Inviting Students to Active Learning

Last week I read an interesting article about learner engagement. The author drew a strong distinction between just “showing up” and truly “active” learning. I have to admit this article, like any other on this particular topic, struck a cord with me.

(Allow me a moment on my soapbox…) All too often we mistake simply “showing up and going through the motions” as real engagement. (Okay, stepping down from the soapbox…)The article last week reminded me of a piece I created on inviting students to be “active” learners. You can check out my article here: Inviting Students to the Active Learning Process. I wrote the article to agricultural educators (I must admit… I am one!), but I think the underlying principles “stick” in any classroom. If you’re a skimmer, like me, then you may want to skip the intro (a.k.a. nice academic stuff…) and head over to the third column on the first page. Start reading after the sub-heading in that column and I think you’ll find the useful information on pages 2 and 3. Enjoy!

Engagement in e-Learning

I just read an excellent opinion article on engagement on eLearn Magazine by Mark Notess at Indiana University (See article.) So often I find that most individuals tend to look at engagement as a “property of the materials.” For example, we add an interactive set of tabs to click through to chunk up the information delivered and call it “engagement.” Yes, this does in some way equate to a form of engagement. It seems to me that “engagement” in e-Learning exists on multiple levels just as it does in a face-to-face setting. At the lowest level you have attendance, a warm body in the room or sitting at the computer. At the highest level you have transfer of the knowledge to a new context. More than likely, to achieve transfer there had to be more than just “attendance.” In some eay the materials should have inspired engaged, minds-on active learners who are constructing knowledge and/or understanding of the subject matter through some combination of methods (i.e. discussion, reflection, collaboration, a task, etc.) As we evaluate “engagement” in our e-Learning modules and courses I try to ask myself, “how well will the ‘engagement’ tactics we chose for this piece translate to active thoughtfulness?” Likewise, in our design work at Vivayic we try to step back and ultimately evaluate “engagement” by determining whether or not the targeted behavior is transferred by the learner to practice in the real world.

Hello World!

This blog is for anyone who’s profession requires them to answer the question, “How do I leverage what I know about learning to design instructional spaces that facilitate learning really well?” 

What’s “the boundary” you might ask? Instructional designers, teachers and trainers work at the boundary of a lot of different conversations. My goal is to create a blog that sits on the boundary of several current, ongoing conversations about learning. The blog will focus mostly on adolescent and adult learners in both formal and informal learning settings, but I hope that individuals who work with learners of all ages can find something here. Expect a rich dialogue that connects you to issues, ideas, innovations and ponderings about our best thinking on facilitating learning in educational settings. Grab a cup of coffee and read on.