The Learning Point of Entry
This article was inspired by the excellent post by Ryan Tracey, Instructivism, Constructivism or Connectivism, in which he explains the three historically diverse approaches to instructional design and how they are connected.
- Instructivism encapsulates the traditional and older approach, in which an expert or teacher delivers information to a learner.
- Constructivism promotes learning by helping an individual build his or her own meaningful experiences.
- Connectivism states that learning is organic, occurring in a self-organized network based on seeing connections between diverse and constantly moving sets of information.
Tracey makes the point that the three approaches are not mutually exclusive and instead, complement each other.
These three approaches can also explain how an individual gets involved in the act of learning. By understanding the diverse ways that people are drawn in to the learning experience, course developers can expand their repertoire of offerings, from structured online courses to promoting online networks.
The Connectivist Point of Entry
For example, Person A may inadvertently enter an informal network of knowledge. This could happen while eating lunch with coworkers or by seeing the title of a magazine article. Suppose the topic at lunch turns to Twitter (the life-streaming blog). The topic catches Person A’s attention; she feels a spark of interest and is motivated to find out more. She performs a search on the Internet and reads blog posts and wikipedia entries to better understand how Twitter works. She asks her friends why they use Twitter and how they benefit. This individual entered the learning space through a Connectivist model.
The Constructivst Point of Entry
At a conference, Person B attends a discussion group about the advantages of using Twitter for small businesses. While listening to the panel discussion, Person B begins to connect the dots. As his understanding grows, unique ideas about using Twitter for his business begin to emerge. Person B has manipulated the information so that it is meaningful to his experience. This person entered the learning space through a Consructivst model.
The Instructivist Point of Entry
When Person C hears about Twitter, she goes directly to YouTube to search for a “How To” video. The video is produced by a Twitter expert who presents a structured step-by-step tutorial on the benefits of Twitter, its protocols and how to start using it. Person C quickly learns how to sign up and starts sending out tweets. This person entered the learning space through the Instructivist model.
How individuals enter the learning space can depend on their learning style, the information set, their goals, and seemingly random circumstances. As designers of online learning, we can support all points of entry.
If you liked this article, pass it on to a few instructional philosopher types.
