PBL and Networked Learning Addressing central challenges and issues in engineering education Thomas (twitter) Professor E-Learning Lab – center for user driven innovation, learning and design ( Aalborg University In collaboration with Aalborg Centre for PBL in Engineering, Science and Sustainability Further: Co-chair of the Networked Learning Conference Editor of the Journal of Problem Based Learning in Higher Education

A new kind of University? Bøgelund. P. (2015). How supervisors perceive PhD supervision – And how they practice it. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 10, Retrieved from

Mode 1 Academia and the disciplines Mode 2 Market-driven Orientation to community Orientation to academia and theory Orientation to Companies and instrumental practice Mode 3 Community driven - An Integrative Approach ICT Explicit PBL skills Leadership Cultural diversity and integration International research and theory External stakeholders Kolmos, 2015

The Aalborg PBL model Problem Based Learning –Based on real-life problems Project Organised Education -Project work supported by lectures and courses Group Work -groups of four to six students -supervised by lecturers/professors Interdisciplinary Studies -Integration of theory and practice -Focus on Learning to Learn and methodological skills University Wide Model - Used in all faculties (with variations)

Problem Analysis Problem Solving Project Report LiteratureLectures Group Studies TutorialsField work Experiment s Problem Based Learning – the Process – 3-4 months

Project work : a major assignment within a given subject-related framework determined for each semester (thematic framework). (15 ECTS) Course work – 3 x 5 ECTS modules with an exam 50 % Students’ use of time - lectures, courses and project work

NETWORKED LEARNING – FROM BROADCAST TO COLLABORATION

THIS! Complex maasive social and personal networks

Changes in the educational technological landscape From hierarchical structures based on courses and topics towards more student centred networks From distribution to more horizontal patterns of exchange – peer-learning From Learning Management Systems (LMS)  Personal Learning Environments (PLEs)

Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) Ego-centric networks formed through e.g. social network sites (facebook, twitter, pinterest) Traversing and harvesting the ego-centric network for information, ideas, and resources (and contributing) The individual person’s ability to form and sustain a personal learning network Many strengths and potentials – but heavily individualised notions of learning underpinning the ideas of PLNs Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) Ego-centric networks formed through e.g. social network sites (facebook, twitter, pinterest) Traversing and harvesting the ego-centric network for information, ideas, and resources (and contributing) The individual person’s ability to form and sustain a personal learning network Many strengths and potentials – but heavily individualised notions of learning underpinning the ideas of PLNs

Mass collaboration Diffuse, uncoordinated mass of people contribute to sustained or more ephemeral constructs Sustained: Wikipedia, Open Source. #nlc2016, Some MOOCs Ephemeral: wild-fire or flash activites – #jegharoplevet – eruptions and burst of hectic activies – short-lived activation of massive networks Many strengths and potentials – but what is the quality of the contributions, how to get an overview, diffuse and chaotic, no joint goal – requires knowledge and literacy to draw from and make sense of (information overload) Mass collaboration Diffuse, uncoordinated mass of people contribute to sustained or more ephemeral constructs Sustained: Wikipedia, Open Source. #nlc2016, Some MOOCs Ephemeral: wild-fire or flash activites – #jegharoplevet – eruptions and burst of hectic activies – short-lived activation of massive networks Many strengths and potentials – but what is the quality of the contributions, how to get an overview, diffuse and chaotic, no joint goal – requires knowledge and literacy to draw from and make sense of (information overload)

Too much online/distance learning is: We have new spaces for networking and collaboration and co-construction of knowledge – however much online learning is: –Replicating traditional courses –Talking heads (video lectures) + quizzes –Largely teacher-centred –Disciplinary and not practice oriented e.g. active learning and problem solving We need to move from pedagogies of broadcasting to pedagogies of collaboration and production

New formats – just one idea How about rethinking courses - moving from online courses to Cooperative Open Online Projects –Solve real-world large-scale problems together –Collaborations (e.g. 12 weeks) between researchers, students and industry to work on particular ”grand challenges” – access to water, climate change, waste management –Cross-cultural and trans-disciplinary teams from e.g. Europe, South America, Africa –Combinations of theory, inquiry, problem solving – theory and methods emerge from the challenges –Online collaborations and remote access to field site via video, case presentations by local students