If you read some of the predictions for 2009 that were compiled by Lisa Neal Gualtieri at eLearn Magazine, you may have noticed that people foresee a resurgence of informal learning, especially in new, e-mediated forms. But let’s be cautious. At the top of the eLearn Mag list, Alison Rosset predicts “More technology, but not necessarily more sense about how to use it.” For every learner that’s ready to “go rogue” as Janet Clarey predicts, there are may more learners who are poised to be left in the dust if we are not careful.
Fans of the millennial generation tout their ability to use the internet to research, connect, and collaborate. But I am not quite so sure. While I agree that many people have developed some savvy with really cool tools, using those tools for learning is a different skill set. One of the challenges I think we need to address is the need to teach people a new way to learn. Seems an oymoron, I know, but I have company in this concern. Tony Karrer posts on this topic regularly, and he’s been doing a series of posts lately that explore the issues. Many schools are not teaching new work skills, and many employees are well beyond school and could use some help in developing these skills as well.
What exactly are we talking about here? I’ve been doing some research on the subject. Based on Tony Karrer’s Knowledge Work Framework and other posts (see Tony’s post for some of those links), articles, and even some book references on the subject , here’s what I think those new skills look like. As you read down the list, you might be moved to comment that these skills (left column) aren’t really all that new – and that’s quite true. But how we actually engage in these skills is dramatically different (right column). Those of us who remember doing research by browsing the big green citation index reference books can clearly see the difference between that work and an academic database search (and thank goodness!). The skills ARE different. Here’s what I mean:
Learning Skill |
Learning 2.0 Dimension |
Research, locate information, identify appropriate data sources |
While the internet is a treasure trove of information, finding the right sources is tricky. Selecting the appropriate search engine for a need, determining the best keywords, using advanced search filtering techniques, and – here’s a novel idea – identifying and consulting non-electronic sources are all important aspects of research skill. If we want learners to do more than a Google search, we need to give them some pointers. |
Manage incoming data |
I don’t need to explain this one to anyone who has an e-mail account or a feed reader. All of us can get better at pulling the right information to us and weeding out what we really don’t need. Organizing feeds to ensure we are receiving the information we need to know as it becomes available is not as easy as it sounds. |
Interpret, evaluate, critique, narrow |
While it’s always been important, evaluating the quality and relevance of information becomes critical when there’s no control mechanism for making information available on the web. We need to learn to identify and vet the sources of information, and we need to be tuned into cultural differences that impact what is posted and how it is read. |
Organize, store, re-find, notate, tag |
Anyone who has been unable to re-locate an interesting web page understands this dilemma. I’ve even had some trouble finding my own blog posts! Learning how to effectively tag data, and where and how to store electronic information are real skills. Luckily, our storage dilemmas no longer result in warehouses of files we never look at again, but our electronic storage systems can get pretty dusty and useless as well if we are not careful. And those of us who store documents inside a firewall also need to pay attention to the problem of storage space – servers are not free! |
Reflect, synthesize, innovate, engage creativity and imagination |
These are by no means new skills, but facilitating these actions with electronic tools such as blogs, wikis, and other public and collaborative technologies is a different approach. And there are non-web electronic tools that are helpful here as well – mindmapping software is an example. |
Leverage, present |
One of the results of learning is to turn around and present our findings and conclusions back to others. Communication skills have always been critical. What’s new is the ability to create mashups (web pages, wiki sites, social network sites, links) to share ideas. I’ve noticed that there are design elements that can enhance the impact and ease of use of these kinds of presentations. Another important aspect of leveraging others’ work is making sure that we recognize other’s contributions, intellectual property rights, and copyrights, which is pretty murky water right now. |
Network |
Learning to identify and connect with others, build and maintain a network, identify and follow thought leaders in your field, and access informed people quickly are all skills greatly facilitated by a variety of electronic tools if we know how to use them effectively. |
Collaborate |
One of the promises of web 2.0 is collaboration, but we’ve noticed that actually using e-mediated tools for collaboration is a little uncomfortable for many. Still, getting connected and communicating electronically greatly facilitates collaboration if we know how to effectively interact that way. |
Learn, improve |
To benefit from the power of electronic tools in supporting learning, we need to be effective at setting personal goals and crafting a personal learning environment. |
Communicate |
Online communication often uses a different language and different protocols. I had to learn to interpret a whole new set of acronyms (idk, imho, btw) and to understand that instant messaging doesn’t follow the same rules of conversation as does face-to-face communication (e.g. no “how are you?” to open and no “good-bye” when the conversation is done). Facebook, Twitter, and other tools have their own vibe as well. |
Utilize internet and computer-based tools. |
Threaded throughout this list is the use of a huge variety of internet and computer-based tools, and one can be a novice or an expert in the use of every one of them. Understanding the possibilities of these tools is critical (for my colleagues a work – eMagine the possibilities J). |
There has been some terrific work done in trying to identify and promulgate these skills: Web 2.0 for Learning Professionals, Route 21, Jane Hart’s Guide to Social Learning, along with countless articles and workshops. But the feedback I’ve heard is that what we’ve been doing to help is still quite overwhelming to those who aren’t tech savvy (and even to some of those that are).
So before we let loose and embrace informal, self-directed, e-mediated learning as the way to go, let’s pause and make sure that we’ve prepared our learners so that they can be effective in using new tools to that end. Everyone’s learning can benefit from savvy use of technology and some good old fashioned instructional design might be useful to craft courseware and resources that can support learning how to learn in these new ways.
Great post. I’m not sure that good old fashioned instructional design will be effective to support most informal e-learning.To me, good old fashioned instructional design is too focused on delivering content.
I’m thinking that we need to design resources to help people learn how to learn with these new tools. It sounds very counterintuitive, I know. But too many learners are floundering without the structure of formal learning and it would help them if we designed something (a course? resources?) that would help them change their approach to learning. I’m not talking about designing the informal learning (although I think design is helpful there too, but that’s a post for another day), I’m talking about designing learning-to-learn resources. Thanks for the comment, and the opportunity to clarify!
Excellent post, Catherine. As I went through your list and checked off each requirement against the features of our Web 2.0 Research Management and Collaboration portal, MyNetResearch.com, I was encouraged to see that we have covered most of the bases.
We have several thousand active researchers on the website, but you know what the real challenge is? Web 2.0 is a paradigm change for professors and doctoral students alike. It is revolutionary, not evolutionary. In research, we are used to the old way of working, with a close circle of collaborators on the same floor and/or building.
The good news is that we see and hear genuine reports of productivity improvements from our users – doctoral students who manage their theses online and faculty who collaborate globally on MyNetResearch. May the revolution continue!!
Excellent analysis. I think information literacy is undervalued and not taught – in fact, a possible advantage of being an online learner or teacher is being forced to increase one’s information literacy slikks. In other disciplines, such as health care, one sees the double whammy of poor information and health literacy skills having a severe impact on people.
Hi Catherie – this is a very thoughtful list and analysis of needs in the workplace, especially the part on how to effectively create and use tags to manage the tons of data coming into our lives.
Your list reminds me of an article where the author proposed extending Blooms’s taxonomy to include the word Melioration (being able to merge realms of thought that are quite different from one another, and then generate new concepts or technology). Here’s the link if it’s of interest: http://www.tcrecord.org/content.asp?contentid=12716
cheers.
RE: Designing learning-to-learn resources. Definitely! That’s a new challenge for learning professionals over the last ~10 years. You really never had to worry about teaching people how to learn in a classroom.
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Catherine – this is really a fantastic post. We completely agree. What do we do with this?
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Very good. So far I’ve not given any thought to ‘this year’ as being any different to ‘last year’, but the UK is going Twitter-made at the moment, so Web 2.0 and Learning 2.0 is going to be the new Facebook or MySpace.
[…] This is an interesting article on new forms of learning and Learning 2.0 […]
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