Innovating Pedagogy

Following the model of development of the very successful Horizon Report, and in the vein of CORE's ten trends, the Open University have just released the first of a series of reports that explores new forms of teaching, learning and assessment for an interactive world, to guide teachers and policy makers in productive innovation. Innovating Pedagogy 2012 proposes ten innovations that are already in currency but have not yet had a profound influence on education.

The report was produced by a group of academics at the Institute of Educational Technology in The Open University who first proposed a long list of new educational terms, theories, and practices. These were then pared these down to ten that have the potential to  provoke major shifts in educational practice, particularly in postschool education. (They have not deliberately excluded school education, but that is not specifically the area of expertise of the OU). Lastly, they drew on published and unpublished writings to compile the ten sketches of new pedagogies that might transform education. These are summarised below in rough order of immediacy and timescale to widespread implementation.

1. Personal inquiry learning  – Learning through collaborative inquiry and active investigation
2. Seamless learning  – Connecting learning across settings, technologies and activities
3. MOOCs – Massive open online courses
4. Assessment for learning  – Assessment that supports the learning process through diagnostic feedback
5. New pedagogy for e-books – Innovative ways of teaching and learning with next-generation e-books
6. Publisher-led short courses – Publishers producing commercial short courses for leisure and professional development
7. Badges to accredit learning  – Open framework for gaining recognition of skills and achievements
8. Rebirth of academic publishing  – New forms of open scholarly publishing 
9. Learning analytics – Data-driven analysis of learning activities and environments
10. Rhizomatic learning – Knowledge constructed by self-aware communities adapting to environmental conditions

There's plenty here to stimulate the thinking of anyone who has an eye to future focused trends and developments. What I find useful about this publication is (a) the explanation provided of each of these innovations, and (b) the way the team look beyond the technological innovation to explore the pedagogical benefit(s) and potential of these things. Like the Horizon Report, there is also a list of links to further readings and examples at the end of each innovation. 

As noted also, while the focus is on tertiary education primarily, it's not difficult to see the applicability of many of these innovations in the compulsory schooling sector.