Abstract:

When considering formal and informal learning, we can see that the way young people today play, interact with others and take part in the surrounding world also represents the way they learn. While young learners in the 21st century are seen as being increasingly independent, simultaneously group skills are more important than ever before. Flexibility and adaptability are key to lifelong learning in a networked society, as are personalised learning opportunities; however, such approaches may be missing from formal education where the focus on standard content, in a drive to measure and assess learning, means that sometimes there is little scope for pupils to participate in school life in an engaging and relevant way. This becomes even more challenging when working with ‘disadvantaged’ young people, who often lack the confidence as well as the opportunities to develop a stronger awareness of the self (i.e. of their personal skills and abilities) in a supporting environment. The application of educational activities to encourage pupils to engage in a learning journey as well as self-reflection while mixing fun with pedagogy through web technologies can be a powerful recipe in the classroom. It not only increases the levels of enthusiasm, it can also boost the pupil’s motivation and help create new ways of fostering learning and class engagement.

This paper focuses on the development of innovative learning activities and teaching and mentoring methodologies as part of the European Project ICONET, where a range of approaches to the recognition of informal learning are being implemented across countries and different target groups. In this paper the authors will consider the recognition of informal learning in the school setting, encouraging personal and joint reflection on formal and informal competencies with the use of web cartoons and micro activities supported by a hands-on, exploratory learning approach. We describe how young people were encouraged to use computers as an effective hands-on creative medium to develop self-awareness and engage in reflection on their own skills and competences. We also explore the advantages of giving learners access to the web and issues to be addressed when working with young learners, reporting on how this experience helped the researchers realize the potential of web-based activities to promote active engagement and reflection to young people. The importance of the presence of the teacher/tutor as a mentor to provide personalized support will also be approached as a key factor for the success of this experience. We conclude with suggestions for future research in the area of web 2.0 technologies, new educational trends and innovative practices as to contribute to creative learning experiences.

Keywords:

innovation, technology, web 2, 0, social learning, iconet.