The Wales-Wide Web

Sorry not to have posted much lately. Up to my eyes in work and travel seems never ending.

Anyway, just to get the travel-log up to date. Spent most of last week in Romania - first in the beautiful; mountains of Transylvania and then in traffic clogged (but still beautiful) Bucharest.

I was in Romania for a meeting of the Reflective Evaluation project. We rolled out for the first time our as yet unnamed tool which allows an easy way for teachers and trainers to themselves create learning activities. This was always going to be interesting - given that the majority of the parters are teachers and trainers themselves rather than ICT experts. They seemed to like it. We benefitted from the input from Kris who has programmed the tool and is himself a specialist IT trainer. It was particularly good for me to watch how he presented the workshop. It requires a lot of patience in making sure everyone is keeping up and in guiding people through installing plug-ins etc.

The tool - about which I shall write more in the next month - is definitely a Web 2.0 development in that the activities of the learners or users form a key part of the learning materials. Of course this raises issues - particularly the relationship between expert and user based knowledge. This is quite a challenge for university researchers, used to the paradigm of expert knowledge drawn from research rather than practitioner knowledge based on practice.

What was particularly encouraging was that as participants became used to the idea of installing and 'playing' with the application, they became enthusiastic about other social software tools. By the end of the workshop everyone was sitting in the room sending messages to each other using Skype. Sometimes, working in the e-learning field, we can forget that many people have no knowledge of these tools and what use they might be for researchers and project development. We also forget that installing software - even modern, easy to use, web software, lays outside the experience of many users,

Technorati Tags: social software

Sleeve Notes

The first of the autumn podacasts from Sounds of the Bazaar. From now on these will be published fortnightly (at least I will try).

In this edition:

Blackboard - what are the deeper issues behind Blackboards patent on VLEs - Graham Attwell's regular rant. Graham Attwell sees the Balckboard patent as an inevitable result of the provatesation of learning infrastructures and the commodificationof learning. He goes on to call for more support for Open Source developers.

John Steinbeck on patents - in East of Eden, published in 1952, Steinbeck about the "very bad patent habit, a disease many men suffer from".

What is the Bazaar project all about - an interview with Raymond Elferink

Blog of the week - Mike Malloch's use of social bookmarking tools. Mike Malloch publishes a regualr bog, e-learning2.0. He also publishes a 'link blog', providing a dynamically updated listing of his delicio.us tags. And, along with his Knownet colleague, Steve Tuffail, he has developed a number of different for viewing tags.

Listen to the whole programme

The Blackboard patent - the inevitable result of privatisation

John Steinbeck on patents

About the Bazaar project - an interview with ray Elferink

Blogspot - tools for viewing Delicio.us tags

Endspot - Graham Attwell's wrap-up to this edition

Technorati Tags: blackboard patent, Peronal Learning Environments, tags

Sometime in the spring - can't remember quite when or who said it - there was a flurry of pots as to whether Personal Learning environments were the new e-Portfolio. The discussion has too slants. One strand questioned whether there was any real difference between e-Portfolios and PLEs. The second worried about the hype over PLEs and pointed to lack of evidence that the previous upsurge of interest in e-Portfolios had resulted in much real change.

Over the last few weeks I've been noticing a resurgence of interest in e-Portfolios. OK, maybe I'm being a little subjective. Last week I was at the launch of a new European project - site still under construction - on e-Portfolios, tomorrow I am traveling to Austria for a workshop on ELGG. But I think it goes beyond projects and workshops. The real driver of the recent discussions is simply the fast approaching new school and college term. e-Portfolios are moving beyond the first adopters, beyond the pedagogic researchers into mainstream use.

Coming back to the first question regarding the difference between e-Portfolios and PLEs, I am not sure of the answer. I don't think my idea of an effective e-Portfolio is much different form my take on a PLE. But not everyone in the learning technology community shares my views (probably a good job). What we all seem to have agreed on at the e-Portfolios meet up in Manchester in June was that we needed more grounded and small scale experiments in how we might configure and develop PLEs. (for discussion on ideas from Manhester workshop see PLE wiki pages maintained by Marc van Harmelen). We did not need yet another monolithic system called a PLE ( and anyway some ***tards would only try to patent it).

The good news about e-Portfolios coming of age - if my suspicion is right - is it will provide us with a rich landscape to experiment and develop new pedagogic approaches to learning.

Technorati Tags: Peronal Learning Environments, social software

Last week I wrote about workers being unwilling to participate in e-learning because of the perception that computer based learning is socially isolating.

I had a very interesting reply from Thomas Ryberg which warrants further thought.

Thomas says: first of all I think it is important to mention that the term e-learning is a bit too generic for such a conclusion to be made (which you also seem to be aware of :-). My position would be that it is not the e- as such that creates social isolation, but rather the pedagogical approach of the e-learning course. Do you have any data that can shed light on such relations, because that would be interesting? A Danish survey of SME learning concluded that most of the courses were very individually oriented - download material, answer a quiz. If that is the pedagogy of most of the courses, then certainly I think the feeling of social isolation would appear. But I guess the same goes for f2f learning. Many students at Danish Universities report that they feel socially isolated and it is a reason for quite a few to abandon their studies. This is, I guess, due to the pedagogical approach - come to a lecture with 100 strangers and then go do your reports alone. A second thing is that a discourse on 'internet as socially isolating' is strong among parents and the 40+ plus generation. They are in general afraid that their kids will become socially isolated (which is because they often don't know much about what their kids do - basically they use their computers to communicate with all of their friends :-). But I guess the discourse on computers, internet and social isolation goes back a while...what I was not quite sure about in your post was actually whether people reported actually being socially isolated after having participated in an actual course; or whether it was sort of something holding people back from joining a course - due to fear of becoming socially isolated?"

Well, lets clear up the last point first. It was a perception, rather than an experienced reality, that e-learning would be socially isolating. But in reality I think they are probably right. Learning is a social activity. basically, mots e-learing has replicated the cognitive processes of the classroom, whilst paying little or no attention to the social processes. What is interesting from our research is we found many workers using ICT for informal learning - using web sites, forums, chat functions etc. No-one complained that this was socially isolating. But of source they did not, themselves, perceive this as learning. Neither did their managers.

So it is partly to do with the perceptions of e-learning and partly to do with the pedagogy. The use of social software and the promotion of informal e-learning can overcome both perceptions and the reality of isolation.

Has anyone else a view on this?

Technorati Tags: e-learning, social software

i am still editing the book on e-learning in Small and Medium Enterprises.

The central contradiction our research has revealed is that whilst there are few examples of formal e-learning in small enterprises, computers are widely used for informal learning.

I found the following passage (which I suspect I may have written myself) interesting:

"Perhaps the most important question is the relationship between education and training systems and informal learning. There is currently much attention paid to informal learning at a policy level. If informal learning could be systematised, it could be a cost effective route to increasing training. However in order to do this it is felt necessary to be able to measure the learning taken place - in other words to formalise that learning. As such the concern is to develop an exchange value to learning which at present is seen only as having use value. That is not to say that exchange values are only in the interests of employers and policy makers. In an insecure labour market, exchange values are important for workers. However present proposals and mechanisms to establishing exchange value are based on identifying equivalents within frameworks linking informal learning to formally acquired qualifications and therefore seem more likely to constrain rather than support the use and status of informal learning. A better approach might be to recognise the use value of informal learning through profiling learning in non-constrained (e)-portfolios. Such an approach would provide a major move to learner driven learning where all learning is valid rather than only recognising that learning supported by qualification frameworks. "

Technorati Tags: communities of practice, e-learning, informal learning

I am hard at work editing a book on e-learning in SMEs. The book is based on a wealth of empirical research. The research shows it is hard to generalise - attitudes to e-learning vary greatly between SMEs in different sectors and with different forms of work organisation.

One surprising finding - which seems to run across countries, sectors and organisations, is a fear that e-learning results in social isolation. I wonder how grounded such a perception is in reality. I also wonder if it is based on fear of lack of teacher support, or fear of lack of peer group interaction.

I am always wary of reading to much into such findings. But so common is this finding that it has to be taken seriously. And is it yet more evidence that the LMS / VLE model of e-learningis inappropriate - at least for adults and work based learning.

Social networking and e-portfolio type applications such as ELGG may be far more suitable for these learners. But, of course, the perception that the use of ICT for learning will leave learners socially isolated still has to be overcome.

Technorati Tags: e-learning, e-portfolios, Small and Medium Enterprises

Last year I spoke at the Educa on-line conference in Berlin about e-learning in Small and Medium Enterprises. my presentation was based on the outcomes of a European Commission funded Leonardo project called ICT and SMEs.

Some time later, I received an invitation to talk at a meeting of the Elearn2work project in York in the UK - which I gather has similar aims.

So Wednesday I am off to York. Anthony Busk who works for KnowledgeBase UK - who are the project coordinators - asked me for a summary to send out in advance of the meeting. I sent him my long paper based on the project - about 23 pages and also a shorter version - about 6 pages - which I recently wrote. Anthony replied:

"Thanks for paper Graham – hope the 2 pager is OK. Had to leave out much. Many issues-allowing scope for lots of discussion?".

And indeed Anthony has condensed my pages of researchy prose to an excellent bullet list of tow pages focused on the issues arising from the project. So impressed was I, that I am posting it on the blog.

Scope
350 SMEs, focus groups, 90 case studies in seven countries (2002-2005).

Learning:
Is interactive with communities of practice
Builds on personal knowledge bases
Takes place in communities of practice
Controlled by the learner in terms of pace and time
Is episodic
Is sequenced by the learner
Response to problems or interests

ICT for Learning and Work Organisation
Main way of learning was through search engines (Google in particular).
ICT for learning is more likely to be used with flatter hierarchies and employees having greater autonomy in organising their work. –mainly smaller companies (Also, such firms has tended to have a more experienced workforce and low employee turnover).
Hierarchical work organisations tended to have least use of ICT for learning (largely manufacturing/production line enterprises).
Especially in micro firms, SME employees tend to be isolated from wider communities of practice.
Search engines are used to seek out potential forums and contexts for learning.

Knowledge of e-Learning
Few SMES aware of potential or possibilities of ICT for formal learning. Not received information from Public Sector providers – if advertising material sent, seen as junk mail.

Use of ICT
Varied by sector and occupation. Uses included administration and accounting, e-trading, customer communications, advertising and promotion, stock control and logistics. ICT not seen as a means of learning, but as a normal part of the work processes. Use of ICT in SMEs is increasing, but limited e-commerce growth.

Availability of ICT Skills
Managers did not perceive a shortage of ICT skills in the workplace as younger workers had sufficient skills.

Formal Training and Learning
Very little formal training other than regulatory, either face to face or using ICT.
Where seen as necessary: buy in initially from public sector providers, and if unavailable use private training based on word of mouth reputation.
Attitudes and involvement in training varies by size and sector

Accreditation of Learning
No employees had attempted to claim recognition or accreditation

Education and Training Policies.
Many managers are unconvinced of the benefits of initiating or continuing training:.
Few enterprises had a formal policy for education and training.
No budget for training
Nobody with formal responsibility.
Gained required skills through experience or buying in staff already trained
Few managers had formal management qualifications
Most networked with other managers
Variety of management style
There is little correlation between employees previous qualifications and their present employment.

Informal Learning
In contrast to formal learning, much informal learning was taking place.
It was learner driven rather than planned, and problem motivated or linked to personal interests.
There were differences between enterprises in use of ICT for informal learning.
Where ICT for informal learning is common, employees have developed their own occupational profiles, based on needs of the enterprise and their own specialities and interests. There may be a relationship.

Discussion
Learning and Knowledge Development
There is a big political interest in informal learning – if it could be systematised it could be a cost effective route to increasing training. First though it is necessary to formalise that learning. Attwell suggest (2005) all learning is valid – not just that supported by qualification frameworks.

Acquiring information is not learning. Case studies found learning is purposeful, influenced by context, often results in behaviour change, learners structured their own learning, problem or personal interest driven.

Whilst formal learning is progressively increasing and building on existing knowledge on a sequential basis, informal learning within the workplace is more incidental. To cope with the unexpected or unknown, relevant information is acquired which then adjusts existing knowledge.

Is European Quality Framework Flawed
The EQF is competence based rather than course driven, with the aim of developing systems and processes to accredit informal learning. It is based on educational achievement, goals and structures, rather than focusing on work based learning and knowledge.

Potential of EC I-Curriculum
The EC Socrates I-Curriculum project distinguishes between transformational, integrating and operational skills and knowledge, and is used to develop a framework for digital skills (I-Curriculum 2003). This framework matches the kind of skills for learning observed in the case studies.

Technorati Tags: e-learning, education and training research, Small and Medium Enterprises

Have not posted lately - have had flu and been totally exhausted from too much travel. But today I have a few brain cells back in action.

Last week I was in London for a meeting of the Workplace Learning Partnership project. This is an interesting project. Funded by the EU Leonardo da Vinci programme, It brings together parters form six different countries, seeking to build partnerships between education providers and enterprises to provide learning opportunities.

The project application envisaged using Information technology for 'managing' the partnerships. form the beginning there was an ambiguity as to whether this was managing the partnerships - in terms of administration etc. - or managing the learning process.

As the project has developed - and the ideas of Web 2.0 and e-learning 2.0 have become more prevalent - combined with the increasing use of social software, the project has reexamined how ICt might be used.

It quickly became apparent that one size does not fit a ll in terms of using software to support WLPs. Whilst in each country there is collaboration between employers and educational institutions for providing learning opportunities, these take different forms and are at different stages of development in the different partner countries. Developmental needs are different. Above all, the context s different. One thing we do know about e-leanring is that context is extremely important.

the project has inched towards an understanding of how Personal Learning environments could support work-based learning. But, at the same time, we have come to appreciate that a PLE is not a 'thing', it is an approach to supporting learning. That approach involves the use of different practices using social software in different contexts.

Thus, instead of developing a platform for workplace learning, the need is to support the partners in developing their own practice in the use of social software. This is not as easy as it sounds. Education and training providers - and for that matter researchers - still have little knowledge and experience of the use of social software for learning. help is limited. Examples of vivid and appropriate practice are few and far between.

And yet I think this sort of work is more valuable than all of the 'create and on-line course' projects funded by the EU.

However, those partners with the most to contribute - those parters dealing with everyday practice in work-based learning, are looking for answers now. Whilst they might appreciate the 'micro-experiments' that would seem so useful, they are also trying to extend their own use of e-learning in the short term.

the issue os how to balance these different priorities and imperatives. For the WLP project the answer is probably to support parters in using already available Open Source software (Moodle?, ELGG?), whilst at the same time undertaking small developmental and experimental activities in the use of social software for learning - or better put, the development of social pedagogic processes and practice utlising ICT.

One further issue is worth pointing out. Whilst I was at the meeting, I interviewed a number of the participants for a series of short videos I am making about the project. It rapidly became apparent that there were tow radically different discourses. Some of the partners - the practitioners - were talking about workplace learning partnerships, whilst others - the researchers - were talking about research into workplace learning partnerships. I guess this is common in a project of this sort - but it does set up two dynamics which may not necessarily be convergent.

Technorati Tags: e-learning, Peronal Learning Environments, social software

Carole quotes Step[hen Downes whos ays "LMSs as perpetuating old ways of learning" (she is kind enough to also trackback to an entry on this site.

Carole goes on to questions if all academics are ready to create personal learning environments. Big question. I would say they most certainly are not. Lets face it, most academics are not ready to embrace e-learning.

But this is not an issue of going at the speed at which academics are happy (or for that matter, institutional managers). the reality is that young people (and not just young people) are themselves creating and shaping their own learning environments, regardless of the wishes and prejudices of academics.

Technorati Tags: e-learning, Peronal Learning Environments

Wilfred has replied to my previous post on Blogging and Communities. I said "Learning is a social activity. Blogging does not, on its own, support the social aspect of learning - neither does it support communities of practice...initiatives like EduCause, Edublogs and Elgg have been so successful - because they provide a community as well as blogging tools. " (See also Dave's comments on this post)

Wilfred goes on to say: "the problem with traditional communities of practices is imho the lack of ownership. A network of weblogs of people with a common interest could be a good alternative.

Furthermore you could argue that weblogs are great tools for individual reflection which is necessary for learning as a social activity...... If our communities shall succeed, we need to create ownership, passion and a sense of urgency."

This raises many more questions about the nature of communities of practice and issues we need to resolve in a practical and applied sense.

Ettiene Wenger defines Communities of practice as follows:

"Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly."

He goes on to qualify this with three further 'critical characteristics".

"The domain: A community of practice ... has an identity defined by a shared domain of interest. Membership therefore implies a commitment to the domain, and therefore a shared competence that distinguishes members from other people.

The community: In pursuing their interest in their domain, members engage in joint activities and discussions, help each other, and share information. They build relationships that enable them to learn from each other. A website in itself is not a community of practice.

The practice: Members of a community of practice are practitioners. They develop a shared repertoire of resources: experiences, stories, tools, ways of addressing recurring problems—in short a shared practice. This takes time and sustained interaction."

Firstly, I do not understand what wilfred means when he talks about a problem with lack of ownership of communities if practice. Of course lots of management consultants have jumped on the bandwagon and are claiming to build communities of practice 'for' the practitioners. But if you accept Ettienne Wenger's definition these are not really communities of practice as such.

Now back to the blogging question. Yes - I am sure blogging can provide the passion. But are trackback, categories and tagging enough for a "shared competence" and "shared practice'". Remember the blogging is not the practice - it is just a means of communication. I really don't think networks of blogs, on their own, are enough.. I think we have to go far further in developing tools which allow people to communicate in a way which expresses elements of the nature of the practice. Blogging standards will, I suspect, play a big part. But we are not there yet.

More to come.

Technorati Tags: e-learning, edublogs, education and training research, eportfolio, European_projects, Small and Medium Enterprises, social

I have spent a lot of time arguing that the debate over differences between informal and formal learning is overly academic and misses the reality that all is learning (see previous post).

I am particularly interested in how to support informal learning using Information and Communciation technology. In this regard it is important to identify differences and and how they might effect the development of educational technology.

Four differences stand out for me.

The first is the importance of context. Although some formal learning is context dependent to a degree - particularly occupational or vocational learning - much education is virtually context free. Informal learning, on the other hand is heavily contextual - why I am learning something, where I am learning something, with whom I am learning it, when I am learning it and where I will apply it.

Secondly, whilst formal learning remains largely structured by traditional subject or disciplinary boundaries, informal learning does not in general respect such borders.

Similarly, formal learning tends to be scaffolded by well worked progression routes, building on previous learning. Informal learning may build on previous knowledge, but will often proceed in different ways. rather than build blocks of learning. Learners may acquire higher level learning and then fill in the gaps.

Finally, whilst formal learning is generally sequenced through course times and structures informal learning appears to be episodic with period of intense activity punctuated by periods of inactivity.

Will write another post on what this means for designing and developing educational software

Technorati Tags: e-learning, education and training research, informal_learning, non formal learning, work based learning

Last post for the day - I deserve a beer.

Just has an interesting chat on the phone with Dave Tosh. He was saying one of the problems with blogs is the isolation. Many people get few readers and even less comments or track backs.

That is fine if the idea of the blog is as a personal diary or a place to record ideas - essentially for yourself. But many people start blogs with a more social intention - of joining the blogging community. The problem is that the community is not so easy to join.

This may explain why initiatives like EduCause, Edublogs and Elgg have been so successful - because they provide a community as well as blogging tools.

I am more than ever convinced that learning often takes place through integration in communities of practice. The sites above are not yet communities if practice as such. But they point towards how we might use social software to support communities of practice.

Moer to come on this...

Technorati Tags: communities of practice, e-learning, edublogs, informal_learning, non formal learning, pedagogy

Ok - Stuart Yeates thinks my blog on Commodification and the Shaping of e-learning was pessimistic. It may appear so but was not intended as such.

It is the opening excerpt from a paper I have written for a book to be called (I think)

"Die 'Wissensgesellschaft": Mythos, Ideologie oder Realität".

The whole argument goes something like this.

e-Learning has been shaped by dominant political discourses in education - namely consumerisation and privatisation. However implementing those discourses is not so simple. Whilst the consumer driven approach to e-learning may have some sway in the corporate market, the values run counter to the natural values of the education system. This is why we see so much debate and controversy over e-learning in education. Where they have tried to introduce the model and values per se - eg the UK e-Learning University it has failed. In contrast the traditional distance universities like the Dutch and UK Open Universities have been much more successful because they already had a strong ethos and value system based not on consumerism but on distance education.

In vocational education and in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) ICT based learning has made little impact. the value systems and the pedagogic approaches based on technology centred development stand in total contradiction to how people learn.

Whilst there is little evidence of any take up of 'official' e-learning in the SME sector, there is much evidence that people are using computers and ICT to learn - through informal learning. This is happening through participation in distributed communities of practice. the major 'learning programme' is Google. This is in line with writings from Lave and Wenger about communities of practice and with Vygotsky's theory of Legitimate Peripheral Integration.

I predict that social software will increasingly be used for learning in the future. Social software allows learners to develop and control their own learning environment, outside the control freakery of institutional LMS, VLEs and portals

Thus, although existing e-learning products have been shaped through political discourses, the future of e-learning may come to be shaped by people taking software tools and application and shaping them for their own learning.

Not so pessimistic!

Technorati Tags: communities of practice, e-learning, informal_learning, knowledge development, non formal learning, nonformal_leaarning, Small and Medium Enterprises, social software

Regular readers of this web log will know that I am somewhat obsessed with informal learning and have been wrestling in my mind once more over definitions and meanings.

Definitions of informal and non formal learning are problematic and contested. Helen Colley, Phil Hodkinson and Janice Malcom have undertaken an extensive review of literature on this subject. In the review they identified eight different theoretical models of informal or non formal learning. They suggest the following factors as being common in many if not all of the definitions:

• “Process. This includes learner activity, pedagogical styles and issues of assessment: that is, the learning practices, and the relationships between learner and others (tutors, teachers, trainers, mentors, guides).
• Location and setting. Is the location of the learning within a setting that is primarily education, community or workplace? Does the learning take place in the context of: fixed or open time frames; is there specified curriculum, objectives, certification; etc.
• Purposes. Is the learning secondary to other prime purposes, or the main purpose of itself? Whose purposes are dominant – the learner’s, or others’?
• Content. This covers issues about the nature of what is being learned. Is this the acquisition of established expert knowledge/understanding/practices, or the development of something new? Is the focus on propositional knowledge or situated practice? Is the focus on high status knowledge or not?”

In reality the debate seems overly academic and driven by dominant discourses in education and training policy. The distinctions between formal and non formal learning seem more often driven by finding regime requirements than by the nature of the learning itself. However there is a very big political interest in informal learning. If informal learning could be systematised it could be a cost effective route to increasing training. However in order to do this it is felt necessary to be able to measure the learning taken place - in other words to formalise that learning. Much of the political thrust is not - as it claims to be about recognised learning - but to controlling learning through a system of accreditation. In other words the concern is to develop an exchange value to learning which at present is seen only as having use value. That is not to say that exchange values are only in the interests of employers and policy makers. In an insecure labour market exchange values are important for workers. However present proposals and mechanisms to establishing exchange value are based on identifying equivalents within frameworks linking informal learning to formally acquired qualifications seem more likely to constrain rather than advantage the use and status of informal learning. A better approach might be to recognise the use value of informal learning through profiling learning in non-constrained (e)-portfolios. Such an approach would provide a major move to leaner driven learning where all learning is valid rather than only recognising that learning supported by qualification frameworks.
There is a major issue in distinguishing between information seeking and learning. Assessment or testing has traditionally been seen as a means of assuring that learning has taken place. How effective assessment is as a measurement of learning may be contested. It may be more fruitful to examine the nature of activities resulting from informal learning as a means of validation. Activities identified in a series of recent case studies of the use of ICT for learning in Small and Medium Enterprises were:

a)Purposeful
b)Heavily influenced by context
c) Often resulted in changes in behaviour
d) Were sequenced in terms of developing a personal knowledge base
e) Problem driven or driven by personal interest
f) Social – in that they often involved recourse to shared community knowledge bases through the internet and / or shared with others in the workplace.

To me this proves that learning was taking place, even if there was no teacher or trainer, no tests and no certificates!

Technorati Tags: e-learning, e-portfolios, informal_learning, non formal learning, nonformal_leaarning

This is the introduction to a new paper I have written for a forthcoming book. The paper is mainly focused on how employees in SMEs are using ICT technologies for informal learning in totally unexpected ways. This excerpt looks at different policy discourses in learning and suggests these policy discourses have shaped the form of e-learning as it is presently developed.

E-learning is a young technology and the study of e-learning is equally in its infancy. Despite this there is by now an extensive literature on the subject and learning technology is increasingly recognised as a discipline in itself. However the overwhelming majority of these studies, from both proponents and sceptics, have been technologically determinist, based on the potentials and effects of technologies on education and learning, rather than looking at the influence of learning and teaching on technology (Attwell et al).

The hypothesis which this paper is based on is that the forms and uses of technologies are shaped by political and social processes (Rauner, Heidegger). If learning is a social process (Young), then any consideration of the development and impact of e-learning and e-learning technologies needs to examine the wider social, economic and cultural processes and discourses involved in the development and implementation of new technologies in education.

Technorati Tags: education and training research, informal_learning, knowledge development, pedagogy

Wilfred Rubens TE-learning centrum: technology enhanced learning: Weblogs and professional development

Despite saying to me it is too much work, Wilfred keeps up the English language bogging, discussing "an interesting blog by Ann Davis. She quotes Clarence Fisher who really beliefs that blogging is powerful for learning". Al these quoting other - hope you are keeping up.

Anyway the upshot to all this is that Wilfred has a rare pessimistic moment agreeing with Anne that there are limitations to the use of blogging for professional development and that participation is likely to be limited to a few highly motivated employees.

This is a welcome breath of realism compared to the hype we have seen lately over the use of new technologies for supporting communities of practice etc.. "build it and they will come' is not a real strategy.

But I am not so pessimistic as Wilfred concerning the use of ICt for informal learning and to develop communities of practice. I think the key issue here is the nature and practice of the communities. I think that as researchers we sometimes have an overly organisational view of what these communities look like. I believe many workers in organisation are using ICT now for professional development albeit in an informal and above all episodic pattern - driven primarily by either the need to solve a problem or by personal interest. If they use their favorite learning tool - which is probably Google - and find a discussion board which is of relevance to them and if they regularly visit that discussion board over a period of time, occasionally adding ideas of their own - is that not involvement in a dispersed community of practice?

Of course they may participate in more than one community. We should talk about multiple communities and not a single one. And the membership of those communities will be constantly in flux. Communities of practice are always emergent.

Coming back to the practice - in the case I have advanced here, the use of ICT is a normal and integral part of the work practice. It does not require extra time. It does not appear as a task outside normal practice - in the way blogging does at most people at the moment.

One of the problems with weblogs is the format. What do they all look the same? What on earth is the point of the calendar on the top right side? The strength of blogs is the standards which allow for rich communication and potentially the development of communication within communities. But the technology needs further development to make it really useful for communities of practice

Nevertheless, I remain optimistic.

Technorati Tags: e-learning, education and training research, non formal learning, pedagogy, social software

I have been working for the last couple of years on the use of ICT for learning in Small and Medium Enterprises as part of a European project. The project has included a survey in seven countries, over 90 case studies, a series of thematic studies and interviews with policy makers.

The findings are at very least contentious:

• There is little or no involvement in formal e-learning in SMEs

• Few SMEs have any form of training infrastructure, needs analysis, planning of training etc.

• formal training is carried out it is usually in response to an immediate need or more commonly due to legislative requirements

• When formal training is carried out SMEs are likely to select a training provider, public or private, based on word of mouth reputation or personal acquaintance
• Few SME managers are aware of the potential of ICT for learning

• There is a great deal of everyday informal learning taking place in SMEs using ICT

• Computers are used extensively in the workplace for administration and accounting, business to business transactions, customer communication, advertising and promotion, stock control and promotion

• The most common tools and applications used for learning are everyday business software, especially the use of the Google search engine

• There appears to be little correlation between previous qualifications and the use of ICT for learning

• There would appear to be more informal learning in workplaces with less hierarchical work organisation and where employees are given more responsibility for organising their own work

• Informal learning in the workplace is largely driven by problem solving or personal interest

• Learning usually takes place when it is needed

I have written over 50 pages of notes (some of which have appeared in this blog) which I hope to include in a book to be published next year. In the meantime I have submitted a paper to this years Online Educa Berlin 2005 conference. Online Educa does not publish full proceeding but instead publishes 1500 word abstracts of papers.

The abstract which can be downloaded from below gives a fair overview of the work. As ever I would welcome any comments.

berlinpaper.doc

Technorati Tags: education policy, non formal learning, Small and Medium Enterprises, work based learning

Part 3 in my series on e-Learning in Small and Medium Enterprises. In the last part ,I said that to fully understand the uses of ICT for non formal learning in SMEs we need more detailed understandings of the different type of knowledge being acquired and developed.

Jenny Hughes (unpublished text) has produced an analysis of different forms of knowledge based on the Welsh language. Whilst English has few words to differentiate knowledge, in Welsh there are at least six different terms for knowledge processes and six different terms for different types of knowledge, each with their own distinct meaning.

The general word for knowledge in Welsh – the translation from the English word knowledge is Gwybodaeth. Even this is not an exact translation. Gwybodaeth means something like ‘knowing-ness’, rather than knowledge.

However, the word Gwybodaeth – or knowing-ness comes in different forms defining different types of knowledge.

The first six words would appear to relate to knowledge processes. They can, in turn be divided in two – the first three possibly dealing with Knowledge ‘absorption’ and the following three referring to knowledge generation:

1. Cynnull (gwybodaeth) – to gather knowledge (as in acquisition) ‘along life’s way’
2. Cynhaeaf (gwybodaeth) – to harvest (purposefully) knowledge– or set up systems for harnessing knowledge or organise knowledge
3. Cymrodedd (gwybodaeth) - to compromise what you know to accommodate the unknown
4. Cynnau (gwybodaeth) - to light or kindle knowledge (in someone else) – can also be used to ‘share knowledge’ but implicit is that it is an active process not simply an exchange of information, which is an entirely different concept.
5. Cynllunplas (gwybodaeth) - to design (new) knowledge, paradigm shift
6. Cynyddu (gwybodaeth) - to increase or grow (existing) knowledge

The second six terms deal with different types of knowledge. The first three are arguably internal and the second three external.

1. (Gwybodaeth) cynhenid - original, congenital knowledge
2. (Gwybodaeth) cynhwynol - innate knowledge (collective)
3. (Gwybodaeth) cymrodeddol - compromised knowledge – knowledge adjusted to cope with the unexpected or unknown
4. (Gwybodaeth) cymdeithasol - sociable knowledge – not ‘social skills’ but knowledge about the social context in which the knowledge is used and the appropriate way of using it
5. (Gwybodaeth) cynefin - shared and passed on knowledge – implies usual, accustomed knowledge
6. (Gwybodaeth) Cynddelw - archetype /model / exemplary knowledge

These distinctions are very important and could prove extremely powerful in analysing non formal learning and knowledge development processes in Small and Medium Enterprise. For instance both ‘Cynnull (gwybodaeth) – to gather knowledge (as in acquisition) along life’s way’ and ‘Cynhaeaf (gwybodaeth) – to harvest (purposefully) knowledge – or set up systems for harnessing knowledge or organise knowledge’ take place in SMEs. But there is a very different quality to the different processes and the implications in terms of learning are quite distinct. It would be very interesting to go back to some of the SMEs we have studies and to analyse which of these processes in taking place.

In a similar vein the idea of ‘Cynnau (gwybodaeth) - to light or kindle knowledge as an active process” as opposed to passing on information is a very useful distinction.

Most valuable of all may be the distinction between ‘Cynyddu (gwybodaeth) - to increase or grow (existing) knowledge’ and ‘Cymrodedd (gwybodaeth) - to compromise what you know to accommodate the unknown’. As a quick hypothesis I would suggest that much of formal learning is ‘Cynyddu’ – increasing and building on existing knowledge. Much of the non formal learning using ICT that we have observed falls in the definition of ‘Cymrodedd (gwybodaeth) - to compromise what you know to accommodate the unknown’. This may be why non formal learning using ICT can be so powerful.

I also particularly like the idea of ‘(Gwybodaeth) cymdeithasol - sociable knowledge – not ‘social skills’ but knowledge about the social context in which the knowledge is used and the appropriate way of using it’ as a way of explaining the social contexts to which knowledge is used in SMEs.

Technorati Tags: describing knowledge, knowledge development, non formal learning, Small and Medium Enterprises, welsh langauge, work based learning

Last week I posted e-Learning in Small and Medium Enterprises (Part 1) and promised you the second part this week. I have not forgotten. In fact you do not only get Part 2 but parts 3, 4, 5 and 6 as well. Its a min series! Why so many? Well, the paper has grown much longer than I expected, the content is much more interesting than I though it would be and I think shorter posts work better in a blog format. This is work in progress - I dare say there are a few typos and I will revise the whole lot in the next few weeks. At that point I will post teh finished paper on the web and provide a reference to it for thsoe of you who still prefer reading pdf papers - rather than following the story in your RSS readers.

As some of you might recall, the paper is based on a research project Knownet has been carrying out for the European Commission funded ICt and SME project.

In this post I briefly recap on the main findings from our case studies. The following posts will present a discussion on the findings. Whilst I would not claim that our sample is in any way representative, I think that the findings are exciting in terms both of the future of learning and of the use of ICT for learning.

Technorati Tags: non formal learning, Small and Medium Enterprises, work based learning

I am working on two papers at the moment - one on e-learning in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the other on portfolios. I seem to increasingly write papers in chunks rather than as linear output.

I will post the 'edited highlights' on the blog - both to aid my own thinking and in the (perhaps vain) hope of eliciting some feedback.

So here is the first of a series of posts - hence the part 1 in the title above - on e-learning in SMEs. This is based on work for Knownet as part of a European project on the use of ICT for Learning in Small and Medium Enterprises. Each of the seven project partners is committed to undertaking 15 case studies in local SMEs during the three year lifetime of the project. Due to staff changes, Knownet is somewhat behind in this part of the work - the case studies have to be completed by November. I am attempting an initial analysis of the outcomes based on written reports and telephone conversations with Al who is making the case studies in enterprises in north Wales.

These notes sum up what we have found out so far. The next part (part 2) will attempt an analysis of these findings in terms of what they mean for learning theory and pedagogy, whilst part 3 will look at the policy implications of the findings..

Technorati Tags: non formal learning, Small and Medium Enterprises, work based learning