The document discusses social media and learning on the cloud. It begins by defining social media as web and mobile technologies that allow for interactive dialogue, exchange of user-generated content, and mediate human communication. It then discusses tensions around viewing social networking and social learning as separate domains. Finally, it proposes some ways universities can respond to social media, including shifting the focus from containing social media to developing digital literacies, from containment of learning environments to supporting mobile learning, and from software training to staff development around collaborative learning.
Earning formal academic credit through a citizen’s viral and OER learning (Id...Merilyn Childs
Earning formal academic credit through a citizen’s viral and OER learning
What are the implications for mobile, hybrid and online learning? Ideas paper presented at: eLmL 2013, The Fifth International Conference on Mobile, Hybrid, and Online Learning, February 24th to March 1st, 2013, Nice, France.
Laru, J. & Järvelä, S. (2008). Social patterns in mobile technology mediated ...Jari Laru
The aim of this study was to identify social patterns in mobile technology mediated collaboration among distributed members of the professional distance education community. Ten participants worked for twelve weeks designing a master’s programme in Information Sciences. The participants’ mobile technology usage activity and interview data were first analyzed to get an overview of the density and distribution of collaboration at individual and community levels. Secondly, the results of the social network analyses were interpreted to explore how different social network patterns of relationships affect online and offline interactions. Thirdly, qualitative descriptions of participant teamwork were analyzed to provide practical examples and explanations. Overall, the analyses revealed nonparticipative behaviour within the online community. The social network analysis revealed structural holes and sparse collaboration among participants in the offline community. It was found that due to their separated practices in the offline community, they did not have a need for mobile collaboration tools in their practices
Earning formal academic credit through a citizen’s viral and OER learning (Id...Merilyn Childs
Earning formal academic credit through a citizen’s viral and OER learning
What are the implications for mobile, hybrid and online learning? Ideas paper presented at: eLmL 2013, The Fifth International Conference on Mobile, Hybrid, and Online Learning, February 24th to March 1st, 2013, Nice, France.
Laru, J. & Järvelä, S. (2008). Social patterns in mobile technology mediated ...Jari Laru
The aim of this study was to identify social patterns in mobile technology mediated collaboration among distributed members of the professional distance education community. Ten participants worked for twelve weeks designing a master’s programme in Information Sciences. The participants’ mobile technology usage activity and interview data were first analyzed to get an overview of the density and distribution of collaboration at individual and community levels. Secondly, the results of the social network analyses were interpreted to explore how different social network patterns of relationships affect online and offline interactions. Thirdly, qualitative descriptions of participant teamwork were analyzed to provide practical examples and explanations. Overall, the analyses revealed nonparticipative behaviour within the online community. The social network analysis revealed structural holes and sparse collaboration among participants in the offline community. It was found that due to their separated practices in the offline community, they did not have a need for mobile collaboration tools in their practices
Reaching Out with OER: The New Role of Public-Facing Open ScholareLearning Papers
Open educational resources (OER) and, more recently, open educational practices (OEP) have been widely promoted as a means of increasing openness in higher education (HE). Thus far, such openness has been limited by OER provision typically being supplier-driven and contained within the boundaries of HE. Seeking to explore ways in which OEP might become more needs-led we conceptualised a new ‘public-facing open scholar’ role involving academics working with online communities to source and develop OER to meet their needs.
To explore the scope for this role we focused on the voluntary sector, which we felt might particularly benefit from such collaboration. We evaluated four representative communities for evidence of their being self-educating (thereby offering the potential for academics to contribute) and for any existing learning dimension. We found that all four communities were self-educating and each included learning infrastructure elements, for example provision for web chats with ‘experts’, together with evidence of receptiveness to academic collaboration. This indicated that there was scope for the role of public-facing open scholar. We therefore developed detailed guidelines for performing the role, which has the potential to be applied beyond the voluntary sector and to greatly extend the beneficial impact of existing OER, prompting institutions to release new OER in response to the needs of people outside HE.
Standing at the Crossroads: Mobile Learning and Cloud Computing at Estonian S...eLearning Papers
This paper studies the impact of mobile learning implementation efforts in Estonian school system – a process that has created a lot of controversy during the recent years. Best practices in mobile learning are available from the entire world, forcing schools to keep up the push towards better connectivity and gadgetry. Even in the best cases where the schools are provided with the necessary tools, the process has met a lot of scepticism from teachers who are afraid to implement new methods. Teachers are often cornered with the ‘comply or leave’ attitude from educational authorities, resulting in a multi-sided battle between involved parties.
We have surveyed students, teachers, parents and management at five Estonian front-runner schools to sort out the situation. The results show different attitudes among students, school leaders and staff – while all of them mostly possess necessary tools and skills, teachers almost completely lack motivation to promote mobile learning. We propose some positive and negative scenarios – for example, we predict major problems if teacher training will not change, e-safety policies are inadequately developed or authorities will continue the tendency to put all the eggs into one basket (e.g. by relying solely on closed, corporate solutions for mobile learning platforms).
Microlearning: a strategy for ongoing professional development eLearning Papers
In this paper we introduce microlearning in online communities as a learning approach triggered by current patterns of media use and supported by new technologies, such Web 2.0 and social software.
Authors; Ilona Buchem, Henrike Hamelmann
Digital Scholarship powered by reflection and reflective practice through the...Judy O'Connell
Current online information environments and the associated social and pedagogical transactions within them create an important information ecosystem that can and should influence and shape the professional engagement and digital scholarship within our learning communities in the higher education sector. Thanks to advances in technology, the powerful tools at our disposal to help students understand and learn in unique ways are enabling new ways of producing, searching and sharing information and knowledge. By leveraging technology, we have the opportunity to open new doors to scholarly inquiry for ourselves and our students. While practical recommendations for a wide variety of ways of working with current online technologies are easily marketed and readily adopted, there is insufficient connection to digital scholarship practices in the creation of meaning and knowledge through more traditional approaches to the ‘portfolio’. In this context, a review of the portfolio integration into degree programs under review in the School of Information Studies led to an update of the portfolio approach in the professional experience subject to an extended and embedded e-portfolio integrated throughout the subject and program experience. This was done to support a strong connection between digital scholarship, community engagement, personal reflection and professional reflexive practices. In 2013 the School of Information Studies established CSU Thinkspace, a branded Wordpress solution from Campus Press, to better serve the multiple needs and learning strategies identified for the Master of Education programs. The aim was to use a product that replicates the authentic industry standard tools used in schools today, and to model the actual ways in which these same teachers can also work in digital environments with their own students or in their own professional interactions. This paper will review how the ePortfolio now provides reflective knowledge construction, self-directed learning, and facilitate habits of lifelong learning within their professional capabilities.
Referred published as part of the EPortolios Forum, Sydney, 2016.
Reaching Out with OER: The New Role of Public-Facing Open ScholareLearning Papers
Open educational resources (OER) and, more recently, open educational practices (OEP) have been widely promoted as a means of increasing openness in higher education (HE). Thus far, such openness has been limited by OER provision typically being supplier-driven and contained within the boundaries of HE. Seeking to explore ways in which OEP might become more needs-led we conceptualised a new ‘public-facing open scholar’ role involving academics working with online communities to source and develop OER to meet their needs.
To explore the scope for this role we focused on the voluntary sector, which we felt might particularly benefit from such collaboration. We evaluated four representative communities for evidence of their being self-educating (thereby offering the potential for academics to contribute) and for any existing learning dimension. We found that all four communities were self-educating and each included learning infrastructure elements, for example provision for web chats with ‘experts’, together with evidence of receptiveness to academic collaboration. This indicated that there was scope for the role of public-facing open scholar. We therefore developed detailed guidelines for performing the role, which has the potential to be applied beyond the voluntary sector and to greatly extend the beneficial impact of existing OER, prompting institutions to release new OER in response to the needs of people outside HE.
Standing at the Crossroads: Mobile Learning and Cloud Computing at Estonian S...eLearning Papers
This paper studies the impact of mobile learning implementation efforts in Estonian school system – a process that has created a lot of controversy during the recent years. Best practices in mobile learning are available from the entire world, forcing schools to keep up the push towards better connectivity and gadgetry. Even in the best cases where the schools are provided with the necessary tools, the process has met a lot of scepticism from teachers who are afraid to implement new methods. Teachers are often cornered with the ‘comply or leave’ attitude from educational authorities, resulting in a multi-sided battle between involved parties.
We have surveyed students, teachers, parents and management at five Estonian front-runner schools to sort out the situation. The results show different attitudes among students, school leaders and staff – while all of them mostly possess necessary tools and skills, teachers almost completely lack motivation to promote mobile learning. We propose some positive and negative scenarios – for example, we predict major problems if teacher training will not change, e-safety policies are inadequately developed or authorities will continue the tendency to put all the eggs into one basket (e.g. by relying solely on closed, corporate solutions for mobile learning platforms).
Microlearning: a strategy for ongoing professional development eLearning Papers
In this paper we introduce microlearning in online communities as a learning approach triggered by current patterns of media use and supported by new technologies, such Web 2.0 and social software.
Authors; Ilona Buchem, Henrike Hamelmann
Digital Scholarship powered by reflection and reflective practice through the...Judy O'Connell
Current online information environments and the associated social and pedagogical transactions within them create an important information ecosystem that can and should influence and shape the professional engagement and digital scholarship within our learning communities in the higher education sector. Thanks to advances in technology, the powerful tools at our disposal to help students understand and learn in unique ways are enabling new ways of producing, searching and sharing information and knowledge. By leveraging technology, we have the opportunity to open new doors to scholarly inquiry for ourselves and our students. While practical recommendations for a wide variety of ways of working with current online technologies are easily marketed and readily adopted, there is insufficient connection to digital scholarship practices in the creation of meaning and knowledge through more traditional approaches to the ‘portfolio’. In this context, a review of the portfolio integration into degree programs under review in the School of Information Studies led to an update of the portfolio approach in the professional experience subject to an extended and embedded e-portfolio integrated throughout the subject and program experience. This was done to support a strong connection between digital scholarship, community engagement, personal reflection and professional reflexive practices. In 2013 the School of Information Studies established CSU Thinkspace, a branded Wordpress solution from Campus Press, to better serve the multiple needs and learning strategies identified for the Master of Education programs. The aim was to use a product that replicates the authentic industry standard tools used in schools today, and to model the actual ways in which these same teachers can also work in digital environments with their own students or in their own professional interactions. This paper will review how the ePortfolio now provides reflective knowledge construction, self-directed learning, and facilitate habits of lifelong learning within their professional capabilities.
Referred published as part of the EPortolios Forum, Sydney, 2016.
Engage 2013 at SXSWedu, Nada Dabbagh PhD, Strategically Designed Personal Lea...Cengage Learning
Personal Learning Environments or PLEs enable the creation of personal and social learning spaces
to support learner-centered and personalized learning experiences empowering students to direct
their own learning and develop self-regulated learning skills. PLEs are built bottom-up, by the student,
starting with personal goals, information management, and individual knowledge construction, and
progressing to socially mediated knowledge and networked learning. A PLE can be entirely controlled
and adapted by a student providing an engaged learning experience, however students must acquire
and apply a set of personal knowledge management and self-regulatory skills to create effective PLEs.
This talk will address this critical issue focusing on the use of social media as an educational platform
for scaffolding the strategic design of PLEs.
This paper was published on pp 319-323 of
XXXIV FAAPI Conference Proceedings: teachers in action; making the latest trends work in the classroom. Bahía Blanca: Federación Argentina de Asociaciones de Profesores de Inglés, 2009. ISBN: 978-987-98045-1-3
In this keynote for Anglia Ruskin University's Digifest 2016 I introduced the idea that a convergence of emerging digital contexts is creating a tipping point in understanding the hybrid learning space. This changes the relationships we have with our students and signals at last that digital lifewide learning shifts the balance from a teaching or content-centred paradigm to learning paradigm.
The implications are staff and students need to learning the literacies of this connectivist learning environment.
Where Is The M In Interactivity, Collaboration, and Feedback?Michael Coghlan
Presentation for the Wireless Ready Event on March 29th, 2008. Audio accompanying approximately the first half of these slides at http://michaelc.podomatic.com/entry/2008-03-29T07_39_46-07_00
The necessity of critique in academic development John Hannon
Symposium: Revisiting the mundane to rearticulate the idea of the University, 7th International Academic Identity Conference,
Rosskilde University 21-23 June 2021
Scholarship of Teaching: Advancing your career John Hannon
1. Distinguish Boyer’s types of scholarship in higher education
2. Identify sources of evidence that can demonstrate your scholarship of teaching
3. Apply the values and practices of your profession or discipline to your scholarship of teaching
4. Develop & present a career plan for your scholarship of teaching
Putting Theory to Work: Comparing theoretical perspectives on academic practi...John Hannon
As research into teaching, learning and professional development has shifted beyond cognitive and individually focussed accounts (Fenwick & Edwards, 2016; Peseta, Kligyte, Smith & McLean, 2016), what begins to surface are the negotiations, interdependencies and collectives inherent in academic work environments. These emergent socialities can be analysed by drawing on the rich conceptual resources of sociology that are used to explore complex issues in higher education. Yet sociology encompasses distinct traditions, concepts and methodologies that are rarely brought to comparative analysis in higher education or examined for their relative commensurability. In this chapter we attempt such a comparative endeavour, focussing on academics in a disciplinary collective and the resources they call upon in their professional development as university teachers, and in their response to organisational change.
Materialising change in university teaching: Tracing agency in professional d...John Hannon
University teaching practices in local academic workgroups: measuring individuals or tracing change, Academic Identities Conference 2016, University of Sydney, 29 June - 1 July
Open Education Resources in Practice: Webinar to JCUJohn Hannon
OER in Practice: The Big Idea of Open Education
Open education is currently a big idea that is playing out globally in higher education with potentially transformative effects on the sector. Already we can see that openness in education takes different forms: in some instances, resources may be accessible but not free to use - conditions apply. OER offers more than accessible education resources, it is also a standard for reusable and participatory education. The OER movement is a particular form of global open education that is now in its second decade of growth. The type of openness provided through OER implies specific practices of use, reuse, licensing and repurposing. This Webinar will give a quick tour over the OER global landscape, mark out some controversies and spaces to watch, and also demonstrate how to put OER into practice at the local level
Assembling university learning technologies for an open world: connecting institutional and social networks
Hannon, J., Riddle, M. & Ryberg, T. (link below)
This paper considers the emergence of social media in university teaching and learning and the capacity or universities – as complex organisations with disparate interacting parts – to respond to the shift of pedagogies and practices to open networks. Institutional learning technology environments reflect a legacy of prescriptive, hierarchical arrangements associated with enterprise systems, and are a poor fit with the heterarchical and self-organised potential for learning associated with social media and open education practices. We draw on empirical data on student practices that challenge institutional arrangements for learning, and offer insights into the assembly of extended connections for networked learning, in particular the pedagogies of collaboration, knowledge co-construction, and informal social learning. We draw attention to the interplay of competing metaphors and practices in the organisation as it encounters the potential of more open pedagogies over social and digital networks. Drawing on spatial descriptions of networked learning, we apply Callon’s (1998) notions of framing and overflows to this interplay in order to ask how learning environments were assembled and ordered: what pre-existing configurations were brought to frame and set boundaries for these networks of formal learning; and what activities overflow those boundaries and destabilise these framings. We argue that the adoption of social media by students requires a challenge to the institutional metaphors of containment that implement a default bounded environment. We propose a less integrated, “assembly” approach to institutional learning that attends to the open, fluid connections of networked learning. A spatial articulation of networked learning that bridges both institutional and social networks can equip the university to meet the critical challenges of emerging hybrid learning environments and the potential of more open learning environments.
http://www.networkedlearningconference.org.uk/abstracts/wright_symposium.htm
How does a University respond to a clinical practitioners’ need for knowledge in a dynamic practice environment? And what factors contribute to this environment of continual change for health professionals? This presentation offer an insight into the forces shaping changes in health practice and a critical appraisal of potential responses to a dynamic practice environment. As the complexity of care offered patients and the competency needs of clinicians is constantly changing, the capacity of the education providers (both within the hospital and outside) is constrained. In hospitals there has always been a tension between ‘service’ and ‘education’. Our approach is to integrate education into the service provision of care offered by clinicians. Transforming formal learning into flexible mode offerings and using different technologies to focus on clinicians needs for knowledge application and what has been achieved to date will be discussed. Next, we will report on the clinician’s and hospital staffs response to this integrated approach to clinical learning, what have they had to say about this approach. Finally, we will offer a glimpse into the future of our ‘integrate education service model that operates in a complex bureaucratic organisation.
1. Social media and learning on the
cloud
Dr John Hannon
La Trobe University, Melbourne
17 September 2012
1
2. Where is social media?
Social media are:
“web- and mobile-based technologies which are used to turn
communication into interactive dialogue among organizations,
communities, and individuals.
“… allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content
“… Social Media are social software which mediate human
communication.”
(Wikipedia)
The cloud: a bank of machines in a warehouse
2
3. Is social media radical?
But learning has always “turned communication
into interactive dialogue …”
SCALE a radical transformation of the modes of
production of interaction, communication, and
EMERGENCE dissemination, collectively referred to as Web
2.0, which makes emergent behaviour
possible at an unprecedented scale, pace,
and breadth of participation.(Williams et al.
2012: 44)
Industrial revolution traditional modes of learning
Information revolution “learning-directed technologies”
3
4. Tensions from the e-learning literature #1
Social networking & social learning are separate domain
Most students embrace the digitalised world of social
networking…, although this does not necessarily
transfer to learning. (Williams et al. 2012: 40)
4
5. Tensions from the e-learning literature #2
Different models of networking:
the social as commercial vs educational
… social networking offers only a truncated capacity to
foster disagreement and debate because dominant
programmes and models primarily foster conviviality
and ‘liking’. (Friesen & Lowe 2012: 184)
5
6. Tensions from the e-learning literature #3
Institutional responses to social media in universities
frame as a technology issue - try to contain social media
frame as a learning issue - eg. harness informal learning
experiences and link to formal structures of learning
6
7. How can universities respond to social media?
Shift focus:
1. From “hijacking” social media to “digital literacies”:
That is, on practices of knowledge generation
and learning among students
7
8. How can universities respond to social media?
Shift focus:
1. From “hijacking” social media to “digital literacies”
2. From containment of learning environments to mobilities
of learning
That is, crossing institutional boundaries
eg. experiential learning such as fieldwork
via geo-located knowledge development
(Ravenscroft et al. 2012)
8
9. How can universities respond to social media?
Shift focus:
• From “hijacking” social media to “digital literacies”
• From containment of learning environments to mobilities
of learning
• From software training to staff development for user-
generated knowledge and collaborative, emergent learning
9
10. Examples of social media for learning
1. Institutional to learner-centred
Core institutional infrastructure Moodle, AdobeConnect,
(LMS/VLE) PLE via Mahara
Package/bundle of tools not Wordpress, Skype
provided by institution, but maybe
facilitated and semi-supported, eg.
open source systems
Student initiated social software dropbox, google docs,
and non-institutionalised tools for google hangout, google
working together on learning – groups
collaboration, groupwork, filesharing
Use of lifestyle technologies facebook,flickr
10
11. Futures
Learning ecologies rather than learning systems
Ellis & Goodyear (2010): learning ecologies bring a
focus on the relationships between the elements that
comprise the system under study, rather than their
differences
11
12. Futures
Managing learning as ecologies
Modes of Domains of Types of Organisation Modes of
application knowledge production
learning
Prescriptive Predictable Prospective Hierarchy, Centrally
learning complicated institutional determined
control control for users,
systems replicated
for scale at
high cost
Emergent Complex Retrospective Collaboration, Open &
learning adaptive coherence self- distributed,
systems organisation created by
users
Framework for emergent learning and learning ecologies
Williams, R., Karousou, R. & Mackness, J. (2011).
12
13. Futures
Flexible learning understood as opening up
possibilities that extend into social and professional
worlds of learners
learner-generated content
peer review & co-construction
learning communities of student/staff/practitioners
experiential learning & assessment (crossing institutional boundaries)
knowledge generation via placements, (virtual) exchanges
open education resources
Adapted from Lee, M., & McLoughlin, C. (eds.) (2010). Web 2.0-Based E-Learning
13
14. References
• Bradford, G., Kehrwald, B. & Dinmore, S. (2011). A framework for evaluating online
learning in an ecology of sustainable innovation. In G. Williams, P. Statham, N. Brown & B.
Cleland (Eds.), Changing Demands, Changing Directions. Proceedings ascilite Hobart 2011.
(pp.162-167).
http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/hobart11/procs/Bradford-concise.pdf
• Collins A., & Halverson R. (2010). The second educational revolution: Rethinking education
in the age of technology. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26, 18-27.
• Falconer, I. 2011, Literacy in the Digital University. Seminar Four April 8th Lancaster
University. http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/lidu/p3_4.shtml
• Friesen, N. and Lowe, S. (2012). The questionable promise of social media for education:
connective learning and the commercial imperative . Journal of Computer Assisted
Learning, 28, 183–194
• Lea, M. & Jones, S. (2011): Digital literacies in higher education: exploring textual and
technological practice, Studies in Higher Education, 36:4, 377-393
• McLoughlin, C., & Lee, M. (2010). Pedagogy 2.0: Critical Challenges and Responses to Web
2.0 and Social Software in Tertiary Teaching. In M. Lee & C. McLoughlin (Eds.), Web 2.0-
Based E-Learning: Applying Social Informatics for Tertiary Teaching (pp. 43-69). Hershey,
Pennsylvania: IGI Global.
• Ravenscroft, A. Warburton, S., Hatzipanagos, S. & Conole, G. (2012). Designing and
evaluating social media for learning: shaping social networking into social learning?
Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 28, 177–182
• Williams, R., Karousou, R. & Mackness, J. (2011). Emergent Learning and Learning
14 Ecologies in Web 2.0. International Review of Research in Open and Distance
Learning 12 (3), March
15. Thank you
John Hannon
j.hannon@latrobe.edu.au
15
Editor's Notes
Wikipedia is itself an ex of user-generated content or knowledge generation that is self organising, located on a remote Internet service or cloud. The cloud means entrusting remote services with data and software – cloud a metaphor for the Internet - ie. the cloud is bank of machines in a warehouse
Social media is part of radical shift that arises from scale and emergence: Eg wikipedia as self organising [the immediacy of private comments made pubic has the consequence of uncontrolled publicity] For T&L, the argument goes that: the Industrial revolution traditional modes of learning from standardised mass production information revolution Web 2.0 social software and ” le arner-directed technologies ” . (Collins & Halverson 2010)
Separate domains of activity: social media was not founded as an educational project Net-gen research confirms narrow focus and lack of transfer
Different models underlying social networking. Need for critical dialogue and judgement between alternative options
What do institutions do? Frame social media as a technology issue and try to contain/appropriate social media How to provide frameworks that link “ meaningful informal learning experiences ” to formal structures and validation (Ravenscroft et al 2012: 177) Is appropriating or hijacking social media the right response
from “ h i jacking ” social media to “ d i gital literacies ” - as practices of knowledge generation and learning that arise from the relations between conventional literacies and technologies
Eg. experiential learning eg. fieldwork via geo-located knowledge development (Ravenscroft et al. 2012) Also WIL, placements, exchanges (virtual & physical), disciplinary/professional learning communities
That is, in developing hybrid learning environments for emergent learning emergent learning “ is likely to occur when many self-organising agents interact frequently and openly, with considerable degrees of freedom, but within specific constraints ” (Williams et al. 2012: 45)
Ellis & Goodyear (2010): learning ecologies bring a focus on the relationships between the elements that comprise the system under study, rather than their differences
A learning ecology that integrates prescriptive and emergent learning Ellis & Goodyear (2010): learning ecologies bring a focus on the relationships between the elements that comprise the system under study, rather than their differences
FL as extending a learning community, rather than FL as individual choice