complications,
contradictions and
conflicts”
(Selwyn, 2014, p. 6)
Image credit: https://www.amazon.com/Distrusting-Educational-Technology-Critical-Questions/dp/0415708001

23. Page credit: http://er.educause.edu/articles/2017/4/the-rise-of-educational-technology-as-a-sociocultural-and-ideological-phenomenon
“The rise of edtech is underpinned by ideology:
edtech is financially driven, adheres to privatization
of longstanding public structures, desires automated
or pre-packaged contents and processes, and
envisions technology as a solution in and of itself”
George Veletsianos and Rolin Moe (April 10, 2017)

24. Page credit: https://www.insidehighered.com
Veletsianos, G. (2016, May 19)

25. “What I fear, and hope to avoid, is a world where conversations
about educational technology focus solely on individuals (e.g.,
those who use the technology, create the technology, etc.), while
avoiding criticisms of educational technology as an overly
optimistic practice shaped by societal trends.
It’s easy to shift the focus on individuals. It’s easy to blame
teachers for not using technology in participatory ways, faculty
for not employing more progressive digital pedagogies, and
researchers for not publishing in open access venues. But such
blame, such a “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” approach,
ignores the unequal distribution of power in our social systems
and ignores sociocultural and socio-political constraints that
individuals face.”
Veletsianos, G. (2017) https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/higher-ed-gamma/notalledtech-derails-critical-educational-technology-conversations

26. Image credit: http://www.basicknowledge101.com/subjects/reality.html
Let us do a reality check…

27. Source: Twitter, 30 May 2017
1966

28. Source: Twitter, 30 May 2017
1970

29. Page credit: https://www.recode.net/2017/5/25/15689094/mossberg-final-column

30. Page credit: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/the-computer-revolution-is-just-beginning-and-most-of-us-are-
unprepared-20170529-gwfafm
“The concern is that the cultural and
political ramifications of what's taking
place are not understood. Instead,
confusion reigns. Most worryingly, these
issues are not even being probed by the
politicians who will need to deal with
the fallout.”

31. Page credit: https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/may/24/are-we-about-to-witness-the-most-unequal-societies-in-history-yuval-
noah-harari?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits

32. Page credit: https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/may/31/technology-is-making-the-world-more-unequal-only-
technology-can-fix-this-cory-doctorow

33. Page credit: https://www.jisc.ac.uk/news/poor-digital-leadership-will-see-universities-struggle-to-attract-students-24-mar-2017

34. Image location: https://scontent-jnb1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-
9/18620492_1328081900605928_6200516404990980799_n.jpg?oh=ff7892acbecfcff7c1a00a72c1d3796f&oe=59A86652
Is teaching [online]* in service of…?

35. Are all [online]* courses asynchronous?
Do blended/hybrid courses qualify as [online]* courses?
If an [online]* course is not credit-bearing, is it still a
course?
Does a wrapped MOOC qualify as [online]* teaching?
Image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PikiWiki_Israel_35547_Birds_on_a_Wire_2.JPG
So how do we define [online]*
teaching and learning?
Are all [online]* courses also distance education
courses?

36. Page credit: https://www.tonybates.ca/2017/04/25/what-is-online-learning-seeking-
definition/
25 April 2017

37. Distance education courses. Distance education courses are those
where no classes are held on campus – all instruction is
conducted at a distance. Distance education courses may use a
variety of delivery methods, such as print-based, video/audio-
conferencing, as well as internet-based.
Online courses. A form of distance education where the primary
delivery mechanism is via the internet. These could be delivered
synchronously or asynchronously. All instruction is conducted at
a distance.
Synchronous online courses. Courses where students need to
participate at the same time as an instructor, but at a separate
location other than an institutional campus. These courses may
be delivered by video conferencing, web conferencing, audio
conferencing, etc.
Tony Bates (2017). Retrieved from https://www.tonybates.ca/2017/04/25/what-is-online-learning-seeking-definition

38. Asynchronous courses. Courses where students are not required
to participate in any sessions at the same time as the instructor.
These may be print-based courses, or online courses using a
learning management system, for instance.[For the purposes of
this survey] we wish to exclude inter-campus delivery where
students are required to attend a different campus from the
instructor. However, we wish to include delivery via the internet or
other distance technologies to small learning centers in remote
areas.
Online programs. A for-credit program that can be completed
entirely by taking online courses, without the need for any on-
campus classes. These could be delivered synchronously or
asynchronously.
Tony Bates (2017). Retrieved from https://www.tonybates.ca/2017/04/25/what-is-online-learning-seeking-definition

39. Image credit http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13587160-to-save-everything-click-here
Blended/hybrid courses. These are courses designed to combine
both online and face-to-face teaching in any combination. For the
purposes of this questionnaire, we are interested in those courses
where some, but not all, of the face-to-face teaching has been
replaced by online study.
Credit courses. These are courses that lead to institutional credits
(degrees, diplomas, etc.). We wish to include information on all
credit online courses, whether they are managed by a central
service or by individual departments or by Continuing Studies. [For
the purpose of this survey, the focus is primarily on online and
distance courses and programs for credit].
Online contract training. These are online training programs that
may or may not be for credit recognition but are designed to
meet a particular industry or training need.
Tony Bates (2017). Retrieved from https://www.tonybates.ca/2017/04/25/what-is-online-learning-seeking-definition

40. MOOCs. These are massive, open, online
courses. The key features are:
• No fee (except possibly for an end of course
certificate),
• The courses are open to anyone: there is no
requirement for prior academic qualifications
in order to take the course,
• The courses are not for credit.
Tony Bates (2017). Retrieved from https://www.tonybates.ca/2017/04/25/what-is-online-learning-seeking-definition

41. The problem with definitions
Tony Bates (2017). Retrieved from https://www.tonybates.ca/2017/04/25/what-is-online-learning-seeking-definition
Although from about the late 1990s until quite recently,
most online learning was asynchronous, and based
primarily on the use of text-based learning management
systems, that context appears to be rapidly shifting, with
more synchronous approaches either replacing or being
combined with asynchronous learning (another definition
of ‘blended’), and the increasing use of streamed audio
and video. What is already clear from the piloting is that
we are trying to describe a very dynamic and fast changing
phenomenon, and the terminology often struggles to
keep up with the reality of what is happening.

42. Department of Higher Education and Training. (2014). Policy for the provision of distance education in South African universities in the context of
an integrated post-school system. Retrieved from http://www.saide.org.za/sites/default/files/37811_gon535.pdf

43. Department of Higher Education and Training. (2014). Policy for the provision of distance education in South African universities in the context of
an integrated post-school system. Retrieved from http://www.saide.org.za/sites/default/files/37811_gon535.pdf
OfflineOnline Fully online
Fully offline
Digitally supported
Internet supported
Internet dependent
Campus-based Blended/hybrid Remote
A
BC
Distance, digitally supported
Distance, fully onlineCampus-based,
fully online

44. Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/architectural-industrial-design-482687/
What factors should we consider when designing
[online]* teaching and learning experiences?

45. The SECTIONS Model
Image credit: https://www.amazon.com/Effective-Teaching-Technology-Higher-Education/dp/0787960349
• Students: what do we know about them? How appropriate
is our design for them?
• Ease of use and reliability: How easy/reliable is the
technology for both students and faculty?
• Costs: what are the cost implications?
[Also think scale – student: facilitator ratio]
• Teaching and learning: what kind of learning is needed?
What design/approach will serve us (teachers and students)
best? What technologies are appropriate? Disciplinary context?
• Interactivity: what [level of] interactivity is required?
• Organisational issues: Support? Barriers? Requirements?
Buy-in?
• Novelty: How new is this technology?
• Speed: what are the affordances of adopting this technology? Frequent
updates to content/software?

46. Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/doors-choices-choose-open-decision-1587329/
Some concluding remarks

47. More than 60% of the world’s population is still offline, and
“some of the perceived benefits of digital technologies are
offset by emerging risks” such as “polarised labour markets
and rising inequality” with technology “replacing routine jobs,
forcing many workers to compete for low-paying jobs” (World
Bank, 2016, p. 3).
World Bank. (2016). Digital dividends. Washington: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank. Retrieved from
http://www-
wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2016/01/13/090224b08405b9fa/1_0/Rendered/PDF/World0developm0l0d
ividends0overview.pdf
1

48. …those who benefit the most from having access to the
internet are “the better educated, well connected, and more
capable have received most of the benefits—circumscribing the
gains from the digital revolution” (p. 3). While there is a
commitment to make the Internet available and affordable,
“[w]orldwide, some 4 billion people do not have any internet
access, nearly 2 billion do not use a mobile phone, and almost
half a billion live outside areas with a mobile signal” (World
Bank, 2016, p. 4).
2

49. Image credit: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Communication-Power-Manuel-Castells/dp/0199595690
Networks therefore do not only
include, but also exclude and “the cost
of exclusion from networks increases
faster than the benefits of inclusion in
the networks”
(Castells, 2008, p. 42).
Even those who are not connected,
will be affected – networks are power,
and often/mostly perpetuate and
amplify existing inequalities (gender,
race, socio-economic income, capital)
and create new hierarchies of
inequality
3

50. 4
The value of going [online]* does not lie in locking away
content, teaching and learning behind the doors of a
learning management system, but in opening doors,
creating spaces for interrogation and connecting learners
to networks outside of the institution/discipline
Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/lock-old-door-gloomy-mystery-1973640/

51. Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/camera-surveillance-camera-1778861/
Teaching and learning [online]* opens up
unprecedented opportunities for surveillance, spying
and monitoring of faculty and students.
5

52. Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/boards-height-balance-2040575/
6
Teaching and learning [online]* may be a
deeply uncomfortable and tiring experience
for faculty and students

53. 7
Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/old-door-ancient-door-243039/
Going [online]* offers huge opportunities but also
involves risks for faculty and students. Going
[online]* is not, and should not be a simple choice,
but a considered, context-appropriate response in
service of better teaching and learning.

54. Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/empty-abandoned-messy-grunge-scene-863118/
THANK YOU
Paul Prinsloo
Research Professor in Open Distance Learning (ODL)
College of Economic and Management Sciences,
Office number 3-15, Club 1, Hazelwood, P O Box 392
Unisa, 0003, Republic of South Africa
T: +27 (0) 12 433 4719 (office)
T: +27 (0) 82 3954 113 (mobile)
prinsp@unisa.ac.za
Skype: paul.prinsloo59
Personal blog: http://opendistanceteachingandlearning.wordpress.com
Twitter profile: @14prinsp