scholarly journals Supporting professional learning in a massive open online course

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Milligan ◽  
Allison Littlejohn
Keyword(s):  
Informal Learning ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Massive Open Online ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Self Regulated Learning ◽  
Formal And Informal Learning ◽  
Professional Learners

<p>Professional learning, combining formal and on the job learning, is important for the development and maintenance of expertise in the modern workplace. To integrate formal and informal learning, professionals have to have good self-regulatory ability. Formal learning opportunities are opening up through massive open online courses (MOOCs), providing free and flexible access to formal education for millions of learners worldwide. MOOCs present a potentially useful mechanism for supporting and enabling professional learning, allowing opportunities to link formal and informal learning. However, there is limited understanding of their effectiveness as professional learning environments. Using self-regulated learning as a theoretical base, this study investigated the learning behaviours of health professionals within Fundamentals of Clinical Trials, a MOOC offered by edX. Thirty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed to explore how the design of this MOOC supported professional learning to occur. The study highlights a mismatch between learning intentions and learning behaviour of professional learners in this course. While the learners are motivated to participate by specific role challenges, their learning effort is ultimately focused on completing course tasks and assignments. The study found little evidence of professional learners routinely relating the course content to their job role or work tasks, and little impact of the course on practice. This study adds to the overall understanding of learning in MOOCs and provides additional empirical data to a nascent research field. The findings provide an insight into how professional learning could be integrated with formal, online learning.  </p>

How to become a beekeeper: learning and skill in managing honeybees

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Caroline Adams
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Informal Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Informal Learning Environments ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Formal And Informal Learning

Beekeeping is a highly skilled form of animal husbandry that dates back to centuries. It has become a popular hobby in the United Kingdom, but as an activity has rarely featured in geographical research. In this article, I present beekeeping as an interesting site of study for cultural geographers interested in enskilment processes, education and expertise. This article draws on in-depth ethnographic research with a community of hobby beekeepers in Lancashire, United Kingdom, to give a detailed analysis of the enskilment process of novice beekeepers, how this process is being shaped and influenced by a trend towards increasingly formal education tools within the community, and what this means for those interested in the power of skilled practice and expertise. In doing so, it explores issues around formal and informal learning environments, the role of social context in shaping learning, the power of government advice, and it illustrates the complexity introduced by close engagement with an insect.

scholarly journals Entrepreneurial Learning in Higher Education: Perceptions, Realities and Collaborative Work from the Stakeholder Point of View

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 255
Author(s):  
Ana Paula Marques ◽  
Ana Isabel Couto ◽  
Paula Rocha
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Informal Learning ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Entrepreneurial Learning ◽  
Entrepreneurial Spirit ◽  
Formal And Informal Learning

In recent years, Portuguese universities have diversified their strategies for the promotion of entrepreneurial education among (under/post) graduates, both through formal education and non- formal and informal activities. Indeed, Higher Education Institutions can provide entrepreneurial learning opportunities for students, stimulating new attitudes and behaviours towards entrepreneurship. In terms of non-formal and informal learning, various types of activity are of particular significance, and include entrepreneurship promotion and skills-based training, as well as monitoring of the development of ideas and projects. These activities are undertaken by various higher education stakeholders and key-actors, who contribute to the construction of an entrepreneurial ecosystem, and increase entrepreneurial spirit in (under/post) graduates. The research reported here is based on the main findings gathered from the ongoing project "Entrepreneurial Learning, Cooperation and the Labour Market: Good Practices in Higher Education (POAT-FSE)", focusing particularly on the results of a survey questionnaire completed by a diverse sample of entities linked to Portuguese public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and working to promote non-formal and informal entrepreneurial activities, as well as a set of case studies carried out regarding examples of best practice in Portuguese Higher Education. In doing so, this paper aims to highlight the importance of non-formal and informal learning, and to contribute to reflection on the added value of inter-organizational cooperation and collaborative work.

Impact of Podcasts as Professional Learning

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 55-67
Author(s):  
Kathleen P. King
Keyword(s):  
Instructional Design ◽  
Staff Development ◽  
Informal Learning ◽  
Instructional Strategies ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Research Model ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Formal And Informal Learning ◽  
K 12

Until now, research on podcasting in education mostly examined teacher created podcasts in K-12 and higher education. This paper explores podcasts in professional learning across several genres of podcasts. Using a popular typology of podcasts, teacher created, student created and professional development podcasts (King & Gura, 2007), this paper compares, contrasts and reveals the potential of multiple educational contexts and instructional strategies, formative instructional design, interdisciplinary strategies, formal and informal learning, and effective uses of data gathering methods. The significance of the study extends from not only the extensive reach of the data gathering and production, but also the robust research model, formative and dynamic instructional design for staff development and recommendations for podcasting research strategies.

scholarly journals Higher Education Lecturers’ Lived Experience of Going Public in MOOCs

Open Praxis ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 287
Author(s):  
Ulf Olsson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Massive Open Online Courses ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Massive Open Online ◽  
Going Public ◽  
Good Opportunity ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Teaching In Higher Education

Academics in higher education are used to having their research publications reviewed and openly scrutinized. Teaching in higher education has traditionally been an individual academic’s activity that has taken place in a closed classroom. However, the introduction of open education, particularly massive open online courses (MOOCs) has challenged this. In MOOCs, lectures are recorded and made public for thousands of course participants to view. This study investigates, via semi-structured interviews, how 20 lecturers of 10 MOOCs at six Swedish Universities have experienced this. All have joined the projects voluntarily, but a few have done so with some ambivalence. For them, standing in front of the camera, publishing material and, to some extent, losing control of the course content was scary at the beginning of the projects. Overall, the lecturers overcame this and thought that it was a good opportunity to reach many students, as well as a way to keep up with the changing requirements for teaching in higher education.

scholarly journals Open Badges in Education and Training in Europe

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferencz Tátrai ◽  
Kriszta Mihályi
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
Informal Learning ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Education System ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Know How ◽  
Formal And Informal Learning ◽  
And Training

The article gives an overview of open badges, a type of micro-credentials spreading lately in Europe applied to recognize non-formal and informal learning actions and outcomes. Open badges are viewed by many experts as the greatest potential for a reliable presentation of skills gained outside the formal education system, in many cases in adult learning. Specifically, open badges very often record and prove the acquisition of so called 21st century skills (i.e. communication, creativity, cooperation and critical thinking) considered by a large majority of the employers as a significant aspect of selection.What exactly digital open badges are? How, by whom and to whom are they awarded? How is the validity of information and the quality of content represented by the badges assured? To what extent are the employers aware of the value of open badges, and how much individuals know how they can capitalize on the collection of their badges?The article attempts to offer some views on the above questions by structuring the relevant findings and outcomes of the Open Badge Network and the ReOpen projects.

Management development experiences and expectations: informal vs formal learning

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 565-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Becker ◽  
Adelle Bish
Keyword(s):  
Informal Learning ◽  
Future Development ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Approaches To Learning ◽  
Management Development ◽  
Formal Learning ◽  
Management Skills ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Formal And Informal Learning ◽  
Management Capabilities

Purpose Many organisations are reconsidering their investment in formal education and training, in favour of more informal approaches to learning such as mentoring, temporary assignments, stretch assignments, and job rotation. The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which managers have developed capabilities for their roles thus far and their preferred approaches for future development with particular consideration given to a comparison of formal and informal learning. Design/methodology/approach This paper reports on a case study conducted within an Australian nonprofit organisation focussing on the extent to which managers attribute their current level of management skills to formal or informal learning and the extent to which they would prefer formal or informal learning (or a combination) for future development. Findings Findings indicate a large part of the managers’ current management capabilities were acquired through informal means, and these are seen as desirable for ongoing development, however, there is also a desire for formal learning methods to complement informal methods. Originality/value Management development is a critical HRD activity however there is limited knowledge about how managers have built their current capabilities and their preferences in terms of the mix of formal and informal learning for the future.

scholarly journals FORMAL, NONFORMAL AND INFORMAL TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES

2021 ◽  
pp. 150-157
Author(s):  
Ольга Свиридюк
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Informal Learning ◽  
Informal Education ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Educational Activity ◽  
Private Institutions ◽  
Formal And Informal Learning ◽  
Language Courses ◽  
The Government

The article considers the content of formal, non-formal, and informal learning of foreign languages. It is noted that formal education is education that is institutionalized, intentional, and planned through public organizations and recognized private institutions and together they create a system of state formal education. Non-formal education is education that is institutionalized, intentional, and planned by the subject of educational activity. Informal education is a form of education that is intentional or conscious, but not institutionalized. The author analyzes the main differences between formal, non-formal, and informal learning. It has been emphasized that learning, whether formal or informal, is intentional and partly accidental, but informal learning is purely accidental. It has been outlined that in the short term it makes more sense and, of course, more accessible to involve volunteers in the organization of social activities that promote non-formal and informal language learning, instead of immediately organizing official language courses. If such measures are properly designed and effectively implemented, they can motivate and encourage students to participate in formal language courses at a later stage. It has been noted that formal education characterizes education on the negative side due to certain limitations, namely the curriculum is based on norms and laws approved by the government/institution, while the students’ needs and interests are not taken into account. When the students’ needs and interests are taken into account, the students will be more interested and more willing to participate in various activities. On the other hand, non-formal education manages to transform the interests and needs of students into a flexible and adapted form of learning.

Schooling Ecologically: An Inquiry Into Teachers’ Ecological Understanding in ‘Alternative’ Schools

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Wright
Keyword(s):  
Informal Learning ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Teacher Perspectives ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Ecological Understanding ◽  
Formal And Informal Learning ◽  
Ecological Principle ◽  
Selection Of

AbstractThis article reports on an inquiry into ecological understanding and the professional practice of a selection of teachers in alternative and/or independent non-systemic schools in Australia, Canada and the United States. Through a reflective, participatory framework, based on the premise that it is one thing to observe ‘an ecology’, another to understand one's self as part of it, as actively involved in ‘bringing forth our world’, the project sought to understand if and how teachers employ systemic, ecological insights in their teaching. The project looked at the underlying ecological principle of ‘connection’ and how teachers work with this, through teacher education and options for further education in ecological understanding, at the responsibilities schools hold for ecological understanding, and at ways in which individual teachers have worked with this form of knowledge. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with small numbers of teachers in five schools. The philosophical underpinnings of these schools were considered in relation to the teachers’ capacities to facilitate ecological understanding and the organisational setting in which these schools operate. Teacher perspectives are reported and discussed through a structured presentation of selected responses to a series of questions on the overlapping themes of ecological insight and formal and informal learning processes.

scholarly journals The Pedagogy of Intimacy: Mother's Contribution to Academic Parenting during Student's Learning from Home

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-77
Author(s):  
Mutiara Andalas
Keyword(s):  
Informal Learning ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Formal Learning ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Maternal Involvement ◽  
Alternative Pedagogy ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Ubiquitous Space ◽  
At Home

This essay strives to articulate the pedagogy of intimacy born from mothers' engagement in academic parenting when formal learning shifts from school to home. Redefining parenting and intimacy, mothers implicitly articulated an alternative pedagogy when the space and time of learning during the Covid-19 pandemic move to home. Listening to the self-narratives of mothers who work full time at home, at least part-time, as informants in thisqualitative study, the words "parenting" and "intimacy" were prominent inthe semi-structured interviews. In the pre-pandemic seasons, these wordswere identical to activities at home and were seen as unrelated, at leastlimitedly related, to formal education. Learning from home, especially withmothers' engagement in informal learning during the Covid-19 pandemic,challenges the boundaries of maternal involvement in the formal educationspace. Mothers re-centralize home both as space and as a time for learning.Mothers reiterate their central role as informal teachers, further pedagogues,in children's education. Articulating intimacy's pedagogy, they reclaim homeboth as the steaming time and ubiquitous space for self-determined learning.

scholarly journals Mobile Multimodal Learning Analytics Method to Foster Student Self-Regulated Learning

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Khalil
Keyword(s):  
Informal Learning ◽  
Learning Analytics ◽  
Multimodal Learning ◽  
Self Regulated Learning ◽  
Learner Centered ◽  
Formal And Informal Learning ◽  
Regulated Learning ◽  
Is Theory ◽  
Multimodal Learning Analytics ◽  
Theoretical Foundations

The aim of this workshop paper is to propose Mobile Multimodal LearningAnalytics Methodology (MOLAM). The methodology is suggested to be developed through the lenses of multidisciplinary and multichannel data research approaches, based on the theoretical foundations of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL). MOLAM is theory supported, driven by learning analytics, learner-centered focused, and mobile technology utilized. We argue that MOLAM will have a potential to support learners, teachers and researchers in their understanding and their further fostering of student SRL in formal and informal learning environments.

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