planet-handheldlearning08

Planet: bringing learning design knowledge to the forefront

Yishay Mor

Handheldlearning, London, Oct. 2008

Note I: Acceleration

The world is changing. Fast. Faster.

Teachers are learners.

Students are researchers.

We are all designers of our and our peer's learning.

Son, this was my dad's mobile. I want you to have it.

Note II: The design divide

the gap between those who have the expertise to develop high-quality tools and resources and those who don’t (Mor & Winters, 2008*)‏

Low cost, mobile, connected devices create a potential of a level playing field – but also an illusion of one.

The critical obstacle to development is not lack of means of production, but lack of knowledge how to use them.

* http://telearn.noe-kaleidoscope.org/open-archive/browse?resource=223

Note III: The void The Prophets will tell you what should be done The Explorers will tell you what they did Current discussion of learning and technology alternates between the abstract theoretical and the anecdotal. In between there is a shortage of design-level discourse. ?

Where am I? What do I do now? You're in a hot air balloon You should find where you want to go and land there. Did I tell about the time I crossed the Himalayas in a Zeppelin?

Wanted: a design science of learning

A science of design has -

A value dimension

A functional axis of decomposition

Attention to representation

(Mor & Winters, 2007)‏

Herbert Simon (1969): we need a scientific study of the man-made. At its core, the science of design. “ everyone designs who devises courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into desired ones ”

The Design Knowledge Problem Expert := one who solves problems in a particular domain Expert := has domain design knowledge Experts do, Consultants talk Experts talk in jargon But..

Solution: sharing stories

Stories (narratives) are a fundamental form of generating / sharing knowledge. (Bruner)‏

Thick descriptions of problems & solutions.

Everyone likes a good story.

http:// www.slideshare.net/yish/case -study-how-to-presentation

But..

Narratives are not enough:

The Aha! Factor

How do we identify the key design element in a story?

The fantasy factor

How do we know its true?

The (cognitive) load factor

The world is changing too fast for us to take in all the good stories.

Design patterns [describe] a problem which occurs over and over again in our environment, and then describes the core of the solution to that problem, in such a way that you can use this solution a million times over, without ever doing it the same way twice (Alexander et al., 1977) ‏ C o n t e x t Problem Solution

Problem Keep the rain out Context Cold, wet, poor. Method of solution Thatched roof Related Timber frame, Slanted roof, Chimney

example: activity nodes Design problem Community facilities scattered individually through the city do nothing for the life of the city. Design solution Create nodes of activity throughout the community, spread about 300 yards apart. http://www.uni-weimar.de/architektur/InfAR/lehre/Entwurf/Patterns/030/ca_030.html

The Planet way

Experience -> narratives -> patterns

How it works

Tell me a story.

The three hats.

What do you see?

Make it a pattern.

Connect, refactor, refine, repeat.

Back to the field: scenarios.

Tell me a story

S ituation

Set the scene (I wasn't there)‏

T ask

What problem where you trying to solve?

A ctions

What did you do?

R esults

What happened?

R eflections

The three hats

Work in small groups

One tells a story, second writes it down, third presents it.

What do you see? After a case story is presented, ask the audience to identify the primary points from their perspective. What is the key message you take from this story?

Make it a pattern When, Where, Who Collision of forces Cookbook: ingredients, procedure, expected outcomes C o n t e x t Problem Solution

Connect, refactor, refine, repeat C o n t e x t Problem Solution C o n t e x t Problem Solution C o n t e x t Problem Solution C o n t e x t Problem Solution C o n t e x t Problem Solution Patterns thrive in languages

Scenarios

The ultimate proof of a pattern language is in its effectiveness as a tool for design.

Ask participants to tell as “fantasy story”: a current design challenge as an “I wish” case story.

Apply patterns to derive solution.

Conclusions

Learning as a design science

Need an Algebra for ↑

Case stories, patterns, scenarios

Work in progress but promising results so far.

Come to our workshops!

Thank you The pattern language network project: http://patternlanguagenetwork.org Participate: http://snipurl.com/planet-workshops Yishay Mor http://www.lkl.ac.uk/people/mor.html yishaym@gmail.com This presentation http://www.slideshare.net/yish/planethandheldlearning08-presentation/