The Experts below are selected from a list of 19743 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Chris Jones - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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The Politics of Networked Learning in an Age of Austerity
2014Co-Authors: Chris JonesAbstract:Networked Learning has always had a connection to a set of pedagogic values and it has defined itself as linked to the development of information and communication technologies. These values and the technologies which allow for the development of contemporary Networked Learning mean that the field has an implicit politics. In an age of austerity what are the implications for Networked Learning? The development of Networked Learning largely coincided with the development of neo-liberal politics in advanced industrial countries and the technologies deployed to enable Networked Learning are largely the outcome of design and development carried out by large multi-national US based corporations. This backdrop of neo-liberal corporatism was called into question by the banking crisis of 2008 and the conversion of a private debt crisis into a sovereign debt crisis. In this process public austerity has become a dominant consideration in policy for higher education. Government has changed its relationship to higher education, most notably in the UK (focused on England), and is generally trying to both reduce overall expenditure and at the same time ensure either equivalent outputs or improved levels of output. The drive for productivity gains, a drive for ‘more for less’, informs the hype and policy motivation behind xMOOCs because they seem to offer a way to enable cheaper and wider access to higher education. This paper takes a critical look at the way austerity politics are revising the values and affecting the development of technologies for Networked Learning and suggests ways that researchers will need to engage with resistance to aspects of austerity politics.
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Networked Learning and digital technology
2012Co-Authors: Chris JonesAbstract:Networked Learning has been defined in the Networked Learning conference series as being based on the use of Information and Communication Technology. The term Networked Learning acknowledges one aspect of this relationship to computing and to Networked computing in particular. This paper explores the relationship of Networked Learning to technology using an alternative characterisation of new technologies, the term digital, and asks what kinds of implications the digital nature of current technologies have for Networked Learning. The paper explores the idea of technology and suggests that the term can be used in a number of different ways. It suggests that digital technologies are complex technologies that imply a degree of modularity and recursiveness. The paper suggests that in Learning technology digital technology is usually met as part of an infrastructure, understood as a sociotechnical system. The paper argues that despite this complexity there are analytically discernable features of digital technologies that can be thought of as affordances. Using two lenses the paper examines current usage of the idea of the digital in terms of digital natives and digital literacy (-ies) and argues that both ideas are inclined towards technologically determinist outlooks. The paper also notes the particular feature of rapid change in relation to digital technologies and how the nature of the evolution of digital technology relates to digital literacy. The paper concludes by suggesting that research into Networked Learning needs to take the nature of the digital seriously. A more detailed understanding needs to be developed of what kinds of affordances digital technologies make available. These need to take into account the different meanings of technology and encompass the purposes of digital technologies, the ways they are arranged in assemblages and the way they present themselves as an entire collection of devices in a culture. If insufficient attention is paid to the digital bedrock of technologies then determinist readings of the effects of technology that are based on accounts that are uncritical and lacking in any detailed understanding of digital technologies will prevail.
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Networked Learning stepping beyond the net generation and digital natives
2012Co-Authors: Chris JonesAbstract:This chapter critically examines the idea that young people have undergone a change in which exposure to digital and Networked technologies has caused a step change in the character of a whole generation. The empirical and theoretical basis for this argument is reviewed and critical theoretical perspectives are assessed. Evidence from earlier research is compared and contrasted with evidence gathered from students who are said to be part of the new generation. The chapter explores the consequences of these ideas from the standpoint of Networked Learning. One aim of the chapter is to suggest ways in which the changes that have taken can be more adequately theorized in relation to the idea of Networked Learning. Arguments used to support generational change rely on a technological determinism and alternative accounts understand young people as active agents. I suggest expanding the notion of the agent to include persons enacting roles in collective organizations. Overall, the importance of the debate is that determinist arguments can close down debate and Networked Learning would be impoverished if this occurs.
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Networked Learning environments
Physical and Virtual Learning Spaces in Higher Education, 2012Co-Authors: Chris JonesAbstract:This chapter introduces the idea of Networked Learning environments and argues that these environments provide the totality of surrounding conditions for Learning in digital networks. It provides illustrative vignettes of the ways that students appropriate Networked environments for Learning. The chapter then examines the notion of Networked Learning environments in relation to the idea of infrastructure and infrastructures for Learning and sets out some issues arising from this perspective. The chapter suggests that students and teachers selectively constitute their own contexts and that design can only have an indirect effect on Learning. The chapter goes on to argue that design needs to be located at the meso level of the institution and that a solution to the problem of indirect design lies in refocusing design at the meso level and on the design of infrastructures for Learning.
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Networked Learning in higher education : practitioners' perspectives.
Research in Learning Technology, 2011Co-Authors: Chris Jones, Mirea Asensio, Peter GoodyearAbstract:This paper arises from the work of the JISC Committee on Awareness, Liaison and Training (CALT)-funded 'Networked Learning in Higher Education' project. Networked Learning is a term that has had a currency for some years now and can be seen as part of the development of a new paradigm in education (Harasim, Hiltz, Teles and Turoff, 1995; Koschmann 1996; Romiszowski and Ravitz, 1997). We have defined Networked Learning as Learning in which C&.IT is used to promote connections: between one learner and other learners; between learners and tutors; between a Learning community and its Learning resources. DOI: 10.1080/0968776000080203
Vivien Hodgson - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Becoming a Knowledge Community: The Epistemic Practice of Networked Learning
Mobility Data and Learner Agency in Networked Learning, 2020Co-Authors: Vivien Hodgson, David McconnellAbstract:The chapter considers the contribution the Networked Learning Conference has had in the making of Networked Learning as an area of scholarship and research since its inception in 1998. It is based on a survey of contributors to the Conference. We draw on two key concepts: that of ‘epistemic practice’ and the related concept of ‘knowledge communities’.
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Networked Learning and Postdigital Education
Postdigital Science and Education, 2019Co-Authors: Vivien Hodgson, David McconnellAbstract:This paper considers the positon of Networked Learning in higher education Learning and teaching in the postdigital era. The underlying origins and principles upon which Networked Learning are based can be traced back to the critical pedagogy of Freire and emphasise a critical relationship with the digital, the human and the current socio-political and material higher educational context. We examine the theoretical and practical ideas around Networked Learning in which connections are forged between learners; between learners and their tutors; and between Learning communities and Learning resources. We describe two case studies to illustrate the theory, pedagogy and practice of Networked Learning for contemporary higher education Learning and teaching. One from the perspective of the online distant learner and their experience of Networked Learning; the other from the perspective of tutors, which focuses on the challenges they face in moving into the digital world. We conclude by claiming that the way Networked Learning has developed in theory and practice means it is an approach and pedagogy that makes it entirely suitable for a postdigital world.
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The Epistemic Practice of Networked Learning
2018Co-Authors: Vivien Hodgson, David McconnellAbstract:This paper has two aims; first to understand how Networked Learning has developed as a field and educational approach in the last 20 years; and second to consider the contribution the Networked Learning Conference has had to the development of the field. To achieve this we conducted a survey of people who have regularly presented or published papers from the Networked Learning Conference (NLC) since its inception in 1998. The purpose of the survey was to understand the role the conference has played for them in the development of their thinking and ideas over time, and what this means for the theory, pedagogy and practice of Networked Learning. In order to provide a context in which to examine respondents’ experiences of Networked Learning, we situate the paper in the current definition of the term. Since the first conference in 1998, the definition of Networked Learning has come to be defined as involving the key characteristics of Learning community; connections; reflexivity; criticality; collaboration; and relational dialogue. Our survey involved sending an email to 30 NLC participants in which we asked them to respond to five questions about their experience of the conference. 21 responses were returned. In general, many people felt that Networked Learning gives a frame of reference where the conference enacts the values of Networked Learning as a research community. We thus argue in the paper that a closer examination of the NLC offers an interesting opportunity to re-evaluate key characteristics and values associated with Networked Learning, which informs us of Networked Learning as a social practice. To achieve this, we focus in depth on four areas that figured particularly strongly in the analysis and which we believe are worthy of further discussion. They are critical space, community, scholarship, and developing practice. We found there was a degree of overlap and interaction between these areas, and that together these four areas constitute key aspects to the way way the Networked Learning conference 'institutionalises' Networked Learning as a practical accomplishment.
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Networked Learning a brief history and new trends
2012Co-Authors: David Mcconnell, Vivien Hodgson, Lone DirckinckholmfeldAbstract:This chapter looks at the history, meaning and development of Networked Learning and how it has developed in both the UK and Denmark, as well as in other parts of Europe and the USA. Networked Learning is an approach that takes a critical and inquiring perspective, and focuses on the potential of information and communication technology to support connections and collaboration. The chapter examines how Networked Learning has largely been influenced by an understanding of developments in technology to support Learning alongside thinking stemming from the traditions of open Learning and other radical pedagogies. The philosophical and pedagogical roots of Networked Learning are explained, and the development of the Networked Learning Conference is outlined, indicating its pivotal position in our understanding of this form of Learning and teaching. The impact on Networked Learning of Web 2.0 is also examined, showing how it may provide the support for a shift in Learning infrastructure and bring Networked Learning out of the research lab and into practice, providing many different Learning designs. The conclusion is that the various scholars and practices associated with Networked Learning have an identifiable educational philosophy. The chapter also provides a brief summary of the overall structure of the book
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Exploring the Theory, Pedagogy and Practice of Networked Learning - Exploring the Theory, Pedagogy and Practice of Networked Learning
2012Co-Authors: Lone Dirckinck-holmfeld, Vivien Hodgson, David McconnellAbstract:This book will be based on a selection of high quality research papers presented at the Networked Learning Conference, May 3-4, 2010. The Networked Learning Conference is an international, research-based conference. Since its inception in 1998 the conference has developed a strong following by international researchers. In addition it is well supported by practitioners, managers and Learning technologists interested in contributing to and hearing about research in this area. The conference is considered a major event in the international 'technology enhanced Learning' conference circuit. This edited volume presents cutting edge research that will explore current trends and advances in research on Networked Learning, technology enhanced Learning and e-Learning. (http://books.google.fr/books?id=_wvr7YgduzsC&printsec=frontcover&hl=fr#v=onepage&q&f=false)
Maarten De Laat - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Conclusion: Mobility, data and learner agency in Networked Learning
Mobility Data and Learner Agency in Networked Learning, 2020Co-Authors: Nina Bonderup Dohn, Maarten De Laat, Thomas Ryberg, Petar JandrićAbstract:The aim of this chapter is to draw out insights concerning the central themes of the book, i.e. the themes of mobility, data and learner agency in Networked Learning. In the first section, we present an overview of the book’s chapters. We point out how the book’s three sections and the chapters that comprise them deal with one (or more) of the themes. This serves to highlight different contemporary takes of the Networked Learning community on the themes. We further highlight that the book’s ‘intro’ and ‘outro’ chapters pinpoint Networked Learning research practice. Between them, the chapters thus provide a characterization of the field of Networked Learning today, as seen through the lens of the book’s three themes. In the second section of the conclusion, we identify a set of issues emerging out of the community’s work with these themes: Demarcation and characterisation of the field of Networked Learning, the socio-material turn and evolving forms of Networked Learning design and assessment.
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How do Online Learning Networks Emerge? A Review Study of Self-Organizing Network Effects in the Field of Networked Learning
Education Sciences, 2019Co-Authors: Bieke Schreurs, Frank Cornelissen, Maarten De LaatAbstract:In this article we want to understand in more detail how Learning networks emerge in online Networked Learning environments. An adage in Networked Learning theory is that Networked Learning cannot be designed; it can only be designed for. This adage implicitly carries the idea that Networked Learning is seen as Learning in which information and communication technology is used to promote (emergent) connections between learners and their peers, learners and tutors and learners and Learning resources. Emergence entails a self-organizing component. However, there is no comprehensive understanding of how self-organizing network effects occur in Networked Learning environments, how they influence possible Learning outcomes and how these network effects can be enhanced or frustrated by the design elements of different Networked Learning environments. By means of a review we investigate how the three most known self-organizing network effects occur in Networked Learning environments, namely preferential attachment, reciprocity and transitivity. Results show that in most studies self-organizing network effects are significantly present. Moreover we found important (design) elements related to the people, the physical environments and the tasks of the Learning networks that could influence these self-organizing network effects. Studies that looked at Learning outcomes are limited. Based on the review study future research directions for the field of Networked Learning are addressed.
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Reflections and challenges in Networked Learning
Networked Learning, 2018Co-Authors: Nina Bonderup Dohn, Sue Cranmer, Julie-ann Sime, Thomas Ryberg, Maarten De LaatAbstract:In this last chapter, we reflect on the issues taken up in the nine chapters forming the body of the book and how they relate to the trends identified in the introductory chapter as well as how they combine to characterize the field of Networked Learning today and on from here. We start with a short presentation of each of the chapters. This leads us to identify broader themes which point out significant perspectives and challenges for future research and practice. Among these are social justice, criticality, mobility, new forms of openness and Learning in the public arena (all leading themes at the next Networked Learning Conference in 2018), differences between participants and in participant experiences, Learning analytics and different understandings of Networked Learning.
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Networked Learning - Reflections and Challenges
2018Co-Authors: Nina Bonderup Dohn, Maarten De Laat, Sue Cranmer, Julie-ann Sime, Thomas RybergAbstract:The book is based on nine selected, peer-reviewed papers presented at the 10th biennial Networked Learning Conference (NLC) 2016 held in Lancaster. Informed by suggestions from delegates, the nine papers have been chosen by the editors (who were the Chairs of the Conference) as exemplars of cutting edge research on Networked Learning. Further reviews of all papers were conducted once they were revised as chapters for the book. The chapters are organized into two sections: 1) Situating Networked Learning: Looking Back - Moving Forward, 2) New Challenges: Designs for Networked Learning in the Public Arena. Further, we include an introduction which looks at the evolution of trends in Networked Learning through a semantic analysis of conference papers from the 10 conferences. A final chapter draws out perspectives from the chapters and discusses emerging issues. The book is the fifth in the Networked Learning Conference Series.
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LAK - Connecting levels and methods of analysis in Networked Learning communities
Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge - LAK '12, 2012Co-Authors: Daniel D. Suthers, Maarten De Laat, H. Ulrich Hoppe, Simon Buckingham ShumAbstract:This paper describes the rationale behind a workshop on using data-intensive computational methods of analysis for empirical-analytical studies of collaborative and Networked Learning, with a particular focus on how Learning takes place in the technically-mediated interplay between individual, small group and collective levels of agency. This workshop is primarily designed for researchers interested in empirical-analytical studies using data-intensive computational methods of analysis (including social-network analysis, log-file analysis, data mining, video analysis).
Peter Goodyear - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Networked Learning in higher education : practitioners' perspectives.
Research in Learning Technology, 2011Co-Authors: Chris Jones, Mirea Asensio, Peter GoodyearAbstract:This paper arises from the work of the JISC Committee on Awareness, Liaison and Training (CALT)-funded 'Networked Learning in Higher Education' project. Networked Learning is a term that has had a currency for some years now and can be seen as part of the development of a new paradigm in education (Harasim, Hiltz, Teles and Turoff, 1995; Koschmann 1996; Romiszowski and Ravitz, 1997). We have defined Networked Learning as Learning in which C&.IT is used to promote connections: between one learner and other learners; between learners and tutors; between a Learning community and its Learning resources. DOI: 10.1080/0968776000080203
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advances in research on Networked Learning
2011Co-Authors: Peter Goodyear, Vivien Hodgson, Sheena Banks, David McconnellAbstract:Networked Learning is Learning in which information and communications technology (ICT) is used to promote connections: between one learner and other learners; between learners and tutors; between a Learning community and its Learning resources. Networked Learning is an area which has great practical and theoretical importance. It is a rapidly growing area of educational practice, particularly in higher education and the corporate sector. This volume brings together some of the best research in the field, and uses it to signpost some directions for future work. The papers in this collection represent a major contribution to our collective sense of recent progress in research on Networked Learning. In addition, they serve to highlight some of the largest or most important gaps in our understanding of students perspectives on Networked Learning, patterns of interaction and online discourse, and the role of contextual factors. The range of topics and methods addressed in these papers attests to the vitality of this important field of work. More significant yet is the complex understanding of the field that they combine to create. In combination, they help explain some of the key relationships between teachers and learners intentions and experiences, the affordances of text-based communications technologies and processes of informed and intelligent educational change.
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using pattern languages to mediate theory praxis conversations in design for Networked Learning
Alt-j, 2006Co-Authors: Peter Goodyear, Maarten De Laat, Vic LallyAbstract: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.
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educational design and Networked Learning patterns pattern languages and design practice
Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 2005Co-Authors: Peter GoodyearAbstract:There is a growing demand for advice about effective, time efficient ways of using ICT to support student Learning in higher education. This paper uses one such area of activity - Networked Learning - as a context in which to outline a novel approach to educational design. The paper makes two main contributions. It provides a high level view of the educational design problem space. It then introduces the patterns based approach to educational design. While other professional communities, particularly in software engineering, have been developing patterns based approaches to sharing and re-using design experience, this paper goes back to the original conceptions of participatory design that informed Christopher Alexander's early work on patterns and pattern languages. In particular, it makes connections between the technicalities of design and the central place of values. A patterns based approach can help with encoding, sharing and using knowledge for educational design. But it is also a powerful way of connecting educational values and vision to the details of the tasks, tools and resources we offer our students.
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Networked Learning in Higher Education: Students' Expectations and Experiences
Higher Education, 2005Co-Authors: Peter Goodyear, Chris Jones, Vivien Hodgson, Mireia Asensio, Christine SteeplesAbstract:This paper reports findings from a study of undergraduates’ expectations about, and experiences of, Networked Learning using computer-mediated conferencing (CMC). The data come from questionnaires administered at the start and end of four different courses, and their interpretation is informed by a set of interviews with students and teachers involved in these and other Networked Learning courses. Students’ views were generally positive at the start and at the end of each course, though they became more moderate over time. The structure of students’ reported feelings remained relatively stable over time. There was no evidence to suggest that male or younger students had more positive feelings about Networked Learning. The thoroughness with which CMC is integrated into a Networked Learning course appears as a significant factor in explaining differences in students’ feelings about the worth and value of their experience. As might be expected, a well-integrated course was associated with more positive experiences.
David Mcconnell - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Becoming a Knowledge Community: The Epistemic Practice of Networked Learning
Mobility Data and Learner Agency in Networked Learning, 2020Co-Authors: Vivien Hodgson, David McconnellAbstract:The chapter considers the contribution the Networked Learning Conference has had in the making of Networked Learning as an area of scholarship and research since its inception in 1998. It is based on a survey of contributors to the Conference. We draw on two key concepts: that of ‘epistemic practice’ and the related concept of ‘knowledge communities’.
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Networked Learning and Postdigital Education
Postdigital Science and Education, 2019Co-Authors: Vivien Hodgson, David McconnellAbstract:This paper considers the positon of Networked Learning in higher education Learning and teaching in the postdigital era. The underlying origins and principles upon which Networked Learning are based can be traced back to the critical pedagogy of Freire and emphasise a critical relationship with the digital, the human and the current socio-political and material higher educational context. We examine the theoretical and practical ideas around Networked Learning in which connections are forged between learners; between learners and their tutors; and between Learning communities and Learning resources. We describe two case studies to illustrate the theory, pedagogy and practice of Networked Learning for contemporary higher education Learning and teaching. One from the perspective of the online distant learner and their experience of Networked Learning; the other from the perspective of tutors, which focuses on the challenges they face in moving into the digital world. We conclude by claiming that the way Networked Learning has developed in theory and practice means it is an approach and pedagogy that makes it entirely suitable for a postdigital world.
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The Epistemic Practice of Networked Learning
2018Co-Authors: Vivien Hodgson, David McconnellAbstract:This paper has two aims; first to understand how Networked Learning has developed as a field and educational approach in the last 20 years; and second to consider the contribution the Networked Learning Conference has had to the development of the field. To achieve this we conducted a survey of people who have regularly presented or published papers from the Networked Learning Conference (NLC) since its inception in 1998. The purpose of the survey was to understand the role the conference has played for them in the development of their thinking and ideas over time, and what this means for the theory, pedagogy and practice of Networked Learning. In order to provide a context in which to examine respondents’ experiences of Networked Learning, we situate the paper in the current definition of the term. Since the first conference in 1998, the definition of Networked Learning has come to be defined as involving the key characteristics of Learning community; connections; reflexivity; criticality; collaboration; and relational dialogue. Our survey involved sending an email to 30 NLC participants in which we asked them to respond to five questions about their experience of the conference. 21 responses were returned. In general, many people felt that Networked Learning gives a frame of reference where the conference enacts the values of Networked Learning as a research community. We thus argue in the paper that a closer examination of the NLC offers an interesting opportunity to re-evaluate key characteristics and values associated with Networked Learning, which informs us of Networked Learning as a social practice. To achieve this, we focus in depth on four areas that figured particularly strongly in the analysis and which we believe are worthy of further discussion. They are critical space, community, scholarship, and developing practice. We found there was a degree of overlap and interaction between these areas, and that together these four areas constitute key aspects to the way way the Networked Learning conference 'institutionalises' Networked Learning as a practical accomplishment.
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Networked Learning a brief history and new trends
2012Co-Authors: David Mcconnell, Vivien Hodgson, Lone DirckinckholmfeldAbstract:This chapter looks at the history, meaning and development of Networked Learning and how it has developed in both the UK and Denmark, as well as in other parts of Europe and the USA. Networked Learning is an approach that takes a critical and inquiring perspective, and focuses on the potential of information and communication technology to support connections and collaboration. The chapter examines how Networked Learning has largely been influenced by an understanding of developments in technology to support Learning alongside thinking stemming from the traditions of open Learning and other radical pedagogies. The philosophical and pedagogical roots of Networked Learning are explained, and the development of the Networked Learning Conference is outlined, indicating its pivotal position in our understanding of this form of Learning and teaching. The impact on Networked Learning of Web 2.0 is also examined, showing how it may provide the support for a shift in Learning infrastructure and bring Networked Learning out of the research lab and into practice, providing many different Learning designs. The conclusion is that the various scholars and practices associated with Networked Learning have an identifiable educational philosophy. The chapter also provides a brief summary of the overall structure of the book
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Exploring the Theory, Pedagogy and Practice of Networked Learning - Exploring the Theory, Pedagogy and Practice of Networked Learning
2012Co-Authors: Lone Dirckinck-holmfeld, Vivien Hodgson, David McconnellAbstract:This book will be based on a selection of high quality research papers presented at the Networked Learning Conference, May 3-4, 2010. The Networked Learning Conference is an international, research-based conference. Since its inception in 1998 the conference has developed a strong following by international researchers. In addition it is well supported by practitioners, managers and Learning technologists interested in contributing to and hearing about research in this area. The conference is considered a major event in the international 'technology enhanced Learning' conference circuit. This edited volume presents cutting edge research that will explore current trends and advances in research on Networked Learning, technology enhanced Learning and e-Learning. (http://books.google.fr/books?id=_wvr7YgduzsC&printsec=frontcover&hl=fr#v=onepage&q&f=false)