tarynshae

I came across a interesting article online a few days ago. After completing the last assignment on social networking sites and their use in a learning context, this article caught my eye. While not exploring social networking for purely a learning tool, it is interesting in that it explores a new form of social networking tool and how this software fits in amongst it’s rather popular competitors, such as MySpace, Facebook and to a lesser extent Bebo. It shows that technology really is being used for an increasingly diverese range of reasons by an increasingly diverse range of people!

http://news.smh.com.au/enthusiasts-find-big-is-not-always-best-with-social-networks/20080220-1t73.html

Meaningfullness, as part of the Cognitive approach to learning, can definitely have an effect on learning. The fact that each and every person has the ability to create their own meaning based on the context and past experiences gives everyone the flexibility of learning and creating meaning in a way that is appropriate for them and that essentially enables them to better understand what is being taught/learnt. While the content or context may be the same, each learner can relate to it in a way that is meaningful to them. In e-learning, as much of the content is or can be self directed and autonomous, this means that individuals have the ability to make the content meaningful to them in the way they understand it best. This can allow the e-learner to learn more effectively.

Insight, to a lesser extent I believe, can also impact e-learning. As insight allows us to solve problems by looking at things from a different perspective through the restructuring and reorganising of different pieces of information, this can be applied to an e-learning context as in many instances of e-learning it can be modular, and by viewing it in this way a learner is able to relate information to the specific context or problem and percieving it in this way can lead to those “light blub” moments or moments of clarity. Learning in other more formal ways may not allow this to happen. 

Advance organisers, who create a “scaffold of ideas” to understand the higher level or more general concepts before they learn and incorporate the more detailed pieces of information into their framework, in an e-learning context can learn effectively through the sequential learning of content in meaningful relation to previous concepts. This allows information and knowledge to build upon those already learnt. In e-learning, this can allow the advancement of skills over time and is also relevant when a learning process or context is long or involved.

While I can’t say that I agree with all aspects of the Behavourist approach to learning, there are definitely parts of it that, I feel, make sense and are relevant and applicable today. I’m not sure if not being able to “stick” to one theory is indicative of the fact that I believe I learn in many different ways for a variety of reasons. In terms of the behaviourist approach, it makes sense that learning is demonstrated by the response or the behaviour of the learner. What I don’t agree with is that learning is based only on cause and effect and stimulus and response. While this is obviously appicable to a certain degree i.e. positive and negative reinforcement, particularly in children, I don’t believe it can account for the way everyone learns. While generalising stimuli and responding according to this is a major aspect of the behaviourist theory, I got a bit stumped when I pondered the effect that generalising might have on e-learning. The only way I can think of that this can apply to is in terms of technology. As the techonology used in e-learning is not something that everyone is comfortable with or accustomed too, an initial reaction of fear or maybe frustration. Bad experiences in the past perhaps with technology could also cause this. I imagine this is really only the cause with older people. While the concept of generalisation suggest the importance of practice in varied situations, understanding that learning can occur in a variety of situations and contexts might assist in dealing with this. Another principle I agree with and understand is how behaviour can be shaped by the reinforcement of responses when learning a new skill/s. It is essential that feedback is given when learning a new skill, and it is from this feedback that we shape the way we practice this skill in the future. Redinforcement that we are doing things the right way or for positive effect will assist this skill to be replicated correctly in the future.

Learning, for me, encompasses knowledge, understanding, practice and behaviours associated with the change in one’s capability and capacity. Learning is a process, and a very involved, complex, dynamic and long one at that! How we learn can be attributed to many things, such as genetics, environmental factors, causal factors, previous experience and our own capacity and abilities. Learning essentially culminates in the change of behaviour, as many formal definititions of learning suggest, and with this change in behaviour also comes a change in internal process, thinking, feeling, reacting, emotions and attitudes. The process of learning can be very different for many people, depending on the age of the learner, what they are learning and why they are learning, though the outcome is generally the same.

A Learner Management System (LMS) is essentially a high level strategic solution for planing, delivering and managing the learning events of an organisation. Learning events includes face-to-face and instructor led classroom learning as well as e-learning and virtual classroom learning. The main aim of an LMS is to track and monitor performance and training levels throughout an organisation e.g. tracking attendance, monitoring competency and booking training activities. The main focus of an LMS is to manage learners and to keep track of their progess and performance across all types of learning activities. An LMS is mainly administrative focus and is not used to create course and learning content.

A Learning Content Management System (LCMS) is alternatively focussed on learning content by providing the means to create e-learning content efficiently and effectively. The main aim of an LCMS is to create content to meet the needs of learners when they need it. It generally contains reusable chunks of training information and learning content. The fact that it duplicates this information means that it can be output much quicker.

While my current organisation does not use an LMS or LCMS and does not, in my belief, need one at this point in time, my previous organisation had recently launched an LMS using the SAP system. It was long overdue and was many years in the planning. The main aim of its introduction was to give users more control over their own learning by allowing them to search for and book their own learning activities and find and complete online training courses. For back end users, the LMS gave us much greater control and tracking capabilities and also allows much more scope for reporting. Training attendance could be monitored and recorded much more easily and all information relating to training could be stored in the one repository, as opposed to many locations such as spreadsheets and physical attendance registers. The LMS that was introduced definitely met the needs of the organisation, however further development and capability was definitely needed in the Phase 2 introduction. I have had no experience with an LCMS in any organisational context and cannot see its relevance or need at this point in time.

Virtual Worlds, like Second Life, are increasingly being used in a learning context, both in educational institutions and corporate environments. Some classes are already being taught in Second Life by institutions such as Harvard and some of the world’s leading companies such as IBM have adopted Second Life in a training context.

Second Life’s multiple uses could be beneficial for its application in a learning context. Being able to be used as a social networking tool, a programming tool, a meeting and conference facility and a virtual tour could enhance learning experiences in many ways. It’s 3D modelling nature allows concepts to be illustrated in new and powerful ways that let learners completely understand the scope of what they are learning. Second Life also enhances collaboration and eliminates hierarchies and georaphical boundaries, making it accessible to users all around the world. One of the main advantages of using this application in a learning context is the fact that it’s a learner driven rather than a teacher driven tool, allowing students to have much more self-direction over their learning. While at present learning in Second Life still resembles classroom lecture learning and activities with blogs and wikis are still required, the potential for Second Life is great and is continually evolving.

My only experience of social networks is in a purely personal setting. I have a Facebook account although I don’t have a MySpace account. Initially I was a little resistant to participating in online social networking however the trend grew so much that before long I was one of the only ones in both my immediate and also wider group of friends and peers that did not use some form of online social networking. I now find that I use Facebook frequently and can’t imagine not having it!

Facebook more so than MySpace, I believe, could be used in a learning context. The ‘Courses’ application on Facebook allows you to add subjects you are studying and invite other students who are users to join the group. Within the group space you can then share links that relate to the subject, discuss learning points and chat with other students. While this is only one example of how learning can be enhanced via a social networking site, just being able to be in contact with other peers and students through these sites allows interacting and collaboration on a personal level which is definitely beneficial.

Synchronous communication is when all parties involved in the communication are present at the same time. Examples include phone calls, meetings, video conferences, chat rooms and instant messaging. The benefit of synchronous communication is that all parties involved can discuss and debate a topic and reach conclusions and complete tasks in real time by allowing simulaneous collaboration.

Asynchronous communication does not require all parties involved in the communication to be present and available at the same time. Examples include emails, discussion boards and text messages. The benefit of asynchronous communication is that it can take place of a longer amount of time, which can allow for research, review and feedback. It can allow people from different places to communicate and collaborate when it suits them. While this form of communication may not yield results as quick as synchronous communication it is still a very effective form of communication in many situations.

Effective learning can definitely be enhanced by collaborative communication, which can be assisted by both synchronous and asynchronous communication. Current trends are further confirming that collaboration is an integral part of the learning process, and new and improving communication techniques can aid this in many ways.

The only time I have used social sharing in a learning context is again only in this subject and E-learning Experiences last semester. Much the same as with self-publishing, initially it was an application I had to learn to use, but I have had more positive experiences with Delicious as opposed to the blogs and wikis. I find that Delicious, as a social learning tool in a learning context, is a very helpful tool and I have definitely benefited from researching and viewing sites and articles other people have tagged or referred too, particularly within an e-learning context. I also used it to find information relevant to my working context, so for me Delicious as a form of social sharing has been an effective and useful tool.

The only self-publishing applications I am familiar with are blogs and wikis. The only time I have used these applications is in this subject and also E-learning Experiences last semester. While using blogs made it easier to complete activites and complete assignments, I don’t really think it impacted on my actual learning that much. Initially, it made my learning experience more difficult, learning how to use a new technology and then having to regularly check, monitor and manage it. With this subject, I have had lots of technical problems with the blog and I just don’t believe it has positively impacted my learning in anyway. The group E-Learning wiki has also proved troublesome to me, though it did make it easy to submit the first assignment. I am not convinced self publishing is the way to go for me, but understand the concept and proposed benefits of it!