Learning in the wild: coding for learning and practice on Reddit

Learning on and through social media is becoming a cornerstone of lifelong learning, creating places not only for accessing information, but also for finding other self-motivated learners. Such is the case for Reddit, the online news sharing site that is also a forum for asking and answering questions. We studied learning practices found in ‘Ask’ subreddits AskScience, Ask_Politics, AskAcademia, and AskHistorians to develop a coding schema for informal learning. This paper describes the process of evaluating and defining a workable coding schema, one that started with attention to learning processes associated with discourse, exploratory talk, and conversational dialogue, and ended with including norms and practices on Reddit and the support of communities of inquiry. Our ‘learning in the wild’ coding schema contributes a content analysis schema for learning through social media, and an understanding of how knowledge, ideas, and resources are shared in open, online learning forums.     

Teachers on Reddit? Exploring contributions and interactions in four teaching-related subreddits

Abstract

The website Reddit has received scant attention from educational researchers despite the presence of numerous teaching-related subreddits that host thousands of threaded conversations. The purpose of this study was to provide an initial comparison of discussions occurring in several different affinity spaces on Reddit. Because of the lack of relevant prior research, there was no baseline for what to expect in Reddit discussions, so all posts and responses in four different teaching-related subreddits over the course of a full year were analyzed to answer three research questions: How much did individuals contribute to different subreddits? What content interactions occurred in different subreddits? What social interactions occurred in different subreddits? Comparative quantitative analysis revealed substantial differences among the subreddits in terms of levels of voting and network characteristics. Results suggest that Reddit hosts diverse spaces that could present benefits and challenges for educators. These findings are addressed in relation to the extant literature and implications for educational practice and future research.     

论硕士研究生培养模式的改革：非正式学习的视角

非正式学习是非结构化的、目的模糊的、情境性的、自主的学习方式,研究生的主要学习形态是非正式学习。从该角度来思考,硕士研究生的培养应注重增强学生学习的自我效能感,传授给他们非正式学习的方法,培养他们自主学习的能力与习惯,还要促进他们情感与道德的发展,并注意构建学习共同体。     

Teachers ‘liking’ their work? Exploring the realities of teacher Facebook groups

Social media are now an important aspect of the professional lives of school teachers. This paper explores the growing use of mass ‘teacher groups’ and ‘teacher communities’ on social media platforms such as Facebook. While these online communities are often welcomed as a means of professional learning and support, the paper considers the extent to which Facebook groups also expose teachers to some of the less beneficial aspects of social media, such as various forms of ‘digital labour’, commercialisation of exchanges and predominance of individualised reputation‐driven behaviours. Drawing on a detailed examination of a Swedish teacher Facebook group of over 13,000 members, the paper first addresses aspects of the online community that could be seen as professionally beneficial and/or valuable—particularly in terms of information exchange and social support. Yet while perceived by participants as a relatively beneficial and uncontroversial aspect of their working lives, the research also points to characteristics of the Facebook group that constituted disadvantaging, exploitative and/or disempowering forms of technological engagement. In these terms, the paper highlights tensions between what appears to ‘work’ for individual teachers in the short term and likely longer‐term implications that these practices might have for diminished professionalism and expertise of teachers.     

‘That happened to me too’: young people’s informal knowledge of diverse genders and sexualities

Abstract

This paper explores how young people of diverse genders and sexualities share information about sex, sexualities and genders. Formal approaches to education often fail to consider young people’s communication and information exchange practices, including the circulation of peer knowledge through social media. In the wake of recent Australian backlash against the Safe Schools Coalition, we can observe how homophobia and queerphobia in the broader community can impact upon young peoples’ ability to learn about themselves and their bodies through formal education. Yet young people of diverse genders and sexualities can be observed to support each other in peer spaces, utilising their knowledge networks. This paper explores young people’s informal learning practices, the capacity of peer networks to support and educate young people, and the challenges of recognising such networks in a culture in which health and education discourses present them as ‘risk subjects’ rather than ‘health agents’. These issues are discussed in relation to our own experiences in research and health promotion, including one author’s role as a youth peer educator. Drawing on our workplace experiences, we provide a number of anecdotal examples which highlight the complexities of informal knowledge practice and information circulation, and the ways these can challenge and reform professional health, education, and research approaches.     

Web2.0环境下大学生非正式学习:理念与策略

Web2.0环境下,各种社会化网络应用实践为\"以学习者为中心\"的各种社会化学习形式提供了前所未有的机遇和环境。技术支持的非正式学习极大地影响了大学生的成长与发展:大学生可以在web2.0环境中寻找学习导师,在非正式学习过程中培养自主学习的能力,在在线实践社区中学会合作、探究学习。为了促进大学生的非正式学习,我们要加深了解非正式学习的价值,明晰正式学习与非正式学习的联系,创造多元的学习环境和条件,探索新技术并引领学生使用新技术。     

高校学生网上非正式学习现状的实证研究

本研究旨在了解当代高校学生网上非正式学习活动的现状以及个人差异影响学生网上非正式学习活动的状况。研究采用问卷收集数据,研究发现,90%以上的学生网龄超过1年,平均每天上网2.33小时;对列举的12项网上非正式学习活动,学生经常参与其中3/4的活动;性别、年级等因素对大学生网上非正式学习活动有着不同程度的影响。     

网络学习共同体的构建与培育

网络学习共同体将网络空间变为一个开放的、多元的社会活动文化场域,是由对共同主题感兴趣的一群人聚集在一起,通过团体成员之间的对话、协商或辩论、争执等社会性活动进行知识建构的过程。它不仅具有网络学习的特征,而且具有社会性学习特征。因此,采取营造特定文化氛围、构建社会性交流场、培育社团领导意识等策略,有助于网络学习共同体的构建与培育。     

基于网络实践共同体的非正式学习研究

网络环境下的非正式学习是当前终身学习社会的战略主题,网络实践共同体是其重要载体和组织形式,它是非正式学习的典型形式。它具有高效的信息分享、知识创造、平台稳定、资源重用等学习特征。非正式学习通常经历萌芽期、发展期、成熟期和管理期四个循环发展阶段。     

“数字布鲁姆”对网络非正式学习环境构建的启示

非正式学习是知识社会中非常重要的一种学习形式。各种新的教育理论、信息通讯技术和社会性软件的发展都为非正式学习的发展及其学习环境的构建带来了新的契机。\"数字布鲁姆\"是布鲁姆教育目标分类学与时俱进的成果,是在数字时代的修正与更新,对网络环境下的非正式学习及其环境构建具有重要指导意义,笔者通过对\"数字布鲁姆\"的研究提出了一个网络非正式学习环境模型,并对该模型进行了详细阐释,以期提高学习者的非正式学习质量。     

教师在线专业学习共同体的内涵、价值及其构建

构建教师在线专业学习共同体对于完善未来国家在线教师教育体系有着重要意义.在线专业学习共同体借助互联网技术营造的网络学习空间,通过共同学习、资源分享、沟通对话,有力地支持教师学习者获得拓展个人专业学习边界的机会.构建教师在线专业学习共同体将赋能教师合作学习,丰富教师跨界学习路径,提升教师群体归属感,激发教师自我变革动力.应紧密结合网络虚拟空间的特征、教师专业学习的需求以及共同体的核心内涵,从技术性要素、认知性要素和社会性要素三方面着手构建高效的教师在线专业学习共同体.