Learning to become an online editor: the editathon as a learning environment

This study explores Wikipedia as a site for learning. In particular it traces how people learn to become Wikipedia editors through engagement in an editathon, a training event for people who want to become a volunteer editor. The study is original in its emphasis on the various types of knowledge editors acquire as they develop expertise. Determining the knowledge needed to contribute to Wikipedia is significant in terms of understanding Wikipedia as a site for learning. Data was gathered from nine participants who took part in an ‘editathon’ event on the theme of the Edinburgh Seven. The study used a rigorous methodology, combining quantitative social network analysis, documenting the online activity of participants as they created and edited Wikipedia pages, with qualitative interviews, which recorded participants reflections on their participation in the editathon. A key finding is that conceptual and procedural knowledge are representative of the foundational knowledge needed to contribute to Wikipedia actively as an editor. However, this knowledge on its own is not sufficient. Editors also develop socio-cultural and relational knowledge forms of knowledge to enable them to operate and problem-solve effectively. The relationship between the physical and the digital is important, since socio-cultural and relational knowledge are developed through active experimentation as the editathon engage with physical objects to create the online wiki pages

Knowledge dating and knowledge sharing in ad-hoc transient communities

This chapter will focus on the question of what rules and policies are conducive to the emergence of an adequate support infrastructure in the non-formal settings of a Learning Network. Once such an infrastructure is in place, a variety of ways again embedded in rules and policies may be used to guarantee its continued exis-tence. This was the subject of the previous chapter. Here the focus is on the phase of the emergence of social interaction and the formation of an incipient social in-frastructure. It is in this stage that the lone learner makes acquaintance with his or her online peers. More specifically, since learning through the exchange of knowl-edge is the ultimate objective of any Learning Network, we will present guidelines for effective and efficient knowledge dating in Learning Networks; ultimately, this should lead to knowledge sharing. During our discussion, we will introduce the notion of ad-hoc transient communities, temporal online gatherings of people fo-cused on a particular issue, which precisely because of their focus and transience help build a social infrastructure in a Learning Network. Ad-hoc transient com-munities may be seen as a knowledge dating and sharing service, offered in the context of a Learning Network

Online teacher development: collaborating in a virtual learning environment

Over recent years educational institutions have been making increasing use of virtual environments to set up collaborative activities for learners. While it is recognized that teachers play an important role in facilitating learner collaboration online they may not have the necessary skills to do so successfully. Thus, a small scale professional development programme was set up and piloted by two distance universities. The aims were to develop teachers’ experience of online group work; to trial a set of pilot activities which would raise awareness of factors contributing to successful collaborative online activity; and to identify professional development needs in this area. This article reports on the hands-on experience of a group of 20 teachers, examines some of the competences that are needed to successfully collaborate in virtual environments, and presents the skills that teachers need to foster online collaborative learning in the virtual classroom. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected, examining the levels of participation among participants, the collaborative activity of two groups, and teacher perception of the collaboration which took place. The skills identified include planning and managing the collaboration, designing appropriate activities, giving clear instructions and getting students to negotiate ground rules for participation, moderating at the right level, and choosing the right environment and the appropriate tool(s). While this study was carried out with language teachers, many of the findings are applicable to other subject areas where growing emphasis is placed on the development of collaborative skills

Towards ‘Onlife’ Education. How Technology is Forcing Us to Rethink Pedagogy

[EN] The objective of this chapter is twofold: on the one hand, to provide an explanation for the need we have today to rethink pedagogy based on new realities and the scenarios in which we live, also in education, generated by the technology of our time and, on the other hand, to point out the direction in which we can find a path that leads us to that reflection in the face of the inevitable convergence between technology and pedagogy in which we are today

Requests On E-Mail: a Cross-Cultural Comparison

This study investigates differences in request e-mails written in English by Chinese English learners and native American English speakers The results show that while Chinese English learners treat e-mail communications like either formal letters or telephone conversations, native American English speakers regard e-mail communications as closer to written memos It was also found that although the native American English speakers structure their e-mail request messages in a rather direct sequence, the linguistic forms they employ to express their requests are more indirect In contrast, the Chinese English learners structure their request messages in an indirect sequence, but the linguistic forms they use to realize their requests are more direct Given this contrast, it is not surprising that some of the request samples written by Chinese English learners were judged as very impolite by the native English speaking evaluators in this study The findings of this study thus demonstrate the importance of studying requests within the overall discourse in which they occur. Studying only the linguistic forms used in phrasing the request itself, as in the studies conducted by Blum-Kulka et al (1989), cannot provide us with a full picture of the cultural differences inherent in making requestsPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69055/2/10.1177_003368829802900206.pd

Analysing interactions in a teacher network forum: a sociometric approach

This article presents the sociometric analysis of the interactions in a forum of a social network created for the professional development of Portuguese-speaking teachers. The main goal of the forum, which was titled Stricto Sensu, was to discuss the educational value of programmes that joined the distance learning model in Brazil. The empirical study focused on the sociometrie analysis of the social interactions that take place in asynchronous online environments. This approach, according to literature, allows for new means to observe, analyse, and interpret the reality of a new social paradigm. This type of analysis tries to understand the relationship established between the different actors, seeking to verify if the roles they play in both the access to information and the construction of shared knowledge. The data collected allow the researchers to deduce that the indicators used in the analysis are important for understanding and intervening in the dynamics and functioning of the network to propose improvements in its structure and organisation. In the specific case of the aforementioned discussion forum, the results of the sociometrie analysis of the perceived interactions were not surprising, considering that the nature of the topic did not demand deep reflection to contribute to the debate.This work is funded by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the doctoral grant SFRH/BD/60677/2009

Networked learning, stepping beyond the net generation and digital natives

This chapter critically examines the idea that young people have undergone a change in which exposure to digital and networked technologies has caused a step change in the character of a whole generation. The empirical and theoretical basis for this argument is reviewed and critical theoretical perspectives are assessed. Evidence from earlier research is compared and contrasted with evidence gathered from students who are said to be part of the new generation. The chapter explores the consequences of these ideas from the standpoint of networked learning. One aim of the chapter is to suggest ways in which the changes that have taken can be more adequately theorized in relation to the idea of networked learning. Arguments used to support generational change rely on a technological determinism and alternative accounts understand young people as active agents. I suggest ex-panding the notion of the agent to include persons enacting roles in collective or-ganizations. Overall the importance of the debate is that determinist arguments can close down debate and networked learning would be impoverished if this occurs