schoooools.com: a social and collaborative learning ...

SCHOOOOOLS.COM: A SOCIAL AND COLLABORATIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR K-6 J. Simões1, A. Aguiar2 1

2

Instituto Superior Politécnico Gaya (PORTUGAL) Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto (PORTUGAL) [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract Children and teens today grow up immersed in a myriad of digital devices, thinking and processing information in a radically different way from their predecessors. These kids usually prefer hypermedia information, learning by self-discovery, or by playing, in teams, are good at multitasking, better in digital literacy than in textual literacy, tend to be always connected, enjoy social interaction, diversity and sharing. As a result of all of this, young “digital natives” need new ways of learning that are more interactive, participative and individualized, capable of supporting the co-creation, collaboration, and sharing of a variety of contents, combining traditional and new digital media. To be successful, the teaching strategies, the learning contexts, and the learning spaces must accommodate these children’s needs and habits, harmoniously combining technology and pedagogy, as earliest as possible. With the advent of Web 2.0, the way people collaborate in the creation and sharing of their own contents improved considerably, enabling everyone to be active producers and consumers at the same time, and helping them to self-organize in networks and virtual communities. It is now easy to create collaborative spaces for teachers and students to adopt a partnering pedagogy, more social and informal, but also more personal. Personal Learning Environments (PLE) combine tools that help learners to set their own learning goals, manage their learning contents and process, to communicate with others, allowing a bidirectional flow of information between teachers and students, at a degree not possible before by traditional Learning Management Systems (LMS). In this work, we present schoooools.com (a.k.a in Portugal as escolinhas.pt), a new collaborative and social learning environment, developed and validated in several Portuguese schools, following an action-research method. Schoooools.com is being developed to be a very simple personal learning environment targeted to schools and students from 6 up to 12 years old (K-6). It follows a wiki-way philosophy for the cocreation of contents. It combines the best features of Web 2.0 relevant for schools, simplified and integrated in a single platform: easy-to-use content editors, wikis, blogs, private social networks, image galleries, calendars, private messages, chat, shared files, micro-blogging, integration with traditional LMS (ex: Moodle), integration with contents from publishers or other types of providers. It was designed with three principles in mind: educational, by providing collaborative web spaces to use in classroom, at home, everywhere, for educational purposes; entertainment, by providing appealing spaces and features to use also in leisure time, to learn by playing, chatting; social, by providing an engaging space to promote the communication and socialization within the respective private social networks. As in real life, students, parents and teachers have different features and responsibilities in the school, but they all may communicate and collaborate between them, with privacy rules similar to the real school and its respective community. Simply and naturally, the platform promotes a gradual adoption of the best practices on using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for educational purposes: in classroom or extracurricular contexts, inside or outside schools. Keywords: Learning environments, elementary schools, e-learning, Web 2.0, personal learning environments.

1

INTRODUCTION

The latest generations of children, commonly known as "Net Generation", "Generation Y" or "Digital Natives" ([1]; [2]) grew up in a world immersed in digital technology and have developed habits and skills in acquiring and processing information radically different from their predecessors. These digital natives are characterized by a high ability to multitask, they prefer to access information in an interactive and non-linear way and have a high media exposure time with a very significant weight in their everyday life [3]. For these students, the typical technological equipping of the classroom still contrasts with the panoply of digital technology they have access in their day-to-day. In order to reduce the technological distance from school to the rest of the world, the teaching strategies to ensure school success must necessarily adapt to these new habits and needs [4], and in our opinion, early on, in elementary school. In this work, we assume that the new media and digital technology should not be seen as a threat to the learning process, competing for time and attention of young people today. They should rather be seen as an excellent opportunity to bring the school to the reality of today's world, developing their creative skills, motivating and helping them to learn in ways which are necessarily different, but synergistic and complementary to more traditional teaching. Creativity and innovation, collaborative work, group learning and networking, driven by strong social component of new applications and services currently available on the Internet, may have an important role in how students are motivated to learn, and therefore how they retain knowledge. All of this can promote the creation of new spaces and tools for teaching and learning, combining technology and pedagogy in a harmonious and balanced way. However, the relationship between technology and pedagogy is not always as simple as one could think. Technology is not neutral, influencing teaching in various and complex ways and therefore requiring a constant work in experimentation, observation and adaptation. In addition, the familiarity of digital natives with technology creates challenges for all who were not born in a digital world, in particular, many of their educators, parents and teachers, commonly dubbed as digital immigrants [2]. Differences in language and habits between generations and sequential and non interactive ways of learning can discourage this type of students, and thus may reduce their attention and retention of knowledge. In this new technological reality, regardless of the willingness of educators, it is unlikely and perhaps impossible, that the digital natives are able to convert to the past, so the only solution is to support teachers to adapt to new realities. The major changes will need to focus primarily on: (1) adopt new ways to communicate, less linear, more immediate, more interactive, more participatory, (2) and to use a variety of content, which necessarily have to combine the more traditional contents with others supported by new digital media: video, Internet, social networks, interactive games, etc. From the standpoint of usability and accessibility, collaborative and social applications now widely available, commonly known as part of Web 2.0 or Social Web (e.g. wikis, blogs, social networking, resource sharing, etc), greatly facilitate these changes, in result of its fast evolution. The best technology today enables everyone, regardless of age and past experience, to a much easier adoption of these applications than would be imaginable a few years ago, creating a unique opportunity. Inspired by the needs and opportunities set out above, the authors' view is that the use of learning environments simple and rooted in schools and their communities is critical early on in basic education. It synergistically combine the best of Web 2.0 with good teaching practices. These new learning environments allow students to develop their capacities for innovation, creativity, collaboration and socializing. At the same time, it allows the development of a digital knowledge in a broad educational community, often reducing the barrier between formal education and, the no less important, informal education. In this paper, after a brief summary of the main characteristics of digital natives and their technology requirements, we define a vision for a new type of learning environment specifically geared towards digital natives currently in elementary school. In the end, it presents a current example of achieving this vision - the collaborative and social platform - escolinhas.pt - available to all Portuguese schools through a free version. The platform escolinhas.pt was especially designed for children between 6 and 12 years. It has as main objectives to explore and validate the vision set out earlier and as a

complementary tool to all the technology available today in schools, from digital content publishing to personal computers and networking equipment. The development and validation of the platform followed an action research approach.

2

CHALLENGES IN THE TEACHING OF DIGITAL NATIVES

The rapid evolution and spread of digital technology is a historical singularity that underlies the radical transformation of our society. Increasingly accessible and present in day-to-day, the degree of dependence on technology for many human activities in developed societies is far too high. This collides with the reality of the classroom where the technology gap with the outside world has become ever larger, making it an old-fashioned place for a student used to living with technology.

2.1

Teaching with Technology

The classroom is perhaps one of the areas of human activity that has less changed over time. The model consists of a teacher, a student group and a board in which the teacher is the holder of the knowledge being conveyed to the students. Little has changed since the dawn of civilizations. The board has probably been the component of the model which evolved more, from the simple writing with a stick on the floor to the current interactive boards. But the model itself has suffered few significant changes. In fact, paradoxically for educators, the most significant changes in education have come from many different origins, but not from the schools themselves [5]. The current concern of teachers at all levels of education with Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and the recognition of its importance in schools is well known. But the various initiatives to promote its use have not been sufficient and there is still much to do to achieve effective implementation in schools.

2.2

High Exposure to New Media

The official statistics quoted in the final report of the EU Kids Online project [6] indicate that in 2008, 75% of children in European Union (EU) countries, between 6 and 17 were Internet users. The growth in number of users has been recorded mainly between the ages of 6 and 10 (60% of users in 2008). According to the same statistics, in 2008, there was a similarity between the number of parents and the number of children who use the Internet, unlike what happened before (in 2008, 85% of parents of children between 6 and 17 years old had already used the Internet). The reality of the United States of America is not very different. A study published in January 2010, M2 Generation: Media in the Lives of 8 to 18 Year-Olds [3] reveals what was the media exposure of the country's population aged between 8 and 18 years old (the Information is collected on 2009). One result of this study points to an exposure of more than 7.5 hours daily (7 days a week) to different media (television, music and audio, computer, electronic games, films and printed documents). Multitasking capabilities of young people with the simultaneous use of more than one media at the same time increases the daily exposure to an average of 10 hours and 45 minutes. The study highlights the significant increase in the use of computers and mobile equipment (66% own a mobile phone). 85% of the target population access the Internet from home, consisting largely of broadband access. Computer and Internet activities with a higher percentage of use are access to social networks like Facebook and MySpace and watching videos on sites like YouTube. According to the EU Kids Online report, parents are significantly concerned with the risks incurred by children and adolescents when using the Internet, although this concern varies from country to country. Portugal is classified as a medium risk country and with also an average Internet use by children. The report recommends the research regarding the risks faced by young children and ways to address those risks. About these risks and how to tackle them, Nancy Willard says "Trying to prepare students for their future and teach them about Internet safety in schools without Web 2.0 is like trying to teach a child to swim without a swimming pool!" [7].

2.3

Digital Natives Main Characteristics

Children and adolescents in the studies mentioned above, dubbed digital natives ([1]; [2]; [8]), are different from their predecessors. Growing up under the influence of ICT and closely acquainted with the new digital media (computers, internet, games, video) they think and act differently, especially in how they handle information.

Oblinger [9] highlights several digital natives characteristics relevant to consider prior to the adoption of teaching methods for their education. So, they •

prefer to process information in a nonlinear way (hypermedia);

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are good in visual communication, retaining pictures and video better than text;

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have good capacity for visual-spatial analysis, switching rapidly between virtual and real;

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prefer to learn by discovering and doing rather than being taught;

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have an excellent ability to context switch;

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have greater ability for digital literacy than for textual literacy;

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are almost always connected via mobile phone or computer;

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have a fast response time, enhancing speed rather than accuracy;

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privilege social interaction, being very inclusive and open to diversity, differences and sharing;

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prefer to learn and work in groups;

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seek to learn in an interactive and participatory way, with fast exchange of information, loosing attention span when they are called to reflect, rather than making;

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prefer to work more on real things that really matter, than just simply things that are relevant.

Digital natives grow up having as native "language" the language of digital information and communication technologies. In contrast, previous generations, where there are still many of their teachers, are digital immigrants. They can learn the new digital "language" but it will never be their native "language". Therefore, they will always speak the digital "language" with an accent. From this metaphorical view of the digital divide between generations, Prensky [2] advocates the need for radical adaptation of teaching methods to this reality where coexist the students, the digital natives and their teachers, the digital immigrants. The characteristics of digital natives and their comparison with the characteristics of digital immigrants are also discussed in [10]. Apart those who stand for the existence of this new generation of learners, others argue for more empirical evidence to support the need to adapt education systems to digital natives. As an example, Maton and Bennett [11] criticize the existence of a digital generation, distinct from previous ones, requiring new teaching methods. Advocating the need for further studies, they argue that the use of digital technologies and the skills revealed by individuals of the current generation of students is not uniform. While defending the need for further research in this field, they recognize that we live in a world heavily influenced by technology with a massive use by the younger generation. The statistics and studies mentioned in the previous section also confirm these facts.

3

LEARNING IN THE WEB 2.0 ERA

The use of ICT, particularly the Internet, in distance learning systems has resulted in what is now referred to as e-learning (electronic learning). The application of the term depends on the organization using it, the means and technologies involved but, essentially, it has been designating learning systems that use electronic means without contact and physical proximity between teachers and students. The concept has evolved, moving away from the simple connotation with distance education to designate the use of various technological tools in education, in particular those related to ICT. Whether as an aid to teaching in a traditional classroom, either in distance learning systems, or also in mixed scenarios (blended learning), e-learning is now inseparable from teaching. The EU defines elearning as "the use of new multimedia technologies and the Internet to improve the quality of learning 1 by facilitating access to resources and services as well as remote exchanges and collaboration." ICT use suffer a new impact in the middle of the first decade of this century. New applications and a more active participation of users gave rise to the Web 2.0. The Web 2.0 can be defined [13] as “the network as platform, spanning all connected devices. Web 2.0 applications are those that make the most of the intrinsic advantages of that platform: delivering software as a continually-updated service that gets better the more people use it, consuming and remixing data from multiple sources, including 1

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/2005/all_about/elearning/index_en.htm

individual users, while providing their own data and services in a form that allows remixing by others, creating network effects through an "architecture of participation” (…)". The advent of Web 2.0 applications has brought a new way to view and use ICT. Web 2.0 has enabled users to easily share contents and collaborate in its creation (becoming producers), whereas previously users (consumers) were limited to passive viewing of content created by others. The most popular examples of Web 2.0 applications are wikis, blogs, social networks, content sharing sites (videos, music) and collaborative filtering. By enabling the active involvement of users in producing and sharing their own content, the Web has quickly become an open space for collaboration and socialization among users who are able to self-organize into networks and virtual communities. The new trends posed by Web 2.0 have effects on all areas where ICT are present. The areas of education and training, and e-learning in particular, were no exception. This paradigm shift of the Web gave rise to the concept of e-learning 2.0 [8], resulting primarily from social changes rather than technological. The integration of Web 2.0 functionalities and applications in various e-learning systems allows the creation of online spaces that support better collaboration between students and teachers in a philosophy of pedagogical partnership and networked learning. The process of learning become more informal with a stronger social component. In this context, Personal Learning Environments (PLE) assume particular importance [12]. Despite its remarkable evolution, traditional e-learning systems, based on Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Moodle, Sakai or Dokeos, do not respond in a fully satisfactory fashion to the current situation, in which: •

There is no shortage of content available (on the contrary).

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The control of knowledge can not be focused only on teachers, their institutions and courses.

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There is a high connectivity, at high speed and low cost, with interoperability among a wide variety of proprietary and open systems (laptops, mobile phones, tablets, etc).

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There is a strong need for connectivity, socialization and collaboration among people through social networks, blogs, wikis and other Web 2.0 applications.

Since the LMS were not initially designed to be used by children and young people, particularly in their first years of education, these systems are usually less intuitive, with low usability and with workflows that are not adapted to young users. Therefore, they require more specific training than would be desirable in the current technological environment of today’s world. Consequently, this misfit to technological reality, implies that the adoption of these platforms in the communities of elementary schools is usually much more difficult than would be expected by digital native students and teachers with good computer skills. Thus, specifically for the educational context of basic education, is the authors' opinion that there is a strong need for developing and providing new learning environments, simple, easy to use, safe and designed specifically for the first years of basic education. Combining the best of technology and learning and Web 2.0 tools, these learning environments must be able to help prepare for the future of new generations of students in their education, literacy, career, civic responsibility and personal life. The combined support of their families, educators and teachers is essential to encourage, guide and ensure the accuracy and quality required in the learning process.

4

NEW COLLABORATIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

The features that must be present in PLE are discussed long ago ([12]; [14]; [15]). In the case of basic education it is considered in this paper that a learning environment for this level must meet the following guiding principles: •

Co-creativity;

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Search functionalities, creation, communication and collaboration;

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Use of technology to support pedagogy;

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Learning in network.

Above all, simplicity, usability, privacy and security must be top concerns in the design of collaborative learning environments for children and teens.

4.1

Co-creativity

Co-creativity is a form of creation that involves more than one person. In a learning environment, users can gather, interacting with one another, sharing ideas, knowledge and experiences affecting the insight and ideas of both the grupo and individuals in the group. Collaborative creation, sharing, network learning, informal learning, electronic communication (like mail or chat) as well as research, critical analysis, composition and processing of information can all contribute to the co-creation of new contents. The skills for co-creation must be developed at an early age and technology give adequate tools for digital natives.

4.2

Search functionalities, creation, communication and collaboration

The search for information, the creation of new contents, communication and collaboration tools are, in the authors’ view, the main features of a learning environment for basic education. It must include tools for working with text, drawings, photos, videos or maps. Other Web 2.0 typical tools like blogs (school and class blogs; personal blogs), wikis or social networks must also be a part of the learning environment’s set of features. Users should be able to develop a personal profile and maintain and share their digital portfolios. Communication with teachers, parents, friends and other students through chats, mail and instant messaging is also an important feature to engage students in the school community. Students should be allowed to play in the enviroment so it must include ludic activities like educational games. Tools for communicate with colleagues, parents and students should be available for teachers. They may browse their students’s portfolio and share knowledge and experiences with other teachers. Defining assignments and projects, reviewing and evaluating the student’s work are other activities that teachers should do in the learning environment. Parents should be able to browse their children’s portfolio and communicate with them and with their teachers. The environment must allow parents to supervise and monitor their children’s activities controlling their actions.

4.3

Use of technology to support pedagogy

The use of learning environments simple and intuitive, harmoniously combining Web 2.0 technology and pedagogy, enables children to develop early, and in a controlled and secure environment, important digital literacy skills, innovation and creativity. In addition, the growing awareness for the adoption of best practices (privacy, security, ethics, moderate use, copyright, etc) associated with the use of Internet and social networks can also be promoted with such environments. Regardless of the means and resources that are available to schools, a quality education is only possible with competent, scientifically well-prepared, teachers, motivated students and a society that promotes the acquisition of knowledge and skills as one of its fundamental values. Web 2.0 shows the importance of people and their interactions. More than a technological revolution it was a social revolution [8]. However, according to Siemens [16], the technology is not neutral. Tools shape the vision that individuals have of the world and influence their actions. The educational models should therefore reflect this reality, considering where the technology contributes with the supporting tools for pedagogy. Learning theories must be adapted to the digital age taking into account the effects of using technology [17].

4.4

Learning in network

Web 2.0 can be viewed as a platform that provides services to communities of users. These communities are made of people who share information and experiences, interact collaboratively, for recreational, professional and personal enrichment. The information increases its value through the sharing and contribution of several users. This active use contributes to the development of a collective intelligence, creating network effects through the "architecture of participation" mentioned by O'Reilly [13]. The Web 2.0 brought new ways of using ICT. This already have effects in education and will contribute to what schools may be in the future [7]. The school will be less and less confined to the

physical space of the classroom but, instead or in parallel, will be a virtual, ubiquitous space accessible by different means and equipments. The time in which learning occurs will no longer be limited to the class timetable requiring simultaneously the physical presence of teachers and students. The learning will occur much more in network, resulting from interactions between students, teachers and experts in the several fields of study [18]. The teacher will not only be the entity that has the knowledge, controlling its transmission, to be a counsellor, a mediator, a facilitator and a motivator of learning. The learning will be much more collaborative, social, and often among peers. A learning environment must also suit the needs of each individual user [15].

5 5.1

SCHOOOOOLS.COM: FROM A VISION TO A PRODUCT Project Goals

Given the needs and characteristics of digital natives, identified above, and in the absence of platforms especially dedicated to users of basic education in Portugal, Project schoooools.com (a.k.a in Portugal as escolinhas.pt) was launched as a collaborative and social learning environment (Fig. 1). This project, owned by a recent startup company (Tecla Colorida, Software Educativo, Lda), a spin-off from Oporto University, is focused on the development of new learning environments for digital natives and their own real social networks.

Figure 1 - Schoooools.com Platform. The fundamental goal of the project is to empower children, preteens, parents, and educators to really and effectively benefit from the enormous educational potential of today’s web technology, which unfortunately has been mostly thought and designed for adults, unbelievably forgetting children’s own needs for controlled environments, anchored in their daily life. These environments must be simple to use, educational, fun, engaging, and seamlessly ensuring safety, privacy, and self-regulation. With this goal in mind, the company has been developing and disseminating, since 2009, a simple and intuitive collaborative and social platform that satisfies the growing needs of children and preteens for new ways of learning, supporting: more interactivity, social learning, informal learning, learning with games, co-creation of new digital media (from online newspapers to web radio and web TV), end-user participation, and personalization. The adoption of collaborative and social environments by schools’ communities also helps to reduce the divide between formal learning, at school, and informal learning, typically after school, although no less important.

5.2

Development of a Product

After an experimental phase with 54 schools and 18.000 users from the city of Porto, in Portugal, the platform was made nationally available as a service at escolinhas.pt, since September, 2009. The service is possible to license to end-users (students, families, teachers) and institutions (classes, schools, districts, municipalities), following an attractive freemium model, with about 240 elementary schools registered (K-6) in January 2011. Due to its social impact, the project has gained also important partnerships, ranging from institutions (e.g. Oporto University, Minho University, ADDICT) to national and multinational companies (e.g. SAPO kids, RTP - Portuguese public television, Microsoft). The platform of escolinhas.pt provides official web spaces for schools’ communities (K-6) to interact and cooperate (Fig. 2). It is possible to read, write, paint, draw, play, co-create new digital media (newspapers, radio, TV), communicate, collaborate, share and socialize with colleagues, friends, parents, and educators, all of this integrated in a single environment, designed to be very intuitive, simple to learn (in minutes), engaging and funny, with privacy rules similar to the real school and its respective community.

Figure 2 - Escolinhas.pt: Internal, Personal, Collaborative and Social Spaces. Escolinhas.pt follows a wiki-way philosophy and was especially designed and integrated for safety, privacy, simplicity and usability compatible for 6-12 years old kids, their educators and schools. Configurability and adaptability to real world contexts (schools, clubs, groups, communities) of the platform are additional product advantages. The platform is intended to provide children an effective, adapted, and easy introduction to the information and communication technologies naturally integrated with their schools programs. It also aims to bridge the gap between everyone involved in children education. Tools are provided so that parents can easily interact with their children teachers while observing their children’s work, getting the school closer to the outside world. It is also possible to publish contents to traditional LMS, like Moodle, without leaving the platform.

5.3

Future Objectives

In order to leverage all the experience gained with the Portuguese users and schools, and to explore the global market needs for simple and lean solutions especially designed for children educational environments, the platform is planned to be released and disseminated soon in an international version, to be available at schoooools.com (actually, schoo..ools.com, with four or more o’s). North America, South America and Scandinavia are the main targets, mainly due to the importance devoted to children’s education in these regions. Although initially targeted for schools, the educational potential of the underlying web platform goes well beyond the education market and schools’ communities. It successfully addresses also sports, music, media, entertainment, and other kinds of children’s communities. In addition, since the platform is envisioned as a PLE, with the key differentiator of being designed to fully support the wiki-way

philosophy for content creation and sharing of multimedia contents, it is complementary to traditional LMS. Thus, it may be useful to other communities interested on supporting social and informal learning, such as professional and organizational learning contexts.

6

CONCLUSIONS

Children and teens today grow up immersed in many new digital devices, and as a result they think and process information in a radically different way from their predecessors. These “digital natives” need new ways of learning, more interactive, participative and individualized, that may help the creation, collaboration and sharing of knowledge with their peers, teachers, parents and school communities. Communication networks, particularly the Internet, contribute significantly to the tools available to the school. The evolution of the Internet, the emergence of the World Wide Web and, more recently, the paradigm of Web 2.0, had a particular impact in society. This effect also affected the way people teach and learn. Teachers and educators today recognize, in increasing numbers, the importance of technology in teaching. Familiarity with technology is not restricted, however, only to these digital natives. The generation of their parents, which include their teachers and educators, and even the generation before that, although being digital immigrants, have been regularly in contact with technology in a world where access to information is permanent. This was the context for the development of schoooools.com. This platform, which includes the features present in Web 2.0 social software, has the distinction of having been developed exclusively for its target audience (children from 6 to 12 years). Aspects of usability, simplicity and feature development had this audience in mind. These features are not present in the traditional LMS, targeted to a more mature audience. Moreover, Web 2.0 social software (e.g. Facebook) was not designed to teach or to be used by children. Issues of security and data privacy are particularly sensitive. The platform represents a suitable and safe environment that includes the social tools of Web 2.0 with the appropriate adaptations regarding its users. The physical, real, school, has a key role in the use of the platform, contributing to a safe and controlled use of the available tools and its contents. Parents also have the opportunity to participate actively. In the authors’ opinion, the project schoooools.com is a good example of a platform that follows the general principles of a learning environment for basic education. The platform features allow the cocreativity, search functionalities, creation, communication and collaboration. The technology is used as a support to school activities allowing networked learning. All elements of the school community are involved aiming to reduce the digital divide between generations. The platform also promotes both formal and informal learning.

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