Abstract

Learners are discovering new uses of the technology for learning including instant messaging, file sharing, social networking and blogging. A growing number of reports have documented how the so called net generation use computers in their everyday life. As so often happens when confronted with something new, the reaction of the education systems is to control and to restrict it. Young people are told to turn off their mobile phones to go into their lessons on communication! The US government is debating a law banning access to social networking sites in educational establishments.

Of course it could be asked what this has to do with learning? To a large extent it depend on definitions of learning. If we say that learning is an activity which takes place within an institution and guided by qualified teachers, then of course it has little relationship. But if we take a wider definition of learning as purposeful activity which leads to changes if behaviour, then a great deal of learning is taking place. But it is not just the appeal of communication which is drawing young people to these technologies. It is the ability to create, to share ideas, to join groups, to publish - to create their own identities which constitute the power and the attraction of the Internet for young people.

The symposium will examine the use of social software for competence development. Social software is used here in the meaning of software that lets people rendezvous, connect or collaborate by use of a computer network. It supports networks of people, content and services that are more adaptable and responsive to changing needs and goals. Social Software adapts to its environment, instead of requiring its environment to adapt to software. In this way social software is seen as overcoming "the absurd distinction between e-learning and knowledge management software" (Bryant, 2003).

Research undertaken into the use of e-Learning in Small and Medium Enterprises has found little take up of formal courses. But there was widespread use of the Internet for informal learning, through searching, joining on-line groups and using email and bulletin boards. Google was the most popular application for learning. Age was not a factor.

The symposium which is based on work undertaken in different European projects is focused on research into practrice int the use of social software in different contexts. The aim is to provide a rich picture of the different and changing ways in which people are using technologyf or learning with the aim of developing longer term imlications of how new technologies can be used for competence development.

The paper by Graham Attwell and Ray Elferink presnet research into how social sowfatre can bring together different forms of learning for lifelong competence development. Sebastion Fiedler and Barbara Kiesinger llok at the relation between domain specific teaching and comptencies in self directed learning. Alexandra Toedt examines hwo games based learning can develop competncies. Veronika Hornung explores the relevance of tradtional educational research methods and conceepts of didactical quality and whtehr tehy can be applied to the evalaution fo technology enhanced learning scenarios. All the contrinuters will focus on different research methods and approaches for tecahnology enhanced elarning. Abstracts of the the fours papers to be presneted are included in the 'expected findings' box below.

Methodology or methods/research instruments or sources used:

The symposium is based on work undertaken in four different European projects: the eLearning programme Bayaar project on Open Content, the Leaonrado da Vinci programme ICT and SMEs and the MOSEP project on e-Portfolios and the Framework 6 IST programme iCamp project. In addition, the project presents work being undertaken by the ISN, Switzerland for NATO.

The projects each have differing methodologies. What is in common is approaches to exmaining the ways in which technology is being used for learning and a developing analysis of the implications of such use for future policies for teaching and learning.

735: Paper 1 - Social Software, Personal Learning Environments and Lifelong Competence Development - Ray Elferink (Raycom) and Graham Attwell (Pontydysgu)

This paper will explore the new ways on which people are using technology for learning - inlcuding learners in formal vocation education and training and informal learning taking place in SMEs, based on research from the seven country ICt and SME project.

The paper will go on to conisder how learning gained ins chool, in the home and in the workplace contributes to competnce development. Thsi will inlcude an exporation fo different concepts of competnce development and the implications of such concepts for the development of technology enhanced learning.

The final section of the paper will introduce the idea and practicie of the Personl Learning Envorinment, based on developmental work undertaken for teh e-Learning programme Bazaar project. It will suggest that the development of PLEs has profound implications for pedagogy and the instutional and curriculum organisation of education and training.

736: Paper2 - Supporting competence advancement in cross-national and technologically mediated settings in education - Sebastion Fielder and Barbara Kiesinger (ZSI)

There is growing evidence that knowledge workers increasingly depend on personal dispositions such as orientations, values, and attitudes (Erpenbeck & Heyse 1999) to act successfully in areas of challenge that do not allow for the mere application of previously acquired factual knowledge and procedural skills.

In the research and development project iCamp we start from the assumption that domain specific teaching in formal Higher Education can be meaningfully re-organised to construct authentic, challenging settings that allow for the advancement of competencies in the area of self-directing and self-organising of intentional learning projects, collaborating, and social-networking in cross-national, distributed and technologically mediated environments.

To achieve this we provide descriptions of educational design and intervention possibilities in combination with an appropriate portfolio of tools that fall mainly under the category of social software. Evidence is collected in a series of in situ trials and first results will be discussed in this paper

737: Paper3 - Game based learning for developing cultural competencies - Alexandra Toedt (ISN)

An increasing number of international military manoeuvres are prepared by e-learning. Special attention is paid to introduce participants not only to material and procedures but also to build cross-cultural competencies and sensitize for issues locals may have. Obviously proper competence building is vital in this area.

The preparatory e-learning is intended to get people from very different cultural and institutional backgrounds on one level of competence before they start the manoeuvre. The paper will outline experiences gained through the VIKING 2005 maneouvre. The scope of Viking 05 was to practice and exercise the procedures for operational/ tactical planning and execution of doctrines in order to improve the respective knowledge and competencies.

An equally important part of the scope was to exercise and practice constructive co-operationand coordination between military units and civilian organisations. The paper will showcase the set-up of this mixed game-based / e-learning approach in terms of competency building.

738: Paper4 - ePortfolio as a tool for competence development and "didactical quality" - Veronika Hornung (Salxburg Research)

During the last fifteen years an "old" didactical method of reform pedagogist, namely portfolio work, has gained great attention in all educational contexts as a method for supporting learning, acquisition, assessment and presentation of competences and skilss.

"New" for educationalist is now the use of digital media, web-publishing tools and/or Learning Management/Content Management Systems for creating, documenting and presenting digital / electronic portfolios. In this session we will concentrate on the aspect of "quality" of an ePortfolio, useful methods of assessment and evaluations of ePortfolios as product, process or also ePortfolio projects.

We will explore the relevance of traditional educational research methods and concepts of didactical quality andwhether they can be applied to evaluation of technology-enhanced learning scenarions. We will discuss the lack of adequate research methodology in eLearning in general and competence developement by ePortfolios in particular.

References:

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