Dr. Herrington mentioned in the article "Authentic e-learning in higher education:
Design principles for authentic learning environments and tasks" that the characteristics of contextual learning are:
1. The real environment reflects the way knowledge is used in real life.
2. Authentic activities.
3. Obtain expert performances and process modeling.
4. Multiple roles and perspectives.
5. Knowledge collaborative construction.
6. Reflection.
7. Clarity.
8. Guidance and scaffolding.
9. Real evaluation.
I very much agree with three points: First, the opportunity for user collaboration is an important design element, especially for students who may study remotely. Therefore, the task needs to be aimed at a group rather than an individual. As a student from a different time zone and a different state, at the beginning of studying at IST, I prefer to complete my homework alone. However, after two semesters of study, I decided to team up with other students to do a project. The reason for changing my mind was that I realized that cooperating with other students to have a better understanding of learning and good communication skills are very beneficial to e-learning. Second, in order for students to have the opportunity to reflect on their learning, the online learning environment needs to provide real background and tasks to achieve meaningful reflection. I have a group project and need to collect data from a real organization. Through the process of data collection, it is also very helpful for me to expand my thinking horizon and understand other industries. Third, adapt to the role of guidance and scaffolding provided mainly by teachers but also by other students. The online learning environment needs to provide collaborative learning, and more capable partners can assist in the construction and guidance.
In short, the most successful learning environments that employ real tasks are carefully planned, customer-oriented, and provide education as a process rather than a product.
Reference:
Herrington, J. & Oliver, R. (2000). An instructional design framework for authentic learning environments. ETR&D, 48(3), pp. 23-48.
Herrington, J. (2006). Authentic e-learning in higher education: Design principles for authentic learning environments and tasks. In proceedings of the World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education (E-Learn) 2006, October 13-27, 2006, Honolulu, Hawaii. Retrieved from http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/5247/1/Authentic_e-learning(authors).pdf
Lockee, B. B., Song, K., & Li, W. (2014, September-October). The AECT HistoryMakers Project: Conversations with leaders in educational technology. Educational Technology, 54(5), 42-45. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/44430305.pdf
Hi Sungling,
I really like your generalization of the characteristics of contextual learning. And I feel that I learned the Authentic e-learning completely again after I read your this reflection. At the same time, I also like the last sentence of your reflection-"provide education as a process rather than a product." very much. And I also agree with your this view. I think that the process is more important than the result. In fact, I always focused on the result of design in my previous work. I rarely paid attention to the design process and the product application process. This led me to work like a machine when faced with one project after another. Of course, in this situation, I…
Hi Sungling,
I completely agree with your emphasis on collaboration in an online/remote learning context. Although I am a residential student, I’ve (obviously) had to do more coursework online than I’ve ever had to do in my life, starting with the pandemic last year. I’d never done any online courses at all before, and starting my Master’s program I had three of them! Collaborating on group projects not only increased my motivation by making me feel less isolated and allowing me to meet others in the program, but it helped me appreciate the strengths and areas of expertise that different group members brought to the projects. Everyone in IST comes from such different educational and professional backgrounds, and everyone ha…