Informal Learning
and Moodle
Miles Berry
January 2009

Miles Berry
• Head at Alton Convent Prep
• Former Becta ICT in Practice Award winner
– Moodle
– Elgg
• BCS, Naace, Mirandanet, RSA etc.
• opensourceschools.org.uk
• Blog: milesberry.net
• Twit: twitter.com/mberry

• Informal Learning
• Literature Review
• WAYKLWYNL
• Case Studies
• Implications
• Moodle?

Informal Learning
4

Education
“Our concept of an educated person
is of someone who is capable of
delighting in a variety of pursuits and
projects for their own sake, and
whose pursuit of them and general
conduct of life are transformed by
some degree of all round
understanding.”
R S Peters, 1972
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6

CC by-nc steve_cx 7

Literature Review

Growing up digital
Don Tapscott, 1998
Contrast between N-Geners
and Baby-boomers
Contrast between TV and
the Net
The Net:
•Active
•Raises Intelligence
•Democratic
•Community building
“Using the new technology
is as natural as breathing”

The Digital Disconnect
Levin & Arefah, 2002
A substantial disconnect
between how students use the
Internet for school and how they
use the Internet during the
school day
Reasons:
•Administrators
•Variation in teaching policies
•Uninspiring assignments
Barriers
•Quality of access
•Filtering
•Inequalities of home access

Pupils’ home use of computers
Valentine, Marsh and Pattie, 2006
• High level of access
• Educational
opportunities outside
school are beneficial
• Children value the
freedom they have at
home
• Extensive use of
communication

Their Space
Green and Hannon, DEMOS, 2007
• Building relationships
• Creating content
• Essential skills
– Creativity
– Communication
– Collaboration
• User types:
– Digital pioneers
– Creative producers
– Everyday communicators
– Information gatherers

Beyond Technology
David Buckingham, 2007
The new digital divide:
“Home uses were often
extensive, diverse and
open-ended,
school often posed
restrictions on students’
autonomous access and
use”

Learners and Technology: 7-11
Cranmer, Potter, Selwyn, 2008
• “Use of computer games,
digital cameras, and
making pictures were all
more prevalent in the
home”
• Relatively little creative
or collaborative use of
the net, either at school
or home
• Good awareness of e-
safety issues

Safer Children in a Digital World
Byron Review, 2008
• Opportunities for fun,
learning and
development
• Generational digital
divide and risk averse
culture
• Children are still
developing critical skills
• Empowering children to
keep themselves safe

Digital Media and Learning Initiative
MacArthur Foundation, 2008
• Generation gap in
perceived value of online
activity
• Learning social and
technical skills
• Peer learning
• Most aren’t making the
most of the opportunities
• Hanging Out
• Messing Around
• Geeking Out

What are your kids learning
when you’re not looking?

What are you learning whilst your
teachers aren’t looking…
• edtechuk.net
• Live from 26th November to 18th
December
• Publicised via
• online forums,
• discussion lists,
• blogs and
• twitter
• google docs spreadsheet form
• Demographics
• Access to tech
• Use of Internet and
computers at home
• Filtering
• Social networking in school
• Comparison between school
and home

985 responses
excluding duplicates and blanks

Access to Technology

Access to Technology

Use of the Internet

Use of the Internet

Use of computers

Use of computers

Give examples of things you have learnt using
technology that are not related to school work.
26

Give examples of things you have learnt using
technology that are not related to school work.
• Girl, 16: You don't really learn much from these social sites. It is just an easy and fun
way to communicate with your friends.
• Boy, 16: I have learned how to do some simple programming using Basic and I have
researched how to utilize the Macromedia Flash program to create basic flash
documents.
• Boy, 15: I have learned how to do some simple programming using Basic and I have
researched how to utilize the Macromedia Flash program to create basic flash
documents.
• Boy, 14: I've taught my self some Python scripting and how to mod most of the
games that I play. I've also learned to bypass nearly every filter/parental control my
parents or school have placed on my computer.
• Boy, 15: I have expanded my musical knowledge through YouTube video. I have also
improved my instrumental skills through YouTube.
• Girl, 13: how to personalise backgrounds, and how to download music
• Boy, 15: I've taught myself to program in C++ and PHP through online technical
documentation and tutorial sites like W3Schools. (I believe W3Schools is blocked at
school.) Most of the home pages of FOSS projects are blocked as well. 27

Give examples of things you have learnt using
technology that are not related to school work.
• Boy, 8: you can talk to people in a different country on skype.
• Boy, 11: Financing - from playing Football Manager every week Football - from
Fantasy Football
• Girl, 13: Watching BBC i-player nature programes because it doesn't work at school.
• Girl, 15: I learnt how to power an i pod with an onion through Youtube!
• Boy, 15: Av learned how to write flash games with actionscript.
• Boy, 10: Making your own website and how to put on html snippets and embed
codes
• Boy, 11: Wikipedia lies (often)
• Girl, 12: learnt words to songs. l learnt a tiny, tiny bit about brain/heart surgery
• Boy, 10: How to make music, use iChat. Watching Videos and filming movies.
Making websites (freewebs, iweb and justhost) Used to play DS
• Boy, 12: Rune Scape is a game in where you have to be very social to complete
• Boy, 16: The govournmental structure of the early Roman Republic.
• Girl, 12: How to programme my laptop. 28

Writing (not school related)

Use of social networking

Use of computer games

What is your favourite thing you do
with technology at home?
32

What is your favourite thing you do
with technology at school?
33

Social networking at school?

Filtering

Which blocked websites do you think
you should be able to access at school?
36

Enjoyment

What do teachers know?

How could ICT at school be more like at home?
39

How could ICT at school be more like at home?
• Boy, 17: I believe that schools should take advantage of the ICT technologies that
most students have at home to a greater extent. For instance they should use face
book to keep students connected to each other and to the school such as teachers.
Video games could also be used by schools to assist learning. Games can get kids
interested in what they are learning, they also present the information in a more
hands on way then a book alone.
• Girl, 10: let us play games in our free time (at breaks etc...)
• Girl, 10: they could install programs on moodle which are like games
• Boy, 17: Yes. Allow students to learn on their own, don't set a plan for learning. Let
students find websites and resources on their own and make it less of a chore to do
assignments.
• Boy, 16: I believe that my school should lower its restrictions on schools computer
access, because the filter that blocks websites is a double-edged sword. I understand
that my school blocks certain websites that may be distracting (eg. gaming websites),
but some websites that could be utilized by myself and other students are blocked as
well for no apparent reason. I would like my school to either lower the restrictions or
use a different filter than can be configured much more easily than our current one.
40

Should ICT at school be more like at home?
• Girl, 16: No because then people could use that to their advantage and go on
websites that will distract them from their school work.
• Boy, 15: No - Many students CAN'T TYPE ENGLISH (\"u\" DOES NOT EQUAL \"you\")
because of sites like Facebook and MySpace (plus these sites are horrible anyway),
along with a lot of IM services. Gaming would not be usable in school unless it's
something like Garry's Mod (a mod that allows players to experiment with the
Source physics engine).
• Boy,15: no because then we would mess around instead of learning.
• Girl, 14: No, school is not home!
• Boy, 10: They should not because at school we should be learning not playing
games.
• Girl, 13: no because you dont want to learn how to do different ICT skills at home -
you use if for fun at home
• Girl, 15: NO what they have at our school is a fantastic program
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A few case studies…

Max, 7
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=6fYVQ12-nVQ

Eleanor, 11
My mum taught me people`s email addreses but I
taught myself how to actually email. I just clicked
most of the buttons until I found the right one! I also
taught myself a lot of diseses as I would love to be a
docter! For this I mostly used the internet. I once also
worked out how to use Google Earth. I`m not a very
tecnical so this was a big leap for me! I simply fiddeld
around with the buttons picking the ones that I
thought would do the job and after just half an hour I
found my house! I don`t actuelly no why i kept at it-
probably wanted to learn something new as usual!

Ways to make
The School Internet Experience(tm) more
like The Home Internet Experience(tm):
•Install Windows XP home on a Celeron 900mhz with 192mb of RAM
•Network using wifi to the unecrypted wifi AP at the other end of the building
•Get the least expensive \"unlimited\" broadband package. (1GB/month is enough for
anyone!)
•Install 5 different p2p programs, 3 of them spyware loaded versions and set them to
start on startup.
•Install 30 day trials of several different antivirus packages but completely ignore them.
•Install Windows Live Messenger (latest version) and MSN Plus (with the adware)
•Install the version of Microsoft Works you got with the computer. save all documents
in .wps
•Make sure the only browser you have is IE 6.0 with 3 visible third party tool bars
including smiley central and coolwebsearch.
•Arrange the desktop so the default wallpaper has icons for programs and assorted
forgotten files all over it.
•Never empty the recycle bin
•Install iTunes, buy some songs, transfer them to iPods(tm) but complain, confused to
non-technical people when these songs don't work on phone mp3 players.
•Buy a box of tissues for the poor guy who is called to fix it. He will need post-trauma
45
counselling. Tim Dobson

Ways to make
The Home Internet Experience(tm) more
like The School Internet Experience(tm):
•Buy a a RM Branded Stone desktop with 8GB RAM and a 2.8 GHZ Pentium 4 loaded
with Windows Vista [Ultimate] and MS Office [student version] 2007 for twice market
price (even with Tesco vouchers)
•Buy Windows XP Professional and Office 2003 from RM and install.
•Leave the 'designed for Vista' sticker on.
•Buy RM's Safetynet Content filtering system and install
•Block anything useful.
•Block anything fun.
•Block anything that might possibly contain unverifiable facts. (blogs, forums).
•Block anything that might use lots of bandwidth
•Block anything that might allow people to communicate
•Block anything you don't agree with
•Forget to block foreign language websites
•Whitelist all the popular advert providers and block the rest.
•Whitelist a few file extensions to download from the internet and block the rest.
•Block everything with the word 'free' in it
•Block URLs containing a word, chosen randomly by week - this week it's \"dragon\" ?!
•Block anything that might be offensive to everything from fleas to ants.
•Fail to block web proxies through URL patterns and just block domains 46 Tim Dobson

Ways to make
The School Internet Experience(tm) more
like The Home Internet Experience(tm):
•Block anything that isn't http traffic (including https)
•Block school webmail for several days by accident (no one can email you to report
the problem)
•Ask RM to buy you the software they think your computers might need and install
Adobe/Macromedia megasuite + Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition.
•Remove most useful functionality from the start menu
•Make all users sign an AUP which is hard to break if you are to do your job/complete
your course.
•Display full screen message if USB devices is inserted saying it should be removed
instantly citing security concerns.
•Remove computer access from anyone who attempts to outsmart you
•Buy and Install remote desktop spying software (RM re-branded Cytrix product)
•Install IE 7
•Refuse to install OpenOffice.Org or Firefox and cite \"Security Concerns\".
•Put out a few press releases exclaiming how much you have spent on IT facilities and
thus infer you will get your best ever results next year and massively exaggerate what
ICT means to you.
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Tim Dobson

48

Implications

Primary curriculum
• Learning through play
• Digital show and tell
• Meeting children where they are, moving
them on
– From communication to collaboration
– From consumers to creators
• Rose Review: KS3 ICT by the end of KS2?
• Office skills?

Secondary Curriculum
• Blogging and writing
• Citizenship
• Providing opportunities
• Accreditation and e-portfolios
• Diploma and new curriculum
• PLTS:
– independent enquirers
– creative thinkers
– reflective learners
– team workers
– self-managers
– effective participators

Digital divide
• Phones!
• Home access scheme
– Broadband
– Laptop with “relevant”
software
– Support for internet safety
– filtering?
– “embedding improved
safety features”
• Cultural divides

CPD
• Net-Gen Teachers
• Teachmeet
• PLNs
• EdTechRoundup
• TES Forums
• Filtering
– Blogger, Twitter, YouTube etc.

Filtering: Mission Impossible?
http://flatclassroomproject.ning.com/video/8amission-impossible

Moodle
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Themes
56

Messaging and Chat
57

Blogs
58

Sloodle
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=E3qwu2nIKt4 59

Students as Teachers
60

Extra curricular courses
61

Some other ideas...
• Unstructured and semi-
structured courses
• The Common Room course
• Games
• The Media Filter
• Modules:
– Birthday
– Gallery
– Jabber
– Moodle for Mobiles
– Skype 62

Contact details...
milesberry.net
twitter.com/mberry
mberry@bcs.org