KMi launches the first handbook of research on Collaborative Learning 2.0: OER

Alexandra Okada, Monday 23 April 2012 |

"Collaborative Learning 2.0: Open Educational Resources". Edited by Ale Okada Teresa Connolly Peter J. Scott (Open University, UK) The purpose of this book is to understand how OER and Web 2.0 can be deployed successfully to enrich the collaborative learning experience and ensure a positive outcome in terms of user generated knowledge and development of skills.

This book offers current state of the art in collaborative learning through Open Educational Resources and the Web 2.0. This collection work presents the latest research through case studies, trends and also considers future developments within the field. With solid theoretical foundation and precise guidelines, authors analyse the benefits that these "user-generated content, resources and tools" promise. "Collaborative Learning 2.0: Open Educational Resources" was written by 58 authors, who are leading researchers and practitioners in their field, from 14 countries: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, UK and USA. The book comprises of some 560 references, 168 key terms and definitions as well as 25 chapters including introductions and is organised in four sections: Section 1 - " Widening participation and OER Communities Section 2 - " Producing, reusing and recreating OER Section 3 - " Sharing User-generated content Section 4 - " Social Learning, Rich Media and Games The chapters cover a wide-range of topics including: - Assessment - Collaborative Learning - Communities of Practice - Continuous Professional Development - Interactive Contents - Knowledge Sharing - New Media Environments - OER in Higher Education - Personal Learning Environments - Peer-support - Social Media - Social Networking - Social Learning - Virtual Laboratories - Web 2.0 This project began in January 2010 and the process of writing, reviewing as well as publishing this book occupied the editors and authors for almost two years. Find out more at the book's website.

Related Links:

• KMI OER BOOK

• IGI PUBLISHERS

Developing learning content for reuse

Significant funds have been invested internationally in the development of learning content for reuse

Reusing online resources is one of the essential strategies for a sustainable approach to e-learning .

“Learning resources are insufficient to attend the needs of higher education. The estimated number of academic students around the world in 2025 is 160 million" (See John Daniel, Mega Universities and Knowledge Media – Kogan Page 1996).

Create Relevant Resources

For Koper (2001) many educational institutions are adopting new approaches to increase effectiveness due to several factors such as the need for:

– a more individualized and personalized approach to learning – collaboration, discussion and product creation – teaching complex skills – lifelong learning

Koper, EJR (2001) Modeling Units of Study from a Pedagogical Perspective: The pedagogical metamodel behind EML, Open Universiteit Nederland http://eml.ou.nl/introduction/docs/ped-metamodel.pdf

The Wealth of Networks

Another interesting book is The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom, available under a Creative Common license

Yochai Benkler describes how social production is reshaping markets and offering new opportunities to enhance diversity, interaction, collective thinking and justice.

“Human nature is not a machine to be built after a model, and set to do exactly the work prescribed for it, but a tree, which requires to grow and develop itself on all sides, according to the tendency of the inward forces which make it a living thing.” John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (1859)

The networked information environment has been expanding and making information and knowledge available. However it  can either limit or enlarge the ways people can create and express themselves.

Access this book here:

http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/wealth_of_networks/Main_Page

This online version has been created under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial ShareAlike license - see www.benkler.org - and has been reformatted and designated as recommended reading - with an accompanying Moodle course - for the Education Committee of CONGO - the Conference Of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations - in conjunction with the Committee's commitment to the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World and related international Decades, agreements, conventions and treaties