TITLE. Informal Learning via Social Media - Does it Affect Teaching and Science? ABSTRACT. The paper (COSCI12 conference) argues that didactical designers, teachers and researchers can learn from informal learning situations to build a meaningful learning experience for students in universities and schools. By illustrating three research projects, (a) InPUD, an informal learning community in higher education, (b) CSCL@Work, informal work-based learning and (c) iPad-Didactics, didactical designs by teachers in K9 schools using iPads, five theses will be described which show the shift from traditional teaching and prepare a new understanding of learning called ‘learning to be creative’.

1. Informal Learning via
Social Media
Does it Affect Teaching and
Science?
Isa Jahnke
isa.jahnke@edusci.umu.se
COSCI
2 Aug 2012

2. European
Capital of Umeå
Culture
2014
Datum Sidfot 2

3. 3
isa.jahnke@edusci.umu.se

4. WiFi chairs
(free Internet access)
heated in the winter
Socia
l insta
by Mi ll
kael R ation
ic
2002 hter
4

5. 5
isa.jahnke@edusci.umu.se

6. Web (90s) Web 2.0 (starting ca. 2001)
Encyclopædia Britannica Wikipedia.com (2001)
Personal Websites Blogging
(first blogs around 1999)
Publishing Partizipation
(Social Bookmarking, del.icio.us 2003,
YouTube 2005, Twitter 2006)
Content Management Wikis
Systems (in firms, universities)
Mailing lists, Social Networking / Communities
Newsgroups (Xing, LinkedIn, Facebook 2004,…)
Information Download Communication about the information
Tim O'Reilly, 2005
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7. Informal Learning in a Social Media World...
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8. …Homo Interneticus
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9. The problem….
We don’t live any longer
in a social constructed reality
Hom
BUT o Int
erne
ticus
we live in a ?
socio-technically cus
D idacti
constructed society Homo
(hidden sociotechnical mechanisms)
Social construction of reality
Berger & Luckmann, 1966
Homo Interneticus
Aleks Krotoski, 2011
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10. Why is it important to discuss
informal learning?
Research studies show: Informal
learning can lead to a deeper
understanding and a different quality
of a learning outcome;
it enables the learner to expand her
thinking beyond a receptive behavior
at formal schooling and beyond
traditional reproduction of existing
knowledge.
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11. Challenges for Teaching
(Higher Education and Schools)
RQ 1. To what extent is informal learning in formal
education designable?
RQ 2. Can we create didactical designs to support
Technology-Embraced Informal-in-Formal-Learning;
meaningful learning? how?
Th. Herrmann, 2009: collaborative creativity
G. Fischer, 2010: learning when the answer is not known
Lund & Hauge, 2011: designs for teaching; designs for learning
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12. What is informal learning?
• Formal learning is triggered by instructors/teachers,
organized by an educational institution, the learner gets
credits, a formal degree;
• Non-formal learning is also a form of planned learning,
organized by an external person, but takes place outside
of educational institutions;
• Informal learning is a self-directed learning situation, in
planned situations or not-organized at all, triggered by
the learner (no external teacher; no degree).
Related concepts: “learning en passant”, incidental
learning, experiential learning
Attention please:
informal learning
D. Kolb, 1984 can also happen in
Reischmann, 1986
Watkins & Marsick, 1992 formal situations 12
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13. Theoretical framework:
Designing the interdependencies
Didactical ap
(e.g. crea p r o a c he s
tivity, challen
ge-bas ed learning)
Trans-formations
Inter-actions Inter-
dependencie
s
Us e o f
Technology
(Social Media Teaching an
, iPads) d Learning
Cultures (different disc
different subje iplines,
cts)
Jahnke, Terkowsky,
Pleul, Tekkaya 2010:
PeTEX project
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14. What we already know
(socio-technical approaches)
• Mediatization (e.g., Hjarvard 2008; Krotz 2007)
• Medialitätsbewusstsein (awareness on social construction by media)
• Objective facticity (Berger & Luckmann 1966)
• Socio-technical approach (e.g., Coakes 2002; G. Fischer 2005).
• Complexity theory (e.g., Dugdale 2000)
New media affects society (“media is integrated into the operations of
social institutions”,) but on the other hand society designs new
forms of communication.
Media is formed by society but also became an active agent
which influences human interactions.
People live in a media-constructed world where we have a difference
between “reality” and “reality given by different media”. To know
this and to handle this in the classroom is one aspect of media
competency.
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15. Socio-technical paradigm
what we already know
from IS, CSCW CSCL,
knowledge management
Suchman (1987)
workplace studies=how people use ICT
Suchman (1987)
Situated action = focusing on concrete situations where people use
workplace studies=how people use ICT
technology (technology development without regarding social context tend to fail)
Situated action = focusing on concrete situations where people use
technology (technology development without regarding social context tend to fail)
Orlikowski (1996)
Metamorphoses of technology usage over time (duality of technology)
Orlikowski (1996)
Metamorphoses of technology usage over time (duality of technology)
Herrmann, Loser, Jahnke (2007)
duality of structures
Herrmann, Loser, Jahnke (2007) action) generates
Communication (in situated Giddens 1984
new structures & regulations...
Communication (in situated action) generates
− which form (coin) the technical
new structures & regulations... system/structures
− which are partially technical system/structures
− which form (coin) the determined by the technical system
− which are partially determined by the technical system
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16. 5 examples from HE

17. 3 Cases
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18. InPUD – informal learning in HE
• Community; Computer Science Study Program;
German university
• n=1,500 users
(a total of approx. 2000 students)
• launched in 2001/2002
• Communication mainly via discussion boards
• Informal learning => topics triggered by
students (what they want to discuss)
Published
Jahnke (2006; 2012)
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20. Discussion boards (Forum)
Study service Courses (examples)
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21. InPUD
• Research from 2001 to 2009 (interviews, log files,
online surveys,…)
InPUD is
• “useful for my studies”
(90% percent agree; on a Likert scale 1-5)
• high recommendation (94%)
• 8% say they don’t like it
Degree of participation
• Core group : 18%
• Regular users: 60%
• Registered lurkers: 22%
Published
Jahnke (2006; 2012)
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22. InPUD – participation, contribution
1. Most of the answers are “I ask unclear and
unsolved questions”, and “I need answers or
solutions”.
1. Some interviewees also mentioned that they like
to help other students: “I help other students
since I hope they will help me later, when I need
help”, “That’s the sense of a community, we help
each other”, and “Only active members affect
active, vivid forums”.
1. Other members like the opportunity to get in
contact with others at unusual time slots, “direct
contact possibilities at unusual time in the night”,
and stress the anonymity: “because of the
anonymity, I can ask ‘stupid’ questions”.
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23. InPUD – anonymity: use it; get out of it
(1) criticizing deficiencies
“I want to show my opinion”, “I can show my anger by
using anonymity“, „I can scarify deficiencies”, and “When
I’m annoyed about something or somebody, I can say it in
the forum“.
(2) gaining attention; creating a voice in huge groups
“I post because I have to say something“, and “Sometimes,
I even want to say something“. Some users stressed
especially the factor of awareness: “I think the professor will
be better aware of me when I’m active in the iForum. So,
I’m not just a pure number for him but become an
individual”.
Published
Jahnke, 2012 23
isa.jahnke@edusci.umu.se

24. Thesis 1
The addition of informal learning by social media
expands formal education and
leads to an all-embracing learning experience
that activate learners on all levels such as the
cognitive, affective and on the conative level as well.
Conation = the learner is
willing to do sth. and
really does; often
neglected in the designs
of formal teaching
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25. CSCL@Work
informal work-based learning
Sean Goggins, Isa Jahnke, Volker Wulf, 2012;
meta analysis of 13 cases; edited book
(2nd Workshop in Oct 2012, www.csclatwork.org)
P.S. Join us, our keynote speaker is John Seely Brown
2 out of 13 cases:
•Study by E. King 2010:
World of Warcraft
users develop skills which they use at the workplace
•Study by Gurzick & White, 2010;
Facebook – policies of firms
users use Facebook to solve problems at the
workplace
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26. Thesis 2
Social media triggers
informal learning
at the workplace
but in unexpected
unusual places
across established
boundaries.
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27. iPad-Didactics
Odder/DK: 180 teachers, 2000 pupils
5 (of 7) schools
•13 Classroom observations (45-90 mins. each)
•10 Interviews (ca. 60 mins. each)
Range of teaching subjects:
Danish, Math, English, Art, Physics, …
Range of classes (14-25 pupils):
•preschool classes (grade 0)
•1st grade, Math
•1st grade, Natural science
•2nd grade, Math
•1st-3rd grade, Danish
•1st-3rd grade, History, Math, Nature
•6th grade English
•6th grade, Music
•7th grade, Danish
•8th grade, Danish/Arts
•9th grade, Physics
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28. Digital Didactical Designs
Teaching
objectives/aims
(problem)
so
ns
ci
ti o
al
la
r
el
re
supported
at
al
by ICT/
io
ci
ns
so iPads
Learning social relations
Process based
activities Assessment/F
(constructing eedback
knowledge)
(self-, peer-,
teacher-)
Klafki (1963, 1997)
Fink (2003)
Lund & Hauge (2011)
Jahnke & Kumar (2012)
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29. Transformative learning
Transformation of existing “math stories”: students get the task
to create “comics” using the iPad to create the stories
(App: Strip Designer)
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30. Complex learning
Students read a traditional book and write a book review; using
the App Bookcreator to create a review
Complex = writing, recording the own voice, painting, …
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31. Peer-Reflective
Learning Facebook
Students write something
from their childhood and
reflect in peer-reviews their
writing skills using
Facebook;
iPads deliver Internet-
Access
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32. Collaborative learning
(not cooperative learning)
A group of 3 students collect ‘provocative’ paintings, get the task
to analyze what the audience could say (discussions & report)
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33. Personalized Learning
(iPad as differentiator for the individual needs!)
• students design experiments in physics (sound/light);
• other students create a mindmap first
to collect their (non-)knowledge
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34. Thesis 3. Shift in teaching practices from
learning as consumption to ‘learning to
be creative’
• Focus on Action
• Focus on “to produce something”
• Process-oriented (not only focused on exams/test)
⇒Activating student engagement and student motivation
through DOING (student produce sth.) ***
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35. ad
4. The iP e.
Thesis nc “There is no
a differe
makes technology in
there”
“An iPad is the
little baby for
pupils”
“Finally!
Someone got the
vision to think
differently”
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36. Thesis 5. “Towards a Theory and
Practice of Teaching Analytics”*
Teaching analytics becomes the most
important research methodology, to
complement traditional methods for studying
teaching and learning.
Challenge: Is the purpose to improve learning
or to control learners?
*Vatrapu, Halb, & Bull, 2012
EC-TEL2012 Workshop
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37. Conclusion – does it affect what?
Yes, informal learning has already affected science and
teaching.
The new approaches, we studied, include
•the design of Technology-embraced informal-in-formal-
learning that supports the conative level of learning,
•the design for learning in a way that learning at
unexpected unusual (online) places across established
boundaries is fostered, and
•the usage of social media as a “booster” to intensify
learning as a process strengthened through designing
social relations.
We call this approach ‘learning to be creative’
which stress a shift to a ‘focus on action’,
where the social relations among the peers as
well as the teacher-student relation is
integrated in the didactical designs
for a situation that is unknown.
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38. How to Get in Contact
Professor Dr. Isa Jahnke
ICT, media and learning
Umeå University
Dep of Applied Educational Science
isa.jahnke@edusci.umu.se
http://isajahnke.webnode.com
http://www.facebook.com/isajahnke
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