Critical facilities for active participation in learning networks

1. Critical facilities for active participation in learning networks Hans Hummel, Colin Tattersall, Daniel Burgos, Francis Brouns, Hub Kurvers & Rob Koper Educational Technology Expertise Centre Open University of the Netherlands WBC 2005 (February 25th, 2005)

2. Context and approach • Technology Development Program: Learning Networks (2003-2008) (extra) • Initial experiences with pilot implementations of LN architecture, i.e. LN4LD pilot 1 (paper) -Information ecology perspective -OSOSS: facilities for (active) participation • Incentive mechanisme LN4LD pilot 2 (extra)

3. Learning Networks use technology to network learners, institutions and learning objects in such a way that the network can self-organise Learning Networks (LNs) are two-mode networks represented as a graph with nodes, where the nodes are ‘LN members’ and ‘Activity Nodes’ (ANs) ANs can be anything that is available to support learning, such as a course, a workshop, a conference, a lesson, an internet learning resource, et cetera Central to the notion of a Learning Network is the idea that all participants are in a position to contribute, within the constraints of any policies that may be operating

4. Position, target, learning route

7. Platform pilots • Base reqs: open source, java based, ‘open pedagogy’ • (out of scope for pilot) general portal with LNs • Each LN modelled, e.g. in PHP Nuke • Each AN modelled, e.g. in Moodle (including services) • LN ‘seeded’ with initial set of ANs to get things going • LN further supposed to develop / emerge through contributions & ratings

8. Objectives LN4LD pilots have three objectives: • To gain early feedback on functional, technical and organisational aspects of creating and maintaining a learning network • To help meet the demand for further information on IMS Learning Design from those wishing to understand the specification, or who are engaged in its application (UNFOLD project) • To investigate incentive mechanisms which stimulate learners to move beyond mere consumption of learning materials towards active participation in the creation of learning experiences

9. LN-layer (Nuke)

10. AN layer: Moodle

12. EML site (eml.org): increase in participants

13. LN site (learningnetworks.org): increase in participants

14. Forum Posts Posts made by originators News 59 58 IMS LD + EML 74 57 Standardization 9 7 Valkenburg Group 8 5 Alfanet 3 3 LN site: some participation data (all forums)

15. Threads Repl Views LD-online testing site 2 245 Environments definition 2 412 Referencing external Units of Learning 4 952 IMS LD + MD: taxonomies and vocabularies 1 469 Upcoming workshops 0 305 Help 2 558 6th Framework Coord. Action: UNFOLD 0 438 IMS-LD Editor Announcement 0 549 LN site: some participation data (example forum)

16. LN4LD pilot 1 (june-sept 2004): increase in participants

17. LN4LD pilot 1: some participation data • Participants: 104 registered, but 58 never accessed; 20 regular visitors • Passive: 21,011 page views, 427 downloads • Active: 24 post in general forums (Nuke); 24 posts in course forums (Moodle)

18. LN4LD pilot 1: Lessons learned • Transparent Policies: e.g. lower threshold • Better Usability: e.g. Nuke out • Less Structure: e.g. less fora • Explicit Reward: e.g. mechanism for extra access

19. LN4LD pilot 2 (oct ’04 – jan ’05): reward system • (Because of time and technical constraints) simple interrupted time series design with removal consecutive treatments => flexible within the life time of the learning network • First treatment: incentive mechanism for extra access • Quantitative + qualitative points to be earned for contributing (posting, replying, rating) • Extra access to ‘runnable examples of UoL’ in CopperCore beyond threshold level of points

20. LN4LD pilot 2 (increased contribution)

21. Thank you for your attention!URL (LN4LD) http://www.unfoldproject.net:8085/UNFOLD/designers/email hans.hummel@ou.nlAny questions?