Validation of Informal Learning Nikolas Galanis, Enric Mayol, Marc Alier,

Francisco José García-Peñalvo

§  Formal Learning •  Implies the existence of an education center, institution or organism •  Defined curriculum •  Recognized certification

§  Non-Formal Learning •  Usually takes place alongside formal learning •  Provided in an organized and structured manner •  Complement to formal learning •  Freedom in time allocation •  May lead to certification

§  Informal Learning •  All learning resulting from everyday activities •  No time, structure or obligation

Terminology

§  Lifelong Learning •  All learning activity undertaken on an ongoing basis •  Goal is improving knowledge, skills and competences •  Purposeful or not •  Sum of Formal, Non-formal and Informal learning

§  Adult Education •  Learning done by adults after their formal education •  Primarily Non-formal and Informal education

Terminology

§  EU recognizes informal learning with the Bologna treaty in 1999

§  Initiatives within the EU: •  CEDEFOP •  European Qualifications Framework (EQF) •  Lifelong Learning Program •  The Inventory project

State of the art

§  CEDEFOP published a guideline on validating non-formal and informal learning in 2009

§  4 validation levels are considered •  European •  National •  Organizational •  Personal

§  Non-formal and informal learning can be validated using the same standards and benchmarks as formal learning

State of the art

Informal learning in the workplace [Dale et al., Halliday-Wynes et al.]

§  For employees •  Enhances employability •  Continuous learning •  Improves working conditions •  Potentially more potent than formal training courses

§  For employers •  Cost-effective •  Up-to-date •  Evolving and adapting

State of the art

Informal Learning Tools §  TRAILER §  FREE §  IBAK §  TENCompetence §  Mahara §  Open Badges §  Degreed

State of the art

Competences §  Need to translate the skills gained through IL to

competences §  Competences hold the real value to the learner §  It is what employers understand

The International Labour Organization (ILO) provides the International Standard Classification of Occupation (ISCO) list of competences (ISCO-08)

State of the art

§  Informal learning is of real value to the learners. This value can be evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively.

§  Informal learning can be represented in a structured way, so as to be adequately represented alongside formal learning in a curriculum or portfolio.

Hypothesis

§  Evaluate informal learning by defining a set of methods, metrics and criteria.

§  Provide a more structured representation of an individual's informal learning through the use of tagging and ontologies.

§  Promote the social aspect of informal learning by providing a social and collaborative framework.

Thesis objectives

1.  Research into the available IL resources 2.  Analyze the IL potential of the resources 3.  Design mechanisms for obtaining these resources 4.  Define an ontology of tags for description 5.  Design an IL knowledge base 6.  Identify potential uses of the knowledge base 7.  Define competences and skills

Research goals

Initial Contributions

1.  Search Engines 2.  Web Pages 3.  Online Authoring Tools 4.  Blogs 5.  Online Videos 6.  Forums 7.  Wikis 8.  Podcasts 9.  Social Networks 10. Tutorials 11. Online Courses 12. External/Public LMSs

Informal learning resources

The Informal Learning Collector (ILC) •  Developed as part of the TRAILER project •  Acts as a medium to gather informal learning activities (ILAs)

Initial contributions

Questionnaires filled before and after pilots §  Institution users not overly aware of their IL §  Company users more aware §  The idea of such a tool was well received §  The platform heightened user attention to IL §  The platform is too cumbersome to use §  No need for different ILC and portfolio §  The list of competences is extremely complex

User feedback

§  Study the IL potential of the identified IL resources §  Define a coherent set of competences §  Define a set of tags for the activities §  Design the knowledge base within this

architecture §  Design a validation framework §  Design a social framework to support and

promote informal learning

Next steps

Work plan

Questions

Thank you