jisc rscs: stimulating and supporting innovation in learning learning technologies for the social...

JISC RSCs: Stimulating and Supporting Innovation in Learning

Learning Technologies for the

Social Networking Generation

Marion Miller

JISC RSC YH Manager


Thank you

• Robert Harding• Tom Franklin• Nicola Whitton • Steve Wheeler• Craig Wentworth• Haydn Blackey

• Theresa Beattie• Will Stewart• Andy Black• Bob Rotherham • Andy Powell• Kevin Wright

And many others…


Now a greater focus on the learner and learning – not about the tool or platform but what the learners do

with them.


Points raised in my introduction plus some additional ones!

• Learning resources + Learner control• Learner readiness for web 2.0 technology• Collaboration• Learner reflection • Social networks• Communication • Staff development


Learner Control

• Which technologies and practices will empower our learners and what kind of support and guidance with learners require?

• What about the learners who may not wish to have ‘control’? They might have quite different expectations of their course.


Structure of learning and learning resources

• Wikiversity - Creating a new space for learning - presently uses traditional subject/school categories mainly to help people find resources. How do we totally embrace new models for learning within the structure?

• Introducing Scholar – controlled manner to provide consistency but are relaxing at the fringes to allow user defined tags


Accessing Learning Resources

• A shift away from VLEs to looking at content and collaboration across institutions (Bcccampus/Orange Grove demo) – shared ownership– federated searching google, vles, etc– Mapping of resources to curriculum structures– RSS feeds linked to user entered complex searches


Learning resources• Students appeared to show a reluctance to

share or recommend resources to others (Go Forth and Scholar)

• Reducing sustainability risks by spreading content across sites. Some IPR issues and lack of control over the environment (Web 2.0 and informal learning) – JISC Web 2.0 briefing paper


Learning Resources

• Copyright/intellectual property rights:– Plagiarism in podcasts – difficult to identify as

they can not be cross referenced– New social networking and repository systems

– licensing issues with uploaded material.


Learning Resources• Inclusivity issues – 4 key points (JISC

Techdis):-– Accessible interface = Can I work the technology?– Accessible content = Am I supported?– Accessible task = Do I engage?– Cultural capital = Do I value what I am doing?


Learner ‘readiness’ for web 2.0

• But are our learners ready for this? Are they all comfortable with using these technologies?

• Do they want to use these technologies as part of their education?

• What about learners who are not part of this social networking generation? If we use these tools, will they be able to adapt to its use or will they ‘opt out’?



• Students not using certain Web 2.0 tools to the extent that we have assumed. (Digital inquiry and social networking) (small study but similar to findings from online survey of 1,000 students at Oxford)



• Emerging themes:– Technology is integral to life– Constructed identities as (mostly) confident fluent

savvy technology users (this was not backed up by their usage)

– Reported knowledge and use of web 2.0 and social networking as limited

– Little personalisation of environments– Inf. access and social communication emphasised

much more than creation or learning -related communication


Learner ‘readiness’ for web 2.0• Strong ownership and control associated with informal

environment (Facebook)• Weak ownership, control and co-creation associated with

formal environments• Little formal or informal use of web 2 to support discipline

based learning• Little evidence of shift in locus of control• Learners saw a strict boundary between formal and

informal (ownership, purpose, conventions look/feel) no blurring of boundaries between formal and informal



• Learners who are new to web 2 technologies would appreciate ‘light’ social time with the technologies to start them off before launching into learning uses – would help reduce fears of the unknown (Which side of the wall are you on)


Podcasting• Learners creating podcasts – most interesting assignment

of their course but no difference in grades…. • Supplementary material in podcasts not just lectures. • Getting learners to create resources for learners in other

years – anecdotally helpful. • How do we assess these skills? - (employability) • Might learners demonstrate improvement in future

modules as a result of this assignment?• Maybe need to look closely at the content and purpose of

the podcast?


Learner ‘readiness’ for web 2.0• Shifting learning perceptions/expectations of learning and

traditional modes may not fit these (Miller/Newnham):– Active learning– 24/7– Evolving learning styles

• Push technology – pop ups etc• Pull technology – user has full control over frequency• An issue of engagement with podcasting

Conclusion

Podcasting is a valuable addition to the educational experience


Blogging

• Blogging did not take off (small sample learner age 28-50 yrs)(GPS enabled PDAs)– Frustrations with technology– Inhibitions about the openness of the blog– Lacked ownership– 2 learners did set up a separate wiki but others did not contribute

• Investigation planned into the geocaching communities.


Peer review

• Wiki-based peer tutoring - Open University of the Netherlands

• A ‘jumping the chasm’ example


Wiki-based peer tutoring

• Student posts content question• The system sets up a wiki with the question. Using latent semantic

analysis, the system determines the most relevant text fragments (works for open university as plenty of online resources rather than lecture content) and courses; (Built an extension to moodle to do this analysis).

• Selects the most suitable 3 peers to answer the question based on:– Content competence– Availability– Elegibility (learner who has just achieved a level slightly

higher than the student asking the question)



• They are all invited to join a wiki• This 'ad hoc' transient community only comes

together for the sole purpose of answering the question.

• More questions were posed and more were answered, fewer second invitations were needed; questions answered twice as fast; answers rated higher for accuracy



• Inspection of the wikis showed that students did not use them as wikis, they imposed forum structures and did not use each others answers to create a collaborative answer.

• Other studies reported that the learners saw the wiki as a presentation tool and not a collaborative tool – need mores studies on how students see these things



• Experimental test on efficiency and effectiveness - but system is open source but needs extensive testing.

• Can we use ad hoc transient communities within large communities.


Staff development

• How are lecturers and those that support learners supported and encouraged to try out these technologies so they can make informed decisions on their use?


Staff development

• Lecturer concern over inflicting podcasting on students without experiencing this themselves. Do we have to be users and be immersed in technology to fully understand how they should be used?

• Time for lecturers to learn …


Staff development

• Phoebe and London Planner - pedagogic planning tools

• LAMS not clearly perceived as a design planning tool and may not be pedagogical nuetral, tool for reinforcing linear process? (Themes from a LAMS evaluation)

• Video tagging• Camels project – using an e-forum in second

life – cross institutions HE and FE


Communication

• Do we want to consider this in the way communication occurs with and around the learner?


Collaborative learning

• How online competition brought learners together


Collaborative learning• Collaborative 14-19 project across Local Authorities with

some Colleges (How online competition brought learners together) – Encourage collaborative elearning – Active learning construction– Renders traditional barriers invisible– Shared outcomes and responsibilities– Operates at many different interconnected levels - school, class,

subject, age, location – Student instigated and managed communities


Collaborative learning

• Collaborative learning - learner set objectives and they choose the route they want to take.

• Well defined learning projects• Student centred and student led• Primary purpose to benefit other students• Coaching role for the teacher and online mentor • Using the leader as a mentor for the next lot of students.


Social networks

• What makes a social network successful?• Can social networks be used within

learning? • But would they engage the learner? Do

they want to be engaged in this way in education?


Lessons learnt from online gaming….

• Cultural capital and community developing the pursuit of dragon slaying


Reflection

• Digital Story Telling – opportunity to create can liberate learners; learner has choice within a tight focus; involve reflect, share, co-create, co-reflect


Main points

• Less mention of issues and barriers around the technology (e.g. reliability and access)

• Greater focus now on the learner and learning – not about the tool or platform but what the learners do with them.

• Focus on learner needs which might lead to learner control.


Main Points (2)• More focus on practices and pedagogy • Tutors may need to use web 2.0 tools in order to

understand their potential in learning• Focus on small steps for tutors which help to

engage• Communication is changing with instances of

learners being the conduit for communication in a course or project


What we need….

• Need longer studies and more rigorous studies with more quantitative data

• Need to look at how we measure impact and measure over a longer period of time

• Need to investigate how learners perceive web 2.0 technologies


Marion MillerJISC RSC YH Manager

University of Leeds

Email: [email protected]

Mobile: 07966 756 774

jisc rscs: stimulating and supporting innovation in learning learning technologies for the social...

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