Web 2.0 Meets Formal Learning

Terry Anderson, ProfessorCanada Research Chair in Distance

Education

Athabasca University, Alberta, Canada

* Athabasca University

Fastest growing university in Canada

34,000 students, 700 courses

100% distance education

Graduate and Undergraduate programs

Master & Doctorate – Distance Education

Only USA Regionally Accredited University in

Canada

*Athabasca University

Introduction

Terry Anderson’s CV in Wordle Tag Cloud

Web 2.0 Meets Formal Learning - Networked Learning Agenda

• Definitions and Theoretical Rationale• Social Networking Apps in Education:

– Social Networking– Social bookmarking – Blogs– Recommender systems– Collaborative work tools

• Net presence, security and identity

• "Today production, wealth and creation of surpluses take the form of cooperative interactivity through linguistic, communications and affective networks" Hardt and Negri, 2001 Empire p. 294

• Does learning or education also take place in networks??

• Fun• Connected• Time consuming• Public• Scary• Unreliable• Addicting• Creates Social Capital• Continuously changing• Filled with Learning• Filled with Schooling??

Life in a Net pervasive society is:

21st centurylearner/customer/patient

• Wants to learn things

• Continuously moves between on and offline

• Is learning to recognize and demand quality

in all transactions

• Knows there are many paths to learning and

healing

• Is used to staggering amounts of content

• Normally uses a wide set of information

processing, creation and communications

tools

• All types of information readily available, multimedia

• “universal multimedia library”

Web 1.0

• O’Rielly 2004• New platform for application development

– Interoperability– Rich internet applications– Web services– Users create the content – wikipedi, facebook,

flickr

Web 2.0

What is Social Media - Youtube

A Networked view of the Nature of Learning

• Social. Learning is a social process. Knowledge is an emergent property of interactions between networks of learners.

• Situated. Learning occurs within particular contexts. Both “learning and cognition...are fundamentally situated”,

• Reflective. Learners requires time to assimilate new information. Learners require the “opportunity to reflect on, defend, and share what they have learned

• Multi-faceted. Learning incorporates a range of theory, engagement, “tinkering” or bricolage, and active construction.

• From George Siemens

Is it just a Fad??

Webs

• Web 3.0 – the semantic web – the web understands itself, AI, inferences and reasoning

Networked Educational Computing

• Web 1.0 – the University home page, the learning management system

• Web 2.0 – Educational use of social networking (CitULike, RateMyProfessor, wikis, produseage)

• Web 3.0 – Adaptive learning, learning & subject ontologies

Steven Warburton, 200716

How Are LMS used?

From Mott & Wyley, 2009

Use by Brigham Young Faculty -2004-2009

Learning based on artificial time segements

Mott &Wiley (2009) http://ineducation.ca/article/open-learning-cms-and-open-learning-network

LMS Weaknesses

• Course focused• Teacher dominated• Removes students responsibility for their own

learning• Lacks persistence and student ownership• Rigid and hard to integrate tools outside of the

LMS package• Slow evolution and adaptation

Generations of Pedagogy (Anderson 2010)

1. First generation: Cognitive/behaviorist – correspondence packs, training, instructional design

Focus is on the Content and the Individual Learner

Behaviourist/Cognitive Knowledge Is

• Logically coherent, existing independent of perspective

• Context free• Capable of being transmitted• Assumes closed systems with discoverable

relationships between inputs and outputs

Behaviourist/Cognitive Technologies

Content is king

2nd Generation of Pedagogy

1. Constructivist2. Community of inquiry,3. Threaded discussions

Taxonomy of the ‘Many’ – A Conceptual Model

Dron and Anderson, 2007

GroupConscious membership

Leadership and organizationCohorts and paced

Rules and guidelinesAccess and privacy controls

Focused and often time limitedMay be blended F2F

Metaphor : Virtual classroom

25

Why Groups?• “Students who learn in small groups

generally demonstrate greater academic achievement, express more favorable attitudes toward learning, and persist …

• small-group learning may have particularly large effects on the academic achievement of members of underrepresented groups and the learning-related attitudes of women…” • Springer; Stanne, & Donovan, (1999) P.42

Constructivist Learning in Groups• Long history of research

and study• Established sets of tools

– Classrooms– Learning Management

Systems – Synchronous (video &

net conferencing)– Email

• Need to develop face to face, mediated and blended group learning skills

Garrison, R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical thinking in text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2), 87-105.

3. Generation Networked Learning using Connectivist Pedagogy

• Learning is building networks of information, contacts and resources that are applied to real problems.

Connectivist focuses on Networks - - not Groups

Group

NetworkShared interest/practice

Fluid membershipFriends of friends

Reputation and altruism drivenEmergent norms, structures

Activity ebbs and flowsRarely F2F

Metaphor: Virtual Community of Practice29

Dron and Anderson, 2007

Connectivist Knowledge is

• Emergent• Distributed• Chaotic• Fragmented• Non sequential• Contextualized

Connectivist Learning designs

Awareness and Receptivity

Connection formingSelectionFiltering

Contribution and Involvement

Reflection and Metacognition

Pettenati, & Cigognini(2007).

Connectivist Tools BecomePersonal Learning Networks

http://www.go2web20.net/

Network learning as Disruptive Technology

Clayton Christiansen – Innovator’s Dilemna

Adopting Disruptive Technologies

• Constant attention to where the “puck is going to be”

• Disruptive technologies may not be valued or provide advantage to existing customers

• “Products based on disruptive technologies are typically cheaper, simpler, smaller, and frequently more convenient to use” (Christensen, 1997).

• Bottom up disruptions - new providers using OER’s are most likely threat to established colleges

Adopting Disruptive Technologies

• Constant attention to where the “puck is going to be”

• Disruptive technologies may not be valued or provide advantage to existing customers

• Early adopters need support to customize web 2.0 solutions for local use

• Bottom up disruptions - new providers using OER’s are most likely threat to established colleges

Social Networking

• “web-based services that allow individuals to– construct a public or semi-public profile within a

bounded system, – articulate a list of other users with whom they

share a connection, and – view and traverse their list of connections and

those made by others within the system.”• Share, comment upon, evaluate and

recommend the resources of othersboyd, d. m., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1),

Functions of Social Networking in Education

• Connections beyond the course• Persistence and student ownership• Opportunities for social support and

collaborative work• Allow web 2.0 tools to operate outside of

firewalls• Network enhancement to alumni and

professionals in field

Does Social Networking Impair F2F social interaction?

• “Regression analyses conducted on results from a survey of

undergraduate students (N = 286) suggest a strong association between

use of Facebook and the three types of social capital, with the strongest

relationship being to bridging social capital.

• In addition, Facebook usage was found to interact with measures of

psychological well-being, suggesting that it might provide greater benefits

for users experiencing low self-esteem and low life satisfaction.”

Ellison, N., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The Benefits of Facebook "Friends:" Social Capital and College Studentsí Use of Online Social Network Sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), 1143-1168

Network Tool Set (example)

39

TextText

Stepanyan, Mather & Payne, 2007

Access Controls in Elgg

An action Tour of Elgg

• Login to canuckelgg.org• Complete a profile• Join the Social Networking in Education Group• Post a blog or a bookmarked URL

Social Networking Options

• Facebook- External control, very popular, critcial mass, allows external apps.

• Ning – Host control, costs, • ELGG – Open Source, user hosted, many

plugins, active community, complex installation, weak e-portfolio

• Mahara – OS, user hosted, strong e-portfolio, weak social networking

• BuddyPress – Builds on OS Wordpress

Issues

• Internal or external hosting?• Open source or proprietary?• Technical support- internal or contracted?• Top down or bottom up designs

• Get out of

Patching on to the LMS

Your own Social Network

Open Net

Athabasca University

Athabasca Landing

E-PortfoliosProfilesNetworksBookmarksBlogs

Media lab

Secondlife campus

AUspace

AlFrescoCMS

Moodle

Library

Course Development

ELGG

MY AULogin

Registry

OERs, YouTUBE

DiscoveryRead & Comment

Single Sign on

CIDER

Research/Community Networks

Sample CC Course units and Branded OERs

PasswordsPasswords

http://www.mindmeister.com/48706364

Possible Social Networking Systems

Learning Applications of Web 2.0 Tools

Social Bookmarking

• Individual Management• Sharing• Tagging, ranking, commentating• Searching• Cloud tags• Subscriptions and feeds

• VERY easy collaborative web publishing

Wiki’s and collaborative editing

Syndication by email or RSS Feed – Pushes a

notification to you

Wikis (or Pages in Elgg)

• Educational Uses??

Why Blog?

Blogs

• “Results show that the main reasons for students not to keep a weblog include a preference for direct (online) communication, and concerns about the loss of privacy through blogging. Furthermore, the results indicate that intrinsic motivation factors keep students blogging, whereas stopping a weblog is mostly attributable to external factors. “

Weblogs in Higher Education–why do Students (not) Blog? 2009 ]M Andergassen, R Behringer, J Finlay, A Gorra

Task Management

• http://www.feedmyapp.com/web_20_project-management_applications_sites

Collaborative Work Applications

• Why does working at a distance always take longer??

• What tools do you use?– Google Docs– Wiki’s– Voice Thread?– Wiggio?

www.go2web20..net

Robin Goods Best tool Collection

• Go to http://www.mindmeister.com/12213323#• In pairs review types of collaborations tools

– Mind mapping– Doc Sharing– Work Group– Video conf.– Screen Sharing– Event Scheduling– Project Management– White Board

• Report back on a recommendation:

Mind and Concept Mapping• Concept maps make explicit relationships

between ideas

Cmap.imhs.us

Voice Thread – Multimedia, asynchronous interaction

http://voicethread.com/#q.b908650.i4836718

Collaborative Document Sharing

• Good Docs versus Wiki’s• Examples of Wiki use?• Examples of Google docs?• Examine the tools from Robin Good’s list

Work Groups

Synchronous Web conferencing• Why Pay for Elluminate or Connect, are these

tools – including Skype add ons just as good??

http://www.persony.com/quicktour/video_conf.jpghttp://www.persony.com/quicktour/video_conf.jpghttp://www.persony.com/quicktour/video_conf.jpg

Meeting Scheduling

Project Management

How does Twitter (Micro Blogging) help learning?

Pauschenwein, J., & Sfiri, A. (2010). Adult Learner Motivation for the Use of Micro-blogging during Online Training Courses.. http://online-journals.org/i-jet/article/view/1041.

Have you Tweeted events from this conference?

• Hash tag #ict2010• Why Not??

Twitter Educ Applications

• Class chatter• Building classroom community• Sensing the world• Track a word• Track a conference• Grammar use• Rule Based writing• Sharing • Building social capital http://academhack.outsidethetext.com/home/2008/twitter-for-academia/

• Does your institution use a social networking system?

• Is it inside or outside University control?• What do you see as the biggest

advantages/disadvantages of such systems?

Placing Boundaries on the Boundless

“Good fences make good neighbors” Robert Frost

Collectives, Privacy & Identity

• Best way to protect personal integrity is by creating a robust but realistic web presence.

• Your actions are being mined, best to be a miner rather than a lump of coal!

• Active social net users are more socially active and integrated than non users (Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007)

• Use of Blogs reduces feelings of alienation and isolation among online learners (Dickey, 2004)

• When perceived interest and benefits increase, willingness to provide personal data increases (Dinev & Hart, 2006)

• Privacy Commisoner video• http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=X7gWEgHeXcA&feature=related

Clay Shirky on Privacy

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azIW1xjSTCo&feature=related

• Should everything online be accessible?

Additional Resources:

• http://docs.google.com/View?id=anw8wkk6fjc_92gbn7pwcp

• Access to data can be restricted, but often is not• “Of adolescent Web profiles:

47% - contained risk behavior information21% - described sexual activity; 25% - described alcohol use; 9% - described cigarette use; and 6% - described drug use. 97% - Contained personally identifying information: 74% included an

identifiable picture; 75% - included subjects' first names or surnames; and 78% - included subjects' hometowns” Moreno, Parks & Richardson (2007) , What are adolescents showing

the world about their health risk behaviors on MySpace?

Personal Exposure on Networking Sites:

Open Access Books

Upcoming Emerging Technologies in DE edited by George Veletsianowww.irrodl.org

"He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever.”

Chinese Proverb

Terry Anderson terrya@athabascau.ca

http://cde.athabascau.ca/faculty/terrya.php

Blog: terrya.edublogs.org

Your comments and questions most welcomed!