We Used It The Way We Wanted To: Research on Learner Engagement in Participatory Environments

"We used it the way we wanted to": Research on Learner Self-Engagement in Web 2.0 Participatory Environments

"We used it the way we wanted to": Research on Learner Self-Engagement in Web 2.0 Participatory Environments

Deborah Everhart & Erin KnightDeborah Everhart & Erin Knight

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nswlearnscope/2053289691/


About Us

Dr. Deborah EverhartAdjunct Assistant Professor, Georgetown UniversityChief Architect, Blackboard Inc.Research Associate, Blackboard Institute

Erin KnightResearch DirectorCenter for Next Generation Teaching and LearningSchool of Information, UC Berkeley

BackgroundBackground


Participatory Media?• Social media, Web 2.0, “pMedia”• Tools that foster participation

online• Blogs, wikis, forums, chat, social

bookmarking, social networking

• Key Principles: - network effects - low barrier to entry - rich user experiences- openness

http://www.flickr.com/photos/exlibris/2221270885/

Old School Ed. Perspectives

• Piaget: Constructivism (1920s)

• Vygotsky: Social Constructivism, Zone of Proximal Development (1920s)

• Papert: Constructivism and computers (1970s)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/51035821186@N01/2645006348/

More Recent Research

• Distance education

• Human motivation

• Learning sciences

• Brain-based research


pMedia for Education

• Learners learn more when they can socially construct their understanding.

• Student-centered learning environments can facilitate deeper learning than teacher-centered approaches.

• Participatory media can be used to foster student-centered and socially constructed learning.

Key Assumptions:

http://lowery.tamu.edu/Teaming/Morgan1/sld023.htm

Existing Literature

• Emerging, inconclusive

• Tool-focused, typically a single-tool

• Attempts to prove “effectiveness” or profess “The Right Way” to use the tool

• Contextually bound, often not generalizable

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jannem/3312116875/

Research: Blogs (+)• effective interactive knowledge-exchange tools

• support unique voices

• empower learners to assert their ideas and opinions

• encouraging to think critically

• foster reflection, facilitate deeper connection

• richer understanding due to hyperlinks, contextual information and revisiting concepts

(Herring et al., 2004; Oravec, 2002; Ferdig & Trammel, 2004, Koschmann at al., 1996)

Research: Blogs (-)• benefits not same for all

users

• open nature can intimidate learners and discourage use

• must be kept active and maintained

• require a high level of learner and instructor motivation to participate

(Saeed et al., 2008; Raymond Tri-Dang Firpo et al., 2009; Mason & Rennie, 2008)

Other Tools

Chat

Forums

Wikis

Social Bookmarking

Summary

• Research is not broadly conclusive

• Too tool-focused

• Learning environments are nuanced!

• Need to step back, get broader understandings of use, perceptions, motivations, etc.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fatboyke/2668411239/

Our ResearchOur Research


Our Research• Observe usage across many tools,

across courses

• Explore the complexities and nuances within each learning environment

• Discover trends or patterns across courses

• Understand student and instructor perceptions, expectations and motivations

• Inform future researchhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/11445550@N00/986296861/

Our Research Avoids• Claiming effectiveness

• Implying that different types or levels of use are necessarily better

• Assuming that patterns of use in these environments are applicable to different environments


Social Media Classroom • “SMC”

• Open source course site solution built around embedded social media tools

• Originally developed by Howard Rheingold, adapted by I School

• Early adoption = unique opportunity to observe usage across courses and interview instructors and students

Howard’s Course• Developed the SMC to support his

own course on digital media

• Taught the course 9 times now

• Claims he finally has “gotten it right”, although continues to innovate

• Tells students upfront that usage is required

• Also tells them the type of use expected in each tool

Screenshot from Howard’s Course

Reality Check• Most instructors are not

Howard

• Many are using technology or social media for the first time

• Most cannot take as many risks

• Most do not have the time to do trial-and-error

• Not all course content has such as direct tie to the tools

Adapted from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/intenteffect/4263014185/

Back to Our Research• Instructors were first time users of these tools

• All early adopters of the SMC in the 2009-2010 school year

• It is important to understand these newer, ‘messier’, perhaps more common environments

Methods

• Observation of usage patterns in 4 courses using the SMC (8 instructors, 150 students)

• Pre/Post surveys on expectations and perspectives (79/73 Pre/Post responses)

• Student interviews

• Faculty interviews

http://www.flickr.com/photos/smiling_da_vinci/14785644/

Discussion of FindingsDiscussion of Findings


pMedia for Education

• Learners learn more when they can socially construct their understanding.

• Student-centered learning environments can facilitate deeper learning than teacher-centered approaches.

• Participatory media can be used to foster thestudent-centered and socially constructed learning.

KEY ASSUMPTIONS:

?

?

?

http://lowery.tamu.edu/Teaming/Morgan1/sld023.htm

No “one-tool-fits-all”• Each course used the SMC

differently

• Usage was focused around one tool and that tool differed across courses

• Instructors used the tools differently

• Differences in use across students within a course

• Many different types of influence

Course Tool Used

Course 1 Blog

Course 2 Wiki

Course 3 Blog

Course 4 Forums

Instructor Influence• Directives - instructions,

modeling

• Participation - instructor posts or comments

• Grading - grading usage on the site

“I commented on posts. I made blog posts. That's important

because it let’s them know that I read them and you have to be

credible.”

“I commented on posts. I made blog posts. That's important

because it let’s them know that I read them and you have to be

credible.”

ASSIGNMENT #1:

1. Find a news story

2. Blog about it and tag it

3. Add the link as a Social

Bookmark and tag it

Other Influences

• Course Attributes

• Social Norms

• Student Familiarity or Preference

• Interplay between!!

“It’s a different style of reading...At some point I have

to be like, I cannot spend anymore time on this class. ”

“I felt like the concepts were more difficult to grasp in Course 1 and

lent themselves more to discussions and stories

on the blog.”

“Since no one was using it, I didn't use it. You don't want to waste your time

writing something that no one is going to look at.”

“Blogging is something I do anyway so it’s just a natural form for me to

kick around ideas.”

Self-Directed Learning

• In some cases, students ‘took over’ tool

• Used it to self-direct learning

• Extremely valuable observation to explore further

“Once it became a habit, no grading incentives

were needed.”

“Since it wasn't clear about how we needed

to use it or if it was graded, we used it the way that we wanted

to.”

“I think the more that I would go in there and read the posts and try to put in

my own two cents, the more I liked it and the

more I wanted to use it. ”

Learning Activities

• Much of existing literature is tool-focused

• Align certain learning activities with certain tools

• We saw each tool used for wide range of learning activities

• No “one-use-fits-each-tool”

• Convergence of tools OR evidence of student’s adapting tool to their needs

Learning Activity Focus

• Call for switch of focus

• Start with underlying goal or objective, then apply technology

• Multiple tools could do the job

• Easier for instructors to approach, integrate, evaluate

Challenges / Takeaways• Students struggled with work-load

balance

• Instructors faced many social, pedagogical and technical challenges

• Were able to overcome social and pedagogical, but technical was a show stopper

• Instructors said that they would use the system again, but with adaptations

“Some call it ‘fun' and it’s like, no it’s actually work.

Staying on top of what people are posting, commenting and

finding your own stuff is actually a lot of work.”

I haven’t used it much because I hate passwords,

and I forget them and cannot access the site.

I would devote 15 minutes of each lecture to talk about the

blog. That says: I did read this stuff, I’m going to give you credit for figuring out a good thing, and I’ll give you

some air time.

Conclusions and Next StepsConclusions and Next Steps


Preliminary Conclusions

• Learner-centered approach is important to most, but an adjustment for many

• Learning environments are nuanced social systems

• Activities and adoption vary among courses

• Many factors can influence use

• In some cases, learners can use the tool(s) to self-direct learning

• Tools can support many different learning activities

.”“

Preliminary Recommendations

• Lead with the learning activity or goal first, then apply technology• Provide “self-service” pMedia in courses where collaborative activities may or

may not be scaffolded- Always on- Easy to access from other online course materials- Notifications with RSS or other feeds for quick attention

• Scaffold use of pMedia outside of courses to provide models and set expectations for use within courses

- Include in orientation, intro courses, other required activities- Structure learning cohorts- Teach pMedia “rules of engagement” and leadership skills

• Facilitate community-building- Require identity (name and avatar, not anonymous)- Allow commenting- Continue participation after and across courses

Implications, Future Research• Observe more courses, conduct interviews with more

students and instructors, broaden survey results

• Map learning activities to learners’ tool choices

• Analyze interplay and weighting of varying influences on use

• Illuminate motivations and factors behind self-directed learning

• Investigate social issues (privacy, identity, ongoing relationships, etc.)

• Observe use of other participatory tools (video, mind maps, etc.)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cdm/54246114/

Thank You!• Center for Next Generation Teaching and Learning:http://ngtl.ischool.berkeley.edu

• Blackboard Institute: http://blackboardinstitute.com/

• Contribute to the next phase of research: http://ngtl.ischool.berkeley.edu/learner-engagement

• [email protected]@blackboard.com

We Used It The Way We Wanted To: Research on Learner Engagement in Participatory Environments

Education

Transcript of We Used It The Way We Wanted To: Research on Learner Engagement in Participatory Environments