Personal Learning Environments for

Inquiry-Based Learning

Dr. Alexander MikroyannidisKnowledge Media Institute, The Open University

Part I1. Introduction to Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL)2. The weSPOT IBL approach3. The weSPOT toolkit

Part II4. Hands-on session:

try the weSPOT toolkit5. Q&A

Agenda

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is a term that describes the ability to learn how to learn.

Examples of SRL skills:• Having the ability to set learning goals and plan

appropriate study strategies.• Finding suitable learning materials.• Seeking help from peers and collaborating to gain

feedback or assurance.• Being able to reflect on their learning progress and

adjust their study strategies accordingly.

Self-Regulated Learning

To learn more about SRL, download the free iBook for the iPad & MacOS:http://bit.ly/self-regulated-learning

Self-Regulated Learning

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ddebold/1472415498

Meaningful contextualization of scientific concepts by relating them to personal experiences.

Learners take the role of an explorer and scientist as they try to solve issues they came across and that made them wonder, thus tapping into their personal feelings of curiosity.

Learners learn to investigate, collaborate, be creative, use their personal characteristics and identity.

What is Inquiry Based Learning?

The weSPOT IBL approach

The weSPOT project aims at propagating scientific inquiry as the approach for science learning and teaching in combination with today’s curricula and teaching practices.

The project focuses on inquiry-based learning with a theoretically sound and technology supported personal inquiry approach.

In inquiry based-learning learners take the role of an explorer and scientist and are motivated by their personal curiosity, guided by self-reflection, and develop personal knowledge and collaborative sense-making and reasoning.

• The weSPOT inquiry-based learning model consists of six phases that mirror the phases that researchers need to go through in order to conduct their research.

• Each phase consists of a number of activities.• The weSPOT IBL model is based on:

– The steps required for good research, steps described in scientific literature (Crawford & Stucki, 1990; Hunt & Colander, 2010).

– Existing inquiry models (see D2.1 State of the art analysis: http://wespot.net/en/public-deliverables).

The weSPOT IBL model

weSPOT 1st annual review-Luxemburg

Students/learners decide on a topic or area of interest and try to formulate the questions or hypotheses that they would like to pursue.

Question/hypothesis

The process of defining an unclear concept so as to make the concept clearly distinguishable or measurable and to understand it in terms of empirical observations.

Operationalisation

Learners select means of gathering data — a survey, an experiment, an observational study, use of existing sources, or a combination etc. The research conclusions will be only as good as the gathered data, so collecting should be done in a very rigorous manner and recording the data is essential.

Data collection

Inspecting, cleaning, transforming and modelling data with the goal of highlighting useful information, suggesting conclusions, and supporting decision-making.

Data Analysis

Summarizing the steps one has followed and discussing the finding takes place at this stage. The discussion should relate the obtained conclusions to the existing body of research suggest where current assumptions may be modified because of new evidence and possibly identify unanswered questions for further study.

Interpretation/discussion

Research is not complete until it is written up and its results shared, not only with other scientists or fellow inquiry participants who may build upon it to further advance the science, but also with those who may benefit from it, who may use it, and who have a stake in it.

Communication

The weSPOT toolkit

A widget-based architecture enables the personalisation of the inquiry environment, allowing teachers and students to build their inquiries out of mash-ups of inquiry components.

Students can connect with their peers and form groups in order to build, share and perform inquiries collaboratively.

Personal & Social Inquiry

• A Personal Learning Environment (PLE) is a facility for an individual to aggregate, manipulate and share digital artefacts of their ongoing learning experiences.

• The PLE follows a learner-centric approach, allowing the use of lightweight services and tools that belong to and are controlled by individual learners. http://www.flickr.com/photos/hanspoldoja/4098840001

http://www.flickr.com/photos/petahopkins/2157928982

Personal Learning Environment

Widget (or Gadget)A widget is a micro-application performing a dedicated task. This task can be as simple as showing news headlines or weather forecasts, but also more complex like facilitating language learning or collaborative authoring.

Widget bundleA widget bundle is a set of widgets that complement each other and are used together for a common purpose.

Widget storeA widget store is a directory of widgets. Users can browse and download the widgets, as well as provide feedback on the widgets through ratings and comments.

What is a widget?

Learners aggregate and work collaborativelyon learning resources provided by the Open University (e.g. OpenLearn, iTunesU) and external sources (e.g. Wikipedia, SlideShare, YouTube)

Inquiries are structured according to the weSPOT IBL model.

Students interact with inquiry components (widgets), each of them tailored for a particular inquiry-related task, e.g. data collection, data analysis, hypothesis forming, reflection, etc.

A social learning environment is not a just a fun place to hang out with friends, but a place where learning takes place.

Learning does not take place by chance but because specific pedagogies and learning principles are integrated in the environment.

User-centric vs. Learner-centric

Students need to be constantly challenged and taken out of their comfort zones.

They need affirmation and encouragement that will give them the confidence to proceed with their inquiries and investigations beyond their existing knowledge.

Gamification approach: linking the inquiry activities and skills gained by learners with social media.

User-centric vs. Learner-centric

End of Part I

Questions?