A Framework for the Future Teaching and Learning Environments

Jorma EnkenbergProfessor(emeritus)

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“School is age-specific, teacher-related process requiring full-time attendance at an obligatory curriculum" (Ivan Illich 1971)

Satisfied with this kind of school?What kind of adults this kind of school will

educate?

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Our educational system has been mostly a reactive one

Schools and our educational system change too slowly and do net reflect in a proactive manner the changes that will happen outside in the societies and in our children’ and students’ life and the future

Change, experimenting and development can be very rewarding – why our educational system is not capable to experiment enough and to self-regulate its function and adapt its function with the changes that happen outside (ecological validity of the school system)?

Change as a process of learning (real change is inherently a kind of learning)

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Where is the explanation?Teacher education in general (no attitude towards change; lack of innovation and creativity; no orientation towards the future; no looking over the shoulders of other sciences e.g.)

Teacher education is a strongly regulated system from outside and inside too (the teachers themselves and surrounding social environment)

We as teacher educators e.g. use to keep too tightly our beliefs and the belief system (too much efforts in standardising our education, not enough braverity)

Educational and instructional models have not utilized enough at all recent results of international research in learning and teaching

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What has changed in society since … that has a special importance in designing education?

Media (from mass to personal&social)

Societies and communities (from real to virtual (at least partly))

Living environments (technology at work and everyday life e.g.)

Socio-culture of our students and children (e.g. values, attitudes, models of behaviour)

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Changes in the progressive work since …, that should have importance in designing education

New kind of network communities

Computational media

Modeling and simulation tools

Distribution of our knowledge (with people, tools and documents)

Emerging organisational structures of the communities (towards democracy; no clear leaders; co-development)

Shared accountability

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Students’ and children’ socio-culture…

Students have a strong and continual interest in (mobile) technologies

They expect feedback continuously and immediately

They have a strong preference on group work

They own decreased engagement related to the presence in teaching situations

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Life-long and life-wide learning

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Roger Schank’s proposal for social innovation in teaching and learning

“The only way we learn is through "doing," and failure. Failure gets our attention, it fosters an emotional response, which is essential for learning. "Doing," and emotional experiences rarely take place in a classroom.”

We should spend about 1/3 of our day at the computer, 1/3 talking with others, and 1/3 making something."

What are the environmental implications if learners are spending 1/3 of their day at the computer, 1/3 talking with others and 1/3 making something?

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Pillars for the (future teaching and) learning) environments

Technological environment

Social environment

Teaching environment (voice of the learners and teachers, their agency and designed roles)

Learning tasks

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Connected teaching as a proposal for …(National Technology Plan 2010)

In a connected teaching model, connection replaces isolation. Classroom educators are fully connected to learning data and tools for using the data; to content, resources, and systems that empower them to create, manage, and assess engaging and relevant learning experiences; and directly to their students in support of learning both inside and outside school.

The same connections give them access to resources and expertise that improve their own instructional practices and guide them in becoming facilitators and collaborators in their students’ increasingly self-directed learning.

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Continues …

In connected teaching, teaching is a team activity.

Individual educators build online learning communities consisting of their students and their students’ peers; fellow educators in their schools, libraries, and afterschool programs; professional experts in various disciplines around the world; members of community organizations that serve students in the hours they are not in school; and parents who desire greater participation in their children’s education.

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Participatory learning (Davidson&Goldgerg 2009)

Self-learning (knowledge seeking e.g.)

Horizontal organizational structure (c.f. knowledge creating organizations)

Shared responsibility and ownership (c.f. distributed expertise)

Distributed pedagogy (formal, non-formal and informal learning setting)

Participation (in networks and communities)

Interactions (between peoples and peoples and documents)

Technology (making learning powerful)

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Our proposal for FTLE

Participatory learning as instructional environment – because it places emphasis on self-learning and participation in research and development communities.

Internet as a technological environment – because it can enhance collaborative learning and on the other hand form a basis for personal learning environments.

Co-development as a social environment – because it has been demonstrated to be a powerful social innovation in product and software development (co-development; c.f. open source and Linux phenomenon).

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Putting into varying contexts …

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Co-development enables participation in communities that can mediate those practices that their full members implement. It puts emphasis on the social character of learning and enables the participants to move from the periphery to the center of the activities and slowly to become full members of those communities (especially research and professional communities of practices).

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In summaryIn our model the learners’ agency will resemble those of scientists, designers and architects in authentic contexts. Teachers’ role in developing, taking into use and maintaining learning environment reflects majorly the kind of expertise typically present in architects’, scientists’ and designers’ behavior.

We argue that in a continuously changing world, teachers’ and educators’ work will share increasingly the kind of expertise that we can find among these communities.

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A good educational system should have three purposes: it should provide all who want to learn with access to available resources at any time in their lives; empower all who want to share what they know to find those who want to learn it from them; and, finally, furnish all who want to present an issue to the public with the opportunity to make their challenge known. (Illich 1971)