Personalised Learning Pathways Social computing displays a huge potential
7. Promoting Inclusion and Equity
Table 7-1: Overview of cases selected to examine the potential of Learning 2.0 for supporting inclusion
Name Description
Notschool
Alternative on-line school for drop-outs, including students with phobias. 70% of students from inner city areas with high crime and other social pathologies. Asynchronous learning platform using Firstclass. Constructivist pedagogic model involving researchers-mentors-experts-buddies. Learning materials were collaborative and peer-produced – 150 courses, blending traditional with unconventional learning.
Assistive Technology Wiki
Supports knowledge creation about assistive technologies. Addresses low level of ICT use among disabled people. Uses wiki – free ‘wetpaint’ platform; Moodle for courses and YouTube to compile video database on products; discussion forum to share learning. Adopts a ‘routes of desire’ pedagogic model which aims to direct users to material that is most useful for them. Mundo de
Estrellas
Aimed at young people in hospital; their carers and family – 11,300 young people involved. Integrates formal learning; recreational learning; normalisation of illness through shared stories. Uses interactive games; text; video; interactive forum.
ALPEUNED
Involves 480 students with disabilities from the Spanish Open University. Supports peer counselling, provides a news service, and coordinates user involvement in related research projects. Applies low level Web 2.0 via interactive Forum and peer counselling.
Conecta Joven
Overall, provides e-skills for a wide range of at risk and excluded groups in 23 telecentres in Spain. The Web 2.0 tools are aimed at trainers and motivators who support end users. Incorporates an inter-generational learning model, supporting collaborative content generation and good practice sharing using social networking; ning; blogs and an interactive Forum.
MOSEP
‘More self-esteem with my e-portfolio’ - targets early school leavers by improving the skills and qualifications of their teachers and career counsellors. Integrates Wiki, Moodle, FlashMeeting, blogs, Skype, bookmarking, tagging, RSS feeds, FlickR, SlideShare. Pedagogic approach involves tutors as ‘learning companions’ to support self-organised and self- directed learning for end users.
Schome Park
Initially aimed at ‘gifted’ students who were underperforming in school – including students with autism. Another target group was the National Association for Gifted and Talented Youth’s GOAL cohort – students from socially disadvantaged or ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently underrepresented in higher education. Explores the potential and pitfalls of ‘Teenage Second Life’ as a learning platform. Uses an ‘open pedagogy’ model based on collaborative learning, incorporating Second Life; Machinima; blogs; wikis.
BREAKOUT
Initiative for offending and drug use prevention, including young people ‘at risk’ of offending in schools. Uses a blended e-learning approach, incorporating Web 2.0 with drama and video workshops. Involves a ‘life-swapping’ model based on promoting ‘empathy’, with links to San Quentin prison ‘Death Row’. Integrates traditional text-based courses with podcasts; blogs; interactive forum; social bookmarking.
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groups, i.e. learners with special needs (7.2), hospitalised children (7.3), disengaged teenagers (7.4), socio-economically excluded individuals (7.5), and immigrants and ethnic minorities (7.6). The final section summarises the preliminary findings derived from the in-depth case studies.
7.1. Good Practices for Promoting
Inclusion with Learning 2.0
As part of this study, a set of eight cases were studied to analyse the use of Learning 2.0 approaches and tools to support social inclusion. Table 7-1 provides a brief summary of the main features of these cases.
7.1.1. Case Characteristics
The cases represent a broad spectrum of target users, technical platforms and Web 2.0 configurations, learning and inclusion settings and scenarios and objectives. While the cases involve different user groups – encompassing older people, young people who are ‘hard to reach’, ethnic minorities, unemployed and people from deprived social backgrounds – two target groups stand out. These are, firstly, young people, who were involved
in six of the eight cases analysed, and people with disabilities or medical conditions, targeted in four of the eight cases. As Table 0-9 shows, a wide range of excluded groups are involved – including young people in hospitals with chronic and long term illnesses; people with disabilities; young people at risk of offending; school ‘drop outs’ and early school leavers; unemployed; ethnic minorities; older people.
Across all cases, the specific needs of the target groups studied revolved around gaining access to learning opportunities. Thus, a common objective across all cases studied is to facilitate the physical accessibility to learning opportunities, increase engagement in learning opportunities and promote social inclusion. The general focus on supporting participation in learning (Notschool, Schome, ALPEUNED, Mundo de Estrellas) and on addressing issues around low ICT use (Conecta Joven, MOSEP, AT Wiki) highlight the extent to which social inclusion is currently being linked, on the one hand, to engaging the ‘hard to reach’ in learning, and, on the other, to promoting digital literacy.
Concerning the learning objectives, there is a significant variability across the cases in terms of
Table 7-2: Target groups
Target Group Notschool ATW Mundo ALPE Conecta MOSEP Schome Breakout
Young People X X X X X X Unemployed X Disabled/Chronically Ill X X X X Ethnic Groups X X X Older People X X Poor, Homeless X
Table 7-3: Inclusion Objectives
Inclusion Objective Notschool ATW Mundo ALPE Conecta MOSEP Schome Breakout
Educational Re-insertion X X X X
Supporting Disability X X X
Digital Literacy X X
Overcoming Low ICT Use X X X
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objectives, with the exception of promoting learning accessibility which is a common theme addressed by six of the eight cases. All of the cases encompass at least two learning objectives, with Notschool, Assistive Technology Wiki and BREAKOUT addressing a range of objectives embracing accessibility, promoting new forms of learning, increasing motivation for learning, supporting user collaboration and promoting social engagement.
The cases illustrate that currently a wide range of social computing tools are being used to support inclusion, including social networking tools, from wikis, blogs and podcasts to virtual environments (Second Life), media sharing (mainly
YouTube) and syndication tools (RSS feeds). The two groups of tools most frequently used are social networking and on-line office tools, mainly interactive Discussion Forums. However, all cases involve combinations of different Web 2.0 tools. The cases reflect both relatively ‘low tech’ technical solutions, based primarily on discussion platforms, but also involve sophisticated technical platforms, such as immersive technologies and games in combination with tools like podcasts, blogs and social networking. There is strong evidence of positive outcomes, for both learning and inclusion, associated with the use of Learning 2.0. These outcomes are, however, independent of the level of sophistication of the tools employed.
Table 7-4: Learning Objectives
Learning Objectives Notschool ATW Mundo ALPE Conecta MOSEP Schome Breakkout
Access X X X X X X Computer skills X X New learning X X X Self-directed learning X X increase motivation X X X X Personalisation X Improve results X X Management X Collaboration X X X X
Connect with society X X X X
Table 7-5: Technical Platforms and Tools
Technical Platform Notschool ATW Mundo ALPE Conecta MOSEP Schome Breakout
Wiki X X X Blog X X X X X Social Networking X X X X X X X X Podcasts X X Online office/Forum X X X X X X Social Bookmarking X
Personal Learning Environment X X X X
Virtual environment X X VideoConferencing X Co-authoring X X E-Portfolios X Media sharing X X X X X Moodle X X Syndication X
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Two learning themes are common across all cases: supporting, creating and sharing knowledge and promoting collaboration and interaction. A common objective across all cases is to promote accessibility to learning.
Innovative learning approaches using Web 2.0 are being promoted across different educational institutional settings, including formal (ALPEUNED, BREAKOUT), informal (AT Wiki, Conecta Joven) settings as well as initiatives which bring a virtual ‘non-formal’ institutional paradigm to what are essentially closed educational settings (Schome, Notschool, Mundo de Estrellas, MOSEP).
Drawing together the characteristics of the cases analysed, three types or clusters of Learning 2.0 for inclusion can be identified: (1) School students in re-engagement in learning using open pedagogy methods to support new forms of
learning and collaborative co-production of learning content; (2) Adult users promoting a ‘community of interests’ through supporting digital literacy, collaborating and interacting and providing information mainly through Interactive Forums and Wikis; (3) Closed settings – e.g. hospitals, universities – involving social networking to support collaboration and interaction and to promote new forms of