The principal aim of this study is to explore the relations between work domains and the work-related learning of workers. The article is intended to provide insight into the learning experiences of Dutch police officers during the course of their daily work. Interviews regarding actual learning events and subsequent changes in knowledge, skills or attitudes were conducted with police officers from different parts of the country and in different stages of their careers. Interpretative analyses grounded in the notion of intentionality and developmental relatedness revealed how and in what kinds of work domains police officers appear to learn. HOMALS analysis showed work-related learning activities to vary with different kinds of work domains. The implications for training and development involve the role of colleagues in different hierarchical positions for learning and they also concern the utility of the conceptualisation of work-related learning presented here.
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Abstract Background People with epilepsy and mild intellectual disability have a limited adaptive capacity resulting in difficulties in communication and social skills. Virtual Reality (VR) has the potential to help this group of people to learn how to manage difficult situations. SEIN (Expertise Center for Epilepsy) provides training to the residents to improve their social and communication skills. The purpose of the exploratory study was to establish whether VR could be a suitable digital means to provide a more efficient blended training. Methods Online interviews were conducted with healthcare professionals from SEIN: two coordinators, three psychologists and two coaches. The participants were asked about their ideas for improving the social skills of the residents and their view on using VR to do so. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis approach. In addition, observations were conducted during a training session to get a realistic sense of its process and contents. Observations were noted in a logbook. Findings The participants are positive to use VR in the training but point out that it is not suitable for all the residents. VR glasses were ruled out because it put the resident alone in a virtual setting. VR with a tablet is preferred to allow the residents and the healthcare professional to simultaneously view 3D simulated situations and allowing opportunities to talk about it. The development of VR contents and simulations using tablet will need to take into account relevant VR guidelines dedicated to people with epilepsy. Appropriate training for the healthcare professionals also needs to be provided. Conclusions The use of Virtual Reality in training programs to improve communication and social skills of adults with intellectual disabilities and epilepsy is promising, We advocate to utilize user-centered design and co-creation approaches with all concerned parties for further development of tablet-based VR solutions
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The authors of this article offered training aimed at strengthening the ethical agency of 15 social workers of three Dutch welfare organisations. At the same time, we conducted research into the ethical impact of the training, making use of an adaptation of the Most Significant Change approach (MSC). The participants wrote stories about the most significant change they experienced as a result of the training which we subsequently discussed with care recipients, care providers, and operational care managers. The MSC-stories revealed that the training was significant for the participants, especially to (re)connect with themselves, and with others, as well as to slow down and engage in collective ethics work. At the same time, the learning processes and the learning outcomes diverged, due to individual differences in professional motivation and working conditions. Most MSC-stories show that the training was significant because it helped the social workers to deal ethically with a specific working condition that they experienced somehow as problematic, mostly because it was at odds with their professional motivation. The stakeholders preferred MSC-stories that focus on the impact on professionals as employees, on their relation with service users or on the actual delivered care.
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The model of the Best Practice Unit (BPU) is a specific form of practice based research. It is a variation of the Community of Practice (CoP) as developed by Wenger, McDermott and Snyder (2002) with the specific aim to innovate a professional practice by combining learning, development and research. We have applied the model over the past 10 years in the domain of care and social welfare in the Netherlands. Characteristics of the model are: the interaction between individual and collective learning processes, the development of (new or better) working methods, and the implementation of these methods in daily practice. Multiple knowledge sources are being used: experiential knowledge, professional knowledge and scientific knowledge. Research is serving diverse purposes: articulating tacit knowledge, documenting the learning and innovation process, systematically describing the revealed or developed ways of working, and evaluating the efficacy of new methods. An analysis of 10 different research projects shows that the BPU is an effective model.
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Dit paper is het eindproduct van leerarrangement 1 (Zin in Leren) van de HBO masteropleiding Leren en Innoveren. Het is een literatuurstudie naar blended learning en hoe blended learning kan bijdragen aan een beter leerresultaat van de student.
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Learning objects are bits of learning content. They may be reused 'as is' (simple reuse) or first be adapted to a learner's particular needs (flexible reuse). Reuse matters because it lowers the development costs of learning objects, flexible reuse matters because it allows one to address learners' needs in an affordable way. Flexible reuse is particularly important in the knowledge economy, where learners not only have very spefic demands but often also need to pay for their own further education. The technical problems to simple and flexible are rapidly being resolved in various learning technology standardisation bodies. This may suggest that a learning object economy, in which learning objects are freely exchanged, updated and adapted, is about to emerge. Such a belief, however, ignores the significant psychological, social and organizational barriers to reuse that still abound. An inventory of these problems is made and possible ways to overcome them are discussed.
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This paper will describe the rationale and findings from a multinational study of online uses and gratifications conducted in the United States, Korea, and the Netherlands in spring 2003. A survey research method of study was conducted using a questionnaire developed in three languages and was presented to approximately 400 respondents in each country via the Web. Web uses and gratifications were analyzed cross-nationally in a comparative fashion and focused on the perceived involvement in different types of on-line communities. Findings indicate that demographic characteristics, cultural values, and Internet connection type emerged as critical factors that explain why the same technology is adopted differently. The analyses identified seven major gratifications sought by users in each country: social support, surveillance & advice, learning, entertainment, escape, fame & aesthetic, and respect. Although the Internet is a global medium, in general, web use is more local and regional. Evidence of media use and cultural values reported by country and online community supports the hypothesis of a technological convergence between societies, not a cultural convergence.
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Increasing flexibilisation and personalisation of education creates challenges in terms of students’ social connectedness with each other, with the programme and with lecturers. For this reason, a team of researchers and professors from four universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands carried out research into how a sense of community can be created in learning communities. On the basis of a literature review and design-oriented research, we conducted experiments aimed at fostering social connectedness in eight learning communities. These learning communities were in the domains of Nursing, Healthcare and Welfare Teacher Training, Management in Care, Teacher Training, and Nutrition and Dietetics (part-time, full-time and dual programme variants). The above research resulted in this Social connectedness in Online and Blended Learning Communities guide, which consists of two parts. Part one outlines the seven design principles (focused on content, attitude and preconditions) which lecturers can work with in their role as facilitator. The lecturer can apply these design principles to promote social connectedness in online and blended learning communities, including when flexible student paths are involved. These design principles are supported by practical IT tools and working methods and are widely applicable. The design principles involved are: A. Getting to know each other B. Trust and cooperationC. Shared and common goals D. Willingness to participate E. Programme and instruction strategies F. Sharing information and knowledge G. Resources and preconditions. Part 2 consists of a methodological justification and substantiation of the research underpinning the guide as well as a description of the results and ends with a conclusion, discussion and recommendations for further research.The experiments showed that learning communities that were newly established or had changed in composition after some time mainly opted for design principles A. Getting to know each other and B. Trust and cooperation. Learning communities that had been active for a longer period chose mainly C. Shared and common goals. Further longitudinal and other research is needed to determine to what extent the design principles and the role of the facilitators can be applied in other domains (such as technology, economics, etc.).
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The integrated use of technologies in learning in formal education and training in The Netherlands is far from realized, and there is still a long way to go to reach that goal. But what are the views of students and early career teachers about learning with technologies? This chapter focuses on Dutch research into the expectations and experiences of students and early career teachers as to their views of learning with technologies in education and training. A survey was conducted online, followed by focus group interviews among all groups studied. The most important findings of the research are being presented here. Special attention is given to the use of mobile technologies and the Internet, social networking sites and gaming, bullying, spam and plagiarism, homework and learning, technologies in schools and in learning, motivation of students and the role of teachers.
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This article reports on a study concerning relationships between personality traits and three aspects of Individual Learning Theories (ILTs) on acquiring social-communicative competence: self-perceived social-communicative competence, domain-related learning conceptions and preferred learning situations. ILTs are personal theories, which serve as frames of reference to describe, categorise and explain learning and school-related issues with regard to a particular domain. We investigated relations between personality and three ILT variables for first-, second- and fourth-year social work students. Results show that personality and ILT variables are related. Especially self-perceived competence and personality are related. Autonomy plays the most important role, especially for first-year students. Autonomy also predicts learning situations that first- and fourth-year students favour. Personality is more strongly related to ILT variables for social work students in the first year of their study. For these students personality predicts self-perceived social-communicative competence and preferences for learning situations. For older students, especially the second-year students, personality and ILT variables are less related. Increased insight into the role of personality in ILTs can help to improve education.
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