Presented on Tuesday 6 September at NCVO Campaigning Conference 2016.
Peter Bryant, Head of Learning Technology and Innovation, London School of Economics and Political Science
Tim Hughes, Open Government Programme Manager, Involve
Nick Davies, Public Services Manager, NCVO (chair)
If you would like to find out more about our training and events, visit our website at https://www.ncvo.org.uk/training-and-events.
PM1: Open sourcing – using digital channels to make policy collaboratively
1. Exhibitors:
Sponsor:
OPEN SOURCING – USING
DIGITAL CHANNELS TO MAKE
POLICY COLLABORATIVELY
CHAIR:
NICK DAVIES
PUBLIC SERVICES MANAGER, NCVO
SPEAKERS:
PETER BRYANT
HEAD OF LEARNING TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION,
LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL
SCIENCE
TIM HUGHES
OPEN GOVERNMENT PROGRAMME MANAGER,
INVOLVE
2. Hacking the UK Constitution
Peter Bryant @peterbryantHE
Head of Learning Technology and Innovation
London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
Crowdsourcing democracy and learning in a messy, fragmented world
3. The PROPOSITION
• Deliver a written constitution that was crowd
sourced by a representative community
• Ensure that it clearly represented the will of the
people
• Do it before the May 2015 election
• Make sure it was civil and engaging
• Provide an educational experience that did not look
like or work like a course in constitutional law
7. ‘…it’s through participation in communities that
deep learning occurs. People don’t learn to
become physicists by memorizing formulas;
rather it’s the implicit practices that matter most.
Indeed, knowing only the explicit, mouthing the
formulas, is exactly what gives an outsider away.
Insiders know more. By coming to inhabit the
relevant community, they get to know not just the
“standard” answers, but the real questions,
sensibilities, and aesthetics, and why they
matter.’
BROWN, J. S. Learning in the digital age
14. Combination of learning approaches
Integrating participatory practices
Engaged individuals and groups
No readings, no course,
No lecturer, no teacher, maybe a guru
No sequence, enter at any time
Learning was an expectation
Learning through practice, debate and citizenship
What we built
https://www.flickr.com/photos/leolondon/451273331
15. Where we finished
over 1500 users;
over 725 idea submissions;
over 125000 idea views;
over 10000 comments;
over 25000 votes cast;
an 8500 word constitution;
from more than 1m words written.
Over 75% learnt something and 88&% were influenced by the community
Participation went up across the project not DOWN https://www.flickr.com/photos/stephen_downes/1470015134
19. ‘Social media has facilitated a complex, co-created and immediate form of
learning response, where content and openness challenge the closed,
structured nature of modern higher education. Social media has had
significant impacts on the way learners connect with people and with the
knowledge they require in order to learn across a variety of contexts. Social
media support more than user interactivity, they support the development and
application of user-generated content, collaborative learning, network
formation, critical inquiry, relationship building, information literacy, dynamic
searching and reflection.’
BRYANT, PETER (2015) Disrupting how we ‘do’ on-line learning
through social media: a case study of the crowdsourcing the
UK constitution project.
20. What happens when you empower a community to learn and
engage in social change?
Does this build an informed digital citizenry?
Can this be more than civic engagement? Problem solving,
capacity development or change?
And that’s what is next…
40. Tips
1. Have a clear process
2. Leave some flexibility for changing circumstances
3. Combine online and offline
4. Apply the rule of thumb for internet culture
Notas del editor
Lots of caveats and learning points:
1500 Users
Conversion rate of 9.35% is impressive – 100/(15991*1497)
Possibly higher, once taken into account single user + multiple devices
Geography
England ~89%
Scotland ~ 7%
Wales ~3%
NI <1%
Gender
70% Male
30% Female
Age
18-24 – 8.6%
25-34 – 23.53%
35-44 – 15.01%
45-54 – 17.19%
55-64 – 13.02%
+65 – 22.65%
700 Ideas - duplicate ideas, conflicting ideas, irrelevant ideas:
Voting resulted in ~50% sift of ideas
Engagement stats are good:
20% of total sessions >10mins
9% of total sessions >30mins
45% of sessions >5page views,
28% >10
20% >15
16% >20
Massive was at the core of the design
Redefine what massive means
...in number.
...in representation.
...in activity.
...common experience
How do you leverage the massive as more than a number? How do realise that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts?
earning elements of project not obvious, but visible to user & essential to success:
76% had expectations of learning elements
75-85% learned at least a little about topic areas, 51% some or a lot
88% were influenced by community discussion in their contributions / responses (22% often, 66% sometimes)
50% changed their mind on how citizens can engage in / collaboratively create change in politics
60-80% gained at least some skills, 40-60% somewhat or a lot
strong association between being influenced by community responses and gaining skills → the model at work?
further tests needed, but data points towards learning as crucial to engagement strategy & success of project
Many MOOCs are massive only in terms of numbers
How do you leverage skills and experience, along with collective intelligence and debate?
Using the massive to engage in ‘Open Social Research’ and informed learning
No beginning or ending/opening the structure
Opening knowledge and learning to the community
Digital citizenship as open as the modes of engagement
Opening the academy
Embracing non-linearity
Open/open not open/closed