P2PU

P2PU is an open lab for social learning online that is operated by a grassroots community. We leverage the open web and educational materials openly available online to organize learning outside of institutional walls and give learners recognition for their achievements. We prototype new models and scale ideas that work. We build tools and foster communities. We share everything we learn and invite everyone to build the future of education together with us. 


The problem:

The traditional course model doesn't make sense online. Lectures don't scale the expert and the web doesn't run on semesters. We tried to come up with a better way of learning online by imagining what it would feel like if designed by someones who had never taken an offline courses. We call the result "challenges" but it's really just another term for online courses that make sense. 


Challenges support problem based learning

Challenges start with definition of a complex problem that has multiple possible solutions. Background resources and access to more advanced peer-learners and mentors provide scaffolding for the user's progress. They are complex, often multi-disciplinary, manifest themselves as action-events rather than objects, and give a learner substantial autonomy and purpose in choosing learning activities. 

Challenge facilitate collaboration between users, and boostrap support mechanisms with more advanced users who are available to provide support and mentoring.


(Peer) Assessment is a core skill

Items on most current lists of "21st Century Knowledge and Skills" share some characteristics that make them hard to measure with standardized tests but easy to recognize by peer learners within a community of practice. 

In Challenges users develop assessment skills as a core competencies. The habit of assessing peers' work by giving feedback is an act of "critical friendship" that develops higher abilities of observation and analysis while helping others improve. Users identify and copy acceptable practices and terminology, and they learn to improve their own work by giving useful critique to the work of others. Community badges are one mechanism that explicitley develops review and feedback between users. 


Learning by making (was -> It's a hands on approach)

Users learn most effectively when they are actively making objects that are useful in the real world. The process of "making" something is structured to involve collaboration, allow users to take on different roles (such as guide, innovator, supporter), foster independent research. Ideally it involves prototyping, experimenting, revising, and iterating. The completed objects make it easier for a learner to demonstrate mastery in complex fields. 

[Question -> What does this mean? modeling more than one field of knowledge?] what does it all mean really @.@ > i think it means that they learn different things upon taking different roles// makes sense? ... haha, what does it all really mean! *_*

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"School of Webcraft Pilot: what peers say and what we have learned so far"

change to:

"P2PU Lab Report - Webmaking 101 Challenges: What we have learned so far"

Webmaking 101 is a set of 7 learning challenges that take a complete novice through the basic steps of web development to setting up their first website. (http://p2pu.org/webcraft) We created Webmaking 101 as a pilot for the learning challenges model and offered it without any facilitation. To learn how it went we observed the work users did, conducted a survey, interviewed some of the participants, and analysed our logs, and wrote a Lab Report. Some results:

1. Users liked the experience ... (NO CHANGE)

2. Users were willing to help each other. Roughly 1 out of 3 participants explicitely offered to help others. This means that enough users can be recruited as mentors and tutors to support a growing community of users.

[I took out the badges stuff in 2 because we don't know enough about why they didn't get involved in badge reviews and we only started nudging them very late during the pilot. And took out the badges in 3 because we have no explanation - we are just reporting numbers for now.]

3. Challenges scale. Despite the fact that there was no central support or facilitation, there was a steady inflow of visitors, who signed-up, tackled a challenge, and then volunteered to support our hypothesis that well designed challenges can scale.

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Now what?

Tackle Webmaking 101 -> http://p2pu.org/webcraft

Learn how to make your own challenge -> http://p2pu.org/make-a-challenge

Join P2PU -> http://p2pu.org/get-involved