As educators we are constantly looking to learning theory to support our choice of how we design our instruction to meet student learning needs. My first 15 years in the field of education was teaching children ages 4-18. After entering higher education I was asked by a colleague if I used Malcolm Knowles theory of Andragogy in my course design. 8 years ago I had never heard of this theorist and researched his work. I found that unbeknown to me, I had been using this cycle within my K-12 instructional design.
After further exploration, I concluded that I used this design process because of the strong correlation to constructionism and constructivism. Although the most current information written about Papert’s view of learning have a copyright in the 1980’s and 1990’s there appears to be a resurgence of this theory with a new bend. The refocus is in the context of distributed knowledge. Research suggests that groups interact based on the ownership of knowledge per each group member. Students are given an experience, asked to reflect and share their learning, share thoughts, correct misconceptions, and generate transfer of content into daily life. Once students have apply their new knowledge, they are asked to revise areas that do not work and reconstruct their learning to meet personal needs. The center of interest lies in attainment of common knowledge through group interaction. All learners need opportunities to simulate the co-presence of knowledge within an intentionally constructed distribution of content. Although the cycle posted above was created to help adult learners hone their skills in higher education, I found this process to be extremely successful assisting student learning in my past practice. The transition from instructional design for children to adults was not difficult. The need to translate this cycle into a digital information sharing format, however was a new experience.
Participating in building a digital commons of knowledge is rewarding in addition to becoming a part of a collective! During the Trends in Instructional Design course, instructors as well as learners were asked to participate in building a commons for learning and sharing ideas. The intent was to create a place for information exchange, building individual capital regarding instructional design, and offering a place for discourse and rejuvenation. A Silent Statements on Ether Pad activity was created to create a distributed system of knowledge sharing. During class, students were introduced to various learning theories. Next, each participant was asked to respond to a divergent question regarding a specific theory. The purpose was to provide an online venue where students used course content to respond to a given question identify the relationship between the selected theory and instructional design process, and to build a common knowledge base for the participants.
The Structure
Theorist: John Dewey 1859-1952
Task: Take a Moment to read the following statement silently. Then begin to add your thoughts about the content placed on this pad. Your focus question is: “What metacognitive implications does this text have regarding learners of today? How will this philosophy work with your future clients?
Restatement of Dewey’s Theory of Learning and Teaching:
John Dewey’s significance for informal educators lies in a number of areas. First, his belief that education must engage with and enlarge experience has continued to be a significant strand in informal education practice. Second, and linked to this, Dewey’s exploration of thinking and reflection – and the associated role of educators – has continued to be an inspiration. Third, his concern with interaction and environments for learning provide a continuing framework for practice. Last, his passion for democracy, for educating so that all may share in a common life, provides a strong rationale for practice in the associational settings in which informal educators work.
Roles:
Learners were directed to posted responses to the stated questions per theory and comment on each others’ posts. The purpose was to engage the learners in an online information exchange that cause reflection, refinement, and ownership of content acquisition. As the instructor, I responded to each participant, asking questions, sharing information, and attempting to challenge individual and group thought processes. We then went through a debriefing of knowledge sharing during our next course session.
Student Response:
This was a new method of learning for these adult learners. Their comfort level was low and frustration high. As the instructor, I reminded the class that participation in discourse was meant to be uncomfortable. When thoughts are challenged and justification for written commentary expected, fear of failure increases. However, once the participants took the risk, comments regarding this exercise in building a distributive knowledge sharing led to a greater understanding of the theories presented in class. In addition, some students have taken this learning strategy and transitioned it into their own instructional design practice.
Reimagining Education 