Informal Learning in Social Networks During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

The use of the Internet and social networks have increased dramatically during the COVID quarantine mainly because several activities were moved online. In education, numerous stakeholders stayed at home and their academic plans were modified and adapted to an entire virtual environment. This was the case of a live event (Science Café) whose purpose was to disseminate knowledge through Facebook and YouTube. Thus, this study aimed at verifying if there was knowledge construction in social networks through user interactions by using 1,083 comments posted by the audience. Comments were coded according to validated frameworks for language taxonomy and collaborative knowledge construction. Results show that the predominant interaction is that in which viewers pose questions to speakers. Our analyses also revealed that attendees hardly reached the highest levels of knowledge construction through unguided interaction. Often, user interactions went beyond emotional expressions towards evaluation and therefore, could reach a higher level of knowledge construction. This study shows that social networks may offer informal spaces for deliberation and collaborative interaction with the potential to support learning if guided properly. This research aims to contribute empirical evidence to the growing body of literature that online interactions in informal environments may provide productive learning.

The Social Affordances of Social Media for Informal Learners

“…People tend to use social media for leisure activities (e.g., watching movies) and communication, but many studies confirm that the use of social media has opened new ways of learning. The use of social media as learning tools have increased vastly during the COVID-19 pandemic (Ocaña et al, 2021). Several activities were moved online, and many people have used the potential of social media as a learning resource, while at the same time ensuring that people remain safe and healthy online.…”

“…This study focuses on informal learning a free-choice learning option where learners participate in activities voluntarily (Hsi, 2015). In Informal learning actors play a relevant role as content creators where they not only consume content, but generate and share it for learning purposes (Ocaña, Mejía, Larrea, Analuisa, & Freire, 2021). Informal learning can occur either with or without using social media platforms (Genden, 2018).…”

Algerian secondary school students' preferences for the use of YouTube in their informal learning

“…The statistics show that over 5 billion people use the Internet to access the most used sites, such as Facebook and YouTube [20]. Users access these sites to communicate, interact, and find organizations and communities, pages, and specific content of personal or common interest [3,33]. Internet users can produce information by creating, editing, and sharing knowledge online (e.g., [3]).…”

“…The fast advancements of the information society, as well as the increased production of various types of content, have facilitated self-directed learning and the construction of learning spaces outside academic settings [33,35,44]. Examples of such spaces used in education are flipped classrooms and flipped learning, or informal learning, which can be classified into two related categories of teaching and learning.…”

Online informal learning community for interpreter training amid COVID-19: A pilot evaluation

“…Despite all the difficulties faced by educators suffering from threatened efficacy, the pandemic also brought hope and opportunity for innovations in education and post-pandemic resilience [10]. For example, the combination of informal learning and online education was implemented in pioneering efforts in several documented cases to offset the negative impact of the pandemic [11][12][13].…”