Collaborative learning using social tools
for enquiry, reflection and sharing
Funded by Practice Based Professional Learning,
Centre of Excellence for Teaching & Learning
Non Scantlebury
The Open University Library & Learning Centre
Library Seminar Series 8th October 2008
CLUSTERS project
Project duration
June- November 2007
Participants
7 Associate Lecturers,
Regional and Academic Staff
11 Librarians
Aims
To investigate the potential of social networking tools to
facilitate collaborative practice-based learning
CLUSTERS objectives
Undertake “hands on” investigation of social tools and
evaluate
• The relevance of the concept of “user generated
content” for practitioners developing and sharing
knowledge
• How practitioners can work collaboratively to advance
practice knowledge using freely available social
networking tools
• An ‘empty box’ model of learning in which participants
negotiate a topic of interest and build their own
collaborative learning
Discover something new
Associate lecturers wanted to investigate……
“how tutors could seek to review and improve how they tutor,
through formal and informal feedback and also through
engaging in discussion with colleagues to exchange tips,
share best practice, discuss issues.”
Librarians wanted to investigate…..
“the application of interactive, collaborative
and multi-media based technologies to webbased library services and collections”
(Maness, 2006)
Maness, J.M. (2006) Library 2.0 theory:Web 2.0 and its implications for libraries. Available from http://www.webology.ir/2006/v3n2/a25.html
CLUSTERS toolkit
– PB Wiki
– Flashmeeting
http://pbwiki.com/education.wiki
http://flashmeeting.open.ac.uk
– Del.icio.us
– Ning
– Facebook
– fOUndit
http://del.icio.us/
http://www.ning.com/
http://www.facebook.com/
http://foundit.open.ac.uk/Pligg/
CLUSTERS evaluation
Qualitative data:
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Wiki contributions
Del.icio.us library
Flashmeeting dialogue/transcriptions
Comments within Facebook and Ning
Questionnaires
The CLUSTERS constellation!
Key issues which emerged
• Knowledge Management (self selection, critical
evaluation)
• Identity Management (need for guidance)
• Technological Limitations (need good support)
• Enthusiasm and open to online group work (strong
and weak links)
• Balancing physical and virtual presence
• Broadening reflective practice (expert, generalist
and the grasshopper!)
Project outcomes
• New collaborative publishing opportunities
• Seeding enthusiasm in use of tools for sharing
good professional practice (tagging, sharing and
rating)
• Experimentation of blogging with students
• Engagement with Library 2.0 initiatives –raised
the Library’s profile
• Funding for further practice based research
(Social Networking for Practice Based Learning)
Collect, Organise and Share
Follow on project..Social
Networking for Practice Learning
Project manager: P.J.Greaney@open.ac.uk
Issues with using social tools?
• Are you using any social tools currently to support you in
your work or professional development?
• If so how?
• What are the key challenges to us adopting these tools
in a work related context?
• Can we realistically continue to segregate our
work/personal/professional lives in the Web 2.0/Web 3.0
worlds?
Issues for librarians and others
• finding help for effective Information and Knowledge
Management in ‘social networking contexts’
• being “snappy” for the ‘lazy web user”
• moderation, mediation or organic?
• changing practice in instructional design (how interactive is
your learning?)
• effective IPR in social learning spaces
• technological determinism v user benefits (eg.Twitterextending sphere of influence or ‘white noise’?))
• needing to be where the users are
• Broader information infrastructural needs for distance
online learning -not everything needing to be
‘miscellaneous’!
http://library20.ning.com/
Next steps??
• Collaborative vision for SociaLearn
• The Open University’s Broadcast Strategy Review
• Project Bamboo
• Library websites and personalisation
• More cross domain working!
Thank you for listening!