Live to learn.: Learner to Learnist in Education

Saturday, 13 October 2012

Learner to Learnist in Education

I have started using Learnist recently. Learnist is a social learning and networking site that allows boards to be created around different areas of interest. Learnist is still in beta-version and is invite only. However, many uses of Learnist in schools have already been highlighted, from organising materials, to keeping students up-to-date, to engaging with experts in particular fields, etc.

So is Learnist pretty much the same thing as Pinterest? Learnist is very similar to Pinterest, but its central focus is learning. Despite its focus, I also find Learnist has distinct advantages over Pinterest. When I initially started using Pinterest I had great enthusiasm for it and blogged on some of its potential uses. However, after using Pinterest more regularly I expressed frustration with technical issues on it. What is frustrating with Pinterest is that it is very difficult to pin a website on a board when there is no picture on that website, especially when many websites that do not align with Pinterest. The websites either do not have a picture on their pages or the pictures that they have are not big enough for Pinterest.

What is useful about Learnist is that it lets you pin a website to a 'board' and then search for an image to go with that website, i.e. the picture and the website are not tied together. The 'board' on Learnist looks more like a list so the layout is visually different from Pinterest where you can see multiple pins at once. The website that you have linked to from Learnist can also be read on Learnist without having to open up a new page to go to that website. You can also tag what you post on Learnist so that it will link with similar material that another user may have posted. In this way you may discover new material on your area of interest.

You can also reposition your posts on Learnist once you have them pinned to a board (something that cannot be done on Pinterest). For example, I have created a board 'Research - wikis' and posted a number of article links and their abstracts. I then decided to re-order the articles by their year of publication. I hope to add more article links and abstracts to this board over the coming weeks. For these articles I used the front cover of the article as a picture and failing that, I used a picture of the article's author. The latter type pictures look a lot nicer!

Finally, Learnist allows you to share your posts easily to other websites such as Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIN, Google+, etc. Easy posting to other websites is great for people who have already invested significantly in Pinterest, as they can move pins easily from Learnist to Pinterest.

Like my initial reaction to Pinterest, I am optimistic to see how Learnist will develop.

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Publications

Follow me on ResearchGate for up-to-date information on new publications.

Donnelly, D.F., & Hume, A. (2015). Using collaborative technology to enhance pre-service teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge in science. Research in Science and Technological Education, 33(1), 61-87. doi:10.1080/02635143.2014.977782 [Link]

Donnelly, D. F., Linn, M. C., & Ludvigsen, S. (2014). Impacts and characteristics of computer-based science inquiry learning environments for precollege students. Review of Educational Research, 84(4), 572–608. doi:10.3102/0034654314546954 [Link]

Donnelly, D. F., McGarr, O., & O’Reilly, J. (2014). “Just be quiet and listen to exactly what he’s saying”: Conceptualising power relations in inquiry oriented classrooms. International Journal of Science Education, 36(12), 2029–2054. doi:10.1080/09500693.2014.889867 [Link]

Donnelly, D. F., & Boniface, S. (2013). Consuming and creating: Early-adopting science teachers’ perceptions and use of a wiki to support professional development. Computers & Education, 68(1), 9-20. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2013.04.023 [Link]

Donnelly, D., O’Reilly, J., & McGarr, O. (2013). Enhancing the student experiment experience: Visible scientific inquiry through a virtual chemistry laboratory. Research in Science Education, 43(4), 1571–1592. doi:10.1007/s11165-012-9322-1 [Link]

Donnelly, D., McGarr, O. and O'Reilly, J. (2011). A Framework for Teachers' Integration of ICT Into Their Classroom Practice. Computers & Education, 57(2), 1469-1483. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu [Link]

Donnelly, D., O'Reilly, J. and McGarr, O. (2011). Building blocks for PCK: A conceptual framework to support Shulman’s original construct. Proceedings of European Science Education Research Association (ESERA), Lyon, France, September 5-9. [Link]

Donnelly, D., McGarr, O. and O’Reilly, J. (2011). The promotion of scientific inquiry in Irish post-primary schools through the use of a virtual chemistry laboratory: Implications for teacher education. Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2011 (pp. 3638-3645), Chesapeake, VA: AACE. [Link]

Donnelly, D., O'Reilly, J. and McGarr, O. (2010). A Practical Approach to the Promotion of Inquiry in Chemistry in Irish Post-Primary Schools: a Virtual Chemistry Laboratory. Proceedings of London International Conference on Education (LICE), London, 6-8 September. [Link]

Presentations

Vitale, J.M., Libby, G.F., Donnelly, D.F., McBride, E., & Linn, M.C. (2015). Comparing teacher use of logistic and conceptual indicators to guide online science inquiry. Paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Chicago, IL, April 16-20.

Gobert, J.D., Sao Pedro, M.A., Linn, M.C., Donnelly, D.F., Buckley, B., & Ketelhut, D.J. (2015). Next generation learning and assessment environment for science inquiry practices. American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting, San Jose, CA. February 12-16.

Linn, M., Gerard, L., Donnelly, D., Krajcik, J., & Lester, J. (2014). Navigating to NGSS success: Identifying a research agenda, DR K-12 PI Meeting, Washington DC, August 5-6.

Donnelly, D.F., & Hume, A. (2013) 'Pre-service teachers' perceptions of a wiki to support Content Representation (CoRe) design' in Australasian Science Education Research Association (ASERA), Wellington, New Zealand, July 2-5.

Donnelly, D., Boniface, S. and Hume, A. (2012) 'Supporting New Zealand Teacher Professional Development Through CoRes and PaP-eRs On A Wiki' in International Conference on Chemistry Education (ICCE), Rome, Italy, July 15-20.

Donnelly, D., O’Reilly, J. and McGarr, O. (2011) 'The Promotion of Scientific Inquiry in Teachers’ Practice through ICT: Affordances of a Virtual Chemistry Laboratory' in World Conference on Educational Technology Researches (WCETR), Nicosia, Cyprus, July 6-10.

Donnelly, D., O’Reilly, J. and McGarr, O. (2011) 'Facilitating scientific enquiry in Irish post-primary schools through the use of a virtual chemistry laboratory' in FACiLiTATE conference, Dublin, May 26-27.

Donnelly, D., O'Reilly, J. and McGarr, O. (2009) 'A Virtual Chemistry Laboratory for Irish Post-Primary Schools' in Educational Studies Association of Ireland (ESAI) Conference, Kilkenny, April 23-24.