Abstract Many innovations in education are not completed, even if they are well thought out in advance. One of the main causes is the organization's lack of learning ability, combined with a shortage of teachers' and students' ownership with respect to the renewal of ideas and design. In communities of learners, teachers and students collaborate and learn together in order to shape innovations in their daily practice. Their ability to learn collectively is a key factor in developing a learning organization. So far, insights into how processes of collective learning can be designed effectively, and which critical factors play a role, have been based on limited empirical research. This article's goal is to contribute to the development of these insights, using the results of a study based on 48 cases of collective learning in communities of learners in primary schools and teacher education institutes. The results suggest that although collective learning rarely takes place in most cases many outcomes are created that affect all community members. This leads to the conclusion that some participants create outcomes, not only on behalf of themselves, but also on behalf of others.
Voortdurende maatschappelijke veranderingen en uitdagingen vragen om samenwerking en een leven lang ontwikkelen. Vaak gebeurt dit in learning communities (innovatieve leerwerkomgevingen) waar organisaties grensoverstijgend samenwerken aan complexe vraagstukken. Bruggenbouwers (brokers) hebben een sleutelpositie in het ontwikkelen van deze learning communities om mensen en organisaties met elkaar te verbinden. Een veelzijdige rol die zich moeilijk laat definiëren. Bovendien voorzien organisaties niet altijd bewust in ondersteuning en ontwikkeling van deze bruggenbouwers. Op basis van een mixed-methodsbenadering voorziet dit onderzoek in de behoefte van een generieke rolbeschrijving met zeven vaardigheden. Hierbij wordt de invloed van kennis, ervaring en persoonskenmerken belicht. Bruggenbouwers werken intersectoraal over grenzen van organisaties heen en ondersteunen betrokken professionals en organisaties in hun samenwerking door politiek bewust en strategisch te handelen. Zij stimuleren kennisdeling en vertalen kennis naar diverse betrokkenen en contexten en onderzoeken daarbij de beroepspraktijk systematisch. Deze rolbeschrijving en de gewenste ondersteuning hierin biedt concrete handvatten om bruggenbouwers beter te selecteren, te waarderen en ook gerichter te investeren in hun professionele ontwikkeling. Deze investering is van cruciaal belang omwille van de katalyserende werking van de rol als bruggenbouwer om het voortdurend leren en ontwikkelen bij organisaties mogelijk te maken
GAMING HORIZONS is a multidisciplinary project that aims to expand the research and innovation agenda on serious gaming and gamification. The project is particularly interested in the use of games for learning and cultural development. Gamification - and gaming more broadly – are very important from a socio-economic point of view, but over the past few years they have been at the centre of critical and challenging debates, which highlighted issues such as gender and minority representation, and exploitative game mechanics. Our project’s key contention is that it is important for the European ICT community to engage with design trends and social themes that have affected profoundly the mainstream and ‘independent’ game development cultures over the past few years, especially because the boundaries between leisure and serious games are increasingly blurred. GAMING HORIZONS is a direct response to the official recognition by the H2020 programme of work that multidisciplinary research can help to advance the integration between Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and the Social Sciences and the Humanities (SSH). The project’s objective is to enable a higher uptake of socially responsible ICT-related research in relation to gaming. This objective will be achieved through a research-based exchange between communities of developers, policy makers, users and researchers. The methodology will involve innovative data collection activities and consultations with a range of stakeholders over a period of 14 months. We will interrogate the official ‘H2020 discourse’ on gamification – with a particular focus on ‘gamified learning’ - whilst engaging with experts, developers and critical commentators through interviews, events, workshops and systematic dialogue with an Advisory Board. Ultimately, GAMING HORIZONS will help identify future directions at the intersection of ethics, social research, and both the digital entertainment and serious games industries.EU FundingThe 14-month research project 'Gaming Horizons' was funded by the European Commission through the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.
