Has Web 2.0 revitalized informal learning? The relationship between Web 2.0 and informal learning

Learning is becoming increasingly self-directed and often occurs away from schools and other formal educational settings. The development of a myriad of new technologies for learning has enabled people to learn anywhere and anytime. Web 2.0 technology allows researchers to shed a new light on the importance and prevalence of informal learning. However, there are few empirical studies that support the claim that this technology facilitates informal learning. The present study investigates the relationship between Web 2.0 levels and the evaluation of informal learning websites. For this purpose, 287 informal learning websites were selected and their Web 2.0 levels were rated based upon eight criteria proposed in the Web 2.0 exploratory literature. In addition, previously examined informal learning evaluation results were employed. The results showed that current informal learning websites have moderately adopted the most heavily promoted features of Web 2.0. Correlation analyses showed a positive relationship between Web 2.0 features and informal learning website ratings. The implications for the relationship and internal correlations of variables were summarized and discussed.

[1]  Balachander Krishnamurthy,et al.  Key differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 , 2008, First Monday.

[2]  M. J. Cox,et al.  Formal to informal learning with IT: research challenges and issues for e-learning , 2013, J. Comput. Assist. Learn..

[3]  Josep Maria Monguet,et al.  Using Web 2.0 Applications as Supporting Tools for Personal Learning Environments , 2009, WSKS.

[4]  Charles R. Severance,et al.  The coming functionality mash-up in Personal Learning Environments , 2008, Interact. Learn. Environ..

[5]  Rosemary Luckin,et al.  Beyond Web 2.0: mapping the technology landscapes of young learners , 2009, J. Comput. Assist. Learn..

[6]  P. Hager.  Recognition of Informal Learning: Challenges and Issues. , 1998 .

[7]  G. Veletsianos,et al.  A review of adventure learning , 2009 .

[8]  Gerhard Fischer,et al.  Long-tail learning: a unique opportunity for CSCL? , 2009, CSCL.

[9]  Curtis J. Bonk,et al.  The tensions of transformation in three cross-institutional wikibook projects , 2009, Internet High. Educ..

[10]  Gill Clough,et al.  Informal learning with PDAs and smartphones , 2008, J. Comput. Assist. Learn..

[11]  Gary Marchionini,et al.  The roles of digital libraries in teaching and learning , 1995, CACM.

[12]  Dimitrios Buhalis,et al.  Progress in tourism management : a review of website evaluation in tourism research , 2010 .

[13]  Arthur Tatnall.  EAIT editorial 17–1 , 2011, Education and Information Technologies.

[14]  M. Sheelagh T. Carpendale,et al.  SparkClouds: Visualizing Trends in Tag Clouds , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.

[15]  Tim O'Reilly,et al.  Web Squared: Web 2.0 Five Years On , 2009 .

[16]  Patricia M. Greenfield,et al.  Technology and Informal Education: What Is Taught, What Is Learned , 2009, Science.

[17]  Yu-Feng Lan,et al.  Using RSS to support mobile learning based on media richness theory , 2010, Comput. Educ..

[18]  Mark J. W. Lee,et al.  Social software and participatory learning: Pedagogical choices with technology affordances in the Web 2.0 era , 2007 .

[19]  Paul Kim,et al.  "Stay Out of the Way! My Kid is Video Blogging Through a Phone!": A Lesson Learned from Math Tutoring Social Media for Children in Underserved Communities , 2011, Int. J. Online Pedagog. Course Des..

[20]  Ruimin Shen,et al.  Why web 2.0 is good for learning and for research: principles and prototypes , 2008, WWW.

[21]  M. Eraut,et al.  Informal learning in the workplace , 2004 .

[22]  S. Paris.  Situated Motivation and Informal Learning , 1997 .

[23]  Axel Bruns,et al.  The Use of Blogs, Wikis and RSS in Education: A Conversation of Possibilities , 2006 .

[24]  Lloyd Rutledge,et al.  ReMashed - An Usability Study of a Recommender System for Mash-Ups for Learning , 2010, iJET.

[25]  Amy Bruckman,et al.  Constructing text:: Wiki as a toolkit for (collaborative?) learning , 2007, WikiSym '07.

[26]  Bryan Alexander,et al.  Apprehending the Future: Emerging Technologies, from Science Fiction to Campus Reality , 2009 .

[27]  Alexander Minnaert,et al.  Self-regulation with respect to informal learning , 1999 .

[28]  N. Selwyn.  Web 2.0 applications as alternative environments for informal learning: a critical review , 2007 .

[29]  Nimer Baya'a,et al.  A rubric for evaluating web-based learning environments , 2009, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[30]  Martin Ebner,et al.  Microblogs in Higher Education - A chance to facilitate informal and process-oriented learning? , 2010, Comput. Educ..

[31]  Daniel Firpo,et al.  Effects of AJAX Technology on the Usability of Blogs , 2009, HCI.

[32]  Nada Dabbagh,et al.  The role of Web 2.0 technologies in self‐regulated learning , 2011 .

[33]  Richard Hall.  Towards a Fusion of Formal and Informal Learning Environments: The Impact of the Read/Write Web. , 2009 .

[34]  Mark J. W. Lee,et al.  Personalised and Self Regulated Learning in the Web 2.0 Era: International Exemplars of Innovative Pedagogy Using Social Software. , 2010 .

[35]  Nada Dabbagh,et al.  Personal Learning Environments, social media, and self-regulated learning: A natural formula for connecting formal and informal learning , 2012, Internet High. Educ..

[36]  P. Anderson.  What is Web 2.0? Ideas, technologies and implications for education , 2007 .

[37]  Norbert Pachler,et al.  Bridging the gap? Mobile phones at the interface between informal and formal learning , 2009 .

[38]  Selçuk Çebi,et al.  A quality evaluation model for the design quality of online shopping websites , 2013, Electron. Commer. Res. Appl..

[39]  M. Cameron Jones,et al.  Web Mash-ups and Patchwork Prototyping: User-driven technological innovation with Web 2.0 and Open Source Software , 2007, 2007 40th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS'07).

[40]  Curtis J. Bonk,et al.  What Technology Tools Promote such Extreme Learning?: Analysis of Technologies Used in Extreme Learning Websites , 2011 .

[41]  Claire Bradley,et al.  Designing social media for informal learning and knowledge maturing in the digital workplace , 2012, J. Comput. Assist. Learn..

[42]  W Mocker Donald,et al.  Lifelong learning : formal, nonformal, informal, and self-directed , 1983 .

[43]  Ansie Harding,et al.  Evaluation of blended learning: analysis of qualitative data , 2012 .

[44]  Ivica Boticki,et al.  Quiet captures: a tool for capturing the evidence of seamless learning with mobile devices , 2010, ICLS.

[45]  Julian Sefton-Green,et al.  Literature Review in Informal Learning with Technology Outside School , 2004 .

[46]  Ibrahim Türkoglu,et al.  Creating meaningful data from web logs for improving the impressiveness of a website by using path analysis method , 2009, Expert Syst. Appl..

[47]  Antonio Fini,et al.  Lifelong learning: what role for e-learning 2.0? , 2008 .

[48]  Agnes Kukulska-Hulme,et al.  Practitioners as innovators: emergent practice in personal mobile teaching, learning, work and leisure , 2006 .

[49]  Steffen Lohmann,et al.  Comparison of Tag Cloud Layouts: Task-Related Performance and Visual Exploration , 2009, INTERACT.

[50]  Charles Miller,et al.  Adventure Learning: Educational, social, and technological affordances for collaborative hybrid distance education , 2008 .

[51]  Chris Dede,et al.  "Neomillennial" Learning Styles Propagated by Wireless Handheld Devices , 2007 .

[52]  Andreas Schmidt,et al.  Media for informal learning , 2012 .

[53]  Allan Luke,et al.  The pedagogical, linguistic and content features of popular English language learning websites in China : a framework for analysis and design , 2012 .

[54]  Gill Clough,et al.  Geolearners: Location-Based Informal Learning with Mobile and Social Technologies , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies.

[55]  D. Nicol,et al.  Learning from digital natives: integrating formal and informal learning using technology , 2005 .

[56]  Jinwoo Kim,et al.  Architectural criteria for website evaluation – conceptual framework and empirical validation , 2004, Behav. Inf. Technol..

[57]  Curtis J. Bonk.  For Openers: How Technology Is Changing School , 2010 .

[58]  Ieda M. Santos,et al.  Exploring the uses of mobile phones to support informal learning , 2011, Education and Information Technologies.

[59]  Daniel Churchill,et al.  Educational applications of Web 2.0: Using blogs to support teaching and learning , 2009, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[60]  Avi Hofstein,et al.  Bridging the Gap Between Formal and Informal Science Learning , 1996 .

[61]  Anna Comas-Quinn,et al.  Mobile blogs in language learning: making the most of informal and situated learning opportunities , 2009, ReCALL.

[62]  António Moreira,et al.  Bridging Formal and Informal Learning - A Case Study on Students' Perceptions of the Use of Social Networking Tools , 2009, EC-TEL.

[63]  Rachel M. Pilkington,et al.  A community of practice approach to the development of non-traditional learners through networked learning , 2006, J. Comput. Assist. Learn..

[64]  J. Wellington.  Formal and informal learning in science: the role of the interactive science centres , 1990 .

[65]  Kenneth King,et al.  Formal, nonformal and informal learning: Some North-South contrasts , 1982 .

[66]  Johannes Moskaliuk,et al.  "Actually, I Wanted to Learn": Study-related knowledge exchange on social networking sites , 2012, Internet High. Educ..

[67]  Seung Youn Chyung,et al.  Factors that influence informal learning in the workplace , 2008 .

[68]  Ya-Ting Carolyn Yang,et al.  Comprehensive evaluation criteria for English learning websites using expert validity surveys , 2008, Comput. Educ..

[69]  Gwo-Jen Hwang,et al.  Developing multi-dimensional evaluation criteria for English learning websites with university students and professors , 2011, Comput. Educ..

[70]  San Murugesan,et al.  Understanding Web 2.0 , 2007, IT Professional.

[71]  P. McAndrew,et al.  USING MOBILE DEVICES FOR LEARNING IN INFORMAL SETTINGS: IS IT MOTIVATING? , 2006 .

[72]  Curtis J. Bonk.  The World is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education , 2009 .

[73]  Joe Garofalo,et al.  Connecting Informal and Formal Learning Experiences in the Age of Participatory Media , 2008 .

[74]  J. Meek,et al.  Facebook, social integration and informal learning at university: ‘It is more for socialising and talking to friends about work than for actually doing work’ , 2009 .

[75]  Jeremy B. Williams,et al.  Exploring the use of blogs as learning spaces in the higher education sector , 2004 .

[76]  Mathias Lux,et al.  The Web 2.0 way of learning with technologies , 2007, Int. J. Learn. Technol..

[77]  Steven J. Turner.  Website Statistics 2.0: Using Google Analytics to Measure Library Website Effectiveness , 2010 .

[78]  A. Tough.  Major Learning Efforts: Recent Research and Future Directions , 1978 .

[79]  Aaron Doering,et al.  Hybrid Online Education , 2008 .

[80]  Stephen Downes,et al.  New Technology Supporting Informal Learning , 2010 .

[81]  Baohui Zhang,et al.  Leveraging mobile technology for sustainable seamless learning: a research agenda , 2010, Br. J. Educ. Technol..