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Wikis in Plain English - a useful & fun video

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SHTM Teacher's Wik

Student Orientation in Second Life - Video

Virtual Destinations

Some interesting introductions to Second Life tourism and travel destinations

Old junk into new home

One of my childhood dreams was living on a boat – in the UK it would have to be a narrow boat on one of the rivers or canals – and I discovered to my pleasure and delight that living on the water was possible in this amazing island off the coast of Southern China. Hong Kong is probably one of the most affordable places in the world to rent or own and live on a houseboat, surprisingly, when rents for houses and apartments here are among the most expensive in the world. My wife May and our daughter April have lived together on a houseboat in Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter (see location picture) for the past five years. The typhoon shelter, or one of the five marinas here, are great places to moor a boat.

Turning old junk into something of value is certainly a challenge. In January this year we sold our original boat and bought a second-hand, 20-year old Chinese junk built with Burmese teak. Previously a weekend pleasure boat for company jaunts, complete with karaoke room and beer table, we have converted it to a very comfortable home, by restoring the old teak and rebuilding the interior. Not only did we manage to create a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home with large kitchen-diner and living room, we also have a spacious rooftop and front deck to barbeque and entertain friends in the sunny weather. In addition, we can up anchor if we want to, and sail out to some of the most deserted bays and beaches around Hong Kong. Excellent beaches are scattered among the coves, inlets, and many outlying islands, and water activities includes fishing, diving, sailing, motor-boating, and windsurfing.

Hong Kong has a long maritime history. Before the British colonized the ‘barren rock’ in 1842, it was a haven for pirates on fast sailing junks who robbed passing merchant boats and hid in the many coves and inlets around Hong Kong and its 234 outlying islands. Chinese junks were first developed during the Han Dynasty, around 200 BC, and were efficient and sturdy ships with advanced sail plans (they could sail into the wind with their junk rig) and hull designs that were later adopted in Western shipbuilding. The traditional Hong Kong sailing/fishing junk was later modified as a weekend pleasure boat for corporate parties with inboard diesel engines and no sails.

We purchased this old junk for around US$12,000. It had been patched up over the years, but under the paint and varnish it was very rotten, as rainwater had penetrated the hull and infrastructure and left it in poor shape. However, we saw the potential of a 50-foot boat with living space for a small family. We decided to buy it, and spent the past 8-months doing renovation work, restoring the original teak structure and refitting the interior to make it liveable. We have just moved in, and are happy with a home that still feels like a boat, drives really well and gives us a spacious home on the water.

The restoration meant gutting the most of the interior and rebuilding. The main structures were sound, but the hull and decks were rotten. Almost every time we removed paint or varnish we found hidden wet rot. We ended up replacing around 30 percent of the decking and the major cost was the ship's carpenter and wood for the decks and interior. We started by gutting the boat, removing rotten wood and replacing wood on the roof, decks and hull to make it watertight. When this was done, we rebuilt the master cabin, bathroom and fitted a new kitchen (May loves to cook). We then moved in and continued work on the rest of the interior.

Problems living on the boat are minimal in our view. Typhoons can be a bit scary, especially the major ones that hit the island in the monsoon season from June to October. However, the typhoon shelter has been built to protect boats, and apart from strong and noisy wind and rain, we have not had to abandon ship for the shore. We are moored in a row, and rope up to our neighbours to maintain stability in the storm. Maintenance of a wooden boat is one of the major challenges, as the humidity, strong sun and rain do affect the varnish and wood. We take the boat into the shipyard every 6-9 months for cleaning below the waterline, antifouling, and to touch up the woodwork where needed. May is very good at caulking and varnishing, so she does the routine work before it gets in need of major repairs.

Transport to and from the shore can sometimes be a little erratic, depending on the time of day and weather, but we plan to buy a motorized dinghy in case of emergency. Everyday our daughter takes a sampan (water taxi) to the shore and picks up her bus to school. Many sampans ply the harbour, and some of the owners are on call day and night by cell phone! Practical issues include getting connected to shore power, fresh water and telephone line. An ex-fisherman friend supplies ours and other houseboats with these utilities connected by undersea cables from his workshop on the shore. We also have a landline telephone cable with wireless Internet, and of course local TV. We have heard of a couple of people who have also fixed up dishes to receive satellite television!

We have fitted out ‘Watermark’ with modern appliances. The bathrooms both have domestic shower units with fibreglass shower trays to keep the bathroom floors dry, and we installed electric toilets. In addition, we decided to have a normal kitchen designed and made in China. This includes a full domestic oven, hob and dishwasher, and is fitted into an area with non-square corners and sloping floor (originally designed to allow water to run off the decks). There is lots of storage and work space, so it makes cooking a pleasure. When we had the bed made, the carpenter didn’t allow for a 10 percent slope on the floor, so we end up half way down the bed by the morning! We plan to buy some Chinese recycled rustic wood furniture for the living room and study which will fit in well with the antique wooden look of the boat. We can have furniture made to measure in Macau (about one hour away by ferry) at a cheaper price than Hong Kong and includes free delivery.

Watermark is now a unique home. Old wooden Chinese junks are reasonably cheap to buy here, and moorings are sensibly priced by the government. Houseboats are a realistic alternative for those of us who have no desire to live in a small apartment in the crowded and polluted city – and pay crazy rents! Obviously the warm weather here helps, along with boat-friendly government policies, natural harbours, provision for sailors and boat owners – these all make it feasible to live on the water. Very hard to go back to the land after the freedom of the seas – after all, if the neighbours are noisy we can move away in a few hours, and we don't have to put up with traffic, vandals or other land-based problems. All-in-all, a very civilized existence, and one we would recommend, despite the small problems of barnacles, typhoons and the occasional transport problems.

e-Portfolios for Learning

There has been a lot happening with e-portfolios recently, and they are a great tool - quickly moving to becoming more than a store of artefacts and more like a living diary. Elgg (the Learning Landscape) and OSP are two open source options available and are very comprehensive. They give the user a place to gather and develop their own resources, as well as share and collaborate with others.

I liked the response by Helen Barratt in e-Portfolios for Learning to a question about assessing portfolios. She commented that "the portfolio should be theirs (the student's) to assess. If anything you (the teacher) assess their assessment." Students are encouraged to have goals for their portfolios, and therefore can learn how to rate them according to criteria that they develop individually or with other students.

An excellent article from Educause titled, 'Beyond the Electronic Portfolio: A Lifetime Personal Web Space' The writers' put the case for a model that provides "a personal Web space for everyone, for their lifetimes and beyond." I had begun to think about e-portfolios as more than documents for storing resume and artifacts, and as lifelong archives, to use, share and develop. Beyond this life, got me thinking about the importance of leaving an intellectual legacy of our ideas and personal records for others.

I noted too that there are many e-portfolio developments going on, including open source Sakai and a Blackboard version integrated into WebCT.

There seems to be divergent thinking between the institutional e-portfolios and the personal/educational portfolios over who should control them - institutions or the individual student. It must be the student, otherwise it becomes just another assessment instrument and loses the power to become a life-integrated communication tool.

Finally here is an excellent diagram from the Elgg people on the Conceptual Framework for E-Portfolios.

Keywords: e-portfolio, learning landscape, open source, personal web space, sakai

PolyU Virtual Campus

So we launched the programme yesterday with a fireworks display in the Square. Now the fun starts!

Some of my favourite education quotes

"Great teaching requires taking risks. It comes from leaving behind methods that are familiar and comfortable, and trying new ones that may seem strange and ill-fitting. It comes out of being dissatisfied with what is merely adequate, and aiming for that which could be truly amazing." (from San Francisco State University, Center for Teaching & Faculty Development)

"Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel." - Socrates

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow." Albert Einstein

add some more:

Connected Classroom

An interesting angle on education today!

Teaching with Second Life

This semester the School of Hotel & Tourism Management is providing an orientation programme in a virtual world.

We have developed a virtual campus – PolyUSotel – in a 3-D world called Second Life. The aim is to help students get familiarized with their new study environment and learn some study skills and life skills. In PolyUSotel, students assume a personal 3-D character (avatar) to explore the virtual PolyU campus and team-up with other students in a series of safe, competitive and structured activities.

There will also be virtual consultation sessions with teachers and senior students from the School. We will provide both a social environment where new students can meet with others, as well as some serious games where students can discover their preferred learning styles, find out how to be an 'active' learner and learn techniques to manage time and handle stress etc.

The programme will run for 4-5 weeks during September and October 2007. For further information see the website.

Educational uses of Second Life

A good resource on how educational virtual worlds are developing, with examples.

One project is Paluma Bay Resort, a virtual holiday resort. Undertaken in 2006, the GippsTAFE Victoria's (Australia)'Virtual Worlds – Real Learning!' project explored how Second Life could be used to achieve real life learning outcomes. Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) students completed their 'Work Related Skills' unit by 'becoming' the staff at the Paluma Bay Resort.

The basics of Second Life for Education

Educational options for virtual worlds

Sample of University Second Life Campus

Games in Education

Games in Education video created by Mark Wagner and Michael Guerena of the Orange County (CA) Department of Education's Educational Technology group. They have given permission to post.

Connectivism

George Siemens has raised some interesting ideas around how people learn - connected rather than disconnected - networked not independently. His article Connectivism: Learning as Network-creation (10 August 2005) has stimulated a lot of discussion, and is particularly topical for e-learning as it seeks to define itself in the 21st century. He states that the networked age has changed the way we learn, "Behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism are the three broad learning theories most often utilized in the creation of instructional environments. These theories, however, were developed in a time when learning was not impacted through technology. Over the last twenty years, technology has reorganized how we live, how we communicate, and how we learn. Learning needs and theories that describe learning principles and processes, should be reflective of underlying social environments." (Siemens January 2005)

Learning and learners are changing partly due to the influence of technology and the access to knowledge. Learners are now becoming more expert at finding knowledge as well as having knowledge. Learning is taking place all the time, and should be 'life-long' as well as integrated with life and work. The separation of learning from other aspects of life has broken down - learning can really take place continuously. Mobile devices make this achievable, and the abundance of available digital knowledge makes it a continuous part of our experience.

enough for now...

The Design Phase

Introduction

Having analysed the users, environment and possible content of the courses for academic staff involved in course conversion and tutoring online, this discussion focuses on the course design and development.

Reading some of the recommended literature and other resources, I am clearer about the approach to the course design that I believe will make the course useful and relevant. In particular, the audience need an approach that is both andragogically sound as well as practical and applicable to their daily teaching. The instructional design theories set out by Jonassen (2005) were very useful in giving some variety to the approaches. I particularly liked his ideas about the ‘Constructivist Learning Environment’, which seemed to embrace a variety and mix of qualities that should lead to engaging and meaningful learning.

Downes (2005) extends this further by suggesting that teaching (and learning) do not really take place through lecturing and demonstrating but through “the creation of an environment into which the learner is immersed”. Siemans (2004) introduces ‘Connectivism’ which sees learning no longer as an internal or individualized activity, but the ability to plug into our internal and external networks, so we learn what we need for tomorrow rather than relying on what we know today.

Crawley (2004), suggests that many teachers in higher education are “ill prepared, practically and psychologically, to embrace and utilize e-learning, and often unconvinced of its value in their teaching.” Many faculty have reluctantly entered the e-learning arena because their institution or department have installed a learning management system and they are expected to use it. From my observations in my own institution, the LMS is used primarily as a website from which students can download lecture notes. Schlusmans et al (2004) argue that although e-learning can radically change the outlook of education, a radical change requires more than using email and Powerpoint presentations on the web, but “a complete rethinking of the educational system.” These are some of the challenges we face in our university as well as in our School.

The Design

The drivers at our School for the utilization of eLearning are at the moment practical rather than pedagogical. The challenge is moving staff from using technology for storing and disseminating course notes to using collaborative discussion tools and other communication devices. At our annual staff retreat in August, we considered the impact of larger student numbers, more subjects/courses in a broader curriculum, as well as the move from 3-year to 4-year degree programmes. We discussed the need to find ways to use technology in teaching to help with both the quantity issues and the need to enhance teaching and learning quality. During further discussion with individual staff, there was some concern expressed about the use of technology, the practical issues as well as the expectations of students.

Staff generally felt that they did not know how to use the LMS, to work as an online tutor or to develop eLearning materials. Therefore one of the priorities is to provide staff development in these areas. One of the ways to try to overcome staff reluctance to attempt eLearning was to introduce a new user-friendly learning platform and help staff and students use it. (The major barrier found to using technology in teaching was the unfriendliness of the PolyU LMS - WebCT 4.1). In late August we introduced “Moodle”, an open source course management system based on the social constructionist approach to online learning design. We had already provided an introduction to teaching staff, through a series of demonstration sessions in the summer. We then set up a number of subject areas and ‘enrolled’ students.

Progress in the first four weeks of the semester has been good. Seven staff are now offering courses hosted on Moodle, and so far 480 students have self-enrolled for 13 subjects.

The design of the proposed programme follows:

Course Title: Online Teaching Toolbox

Overall aim: To develop teachers’ skills so that they are confident to offer more online teaching methods

Course objectives:

1. To enable teachers to provide a stimulating virtual learning environment for students
2. To enable teachers to adapt or redesign their courses for online delivery
3. To enable teaching staff to use the tools available on the LMS to facilitate students’ learning

Supporting Standards

• Referenced to standards in online design and tutoring (European e-learning and IMS Standards)
• Referenced to other academic institutions
• Adapted to Asian/Hong Kong/ Chinese culture & learning traditions
• Taking account of hospitality and tourism programmes overseas.

Target Learners

• Academics in the School of HTM at Hong Kong PolyU
• Teaching assistants and other who have teaching responsibilities
• Course designers

Teaching & Learning Methods

Key strategies will include:

1. One-to-one coaching
2. Classroom demonstration
3. Hands-on workshops
4. Online coaching and collaboration
5. Online simulations

Design Approach
The design of the courses should be:

• Modular – units should be designed as reusable learning objects or RIO’s
• Flexible – units can be studied when it is convenient to staff
• Units should be able to be completed in 15-20 minutes.
• The pathway should be random not linear.
• Applied, but with a sound pedagogical base to underpin each unit.

Short interrelated topics will be developed that can be clustered according to staff needs and requirements. For example, a communication tools cluster, a course conversion cluster etc. There will be a core of key units that underpin the philosophy and pedagogy of the whole course, and these should be completed by all staff. However, because the courses will be designed primarily as online units, with the option of face-to-face sessions, they could be accessed in a random manner and teachers could opt for their own menu of units. (See Project Proposal for details of units).

Assessment Strategies

No formal assessment will occur. However, formative assessment, using feedback and providing on-line help will be available.

Evaluation

Evaluation should be ongoing. The course should make adjustments and respond to participants’ needs and concerns rather than a fixed agenda. Feedback should be incorporated into version two of the course. The course will be offered on an ongoing basis to accommodate teachers’ schedules and needs.

Conclusion

The courses above should be able to be developed using a constructivist approach, and using a mix of media. The courses will scheduled, but individual units will be available on a roll-on, roll-off basis. It may be possible to reproduce all the units (including classroom sessions) as online learning objects, to include demonstration and simulation.

References

Downes, S. (2005, Jul 1). Are the basics of instructional design changing?. Message posted to Stephen's Web, archived at http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=6 Retrieved on 18 September 2005

Siemans, G. (2004, Dec 13). Connectivism: a learning theory for the digital age. Message posted to elearningspace, archived at http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/archives/001874.html Retrieved on 17 Sep 2005.

Jonassen, D. (n.d.). Welcome to the design of constructivist learning environments(cles). Retrieved Sep. 18, 2005, from http://tiger.coe.missouri.edu/~jonassen/courses/CLE/

Crawley.J, Shrouded in the mists of someone else’s vision – Teachers using Learning Technology in Post Compulsory Education, Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference. September 2004, Retrieved Sep 18, 2005 from http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00003709.htm

Schlusmans, K.H.L.R., Koper, E.J.R., Glesbertz, W.J., Integrated eLearning, Chapter 9, Work processes for the development of integrated eLearning courses. (pp 126-138). London: RoutledgeFalmer, 2003. Chapter retrieved Sep 20, 2005 from http://dspace.ou.nl/retrieve/99/workprocesses.pdf

The Analysis Phase

THE BEGINNING
The analysis phase of any learning programme can be often underdone or neglected - as it takes time and thought to do it well, and can often throw up unexpected or unwanted issues. The sponsor, subject expert or course designer may not be too happy to know that the course they had planned, that staff or students 'needed' is not actually what the learners wanted or actually needed! In business or industry this usually means that the project sponsor (often the HR director or department manager) pays the money and gets the course he or she wants.

If the in-company project manager is open to ideas and works closely with the instructional designer the project can be successful both in its development as well as in its outcome, and benefit the company and the learners. A business focus usually means the learning programme is performance-based and certain learning outcomes are expected, and these are reinforced or rewarded (by internal recognition, certification or by other means). So business programmes normally take a behavioural approach.

Other higher level programmes may stimulate learners to take more responsibility for their learning path, and have more of a cognitive constructivism approach, including criticizing, synthesizing and analyzing. But normally, unless the learning contributes to the business and to the bottom line, these aspects may not always be included in the learning design.

THE MECHANICS
My experience of working with industry has helped me see the value of careful analysis. I have worked with other people's training needs analyses, and I have conducted my own analyses, normally in collaboration with HR people. I usually enjoy this phase of any project, as it is a discovery, an insight into the company or business, a chance to meet the actual learners, and involves communication and interaction. The techniques I have used have varied depending on a certain factors:

• The size of the target audience and their accessibility
• If I have access to performance reviews or other documentation
• If I have access to trainers, supervisors or others.
• If I can review critical incidents, reports or other records.

The tools I have used included:

• Surveys - based on a questionnaire sent to the target group, their supervisors or trainer – (quantitative)
• Focus groups - face to face discussion on the participants perceived training needs (qualitative)
• Telephone interviews - on a one-to-one basis (qualitative)
• Direct observation of job performance or functions (qualitative).

Nunan (1988) makes a distinction between product-oriented and process-oriented course design, where product-oriented design focuses on the knowledge and skills learners should gain as a result of the instruction, and process-oriented design which focuses on the learning experience itself. This leads me to look at the analysis stage of course design for my current work which is back in the world of education rather than industry. However, many of the ideas I used in industry are still very relevant to the analysis phase of academic course design too.

THE PROJECT
My major upcoming project is to plan, redesign and re-engineer a taught MSc in Hotel & Tourism Management offered by the School of Hotel & Tourism Management (SHTM) at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Siemans (2002) has said that, ‘Elearning is the marriage of technology and education, and most often, the instructional designer's greatest role is that of "bridging" concepts between the two worlds’. So I have been thinking about the factors that will affect the design of the course or programme, and what should I take account of in the analysis phase?

In an academic context I am learning there are many complex and interwoven factors, internal and external that will affect the learning design of any course or programme. Most striking to me is that industry is quite straightforward compared to a public university. In industry - the one that pays the money calls the tune. But in academia it is not the students/customers who call the tune, but the government (who sets the quotas and provide funding), the institution (who set the policies and the infrastructure for course delivery, assessment etc) and the instructors who decide how, and sometimes what they want to teach. 'The existing policies and procedures of the institution in which the web-based classroom is based can present some of the biggest hurdles in the classroom's development,' according to McCormack (1998).

Having come from an instructional design & consulting role in industry to a university, I found my original ideas on course design being transformed by my environment. No longer could decisions be made on the telephone, I needed to recognize the slow and cumbersome academic decision-making processes which might sometimes take years! I also needed to understand that decisions were more a collegiate than an individual event. Consultation takes time, requires reflection, discussion, cogitation - and often a decision may just not be made at all. So lesson one, talk to as many people as possible, assemble many views and perspectives and try to gather them, so that consensus can possibly be achieved.

So my original perception that I could take existing course contents (lecturer’s notes, slides and materials) and convert them into online courses soon went out of the window. Not only would this not be appropriate – it would probably not be effective. I found that I needed to consider a number of new and more nebulous and challenging issues. I needed to realise that planning and preparation takes a lot more time than I was used to and extensive consultation needed to really happen. Porter (2004) agrees that, 'Although planning cannot eliminate all the gremlins from online courses, it can help establish a sound educational outline for each course and meet the needs of learners with different learning styles and preferences.'

THE INITIAL ANALYSIS
My first step was a review of current e-learning initiatives in the university and the School. Second was an initial survey of 24 full and part-time MSc HTM students to try and help me to understand some of their attitudes, perceptions and ideas about learning online. Third was to explore the views and ideas of academics in the School to understand their perceptions, problems and experiences. Here are some of the things I discovered:

1. The learning tradition. Around 95% of our MSc students are from Hong Kong or Mainland China. The remainder are either expatriates working in Hong Kong or students on scholarships or exchange programmes from overseas. The Confucian values of teaching are quite strong in Hong Kong and Mainland schools, with a very didactic method of teaching. This tradition continues through undergraduate education in 'Greater China' and often online learning is not seen as 'real teaching or learning'. Implication 1 = most students seem to prefer face-to-face teaching, though the survey indicated that students recognized the value of online learning.

2. The culture. Go almost anywhere in Hong Kong and China and you will notice that young people like to meet, talk, eat and do activities in groups. This is a very social culture, and influences the way students like to study and learn. Implication 2 = Most Chinese students are social creatures - they like to be with other students, study in groups and have a group identity, so establishing a group identity, group relationships and group work in online learning will be very important.

3. The technology. In some parts of China the range of online learning media would be constrained by technical limitations such as access to broadband internet, as well as access to computers in some instances. Implication 3 = Any online learning materials need to be less resource hungry for Mainland China.

4. The teachers. A traditional university like PolyU, in the context of a traditional culture, is like trying to move an elephant with a spoon. It takes time for the wheels of university governance to move, and it takes time to persuade busy teachers, with heavy workloads to consider 'other' activities. Teachers are also the owners of their courses, they need to see that technology can help, not add to their workload. Therefore faculty need to have demonstrated to them the efficiency and effectiveness of online learning and teaching. Good models and exemplars need to be developed so that teachers want to employ technology to enhance teaching and help their workload. Implication 4 = Teachers are one of the keys to unlocking the door to online learning in a traditional university.

5. The support. Strategic planning and commitment from senior management is essential. Resources to support and assist teachers in course redesign and development, technical help and instructional design expertise need to be made available. Implication 5 = Support from senior management, ownership by teachers, underpinned by adequate financial, human and technical resources are essential.

SOME COMMENTS FROM SURVEYED STUDENTS

1. I prefer a combination of online and taught classes because as a part-time student, it is sometimes very hard for me to attend classes on the campus after work.
2. How about the handouts? Will the lecture notes be provided online as well? One of the advantages for the online teaching is that learning can become more flexible in choosing my subject.
3. Online learning is a good idea.
4. I prefer tradition classroom-based education to online education, because online classes cannot make direct contact with the teachers and teaching materials. However, I agree with online exams because it can save time and money for arrangement.
5. Online learning has one very big shortcoming, lack of interactions between the lecturer and students. Mixed mode, therefore, can be considered.
6. Learning online is difficult for many people as it takes a lot of discipline for keep yourself motivated to keep up to date on readings & assignments.
   
7. Some things just cannot be taught online. Human contact is a must and learning in the class is a huge advantage rather than learning through reading text on a screen.

References:

Chapnick, S. (2001). Research Dog eLearning Readiness Assessment. Retrieved Aug. 7, 2005, from Research Dog Web site

Kaur, K. (2004). An Assessment of E-learning Readiness at the Open University Malaysia. Paper Presented at International Conference on Computers in Education 2004, Retrieved August 2, 2005

McCormack, C. (1998). Building a web-based education system. 1st ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Nunan, D. (1988). Syllabus design. 1st ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

O’Brian, E. (2004). Training needs analysis - the first step in authoring e-learning content. Presented at the 2004 ACM Symposium on Applied Computing, Retrieved Aug 8, 2005

Porter, L. (2004). Developing and online curriculum: technologies and techniques. 1st ed. Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing.

Siemans, G. (2002). Instructional Design in Elearning. Retrieved Aug. 10, 2005, from Elearning Space Web site: http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/InstructionalDesign.htm

The influence of learning theories on the method of 'instruction'

(Photo: Some doctoral students from Prince of Songkhla University, Phuket, visiting us in Hong Kong during their studies at PolyU...in front of the Jumbo Floating Restaurant)

How does learning theory affect the way we teach, and the methods and materials we use? A fairly simple description to help me see how they influence learning design, starting with Behaviourist learning theory, with its focuses on repetition and positive reinforcement. This theory has influenced many computer-based training courses, and takes a fairly linear learning approach to training course design. Behaviourism is perhaps the most influential theory of the 20th century (though it was used by Aristotle and others over the last couple of millenia too!)

Cognitivism, influenced by Bruner (Discovery Learning) and Vygotsky (Zone of Proximal Development) emphasizes exploration and problem solving, where the learners set their own learning goals, and teachers facilitate the learning and provide the environment for discovery. This theory has emerged in the age of distance learning and online learning and owes something to Socrates and other great thinkers.

Constructivism, influenced by John Dewey and Malcolm Knowles, among others, suggests that knowledge is socially constructed, interactive and dialogic. Constructivism sees teachers as only one component of the learning process, other students and the individual themselves create their own education, as they draw on prior knowledge and assimilate this with new information. The teacher becomes the guide and co-learner with the students.

Finally, an interesting learning theory put forward by George Siemens, and what he calls Connectivism. Connectivism which is learning, through the use of technology and social networks, which combines elements of other learning theories, social structures and technology to create a theoretical construct for learning in the 21st century. Our learning is continually evolving and changing as it is influenced by technology and networks.