Open Access Journals at Aalborg University
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Networked Leadership Roles for School Leaders' Work with Schools' Digitalization: A Comparative Investigation
Get PDFSchool leaders are responsible for creating the right conditions for schools and, through dialogue, understanding schools' needs and prerequisites, distributing resources, and following up on the schools' development. School leaders are also important for supporting schools in realizing a top-down policy. One example of such policy is the digitalization policy aimed at implementing digital technologies in teaching, where strong school leaders is necessary. Thus, leadership is a crucial ingredient for a good digitalization process in schools. However, there is little written about school leaders' practice. Further, school leaders' practice may contain more networked leadership despite the fact that they often assumed a top-down leadership role, which would be especially clear when viewed through a networked learning perspective. Further, different countries have different school systems where the school leaders may be referred to by different names in their roles for supporting the schools.A common area in need of support is the digitalization of schools. Students may not get the skills they need in the future as challenges to ensure the advancement is enacted continue to broaden. Thus, it may be interesting to delve deeper into the structures of countries that may differ in general structure for school systems. In conjunction with a networked collaboration between the University of Brazil and Mid Sweden University, connections between the school systems in both countries will be made in this paper to distinguish parts of their leadership strategy for the digitalization of schools. Leadership within schools is closely connected to the pedagogical implementation of technologies. In one dimension of school leadership related to digitalization, there exists a notable aspect known as the networked dimension, which is intricately linked to assessment policies and roles associated with ICT. Given the assumption for the networked dimension, this paper is written for two primary purposes. The first purpose is to investigate the networked leadership dimension according to various leadership roles for school leaders' digitalization work. The second purpose is to prepare a comparative study of the school systems of Brazil and Sweden by reviewing literature that analyses these regions.Thus, in this short paper, we assume that school leaders' practice when compared across two countries different in size from a networked leadership perspective may comprise a research gap, indicating the relevancy of a literature review investigation of this gap
On the nature of social interactions and cognition in learning communities
Get PDFWhether explicitly used as a research aim or implicitly discussed as an outcome, the concept of community is central for the networked learning research as it allows networked learning researchers to study how people perceive the networked environment as a space, wherein the members can develop relationships among one another. The underlying premise for this work is that it is erroneous to assume a learning community is a unified concept, functioning in the same way for everyone under same circumstances. Taking the contextual factors into account, this research questions the characteristics of a community that are related to learning. I explore how different types of relationships among members of a learning community are related to learning. In particular, I conceptualise the concept of community using social capital theory. Since the central tenet of social capital theory is that different relationships within networks of people hold different values, I argue that it can inform the ways by which the perceived level of learning is understood with respect to interaction patterns. The findings suggest that both distributed–diverse communications and strong–close communications are manifest in learning. However, the impact of diverse relationships on learning is considerably larger and stronger compared to denser relationships. The implications are discussed
Course H[OER]oes? Ethical Data Collection in Open Digital Societies
Get PDFIn 2021 networked learning community scholars responded to a call inviting discussion of how they made meaning of the term networked learning and understood its associated practices (Gourlay et al., 2021). The insights shared and questions raised have implications for all educators and scholars working with and among students of all levels. The purpose of this roundtable discussion will be to consider the relevance of these insights and questions for those whose work centers open educational resources and collection of data related to their use. In particular, participants will discuss whether and how to gather, analyse and store data in ways which honour the "trusting relationships" (Gourlay et al., 2021, p. 337) considered essential to "socially just" (Bali, 2020, n.p.) networked learning experiences. Discussants will be invited to unravel to what extent the use, modification, or creation of open educational resources qualify as networked learning, explore the impact the use of related technology has on pedagogy, and work together to explicate whom, in fact, such practices and connections are ultimately for (Gourlay et al., 2021). The authors of this paper will share research and experiences related to the development of a student data privacy framework intended to guide data collection practices for materials created in association with the academic library's open educational resource publishing program.
 
The paradox of designing networked learning throughout the employee life cycle
Get PDFHow can organisations cultivate professional and social networks which accelerate knowledge sharing throughout the employee life cycle? The increasing complexity of the workplace environment and continuously changing processes makes it relevant for many organisations to invest in their social network structures, communities, and knowledge sharing. However, ultimately these social and relational processes are depended on the employees’ personalities, interests, ownership, and motivation and which do not necessarily correspond with the organisation’s strategy, priorities, timing, and resources. This constitutes a paradox between the strategic priority for networked learning and the employees’ interest and motivation to participate in knowledge sharing. Both elements are true, interconnected and mutually exclusive elements and raise a paradox (Lüscher, 2019:8) for networked learning designers in organisations between intended design and uncertain evolution
Symposium 5: A Proposed Institutional Approach to Designing for Networked Learning at the Course Level
No full textThis conceptual paper proposes a design approach for implementing networked learning at a course level at a University in New Zealand (Aotearoa). Networked learning has been noted to have many benefits for learners in the growing body of literature. However, the principles could be implemented differently depending on the institutional context, strategic goals and current practices. The objective of this paper is to propose an institutional approach to design for networked learning at the course level. The implementation approach should be systematic not uniform. This paper outlines the institutional context and rationale, evaluates each of the eight principles of networked learning to institutional context and suggests implementation ideas. A tiered approach to implementing design for networked learning at a course level is proposed, along with future work needed for the implementation across our institution
Symposium 5: Applications of networked learning to the support of learning and teaching in higher education
No full textThis symposium is the result of a broad effort by the authors to consider the applicability of networked learning to our work to support learning and teaching across our institution. We, the authors, work in a central learning and teaching support unit within Auckland University of Technology (AUT), in Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand. We are concerned with how networked learning is applicable to our efforts to support learning and teaching at AUT-specifically- to operationalise the institution’s strategic commitments to learner success. Our focus on supporting learning and teaching operates at various levels, from the ‘local’ level of individual courses to the intermediate level of supporting degree programmes to the more ‘global’ level associated with developing institutional policy that supports effective academic teaching practices and the ongoing evolution of a technology infrastructure that enables and supports productive learning and teaching activity. Moreover, our work deals with questions and challenges which range from specific, situated practical challenges to broad, philosophical questions which affect learning and teaching across the institution. This symposium represents our efforts to synthesise our understandings of networked learning and connect general ideas about networked learning with specific, situated aspects of our work to support learning and teaching across the institution.  
Symposium 1: Tracing analytic assemblages – doing doctoral research with actor-network theory
No full textThe practices of doctoral education are intricately entangled with technologies. This methodological paper examines the practical concerns involved in doing the analytic work in a networked learning setting with Actor-Network theory (ANT). It is a story about engaging with ANT as a companion in an ethnographic research project on teaching practices in Sweden during the Covid-19 pandemic. The empirical examples are pulled from online interviews in the pandemic outbreak and two ways of assembling the analytic practices of those interviews. On the premises that method and technology are non-neutral, the focus is on how the interviews are analysed and the modes of knowing that they form. For example, the paper examines how computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software acts on the analyses of the interviews and the knowledge patterns made possible and what signals are silenced. A second analytic assemblage is deployed that traces those signals. Based on the empirical examples of doing analyses, the paper discusses how analytic assemblages change and move research and the researcher in unpredictive and performative ways that troubles the expectations of a singularised doctoral journey
Symposium 1: Interactive and action-oriented instruction for a digital era: A methodological reflection paper
No full textThis paper explores and reflects what the methodological considerations are for a study of classroom practice as networked learning. The area of interest is instruction in reading children´s literature in the primary school classroom, i.e., emergent literature didactics. Digitalization processes in society and school involve new conditions for literature didactics and challenges in the classroom. In today`s society we not only communicate in the form of speech and writing, but the digitalization has resulted in that communication takes place through both texts, images, and sound, i. e. multimodal communication (Jewitt, 2008; Godhe et al., 2020). Except for these changed conditions, it is possible to observe decreasing reading frequency, changing attitudes towards reading, and declining reading comprehension among children and youth in Sweden today (Statens Medieråd, 2017; Skolverket, 2017).
The overall aim of the PhD thesis is to contribute knowledge about how literature didactics is designed in primary school classrooms, with regards to how this instruction enables encounters with and comprehension of children’s literature, through the support of digital technology.
The project consists of three empirical sub-studies with a mixed method approach. In combination with quantitative surveys, qualitative focused observations and interviews with teachers will target instruction in literature didactic, and the role and function of digital technology. Participants are pre- and in-service teachers.
The presentation of sub-study I describes how thirty-seven preservice teachers observed classroom teaching during one school day in different primary schools, with the aim to investigate activities related to fiction reading and the role of digital technology in these settings. The study was analyzed by using a thematic content analysis. The preliminary results show that dialogic reading, where the teacher reads fictions texts aloud and orchestrate a dialogue about it with the pupils, is dominating. The activity is supported by document cameras. In the context of this paper, the dialogic reading is understood as part of many pedagogical practices within networked learning, which includes interplays between teacher and pupils or between pupils. The results raise questions about teachers’ motives for literature choices, design, activities, and uses of technology. The analytical tools used in the first study need to be improved, in order to gain a better understanding of the role and function of technology in reading instruction in primary school settings. In addition, complementary empirical data with different foci need to be collected and contrasted with the empirical results from sub-study I. 
Personal Networks Supporting Workplace Learning: A Case Study in the Finnish Defence Forces
Get PDFThis paper is a case study researching personal social networks and their meaning to individual-level learning processes in the workplace. The study was based on the knowledge-creation metaphor of learning. Employees' personal networks are seen as an important component of their learning potential and competence. Methodologically, the paper presents a relatively new technique of Social Network Analysis (SNA), namely, the qualitative egocentric network interview, and a new way of presenting research findings in visual form. The context of the study is the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) and it was conducted in three companies of one brigade-level unit of the Finnish Army. An egocentric network interview was conducted with ten Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO). The interview data was analysed with qualitative content analysis, and the networks were visualised with the Cytoscape software. The egocentric network analysis showed that the people in the same company created a major support structure for the NCOs’ workplace learning. However, nearly all NCOs had important network structures that were formed around their individual expertise and tasks. The networks varied considerably in size and composition, but had certain connecting features. The networks had three main components; one, the personnel of the NCO’s own unit provided important social support. Two, every NCO had networks related to their own specific task, and three, some NCOs had networks formed through various stages of their life that were still active and useful in their current job. The different ways in which the networks enable and support workplace learning are discussed. In addition, some methodological issues of social network analysis are addressed
Affordance of a learning application for supporting student’s development of academic literacy
Get PDFThis paper takes as its starting point the problem area that deals with how students at university can develop academic literacy. One of the methods is through learning technology. This paper examines what affordance a new developed learning technology - the study app - has for developing student learning technology. The RQ is: what are the affordances of a learning application and its integrated design of learning tools in order to support student’s development of academic literacy? The study app is an example of technology enhances learning, where technology supports operational improvement in teaching and learning because students with the study app can experience a ubiquitous learning environment, designed on basis of user studies that are designed to be integrated in student’s everyday life. The question is whether a learning technology also supports the student’s activity oriented toward developing study competences and becoming more academic literate?
The background for this research is a project of development and designing an ICT based learning application for supporting student’s development of study skills. The project is supported by the Faculty of Humanities at University of Southern Denmark and is organized in a project group related to department of Design and Communication. The purpose of the learning application is that it: 1) shall supports students in developing and enhancing study skills, 2) that it is relevant and motivating for users to use, 3) that it a new proposal in relation to existing solutions.
The study is based on Leontiev's theory of activity and its three levels - activities, actions and operations - which provide a systematic insight into the interaction of learners with a learning technology in order to develop their study skills. The paper examines here various learning contexts that are defined as central to study skills and which learning technology seeks to support: a general study competence, a concrete study competence and a link between study and future work. Furthermore, the learning theory on which learning technologies are designed is also examined. The paper concludes with a discussion of technology enhanced learning and which type of enhancement of learning that can be supported by learning technology