Group items tagged

Unlike a traditional blended learning environment where those who learn are fed from one source, a learning ecosystem balances those organisms (people) with the environment (organization, culture, tools).

what is the difference between blended learning and creating a learning ecosystem?  Blended learning takes on the funnel mentality.  All knowledge must funnel through the learning department’s people, systems, processes, packages and must be measured in standard ways as it goes through.  If it does not route and measure in these ways it is out of our circle of influence. In a learning ecosystem the environment is created so that learning just happens.  It is a part of work rather than separate from it.  It includes traditional blended learning when appropriate (for each piece does not lose its significance) but the funnel, for the most part, is gone.  Formal learning intersects with social learning intersects with informal learning intersects with traditional learning…

Instead of, “I am going to learning” it is “I am always learning.”

The study found that students who took all or part of their instruction online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through face-to-face instruction

hose who took "blended" courses -- those that combine elements of online learning and face-to-face instruction -- appeared to do best of all

But the positive results appeared consistent (and statistically significant) for all types of higher education, undergraduate and graduate,

Building a Learning Community Palloff and Pratt recommend seven basic steps for building a successful learning community. These include: clearly defining the purpose of the community, creating a distinctive gathering place for the group, promoting effective leadership from within, defining norms and a clear code of conduct, allowing for a range of member roles, allowing for and facilitating of subgroups, and allowing members to resolve their own disputes. The authors caution that it is possible to develop a community that has strong social connections between the students, but where very little learning actually takes place. Thus, it is important that the instructor be actively engaged in the process and encourages students who stray from the learning goals of the course. Specifically, the authors recommend: (1) engaging students with subject matter, (2) accounting for attendance and participation, (3) working with students who do not participate, (4) understanding the signs of when a student is in trouble, and (5) building online communities that accommodate personal interaction. Indicators of a Successful Learning Community You can tell if the learning community is working when you see: active interaction, sharing of resources among students, collaborative learning evidenced by comments directed primarily student to student rather than student to instructor, socially constructed meaning evidenced by agreement or questioning, with the intent to achieve agreement on issues of meaning, and expressions of support and encouragement exchanged between students, as well as willingness to critically evaluate the work of others. Finally, they suggest that the keys to successful learning communities are honesty, responsiveness, relevance, respect, openness, and empowerment. Palloff, R.M. & Pratt, K. (1999). Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace: Effective Strategies for the Online Classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

* Learning occurs in context. * Learning is active. * Learning is social. * Learning is reflective.

How do ubiquitous, visible data impact teaching, learning, and the assessment of learning experiences?  How can we use data to enhance human decisions rather than automate them?

How do ubiquitous, visible data impact teaching, learning, and the assessment of learning experiences?

The challenge is no longer finding information but making it meaningful.

Digital natives and technologies of cooperation are combining to create a generation of amplified individuals. These organizational “superheroes” will remake organizational models through their highly social, collective, improvisational practices and their augmented human capacities. These new models will thrive in a world of social networks; information proliferation, transparency, and saturation; and rapid change. As digital natives enter learning professions, and as existing educators and students become amplified, their extended human capacities will challenge traditional ways of organizing learning and will amplify schools, districts, and other learning organizations. 

 These individuals are highly social, collective, improvisational and augmented. 

Together, these attributes enable several amplified organizational practices - open leadership and sociability, beta building, collective sensemaking, and transliteracy - that support more flexible responses to change and stimulate innovation