Meet the actors in the WhereWeLearn

Meet the actors is the output of the work of the Actors article published previously.

These are considerations for WhereWeLearn from different perspectives which influence the build.

This article serves to hopefully demonstrate the concepts in implementation on a specific project.

  • Understanding the project
  • Distributors
  • Facilitators
  • Users

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Understanding the project

Quick description

I’d like to supply free access to guided education for everyone on the planet in their language.

  • Free access, so it’s online.  Not everyone has the internet.  No but it’s the most global communication tool we have currently.
  • Guided education, so it brings together materials from a variety of sources to bring you through a subject
  • In everyone’s language, so has to support every language, even if all the material isn’t yet available in that language.

 

Building the structure

From the big to the small

In order to make this work we have to be able to go from the very big idea to breaking it into very small pieces.  Take this example, where we want to explain part of what you have to know if you want to become a pilot.

Bernoulli’s principle helps explain that an aircraft can achieve lift because of the shape of its wings. They are shaped so that that air flows faster over the top of the wing and slower underneath. Fast moving air equals low air pressure while slow moving air equals high air pressure.

  • Curriculum: I want to be a pilot
  • Subject: Flight
  • Learning Objective (LO): How planes fly
  • Lesson: The theory of flight
  • Material: Wikipedia article – Bernoulli’s principle

These grouping are key to how the solution works.

 

Explanation of small to large

Building from a grain of sand to a beach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqqdDCbSW40

 

The lowest unit on WhereWeLearn is a Material (video, paper, definition, explanation, sound clips, etc) which delivers a Lesson.

Furthermore a lesson or group of lessons can be collated to deliver a Learning Objective.

Learning Objective (LO) is defined as statements that define the expected goal of a curriculum,course, lesson or activity in terms of demonstrable skills or knowledge that will be acquired by a student as a result of instruction. Also known as : Instructional objectives, learning outcomes, learning goals.

Subjects are collections of LOs.

A Curriculum is defined as the subjects comprising a course of study in a school or college.

 

Meet the Actors: Distributors

Parents

Material is very granular and specifically so.  Parents need the ability to decide, filter and review material they want their children to learn from.

The ability to read up and understand what your children are studying is more accessible to you.

Being able to customise learning to your beliefs, way of life and opinion makes the solution a perfect teaching support aid.

Also giving the kids something to explore other than online videos and a very open Google search might just be a gift to your kids and yourself.

Above all no parent should suffer the burden of impossible education bills.

Even more so, our opportunities should not be based on where you’re born or circumstances you’re born into.

I know many amazing parents when considering “meet the actors”.  How can we take away some of your challenges and make your life easier?

WhereWeLearn will help.

 

Teachers

As stated many times before a teacher is an amazing resource and a vital part of any persons learning experience.

I loved my teachers and they shaped my personality and life. If I was to “meet the actors” I can proudly say I know some and they are good people.

Yet there are times when students can’t access teachers through illness or distance.

 

For the project to help teachers it can:

  • Provide alternate materials and ideas for particular areas to enrich lessons.
  • For students unable to attend the teacher can filter and suggest the material to be reviewed.
  • If a student has challenges connecting to / understanding material alternate resources may help
  • Where language is a barrier for a particular subject, a multilingual capability is available.

Someone who can help guide, direct and support a student can never be replaced.  For the times a teacher isn’t available WhereWeLearn is there to back them up.

 

Politicians

If I was to “meet the actors” I can honestly say I have met only one in my life to this point.

Providing education, improving the quality of lives, reducing unemployment and encouraging entrepreneurship are all strong subjects to run on.

By helping to develop skill sets, programs and awareness for people in particular areas, WhereWeLearn would help politicians enhance the quality of the lives of their constituents

Furthermore it may also help to reduce disadvantaged areas by supplying materials, training and support in many languages and ways for people to engage with at a level that is comfortable to them.

Even where computers or internet may not be available, access through a Library computer or similar approach may help everyone.

 

Academics

Primary research and getting in touch with key people with key interests in specific areas can be challenging.

If I was to “meet the actors” I can honestly say I’ve been in the position of student, lecturer, tutor and guest speaker.

By creating open communities for shared learning the potential for development and growth exponentially increases.

Academic institutions will have greater access to merging markets and markets challenged by language.

Nothing can replace teachers as stated.  Formal recognition of a qualification will always remain the purview of institutions.

Connections, experience and camaraderie will never be replaced by an online learning resource.

With that said, having extra materials available will certainly help students affected by travel, language and connecting with the material challenges.

 

Businesses

Continuing Professional Development is common place in industry today.  The cost of training is a burden to industry.

Developing materials that reflect the operation, passion, goals and objectives of the business, as well as safe guarding intellectual property will always required dedicated in house training capabilities.

Yet if you are looking to employ staff, being able to confirm they have knowledge of subjects before getting to interview greatly increases the chance of hiring the right person for the role.

Being able to provide applicants with the ability to train up, cost free benefits employer and employee.

Furthermore robotics and automation require life long learning.  WhereWeLearn offers a potentially business saving resource.  The business can lean on cost saving approaches and enable enthusiastic staff who want to progress their careers,

Simultaneously and in terms of fairness, when a role presents, an enthusiastic and motivated employee can develop their own skills without burdening the business.

If I was to “meet the actors” for this category, as a manger the instant benefit to HR in recruitment and development are instantly identifiable.

In terms of being a director the cost and time savings alone are enormous to justify interest and investment of time.

 

Philanthropists

As is seen in the case of Wikipedia developing something that benefits the world and leave’s a legacy is no bad thing.

I personally love the idea that in four or five generations time someone might see some of the work I did and it may be of some benefit to them.

As I learnt in scouts, “leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photos and leave the place in a better state than you found it.”

Every person should have access to education but it falls on those who have to help those who have not.

I have some of the skills and abilities to start this but I recognise it will need help.  Yours!

The “meet the actors” of philanthropy are to me confined to news headlines and books.

 

Meet the Actors: Facilitators

Teachers

Setting and matching LOs appropriately requires training.   Teachers train and specialise in this ability.

Different nationalities have different approaches.

WhereWeLearn needs sense checking.  What’s proposed and how it implements in the real world requires real world settings.

I don’t have access to this resource so I have to ask for help and find people who can help.

Feedback and improvement are the only way forward and that requires a teacher in whatever form that comes.

 

Developers

There’s always ways of improving the speed, delivery, security, capability and accessibility of solutions.

If you can spare some time, the functionality list will be very large at the start.

If you can contribute anything to help get the ball rolling please let me know.

Built on a LAMP stack the project should be accessible to most web developers.

The work items will be Agile, throw out and hopefully self contained

 

Designers

I am not a designer.  I can understand the principles but an artist, I am not.

If you can help me make screens and the appearance and presentation more appealing and provide the emotional connection to learning material … I’m all ears.

Help me engage with students who want to learn.

 

 

Content writers and gatherers

I will never meet my great grand father.  He will never be able to show me how to tie a fishing lure.

My father took me mackerel fishing and showed me casting.  That was fun and a great memory to have which is always with me.

Would I want to learn from my great grand father?  At the very least there’s an interest to see him.

This project means leaving learning and knowledge not just for current generations but for generations to come.

 

5 minutes with a phone and youtube and my great great great great descendants might be able to see what I was like.  Is that something you could help with?

YouTube, Vimeo, there’s tons of video platforms.  Spotify and others provide sound clips.  Wikipedia, blogs and website provide written stores.

Is there something you could teach a future future future generation?

 

Admins

As this grows people who love education and love studying will need to help keep the tree pruned.

The tree of knowledge will have many branches and paths.

People with time and the energy to help will be the life blood of the project.

 

 

Philanthropists

Do you know someone who might be interested in helping?

Please help me spread the word.

If all of the above isn’t good enough reason for trying or you can’t see yourself in any of the above, then please even chat to me to see if I could convince you otherwise.

 

Meet the Actors:  Users

The interface

Users, parents and teachers will apply the interface for themselves in appropriate ways.

It’s too far off just now to speculate on specific user types.  How about a generic prototype to get started?  I’ll use myself as the first category.

Time to break out the Visual Studio Code and get something started.

 

If there’s anything in this article you’d like to chat to me about or if you can help in any way, you can contact me here or on social media.

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