Informal learning with Web 2.0 – the experience of 9-11 year olds

Rebecca FergusonDenise WhitelockDorothy Faulkner

Kieron Sheehy

Funded by the OU’s Children and Young People Research Network

Informal learning

Vavoula, G. (2004), 'KLeOS: A Knowledge and Learning Organisation System in Support of Lifelong Learning.' PhD Thesis, Birmingham, University of Birmingham.

Web 2.0

Shifts in practice

Traditional practice ‘New’ literacy

Publishing Participation

Centralised Expertise Distributed Expertise

Individual Intelligence Collective Intelligence

Individuated Authorship Collaboration

Scarcity Dispersion

Normalisation Experimentation

Stability & Fixity Innovation & Evolution

Generic Purity Creative Rule-breaking

Information Broadcast Relationships

Knobel, M., & Lankshear, C. (Eds.). (2007). A New Literacies Sampler. Oxford: Peter Lang.

Web 2.0 possibilities for learning

• Stimulate new modes of enquiry• Engage in collaborative learning activities• Engage with new literacies • Online publication of content

Crook, C., & Harrison, C. (2008). Web 2.0 Technologies for Learning at Key Stages 3 and 4:

Summary Report. Coventry: Becta.

Research design

• Identify tools used by Year Six children (aged 9-11) to support their learning outside school.

• Examine the ways in which they learn of, about and with these tools.

• Investigate the constraints and affordances of these tools for learners in this age group.

How do young learners make use of the collaborative tools available online

to support informal learning?

Sample

Method

Analysis: higher mental functions

• Memory (collective or individual)• Problem solving• Decision making• Reasoning• Evaluation

‘Higher forms of memory, attention, and other functions appear not suddenly and not in a prepared form. They do not drop at a certain moment from above; they have a long history of formation.’

Vygotsky, L. S. (1931). Genesis of higher mental functions

Analysis: themes and differences

Themes•Connection •Control•Communication

Factors influencing use•Economic limitations•Rules regulating access•Lack of experience•Overlooked by family members

Problem solving

I wanted to find out from Amazon how much the new book by Stephanie Meyer cost […] depending on what it was, if it was like a book I’d probably just look on Amazon because usually it’s cheaper there than like shops but if it was like a video game, then I’d go onto like Amazon, Game and Play.com. If it was a CD, then I’d probably do Amazon, HMV…

Connected to many information sourcesControl of tools / information sourcesIndirect communication via reviews

Memory

Well, I show her a recording what the prices were cos every few days I check

for prices.

Connected to his extended memoriesControl of his extended memory, allowing accurate recall and useDirect communication of information retrieved in the past

Reasoning

I’d search for it on a search engine called Scour, which is like Google but you get money for the amount of searches that you search on. What happens is every time you search for something you get a point then when you’ve got like 1,000 points they send you ten dollars to your house.

Control of tools and information

Decision making[My brother] knows that when I go on the computer I need to do it for work so he doesn’t really let me. Well this occasion it wasn’t really for work but I just told him that […] I put Word on every time I hear him coming up

Connected Controls connectionControl Acts to take control of networkCommunication Intentionally restricted

I like deleting things cos if there are things I don’t want my sister to go on but they allow me on.

Decision making

[Gold Seekers] but then I find that I can’t compute it so then I decide to go on YouTube and YouTube isn’t one hundred percent accurate, so then I go on Flickr, and then I managed to win the game, so I decided I should play on the wii. So I played on the wii but the problem is that my Firefox kept on malfunctioning so I couldn’t watch the video clearly.

Connected to a range of tools and informationControl of tools and information through practical evaluationIndirect communication Tapping into community of gamers

Information seeking

I just asked [my brother] but he got really angry and he said ‘No, look yourself’.

Connected No – not welcome in the networkControl Restricted access to information and toolsDirect communication - Unsuccessful

Evaluating• You have Windows Messenger you can kind of do a

video call and then you can talk to them personally so you get all your stuff down […]

• Well, it is probably be better to do it on Windows Messenger because you get to see their face and talk personally and stuff.

• Windows Messenger is better, because you can actually talk to them rather than phone because the phone actually costs money whereas Windows Messenger is absolutely free, you can actually phone them free

Connected to a range of toolsControl Advice on how to stay in controlDirect communication Through a range of tools

Evaluating• When you have a question you go on Wiki

Answers cos Wiki Answers is quite good because you have other people who have already imported their stuff.

• But it doesn’t always have the right or good answers but it usually…

• You can also go on Wikipedia but it’s all long and boring and I can’t be bothered to read it

Connected to a range of tools and informationControl Of a choice of toolsIndirect communication Evaluating the responses

Information seeking

Sometimes when we get like free ICT sort of time in the ICT suite we all go on different sites and some people were on, were listening to music asked what that website was and I said we7.com and there’s lots of other really good websites like miniclip. Miniclip and Moshi Monsters and Club Penguin

Connected to a range of tools and informationControl Outside curriculum time – opportunity to control tools and talkDirect communication About tools

Formal learning

I also find it kind of irritating that the teachers don’t really teach you a wide range of internet things at school – they teach you Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, how to look up stuff on the internet and then they just, that’s all they teach you and everyone has to guess for themselves.

it’s all banned on the computers at school because like there’s not much point at school because we’re there to learn and not to chat with your friends kind of thing.

Formal learning

Formal learning

Informal learning

Learning within affinity spaces

Connection, control, communication

Rebecca FergusonDenise WhitelockDorothy Faulkner

Kieron Sheehy