Collaborative learning in professional communities of agricolture extension agents fi eruralnet 111111 barbieri
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Speech in International Conference "ICT for inclusive learning: the way forward", Florence 10,11 november 2011- Stefano Barbieri
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Collaborative learning in professional communities of agricolture extension agents fi eruralnet 111111 barbieri
- 1. COLLABORATIVE LEARNING IN PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITIES OF AGRICULTURE EXTENSION AGENTS Stefano Barbieri
- 5. a web (but not only) social/professional network where all professionals, interested in a particular subject, are involved to share and to expand their knowledge, professional skills, experiences and solutions. Professional community
- 6. isn't a traditional training course (e-learning or in classroom) or social experience (e.g. generalist social-network as Facebook) The context is professional , targeted at work and focused on the experience of the participants and their ability and desire to cooperate Professional community
- 7. More effective communities are born from a previous e-learning course Members know each other, equal basic skills. Familiar with network Professional community
- 8. From collaborative learning To professional communities This is the start to professional communities , which keep alive a network of knowledge and relations that conventional learning processes promote, but rarely preserve in the long term.
- 9. e-learning blended classroom on-farm study tour exercises A defined group of students (20-30) led by a tutor The course cannot be studied randomly, but according milestones original texts and in-depth documents self-assessment tests forum I think . .. Yes, but. . .. Why . ..?
- 10. http://elearning.regione.veneto.it/ Community of expert extension agents in cross-compliance Started in 2007, now november 2011, after aggregate the participants of 19 editions of e-learning courses, has over 500 members; 63% the rate of participation (in forums, upload documents and photos, compile testing)
- 11. Community of safety at work in agriculture Started in October 2009 and now, after five editions of the training course for Head of Security, joins more than 150 participants, with a 60% rate of participation Other communities: - Community for management of agricultural and competitiveness - Community of Rural Development - Community of bioenergy
- 13. digital divide The extension agents are often more accustomed to express themselves verbally rather than in writing . To overcome this critical point we must invest in digital literacy
- 14. Professional jealousy market of knowledge vs. collaborative learning We must emphasize situations where collaboration leads to positive results, we must reward (such as "promoting" as a teacher) who gives a contribution to the community. knowledge as a precious personal resource Give the right space for experiential knowledge ... often take the form of stories ... In public tenders to be awarded the partnership.
- 15. Simplification policies, digitization of public administration, training, motivation Often civil servants are teachers or experts but generally they are afraid to expose themselves in informal situations such as web forum, in which their answers appear such as an official document Hesitation of civil servants to expose themselves
- 17. From e-learning blended to "integrated learning"
- 18. http://www.agchat.org Mission Empower farmers to connect in communities through social media platforms.
- 24. http://www.imagelinenetwork.com/network.cfm Since 2001 Over 106,000 members on Italy, of which 23% farmers
- 27. from the time of competitive individualism to the era of collaborative and participatory practices spread http://werevolution.mida.biz
- 28. Today it is no longer sufficient "communicate" (and so also "inform” or "teach") to an audience more or less known. But we should "talk" (with stakeholders), "share" (data, knowledge, documents, experiences), “ aggregate / join” (professional communities) .
- 29. the question: a weak boundary between an e-book and a training course or between a social network and a professional community a risk or an opportunity?
- 30. integrated training strategy book e -book on farm learning social network web professional communities elearning blended meeting, conference updating course training course on-site m-elearning
- 31. The opportunities of the " 2.0" should be seized with courage , without hesitation , but without being drunk . The focus must be the cognitive process of mental and social change over an entire lifetime, in other words: learning. The different technologies can enhance motivation, can facilitate the learning . And for this objective the practical work, the learning by doing , are essential .
- 33. Stefano Barbieri Settore Divulgazione Tecnica, Formazione Professionale ed Educazione Naturalistica Via Roma 34 – 35020 Legnaro (Pd) [email_address]
Editor's Notes
- My speech want present an experience of collaborative learning under a particular point of view, that of the agriculture extension agents and other subject of rural development: the experience of Veneto Agricoltura, the public regional Agency of Veneto (Italy); an experience that I can sum up in this sentence: from the traditional training and updating, through e-learning, toward professional communities.
- This is the schedule of my speech. After a short introduction and a description of our experience, I want focus about critical aspects and prospective of this method, of learning (with o without the e ) in the web 2.0. To understand the context of this experience only 2 information
- For the first, “ who is Veneto Agricoltura ”; Veneto Agricoltura is the Agency of the Veneto Region, in northeast Italy, for agricultural, forestry and agrifood sector. We work in research, in economical studies, but in particularly, in the field of training and updating of specialists of knowledge system in agriculture (technicians, association representatives, trainers, researchers, civil servants, etc.). Every year we organise 90 conferences, study tours and training courses with over 6,000 participants, and we have a catalogue with over 100 books.
- For the second “Who are the extension and rural development agents ” , which are the target of our training activities. The extension agents work, in Veneto as in many other Italian and European regions, in farmers unions or moreover as free lance independent consultants. We haven’t “public” agents (except in particular cases) because the public regional entities don’t manage directly the Farm Advisory Service but they contribute to the costs that the farmer has incur to purchase the consulting service, service chosen among those that the same public entities had accredited in accordance on criteria set by law. This is the system chose by Europe (CE Reg 1698/2005).
- Now, I want talk about our experience in elearning-blended courses, but in particular in Professional Communities. I think that all of you know the concept of professional community , as a web (but not only) social-network where all professionals, interested in a particular subject, are involved to share and to expand their knowledge, professional skills, experiences and solutions.
- but that I just want to emphasize are two aspect of professional communities. For the first , the concept that a professional community is neither a traditional learning environment, nor a social experience ( it isn’t a generalist social-network as Facebook ). Instead, we are in a professional context , targeted at work and focused on the experience of the participants and their ability and desire to cooperate.
- And in second , that, according our experience, the more effective communities are those whose members are aggregated through a previous e-learning course . In this way the members can know each other, acquire an equal basic skill and familiarize themselves with the network.
- In an e-learning course, they have had experience of the collaborative learning , (the more difficult aspect of e-learning but the more important) that develop between teachers and students and especially among the students themselves, according their experience and professional skills, which are shared and put in network. The professional communities keep alive a network of knowledge and relations that conventional learning processes often promote, but rarely preserve in the long term.
- Just a quick clarification about our e-learning, that is a very basic e-learning blended based on 3 points: moodle platform; blended : the on-line lessons are alternated with a few important classroom sessions or technical tours; and the course cannot be studied randomly, but according to a calendar , within a little well-defined group of members (about 25-30), led by a tutor. This last point is very important for the type of students following these courses: in fact, they are all professionals and they risk to don't pay due attention to the on-line lessons, giving priority to their work engagements. Only in this way they can follow the course with method, consistency and effectiveness. It should not be confused with a surf in a normal website.
- But to return to Professional Community, currently, we have five professional communities on line, but the most important and effective experiences are two: The community of expert extension agents in cross-compliance - has been started in 2007 and now, after aggregate the participants of 19 editions of e-learning courses about cross-compliance, has over 500 members; the rate of participation (in forums, upload documents and photos, compile testing) is 63%;
- The C ommunity of safety at work in agriculture - community launched in October 2009 and now, after five editions of the training course for Head of Security, joins more than 150 participants, with a 60% rate of participation.
- Critical aspects We can highlight different critical aspects in management of a professional community of extension agents. The most important problems are 3 and are behavioural.
- - 1 - the generational digital device - except the new generations, in the majority of cases the extension agents still haven't a few experience with the digital tools and especially their language. They are often more accustomed to express themselves verbally rather than in writing. Ask a question or make a comment orally in a classroom is very different than writing the same concept in a web-forum, the sentence will remain there for quite some time, everyone will can read and reread. Moreover, the writing, without being able to use gestures, tone of voice, verbal pauses, it can create misunderstanding. To overcome this critical point we must invest in digital literacy.
- 2 - breaking attitudes of ill-concealed professional jealousy – In a system of knowledge as a market of knowledge is obvious that each agent wants gain more clients and he use own skills, own knowledge as a precious resource. But in a global system, also the competence and knowledge is a resource that can improve thanks to the contribute of all and, in a job situations, thanks the experience of all. Only the ability of tutor and community builder can prevail upon this reluctance. We must emphasize situations where collaboration leads to positive results, we must reward who gives a contribution to the community (such as "promoting" student as a teacher in a seminar).
- - 3 - breaking the hesitation of civil servants to expose themselves - often, in e-learning courses or in communities the civil servants are teachers or experts, and the students refer to them for a question or a clarification, but generally the civil servants are afraid to expose themselves in informal situations such as web forums, in which their answers appear such as an official document. To overcome this critical aspect we must work in digitization of public administration, but especially in training and motivation.
- The perspective is to go toward an “ integrated learning ”. The concept of "blended" nowadays tends to expand because of technological innovations and the consequent changes in social behavior: the spread of e-book , the use of social-network , or the increasingly widespread use of mobile devices with many applications that pervade our social lives. In fact, in Italy, and even more in the rest of the world, virtual meeting places for the all various agricultural stakeholders increase exponentially. I want remember only some cases:
- Perhaps you know the experience of Agchat , a very active American network on the web ( http://www.agchat.org/ ) and on the social network (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube). Their mission is “empower farmers to connect communities through social media platforms”, by encouraging dialogue and exchange both among farmers and between them and the consumer-citizens.
- Just do a surfing in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Slideshare to see how in all these social network are now present several resources and aggregation groups about issues of agriculture and rural development. Nowadays, also all public institutions face on social-network, often with embarrassment and fear.
- In Italy, the experience of "Veneto Agricoltura" is not the only interesting experience, of course. There are many other promoted by public institutions (like the recent web-portal for young farmers "YOURuralNet" promoted by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture http://46.137.91.159/youruralnet/ ),
- or associations (such as e-learning courses of Association Alessandro Bartola, www.agriregionieuropa.it )
- or by private entities such as Agri-Forum ( http://www.imagelinenetwork.com/network.cfm ), that since 2001, now has one hundred and six thousand members on Italy, with which 23% of farmers.
- But blogs and social network become effective opportunities of marketing and dialogue between producers and consumers; also these networks can become a informal channel to spread and increase rural knowledge.
- All these resources offered by Web 2.0 should be used intelligently, in an integrated manner with each other and with the traditional forms of dissemination of knowledge (in the presence conferences, radio, television, print, etc.) .
- But the focus must be on collaborative participation. That already is known as a "we revolution ": from the time of competitive individualism to the era of collaborative and participatory practices spread.
- Today it is no longer sufficient "communicate" (and so also "inform” or "teach") to an audience more or less known. But we should "talk" (with stakeholders), "share" (data, knowledge, documents, experiences), “ aggregate / join” (professional communities, interest groups).
- Then the question is: a weak boundary between an e-book and a training course or between a social network and a professional community is a risk or an opportunity? Perhaps, we can answer that it is a risk if we think e-learning, m-learning, social-network, e-book, etc. as a separate and unique tools and methodologies.
- But they are only tools and methodologies that we can use in an integrated training strategy . And this is our strategy , the strategy of Veneto Agricoltura, based on integration of different tools and methodologies, that tends to informal aggregation of extension agents into networks of skill (professional communities). For us, the key words are “ integrated ” and “ collaborative ”.
- The contamination of languages between learning and social, the sharing and connection between professional life and our own personal social life are good things. But if we work in training process, we should be paid attention and awareness in order not to trivialize or simplify this process in a pulverized sequence of activities that are not able to develop a professional experience. The opportunities of the " 2.0" should be seized with courage , without hesitation , but without being drunk : the focus must be the fundamental cognitive process of mental and social change over an entire lifetime, in other words: learning. The different technologies can enhance motivation, can facilitate the learning. And for this objective the practical work, the learning by doing, are essential.
- (I support the spread of e-books in the school, of course) but I'm not sure that this picture will be a good perspective .