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Collaboration
Communities of Learners Redefined: Customized Networks That Impact Learning
12/10/2008
Those educators among us who are familiar with constructivist and constructionist models of learning understand the impact that social learning theory has had on the field. Likewise those of us who are familiar with the application of new technology in learning understand that customization (or "the user") is what drives every structure, every program, and every software function.
It seems, then, that as educators we have a struggle between emphasizing the social nature of learning while maximizing the benefits of each learner becoming more clearly identified in the process. New technology, of course, can help in both aspects, but it is the teaching method that is challenged. I hope that eventually teaching methods will have morphed into a flexible model of instructional design and delivery that I will call "Customized Learner Networks": networks that are both socially constructed and individually driven.
Defining Customization
The idea that digital environments should be customized to suit the user is now the expected norm of the digital world. Users instantly expect to have their own view of whatever the context is fully represented and sustained. Indeed, having to plough through irrelevant and unnecessary information not only discourages the user from the environment but immediately disassociates the user from the environment, which results in a decision to not return. Therefore customization means relevancy for the user.
Taking this idea and transferring the implications to a learning environment, educators should be challenged with the same reality. While we may use technology to mediate instruction, we should also understand that learning environments either mediated or sustained via new technology should provide the same level of relevancy for the learner. That is, the immediacy of the technology (i.e., direct communication, hyperlinked data, searchable references and databases) have resulted in learners expecting those data and links to be highly relevant to their learning and not peripheral to their learning goals.
Of course, this can sound like "spoon feeding" the learner; however, in my opinion, this is direct information and relevant instructional organization and structure. What can be expected then from learners is a meaningful use of the information, an analysis of the information, and, critically, the application of the information to a real-life context of use. In other words, we can expect a higher level of learning from the learner provided we understand and provide customized contexts of learning for their use.
Individual Connections (Initiative)
Learners currently understand the usefulness of individual connections is terms of social networking. Recently, a college student was charged with "cheating" because he understood this concept in preparation for an exam--finding individuals who could help him prepare was something he did not even question.
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