Informal+Learning

Web 2.0 and Informal Learning

media type="youtube" key="3m-3BtIt5PY" height="362" width="410" align="right" //Video: Informal Learning - Early Beginnings//

This excerpt from the Educational Broadcasting Corporation explains some of the reasons Web 2.0 tools will help learners of all ages: > When predictions are made about life and work for the coming decades, there are a few points on which there is nearly universal agreement: >> * Tomorrow's workers will need to be able to work in teams. >> * Individuals will move through several careers in the course of a lifetime. >> * The issues facing citizens will become more and more complex, and societal problems will resist easy fixes or black-and-white categorization. >> * The amount of information available to everyone will grow at an accelerating pace; much of it will come directly from a growing number of sources without filtering or verification. > What this means is that tomorrow's workers and citizens will need to be able to grapple with ambiguity. They will need to commit themselves to a lifelong process of learning, honoring multiple perspectives and evaluating information before acting on it. Tomorrow's workers and citizens are sitting in our classrooms today. Using WebQuests in our classrooms can help build a solid foundation that prepares them for the future ("WebQuests: Explanation.", n.d.).

Web 2.0 tools will evolve and change over time but “the tools used to develop the portfolio should be accessible to a learner throughout their chosen career” (Barrett, 2004). Students may outgrow the tools but not the skills needed to use those tools. Thus learning how to use the tools will benefit students over the lifetime of learning. The vast amount of Web 2.0 technologies are allowing more teachers to partake in student-centered learning rather than the traditional lecture format, despite the subject matter. It also is not limited to people within the years of formal schooling. Many more people will now have access to these technologies to expand their problem solving skills beyond their student years. Web 2.0 offers students the opportunity to take education and teamwork out of classroom and into the home. Web 2.0 is the tool that will bridge the gap from to school. It connects students together even when they are home.

//Video: Jake Ross explains Informal Learning and how Web 2.0 affects it.// media type="youtube" key="NlETGJ0mnno" height="354" width="441" align="left"

As students use Web 2.0 tools they will need to be taught to validate their web sources. This skills will prove to be more and more valuable to them as the become self-educating after their formal educations. The ability to determine if information produced using Web 2.0 tools is valid is an essential part of applying their learning. Students that can validate a source will then be able to learn on their own with more confidence that what they are learning is true. Validating sources is a necessary part of applying knowledge.

As Web 2.0 tools become more a part of the up and coming generation they will become more the accepted and expected norm of the workplace. Using the internet and web based tools are already becoming very common and the drive is to cross the digital divide and have everyone using these tools. When that occurs people without these skills will be handicapped in the workplace and will find it even more difficult to find and hold a job. With Web 2.0 tools being very available and also evolving at a quick pace, life-long learning will become a necessity.

One way that the web is used in informal learning is researching medical information. As a result their have been numerous studies to determine the efficacy of self-education in terms of medical research. The interesting outcome of this research can be applied more generally: "Finding credible information online is predicated by online performance. including the ability to skillfully navigate through the non-linear structure of the Web" (Hong, 2010). This would imply that informal learning on the web is predicated by formal learning of how to use the web. For life-long learners to be effective learners using the internet they need to have previous knowledge of tools on the internet to have successful outcomes of learning. Other studies indicate that most learning on the internet begins with a search engine and that 72% of users believe the information returned to them by a search engine is automatically credible (Hargittai et al., 2009). This is an important perspective to look at when considering the internet as an agent of life-long learning. If internet users cannot determine a credible source, but are turning to the internet for their learning they may not be learning the correct information. The ISBE has incorporated general guidelines for using Web 2.0 tools for educational purposes, but has not set learning standards for this type of learning. Given this it would seem that the ISBE standards are incomplete or that validating web sources is an implied lesson that teachers need to convey to their students.

**References**

Barrett, Helen. "Digital Stories of Deep Learning." Dr. Helen Barrett's Electronic Portfolios. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2010. <@http://electronicportfolios.org/digistory/epstory.html>.

Eszter, Hargittai, Fullerton Lindsay, Menchen-Trevino Ericka, and Thomas Kristin. "Trust on the Web: How Young Adults Judge the Credibility of Online Content (TOP 2 Faculty Paper)." All Academic Inc. (Abstract Management, Conference Management and Research Search Engine). N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2010. <@http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p297677_index.html>.

Traci, Hong. "The Influence of Internet Self-Efficacy and Search Task on Locating Credible Health-Related Information Online." All Academic Inc. (Abstract Management, Conference Management and Research Search Engine). N.p., 1 Nov. 2004. Web. 27 July 2010. <@http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p14583_index.html>.

"WebQuests: Explanation." THIRTEEN - New York Public Media. Educational Broadcast Company, n.d. Web. 17 July 2010. <@http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/webquests/index_sub1.html>.