learning by numbers: trends in collective and collaborative activity on openlearn professor andy...
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Learning by numbers: trends in collective and collaborative activity on OpenLearn
Professor Andy Lane
OpenLearn is …
• An institution-wide programme;• A sub-brand for OU’s open educational media• Making some of the OU’s educational materials freely
available in a web-based open learning environment;• Seeking to advance open educational resource practices by:
– Deploying leading-edge learning management tools for learner support;
– Encouraging the creation of non-formal collaborative learning communities;
– Encouraging other institutions to reuse and rework the content;– Enhancing international research-based knowledge about modern
pedagogies for higher education.
OpenLearn’s website architecture makes tracking activity across platforms tricky
Long form content for learners Long form content for educators
Information and short form content
Researcher network
External sites
YouTubeEDU
iTunesU
Measuring activity
• Activity on OpenLearn is measured by:– Analytics– Observation– Surveys– Unsolicited emails
• But which activities are collective or collaborative?• And are users just information seekers?
Participative tools and technologies
• External social networking sites add participation• LearningSpace and LabSpace feature various tools and
technologies that enable in situ user participation:– Profiles– Forums– Learning journals– Learning clubs– Study unit revision and creation
Trends in form posts and journal entries
Month Mar 10
Apr 10
May 10
Jun 10
Jul 10
Aug 10
Sep 10
Oct 10
Nov 10
Dec 10
Jan 11
Feb 11
Mar 11
Forum posts
85 158 196 267 372 289 223 155 112 79 117 70 141
Journal entries
154 153 163 254 171 175 175 147 105 139 101 91 134
Collective and collaborative activity is ...
• Often based around existing ‘communities’• About sharing information and ideas more than doing
things• Supplements project based activity• Gives licence to experiment or enable staff development
•
The question becomes collaboration by whom for what purpose ...
• To share research and scholarship findings and ideas• To share teaching resources• To co-develop common resources• To enable staff develop within and across institutions