This project was financed with the support of the European Commission. This publication is the sole responsibility of the author and the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
Social networking and game mechanics of OER Repositories: present & future
Katerina Zourou and Giulia Torresin, Web2Learn, Greece12th EdReNe Seminar, Copenhaghen, October 20-21, 2015
ExplOERer: Supporting OER re-use in learning ecosystems
ExplOERer project:2-year EC- funded project under E+ programme (2014-2016)•ExplOERer promotes OER sustainability through OER adoption and re-use in professional practice. •Types of learning contexts addressed: adult education, higher education and the workplacePartners•Gothenburg University, Sweden•Web2Learn, Greece•The Open University•Centrum Cyfrowe. Projekt: Polska •Flemish Ministry of Education, Belgium – KlasCement community
Output 3: designing tools to incentivize OER re-use
Output 3 dedicated to “Social networking and gaming capacities of OER” Better understand the role of social networking and gaming as triggers to OEP(information getting viral through SN & G mechanics)Approach repositories of OER from a design perspective and analyze the potential of incentivized models of learning (gaming/social networking mechanisms) in OEPDevelop, implement and test a set of social networking and gaming features in two existing Repositories of OER: LORO http://loro.open.ac.uk and KlasCement http://klascement.net/ )
Previous research
User engagement in educational repositoriesSome recommendations:-analysing user behaviour-enabling friending-simplifying navigation and interfaces-using rewarding systems etc.-
Designing artifacts to incentivize OER re-use
– Step 1: development of a matrix containing social networking and gaming features
– Step 2: quantitative analysis of ROER against the matrix • 60 ROER in “small“ and “big” European languages
– Step 3: preliminary results regarding social network & gaming features contained in each repository.
– Step 4: Forthcoming: analysis other types of open learning spaces (crowdsourced communities, MOOCs) against the same matrix of of SN & G features
– Step 5: user feedback regarding those features- do they facilitate OER re-use from a user perspective?
•We have divided features under 4 macro- categories : •Social networking features of the repository•Features facilitating networking•User-related game mechanics•Resource-related game mechanics19 features overall(contact us for further details on the typology)
Matrix: features facilitating (social) networking
Some of the features facilitating (social) networking
Creating a user profile
Liking users
Having a friends list
Open API
Displaying a stream of activities
Some of the gaming features
Earning badges
Tagging a resource
Collecting points
Liking or rating a resource Challenges
Some thoughts to take away
• Approaching OER (re-)use from a design perspective => tools & infrastructures rather loose and basic
• There are few SN & G mechanics overall- not a one-fits-all strategy among ROERs. Cultural dependence? Attitudes to sharing? Further investigation is ongoing.
• Community engagement doesn’t come naturally: role of designing features in enhancing community dynamics
• ROER in small languages (KC, Photodentro) doing well in designing enablers of OER (re-) use
• More to come : implementation/testing of a set of SN & G features into LORO and KlasCement
Thank you!
References •Anderson, J. & Rainie, L. (2012). "Gamification and the Internet". Pew Research http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media/Files/Reports/2012/PIP_Future_of_Internet_2012_Gamification.pdf •Zourou, K. & Lamy, M.-N. (2013) « Social networked game dynamics in web 2.0 language learning communities », Alsic, Vol. 16, http://alsic.revues.org/2642 •Zourou, K.2014. Social networking and gaming capacities of OER. http://www.slideshare.net/ExplOERer/social-networking-and-gaming-capacities-of-oer-output-3-slides
Staying in touch
@web2Learn_eu
Web2Learn_euhttp://web2learn.eu/