Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education ISSN: 1759-667X
Special Issue 22: Compendium of Innovative Practice October 2021
________________________________________________________________________
Facilitating informal spaces and discussions in the online
environment (not always) about assessments
Matthew Mesley
University of Plymouth, UK
Keywords: online environment; informal learning; assessments; learning spaces; Covid-
19.
The challenge
During 2021/21, online delivery and support became the norm for Learning Development
practitioners. For some students the online environment in Zoom or Teams was the
primary directed learning space in which subject content and development support was
delivered. This has resulted in students having fewer opportunities to take advantage of
peer-to-peer discussions, or to meet and interact collaboratively in informal learning
spaces – spaces that students increasingly tend to find vital to their learning (Beckers et
al., 2015). Traditionally, informal learning spaces can describe specifically designed areas,
such as those found in university libraries, learning centres, or computer rooms, social
spaces, or cafes. They can also include the learning which might take place in ad hoc
spaces, such as the corridors before or after a seminar and in-between breaks. Within
these definitions, informal learning is often limited to ‘student learning outside of
designated class time’ (Matthews, Andrews and Adams, 2011, p.107). However,
definitions of formal and informal learning spaces have often been contested, and with the
shift from teaching in a physical context to an online environment, the line between these
spaces is increasingly blurred (Colley et al., 2003). Clearly informal learning spaces can
act as a bridge or as a transition to and from formal learning and comprise a continuum of
different learning experiences ranging from informal to formal (Sefton-Green, 2004; Eurat,
2010). As the last year has demonstrated, they can also extend to informal activities
online, such as planned breakout sessions or informal conversations and chat.
Mesley Facilitating informal spaces and discussions in the online
environment (not always) about assessments
Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, Issue 22: Compendium October 2021 2
With this in mind, I wanted to see how these informal or non-formal spaces could be
structured (or be encouraged to develop organically) in an online learning environment,
and how they might be facilitated. As a Learning Developer who teaches academic writing
– a subject that students are often apprehensive about – I wanted to explore how to carve
out informal learning opportunities so that students could ask questions, express the
difficulties they face, and articulate any anxieties they have regarding forthcoming
assessments. Indeed, at a time when many students’ mental health is suffering (Norton,
2021), I wanted to create a space where they could express their thoughts and feelings
about their assessments, and hopefully also share tips and suggestions between
themselves. In other words, I wanted to encourage discussions which became part of the
problem-solving process in which students work out what they need to do for a particular
assessment, or how to go about a specific task. I recognise that such informal learning
spaces are not a panacea, and that there might be a tendency to romanticise them
(Berman, 2020). However, informal online spaces can enrich the overall learning
experience, and act as a buffer against formal online environments such as learning
management systems, providing students with new ways to share ideas, collaborate, and
learn (Czerkawski, 2016).
The response
My main solution for incorporating informal spaces was to begin the majority of my
sessions with an exercise using the Breakout room feature on Zoom, in which students
were asked to talk about their forthcoming assignment. Sometimes I would ask specific
questions, such as what problems or challenges they might foresee with a particular
assignment, or what had they found useful in the past in tackling previous assignments.
The rationale was: (i) to allow them an opportunity to talk to their peers; (ii) to test – without
my presence intruding – for themselves their understanding of what they needed to do with
an assignment; and (iii), begin, if they had not already begun, to view their assignment as
a process which would need to be broken down into parts. This exercise sought to
recapture the informal learning spaces or moments pre-Covid-19, while at the same time
guiding the conversation towards the Learning Developer’s pedagogic ‘bread and butter’: a
more rounded understanding of their assignment.
Mesley Facilitating informal spaces and discussions in the online
environment (not always) about assessments
Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, Issue 22: Compendium October 2021 3
As I ‘jumped’ into breakout rooms, I noticed that conversations sometimes took a different
direction than was planned. For instance, groups of students might focus on a particular
question over another; or the question may have shifted, or a different discussion about
their assessment begun. For example, if the assessment instructions were viewed as
unclear, students discussed what they thought the assessment was actually asking of
them, rather than considering what challenges they might face. In so doing, I reflected that
students appeared to be reassured by these conversations; a collective understanding of
an assignment was formed which then successfully anchored the broader session – this
was frequently on academic writing, using evidence, or critical analysis – to the students’
own understanding of the assessment instructions and criteria. Furthermore, I noticed that
students appeared to appreciate that I had – to use one student’s expression – ‘allowed’
discussion of the assignment. There was clearly a recognition that this kind of space, in
which students could ask questions or articulate any uncertainties between themselves,
were few and far between, particularly if lecturers expected the process of understanding
to take place outside of the formal online environment (Magyar, McAvoy and Forstner,
2011).
Recommendations
Even though my response was initially more intuitive than planned, the positive response
from students highlighted the need for this kind of space. It also benefited me, particularly
with cohorts I was unfamiliar with, as it gave me a snapshot of current anxieties and a
guide to their comprehension of future assessments. In other words, it offered a lens into
how students thought about, and would start to tackle, their assignments. In a couple of
sessions, the identification of any obstacles or barriers they would face was in fact integral
to their assessment; thus, the space both allowed for the articulation of their concerns and
clarified how the problems they faced needed to be incorporated or reflected upon within
their assessment.
Further, the online environment highlighted how essential this kind of space was, and that
potentially this had been overlooked in the rush to move learning online. Personally, I may
also have taken these spaces for granted in my previous teaching. As such, my main
recommendation would be that we reflect, collectively and individually, on how we might
Mesley Facilitating informal spaces and discussions in the online
environment (not always) about assessments
Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, Issue 22: Compendium October 2021 4
be able to incorporate and harness this kind of space in face-to-face sessions, or indeed
what might work best by being kept online. As suggested, this kind of space likely already
occurs within face-to-face environments, but could be enhanced and acknowledged
further. Other questions are worth considering too. How do we plan for these spaces in our
sessions? Is the very potential rooted in offering up the time and space, rather than
incorporating this formally into our work? I would argue that it is useful to guide or facilitate
this space, while at the same time being willing to adapt. Moving forward, I would also
suggest thinking about how we can best evaluate these spaces. Finally, might more be
said about the value of this type of learning in comparison to the delivery of formal
learning, and how can the wider Learning Developer community benefit from this type of
approach?
References
Beckers, R., Van der Voordt, T. J. M. and Dewulf, G. (2015) ‘A conceptual framework to
identify spatial implications of new ways of learning in higher education’, Facilities,
33(1/2), pp.2-19. https://doi.org/10.1108/F-02-2013-0013.
Berman, N. (2020) ‘A critical examination of informal learning spaces’, Higher Education
Research & Development, 39(1), pp.127-140.
https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2019.1670147.
Colley, H., Hodkinson, P. and Malcom, J. (2003) Informality and formality in learning: a
report for the Learning and Skills Research Centre. Learning and Skills Research
Centre 2003. Available at: https://core.ac.uk/reader/91282?fbclid=IwAR0L0R-
L7ll86iGV94Dpp-gtiFxV_QPThXQ4Qn4Y_UrryfznNT81vYYYmBY (Accessed: 9
June 2021).
Czerkawski, B. C. (2016) ‘Blending formal and informal learning networks for online
learning’, International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 17(3),
pp.138-156. Available at: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1102701.pdf (Accessed:
10 June 2021).
https://doi.org/10.1108/F-02-2013-0013
https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2019.1670147
https://core.ac.uk/reader/91282?fbclid=IwAR0L0R-L7ll86iGV94Dpp-gtiFxV_QPThXQ4Qn4Y_UrryfznNT81vYYYmBY
https://core.ac.uk/reader/91282?fbclid=IwAR0L0R-L7ll86iGV94Dpp-gtiFxV_QPThXQ4Qn4Y_UrryfznNT81vYYYmBY
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1102701.pdf
Mesley Facilitating informal spaces and discussions in the online
environment (not always) about assessments
Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, Issue 22: Compendium October 2021 5
Eurat, M. (2004) ‘Informal learning in the workplace’, Studies in Continuing Education,
26(2), pp.247-273. https://doi.org/10.1080/158037042000225245.
Magyar, A., McAvoy, D. and Forstner, K. (2011) ‘“If only we knew what they wanted”:
bridging the gap between student uncertainty and lecturers’ expectations’, Journal
of Learning Development in Higher Education, Issue 3, March, pp.1-18.
https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.v0i3.68.
Matthews, K. E., Andrews, V. and Adams, P. (2011) ‘Social learning spaces and student
engagement’, Higher Education Research & Development, 30(2), pp.105-120. doi:
https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2010.512629.
Norton, A. (2021) ‘Making student mental health a priority’. Available at:
https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/news-blog-and-events/blog/making-student-
mental-health-a-priority/ (Accessed: 5 June 2021).
Sefton-Green, J. (2004) Literature review in informal learning with technology outside
school, FutureLab series 2004.7. Available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/41609
(Accessed: 11 June 2021).
Author details
Matthew Mesley is a Learning Development Advisor at the University of Plymouth and
currently works with students from the Faculty of Health. In a former life he was a medieval
historian, and has written on medieval miracles, sex and gender, Jewish-Christian
relations, and the Crusades. He has an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, a Ph.D.
from the University of Exeter, and is a Fellow of Advance HE.
https://doi.org/10.1080/158037042000225245
https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.v0i3.68
https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2010.512629
https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/news-blog-and-events/blog/making-student-mental-health-a-priority/
https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/news-blog-and-events/blog/making-student-mental-health-a-priority/
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/41609
Facilitating informal spaces and discussions in the online environment (not always) about assessments
The challenge
The response
Recommendations
References
Author details