Maarten de Laat

Using pattern languages to mediate theory–praxis conversations in design for networked learning

Educational design for networked learning is becoming more complex but also more inclusive, with teachers and learners playing more active roles in the design of tasks and of the learning environment. This paper connects emerging research on the use of design patterns and pattern languages with a conception of educational design as a conversation between theory and praxis. We illustrate the argument by drawing on recent empirical research and literature reviews from the field of networked learning.

Organising communities‐of‐practice: facilitating emergence

Purpose – The notion of communities of practice (CoP) has received great attention in educational and organisational practice and research. Although the concept originally refers to collaborative practices that emerge naturally, educational and HRD practitioners are increasingly searching for ways to create these practices intentionally in order to stimulate learning and professional development in specific fields. This paper aims to gain insight into ways in which communities of practice can be deliberately organised.Design/methodology/approach – The study concerns a multiple case study of the deliberate initiation of 15 communities of practice of small and medium‐sized companies in the tourist sector, located in seven European countries. The analysis focuses on how meaningful, shared and coordinative activity is organised in each of the 15 cases. A multiple case study allowed for comparison between the various cases in order to target fruitful conditions and actions in organisation processes.Findings – ...

Visualizing Informal Professional Development Networks Building a Case for Learning Analytics in the Workplace

Informal learning has become an important driver for professional development and workplace learning. Yet, however powerful informal learning may be, there is a problem when it comes to making it a real asset within organizations: Informal learning activities are spontaneous and mostly invisible to others. The aim of this study is to develop a method that helps raise awareness about these activities using a learning analytics approach. This method concentrates on detecting and visualizing informal professional social networks and finding ways in which their presence and accessibility can be improved. This study shows that the presented methodology is a promising research-driven intervention. With this methodology we can detect multiple (isolated) networks in organizations, connect ideas, and facilitate value creation. Using this approach, organizations can link with existing informal networks of practice and unlock their potential for organizational learning by giving them a voice and making their results more explicit within the organization.

Experiences of pioneers facilitating teacher networks for professional development

This study presents an exploration into facilitation practices of teacher professional development networks. Stimulating networked learning amongst teachers is a powerful way of creating an informal practice‐based learning space driven by teacher needs. As such, it presents an additional channel (besides more formal traditional professional development initiatives) for teacher education and sustained professional development. This study describes a set of challenges facilitators of teacher networks encounter and presents ways to overcome them. Successful facilitation is the cornerstone for vital teacher networks in which they share knowledge and develop their practice.

Designing for Learning in Coupled Contexts

The chapters in this volume explore new and innovative ways of thinking about the nature of networked learning and its pedagogical values and beliefs. They pose a challenge to us to reflect on what we thought networked learning was 15 year ago, where it is today and where it is likely to be headed.

Investigating Group Structure in CSCL: Some New Approaches

This paper reports some recent findings of a continuing international study that is investigating computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) processes among a community engaged in a master’s program in e-learning. This study presents results of an analysis of learning and tutoring interactions in three different groups. Each group was presented with a different model to facilitate collaborative interaction, using specially designed groupware. The empirical analysis used two compatible methods: content analysis (CA) and critical event recall (CER). The study reveals the differentiated nature of participants’ interactions: the results show that the groups who used the management roles and progressive enquiry models were more actively engaged in learning and tutoring interactions than the group without an additional structure (NAS).

Social Network Informed Design for Learning with Educational Technology

Internationally, virtual world environments such as Second Life® (SL) have become accepted as platforms for innovative educational activities at many universities in recent years. One such activity ...This chapter discusses the application of a transactional approach to educational design. Its purpose is to describe how such an approach could be applied to a thesis course. To fulfill this purpose the chapter unfolds by indicating that the practice of supervision faces challenges from changes in society. Technology-enhanced participation in supervision is one answer to these challenges. Inspired by scholars such as Bakhtin, Dewey, and Vygotsky the applied transactional approach expands on ideas such as dialogues and educational settings. The implementation of these ideas into the educational design intersects within two principles, group-work, and open and public exchanges of information. The transactional approach is then illustrated with the help of a first-year undergraduate thesis course in the discipline of Education.Informed Design of Educational Technologies in Higher Education: Enhanced Learning and Teaching presents recent and important theoretical and practical advances in educational technology design in higher education, examining their possibilities for enhancing teaching and learning. This volume includes discussions of technologies and applications grounded in legitimate learning theories and from an ethical perspective that emphasizes mutual understanding.

Visualizing social learning ties by type and topic: rationale and concept demonstrator

Social Learning Analytics (SLA) are designed to support students learning through social networks, and reflective practitioners engage in informal learning through a community of practice. This short paper reports work in progress to develop SLA motivated specifically by Networked Learning Theory, drawing on the related concepts and tools of Social Network Analytics and Social Capital Theory, which provide complementary perspectives onto the structure and content of such networks. We propose that SLA based on these perspectives needs to devise models and visualizations capable of showing not only the usual SNA metrics, but the types of social tie forged between actors, and topic-specific subnetworks. We describe a technical implementation demonstrating this approach, which extends the Network Awareness Tool by automatically populating it with data from a social learning platform SocialLearn. The result is the ability to visualize relationships between people who interact around the same topics.

Introduction to the Special Issue on Learning Analytics

This introduction to the special issue on learning analytics provides an overview of the area, acknowledging the research traditions it emerges from, such as computer-supported collaborative learning, academic analytics, and educational data mining, and the way the field aims to bridge from technological innovation to learning purposes. The introduction provides examples of areas and educational stakeholders who are served by and can benefit from learning analytics initiatives, referring throughout to the articles in this special issue.

Bridging the Knowledge Gap: Using Social Network Methodology for Detecting, Connecting and Facilitating Informal Networked Learning in Organizations

This paper presents a social network analysis (SNA) based methodology for holding up a mirror within organisations to detect and visualise informal networked learning activities spontaneously undertaken by its workers. Practice driven informal workplace learning often goes undetected, but is increasingly seen as a powerful way of optimizing organizational learning and knowledge management practices based on meaningful day-to-day learning interactions. Empirical data from this study shows that using the Network mirror helps to bridge latent and weak ties between workers in organisations who are dealing with similar challenges and questions. The methodology combines SNA with group decision software not only to detect networks but also to make explicit what these networks are working on and what is meaningful to them. Triangulation of these data streams leads to new interventions driven by bottom-up networked activity as opposed to management directives.