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Consider what Anderson means when he describes the attributes of learning in terms of being learner, knowledge-, assessment- and community-centred. How might we use technology if we are thinking about creating learning environments that exemplify these attributes?

We should not rely on traditional teaching methods when integrating technology into the classroom. It isn’t the technology itself that is improving student learning and motivation but the affordances that the technology allows. Shank (1993) as cited by Anderson suggests that technology allows students to make their own meaning by guiding their own learning (as cited by Anderson, 2008).

I found it interesting that Anderson (2008, p. 47) described learner centred contexts as meeting “the needs of the teacher, the institution, and of the larger society that provides support for the student, the institution, and often for a group or class of students, as well as for the particular needs of individual learners. When we are considering implementing technology in class, we can refer to this quote which leads to questions like:

• Does the teacher need professional development?
• Does the technology fit within the schools budget?
• Can the school maintain and update the technology in the future?
• Is there IT support?
• Will the students learn useful skills from using this technology?
• Does the technology build upon students’ prior learning?
• Can students direct their own learning with this technology?

The vastness of the Internet is overwhelming. Therefore, knowledge-centred online learning provides appropriate content at just the right time along the learning journey. This means providing enough content for ideal learning to occur but not too much that drowns the learner (Anderson, 2008).

The focus of assessment should be “to motivate, inform, and provide feedback to both learners and teachers” (Anderson, 2008, p.49). This would mean going beyond marks by reporting on progress and suggesting ways to encourage learning. Assessment should be the responsibility of the community of learners with self and peer assessments as well as teacher feedback.

Community centred learning replaces competition with collaboration. Students have much to gain from the “expertise of peers and external experts (Anderson, 2008, p. 49) Technology can improve upon classroom discourse by breaking time and space boundaries. Thus, a community of online learners has the potential to be very diverse which would offer a multitude of perspectives to challenge each others’ thinking about particular concepts. Discussion boards allow for students to reflect meaningfully and participate as often as they like. Public postings of assignments follows the notion that “two heads are better than one” where students build new knowledge together instead of replicating the same response.

What kinds of interaction will we need to create?

“The greatest affordance of the Web for education is the profound and multifaceted increase in communication and interaction capability” (Anderson, 2008, p. 54). Anderson (2008) refers to three common interactions in distance education as discussed by Micheal Moore (as cited by Christenson & Menzel, 1998) which were: interactions:student-student; student-teacher and student-content Anderson then added: teacher-teacher, teacher-content, and content-content interaction (Anderson & Garrison, 1988).

Examples of Interactions

-student-student – student-led teams present learning outcomes in project format

-student-teacher – teacher welcomes students

-student-content – “immersion in micro-environments, exercises in virtual labs, and online computer-assisted learning tutorials” (Anderson, 2008, p. 58).

-teacher-teacher – professional development opportunities

-teacher-content – updating content based on course evaluations

-content-content – tagging and RSS feeds

And how might our networks extend the contexts into which our educational institutions reach beyond the traditional and isolated space of the classroom?

Wilson (1997) as cited by Anderson (2008, p. 51) states that online communities create a “shared sense of belonging, trust, expectation of learning, and commitment to participate in and contribute to the community.” Online communities allow all members to participate equally whereas certain personality types may be overbearing in the traditional classroom. As stated previously, these networks may be culturally diverse, thereby contributing multiple perspectives. Students can instantly access an array of online resources and experts to draw upon. Overall, online learning has the potential to be more effective because it allows students to engage at a deeper level after mindful reflection about the topic.

Anderson, T. (2008). “Towards and Theory of Online Learning.” In Anderson, T. & Elloumi, F. Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Athabasca University.