Blending Student Technology Experiences in Formal and Informal Learning: Implications for Innovation in Policy and Practice

• In Event: Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: Strategies for Maximizing the Impact of Educational Research in Information Technology on Practice, Policy, and Future Directions

Abstract

Purpose of this paper
This paper emphasizes the importance of recognizing students' technology-enhanced informal learning experiences in order to meet the demands of the knowledge society (Lai, Khaddage, & Knezek, 2103). The purpose of this paper and symposium presentation is to show how the framework developed by the authors can be used to analyze how informal learning can blend with formal learning through the use of mobile technologies.
Theoretical framework
With the support of digital technologies such as blogs, Twitter, Skype, social networking platforms, educational mobile apps, and virtual spaces, students are able to create their own private worlds which are separate from, but overlap with their home and school worlds (Lyman 2004). Following Barron (2006), we argue that the informal learning that young people are engaged in can complement their formal learning, and technology can be used to blend these two forms of learning. We have developed a framework guided by the Mobile Blended Collaborative Learning (MBCL) model to illustrate how blending can be effectively supported by using mobile technologies to motivate students to engage in learning without boundaries.
Conclusion
Despite the fact that children and young people spend much of their daily time engaged with digital technologies, and there is no doubt that some of that time is being used for informal learning, either intentionally or incidentally, we know very little about how these forms of education can best be supported by digital technologies (Hsi 2007). While we know that young people are anxious to participate in friendship-driven and interest-driven online activities, and that they tend to learn from peers rather than from adults (Ito et al. 2008), further research is needed to further our understanding and develop strategies for creating stimulating and interesting digital technology-supported learning contexts in schools that reflect and draw on what young learners are experiencing in their daily out-of-school lives.
References:
Barron, B. (2006). Interest and self-sustained learning as catalysts of development: A learning ecology perspective. Human Development, 49(4), 193-224.
Hsi, S. (2007). Conceptualizing learning from the everyday activities of digital kids. International Journal of Science Education, 29(12), 1509-1529.
Ito, M. et al. (2008). Living and learning with new media: Summary of findings from the Digital Youth Project. Available at http://www.macfound.org
Lai, K. W., Khaddage, F., Knezek, G. (2013). Blending student technology experiences in formal and informal learning. Journal of Computer-Assisted Learning, in press.
Lyman, P. (2004). Literature Review: Digital-Mediated Experiences and Kids' Informal Learning. Available at http://www.macfound.org

Authors

• Kwok-Wing Lai, University of Otago

• Ferial Khaddage, Deakin University

• Gerald A. Knezek, University of North Texas