Albert Sangra is the former director of eLearn research Centre at the Catlonia Open University in Barcelona. This Centre runs programs like the CDE and is also involved in research projects throughout the Unievrsity and in Europe.

Albert's talk is

Learning ecologies as framework for informal teacher’s professional development:

A learning ecology is “‘a set of contexts made up of configurations of activities, materials, resources and relations generated in physical or virtual spaces, which provide opportunities for learning”, as defined by Barron.

Currently, there is a myriad of digital resources that are used by teachers to informally develop themselves professionally. OER, MOOCs, Personal Learning Environments, Communities of Practice … are in the move towards each individual being responsible for taking his/her own decisions on learning, rather than simply accepting those formally proposed. Several authors have described the benefits of informal learning, based on connectivism, and placing great emphasis on the benefits which these learning networks can provide for professional development.

A key aspect of the updating of professional development is personalization: adapting policies to the specific needs of each individual, according to their learning style. It is clear that the use of ICT in education extends the potential learning space for professional development and updating of skills, thereby generating lots of learning opportunities.

The concept of learning ecology could be a useful tool to help each professional to create a complex structure of interlinked relations and components which form an own learning ecology: a personal strategy for professional development and relations.

The research aims to analyze and understand the ways in which learning ecologies are and will be contributing to the professional development of primary school teachers.

In this presentation, the design and the current stage of the research will be introduced, as well as its initial outcomes.

Of Interest to: K-12 education, Online and distance education, Post-secondary education, Instructional designers, Researchers

Speakers

Albert Sangrà

Albert Sangrà, eLearn Center, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Mercedes González-Sanmamed, Universidad de A Coruña,  Montse Guitert, eLearn Center, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

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A learning ecology is “‘a set of contexts made up of configurations of activities, materials, resources and relations generated in physical or virtual spaces, which provide opportunities for learning”, as defined by Barron.

Currently, there is a myriad of digital resources that are used by teachers to informally develop themselves professionally. OER, MOOCs, Personal Learning Environments, Communities of Practice … are in the move towards each individual being responsible for taking his/her own decisions on learning, rather than simply accepting those formally proposed. Several authors have described the benefits of informal learning, based on connectivism, and placing great emphasis on the benefits which these learning networks can provide for professional development.

A key aspect of the updating of professional development is personalization: adapting policies to the specific needs of each individual, according to their learning style. It is clear that the use of ICT in education extends the potential learning space for professional development and updating of skills, thereby generating lots of learning opportunities.

The concept of learning ecology could be a useful tool to help each professional to create a complex structure of interlinked relations and components which form an own learning ecology: a personal strategy for professional development and relations.

The research aims to analyze and understand the ways in which learning ecologies are and will be contributing to the professional development of primary school teachers.

In this presentation, the design and the current stage of the research will be introduced, as well as its initial outcomes.