• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
 
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:FabioNascimbeni(MENON),ThomasFischer(ILI-FIM),JoeCullen(ArcolaResearch)andWalterKugemann(ILI-FIM)
1 Introduction
Thisarticlefocusesonindividualdevelopmentthroughe-learningandlearningincommunities.Individualdevelopmentthroughe-learningrangesfromeducationtotraining-relatedactivities,togetherwithanyothertechnology-enhancedlearningactivitiesnotnecessarilymediatedbyformaleducationalinstitutions.Participationinonlinecommunitiescanproducebothintentionalandunintentionallearning.Thelatteroccurswhencommunitiesdonotforeseelearningastheirmainobjectivebutgeneratelearningasasideeffect.Thethreee-learningterritoriesthatthisarticlecoversare:
Individual development through e-learning
involveseducationandtraining-relatedactivitiesmainlyathome,togetherwithanyothertechnology-enhancedlearningactivitiesnotnecessarilymediatedbyformalE&Tinstitutions.Thisterritoryischaracterisedbynon-formallearningprocessesandespeciallybymeansofinformallearningactivities.
Learning communities
arecommunitiesorganisedbyindividualsorgroupsofpeopletomeet,shareandlearnaboutaspecificsubject.Thelearningtakingplaceisnon-formal,inthesensethatitisnotmediatedbyateachinginstitution.Thelearningpurposeisexplicitlyperceivedandagreedonbythemembers,althoughnotnecessarilyleadingtoformalrecognition.Learningtakingplaceinthesecommunitiesmaycontributetothedevelopmentofskillsandcompetencesfortheworkplace,butalsoforprivateandsociallife.
Communities generating learning as a side effect
donotforeseelearningastheirmainobjective.Establishingarelationshipwithothermembersofthesecommunitiesispromptedfirstandforemostbyacommoninterestorcommonvaluecommitmentresultingfromeithergeographicalorintellectualproximity,demographicsimilarity,commonhobbies,belongingtothesameNGOorcharity,tonameafew.Thesecommunitiesmaytaketheformofpopularchatrooms,blogsandforainwhichinformallearningtakesplace.TheconstantlydevelopingInternetenvironmenthasbeenshapedoverthepastyearsbyapplicationsandservicesbasedonWeb2.0technologies.Thisischanginghowweobtain,share,create,andorganiseinformation,communicateandparticipateand,throughtheseactivities,howwe
learn 
.ThisarticlepresentsthefindingsoftheLearnovationterritoryreportsdealingwithinformallearninginbothindividualandcollaborativecontexts.Thepapershowstherecentchangesanddevelopmentsthathaveshapedinformallearningopportunitiesandthewaysinwhichinnovationisfostered.Thearticleconcludesbypresentingrecommendationsthatshouldbetakenintoaccounttoenhanceandsupportinformallearningandinnovativedevelopmentwithininformallearning.
2 Informal learning in the Knowledge Society
What do we mean by informal learning?
 Accordingtothevocationaltrainingpolicy(Tissot2004)terminology,informallearningis:
“Learningresultingfromdailyactivitiesrelatedtowork,familyorleisure.Itisnotorganisedorstructured(intermsofobjectives,timeorlearningsupport).ILisinmostcasesunintentionalfromthelearner’sperspective.Ittypicallydoesnotleadtocertification 
.”
Furthermore,accordingtotheEuropeanCommission(2000)“
Informallearningisanaturalaccompanimenttoeverydaylife.Unlikeformalandnon-formallearning,informallearningisnotnecessarilyintentionallearning,andsomaywellnotberecognisedevenbyindividualsthemselvesascontributingtotheirknowledgeandskills.
”Unlikeformalandinstitutionalisedlearning,informallearningisnotorganisedorstructured,norisitnecessarilyintentionalfromthelearner’sperspective,anditcanbesaidthatinformallearningischaracterisedby“unintentionallearning”contrarytoexpectedlearningoutcomes.Allofthismakesinformallearningabarely-
1
 
 
ICT and lifelong learning for a creative and innovative EuropeFindings, reflections and proposals from the Learnovation project
definedorinvestigatedareaoflearning.Fromabusinesspointofview,trainingsolutionscanprovidecomfortableoffersforexpectedandintentionallearning;however,whenitcomestounintentionalinformallearning,itisdifficulttoestablishtheexacttargetusers/clientsandtheappropriatesolutions.Differentsourcesclaimthatupto70-90%ofalllearningactivityisinformal.Thefollowingtablesetsoutthemaindifferencesbetweenformalandinformallearning:
Formal learning Informal learning
TypicallyprovidedbyaneducationortraininginstitutionResultingfromdailylifeactivitiesrelatedtowork,familyorleisureStructuredintermsoflearningobjectives,learningtimeorlearningsupportNotstructured(flexible)intermsoflearningobjectives,learningtimeorlearningsupportLeadstocertificationTypicallydoesnotleadtocertificationIntentionalMaybeintentional,butinmostcasesisnon-intentional(incidental/random)
Table 1
:Formalvs.informallearning(EuropeanCommission 
 
2001)
Theinformationsocietythatsurroundsusprovidesendlessinformallearningopportunities.Newtechnologieshavemadeinformationsearchingandprocessingfasterandeasier,andtheefficientpublicationanddisseminationmechanismscontributetoabroadercirculationofinformation.Thisisexploredfurtherinthefollowingsection.
New ways for learning citizens
WhenTimemagazinedeclared“you”asthepersonoftheyearin2006,itfocusedthespotlightontheroleofpeopletopromoteissuestheyconsiderimportantandthecrucialrolethattechnologycanplayintheprocessofindividualempowerment.
“It'sastoryaboutcommunityandcollaborationonascaleneverseenbefore.It'saboutthecosmiccompendiumofknowledgeWikipediaandthemillion-channelpeople’snetworkYouTubeandtheonlinemetropolisMySpace.It'saboutthemanywrestingpowerfromthefewandhelpingoneanotherfornothingandhowthatwillnotonlychangetheworld,butalsochangethewaytheworldchanges.”
(Timemagazine,2006)
Nowadays,itisimpossibletospeakorreadabouttheInternetanditssocialimpactwithoutmentioning“Web2.0”.InthedailylifeofInternetusers,Web2.0technologiesestablish,throughblogsandforums,virtualpeer-to-peernetworksites(professionalornon-professional),wikis,bookmarkingandsharingtools,tagging,owncontentcreationanddistributionportals,etc.Mostoftheseactivitiessupportlearninginaninformalway,whichofferspeopleavastandpracticallyinfiniteuniverseofinformallearningsituationsandpracticeswiththeaidofWeb2.0.Withtheaidofthesetechnologies,peoplecancreate,share,exchangeandremixtheirowncontent.TheInternetisnolongeramediumforlearning,butabigplaygroundinwhichpeoplecansearchforwhatevertoolsandcontentstheylike.Peer-learningandchangingrolesintermsofwhoteacheswhomarealsotypicalofthenewvirtualenvironments.Theprovider-consumerrolesarechanging,andlearningisnolongerabout“consuming”thelearningproducts,butmoreabouteachlearnerbeingabletocreatehis/herownknowledgeandlearnwiththeaidofversatileresourcesandpeers.Forexample,inacommunity,memberscanco-producecontentandlearnfromtheco-productionprocessatthesametime.Furthermore,theactivitiesrelatedtoWeb2.0technologies,includinginformallearning,havehighlightedtherapiddevelopmentofnewinnovations,adaptationofnewideas,technologiesandtrendsandtheirpopularuse:whenanewtoolorapplicationisavailable,itismostprobablyfirsttestedandusedintheinformallearningzoneby“earlybirds”ratherthaninaninstitutionalisedlearningcontext.Thesenewonlineservicesareuser-centredandofteneven“user-co-built”.Thefollowingtableshowssomeofthepopularapplicationsusedbymillionsofpeoplearoundtheglobe.
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
 
(Wikis)
 Awikiisacollectionofwebpagesdesignedtoenableanyonewithaccesstocontributeormodifycontent.Wikisareoftenusedtocreatecollaborativewebsitesandtopowercommunitywebsites.ThecollaborativeencyclopaediaWikipediaisprobablythebest-knownwiki.Itiswrittenjointlybyvolunteersfromallaroundtheworld.Wikipediahasalsocustomisednationalsites.Therearecurrentlyover10,000,000articleswritteninmorethan260languages.
YouTube
YouTubeisavideo-sharingsitebasedonuser-generatedandratedcontent.Unregistereduserscanwatchthevideos,whileregisteredusersarepermittedtouploadanunlimited
2
 
 
ICT and lifelong learning for a creative and innovative EuropeFindings, reflections and proposals from the Learnovation project
www.youtube.com
 
(videosharing)numberofvideos.Accountsofregisteredusersarecalled"channels".
Weblogs
(blogs)Weblogscannotbeusedonlyasaninformationdatabase,butarealsousedasamediumforcommunitybuilding,communicationandreflection.Amongthevariouspossibilitiesforinteraction,weblogsusuallyofferacommentaryfunctionforfeedbackfromreadersandtheopportunityfordifferentauthorstointerconnectwithoneanother’scontributionsbyhyperlinkscalled“trackbacks”.Learnersonacoursecanuseapersonalweblogtodocumenttheirownworkortextschronologicallyandpublishtheirmethodsorresultsfortheirclassmatesoraskthemforfeedbackandtherebygainnewinputandperspectivesforthecontinuinglearningprocess.
Digg.com andDelicious
www.digg.comwww.delicious.com(folksonomies)
 
Folksonomiesarebottom-upclassificationsystemsthatareproducedbytagsprovidedbyusers.Thefolksonomytags(keywords)areusuallyfreelychosenbutcanalsobebasedonsuggestedvocabulary.Delicious(formerlyknownasdel.icio.us)isagloballyusedsocialbookmarkingservicethatallowsuserstotag,save,manageandsharewebpagesfromacentralisedsource.ItiscurrentlyownedbyYahoo!Digg.comisasocialnewswebsitemadeforpeopletodiscoverandsharecontentfromanywhereontheInternetbysubmittinglinksandstoriesandvotingandcommentingonsubmittedlinksandstories.Votingstoriesup(digging)anddown(burying)isthecornerstonefunctionofthesite.Ithasbeenarguedthatusershavetoomuchcontrolovercontent,allowingsensationalismandmisinformationtothrive.
Facebook
www.facebook.com
 
(socialcommunity)
 
Facebookisperhapsthebestknownsocialnetworkingwebsite.
−
 
Facebookismadeupofover55,000regional,work-related,collegiateandsecondaryschoolnetworks;
−
 
MorethanhalfofFacebookusersarenotstudents;
−
 
Thefastestgrowingdemographicisamongpeopleaged25andabove;
−
 
Itmaintainsan85%marketshareoffour-yearUSuniversities.Lookingatthesedata,onemightsaythatFacebookisthebiggestlearningcommunitytheworldhaseverseen.Ofcourse,somecautionisneeded:themajorityoftheactivitiesthattakeplaceonlinehaveanextremelylowlearningvalue;nevertheless,thecommunityisactiveandexchangesknowledgeinacontinuousandgrowingway.
Second Life
www.secondlife.com(socialcommunity)JoininganICT-intensivecommunitysuchasSecondLifeimmediatelyexposesonetoanumberoflearningpossibilitiesand,atthesametime,toanumberoflearningneeds:
−
 
Intermsoflanguage,sincethemostinterestingeventsinthecommunityseemtotakeplaceinEnglish;
−
 
IntermsofICTskills,sinceonemustmastertheInternetandPCskillsformeaningfulinvolvement;
−
 
Intermsofsocialandcommunicationskills(sincethewayinwhichpeopleinteractinSecondLifedefinitelydifferstothewaytheydosointherealworld)andintermsof jargon,attitudesandbehaviours.Therefore,participatinginsuchacommunitydefinitelyhasanindirectlearningeffectandraisesanumberoflearning-relatedissues.
Individual development through e-learning
Individualsacquireskillsandknowledge,butalsoattitudesandvalues,fromdailyexperienceandfromalleducationalresourcesandinfluencesintheirownenvironment:athome,atwork,throughhobbies,throughconversations,throughthemedia,etc.Informallearningtakesplacethroughspontaneousandself-managedactivities.WiththeemergenceofWeb2.0,thee-learning2.0conceptwaslaunchedrapidly.AdvocatesofWeb2.0suggestthattheInternetismovingfrompassivepublicationtoactiveparticipation,thattheInternetisoneofthemajorknowledgerepositoriesforpersonalknowledgeacquisition(orinformallearning)andwillconsequentlyputincreasingpressureontraditional,formalE&Tsystems.Furthermore,itcanbeassumedthatinformallearningisalreadytriggeringnon-formalorevenformallearningprocesses.Thefollowingcomparativetablesummarisesthecharacteristicsofe-learning1.0and2.0,ofwhichthelatterbenefitsfromWeb2.0technologies.
3
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...