Informal Learning Era Web 2.0

8/14/2019 Informal Learning Era Web 2.0

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/informal-learning-era-web-20 1/6

ICT and lifelong learning for a creative and innovative EuropeFindings, reflections and proposals from the Learnovation project

Informal learning in the era of Web 2.0

Elina Jokisalo and Antoni Riu

P.A.U.Education

Contributors:FabioNascimbeni(MENON),ThomasFischer(ILI-FIM),JoeCullen(ArcolaResearch)andWalterKugemann(ILI-FIM)

1 Introduction

This article focuses on individual development through e-learning and learning in communities. Individualdevelopment through e-learning ranges from education to training-related activities, together with anyothertechnology-enhanced learning activities not necessarily mediated by formal educational institutions.Participationinonlinecommunitiescanproducebothintentionalandunintentionallearning.Thelatteroccurswhencommunitiesdonotforeseelearningastheirmainobjectivebutgeneratelearningasasideeffect.Thethreee-learningterritoriesthatthisarticlecoversare:

Individual development through e-learning involves educationand training-relatedactivitiesmainlyathome,together with any other technology-enhanced learning activities not necessarily mediated by formal E&Tinstitutions.Thisterritoryischaracterisedbynon-formallearningprocessesandespeciallybymeansofinformallearningactivities.

Learning communities arecommunitiesorganisedbyindividualsorgroupsofpeopletomeet,shareandlearnabouta specific subject. The learning takingplace isnon-formal, in the sense that it isnotmediated byateachinginstitution.Thelearningpurposeisexplicitlyperceivedandagreedonbythemembers,althoughnotnecessarily leading to formalrecognition. Learning takingplace in thesecommunitiesmaycontribute to thedevelopmentofskillsandcompetencesfortheworkplace,butalsoforprivateandsociallife.

Communities generating learning as a side effectdonotforeseelearningastheirmainobjective.Establishingarelationshipwithothermembersofthesecommunitiesispromptedfirstandforemostbyacommoninterestorcommonvaluecommitmentresultingfromeithergeographicalorintellectualproximity,demographicsimilarity,

commonhobbies,belongingtothesameNGOorcharity,tonameafew.Thesecommunitiesmaytaketheformofpopularchatrooms,blogsandforainwhichinformallearningtakesplace.

The constantly developing Internet environment has been shaped over the past years by applicationsandservices based on Web 2.0 technologies. This is changing how we obtain, share, create, and organiseinformation,communicateandparticipateand,throughtheseactivities,howwelearn .

This articlepresents the findings of theLearnovation territory reportsdealing with informal learning inbothindividualandcollaborativecontexts.Thepapershowstherecentchangesanddevelopmentsthathaveshapedinformal learning opportunities and the ways in which innovation is fostered. The article concludes bypresentingrecommendationsthatshouldbetakenintoaccounttoenhanceandsupportinformallearningandinnovativedevelopmentwithininformallearning.

2 Informal learning in the Knowledge SocietyWhat do we mean by informal learning?

Accordingtothevocationaltrainingpolicy(Tissot2004)terminology,informallearningis:

“Learningresultingfromdailyactivitiesrelatedtowork,familyorleisure.Itisnotorganisedorstructured(intermsofobjectives,timeorlearningsupport).ILisinmostcasesunintentionalfromthelearner’sperspective.Ittypicallydoesnotleadtocertification .”

Furthermore,accordingtotheEuropeanCommission(2000)“Informallearningisanaturalaccompanimenttoeverydaylife.Unlikeformalandnon-formallearning,informallearningisnotnecessarilyintentionallearning,andsomaywell notbe recognisedeven by individuals themselvesascontributing to their knowledgeandskills.”

Unlikeformalandinstitutionalisedlearning,informallearningisnotorganisedorstructured,norisitnecessarilyintentional from the learner’s perspective, and it can be said that informal learning is characterised by“unintentionallearning”contrarytoexpectedlearningoutcomes.Allofthismakesinformallearningabarely-

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defined or investigated area of learning. From a business point of view, training solutions can providecomfortable offers forexpected and intentional learning; however, when it comes to unintentional informallearning,itisdifficulttoestablishtheexacttargetusers/clientsandtheappropriatesolutions.Differentsourcesclaimthatupto70-90%ofalllearningactivityisinformal.

Thefollowingtablesetsoutthemaindifferencesbetweenformalandinformallearning:

Formal learning Informal learningTypicallyprovidedbyaneducationortraininginstitution

Resultingfromdailylifeactivitiesrelatedtowork,familyorleisure

Structuredintermsoflearningobjectives,learningtimeorlearningsupport

Notstructured(flexible)intermsoflearningobjectives,learningtimeorlearningsupport

Leadstocertification Typicallydoesnotleadtocertification

IntentionalMaybeintentional,butinmostcasesisnon-intentional(incidental/random)

Table 1:Formalvs.informallearning(EuropeanCommission 2001)

Theinformationsocietythatsurroundsusprovidesendlessinformallearningopportunities.Newtechnologieshave made information searching and processing faster and easier, and the efficient publication anddisseminationmechanismscontribute to a broader circulation of information. This isexplored further in the

followingsection.

New ways for learning citizens

WhenTimemagazinedeclared“you”asthepersonoftheyearin2006,itfocusedthespotlightontheroleofpeopletopromoteissuestheyconsiderimportantandthecrucialrolethattechnologycanplayintheprocessofindividualempowerment.

“It's astory aboutcommunityandcollaborationonascaleneverseen before.It'sabout thecosmiccompendiumofknowledgeWikipediaandthemillion-channelpeople’snetworkYouTubeandtheonlinemetropolisMySpace. It's about themanywrestingpower from the few and helpingoneanother fornothingandhowthatwillnotonlychangetheworld,butalsochangethewaytheworldchanges.”(Timemagazine,2006)

Nowadays,it isimpossibletospeakorreadabouttheInternetanditssocialimpactwithoutmentioning“Web2.0”.InthedailylifeofInternetusers,Web2.0technologiesestablish,throughblogsandforums,virtualpeer-to-peernetworksites (professional ornon-professional),wikis,bookmarking andsharing tools, tagging, owncontentcreationanddistributionportals,etc.Mostoftheseactivitiessupportlearninginaninformalway,whichofferspeopleavastandpracticallyinfiniteuniverseofinformallearningsituationsandpracticeswiththeaidofWeb2.0.Withtheaidofthesetechnologies,peoplecancreate,share,exchangeandremixtheirowncontent.TheInternetisnolongeramediumforlearning,butabigplaygroundinwhichpeoplecansearchforwhatevertoolsandcontentstheylike.

Peer-learning and changing roles in terms of who teaches whom are also typical of the new virtualenvironments. Theprovider-consumer roles are changing, and learning is no longerabout “consuming” thelearningproducts,butmoreabouteachlearnerbeingabletocreatehis/herownknowledgeandlearnwiththeaidofversatileresourcesandpeers.Forexample,inacommunity,memberscanco-producecontentandlearnfromtheco-productionprocessatthesametime.

Furthermore, theactivitiesrelated toWeb2.0 technologies, including informal learning,havehighlighted therapiddevelopmentofnewinnovations,adaptationofnewideas,technologiesandtrendsandtheirpopularuse:whenanewtoolorapplicationisavailable,itismostprobablyfirsttestedandusedintheinformallearningzoneby“earlybirds”ratherthaninaninstitutionalisedlearningcontext.Thesenewonlineservicesareuser-centredandofteneven“user-co-built”.

Thefollowingtableshowssomeofthepopularapplicationsusedbymillionsofpeoplearoundtheglobe.

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

(Wikis)

Awikiisacollectionofwebpagesdesignedtoenableanyonewithaccesstocontributeormodifycontent.Wikisareoftenusedtocreatecollaborativewebsitesandtopowercommunitywebsites.ThecollaborativeencyclopaediaWikipediaisprobablythebest-knownwiki.Itiswrittenjointlybyvolunteersfromallaroundtheworld.Wikipediahasalsocustomisednationalsites.Therearecurrentlyover10,000,000articleswritteninmorethan260languages.

YouTube YouTubeisavideo-sharingsitebasedonuser-generatedandratedcontent.Unregistereduserscanwatchthevideos,whileregisteredusersarepermittedtouploadanunlimited

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www.youtube.com

(videosharing)

numberofvideos.Accountsofregisteredusersarecalled"channels".

Weblogs

(blogs)

Weblogscannotbeusedonlyasaninformationdatabase,butarealsousedasamediumforcommunitybuilding,communicationandreflection.Amongthevariouspossibilitiesforinteraction,weblogsusuallyofferacommentaryfunctionforfeedbackfromreadersandtheopportunityfordifferentauthorstointerconnectwithoneanother’scontributionsbyhyperlinkscalled“trackbacks”.

Learnersonacoursecanuseapersonalweblogtodocumenttheirownworkortextschronologicallyandpublishtheirmethodsorresultsfortheirclassmatesoraskthemforfeedbackandtherebygainnewinputandperspectivesforthecontinuinglearningprocess.

Digg.com andDelicious

www.digg.com

www.delicious.com

(folksonomies)

Folksonomiesarebottom-upclassificationsystemsthatareproducedbytagsprovidedbyusers.Thefolksonomytags(keywords)areusuallyfreelychosenbutcanalsobebasedonsuggestedvocabulary.

Delicious(formerlyknownasdel.icio.us)isagloballyusedsocialbookmarkingservicethatallowsuserstotag,save,manageandsharewebpagesfromacentralisedsource.ItiscurrentlyownedbyYahoo!

Digg.comisasocialnewswebsitemadeforpeopletodiscoverandsharecontentfromanywhereontheInternetbysubmittinglinksandstoriesandvotingandcommentingon

submittedlinksandstories.Votingstoriesup(digging)anddown(burying)isthecornerstonefunctionofthesite.Ithasbeenarguedthatusershavetoomuchcontrolovercontent,allowingsensationalismandmisinformationtothrive.

Facebook

www.facebook.com

(socialcommunity)

Facebookisperhapsthebestknownsocialnetworkingwebsite.

− Facebookismadeupofover55,000regional,work-related,collegiateandsecondaryschoolnetworks;

− MorethanhalfofFacebookusersarenotstudents;

− Thefastestgrowingdemographicisamongpeopleaged25andabove;

− Itmaintainsan85%marketshareoffour-yearUSuniversities.

Lookingatthesedata,onemightsaythatFacebookisthebiggestlearningcommunitytheworldhaseverseen.Ofcourse,somecautionisneeded:themajorityoftheactivitiesthattakeplaceonlinehaveanextremelylowlearningvalue;nevertheless,thecommunityisactiveandexchangesknowledgeinacontinuousandgrowingway.

Second Life

www.secondlife.com

(socialcommunity)

JoininganICT-intensivecommunitysuchasSecondLifeimmediatelyexposesonetoanumberoflearningpossibilitiesand,atthesametime,toanumberoflearningneeds:

− Intermsoflanguage,sincethemostinterestingeventsinthecommunityseemtotakeplaceinEnglish;

− IntermsofICTskills,sinceonemustmastertheInternetandPCskillsformeaningfulinvolvement;

− Intermsofsocialandcommunicationskills(sincethewayinwhichpeopleinteractinSecondLifedefinitelydifferstothewaytheydosointherealworld)andintermsof jargon,attitudesandbehaviours.

Therefore,participatinginsuchacommunitydefinitelyhasanindirectlearningeffectandraisesanumberoflearning-relatedissues.

Individual development through e-learning

Individuals acquireskills and knowledge, but alsoattitudes and values, from daily experience and fromalleducational resourcesand influences in theirownenvironment:athome, atwork, through hobbies, throughconversations, throughthemedia,etc. Informal learningtakesplacethroughspontaneousandself-managedactivities.

With the emergenceofWeb 2.0, the e-learning2.0 concept was launched rapidly. Advocates ofWeb 2.0suggestthattheInternetismovingfrompassivepublicationtoactiveparticipation,thattheInternetisoneofthemajorknowledge repositoriesforpersonalknowledgeacquisition (or informallearning)andwillconsequentlyput increasing pressure on traditional, formal E&T systems. Furthermore, it can be assumed that informallearning isalreadytriggeringnon-formaloreven formal learningprocesses.Thefollowingcomparativetablesummarises the characteristics of e-learning 1.0 and 2.0, of which the latter benefits from Web 2.0technologies.

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(e-)Learning 1.0 (e-)Learning 2.0

LearningPlatform&LearningManagementSystems(LMS) PersonalLearningEnvironments(PLEs)

Acquisitionprocesses Participationprocesses

Multimedia(interactivity) Socialnetworks/CommunitiesofPractice(CoP)

Externallyprovidedcontent User-createdcontent

Curricula Learningdiaries/e-portfoliosCoursestructure Communication

Tutoravailability Learnerandpeerinteraction

Qualityassessedthroughexperts Qualityassessedthroughlearnersandpeers

Table 2: From(e-)Learning1.0to(e-)Learning2.0(Ehlersetal.,2008)

Themainissuesthataffectindividualdevelopmentthroughe-learningaresummarisedbelow:

− Educational content convergence is being developed through grassroots-based interest groups, usingsocialcomputingamongstotherthings.Theeffectsoftheseemergent“convergencedynamics”onsocialrelationsandonlearning(providingopportunitiesforandbarrierstolearning)arenotyetwellunderstood.

− Recentstudiesshowthat,despitesignificantinvestmentbytheEUandMemberStates,around43%ofEUcitizensarestillclassifiedas“non-participants”intheknowledgesociety.

− A further alternative position argues that new technologies provide a space for individuals to create aprofoundly individuated socialspace that is insulated from othersandexternal reflection,and ismerelycentredon“egocasting”.

− A key challenge is to acknowledge and try to reconcile these conflicting and sometimes paradoxicaldynamicswithingoalsbasedonactivecitizenshipandparticipation.

− Amoredifficultsetofchallengesisfacedbytechnologydesignwhenculturalcontexts,aswellassocialrelationships,areconsidered.Although it isbecomingwell accepted thatsocialnetworkingtechnologiesrequireculturalembedding,practicalwaysofachievingthisarenotwelldeveloped.

Learning through communities

Two types of communities are addressed here: (non-professional) learning communities and communitiesgeneratinglearningasasideeffect.BothareusuallyCommunitiesofPractice(CoP).AccordingtoWikipedia,aCoPisa“processof social learning thatoccursandsharedsocioculturalpractices thatemergeandevolvewhenpeoplewhohavecommongoalsinteractastheystrivetowardsthosegoals ”.

Web2.0,whichpromotesmoresophisticatedsocialdynamicsonline,isnotjustatechnologicalprogressbut,more importantly, asocialandcooperative “lever”enablingadvanced commonknowledgecreation, sharingandinterchanging.Thispromoteslearningand“collectivecreativity”.CommunitiesofPracticebasedonWeb2.0 are typically built from the bottom up and they enable more effective exchange of tacit and explicitknowledgeandbuildingofpersonalrelationshipsbetweenindividualsandgroupsthatwouldotherwisebeveryunlikelytointeract.Changingroles,notonlyincontentprovisionbutalsointraditionalrolesof“novice”and“master”,aremixed,andthisisreplacedbythepeer-to-peerapproachandrecognitionsystem.MostoftheseCommunitiesofPracticewouldnotexistwithoutthecurrenttechnology.

ThefollowingtableillustratesthepositiveimpactthatICTcanhaveoncommunities:

Role of ICT in communities Characteristics

Enhancinglearningandcreativity

–ICTenhancingcreativeexpression –Improvinglearningeffectivenesswithmultimedia –Immersiveenvironments –Game-basedlearning

Supportingsociability

–Showingandexperiencingpresence –Networkingtools –Collaborationtools –Gatheringandmakingimplicitknowledgevisible

Newwaysforaccessing,organisingandinteracting–empoweredlearner

–Easyaccesstoagreatdiversityofresources –Newwaysforparticipating –Lifelongpersonalknowledgemanagement

Table 3.RoleofICTincommunitiesaccordingtoAla-Mutka(2009).

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Also, the new technologies provide versatile and effective means of communicating which affect learningindirectly. Different tools, such as e-mails, mailing lists, blogs, forums, chats, videoconferencing, etc., offerendlessmeansofasynchronousandsynchronouscommunication.Thecommunitiescanalsobemuchwiderandlarger,favouringthematicandgeographicalextension.

Thepresentchallengesofcommunitiesaretwofold:ononehand,policiesshouldseektobetterunderstandthelearningdimensionembeddedinanyofflineandonlinecommunityactivityanduncapthelearningdimensionof

thiswork.Ontheotherhand,thisshouldbedonediscreetly,focusingontransferringlearningawarenessfromsectorsinwhich it takesplaceopenlyto others inwhich itdoesnot.At thesame, learningshouldbemadevisible and available by fostering knowledge management approaches that fit with the dynamic andunpredictablenatureoftoday’scommunities.

3 Innovation paradigms of informal learning

Asmentionedabove,Web2.0hassignificantlychangedthewaysofobtaining,sharing,creatingandorganisinginformation,communicatingandparticipating,thusfavouringinformallearning.ThefollowingtablepresentsacomparisonproducedbytheHELIOSe-learning2000andinnovativee-learning2010projects.Furthermore,toexemplifythecurrentpracticesininformallearning,someexamplesareprovidedonhowWeb2.0technologiesalreadyinuseencompassagreatdealofthei-e-2010.

e-L 2000 i-e-L 2010 Web 2.0 and i-e-L 2010

Distributesconsolidatedknowledge

Generatesnewknowledge Personalandcommunityweblogs,Slideshare,YouTube,Wikipedia,Wordpress,Flickr.

Isstille-teaching Isownedbythelearner PersonalLearningenvironments,weblogs,ePortfolios,collectiveownershipofresults

Mayisolatethelearner Createslearningcommunities Facebook,MySpace,Twitter,LinkedIn,thematiccommunities

Isdeliveredbyasingleprovider/institution

Istheresultofandatooltosupportpartnership

Communicationtools.Exchangeandbenchlearning

Ignoresthelearner’scontextandpreviousachievements

Buildsonthelearner’scontextsandpreviousachievements

ePortfolios,Del.licious,archives,tagging,folksonomies,restoring

Depressesthelearner’screativitythroughtransmissivelogics

Stimulatesthelearner’screativitybyenhancingthespontaneousandplayfuldimensionoflearning

Edutainment,gamebasedlearning

Restrictstheroleofteachersandlearningfacilitators

Enrichestheroleofteachersandlearningfacilitators

Peer-to-peersites,asynchronous/synchronouscommunication

Focusesontechnologyandcontents

Focusesonquality,processesandlearningcontext

Focusesontheroleofusersinsupportingtheirownlearningandthelearningofpeers

Substitutesclassroomsessions Isembeddedinorganisationalandsocialprocessesoftransformation

EmbeddedWeb2.0applications

Privilegesthosewhoalreadylearn

Reachesandmotivatesthosewhowerenotlearning

Enhancedaccessibility

Table 4:Frome-Learning2000toInnovativee-Learning2010.Source:HELIOS(2007)+examplesofICT(ownadaptation)

Bypushing fortheproactiveroleofusersincontentandknowledgesharingandcreation,Web2.0solutionsandsocialnetworkingaresupportingtheemergenceofthelearner-centredparadigmininformalenvironments.Monitoringandinvestigatingtheunderlyingprocessesaswellastheoutcomesofthisphenomenonarekey,astheycouldprovidesignificantinputsforinnovationinformaleducationandtrainingsystems.Particularattentionshouldbegiventothefollowingdimensions:

- Bottom-up – top-down.Thebottom-upapproachimpliesthattheinitiativetoactistakenbytheindividualsandgroupsthemselvesandisnotdictatedbyauthoritiesordirectedinstitutionally.Thebottom-upapproachis self-managed, peer-supported and community-based. This applies, for example, to self-initiatedportfolios,blogsandentirecommunitiesstartingoutasindividualorsmallgroupinitiatives.

- Non-professional – professional. Activity, and learning through it, takes place outside the professional

context,althoughtheskillsobtainedcannaturallyalsobeusedprofessionally.The (learning)needsandobjectivescanberelatedtoanytrivialorday-to-daymatteraboutwhichacitizeniscurious.

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- Learning-centred – value-centred. In value-centred action, learning is a secondary output after otherpurposesandnotnecessarilyformallyexpressed.Value-centredactionsdevelopasenseofaffiliation,e.g.political/environmental/socialactivitygrouporacommunityofpeoplesufferingfromthesamedisease.

- Community-driven – individual-driven. These two characteristics are not mutually exclusive, but ratherreinforce one another. Although community-driven, the outputs of an activity are accomplished byindividuals.Withincommunities, both theindividualandthe groupdimensionsare fosteredand,whilea

membermayhavepersonallearningobjectives,theseinteractwithandareinfluencedbyothercommunitymembersandcontributetothe“collectiveintelligence”ofthecommunityitself.

4 Conclusions and recommendations

Basedontheabove,wecanpresentseveralconclusionsthatcanalsoserveasrecommendationsforpolicy,practiceandresearch.

− Support for bottom-up, spontaneous initiatives. Balance between supporting bottom-up communityinitiativesandinstitutionalinputstosustaintheeffectivenessofthecommunities.

− Broadband access and digital literacy.Itisimportanttocontinuethesupportfortheacquisitionofdigitalskillsandthesupportofmulti-modal (mobile,wireless,cable)accessto theInternetforhouseholds. Itis

importanttospotandsupportsegmentsofthepopulationwithpoore-skills.

− eInclusion challenge.Makesurethatonlinecommunitiesareequallyaccessiblebytheentirepopulation,especiallywhendealingwithinteraction.ThiscanbedonethroughactionsontheprovisionofgeneralICTinfrastructuretoensuree-access,greateremphasisonissuesofe-accessibilityandusabilityaspects,thebuildingof individualcapacityore-skills,e-contentande-servicesdevelopmentandthepromotionofe-participation,e-democracyandactivecitizenship.

− Support for content quality. Marketdynamicsseemtoleadthewayforward.Mostoftheapplicationsthatenablethecreationofthesecommunitiesandtheunderlyinglearningarespontaneouslycreatedeitherbycommercialornon-profitentitiesand,therefore,followprivateinterests.SupportshouldbegiventoOpenEducationalResources(OER)initiativesandanyotherschemethatleadstoqualitycontent.

− Recognition and certification. Recognition of informal learning and providing certification schemes that

have the capacity to validate acquired skills, even if these are acquired through informal learningcommunities, should be developed. Learning should be made explicit in these communities withoutnegativelyaffectingtheattractivenessofthesecommunities.

References

Ala-Mutka,Kirsti(2009).LearninginOnlineSpacesandCommunities–how,whatandwhen?PresentationattheLearncomexpertworkshop,31March2009. http://is.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pages/EAP/documents/Session4.pdf

Ehlers,U.,Riley,D.&Paviotti,G.(2008).QMPP–QualityManagementinPeerProduction.Qualityfore-Learning2.0:NewQualityforNewLearning.PresentationgivenattheMicrolearningConference2008,“Microlearning&CapacityBuilding”,UniversityofInnsbruck,25–27June2008;URL:http://www.microlearning.org/ml08_prelimprogram.pdf

EuropeanCommission(2000).AMemorandumonLifelongLearning.SEC(2000)1832. http://www.bologna-berlin2003.de/pdf/MemorandumEng.pdf

EuropeanCommission(2003).Implementationof“Education&Training2010”WorkProgramme.Validationofnon-formalandinformallearningcontributionoftheCommissionExpertGroup.http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/2010/doc/non-formal-and-informal-learning_en.pdf

HELIOS(2007).HELIOSyearlyreport2007:e-LearningforInnovation.http://www.menon.org/menon/publications/HELIOS%20thematic%20report-%20Access.pdf

Timemagazine(2006).Time'sPersonoftheYear:You.http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1569514,00.html

Tissot,Philippe(2004).Terminologyofvocationaltrainingpolicy:Amultilingualglossaryforanenlarged

Europe.CentrefortheDevelopmentofVocationalTraining.PublicationsoftheEuropeanCommunities.http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/img/dynamic/c313/cv-1_en_US_glossary_4030_6k.pdf

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Informal Learning Era Web 2.0