Adult students as peer learners Leena Vainio, Research Director HAMK Centre ALT 2012 A confrontation with reality

HAMK University of Applied Sciences Education – Research - Development

HAMK in Finland and in Europe Situated centrally in the greater Helsinki metropolitan area of southern Finland at 7 locations

Teaching and learning TechnologyPedagogy Competencies

Content Is peer learning for adults the way to achieve better outcomes? Formal learning is not enough any more Digital literacy skills demand new ways of learning and teaching

Peer learning is collaboration and communication Motivates and gives meaning Engagement leads to empowerment Sharing Two roles: evaluator and target of evaluation Helps to recognise what is important Trust and respect

Recognising the quality and using that in your own practice

Adults as peer learners ExperiencesContrasts Attitudes Needs Motivation

learning (Charles Jennings) 70 % through experience &practice 20 % through other people Conversations Networks 10 % of learning is formal

Example of peer learning COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT IN A NETWORK ENVIRONMENT, 5 CREDITS The aim of the course is to learn various working methods and possibilities offered by new technologies and social media. During the course, the students practise how to operate in networks in different environments so that they can improve performance and develop their own work and working environment.

Adult students digital literacy skills YearStudent N Beginners % Moderate skills % Experts % % (21)38 % (13)2 % (2) % (18)40 % (12)2 % ( 2) % (11)55 % (14)3 % (2) % (10)62 % (20)6 % (3) % (9)82 % (64)6 % ( 5)

Self organised learning Students take responsibility for their own learning and put this into successful action in their workplaces or in private life

Methods and tools Face-to-face meeting at the beginning Recorded online lessons and learning materials Team project Online meetings Small group meetings just- in-time Individual coaching just-in- time final report and feedback Tools:

Teaching and learning TechnologyPedagogy Competencies

Moodle Kyvyt.fi - ePortfolio Wiki WebEx/AC SecondLife Oskari-portal for students Portal fo staff Online Campus eHops SoleOps Facebook Twitter Ning iGoogle LinkedIn SlideShare Flicker Delicious Diigo Blogger TeamSpeak3 Skype GWMessenger Echo360 Virtual classroom Teacher centred Learner centred CREATIVE TOOLS?

Success rates YearStudent N Beginners % (34) % (32) % (26) % (30) % (50)* * The last group has not yet completed

Feedback “I was a bit confused in the beginning but step by step I started to realize, what is going on. Maybe the confusion in the beginning was due of the fact that teachers gave us “free hands” nothing too structured. I think the learning process is the key point of this course. “ “Despite my deficient personal skills I’ve always been interested in learning more about social media and online working, just have been too shy to try them on my own. That leads us to the best part of this process: learning together with our group and supporting each other in everyone’s’ own learning process. It was also a pleasant experience to be able to advice the other team members at least in some ways.”

Conclusions Peer learning works New practices, channels, networks Connections, collaboration Leading "From the errors of others a wise man corrects his own." -Pubilius Syrus

Skype: leena.vainio LinkedIn: Leena Vainio