Highlights and Sticky Notes:
- Yes, if you’re talking about lifelong learners etc. but many students take a very ‘instrumentalist’ approach to learning so they will almost exclusively focus on the assessment outcomes – jim pettiward
Learners themselves will seek and
acquire needed elements.
- Again, this is all dependent on the student’s motivation – what they are learning and why. – jim pettiward
Creating networks and permitting
learners to form their own connections is more reflective of how learning
functions in real life
esign processes need to be utilized
to capture the value of alternative learning formats.
Instead of seeing instruction as the
only object of design, a designer’s perspective can be enlarged
by seeing the environment, availability of resources, and learner capacity
for reflection, as potential objects of a design process and methodology.
“…the assumptions that the students are adults, self-motivated,
accountable for their own learning, should be respected, as well as exercise
control over their learning outcomes…”
“learner-centred”,
throwing the term around as if it should be implicitly understood
ndependent learning requires that
people take responsibility for their own learning. Individual responsibility
stems from the belief that learning can be affected by effort, and this
belief is the critical factor which leads to individuals’ perseverance
in the face of obstacles.”
- that’s fine, but this describes a minority of learners in Higher Ed in my experience. What about those who don’t have this type of ‘learning maturity’? – jim pettiward
Traditional ID models attend to transmission through focus on
explicit learning objectives, content analysis, content sequencing, and
blueprinting the instructional flow. This model has particular value in
creation of courses, programs, and workshops. The instructor (due to activities
of the designer) is kept at the centre of the instructional process.
Education is constructed with start and
end points (courses, programs, degrees).
- For massive, formalised education, is there currently a viable alternative to this model? Probably not. – jim pettiward
Reflection and cognition provide
learners with the capacity to explore new realms.
esigners also seek to improve
the abilities of learners to manage and navigate knowledge resources.
- e.g. helping our learners to build their own PLE/PLN – jim pettiward
Connectivism (Siemens, 2004) and constructivism are the learning theories
that most adequately inform the nature of acquisition learning.
The designer’s role in this domain of learning is to create
the construct and opportunities for learners to pursue and provide for
their own learning.
f course-based learning is out of date for today’s learner, what
is the alternative?
The design process can then be seen as focusing primarily on one domain,
yet still accounting for aspects of another domain. For purposes of espousing
a theory, four distinctive domains are used. In actual design situations,
a designer will likely select aspects of each domain to create the optimum
learning resource.
A new model of learning design also requires new tools and processes.
Many of these tools are already in use in a subculture of internet users.
The tools are characterized by: sociability, collaboration, simplicity,
and connections. Blogs, wikis, RSS (Really Simple Syndication), instant
messaging, Voice over IP, and social networking applications are gaining
increased attention in progressive organizations.
Most significant
is the ability to combine formal and informal learning. Informal learning
is experiencing growing recognition as a critical component of most organizations.
Many colleges speak of life-long learning; yet only form
relationships with learners for two to four years. The bulk of learning
for most people will happen in their work environment. A unique opportunity
exists for education providers who are prepared to modify themselves to
attend to learner’s needs for a lifetime.
earning is created as guideposts, not directions.
The constructs of the ecology permit individual learners broad movements
based on personal interests and motivations (but still within the larger
organizational parameters created by the designer to serve a specific
outcome).
The image of being a learner almost creates a
preconditioned response of passivity.
Some transitory stage is required to move
learners from passive consumers to active knowledge creators.
- Perhaps as learners move through a degree they can be encouraged along that path so that when they leave HE they are better equipped as lifelong learners… – jim pettiward
Letting go and opening up to serendipitous, learner-centred
learning is not an easy task. For many educators, it will evoke an identify
crisis. After several experiences with alternative learning formats, the
liberation of not having to have all the answers, but rather guiding learners
towards answers, is an intoxicating (and motivating) revelation.
aking a panoramic view of learning, and accounting for unique facets
and domains, equips a designer with numerous approaches and methods. Instead
of only transmitting learning, educators begin to create structures and
networks that will foster a lifetime of learning and learning skills.
Learning is a continuous stream, rather than a dammed up reservoir.
Designers no longer create only instruction
sequences. They must create environments, networks, access to resources,
and increase the capacity of learners to function and forage for their
own knowledge.
Learning design is primarily about creating guideposts
Most learners
pursue self-created objectives.
his notion has some merit, but
falters in that the objectives for learning are determined by the designer,
not the learner.
the climate in which a
learner can choose to learn
A designer’s first
task is to evaluate the nature of the learning required. Different knowledge
needs require different models or approaches
Tags: ocTEL
by: jim pettiward
