Learning 2.0 : a new learning culture

A change in learning behaviors
Defining how learning technology changes the way people learn.

Technology is only a tool, and should not be at the center when assessing the potential impact of technology on management or education. However it is critical to understand why new tools emerge and how people use them. What is happening on the Internet today reflects wider changes in terms of how people buy, share, communicate, develop networks and learn.

The emergence of new behaviors on the Internet accounts for and affects behaviors far beyond the digital sphere because the main force behind the Internet is the involvement of people. More specifically, analyzing learning behaviors on the Internet gives an insight as to how consumers want to learn (because Web 2.0 technology is consumer-driven) and how people will increasingly behave as regards learning (because user involvement will cause infiltration of Web 20 behavior in other spheres).

An educational institution that understands how emerging technologies accompany and drive a wider change in the way people learn will be more successful in turning that change into a positive force.

Participatory culture
Guiding behavioral rules behind technology

By looking at new digital technologies and the way individuals use them, we can attest the emergence of general guiding rules around how people behave on the internet, a ‘participatory culture’, defined by Henry Jenkins in an occasional paper as

“a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices. A participatory culture is also one in which members believe their contributions matter, and feel some degree of social connection with one another.”[1]

This gives a good idea of the essential notions behind the use scenario of web 2.0. However this definition does not refer to a notion which is underlying to the participatory culture and web 2.0 in general, that being the belief in collective intelligence. Web 2.0 users belong to this participatory culture because they “believe their contributions matter”, but more importantly because they trust that their contribution will participate in the wisdom of crowds.

Henry Jenkins also describes the main forms of this participatory culture as being

“Affiliations — memberships, formal and informal, in online communities centered around various forms of media, (such as Friendster, Facebook, message boards, metagaming, game clans, or MySpace).

Expressions — producing new creative forms, (such as digital sampling, skinning and modding, fan videomaking, fan fiction writing, zines, mash-ups).

Collaborative Problem-solving — working together in teams, formal and informal, to complete tasks and develop new knowledge (such as through Wikipedia, alternative reality gaming, spoiling).

Circulations — Shaping the flow of media (such as podcasting, blogging).”

Learning 2.0
How individuals learn in the Web 2.0 era

This participatory culture links directly with the way people learn. It leads to the emergence of an increasing number of activist learners, who are inclined to adopt a more active attitude towards learning.

The underlying principle of this learning behavior is social constructivism, whereby knowledge is created by learners in the context of and as a result of social interaction. The main forms of the participatory culture can translate easily into the forms of the participatory learning culture or “learning 2.0″.

Affiliations – Developing and using social networks as a tool for “horizontal collaboration”, thus sharing ideas and collaborating with the most relevant people in informal networks. (such as LinkedIn)

Expressions – Using new multimedia expression opportunities to produce knowledge instantly in front of a wide audience and benefit from feedback. (such as blogs, podcasts)

Collaborative Problem-Solving - Using the collaborative potential of communities to look for, evaluate, and confront knowledge. (such as wikis)

Circulations – creating a personal learning environment that meets individual requirements for learning: the user builds his ‘window’ to the Internet by organizing flows of information (such as syndication of content, social bookmarking and personalized portals)

These forms of learning 2.0 represent the channels of interaction by which web 2.0 users can effectively use, challenge and produce knowledge in the digital sphere for personal learning purposes.

Foreseeable challenges of Learning 2.0

Learning 2.0 represents challenges for individual learners that can either become benefits or risks depending on whether they succeed in developing the necessary mindset and skills required for an efficient Learning 2.0 experience.

Challenges of Learning 2.0 for the learner include:

Autonomous learners – Learning 2.0 promotes the idea that learners should take control of their own education and Web 2.0 provides the tools that help them to do so. Web 2.0 provides the means and encourages learners to keep involved in learning interactions. Learning 2.0 develops skills that help individuals ‘learn how to learn’ and become life-long learners. (more here)

    This is a key skill to develop for personal development and a very valuable asset in a constantly evolving environment or organizational setting.

Personalized pedagogy – Web 2.0 enables the learner to shape his learning environment according to his specific needs. The learner can pick for a wide panel of information feeds and learning tools which are most relevant to his learning experience and have access to them from a central location.

Among the points of interest for the learner of Learning 2.0 is the potential for merging formal and informal learning settings. For example a management student’s formal and informal needs might include process, market and industry knowledge, accreditation, employment opportunities, temporary assignments, career planning, and networking. This student might find using a portal with centralized feeds, widgets and access to social networking services is an environment which is more adapted to his/her learning needs. Therefore as individual needs for the learner include material and support for both formal and informal settings, the learner should see value in creating a personalized learning environment in which he can easily access both.

    The value of the ‘personalized pedagogy’ of Learning 2.0 is that it can help develop or improve the effectiveness of personal learning styles.

Independent thinkers – Learning 2.0 requires learners to acquire the capacity to evaluate content according to their own judgment. Faced with the breath and the unequal quality of content that is produced with Web 2.0, the Learner 2.0 is forced into exercising critical judgment. Web 2.0 learner cannot rely on institutions, influential media or opinion leaders to give authority to knowledge (see authority 2.0) and must make a judgment of their own. Therefore Learning 2.0 seems to occur in an environment which should help learners become independent thinkers. This question addresses the validity of the Web 2.0 ideology.

    Learning 2.0 is focused around critical judgment and evaluation, which are two critical skills for success in a complex environment where information and ideas are abundant.

Variability – Learners 2.0 are engaged in a process whereby they must value the opinions of others and accept the community challenging their own. They learn to deal with and benefit from a complex environment of divergent opinions and experience.

    This is a key skill for success in team work and to develop organizational awareness.

Reputation – The learner’s participation in knowledge generation in the community setting coincides with the construction of a public identity. As the authority of personal content is obtained through the community, learners gain awareness of the mechanisms of reputation and recognition.

    This is an interesting practical introduction to and training for leadership skills, where recognition can happen in the real world rather then simply in a walled and protected academic setting.

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[1] An occasional paper on digital media and learning: “Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century” Henry Jenkins, Director of the Comparative Media Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology