Learning in Context

1. Learning in Context George Siemens www.elearnspace.org www.connectivism.ca

2. Nature of Learning • Climate in which learning occurs • Network creation (neural and social)

3. Learning • About • To do • To be • To transform

4. Monochromatic • Assuming that our current view is accurate all (or most) of the time • Ignoring nuanced nature of learning, life, and situational specific aspect of intended learning • Assumptions: • Each learning approach serves a unique function • Each learning experience provides different affordances

5. We’re going “know-where” “Know-where” is more important than “know-what” and “know-how”

6. Know where…

7. Connected Specialization • Content • Social (collect knowledge in my friends (Stephenson)) • Learning approach • Multi-dimensional • Multi-faceted • Multi-contextual

8. Learning as a process, not event

9. Formal Learning • What: • Courses • Programs • Degrees • Defined by “established knowledge” • Structure imposed by experts in advance of learning • Why: Structure, serve stakeholders, focused • Good for: initiating learners who are new (foundation building) • Ineffective: when learning “at the point of need” is required

10. Experience/Game-based Learning • What: • Problem Based Learning • Ill-defined learning targets • User defines process and space • Adaptive, flexible • Why: Experiential (learning as a by-product of other activities) • Good for: real life challenges • Ineffective: if foundations are not in place (or the learning experience (as games) needs to provide foundation)

11. Mentoring/Apprentice Learning • What: • Personal • Guided and facilitated by “expert” • Why: Accelerate personal performance • Good for: personal, relevant knowledge/learning • Ineffective: foundation forming, “high-bandwidth”

12. Performance Support Learning • What: • Learning at the point of need • Can rely on other learning approaches • Why: Point of need, competence, assistive • Good for: short, focused learning • Ineffective: Developing foundations of a discipline

13. Self-Learning • What: • Meta-cognition • Learning about learning • Learning that is personally driven • Why: Learning for pleasure, personal competence • Good for: Exploring areas of personal interest • Ineffective: How do learners know what they need to know?

14. Community-based Learning • What: • Diversity • “wisdom of the crowds” • Social/dialogue • Why: create multi-faceted view of a space or discipline • Good for: dialogue, diversity of perspective • Ineffective: foundational, “high time requirement”

15. Informal Learning • What: • Conferences • workshops • colleagues • Why: Serendipity, constant, ongoing, “in the stream” • Good for: Continual, ongoing, multifaceted • Ineffective: Chaotic, not always valued, scattered

16. How do the pieces fit?

17. Various types of learning • Challenge: • how to integrate various perspectives, learning, etc. • How do we create the whole? • Tools don’t exist yet • Still modeled after classrooms

18. Conversation, not Content

19. Tools for the Task

20. What’s wrong with courses? • Courses can’t keep up with life today • Courses project start/stop learning • Schools need to transform/be transformed by a particular era/culture • Courses are “one-model” views (formal)

21. Stop building courses • Start building learning spaces that enable learning • Provide learners with knowledge skills to learn for life • Teach learners how to build a personal learning network • Assist learners to build conduits not consume content

22. Learning Ecology

23. Learning Ecology

24. Determining the approach • Intended outcome • Nature of the learning task • Match task with appropriate medium • Consider profile and needs of learners • Meta-learning elements required (are we trying to teach content or process?) • Diverse tools/spaces/ecologies

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