online people tagging: social mobile networking services in work-based learning

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Online People

Tagging: Social

Mobile Networking

Services in Work-

based Learning

– John Cook, LTRI, London Metropolitan University

– Norbert Pachler, Institute of Education, University of London

#somobnet #matureip #lmlg

– SoMobNet International Roundtable on “Social Mobile Networking for Informal Learning” Institute of Education, Nov 21 2011: http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloudscape/view/2363

– To comment on this presentation: http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloud/view/5968

– Acknowledgement: slide template draws on that from talk by Karen Cator at ALT-C 2011 http://bit.ly/qUQrs5 the content is our own ...

Structure

Online people tagging in work-based contexts

Towards a typology of informal workplace learning

Key issues from the literature on social (mobile) networking services

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Definition of Social Networking Services

“web-based services that allow individuals to1. construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded

system2. articulate a list of other users with whom they share a

connection, and3. view and traverse their list of connections and those made by

others within the system”

boyd and Ellison, 2008

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Key issues from the literature on social (mobile) networking services

Bridging social capital (Putnam, 2001), which is the creation of social networks between socially heterogeneous groups

Collaborative scaffolding literature (Pata, Sarapuu, & Archee, 2005; Yeh, Lo, & Huang, 2011)

Pertaining to the notion that the “concept of a social network reduces the social human actor to a point – not even a point of view – but a point that connects in various ways to other points” (Merchant, 2011)

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Key issues from the literature on social (mobile) networking services

Establishing a group-wide medium creates latent ties from whichweak ties may build; a change of medium recasts weak ties (Haythornthwaite et al 2007)

Not everyone has relevant experience, but modelling of learning can take place (self-efficacy, Bandura, 1982)

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Key issues from the literature on social (mobile) networking services

relationship initiation vs maintenance (boyd and Ellison, 2008)

nature of the relationships formed and maintained and how they relate to activity and action in other contexts (Merchant, 2011)

notion of ‘technologised socialbility’: conflation of everyday human experience with mediated communication (Merchant, 2011)

‘identity play’: iterative relationship of identity work done online with offline identity (Merchant, 2011); ‘personal augmentation’ (Facer, 2011)

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Key issues from the literature on social (mobile) networking services

paradigms for online communities: person-centric (hub-and-spoke), topic-centric, bounded community (White, 2006)

Passionate affinity space (Gee, 2011)

Notion of cultural resources (Pachler, et al., 2010)

Appropriation (Pachler, et al., 2010)

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Social tools amplifying learning

Digital Content with bridges

Mobility embedded in practice

MATURE – Facebook for workplace

ALPS

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Towards a typology of informal workplace learning

Learning in workplace viewed as response to complex problem or taskEmbedded in meaningful and authentic cultural contexts (4Cs)• Collaboration in group activities• Working alongside colleagues• Tackling challenging tasks• Working with clients

Eraut provides empirical work on f-2-f

Factors affecting learning in the workplace (Eraut, 2004)

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Towards a typology of informal workplace learning

Key questions How can we scale up meaningful learning activities of• individuals and groups so they become linked together• building confidence, commitment, performance & progress?Amplified by SNSs and mobile technologies?Mediated by scaffolding and bridging activities?

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Online people tagging in work-based contexts

MATURE EC Framework 7 project: http://mature-ip.eu/ • Social network tools amplifying learning in the workplace • Seen by EC as ‘flagship TEL project'• And by users at Career Guidance Services UK as ‘Facebook for the workplace’• Challenge repurposing cultural contexts: http://cloudworks.ac.uk/cloud/view/5806

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Collaborative tagging• gather information about people • inside and outside organization

Tag each other• according to topics they associate with that person

“Who knows what?”

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Applying MATURE case to the typology

Aims: Test of typology as analysis tool when applied to a case. Does it reveal anything missing?

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Thank you!

John Cookjohn.cook@londonmet.ac.uk@johnnigelcook

Norbert Pachlern.pachler@ioe.ac.uk@servusuk