Open Learning Network

Research project led by Doug Clow (dougclow) of the OU.

The overall aim of this sub-project is to understand how participatory learning - active engagement, participation and contribution by learners, often in social, open and creative ways - relates to OER.

In the first year, there have been two main areas of achievement. Firstly, we have carried out an extensive study of the design and user experience of social sites, reviewing more than 3000 sites, examining 50 in detail, and following 200 user paths. This has led to the development of a model of participation which illuminates how 'invisible' interactions and motivations can underlie more 'visible' activity. Secondly, we have continued the (parallel, separately-funded) development of iSpot, a social networking site for learning about nature, which was successfully launched, and begun an analysis of the initial activity of the users building on the approach and findings from the first area of work.

We plan in the second year to take this work forward in several related and overlapping ways:

• further empirical research work, including deeper, more qualitative methodologies to complement the quantitative and surface analysis in the first year, leading to refinement of the theoretical model
• continued sharing and debating of observations and inferences with a wider audience of practitioners, researchers and theorists, including sharing of the publically-available data
• continued development of iSpot, using insights gained from the research process, to include a specific focus on the learning journeys taken by users from casual interest to engagement with OER and beyond to more formal learning