The Role of Social Media as a Learning Support System in Project Based Learning

Sue Beckingham | @suebecksSocial Media for Learning in Higher Education Conference #SocMedHE16

Sheffield Hallam University

Defining project based learning

Project based learning is

“A teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge.”

(BIE 2015).

Types of projects

Projects may be undertaken by individuals or within groups.

The outcome of a project might be a report, presentation, poster, artefact or prototype (physical or digital).

An additional aspect can include an evaluation of the project and/or a personal reflection of what has been learned

Key stages in a project

When undertaking a project there are a number of key stages the project owner(s) need to go through. These have been identified as question, plan, research, produce, improve, present and evaluate.

Project processes

Anticipating and planning for the resources that must be available for an objectives to be reached

Planning these objectives by allocating time for periods of work

Breaking goals down into achievable objectives

Setting goals

Adapted from Laffey et al 1998

At each stage students will engage in a variety of activities. This multifaceted form of learning present opportunities to engage in authentic and meaningful problems and develop a range of skills they can reflect on.

Idea or Question

Plan

Research

Produce Improve Present Evaluate

For many the missing bit of the puzzle is how and where they capture ongoing feedback

and their own reflection of progress

Learning how to reflect on experiences and developing a habit of doing so, can have a profound impact on learning.

But...there is amotivation towards reflection

"Amotivation is the state of lacking the intention to act. When amotivated, people either do not act at all or act

without intent - they just go through the motions." (Ryan and Deci, 2000)

"Amotivation results from not valuing an activity" (Ryan, 1995)

A need to inspire intrinsic motivation

Three psychological needs: competence, autonomy and relatedness - which when satisfied yield self-motivation and mental health and when thwarted lead to diminished motivation and wellbeing (Ryan and Deci 2000)

passive and alienated

proactive and

engaged

Scaffolding Project Based Learning

Three points need to be considered at the start of the project:1. What is reflection2. How to do it3. Where to capture it

Scaffolding

“Scaffolding is any tool, procedure, or aspect of the learning

environment that is specifically engineered to assist learners in performing tasks for which they

would otherwise be unprepared.”Laffey et al 1998

passive and alienated

proactive and

engaged

Relatedness

Go write 500 words and reflect on your learning

No structure

Provide context

Introduce a structure

Encourage multi media formats

OR

After-Action Reviews (AARs)Share ways reflection is used in life outside of university

• Are conducted during or immediately after each event. • Focus on intended training objectives. • Focus on soldier, leader, and unit performance. • Involve all participants in the discussion. • Use open-ended questions. • Are related to specific standards. • Determine strengths and weaknesses. • Link performance to subsequent training.

(Department of the Army, Washington 1993)

Reflective practice in sport"It's very difficult to attempt this immediately after a game. This is the time for the result to sink in and the emotions to sink out, whether positive or negative. A performance, regardless of scoreline, should be appraised in

terms of what was on form and what can be learned."

Scaffolding reflection

Scaffolding reflection

Transitional Scaffolding

“Scaffolds are transitional in two senses: they support a developmental change in the learner; they also change themselves in that as the learner develops a higher level of understanding, earlier scaffolds are no longer necessary and new ones are put in place to move the learner beyond the newly acquired stage of understanding.”

Husbands and Pearce 2012:7

The Digital Support System

Considers support for six areas:• Instructional: 1) scaffolding and 2) coaching

and• Learning: 3) planning and resourcefulness, 4)

knowledge representation, 5) communication and collaboration, and 6) reflection

(Laffey et al 1998:75)

The Digital Support System

Structural supports to assist novice learners in the performance of tasks for which they would otherwise be unpreparedScaffolding

Situated responses to learner task performances which are targeted at bringing learner performance closer to expert performanceCoachingInst

ructi

onal

Adapted from Laffey et al 1998

The Digital Support System

Tools designed to assist learners with the complex demands involved in planning and being resourceful within authentic research projects

Planning and Resourcefulness

Tools designed to assist learners in the framing, representation, and re-representation of their ideas, knowledge, and their development, and in deriving cognitive benefits form the act of representation.

Knowledge Representation

Tools designed to support the exchange and sharing of ideas and results, collaboration between widely distributed participants, feedback, discussion and debate, and the growth of a ‘community’ of learners.

Communication and Collaboration

Tools to support self and communal evaluation of previously completed work, with subsequent cognitive and physical revision, re-framing, and restructuring of ideas, assumptions and representations.

Reflection

Lear

ning

Adapted from Laffey et al 1998

EXPLORE >> video images screen capture audio curation << EXPERIMENT

Public Professional

Portfolio

Capture

Feedback

Reflect

Inquiry

PERSONALisedblog

tutors...peers

employers...public

Providing students opportunities to develop professional digital and social media skills to enhance meaningful engagement with personal and professional development planning through inquiry, feedback and reflection

Sue Beckingham | @suebecks | Sheffield Hallam University

observelisten

interactlearn

digital

cv

blog website

LinkedIn profile

A prior project which identified

the value of a 'digital toolkit'

Personalised toolkit

The digital toolkit and associated guidance are intended to empower the learner/project owner and provide them with

the means to take ownership of their own learning experience through the creation of a personalised toolkit.

“The principal goal of education […] should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done; men and women who are creative, inventive and discoverers, who can be critical and verify, and not accept, everything they are offered.”

Piaget 1988

You don't know what you don't know

Project Based Learning Card Activity

Project Based Learning Card Activity

Project Based Learning Card Activity

Project Based Learning Card Activity

Project Based Learning Card Activity

Project Based Learning Card Activity

Project Based Learning Card Activity

Using a digital toolkit

A primary aim of introducing a digital toolkit (which includes social media and other technology) is to introduce students to a support system that will help them engage in feedback dialogue and the digital recording of active reflection at each stage of the project.

In the context of group projects this may include both personal and shared feedback.

Ongoing reflection and feedbackResearch (Gibbs 1988, Kolb 1984, Schon 1988) has identified that reflecting upon experiences and feedback received, enables students to reconstruct what they have learned, consider the skills they have developed, what they need to improve on, and how they have applied their

learning.

Provides a stimulus to keep the learners in flow (Csikszentmihalyl 2008) through digitised reflective practice, including ongoing feedback that can be re-visited within their chosen spaces.

Ongoing reflection and feedback

Working towards deep reflection

Takes practice and encouragement

The improvisational approachstudents reflecting with peers

https://www.trainingwheelsgear.com/products/debriefing-thumball

Building a confident vocabulary

Reflect on their talents in context:skills, experience, knowledge, responsibilities, achievements, strengths, weaknesses, areas for self-improvement

SHU Graduate Attributes

1. Knowledge ApplicationSheffield Hallam graduates demonstrate high levels of disciplinary, subject or personal knowledge. They are able to understand and apply theoretical concepts to professional and societal contexts. They are capable of understanding and interpreting their research findings with reference to specific published scholarship.

2. Motivation and EngagementSheffield Hallam graduates are self-motivated and will readily engage with learning, and personal and professional development opportunities. They have drive, ambition, and a clear sense of purpose which will enable them to stand out in their chosen career and continuously develop their employability and leadership skills. They are committed to and capable of critical reflection of their own and others' practice, and will use this as a basis for making continuous improvements.

3. Social ResponsibilitySheffield Hallam graduates are socially responsible and behave ethically in social and professional environments. They have the ability to operate openly, sensitively, and effectively in complex and diverse inter-personal and inter-agency environments. They have experience of engaging with local, national and international communities and have an awareness of how to communicate and behave in a global context.

4. Creative and Critical ThinkingSheffield Hallam graduates can think critically and creatively, and are able to formulate solutions to problems through reflection and analysis. They can grasp concepts and use knowledge imaginatively and innovatively to confront challenges and opportunities. They are able to knowledgeably critique established theories and professional practices.

SHU Graduate Attributes

5. Integrity and ProfessionalismSheffield Hallam graduates are confident and display high standards of professionalism and integrity. They are able to meet the expectations of professional, statutory and regulatory bodies and of society in general.

6. Research and EnquirySheffield Hallam graduates are able to make an enquiry based approach to learning and further their knowledge and understanding through research. They are able to generate, apply and disseminate knowledge, critically evaluate existing understanding, and reflect on the limitations of their own knowledge. They have an informed understanding of the principles, methods, standards and boundaries of their discipline and the capacity to contribute to their development.

7. Digital LiteracySheffield Hallam graduates are conversant with and understand the challenges of learning and working in the digital age. They are able to work effectively with a range of technology and social media, and have the capability to develop a confident online presence. They are effective as communicating through a range of media and can access and analyse information in a variety of digital formats.

8. CommunicationSheffield Hallam graduates are proficient communicators, who confidently interact with others in a range of diverse situations. They are able to collaborate effectively, negotiate and agree goals in a variety of contexts and for different purposes.

Empowering students to be prepared for 'The Network Era'

We need to introduce our students to the concept of openness and transparency.

Organisations are increasingly more networked in the sense of how workers create, use and

share knowledge.(Jarche 2014)

Using the 5Cs as a lens

Nerantzi and Beckingham 2015

Edutopia (2001) Seymour Papert: Project-Based Learning

Measuring success…

We should be measuring, of course. But we should be measuring different things. We should be measuring:• the diversity• what kids can do with knowledge, not how many right

answers they can give to questions.(Papert 2001)

SummaryThis moves away from providing a prescriptive approach, and in place:• offers a contextual framework highlighting the variety of affordances social

media can provide and enables a personalised digital toolkit to support project based learning at each stage;

• allows individuals and groups to self-construct digital records of their learning (Papert 1991) within student-centred learning spaces that blend the online with face to face;

• introduces the learner to the concept of openness and transparency (Jarche 2014) and ‘working out loud’ (Stepper 2015);

• provides a stimulus to keep the learners in flow (Csikszentmihalyl 2008) through digitised reflective practice, including ongoing feedback that can be re-visited within their chosen spaces;

• encourages students to develop digital capabilities using their own smart technology (Nerantzi and Beckingham 2015) and graduate attributes (SHU 2016)

References

• Boud, D.; Keogh, R.; Walker, D. (1985), Reflection: turning experience into learning. London: Kogan Page.• Cooperrider, D. L. and Srivastva. (1987) Appreciative Inquiry in Organizational Life. Research in Organizational Change and

Development, Vol. 1, pp 129-169.• Csikszentmihalyl, M. (2008) Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: HarperPerennial ModernClassics.• Husbands, C. and Pearce, J. (2012) What makes great pedagogoy? Nine claims from research. Nationla College for School

Leadership. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/329746/what-makes-great-pedagogy-nine-claims-from-research.pdf

• Jarche, H. (2014) Seeking Perpetual Beta. Online at: http://jarche.com/2014/04/seeking-perpetual-beta/• Laffey, J., Tupper, T., Musser, D. and Wedman, J. (1998) A Computer-Mediated Support System for Project-Based Learning.

Educational Technology Research and Development, 46 (1), pp. 73-86. Online at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/30221051• Nerantzi, C. and Beckingham, S. (2015) BYOD4L: Learning to use own smart devices for learning and teaching through the 5C

framework, in Middleton, A. (ed.) (2015): Smart learning: teaching and learning with smartphones and tablets in post-compulsory education, Sheffield: MELSIG publication, available at http://melsig.shu.ac.uk/?page_id=503

• Papert, S. (1991) Situating Constructionism. In Idit Harel and Seymour Papert (Eds) Constructionism. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation.

• Ryan, R, M. and Deci, E. L. (2000) Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), pp 68-78. http://88.255.97.25/reserve/resspring09/psyc510_NAksan/Mar16th.pdf

• Sheffield Hallam University (2016) Sheffield Hallam University Graduate Attributes in Practice. Online at: https://blogs.shu.ac.uk/graduatecapabilities/files/2016/04/GA-booklet.pdf

• Stepper, J. (2015) Working Out Loud: For a Better Career and Life. New York: Ikigai Press.• Wood, D. J., Bruner, J. S. and Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychiatry and Psychology,

17(2), 89-100.