Symposium: Internationalizing the learning sciences from formal to informal learning environments (original) (raw)
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Contribution for Volume Magazine #45 Learning Editorial Introduction: While education is currently under financial and ideological pressure, learning is flourishing. Learning is not a self-contained period of time and place in which we magically transform into adults, but rather a life-long condition, a process that now permeates everywhere and everything at all times. For some learning is a luxury, yet for others it’s an economic necessity. Learning can be a tool of social liberation, but also one of financial subjugation and political oppression. In this issue of Volume, we’re thinking about what it means to learn: how it happens, where, by what, for whom, and why. Learning points us in a direction and gives us tools; does it also teach us how to use them and make a move?
New global learning cultures: interdisciplinarity through networked technologies
Selected Papers of Internet Research, 2012
The context in which higher education institutions (HEIs) now operate is facing fundamental changes; HEIs are often said to be in a time of crisis, and new models of education are being explored both within and outside the academy. The rise of open educational resources and practices and alternative forms of accreditation are gaining recognition as learners and educators explore new ways of learning and connecting both within and outside the institution. Simultaneous to this rise in new learning cultures and ...
Foreword: Technologies, learning and culture across disciplines: International perspectives
Research in Comparative and International Education, 2018
The nexus of technologies, learning and cultures is a complex area of study that is currently underresearched. It could be argued that this collection of papers itself represents an experiment in interdisciplinary research. In bringing these papers together, as guest editors, we have found the richness and diversity they contain to be a reminder of the complexity of this nexus. It is also a challenge: to synthesise some of the fundamental undercurrents and discontinuities that the papers clearly reveal, and to remain open to the incoherencies and conflicts that are also uncovered. The special issue has a very broad scope, including policy and educational systems analysis, quasiexperimental work, theoretical studies, as well as comparative work, and informal and mobile learning. These studies embrace disciplinary perspectives as diverse as Art and Design Education, Engineering, Mathematics, and Education. The featured research frameworks include participatory work, collaborative action research, and arts-based methods, as well as more formal mixed method studies. Major themes of sustainability, inequality, and employment cut across political contexts from Europe to Asia, Africa and Australasia. The settings feature practices from the design studio to the mathematics classroom and include both formal and informal learning designs. Furthermore, the technologies of learning embraced in the research collected here inevitably transform and challenge our notions of place, as teachers, learners and researchers. Mobile learning, and three-dimensional simulations of the real-world act as a serious stimulus to methodological diversity and innovation. It has been a privilege to edit and present this work; we hope that it will serve as a platform for future study. Brown and Lally (2018), in their case study of perceptions of online assessment in mathematics, report on a collaborative international project between two higher education institutions in Finland and Ireland. They focus on engineering students' perceptions of online assessment in mathematics. Evidence from the data suggests that many of the students demonstrate low levels of confidence and display little knowledge about continuous assessment processes. The study offers insight into
Blending formal and informal learning within an international learning network
Recent work on online, formal and informal learning raises important questions. To what extent can online learning communities also be informal learning communities? What 'community building' issues are raised in the context of international learning networks? In the paper we will (i) briefly describe a new case study of a learning network (part of the JISC 'Case Studies in e-Learning Practice' project), (ii) present a framework that builds on the notions of people, policies and purpose but which is supplemented by notions of informal learning, and finding 'common ground', (iii) illustrate the framework using examples from the case study and follow-up research, and (iv) conclude by drawing out key issues raised by our work.
2014
Recent work on online, formal and informal learning raises important questions. To what extent can online learning communities also be informal learning communities? What ‘community building ’ issues are raised in the context of international learning networks? In the paper we will (i) briefly describe a new case study of a learning network (part of the JISC ‘Case Studies in e-Learning Practice ’ project), (ii) present a framework that builds on the notions of people, policies and purpose but which is supplemented by notions of informal learning, and finding ‘common ground’, (iii) illustrate the framework using examples from the case study and follow-up research, and (iv) conclude by drawing out key issues raised by our work.
THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY BASED APPROACHES IN GLOBALIZING EDUCATION
Students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds choose English speaking countries for the tertiary studies in popular fields such as Business. It would certainly help this group of students if teaching materials were designed in such a way that dependency and reliance on language was kept to minimum. Technology plays an important role in achieving this objective.
The Global Classroom: An Opportunity for Empowerment or Exploitation
This paper is intended to initiate an international dialogue, speaking to the challenges and opportunities posed by globalized education. This paper examines the current debate regarding the benefits and limitations of globalized education and explores various developmental and delivery strategies that serve to build capacity and empower communities of learners. Included in this paper is a summary of related literature pertaining to international e-learning. It is also hoped that this dialogue will continue beyond the confines of the Learning Conference and will promote further collaborations and partnerships in the development of ethical post-secondary distance education programming. At no time in history has it been more important to invest in higher education as a major force in building an inclusive and diverse knowledge society and to advance research, innovation and creativity. (UNESCO, 2009) O VER THE PAST twenty years global economic and technological changes have had a profound impact in markets across the globe. Neo-liberals and IT futurists alike have triumphantly proclaimed the promise of the internet and its potential reach to every person living on our planet. According to these commentators, poverty, want and oppression will disappear with the flow of information and goods unfettered by national political and economic barriers. At the same time, global demonstrations at G8 and WTO meetings offer a different and more critical analysis of the project of globalization, one which points out that the benefits of globalization have not reached the poor and that these triumphant voices represent the views of members of the G8 and multinational corporations who are the main beneficiaries of this economic and social transformation. So, in a way, the metaphorical image that emerges from this discourse is " a laptop in every hut " where social and economic opportunities will " trickle down " from satellites offering high speed connectivity to " all " at the same monthly rate. In contrast, the project of social and economic development is not new to the field of higher education, where social and economic development has long been linked to the provision of tertiary education (UNESCO, 1998). Likewise, the transcending of geographical and political boundaries has long been a distinctive feature of transnational education. However, technological developments in the realm of internet based distance education, coinciding with economic growth in south Asia, has resulted in a huge global demand for higher education. Accompanying the tremendous growth of transnational education, a sim
Localization and globalization of learning
The development of technological advancements has resulted in rapid globalization in education. However, recent research on globalization contends that local knowledge and wisdom for the development of individuals and the community must be fostered through integration of localization and globalization. For example, one learning solution is to create global classes in partnership with local experts. Chapters will discuss how curriculum should be designed to provide opportunities for developing students’ contextualized multiple intelligences (CMI) and triplization (globalization + localization + individualization) ability for lifelong self-learning. They will explore issues regarding designing, developing and implementing learning environments that are sensitive and appropriate to regional conventions, data in a variety of world languages, and alternate format. It will propose that we need to change our practices with technological advancements and discuss options such as allowing time and space for critical reflection before adopting any new technologies.
Transnational Educational Technology
As the world becomes more transnational, with resources and people moving across nation boundaries, there is a need to engage learners in collaborative activities that empower learners with technical skills and diverse cultural perspectives. We advocate extending constructivist educational approaches to transnational setting using rapidly emerging communications, e-communities systems, collaboration and translation technologies. Students work in international teams on topics such as immigration, world health and global warming. Activities are scaffolded beginning with relatively simple teamoriented tasks and culminating in original multimedia projects (wiki, web site, powerpoint deck) that are posted on public internet sites. An affordable open-source framework is essential in helping students with diverse opportunities to engage in transnational learning. The authors note that language barriers pose a significant challenges facing collaborative transnational education. Universities seeking to become increasingly globalized may wish to support a transnational focus with appropriate educational technologies for faculty and contributing to open source translation software.
The pensas@MOZ project: international cooperation in educational technologies
This article focuses on the pensas@MOZ Project activity throughout 2008, illustrating the development of new technologies in Education and E-learning in an international cooperation setting. Born within University of Aveiro’s Math Teaching Project (PmatE), pensas@MOZ is present in all (10) provincial centres (Centros Pensas) except Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique, one of Africa’s poorest countries. pensas@MOZ also stands for its own proprietary Internet based platform (named Plataforma de Ensino Assistido or PEA), which integrates Information Technologies (IT) in a creative and multidisciplinary way, being the basis of various Assisted Learning and Teaching (ALT) activities. Suppressing time-space constraints, PEA fosters collaboration and exchange of resources and experiences among all education intervenients (teachers, students, parents and administrative officials), contributing to the development of new learning and teaching strategies and processes. As a repository, it houses multiple interactive digital contents including learning objects (LO’s), digital multimedia contents (DMC’s) and question generating models (QGM’s), based on Trees of Objectives (TO’s). These contents are compliant with other educational technologies (interactive boards, online polls, etc.) and have been used in individual and group practice, diagnosis, evaluation and competition settings, providing immediate in-depth customized post-activity results. Engaged in promoting technological and science culture in Maths, Biology, Physics and Portuguese language, the project’s intervention covers a wide range of activities: national web-based Maths and Physics annual competitions (EQUAmat@MOZ), supported by Mozambique’s government and Portuguese governmental cooperation program (Instituto Português do Apoio ao Desenvolvimento);educational and vocational programs for teachers and technical professionals (FORmat@MOZ), namely in the development of the experimental teaching of sciences and the integration technology in daily activities; weekly collaborative activities (OUTclass) for mixed international primary school teams (a coalition between Escola Básica de Á-dos-Ferreiros, Junta de Freguesia do Préstimo and Externato de Vila Meã in Portugal and Colégio Académico da Beira, in Mozambique) aiming at structured thinking and written expression improvement, using synchronous communication tools (SCT’s) and promoting intercultural exchange; and international scientific and cultural events (biannual Math, Portuguese and Technology conference, accountancy and audit seminars, etc.). This paper showcases pensas@MOZ’s activities and results, drawing from enquiries made to various stakeholders. Moreover, it documents a sustainable and social responsible strategy operation, stemming from local competence development, in order to overcome the challenges derived from IT exclusion and globalization adaptation. Results account for a widespread support on a multi-leveled basis (international, national, regional and local), which are giving rise to further initiatives/projects.