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PREFACE
Guglielmo Trentin & Manuela Repetto,
Using Network and Mobile Technology to
Bridge Formal and Informal Learning, Chandos Publishing, 2013
Speaking about the integration of communication technology into teaching and
learning processes we cannot ignore the wide and indeed ever-widening gap that divides
the students’ personal/daily use of web 2.0 and mobile technology and the way schools
propose them for educational activities: on the one hand, there are the newest generation
of students (sometimes called “digital natives”) with their innate capacity for mastering
technologies, using them for both social and learning purposes, albeit with little or no
method; on the other hand, there are the teachers (“digital migrants”) who, while making
admirable attempts to innovate their teaching, tend to propose an educational use of 2.0
resources based on conventional methods and practices of study, anchored to old
teaching schemes. It would instead be necessary to conceive and introduce new
methodologies inspired by the so-called e-pedagogy, which are able to fully exploit the
potential of network technologies both for social interaction and for accessing
information.
e-Pedagogy presents an innovative approach to teaching/learning processes,
characterised by informal processes (among both students and teachers) aimed to answer
specific, localised knowledge needs, in which serendipity is often synonymous of
incidental learning.
But since this type of learning is not planned by either student or teacher, the problem
of its connection to formal learning paths arises. In this sense we need to understand
how much of this “activism”, which is frequently immediate and instinctive and
expresses itself through videos on YouTube and posts and links on social networks,
might be transferred to formal learning contexts and adapted to formal curricula.
In other words, it is worth considering how the uses of network and mobile technology
(NMT) which have been autonomously acquired by students and teachers outside the
school context could be channelled towards new educational paradigms which combine
formal and informal learning processes centred on accessing information and social
interaction.
With this in mind, the aim of the book is to analyse and discuss: a) the conditions that
should ensure real sustainability in the integration of informal and formal/institutional
learning dimensions; (b) the potentialities offered by NMT exploitable in favour of such
integration.
The book is divided into 8 chapters, each of which offers a complementary point of
view on how NMTs can help to bridge the gap between formal and informal learning.
In Chapter 1, Cathy Tran, Mark Warschauer and AnneMarie Conley demonstrate how
educators are looking for ways to tap the educational potential of mobile technology as
it becomes increasingly prevalent. The chapter argues that one of the biggest strengths
of handheld mobile devices is their potential for increasing learning motivation.
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Elements such as their small size, geolocation awareness, instant information access,
and tactile features all contribute to a portable and personal experience that can motivate
learners.
The theme of motivation is also addressed by John Cook, Norbert Pachler and Ben
Bachmair, who in Chapter 2 point out the potential of the social media and personally-
owned mobile devices for bridging the gap between media use in everyday life and the
requirements of school and higher education. The chapter offers a wide perspective over
access to ‘cultural resources’ facilitated by digital media (e.g. learning resources, health
information, cultural events, employment opportunities, etc.). The purpose of the
chapter is to reclaim the notion of ‘cultural resources’ for the educational environment
since it seems relevant to discussions about social mobility and fairness of access.
In Chapter 3 Thomas Cochrane and Roger Bateman present a mobile web 2.0
framework for pedagogical change, based upon the implementation of over thirty mobile
learning (mlearning) projects between 2006 and 2011. The projects utilised mobile
devices for student-generated content and for enabling student-generated learning
contexts. The framework is based on contemporary social learning theory and illustrates
the potential of mobile web 2.0 tools to bridge the gap between formal and informal
pedagogically-designed learning contexts and to cross international boundaries.
In Chapter 4, Julie Willems and Debra Bateman discuss the use of Facebook in higher
education. Using a knowledge-sharing framework created by the intersection of two
continua (formal and informal learning opportunities; and student-directed and teacher-
centred learning), and an exemplary Facebook case study for each of the four quadrants
of the framework, the chapter explores institutional (or teacher)-driven informal
teaching and learning; student (or member)-driven informal teaching and learning;
student (or member)-driven formal learning; and institutional (or teacher)-driven formal
learning.
Also in the school context there is a strong need to understand how digital media can
best be exploited to innovate teaching, making it correspond more closely to students’
communicative habits. However, many studies demonstrate how current school
organisation still constitutes a barrier for any development related to the integrated use
of digital media. The interconnections and networking between these two life-worlds
experienced by young people present a challenge to researchers. To investigate such
networking, Solveig Roth and Ola Erstad have used a learning ecology methodology to
identify those explicit physical or virtual contexts that can provide opportunities for
learning in everyday learning life. In Chapter 5, the two authors describe their
methodology, pointing out how interest-driven learning, based on out-of-school digital
practices, enables students to use research-based methods for methodological reasoning
and structured problem-solving and to draw on interests and expertise from different
contexts.
To achieve these aims two conditions are required: (a) an organisational development
of the school institution to foster didactic innovation in which NMT use is the normal
condition, just as use of the traditional blackboard, paper and pen used for a long time to
be the normal condition; (b) a process of continual professional development of teachers
which is no longer (or not only) based on formal training so much as on informal
learning processes specifically centred on NMT use.
In Chapter 6, Guglielmo Trentin discusses the complementary nature of these two
conditions. Organisational development aimed at pedagogical innovation cannot work
without adequate corresponding professional development of teachers. Viceversa,
professional development of teachers without any guarantee of the institutional
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conditions for putting a real pedagogical renewal into practice would end up by
hindering any large-scale diffusion of such a renewal.
In order to act on both these conditions we must be aware of the rapid changes in
everyday learning life and consequently of how the figure of the “e-teacher” should be
“modelled” to produce someone who is able to use NMTs both for their students’
learning and for their own continuous professional development.
An example of the use of network technologies for teachers’ continuous professional
development is the central focus of Chapter 7, where Manuela Repetto presents the
ALADIN project, pointing out the informal approach adopted (based on action
research), the results achieved and the critical factors which would help or hinder such
an initiative in becoming a continuous education practice in teacher professional
development.
In the final chapter (Chapter 8), Cathleen A. Norris and Elliot Soloway make some
conclusive reflections on the central theme of the book, focussing on the concept that
NMTs might be the ideal tool for a true pedagogical innovation based on learn-by-
doing. The authors look to the future and declare their conviction that with NMTs the
opportunity to change education is literally "at hand"!
We wish to thank all the authors who have contributed with their precious scientific
knowledge and experience to the writing of this book, which is addressed to all those
who like us desire to constantly increase their understanding of the best educational use
of NMTs for integrating formal and informal learning.
