3/11/12 Connected Learning

Connected Learning - a new model
Designed to 'mine the new social, digital domain'
http://hastac.org/blogs/slgrant/2012/03/01/researchers-introduce-new-model-learning
http://connectedlearning.tv/
http://clrn.dmlhub.net/


I was happy to see the introduction of Connected Learning at the DML (Digital Media and Learning) conference this year.  The elements of this idea have been around and talked about quite a bit, but this is a framework that professionals can use and build on.  Importantly, it is not meant to be the 'be all, end all'.  As we work with students to learn, we share our understandings and this model will evolve and emerge.  The MacArthur Foundation www.macfound.org is the leading institution exploring these ideas.


Here are the set of principles of Connected Learning (italics) and a brief interpretation.  


3 Contexts:
Interest-powered.  Research has repeatedly shown that when a subject is personally interesting and relevant, learners achieve much higher-order learning outcomes.
If the learning is interesting to the student, they will be engaged, they will want to experience the learning and therefore learn more more broadly and deeply.  The more they learn, the more they will want to learn, the more they will want to share their learning, the more complicated their understandings become.


Peer-supported.  In their everyday exchanges with peers and friends, young people are fluidly contributing, sharing and giving feedback in web-powered experiences that are highly engaging.
When people can make a contribution to a shared environment, such as a virtual world, they have a vested interest in that environment.  They will be more motivated, more engaged, more interested in sharing their experiences.  They will both learn and support their peers in learning.


Academically-oriented.  When academic studies and institutions draw from and connect to young people's interest driven pursuits, learners flourish and realize their true potential.
Academic studies which connect to young people and their interests can enhance and optimize the teens learning experiences.  For this to happen the academic studies must be able to access the young people and their interests.


3 Design Principles:
Production-centered.  Connected Learning prioritizes the learning that comes from actively producing, creating, experimenting and designing, because it promotes skills and dispositions for lifelong learning, and for making meaningful contributions to today's rapidly changing work and social conditions.
This learning model focuses on learning in highly networked connected environments.  There is user agency in exploration, experimenting with ideas, designing and creating, and publicly shared products.  These activites evolve and emerge from users perspectives and  interests.


Open networks.  Today's platforms and digital tools can make learning resources abundant, accessable and visible across all learner settings.
New media is proliferating, allowing as never before, for production centered activities.


Shared purpose.  Today's social media and web-based communities provide unprecedented opportunities for cross-generational and cross-cultural learning and connection to unfold and thrive among common goals and interests.
Learning occurs around common interests.  The nature of the communities formed around these common interests is changing - the communities can be much more diverse than ever before.  And, that diversity leads to more learning.


Briefly:


More research needs to be done to explore these points.  Lets try this with teens and see where they lead us.  Practice informs research as research informs practice.


These ideas are not discreet.  They are connected.