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New Communities, New Spaces and New Ways for Learning

Kirsti Ala­Mutka

IPTS Information Society Unit

EDEN Annual Conference 2009, Sat 13 th June 2009, Gdansk

The views expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of the EC

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IPTS: Part of Joint Research Centre of the EC: 7 Research Institutes across Europe

Mission: “to provide customer­ driven support to the EU policy­ making process by researching science­based responses to policy challenges that have both a socio­economic as well as a scientific or technological dimension”

Institute for Prospective Technological Studies

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Context and motivation for the study

Need for qualified workers

Need for new skills for new jobs

Lifelong learning and mobility

Equity and active participation

Quality and efficiency

Creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship

Lack of transformative impact through ICT in educational systems, although potential exists

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Emergence of social computing

Wide take up Wikipedia has 266 language versions, 2.7 M articles, 75000 active contributors (Wikipedia, Feb 2009) 127,3 M European 15+ internet users (56% of online population) use SNS sites (ComScore, 2007);

67% of global internet users access ‘member communities’ (Nielsen Online, 2009) Intensive usage 48% of US teenagers with SNS profiles visit social networking sites at least once a day (Pew/Internet,

2007); 62% of students (Vie, 2008) 51% of workers use social computing applications at least once a day (Facetime, 2008) “Member communities” count for more internet time than

personal email applications (Nielsen Online, 2009); YouTube ranks 3 rd in internet traffic globally (Alexa)

Not only the young ones In US 53.6% of Wikipedia entry editors were

over 45 in June 2007 (Hitwise) Largest growth of Facebook in Dec2007­Dec2008

from working age users (Nielsen Online, 2009)

Not only for leisure 50% of pupils using social networking discuss schoolwork (NBSA, 2007) 68% of IT professionals using online communities said that they have benefited from it for their their

professional development (King Research, 2007) 79% of workers use social networks and social media for work­related reasons (Facetime, 2008)

OCLC(2008)

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Leads into …

An IPTS study “Innovations in new ICT­facilitated Learning Communities” in collaboration with DG Education and Culture, which explores: – Can these new networked online spaces and communities benefit lifelong

learning and competitiveness in Europe? – What can Education and Training systems learn from them? – What are the risks and challenges? – What should and could policies do?

Methodology and study elements: – Literature and resource review – Case studies (12 in­depth cases) – Expert workshop (March 2009) – Study reports to be published in the next months – follow the website

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Informal online networking and collaboration

An online community (Preece, 2000) consists of: – People, who interact socially – A shared purpose that provides a reason for the community to exist – Policies that guide people’s interactions – Computer systems to support and mediate social interaction and facilitate a

sense of togetherness But collective actions also follow from individual connected activities

possibly without ‘shared purpose’ or ‘sense of togetherness’ as a group – ‘Networked individualism’ (Ryberg & Larsen, 2008)

The study considers the individual’s perspective and whether being part of a community can enhance further learning

Different types of networks and communities – Platforms facilitating diverse connections – People connected for joint topic/context/interest – Projects and communities for joint task/production – Inside one organization/group or open to everybody ... have similar activities, emphasised and facilitated in different ways

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What activities people are pursuing in informal online

networked settings?

Do these activities benefit learning?

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Searching, finding, reading

Most important participation motivation for 50+ adults in social media: ‘it is useful’ (OCLC, 2007)

Targeted knowledge and support: 75% of IT professionals using online communities said that communities help them to do a better job (King Research, 2007)

‘Invisible learning’ by reading: ~40% of community members ‘active lurkers’ in Takahashi et al (2003)

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Sharing, contributing, collaborating

Important motivation: 77% of bloggers are motivated by creative expression; 76% want to document and share their experiences (Lenhart & Fox, 2006)

Learning by doing with peer support: in WoW novices can get answers to their questions in 32 seconds (Nardi et al, 2007)

Rewarding learning experience: For 41,8% of open source software community members, participation is motivated by improving ones own programming skills (Lakhani & Wolf, 2005)

New skills through collaborative engagement: 61% of bloggers want to motivate people to take action (Lenhart & Madden, 2006)

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Connecting, observing, interacting

Major motivation: Connect with others with similar interests (OCLC, 2007) Cultural awareness and empowerment: exploring identity in virtual worlds

(Bers, 2001); Personal and social development: reflecting on oneself and cultivating one’s

life with online social network activities (Park et al., 2008); 52% of teenagers had thought about moral issues when gaming (Lenhart et al, 2008)

Professional and career development: professional networks support developing professional identity and exploring opportunities (Allan & Lewis, 2008; Hew & Hara, 2008)

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Situated knowledge Task­related skills

Professional practice and attitudes

Communication skills Negotiation skills Collaboration skills

Leadership Awareness of diversity Respect for differences Expression, creativity Identity, self­perception Interest, engagement Social membership

Digital skills

Various learning related outcomes

Searching, finding, reading (individual and collective resources)

Sharing, contributing, collaborating (as an individual and as a community member)

Connecting, observing, interacting (with people and communities)

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Way of obtaining IT skills in EU­27

0

10 20

30 40

50

60 70

80

All individuals

16 to 24 years old

25 to 54 years old

55 to 74 years old

Males

Females

No or low formal education

Medium formal education

High formal education

Unemployed

%

formal courses non­formal courses self­study materials self­study by doing informal assistance from others

(source: Eurostat database, 2007 data)

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Success factors and requirements

For individual participation: Interest in topic, activity Awareness of the network/platform/community Resources (time, ICT) to participate Digital fluency Interaction skills to listen, explain, accept, defend opinions Skills and openness to create, contribute, share Collaboration skills to work together, receive and give feedback Openness to new ideas

à These can develop further through participating

Factors enhancing learning in context of activities Intention to learn Perception and awareness of learning Skills for self­regulated learning Commitment to the community, identification with others members

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Factors for community/platform

For encouraging individual participation: Providing value (clear objectives, signs of quality) Providing flexible modes for participation Suitable user­friendly tools Engaging tasks for different knowledge/skills levels Encouraging interaction environment Sociability, trust, emotionally positive environment

For enhancing learning in the context of activities Making learning visible in the goals and activities of the community Support for learning of newcomers and all members Diverse membership Facilitating collaborative activities and collective knowledge building

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Opportunities and challenges for E&T

Motivation for learning

Intrinsic desire for engagement Limitation of

scope Concern of low­

skilled and disinterested

Quality and efficiency of learning Efficient learning with personal experience

Difficulty in validating new learning Reliability and quality of learning outcomes

New skills for new jobs

Transversal competences

Identity development Identifying new

skills

Social and situated context Learning in social and multicultural settings

Learning situated knowledge Changing settings may change behavior

Possible risks and drawbacks of online life

Innovation for institutions New ways to connect with society

Developing new practices for institutions Inertia for change in culture and regulations

Empowered learners Active learning processes

Individual lifelong learning trajectories Ensuring digital fluency and basic skills Need for self­regulated learning skills

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Conclusions

Can informal online networks and communities benefit lifelong learning in Europe? They play an important role in people’s lives and work – allowing, enabling and encouraging

participation can support learner­centred lifelong learning in broad sense They provide new skills for new jobs, through active knowledge construction, social and situated

contexts for learning where experts and novices develop skills through collaborative practice

What can Education and Training systems learn from them? Engaging and effective learning approaches; building transversal skills for collaboration,

engagement, for creating and exploring ideas, for accepting and learning from diversity Enable educational practitioners to collaborate and innovate in developing new practices

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Communities for learning practitioners

Subject­specific Tool­specific General networking

Connecting with researchers

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Conclusions

Can informal online networks and communities benefit lifelong learning in Europe? They play an important role in people’s lives and work – allowing, enabling and encouraging

participation can support learner­centred lifelong learning in broad sense They provide new skills for new jobs, through active knowledge construction, social and situated

contexts for learning where experts and novices develop skills through collaborative practice

What can Education and Training systems learn from them? Engaging and effective learning approaches; building transversal skills for collaboration,

engagement, for creating and exploring ideas, for accepting and learning from diversity Enable educational practitioners to collaborate and innovate in developing new practices

What are the risks and challenges? Through online communities people can find out and participate more than was possible before,

but only if they can cross the barriers of ICT, awareness and interest for lifelong learning Online networked settings do not guarantee all the necessary skills for all the learners

What should and could policies do? Acknowledge, study and increase awareness of the valuable learning taking place in these new

informal settings (including developing opportunities to validate it) Prepare and support learners for lifelong development, which takes into account the informal

collaborative opportunities for learning Deploy networking and community approaches for developing new practices, innovations and

learning culture in educational institutions, organizations and workplaces

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Thank you for your attention

kirsti.ala­mutka@ec.europa.eu

Project web site: http://is.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pages/EAP/LearnCo.html

ICT for Learning, Innovation and Creativity: http://is.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pages/EAP/eLearning.html