Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Connected Learning at Virginia Commonwealth University
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Presentation given for VCU School of Social Work on January 20, 2016 on the approach to connected learning promoted by VCU Academic Learning Transformation Lab
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Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Connected Learning at Virginia Commonwealth University
- 1. Theoretical and empirical foundations of connected learning as practiced at VCU Laura Gogia, MD @Googleguacamole – www.lauragogia.com Academic Learning Transformation Lab Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond VA
- 3. Let’s start from the beginning.
- 4. The VCU quality enhancement plan aspires to learning that matters, or generalizable education: “education that has substantial and lasting impact beyond any particular course, major, or degree.”
- 5. The QEP identifies two learning goals: Integrative Thinking & Digital Fluency http://sacs.vcu.edu/quality-enhancement-plan/ Photo Credit: http://graduate.admissions.vcu.edu/why/
- 6. Identified educational approach: Exploring the intersection of connected & open http://sacs.vcu.edu/quality-enhancement-plan/ Photo Credit: http://graduate.admissions.vcu.edu/why/
- 7. VCU: “Learning that matters” Integrative Thinking Digital Fluency Connectivity (Experiential Learning) Open Education Connected Learning Emergence Theory Social Constructivism Connectivism Progressive Education 1. EDUCATIONAL APPROACH 2. LEARNING GOALS Course Design: Openness—Creativity—Participation—Agency Social Learning Knowledge Transfer Constructivism Cognitivism Connectivism
- 8. 3. Pedagogical Strategies Personal Learning Networks E-portfolios Ram Pages ConnectivityDigital Fluency Integrative Thinking 4. Evaluation&Assessment Strategies (for Connectivity) Student Use of Annotation Devices Hyperlinks Embedding Mentions Hashtags In terms of Rubrics Dashboards Network Maps Consistent with Connectivity Learning Outcomes & my research findings
- 9. Educational Approach: Intersection Between Open & Connected Open Education Connected Learning • Edu-Equality and Access • Networked Participation • Self-determined Learning • Active Learning • Authentic Experiences VCU
- 10. OPEN EDUCATION MISSION THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH MISSION: The development & promotion of high quality, democratic, sustainable, & scalable education through open educational resources & practices. (Veletsianos & Kimmons, 2012)
- 11. OPEN EDUCATION MISSION THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH Open educators tend to cite social constructivism Knowledge construction through relationships between individuals; individuals & societies & cultures; individuals & technologies Bruner, 1966; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Vygotsky, 1980
- 12. OPEN EDUCATION MISSION THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH In addition, open education is closely tied to digital technologies. Digital spaces are the default environments of most open education discussions.
- 13. OPEN EDUCATION MISSION THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH The digital nature of open education is supported by emergence theory. (Engelbart, 1963; McLuhan, 1967; Siemens, 2004; Veletsianos, 2010)
- 14. Emergence Technologies: • Co-evolve with the humans who use them • Exist in a state of “coming into being” • Not necessarily new, but not fully researched • Digital networks and pedagogies are examples of emergence technologies because the over abundance of information is altering the way we think learn and act even as we continue to innovate. (Engelbart, 1963; McLuhan, 1967; Siemens, 2004; Veletsianos, 2010)
- 15. OPEN EDUCATION MISSION THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH Open Education Perspective: The integration of the digital into formal learning environments is not an optional thing. Without it, formal learning environments will eventually become irrelevant to the world in which they exist. White, Connaway, Lanclos, Hood, & Vass, 2015
- 16. OPEN EDUCATION MISSION THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH Connectivism is a digitally-situated augmentation for social constructivism Downes, 2006; Siemens, 2004
- 17. Connectivism argues that learning is networked on three levels: • Neural - Dendrites, axons & synapses • Schema - Heuristics for storage & retrieval • Environmental - Social interactions
- 18. OPEN EDUCATION MISSION THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH Networks are embodied by the creation, preservation, & utilization of information flow (workflow) that takes place within & between them. Learners should focus on developing workflows rather than memorizing static content. Barbarasi, 2002; Gleick, 1987; Downes, 2006; Siemens, 2004
- 19. OPEN EDUCATION MISSION THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH Learners must develop capacity to make decisions about filtering, curating, & connecting pieces of information within rapidly shifting environments around them. Downes, 2006; Siemens, 2004
- 20. AGGREGATION: Collecting from the information stream ORGANIZATION: Filtering information to make it manageable ANALYSIS: Understanding implications & critiquing sources REPURPOSING: Synthesizing & transforming information pieces FEEDING FORWARD: Sharing new knowledge to receive feedback & assist others Connectivist Workflow Downes, 2008; Kop, 2011
- 21. CONNECTED LEARNING ALLIANCE MISSION THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH MISSION: To design and advocate for the use of digital technologies in ways that improve educational equity and opportunity for all young people. http://clalliance.org/who-we-are/
- 22. CONNECTED LEARNING ALLIANCE MISSION THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH The Connected Learning approach to student success: • Increasing student engagement • Diversifying pathways to academic & professional success http://clalliance.org/who-we-are/
- 23. CONNECTED LEARNING ALLIANCE MISSION THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH Educators & students must begin to value, discuss, & incorporate student agency as well as student hobbies, passions, & peer activities into formal academic environments. http://clalliance.org/who-we-are/
- 24. CONNECTED LEARNING ALLIANCE MISSION THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH “Learning Lives:” The compilation of informal & formal learning experiences that makes up the student’s learner identity. Kumpulainen & Seton-Green, 2014
- 25. CONNECTED LEARNING ALLIANCE MISSION THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH Ito et al., 2013 “Progressive education for the digital age” Dewey & Montessori Student Agency – Production & Experience Purposeful Interactions with the Environment
- 27. Putting it together: The intersection of open education & connected learning
- 28. Fostering student engagement with opportunities for active & social learning through acts of digitally networked participation. Educational inclusivity & relevance though the integration of informal & formal learning & recognition of the co-evolutionary qualities of digital networks & technologies
- 29. VCU: “Learning that matters” Integrative Thinking Digital Fluency Connectivity (Experiential Learning) Open Education Connected Learning Emergence Theory Social Constructivism Connectivism Progressive Education 1. EDUCATIONAL APPROACH 2. LEARNING GOALS Course Design: Openness—Creativity—Participation—Agency Social Learning Knowledge Transfer Constructivism Cognitivism Connectivism
- 30. DIGITAL FLUENCY Ability to leverage digital processes to develop productive, meaningful, & flexible workflows within & across networks of people and platforms. (Jenkins et al., 2009)
- 31. INTEGRATIVE THINKING Ability to embrace the existence of multiple perspectives & generate creative solutions that move all stakeholders beyond the tensions that lie between them. (Sill, 2001)
- 32. CONNECTIVITY The ability to make connections with people and across concepts, space, and time to create cohesive meaning and inform future action.
- 33. CONNECTIVITY
- 34. SOCIAL LEARNING THEORIES Bandura, Bruner, Harel & Papert, Lave & Wenger, Mezirow, Vygotsky KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2010; Anderson, Krathwohl, & Bloom, 2001) SCHEMA THEORY & THRESHOLD CONCEPTS Ausubel, Bruner, Downes, Meyer & Land, Novak & Canas, Piaget, Vygotsky People Concepts Space and Time CONNECTIVITY
- 35. 3. Pedagogical Strategies Personal Learning Networks E-portfolios Ram Pages ConnectivityDigital Fluency Integrative Thinking 4. Documentation Strategies (for Connectivity) Student Use of Annotation Devices Hyperlinks Embedding Mentions Hashtags In terms of Rubrics Dashboards Network Maps Consistent with Connectivity Learning Outcomes & Research Findings
- 36. What is a Personal Learning Network? Pedagogy Sociology Technology Self-designed, self-initiated systems meant to support life-long learning through the development of digital learning communities A platform for having voice and being significant in a global, multi-way conversation. A savvy use of a combination of search engines, websites, self-publishing, and social networking sites to support information gathering and dissemination. (Ching, Santo, Hoadley, & Peppler, 2015)
- 37. Three ways to think about personal learning networks. People & Topics Digital Platforms Workflow (Cormier, 2010)
- 38. People & Topics in my Twitter Network Digital Scholarship Networked Learning Open Education Connected Learning Higher Education Social Justice Social Network Analysis Strategies Medical Education
- 39. PLN workflow I participate in the Twitter component of a c-MOOC. Through my participation, I become recognized as someone researching connected learning for her doctoral work. I share my mock prospectus slides on my blog (via an embed from slideshare.net) I advertise my blog post on Twitter, using the c-MOOC hashtag.
- 40. I notice a trend in the comments (both on my blog and Twitter) towards an interesting research question. I propose the research question and summarize the comments through a Storify (which I publish on my blog and promote through Twitter). Several scholars express interest; we communicate through google plus and arrange times for regular google hangouts. We collaborate via google hangout and google docs towards a conference proposal and publications. The same people with whom I tweet in the c-MOOC look at my presentation and provide feedback through comments.
- 41. Key Points about PLNs Personal Learning Networks can support a number of public & private, peer & mentoring interactions. These scenarios put people with different skill sets and levels of experience together for rich learning experiences These mentoring scenarios span geographic distances, which can be particularly helpful for marginalized voices or niche interests. They belong to the student not the institution, so they have access to them at all times. Cormier 2010; Ito et al., 2013
- 42. E-Portfolios Digital, electronic, or e-portfolios help students demonstrate coherence and integrated learning while developing a sense for connections, reflectiveness, and intellectual community. Definition Affordances (St. Olaf College, 2015)
- 43. E-Portfolios Definition Affordances Public writing • When students write in public, they engage with the concept of writing for an audience. • The commenting feature of blogging allows for peer as well as instructor feedback on work (Deng & Yuen, 2011)
- 44. E-Portfolios Definition Affordances Embedded, multimodal expression Opportunities for connectivity, creativity, illustration, metaphor, imagery, and the development of aesthetic sensibilities. (Yancey, McElroy, & Powers, 2012)
- 45. E-Portfolios Definition Affordances Hyperlinking Hyperlinks connect the main content of the post with other web documents to provide source, background, or supportive information. (Gao, Li, and Zhang, 2012)
- 46. E-Portfolios Definition Affordances Hyperlinking As students order and re-order, link, unlink, and relink their learning points and accomplishments, unexpected patterns and connections emerge across academic achievements, professional pursuits, and personal interests. (Yancey, 2004)
- 47. E-Portfolios Definition Affordances Categories & Tags Organizing systems that allow bloggers to label, order, or filter and provide options building narrative and forging connections across posts. (Efimova & DeMoor, 2005) )
- 48. 3. Pedagogical Strategies Personal Learning Networks E-portfolios Ram Pages ConnectivityDigital Fluency Integrative Thinking 4. Documentation Strategies (for Connectivity) Student Use of Annotation Devices Hyperlinks Embedding Mentions Hashtags In terms of Rubrics Dashboards Network Maps Consistent with Connectivity Learning Outcomes & Research Findings
Editor's Notes
- Linda asked me to talk about the theoretical and empirical foundations of Connected learning as practiced at VCU - you notice that I add the “at VCU” because as I know you know – context makes a big difference. Our approach is different than others, so as I talk it’s important to remember the “at VCU” is always lingering in the background.
- My slides are available on the internet through slideshare – Linda has that info if you need it. I also have additional resources on a Rampages site – and I’m constantly uploading and adding to it as I make things.
- So…I usually find that the best place to start is at the beginning. And Connected Learning at VCU starts with the Quality Enhancement Plan The QEP is the document used in the accreditation process that shows the accrediting body how the school intends to improve or enhance student learning
- In 2014, the VCU Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) was revised. The revised QEP aims to promote “learning that matters” through institution-wide commitment to generalizable education, or “education that has substantial and lasting impact beyond any course, major, or degree” (VCU Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, 2014, para. 1).
- It identifies two learning goals for generalizable education, specifically integrative thinking and digital fluency – and I’m going to get into those two goals with more specificity in a moment.
- It also states that VCU will attempt to achieve those goals of integrative learning and digital fluency by exploring the intersection of connected learning and open education.
- So today, I want to spend some time mapping out what these things are, where they come from, and how they are supported by the practices promoted by ALT Lab. I’ll warn you now that this is an overview talk and there’s enough content for a couple of these talks. I’m going to be asking questions along the way to see if we can skip certain things or if we need to delve deeper – so please stop me or tell me if something is not interesting to you…we probably won’t get through the whole thing but okay. So…I plan to start the unpacking at the intersection of open education and connected learning and how they can be synthesized to make the general approach to course design promoted by ALT Lab. Then we’ll move to the QEP’s stated learning goals and how they overlap at something I’ve defined in my work as connectivity. We’ll talk about how that’s really a form of experiential learning supported by cognitivists, constructivists and research on social learning and knowledge transfer
- Finally, we’ll discuss the personal learning networks and e-portfolios as ALT Lab’s big picture pedagogical strategies and how blogging and tweeting fit into that picture. I should note here that my research focuses on tweeting and blogging, but Twitter and RamPages are not meant to be a comprehensive representation of the overlap. Twitter is just one way to amplify & augment student blogging; there are many other social media platforms that could do the same. #4 on the slide - not because I think we’ll get to it today, but because this is the actual site of my dissertation research. We need course evaluation and student assessment specific to digital fluency, connectivity, and integrative thinking. My research involves looking at uniquely digital acts to document student performance in terms of the stated learning goals.
- So, let’s start with Educational Approach. What does it mean to be working at the intersection of open and connected? Connected learning and open education are distinct fields of educational research, advocacy, and practice. They evolved in different times, geographic regions, and professional sectors. However, despite their differences, connected learning and open education are propelled forward from and by a digitally networked participatory culture. They share core assumptions about the value of educational equality and access, digitally networked participation, self-determined and active learning, and authentic and relevant learning experiences (Ito et al., 2013; Veletsianos & Kimmons, 2012). The intersection VCU seeks to explore lies within these core assumptions. Let me provide you with a bit more background on each of these fields so you can see what I’m talking about
- Of the two, open education is the more established but sprawling field of study. It emerged from the open and distance learning higher education initiatives of the 1970s, when the humanities faculty, adult educators, and critical theorists who were involved in those movements became interested in the ins and outs of distance education – access, barriers, student experience, and things like that. 40 years later, open education is a global social movement, educational philosophy, and multi-faceted pedagogical approach that focuses on the potential for openly accessible digital technologies to promote high quality, democratic, sustainable, and scalable education (Veletsianos & Kimmons, 2012).
- Many open educators draw from social constructivists as a theoretical basis for scholarship and practice (Couros, 2010). Significant social exchanges for knowledge construction include relationships between individuals; interactions between individuals and cultures, societies, and institutions; and interfaces between individuals and socially derived tools such as language and other technologies that allow for the documentation and sharing of thoughts (Bruner, 1966; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Vygotsky, 1980).
- However, digital spaces are the default environment of most open education discussions. The relationship between open and digital can be interpreted as historical and practical, but a philosophical connection also exists between the two.
- There is a subfield in open education that focuses on emergence technologies. Emergence theory interprets technology broadly to include all human-derived tools, from culture to pedagogy to digital networks.
- It builds on the work of digital pioneers such as Engelbart (1963) who argued that humans and their technologies co-evolve, shaping even as they are shaped by each other. Thus, emergence technologies co-evolve with the humans and the world around them. They exist in a perpetual state of “coming into being,” shifting in concert with the realities around them. Emergence technologies are not necessarily new, but have not yet been fully researched or reached their assumed potential (Veletsianos, 2010). The open educators who study emergence identify digital networks and digitally-situated pedagogies as emergence technologies. They argue that the rapid and abundant information storage, retrieval, and flow through digital networks are altering human action, thought, and learning (Siemens, 2004).
- Because the digital is integrated into our real world lives and co-evolving with us, we must also integrate the digital into formal learning environments, or else those learning environments will become irrelevant to the world in which we exist (White, Connaway, Lanclos, Hood, & Vass, 2015).
- Connectivism is a learning theory that emerged from Open Education in the mid-2000s. While it has not supplanted social constructivism as the primary epistemological basis for open ed, its is highly visible, often as a supplement for social constructivism.
- The connectivist literature argues that learning is networked at three levels – biochemical, schema, environmental.
- Connectivism draws on actor network and chaos theory (Gleick, 1987) to argue that the creation, preservation, and utilization of information flow (i.e. “workflows”) within each level of networks should be the primary focus of learning
- Therefore, connectivist instructors try to find ways to encourage learners to develop the capacity to make decisions about filtering, curating, and connecting pieces of information within the rapidly changing environment around them so that they can exhibit resiliency and innovation in the face of constant uncertainty (Siemens, 2004).
- Connectivist learning activities often mimic the workflow pattern Students begin by aggregating or collecting information from the stream. Then they organize or filter it to make it manageable. Then they analyze and critique information sources and remix the information for the purpose at hand. Finally, they feed their new knowledge product out to the information stream so that they might receive feedback and offer their product to others. We’re about to shift gears towards connected learning, but I want you to take a moment to hold onto some key concepts – specifically the ideas of The digital being a fully integrated part of our learning & lives The importance of workflow The importance of openness to allow for an optimized workflow.
- So let’s shift to the other side of the venn diagram to connected learning. Connected learning was organized in the late 2000s, emerging from mostly U.S., elementary and secondary educational interests (Connected Learning Alliance, 2015). Much of the research associated with it arises from sociology, digital humanities, and communication science fields, and its practice frequently focuses on instructional design for the informal learning spaces of adolescents (DML Research Hub, 2015). Its primary goal is to design and advocate for the use of digital technologies in ways that improve educational equity and opportunity for all young people.
- Citing the large body of educational literature linking student engagement to retention and success, the network’s research branch, Digital Media Lab (DML) Research Hub, defined its task in terms of improving student engagement in academic environments. Previous research demonstrated that engaged students feel a sense of belonging and perceive their education as relevant to their current and future goals; thus, DML Research Hub focused its efforts on developing inclusive learning environments that foster these qualities (Ito et al., 2013).
- Connected learning scholarship characterizes inclusive instructional designs as those which facilitate diverse pathways to academic success and provide multiple entry points for student engagement or re-engagement along the way (Ito et al., 2013). It argues that diverse pathways to success emerge when educators and students begin to value, discuss, and incorporate student agency as well as student hobbies, passions, and peer activities into formal academic or professional environments.
- Connected educators help students explore, develop, and drive their own “learning lives,” the compilation of informal and formal learning experiences that makes up the student’s learner identity. They believe that the recognition and validation of these holistic learner identities lead more students to higher levels of engagement, sense of empowerment, and lifelong learning (Kumpulainen & Seton-Green, 2014).
- Connected educators describe their approach as a form of progressive education for the digital age (Connected Learning Alliance, 2015). They cite Dewey (1916/1989) and Montessori (2013) as inspirations who valued the pedagogical qualities of student choice, experience, and purposeful social interaction. Dewey framed experiential learning through a process of free inquiry; his students learned through designing, executing, and analyzing the results of their own experiments. These experiments were situated in the problems and practices of everyday living. Similarly, Montessori’s (2013) learning environments allowed students to move freely through a variety of concrete, authentic learning experiences in the presence of mixed-aged classmates. The heterogeneous nature of social interaction provided opportunities for informal mentoring relationships to emerge, stimulating even greater discovery learning among all students.
- In 2013, DML Research Hub published a pedagogical framework for connected learning (Figure 2), consisting of three learning principles and three design principles. Core learning principles emphasize the diverse spaces in which youths learn, while the design principles identify specific approaches or strategies for inspiring deeper, more engaged learning. The learning principles, which include “interest-powered,” “peer culture,” and “academically oriented,” are phrased to remind educators how the individual spheres of learning can be tapped to enhance overall learning. Interest-powered refers to the correlation between student engagement and learning activities that relate to a student’s personal interests, hobbies, or other “fun” activities. Peer culture encourages educators to remember that peers are influential sources of information and feedback. Finally, academically oriented reminds educators of the overall goal of their inclusive and connected instructional designs: to channel student-centered activities into learning experiences with academic, professional, and civic merit (Ito et al., 2013). The design principles, which include “production centered,” “shared purpose,” and “openly networked,” refer to experiential, social, and networked learning, respectively. In production centered activities, students actively produce things or experiences for an authentic audience or that meet a real identified need. Shared purpose refers to the power of learning communities, which are collaborative work groups that share a common purpose or goal. These groups work best when participants have heterogeneous skill sets or levels of expertise so that informal mentorships can emerge across a variety of related topics (Wenger, 2000). Ito et al. (2013) present both of these through a digital lens, highlighting the potential uses of digital space for self-expression and social interaction. However, of the three design principles, openly networked is the closest aligned to digital pedagogies, because it refers to the ability of open digital tools to increase learner access to more diverse information sources across settings (Ito et al., 2013).
- So, what does it mean to pull it all together?
- Some VCU faculty have blended the educational approaches of connected learning and open education to promote their own version of educational equity and accessibility, active and social learning, and digitally networked participation. The VCU approach aligns with connected learning and its focus on improving student engagement through more compelling, inclusive, and relevant learning experiences for more students. It interprets educational relevance through both connected and open lenses: courses should facilitate the integration of informal and formal learning and recognize the co-evolutionary, emerging, and augmenting qualities of digital networks and technologies. VCU emphasizes digital learning as active, social, creative, and authentic learning and encourages students and faculty to elevate their digital fluency in terms of developing personal learning networks and digital workflows for the purpose of lifelong learning in a digital age.
- So, before we move into learning goals – are their any questions about what we’ve covered so far?
- Digital fluency implies more than digital literacy, though being able to communicate through digital media is an important component. Rather, digital fluency speaks to underlying habits of mind that support living, working, and being effective in an integrative, networked world. Individuals who navigate digitally networked participatory cultures successfully think critically while contributing to crowdsourced, collaborative, and creative environments. They design workflows that allow for the efficient collection, organization, visualization, remixing, and redistribution of information and knowledge (Kasworm, 2011). They capitalize on their comfort with information saturation to embrace multiple and shifting realities and work towards integrative solutions for the conundrums of the world (Siemens, 2004).
- Integrative thinking is a model that combines creativity, problem solving, and interdisciplinary process. Integrative thinkers have the ability to accept the postmodern reality of multiple perspectives and truths and see past them to generate creative solutions that respect the needs of all stakeholders (Sill, 2001).
- The pedagogical nature of connecting can be conceptualized in terms of Kolb’s (2014) theory of experiential learning. Drawing from the work of Dewey, Vygotsky, Lewin, and Piaget, Kolb argues that learning is a continual, holistic, and creative process grounded in experience in and with the world. He describes learning as a cycle of encountering new experiences, making reflective observations, developing abstract conceptualizations, and experimenting to test these abstractions. Learning can be initiated at any site within the cycle. Since it was first published in 1971, the Kolb model has been used successfully in educational practice and research across a diverse range of disciplines including but not limited to business, healthcare, social services, and education (Kolb & Kolb, 2005). Connectivity draws on the same theoretical foundations as the Kolb model for experiential learning and follows the same cycle: learners document and reflect on their connections, explore them for larger meaning or purpose, consider how that meaning might inform next steps, and use that information to take further steps towards their learning goals.
- 1. Connected learning and open education strategies are rooted in social constructivism and therefore value social interaction as a form of learning. Interpersonal interaction can take a variety of educational forms. Learners might observe and imitate others in their environment and then adjust their behavior based on positive and negative reinforcement (Bandura, 1977). They might engage with instructors in more formalized learning, characterized by such approaches as explicit instruction, facilitation of self-discovery, or modeling of desired behaviors (Bandura, 1977, Bruner, 1966, Vygotsky, 1980). They might also engage with peers who drive learning through the implicit and explicit feedback of peer cultures (Ito et al., 2013) or participate in a variety of formal and informal learning communities (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Students also learn when they interact with people who do not share their values, perspectives, or similar life experiences (Slavin, 1990). Connections with “the other” have the potential to trigger transformative learning through the process of creating a disorientating dilemma, reflection, and discourse (Mezirow, 1991). Even if transformative learning does not occur, the experience of engaging with diverse groups of people offers glimpses of that which was not previously known to exist. Finally, students learn from engaging with others as an audience. The constructionist approach, characterized by Harel and Papert (1991), does not emphasize collaborative knowledge construction as much as intrapersonal development in the presence of others. Constructionists suggest that students faced with performing or creating a product for an audience will learn more deeply because they must externalize their thoughts for the purpose of sharing them. Once thoughts are made explicit, they can be studied, refined, and made sharper through the process (Ackermann, 2001). 77 2. Learning takes place when students are able to connect new concepts to previously established knowledge. When learners are able to make meaning from previously unconnected information, the creative act transforms the information, the learning experience, and the learner. Meyer and Land (2003) describe the connection of concepts as a passage through a series of thresholds that facilitate a movement from superficial to more complex understanding of information. These concepts, which are found in all disciplines and stages of education, are portals that open up new and previously inaccessible ways of thinking about something (Meyer & Land, 2003). The passage through the threshold is irreversible; once students achieve understanding they will not or cannot return to their previous, more simplistic understanding (Cousins, 2006). The pedagogical nature of connecting concepts can also be considered in terms of schema theory. The organization of information into models, or schema, allows for increased memory formation, storage, and retrieval. New experiences are tested against previously held knowledge through a process of pattern recognition. When similar patterns are found, the new experience is added to the selected schema. Either the model (accommodation) or the perception of the new experience (assimilation) is adjusted to make the connections complete and the memory formed (Gruber & Voneche, 1977). Schema theory informs number of widely accepted pedagogical models, including Vygotsky’s (1980) zone of proximal development (ZPD), Ausubel (1968)’s advance organizers, and Novak and Canas’ concept mapping 3. The phrase, “connections across space and time” is synonymous with transfer; it means that students are able to connect their current thinking or experience with experiences that have taken place in other situations, contexts, or time periods. (Bransford et al., 2000). We know ability to transfer is enhanced when students are able connect situated experiences and facts with abstract principles, organizing categories, and cross-disciplinary relationships. We know that emphasizing similarities and differences between scenarios or items enable students to engage in pattern recognition. We know that students transfer knowledge more effectively when they have engaged with the material in a variety of contexts and made connections across contexts. We also know that metacognitive knowledge, defined as “awareness and knowledge of one’s own cognition,” increases a student’s ability to transfer knowledge (Anderson, Krathwohl, & Bloom, 2001, p. 29). Ideally, students are able to reflect on their own learning, diagnose strengths and weaknesses, identify and apply strategies for improvement, and assess their own performance. When students perform these tasks independently, they tend to assess themselves for the ability to transfer knowledge and make any required adjustments to be successful (Bransford et al., 2000).
- *IF WE HAVE TIME* So, can we move on to pedagogical strategies that lie at the intersection of connected and open?
- PLNs are a philosophical approach to social media use supported by connectivism and promoted by open and connected educators. PLNs differ from learning management systems because they are student- rather than course-focused and represent connections across a variety of formal and informal learning contexts (“openly networked”). Because the PLN belongs to the student rather than the educational institution, the social and knowledge capital developed through the network remain with the student between courses and after graduation (Cormier, 2010). Connected learning scholars are particularly interested in PLNs as opportunities for students to connect with people from different contexts. These social networks provide connected educators, mentors, and interested peers with the chance to broker learning opportunities, or introduce students to other people who can provide learning experiences, social connections, or pertinent information and knowledge (Ching, Santo, Hoadley, & Peppler, 2015).
- Digital, electronic, or e-portfolios help students demonstrate coherence and integrated learning while developing a sense for connections, reflectiveness, and intellectual community (St. Olaf College, 2015). They are most often defined as a “set of materials gathered for a particular purpose and audience, and narrated or introduced by means of a reflective text” (Yancey, 2004, p. 94) and are most commonly associated with progressive educational approaches. The digital platforms used in the creation of e-portfolios provide several pedagogical affordances not found in paper-based formats.
- When students write in public, they engage more fully with the concept of writing for an audience. Furthermore, the commenting feature of blogging allows for peer as well as instructor feedback on work (Deng & Yuen, 2011).
- Embedded, multimodal expression. Blogging allows students to embed images, video, animations, audio tracks, and other documents into their writing. This provides additional opportunities for creativity, illustration, metaphor, imagery, and development of aesthetic sensibilities (Yancey, McElroy, & Powers, 2012).
- Hyperlinking. Hyperlinks connect the main content of the post with other web documents to provide source, background, or supportive information (Gao, Li, and Zhang, 2012). In the context of e-portfolios, Yancey (2004) found that as students order and re-order, link, unlink, and relink their learning points and accomplishments, unexpected patterns and connections emerge across academic achievements, professional pursuits, and personal interests. Categories and tags. Tags and categories are organizing systems that allow bloggers to label, order, or filter and provide options building narrative and forging connections across posts (Efimova & DeMoor, 2005.)
- Digital, electronic, or e-portfolios help students demonstrate coherence and integrated learning while developing a sense for connections, reflectiveness, and intellectual community (St. Olaf College, 2015). They are most often defined as a “set of materials gathered for a particular purpose and audience, and narrated or introduced by means of a reflective text” (Yancey, 2004, p. 94) and are most commonly associated with progressive educational approaches. The digital platforms used in the creation of e-portfolios provide several pedagogical affordances not found in paper-based formats. For example, they support broader ranges of creative expression by facilitating the incorporation of video, images, animation, and sound as well as text. Student-authors also use categories, tags, and hyperlinks to make implicit and explicit pathways through the portfolio. As they order and re-order, link, unlink, and relink their learning points and accomplishments, unexpected patterns and connections emerge across academic achievements, professional pursuits, and personal interests (Yancey, 2004). Furthermore, when the connections are developed well, they provide narrative scaffolding to guide the reader’s interpretation of the work (Yancey, McElroy, & Powers, 2012). Public writing. When students write in public, they engage more fully with the concept of writing for an audience. Furthermore, the commenting feature of blogging allows for peer as well as instructor feedback on work (Deng & Yuen, 2011). Embedded, multimodal expression. Blogging allows students to embed images, video, animations, audio tracks, and other documents into their writing. This provides additional opportunities for creativity, illustration, metaphor, imagery, and development of aesthetic sensibilities (Yancey, McElroy, & Powers, 2012). Hyperlinking. Hyperlinks connect the main content of the post with other web documents to provide source, background, or supportive information (Gao, Li, and Zhang, 2012). In the context of e-portfolios, Yancey (2004) found that as students order and re-order, link, unlink, and relink their learning points and accomplishments, unexpected patterns and connections emerge across academic achievements, professional pursuits, and personal interests. Categories and tags. Tags and categories are organizing systems that allow bloggers to label, order, or filter and provide options building narrative and forging connections across posts (Efimova & DeMoor, 2005.)