Balancing the Ways of Learning in Organizations

Doel Seminar Helsinki 27-30.9.2011Antti Katajainen - M.A student

Aalto University School of Art and Design

Reasons for shifting online learning in organizations

Learning has shifted more towards situated learning.

Global economics/ Physical distances.

Overwhelming amount of information. Knowledge amount has doubled in last ten years.

Easy access and spread of Web 2.0 collaborative tools.

Cost-effective, fast and effective.

Tacit knowledge needs to be stored and shared for future employees.

Online communities allow distributed network of people, delivering diversity of opinions at one place.

In right balance?

Social Informal Formal

80% Informal learning?

Informal  learning  processes  such  as  storytelling,  conversation,  coaching  and  apprenticeship  Jay  Cross  (Internettime.com)  points  out  also  that  around  80%  of  individuals’  learning  is  informal.  Informal  learning  can  be  described  as  learning  where  learner  sets  his  or  her  own  learning  objectives.  Formal  learning  can  be  seen  as  opposite  to  this,  where  someone  else  like  teacher  or  instructor  sets  the  objective.    Occurs  usually  in  learning  events  as  classroom  teaching.  It  is  presented  in  time  logical  or  sequential  approach  to  a  topic.Social  exchange  of  ideas  &  knowledge  by  interactive  discussions

Social learning

Source:  Dron  &  Anderson,  2007

Network Collective

Group

Me

“Object-­‐centric  sites  allow  users  to  share,  comment  up  on,  and  display  a  wide  range  of  digital  media,  such  as  photos,  music,  books  owned  or  read,  citations,  or  music  recordings.  Ego-­‐centric  sites  usually  contain  proQiles,  personal  diary  spaces  (blogs),  lists  of  friends,  community  discussions,  and  other  tools  that  allow  users  to  locate,  work,  and  play  with  each  other”.  Actually  successful  software  for  learning  supports  both  social  networking  ways.  Group  is  related  in  organizational  setting  as  a  specialized  group  where  the  knowledge  is  shared  but    not  necessary  with  the  whole  other  community.Networks  enable  ad-­‐hoc  creation  of  group  networking.  Collectives  characterized  by  software  meditated  aggregation:Tag  clouds  are  good  examples  of  collectives  where  individually  created  information/link  cloud  leads  us  to  a  larger  network  of  collectively  created  resources.

How should we call it ?

Learning  2.0  is  more  like  technology  term  and  has  been  used  too  much  with  web  2.0.  There  will  be  also  a  web  3.0.  Connectivism  approach  will  Qill  the  cap  between  learning  and  the  use  of  technology  tools.  Connectivism  approach  highlights  capabilities  to  learn  new  and  make  new  connections  between  people  and  context.  George  Siemens  describes  learning  in  digital  age  by  following:  “  learners  challenge  is  to  recognize  the  patterns  which  appear  to  be  hidden.  Meaning-­‐making  and  forming  connections  between  specialized  communities  are  important  factors”.  In  his  theory  of  connectivism  learning  is  considered  to  happen  outside  of  ourselves.  Connected  LearningIf  ‘Connected  Learning’  is  part  formal,  part  informal  and  part  social,  there  will  always  be  the  act  of  ‘connecting’  one’s  self  to  people,  content,  systems,  networks,  etc.  during  the  learning  process  itself  …  and  it  may  occur  through  several  mediums

Learning 2.0How should we call it ?

Learning  2.0  is  more  like  technology  term  and  has  been  used  too  much  with  web  2.0.  There  will  be  also  a  web  3.0.  Connectivism  approach  will  Qill  the  cap  between  learning  and  the  use  of  technology  tools.  Connectivism  approach  highlights  capabilities  to  learn  new  and  make  new  connections  between  people  and  context.  George  Siemens  describes  learning  in  digital  age  by  following:  “  learners  challenge  is  to  recognize  the  patterns  which  appear  to  be  hidden.  Meaning-­‐making  and  forming  connections  between  specialized  communities  are  important  factors”.  In  his  theory  of  connectivism  learning  is  considered  to  happen  outside  of  ourselves.  Connected  LearningIf  ‘Connected  Learning’  is  part  formal,  part  informal  and  part  social,  there  will  always  be  the  act  of  ‘connecting’  one’s  self  to  people,  content,  systems,  networks,  etc.  during  the  learning  process  itself  …  and  it  may  occur  through  several  mediums

Learning 2.0How should we call it ?

Learning  2.0  is  more  like  technology  term  and  has  been  used  too  much  with  web  2.0.  There  will  be  also  a  web  3.0.  Connectivism  approach  will  Qill  the  cap  between  learning  and  the  use  of  technology  tools.  Connectivism  approach  highlights  capabilities  to  learn  new  and  make  new  connections  between  people  and  context.  George  Siemens  describes  learning  in  digital  age  by  following:  “  learners  challenge  is  to  recognize  the  patterns  which  appear  to  be  hidden.  Meaning-­‐making  and  forming  connections  between  specialized  communities  are  important  factors”.  In  his  theory  of  connectivism  learning  is  considered  to  happen  outside  of  ourselves.  Connected  LearningIf  ‘Connected  Learning’  is  part  formal,  part  informal  and  part  social,  there  will  always  be  the  act  of  ‘connecting’  one’s  self  to  people,  content,  systems,  networks,  etc.  during  the  learning  process  itself  …  and  it  may  occur  through  several  mediums

Learning 2.0How should we call it ?

Connectivism

Learning  2.0  is  more  like  technology  term  and  has  been  used  too  much  with  web  2.0.  There  will  be  also  a  web  3.0.  Connectivism  approach  will  Qill  the  cap  between  learning  and  the  use  of  technology  tools.  Connectivism  approach  highlights  capabilities  to  learn  new  and  make  new  connections  between  people  and  context.  George  Siemens  describes  learning  in  digital  age  by  following:  “  learners  challenge  is  to  recognize  the  patterns  which  appear  to  be  hidden.  Meaning-­‐making  and  forming  connections  between  specialized  communities  are  important  factors”.  In  his  theory  of  connectivism  learning  is  considered  to  happen  outside  of  ourselves.  Connected  LearningIf  ‘Connected  Learning’  is  part  formal,  part  informal  and  part  social,  there  will  always  be  the  act  of  ‘connecting’  one’s  self  to  people,  content,  systems,  networks,  etc.  during  the  learning  process  itself  …  and  it  may  occur  through  several  mediums

Learning 2.0How should we call it ?

Connectivism

Learning  2.0  is  more  like  technology  term  and  has  been  used  too  much  with  web  2.0.  There  will  be  also  a  web  3.0.  Connectivism  approach  will  Qill  the  cap  between  learning  and  the  use  of  technology  tools.  Connectivism  approach  highlights  capabilities  to  learn  new  and  make  new  connections  between  people  and  context.  George  Siemens  describes  learning  in  digital  age  by  following:  “  learners  challenge  is  to  recognize  the  patterns  which  appear  to  be  hidden.  Meaning-­‐making  and  forming  connections  between  specialized  communities  are  important  factors”.  In  his  theory  of  connectivism  learning  is  considered  to  happen  outside  of  ourselves.  Connected  LearningIf  ‘Connected  Learning’  is  part  formal,  part  informal  and  part  social,  there  will  always  be  the  act  of  ‘connecting’  one’s  self  to  people,  content,  systems,  networks,  etc.  during  the  learning  process  itself  …  and  it  may  occur  through  several  mediums

Learning 2.0How should we call it ?

ConnectivismConnected learning

Learning  2.0  is  more  like  technology  term  and  has  been  used  too  much  with  web  2.0.  There  will  be  also  a  web  3.0.  Connectivism  approach  will  Qill  the  cap  between  learning  and  the  use  of  technology  tools.  Connectivism  approach  highlights  capabilities  to  learn  new  and  make  new  connections  between  people  and  context.  George  Siemens  describes  learning  in  digital  age  by  following:  “  learners  challenge  is  to  recognize  the  patterns  which  appear  to  be  hidden.  Meaning-­‐making  and  forming  connections  between  specialized  communities  are  important  factors”.  In  his  theory  of  connectivism  learning  is  considered  to  happen  outside  of  ourselves.  Connected  LearningIf  ‘Connected  Learning’  is  part  formal,  part  informal  and  part  social,  there  will  always  be  the  act  of  ‘connecting’  one’s  self  to  people,  content,  systems,  networks,  etc.  during  the  learning  process  itself  …  and  it  may  occur  through  several  mediums

Connections People

Topic

Thread

Sharing updates

Class room presentation

The  behaviour  of  learning  will  always  start  with  a  connection.Source:  Dan  Pontefracts  http://www.danpontefract.com

The  different  connections  can  be  called  as  modalities  according  to  Dan  Pontefracts.Source:  Dan  Pontefracts  http://www.danpontefract.com

Right balance = Quality points of learning ?

Balance between different learning ways is difficult to predict and measure since learning occurs mostly in situated informal ways.

Right balance can be found from the most important quality points of learning ways in a particular system by testing.

Most important quality points of learning

Socialness

Usability

Ways of Learning (Cognitive and Connected Learning)

SOCIALNESSHow  well  community  is  supporting  communications  and  group  processes.  Is  the  system  open  to  commenting  and  feedback?USABILITY  How  easy  and  comfortable  it  is  to  use  the  software.Ways  of  Learning(Connectivism)  Connected  learning.  How  well  does  the  system  support  different  ways  of  networking  and  complexity?  COGNITIVE  LEARNINGCognitive  learning  occurs  inside  individuals  mind  and  emphasizes  the  memory  capacity  of  a  person.  How  well  are  the  system’s  web  2.0  tools  supporting  the  cognitive  processes?