UFIE8Y-IS Dissertation

To what extent is government policy likely to make effective use of emerging technologies in fostering lifelong learning?

dissertation by Ian Cutts

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Ian Cutts

INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................5 GOVERNMENT POLICY..............................................................................................7 FROM LEARNING TO ELEARNING............................................................................7 EPOLICY ......................................................................................................................7 ANALYSIS & CONCLUSIONS.....................................................................................7 APPENDICES................................................................................................................I REFERENCES...............................................................................................................I PROJECT PLAN............................................................................................................I PROJECT LOG.............................................................................................................II

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Education is the best economic policy we have.

Rt Hon Tony Blair MP (1998)

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Introduction
Background The title of this dissertation is based on the assertion that lifelong learning has emerged as a vital tool not only for educating the population but also to provide economic stability. This chapter will set out what policy, emerging technologies and lifelong learning are. What is Policy? The Oxford dictionary describes policy as course or principle of action adopted or proposed by an organization or individual (2007). It would appear from this statement that policy is simple course of action in this case taken on by the government. It is, however, more complicated as policy takes in to account the past, events such as the unpredictable 9/11, the future and the electorate not to mention the private sector that are all too commonly funding the government. From this we can deduce that government policy is a complex beast worthy of investigation. New Labours mantra of education, education, education (Blair, 1997) remains to be tested by the measuring the success of the younger generations coming up through the education system and the older generations in both formal and informal education. Internet technologies Coupled with government learning initiatives comes the state of Internet technologies; facilitating exciting new applications and enabling more people to become integrated into the learning society. Gone are the days of a job for life where one could start a job straight from school and continue it until retirement. It is imperative that we embrace these technologies to succeed in global markets that the Internet affords. Lifelong learning In a memorandum on lifelong learning by the European Commission (2000) the benefits of lifelong learning were said to contribute to promoting both employability and active citizenship and combating social exclusion. In addition to these benefits six key messages were departed: 1. New basic skills for all To increase the average level of education; 2. More investment in human resources To raise the value of human capitol; 3. Innovation in teaching and learning To experiment with and embrace new technologies as an aid to learning; 4. Valuing Learning To promote awareness amongst citizens about new methods of learning and improve systems for recognising education; 5. Rethinking guidance and counselling Making information more accessible as well as agreeing standards globally; 6. Bringing learning closer to home Producing more centres for education and increasing broadband Internet access; 18/11/2011 page 5

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Uptake of these measures will improve the learning network of citizens and provide a framework within which to work to in the coming years. Aims and Objectives This project aims to analyse government educational policy and discover how well it is working within the context of lifelong elearning. It will also investigate what is happening at grass roots level and how this may be affecting policy. How are the practitioners of learning adapting? It aims to highlight what opportunities are available as well as those that may have been missed. The paper further aims to investigate different learning styles and how these can be tailored using the emerging technologies of elearning. The motivation for my choosing this topic was that being a mature student it has great relevance to my personal circumstances. Scope The scope of the investigation in terms of policy will be to study the New Labour government in England ranging from their election in 1997 to 2007, a decade later. What did they set out to achieve? Have they succeeded? How did the explosion of the Internet affect policy? What are their latest ideas and thinking? In as far as learning goes the dissertation will focus on adult learning. Methodology The literature will be taken from written sources primarily located in the Bolland Library at UWE, Bristol as well as its sister libraries dotted around the local area. Furthur literature will be downloaded in the form of electronic journals from such databases as Science Direct, IEEE Xplore and Web of Knowledge. Google Scholar has already proved a useful resource too. Other methods of research will include keeping abreast of current affairs in the form of the BBC website and newspapers, speaking to peers, staff and if necessary conducting interviews and primary research. Finally, I have studied previous students dissertations primarily for structural assistance but occasionally for inspirational content too! Structure The structure of the report will be as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Introduction Literary review of Government Policy Identify and explain current theories of types and styles of learning Application of current theories to the findings of the literature Analysis & Conclusions

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Government Policy

From learning to elearning

ePolicy

Analysis & Conclusions

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Appendices References
A memorandum on Lifelong Learning http://www.niace.org.uk/Organisation/Advocacy/memorandum/Default.htm [Accessed 8/11/07: on-line] Department for Education (DfEE) - The Learning Age a renaissance for a new Britain http://www.lifelonglearning.co.uk/greenpaper/ [Accessed 8/11/07: on-line] AskOxford.com http://www.askoxford.com [Accessed 13/11/07: on-line]

Project Plan
The plan is a follows: Date November Christmas January early February Late February early March Late March April 5th Target Complete Introduction and continue compiling literary research Get bulk of reading done and references compiled Workload will be diminished due to exams / start chapter 2 Finish Chapter 2 Start Chapter 3 Finish Chapter 4 Produce Analysis / Conclusions / Final Draft Bind and hand in

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Project log
Prior to starting my log I have spent a number of hours researching the subject of the Digital Divide focussing on education. None of these hours are booked but anyone wishing to discuss the Digital Divide please feel free to contact me as I feel I have a lot to offer and have made a good reference list also. Transcriptions, albeit, not wordperfect are available on request for all supervisor meetings. Due to data protection this would need to be cleared with the Brian Pertheram too. Date/Time 25/10/07 3-3.30 27/10/07 3hrs 01/11/07 3-3.30 04/11/07 All-day 05/11/07 10-10.20 Notes Supervisor meeting 1 Initial meeting with Brian. Discussed my informal proposal title of an Investigation into the Digital Divide and it transpired that this was more of a genre than a dissertation title. Spent my time reading books and Internet references on the Digital Divide with a slant towards education and adjusted my project title to reflect this. Supervisor meeting 2 Brian has managed to steer me away from the Digital Divide and Education per se as he points out there is a neglible divide in education and that as it is a IS dissertation it cannot be based solely on education Really racking my brains now. The formal proposal is due in next Thursday and I am meeting Brian tomorrow. Many Internet references have been uncovered and the topic is heading in the direction of government policy and Internet technologies Supervisor meeting 3 Finally some focus is coming into my project. A topic area is evolving and some specific questions and aims are forming. I am finding these meetings absolutely essential. In addition I am starting to form boundaries as to what is not going to be in the project Formal Proposal Hand in date 2.00pm Supervisor meeting 4 Spoke to Brian about chapter structure and what makes a good dissertation. He referred me to the handout from Anne to use as a bible and to go to the library to study the structure of other dissertations Worked on my introduction fairly unsuccessfully as it was late and I was tired. Need to visit library tomorrow and study dissertations Visited library to look at dissertation structures Liked Shelona A and Matt Rodwell 2nd shelf down and 2nd and 3rd box in respectively moved dissertations to front on boxes and copied some structures Returned home to work on introduction

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13/11/07 1 hour 14/11/07 12.00-4.00

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