© www.role-project.eu

Introducing Personal Learning Environments to Informal Learners: Lessons Learned from the OpenLearn Case Study

Alexander Mikroyannidis & Teresa Connolly

Knowledge Media Institute

The Open University, UK

The OpenLearn case study

• OpenLearn (http://openlearn.open.ac.uk) is a Moodle-based LMS, consisting of two distinct learning areas: LearningSpace and LabSpace.

• LearningSpace includes Open Educational Resources (OER) organised in standalone learning units, plus social software and discussion forums to enable collaboration and group work.

• LabSpace has an experimental and developmental nature; users can submit their own content, as well as remix and reuse the resources available.

OpenLearn courses & tools

From LMS to PLE

This transition attempts to transform and improve the OpenLearn user’s experience by:

• enabling individuals to build and personalise their learning environment

• gaining more control over their own learning by becoming self-regulated learners.

• offering further value to those users by supporting a stronger framework to foster learning communities.

Image source:http://www.flickr.com/photos/smannion/2949490218/

An introductory course to PLEs

• Introduces the core ROLE concepts and demonstrates a selection of ROLE learning tools.

• Learning outcomes:• Understand how widgets

can be used to carry out specific tasks

• Outline how a Personal Learning Environment can be enabled

• Build your own Personal Learning Environment

http://tinyurl.com/role-course

An introductory course to SRL

• Learning outcomes:• Understand the

fundamental aspects of SRL

• Outline a series of SRL examples

• Assess your own SRL skills

• Understand how you can use the ROLE tools to apply SRL to your learning

http://tinyurl.com/role-srl-course

Social search widget: Binocs

• The Binocs widget allows search for a variety of content formats (e.g. videos, presentations) and content repositories (e.g. YouTube, SlideShare, Wikipedia).

• Search results are ranked according to users’ ratings.

Bibliography search widget: ObjectSpot

The ObjectSpot widget searches through:

• Bibliographic repositories, such as Google Scholar, CiteULike, DBLP.

• Repositories of OER (Open Educational Resources), such as OpenLearn, Jorum, iTunes U.

Collaborative authoring widget: EtherPad

• The EtherPad widget enables real-time document collaboration for groups of users.

• When multiple authors edit the same EtherPad document simultaneously, any changes are instantly reflected on everyone's screen.

Lessons learned

Some emerging best practices that have proven to be successful in ROLE:

1. Accessible and easy to use tools, e.g. simple format, visibly understandable to new users.

2. Multi-format introductory and guidance learning course materials, e.g. can be used face-to-face, at a distance, or in a blended delivery.

3. Tools tailored to meet the needs of specific subject audiences, e.g. Designed for Learners studying x, y, z or Educators researching a, b, c.

4. Effective evaluation and feedback mechanisms, e.g. so that user experiences can help modify or adapt tools.

5. Support for SRL, e.g. through appropriate learning materials and tools like recommenders.

What’s next?

• Continue evaluating the usefulness of PLEs within a variety of learning contexts and scenarios, both in informal, as well as in formal learning.

• Evaluation of pedagogical models for self-regulated learning and tools for supporting learners in becoming self-regulated.

• Further investigate the potential of PLEs in TEL and acquire a better understanding of the needs of various communities of learners and educators.

© www.role-project.eu

Thank you!

The ROLE projecthttp://www.role-project.eu

The ROLE courseshttp://tinyurl.com/role-course

http://tinyurl.com/role-srl-course