The term learner-generated context originated in the suggestion that an educational context might be described as a learner-centric ecology of resources and that a learner generated context is one in which a group of users collaboratively marshall available resources to create an ecology that meets their needs.
There are many discussions about
user-generated content (UGC),
open educational resources (OER),
distributed cognition and
communities of practice
A community of practice (CoP) is a group of people who "share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly". The concept was first proposed by cognitive anthropologist Jean Lave and educati ...
but, although acknowledging the importance of the learning process, there has been little focus on learner-generated contexts or the impact of new technologies on the role of teacher, learner and institution.
Background
The term learner-generated context (LGC) is grounded in the premise that learning and teaching should not start with the embracing of new technologies, but rather that it is a matter of contextualising the learning first before supporting it with technology. The concept finds its roots in the
affordances and potentials of a range of
disruptive technologies and practice;
web 2.0 and
participative media,
mobile learning,
learning design and
learning space design. It is also concerned with related issues in social interactions with technology around roles, expertise, knowledge, pedagogy,
accreditation, power, participation and democracy.
The learner-generated context concept is concerned with examining the rapid increase in the variety and availability of resources and tools that enable people to easily create and publish their own materials and to access those created by others, and ways in which this extends the capacity for
learning context creation
Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, attitudes, and preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals, and some machines; there is also evidence for some kind of learnin ...
beyond the traditional contexts of, ''inter alia'', teachers, academics, designers and policymakers. It is also a concept which challenges existing pedagogies insofar as it sees a new generation of
read/write,
participatory technologies
Citizen Participation or Public Participation in social science refers to different mechanisms for the public to express opinions—and ideally exert influence—regarding political, economic, management or other social decisions. Participato ...
as enabling learners to take ownership of both their learning and their actions in the real world and to contribute to the co-design of learning resources. In learner generated contexts, technology is seen to offer new dimensions for
active participation
Active may refer to:
Music
* ''Active'' (album), a 1992 album by Casiopea
* Active Records, a record label
Ships
* ''Active'' (ship), several commercial ships by that name
* HMS ''Active'', the name of various ships of the British Royal ...
and creativity in learning.
Definition
Th
Learner Generated Contexts Research Groupwas formed at a workshop in Bath (UK) in March 2007. This interdisciplinary research group based at th
London Knowledge Labdefines a learner generated context (LGC) as:
''A context created by people interacting together with a common, self- defined or negotiated learning goal. The key aspect of Learner Generated Contexts is that they are generated through the enterprise of those who would previously have been consumers in a context created for them''.
Key issues
The emphasis on
contexts
''Contexts'': ''Understanding People in their Social Worlds'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal and an official publication of the American Sociological Association. It is designed to be a more accessible source of sociological ideas ...
is key: learning is viewed as a social process occurring across a continuum of contexts, and learning must be "''fit for context''". The generation of context is characterised as ''an action on tools where a user actively selects, appropriates and implements learning solutions to meet their own needs''.
[Bakardjieva, M. (2005). Internet Society. The Internet in Everyday Life. London: Sage Publications] The following key issues emerge from this concept:
* learners as creators not consumers
* learning is facilitated by "agile intermediaries"
* learning moves from regulated practice(s) towards participative collaboration and co-creation
* learner needs participatory control of the learning environment
* environment is physical, social and cognitive
* learning design is purposeful – the 'preferred' and 'best' learning context may not be identical
* co-configuration, co-creation and co-design of learning space allows learners to create their own context
* new and relevant learning contexts are generated by needs and questions arising in social interactions
*
PAH continuum PAH or Pah may refer to:
Science and technology Chemistry
* Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, one of a class of chemical compounds, organic pollutants
** PAH world hypothesis, hypothesis that proposes that the use of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarb ...
–
pedagogy (cognitive mode),
andragogy (metacognitive mode),
heutagogy (epistemic mode)
References
External links
Learner Generated Contexts Wikihttp://learnergeneratedcontexts.pbwiki.com/
LGC Research Group's page at OpenLearnThe Evolving Story of LGC A presentation given by members of the LGC group at OpenLearn07
A Coincidence of Motivations Leading to Agile Configurations– A presentation given by Fred Garnett at Shock of the Old 7, Oxford, 2008
LGC Launch– A presentation given at LKL debate no. 1 by founding members of the LGC Group.
Learner-Generated Contexts: sustainable learning pathways through open content– A paper given at the OU OpenLearn07 conference in Milton Keynes, 2007
* http://hennistalk.blogspot.com/2007/11/openlearn-2007-learner-generated.html
Citizen media
Collective intelligence
Human–computer interaction
Ubiquitous computing